Miles has recently returned from an ordeal with three gunmen to save the life of Doctor Jones.  Doc had been kidnapped to save the life of Bill Goss who was shot in a holdup attempt in Cortez.  When Doc reached the cabin where the men were staying he found Goss already dead, but one other man, Chuck Mason, was severely wounded.  It was apparent that the men intended to kill Doc when he had finished taking care of Mason.  That is, until Miles arrived on the scene.  Join with me in another thrilling tale of yesteryear in the Saga of Miles Forrest.

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       That night the snow began to fall again, which was good in one way as the temperatures went up some.  Upon waking and looking outside the next morning, I could see that perhaps three inches were added to the snow already on the ground.  It had stopped snowing and there was only a slight breeze to be felt as I went outside to bring in an armful of wood.

       I stirred up the coals in the fireplace and got the fire started.  Soon flames were rising from it as I added more wood.  I wanted to get the room warm before Molly got up.  I went to the cookstove and fired it up as well, putting coffee on to boil.  I used snow and would have to fill the pot at least three times to get enough water, but why waste the snow?  

       Bacon was already frying in the skillet when Molly ventured out of the bedroom.  Graylight was full with what appeared to be partially clear skies.  The sun was going to shine, and the snow would melt.  This being February I doubted that this was the end of the snow, but at least a slight reprieve for a spell.

       Molly sat at the table and I poured her a cup of coffee.  “Want me to slice some bread?” she asked.  She had made a loaf of sourdough bread yesterday.  

       “Go ahead, I’m ’bout ready to fry the eggs,” I replied watching her take a knife to the bread then place it on this metal contraption we had to make toast by placing it by the fire.

       I had the eggs in the skillet and was flipping bacon grease over them to cook them on top.  No need to flip them when I could do it this way.  Within a few minutes they were ready as was the toast.  The preserves we had were all gone, but there was still some honey left.  I had placed the clay pot where we kept the honey on the back of the stove to liquify it some.  As cold as it had been, that honey would be thick.

       Sitting down I took her hand and prayed for the Lord to bless the day and the food.  Nothing better than a simple breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast.  The coffee was hot and strong, so who could ask for more.  I’ve often found that the simple things are the best in life.  I’ve been to Denver and Kansas City and have eaten at some of those fancy restaurants, but give me taste and filling any time over fancy.

       “As I was sayin’ last night, Moses said that two of those mares I brought in would make fine breeding with Star,” I started in then took a bite of eggs.  “Yuh know I always wanted to be a horse breeder.”

       Molly didn’t say anything, she just bit into her honey toast.  I watched her chew, while I drank half a cup of coffee.  I got up to get the pot to give us each a refill, then she spoke.  “Miles, do you really think you would be satisfied?”

       “I could finally go on that wild horse hunt with Lot Smith.  He said I could come over any time.”

       “You don’t even know if Lot is still alive…”

       Interrupting her I said, “I could write him at Tuba City.  Someone there would surely know.” 

       “A wild horse hunt, then wrangle the horses back here to Durango, then what?”

       I didn’t answer for a few seconds, swirling my coffee in the cup to cool it a mite.  “I could work on the cabin, expand it.  Build a better stable, add a barn.”

       “Miles,” she cut me off.  “I’m with you if that is what you want to do.  But just think on it for a while…at least until spring.”

       I nodded, then stood up to collect the dishes.  I already had a pot of water boiling to wash them.  “Why don’t you go cut some more firewood, I’ll do up the dishes, “she said, then added.  “What time do you plan on going to Parker’s?”

       I had just put on my coat when there was a knock at the door.  Opening it, there stood Alejo, Mateo’s oldest son.  He took off his hat as he stepped into the cabin.  “Senor Miles, come…”

We stopped by the McClure place on the way home.  Doc checked Linda and her new baby, then patched up Frank’s wound.  With that stop it was dark when we rode back into Durango.  The lights were out and except for a few places the town was dark.  I knew the saloons were probably open, but they were up a couple of blocks and then down the street.

       There was a light in Solly’s place and one in the diner, but I knew both were closed.  I stopped there and told Doc to go on home.  I knew he was frazzled and when he dismounted and started walking in the snow towards his place, he stumbled and fell, being stiff and half frozen.  I told him I’d take his horse on over to Vexler’s along with the others after dropping the bodies off at Parker’s.

