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…”