       I glanced in the diner and saw Molly at the window.  She waved, then motioned for me to come down to the diner.  I tipped my hat and nodded, then headed up the street to Parker’s shop.  Paul had been the undertaker for several years now.  The sign in front of his shop read, Mortuary and Cabinet Maker.  I had to bang on the door several times before he answered.  He told me to take the bodies around to the back where he had a shed attached to the back of his shop.

       He had pulled on a coat, and met me.  “Got some stiffs for me,” he cackled, then added, “the pun intended.”  The bodies were not only stiff from being dead, but frozen from the cold with no blood circulating in their bodies.  “I’ll keep them outside and get caskets ready for them tomorrow.  Do you know who they are?”

       “Either myself or Doc Jones will be up tomorrow to give you some names.  Let me know the cost.”

       “Don’t know when I’ll get them buried,” he answered.  “The ground is too frozen to dig right now.”  

       I nodded, thinking that I wouldn’t want his job.  ‘Course he’d hire out the digging, but it would be quite a job even when it began to thaw.  After unloading, I then headed up to Vexloer’s.  The big door at the livery was closed, but I knew Moses would be up and most likely propped up by his little stove.

       He opened the big door and I led the horses in.  “You can have the tack, and I’ll talk with you later about the horses.  Take care of Star and Doc’s horse will yuh?”

       I saw him look over the horses then scratch his chin.  “Marshal, you used to think about raisin’ horses didn’t yuh?” he asked, but before I could answer he continued.  “There’s a couple of fine lookin’ mares there that would make a match with that thoroughbred stallion of yours.”

       Glancing over at Star, I looked at the two horses Moses was speaking of.  “Maybe,” I muttered, “but right now I’ve got to get on down to the diner.”

       It took a little time walking through the snow and ice.  It had warmed up just enough and for time to pass that some of the snow melted, but now with night and the temperature dropping it had turned to ice.  The door of the diner was unlocked so I went on in to find Molly putting some wood on the stove.  I also saw that she had the coffeepot on the stove and was warming up a plate of food.
       I took off my heavy coat and she came over when she saw me to give me a hug.  “Brrr, you’re cold.  Come sit by the fire.  I kept some of those enchiladas that you like warm for you.”

       First off, she poured me a cup of coffee.  It wasn’t fresh, but it was hot.  She was right, I was cold to the bone.  Then she placed a plate of enchiladas in front of me covered with sauce and onions.  On the side was a mess of pintos.  “Eat up, Mister,” she said, jokingly.  “That’s supper tonight and tomorrow night.  We haven’t been busy, but Emelda made up a bunch of enchiladas.”

       She poured herself a cup of the strong brew and sat down beside me.  While I was feeding my face, she was watching me.  “Rough time?” she inquired as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.  “Here, use the napkin.”

       I squinted up at her with a pretend frown, but then I just had to smile.  I sighed, “Rough time.”

       The last bite of beans was on my fork when she got up and headed for the kitchen.  “I didn’t forget you,” she said as she left.  A few minutes later she came back with a large piece of butterscotch pie on a plate.  With the heat from the stove, and my stomach now feeling warm from the food, I was in a much better frame of mind and soul.  But when she brought out that piece of pie.  Well, now there’s a woman that knows her man!

       There was only one lamp burning, off on the counter where you enter the kitchen and it was turned down low.  The only other light came from the stove.  She put her hand on mine as I ate at the pie, sipping coffee between bites.  “Want to talk about it?”

       We sat there, pretty much in the dark while I told her of Doc’s ordeal and what happened in the cabin with the Goss gang.  She told me that she let Marta off today so she could take tomorrow off.  “I know it’s too cold to do much, but I reckoned we could just stay around the house.”

       “Sounds good,” I replied.  “I will have to go down to Parker’s for a few minutes, but I want to talk to you about something anyway.  Moses mentioned that…”

I wish I hadn’t left the Greener in the scabbard,” I thought to myself, taking off my gloves and stretching my hands out to the fire trying to get the cold and stiffness out.  I could easily give him a thump.

     “Don’t worry about unbuttoning your coat,” stated the man sitting by the fire.  “You’re not stayin’ that long.”

     “You wouldn’t send a man back out into that cold to spend the night.  I told you I can’t make it to Mancos tonight.”

     “That’s the way of it,” he said this time with a snarl in his voice.  

     I had my hand on my gun now, away from him so he couldn’t see it.  “Give me a few more minutes, I’m almost frozen stiff.”

     He glanced toward where Doc was standing, so I took advantage of the opportunity to draw and point my gun at him.  “Mister, just keep your hands on the arms of that rocker where I can see them,” I advised.

     I heard a shout, then the man at the table yelled horribly.  Doc had grabbed a death grip on the man’s arm.  He was going for his gun, then I looked at the man back at the door who was bringing his pistol up to bear.  I shot at him, the bullet knocking him back against the door.  The man in the chair jumped up, groping for his gun.  He pulled it from his holster when I shot him from three feet away, his gun firing into the floor of the cabin. 

     Doc was grappling with the man at the table.  Who finally pushed Doc off him when he stood up.  His gun was out and he pointed it at Doc.  I didn’t wait, I fired twice at the man, both bullets striking him, putting him down on the floor.

     “It’s about time, Miles,” blurted Doc, “and you were mighty close with that shot.  I felt the bullet buzz by me.”

     There was a moan from the man lying on the floor next to me.  I bent down next to him after kicking his gun away, mine at the ready.  “You don’t give a man a chance,” murmured the man, his voice low and hoarse.

     “Mister, you had your chance.  I told you to keep your hands on the chair.  You didn’t listen–your choice.”  With that his eyes widened in fright and then went dull, lifeless.  He had passed on to his judgment.

     Standing I walked to where Doc was checking the other two men.  “I’m goin’ out to tend to Star, but when I get back I want to know what was goin’ on.”  Stepping over the dead man at the door, I stopped to turn to Doc.  “Is there a shed or barn around here?  I hate to leave the horses out in the cold.”

     “There’s a little stable behind the cabin.  Goss, that’s the man by the fire, didn’t want anyone to know we were here, so he had the horses put off in the trees.  They’re in that little grove to the right of the cabin as you go out.”

     Shaking my head, I went out the door and took Star heading around the back.  There was a little stable with plenty of hay.  It would be tight, but I reckoned six horses would fit in there alright.  In fact, being close together they might have a little more warmth.  There was ice in the trough, but I could see where it had been broken so there was water underneath.  I let him drink, then put him in a stall.  After taking off his saddle I rubbed him down making sure all the sweat was off.  Then gave him some hay.

     I went back to find the other horses and take care of them.  It didn’t make sense to leave them out.  Anyone passing by would know there was someone in the cabin so there was no need hiding them in the trees.  I was cold again by the time I got them taken care of and going back inside the cabin I was greeted by a wave of heat.  Doc had built up the fire.  The three men I’d shot were on the floor to the right of the door.  I noticed the blood on the floor where Doc drug them.

     This time I took off my coat before going to the fire.  As I was warming myself, Doc had a tin cup in his hand, and bent down to retrieve a coffeepot by the fire.  “Not sure how good this coffee is, but it’s hot,” he said, handing me the cup.

     I stood there sipping at the coffee, waiting for him to say something.  When he didn’t I asked, “Would you mind tellin’ me how you got in such a mess?”

     He didn’t tell me right off, but began by saying, “This is what’s left of the Goss gang.”

     “Dave Goss?”  I knew of Dave and Bill Goss, they had been wanted for quite a spell.  I had never seen either of them before, as they stayed mostly up north of Durango.

     “Dave’s the one you shot by the fire and that’s his brother Bill over on the bed.  They brought me to treat him, but when I arrived he was already dead.  The man you shot by the door was Benny Jarvis, a no-count bully, and the man I was working on with the shot up arm was Chuck Mason.”

     “Well, Doc, you picked a fine crew to cozy up to…”

Three riders approached the cabin, their horses riding through the tracks left by the men hours before when they left.  After dismounting, one man, seeming the leader, pushed Doc Jones towards the cabin.  “Take care of the horses, Benny,” he gritted, the cold making his face stiff.  Then he shoved Doc again, “Inside!”

       Upon entering the cabin, they were greeted by a blast of warmth coming from the fireplace to the back of the room.  To the right was a cot with a man lying on it.  Another man was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, his face haggard from pain.  The two men took off their coats, with a nod from one, Doc Jones moved to the man on the cot.  “Remember, Doc, he dies so do you.”

       Doc arrived at the side of the little bed.  Looking down, his eyes widened.  He then glanced over at the man near the fire.  Turning he started to say something, but the man at the fire quipped, “Too late, he’s already dead.”

       The eyes of the man, widened in anger toward the voice.  “You were to keep him alive!”  He drew his gun pointing it at the man in the chair.

       “Don’t Goss!  There was nothin’ I could do, not with my arm the way it is.”

       Doc Jones was bending down beside the man on the cot, examining him.  “There was nothing he could have done for this man.  His insides were all torn up by the bullet.”  The man leveled his gun then at Doc, anger filled his face when the door burst open.  The man called Benny entered.  Goss turned quickly taking a step toward the man, his gun now on him.  “Goss!” hollered the man from the fire.

       Something clicked in the man as he lowered his gun, then started walking to the cot, holstering it on the way.  “Get out of the way!” he snapped, pushing Doc Jones from the man.  Doc went to stand beside the man at the fire.  Goss knelt down at the bedside, grasping the hand of the dead man.  “Bill, you stupid fool,” he muttered in anguish.

       He sat there for several moments in silence, then stood drawing his gun again.  “I guess I don’t need you anymore.”

       “You’ve a wounded man here.  I need to check his arm or he could get gangrene or lockjaw,” shouted Doc.  “So don’t get hasty with that gun or another one of your men will die.”

       “Goss, for goodness sake, let him look at my arm.  It’s painin’ me something fierce.”

       Benny started moving toward the fire wanting to get warm.  “Dave, he’s right.  At least let the doctor look at Mason’s arm.”

       “Let’s go over by the lamp on the table.”

       Dave Goss grabbed the nearly full whiskey bottle that was on the table, then took the chair where Mason had been sitting.  He didn’t watch the two, only stared into the fire.  Benny leaned forward, “I’m sorry about Bill, I truly am.”  Goss turned his gaze momentarily to his comrade, then took a drink straight from the bottle.

       Doc Jones had cut both the shirt sleeve and undershirt off the man.  “Mister, this arm’s in bad shape.”  He looked over at Goss, “What happened for two of you to get shot up?” he asked, then hesitated before adding, “you must be Dave Goss.  Didn’t know you were in the region.”

       “Well, you know it now,” Goss snarled.  “Take care of him while you can still do something useful.”

       Doc looked at the man as he began to clean the blood from around the wound.  “Want to tell me what happened?”

       The man, Mason, looked over at Goss who simply shrugged his shoulders, taking another drink.  “Got shot in Cortez,” he stopped, looking at Goss again before continuing.  “Robbery went sour.”

       The man groaned as Doc Jones began his examination.  In a few minutes, he looked at the man shaking his head.  “Mister, that bullet shattered your bone, and that isn’t all it’s still in your arm.  Any movement could cause the bullet or one of the bone shards to cut an artery.  Son…” he was interrupted by someone pounding on the door.

       There was silence, but tension filled the room.  “Benny, see who it is.”

       Opening the door, a man stood there, “I saw the smoke and hoped I might come in to get warm, and maybe spend the night.  I was going to try to make it to Mancos, but my horse is plum wore out.”

       He didn’t wait to be invited in, but stepped inside the cabin.  “I hope I’m not a bother,” he said, nodding at the men, his eyes stopping momentarily on those of Doc Jones.

       “You best just go on your way, Mister,” came the voice of Benny at the door.

       “Can’t, my horse would never make it.  Let me warm up and I’ll go out to care for him.  If’n yuh have some coffee I sure could use a cup.  Don’t mind me, I’ll stay out of your way, I just want to get warm.”

       The stranger walked with assurance over to the fire standing to the right of Goss stretching out his hands toward the fire.  “Looks like you’ve had some trouble here.”

       “Mister, you don’t know the half of it…”