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  "You'd like ta shoot, wouldn't ya?" Nodine grinned.

  "Yes, I would. Why don't you go for them guns?"

  Nodine shook his head very slowly, almost defiantly. "No, I think I'll bides my time."

  "Then turn around," Lovell ordered. As they turned, he broke the shotgun open and replaced his spent cartridge. He drew his handcuffs from his belt and tossed them to one of the Indians. "Put them cuffs on the white man and Nodine," he ordered.

  The Indian nodded and complied.

  "I want all of you to walk forward ten paces." When they finished he gathered the guns and piled them next to the fire. "You Indians saddle the horses. Bring the horses here and saddle them in front of me. Nodine and you…. What's your name?"

  "Jimmy Tubbs." He was a greasy devil, with a filthy gray beard to his chest.

  "I want you and Nodine on your knees facing away from me."

  They knelt as the Indians unhobbled the horses and brought them to the campsite. As they did, Lovell carefully searched the saddlebags and emptied one. He found a saddlebag full of gold coins and paper money at Nodine's place in the camp.

  "Dat's a lot of money," Nodine said. "I don't suppose I could interest you in it."

  "Too much blood on it," Lovell said. "It's cursed."

  "You sure of dat?"

  "Sure of that as anything."

  "And how you figgers you gonna get all of us back to Fort Smith with no help?"

  "One at a time, dead or alive."

  Nodine nodded and smiled. "I likes you, Marshal. You always keeps tings so simple."

  "There were ten of you originally. I found the black. Where are the other men?"

  "They lit out after we left Black Fork."

  "Without their share of the money?"

  "Well, they was in a hurry to go."

  "Who were they?"

  "Ya know, I jist can't seem to member. Maybe it'll comes to me by and by."

  As the Indians finished saddling the horses, Lovell counted. There were only seven pair left. He had neglected to count the horses after Black Fork. Two could have left without him realizing it. "Help Nodine and Tubbs into the saddle. I want you men to lead their horses and I want these dead men draped over theirs.

  "Surely, we ain't leaving tonight. Youse gonna need your rest."

  Lovell shook his head. "We're riding straight through to Fort Smith."

  "You'll never make it alive," Nodine slurred.

  "I wouldn't doubt it," Lovell said as he motioned them towards the horses. "But there's one thing about it. If I don't, you don't because the first son-of-a-bitch I'm gonna shoot is you. We're going to ride together and this shotgun is going to be cocked and pointed at your head during the whole time. You boys may jump me or your two friends may ambush me, but Nodine, the last thing you'll hear is the sound of the top of your head coming loose from your ears."

  "You caughts me before and you never could hold me," Nodine said as they started up the trail for Lovell's stallion.

  Lovell shoved the shotgun into Nodine's back. "This time I won't worry about holding you. Think of that when your friends return and try to take you from me. The only thing they'll get is an empty shirt."

  Chapter 24

  Sam Two Toes, a Choctaw farmer in his forties, stepped from his cabin carrying a shotgun. Strange men of this sort with bodies draped over saddles spelled trouble. He nodded but said nothing as the riders assembled in front of his cabin. He relaxed when he recognized the last rider's deputy U. S. marshal badge. Two Toes studied the marshal and knew he was in trouble. He was trail worn, dirty and in need of a shave. He had the hollow eyed sallow appearance of a man on the edge of exhaustion.

  Lovell allowed his stallion to drift to the side of Nodine's men. He kept his cocked shotgun delicately wedged between himself and the pommel of his saddle, the barrels pointing in the direction of his prisoners. "I'm in something of a bind," he said in a weak voice.

  Two Toes nodded. "I can see you are. What can I do for you, Marshal?"

  "Do you have a root cellar?"

  Two Toes hesitated as he considered the odd request. "Yes, I do."

  "Does it have a strong door?"

  "Yes, it does."

  "I remembered that you did. I rode through this place over a year ago. I remembered that you had this cellar. I want to put these men in it. I want you to guard the door for six hours with this shotgun. I'll pay you five dollars for your time and the use of your cellar. I'll pay you another two dollars for grain and hay for these horses."

  Seven dollars was a lot of money for Two Toes, especially for six hours' work. "I can do that. Are you men hungry?"

  Lovell nodded. "We could eat, but not in the house."

  "I'll have my woman fix you something. You can eat in the farm yard."

  "Not now. We'll eat after I've had some rest."

  Two Toes recognized desperation in Lovell's speech. "How long have you been guarding these men?"

  "Seventy-two hours. I haven't slept for seventy-two hours."

  Two Toes nodded and cocked the hammers of his shotgun. "You'll rest now, Marshal."

  Lovell did not even look at Nodine's men. "Step down from those horses and line up in front of them."

  "I needs these cuffs off," Nodine said. "I can't stands it anymore."

  Lovell's voice was harsh, his speech abrupt. "No, do as I say."

  The prisoners dismounted and walked stiffly away from their exhausted mounts. Nodine was in agony after having his hands behind his back for so many hours.

  "I needs to take a piss. I ain't pissed for four hours," Nodine said.

  Lovell dismounted and pulled his key from his vest pocket. "Paco Trace, unlock those cuffs so he can piss."

  "What about me?" Jimmy Tubbs asked.

  "One at a time. First Nodine, then you."

  Paco Trace, an Indian prisoner, took the key and opened Nodine's left handcuff. Nodine immediately opened his pants and relieved himself to his great satisfaction. When he was finished, Paco Trace closed the cuffs behind Nodine's back. The procedure was repeated with Jimmy Tubbs.

  "I want you Indians to unsaddle the horses. Put those bodies in the shade," Lovell said.

  "You are still two days from Fort Smith," Two Toes said.

  "I know," Lovell answered as he watched the Indians, Paco Trace and Ten Deer, unsaddle the horses. "If I can get some sleep, we'll make it alright."

  "Where are your deputies?"

  "I don't have any. I took these men alone."

  Two Toes shook his head. "Ain't that something? Normally there's a whole passel of marshals for this many men."

  Let's get these horses in your corral and these men into your cellar," Lovell said impatiently. "We can jawbone about this later."

  "Yes, sir. The corral is this way," Two Toes said as he pointed the direction.

  As they marched the men to the root cellar, Lovell walked beside Two Toes. "Do you have any children?"

  "No, just me and the woman."

  "Good. Have you ever heard of Trace Nodine?"

  "Yes."

  "The black man is Trace Nodine. While I'm sleeping he might try anything. Don't talk to him and don't listen to anything he has to say. He'll kill you and your woman just for the meanness of it. If any man comes through that cellar door for any reason, you shoot. Don't listen to anything they say. Wake me if you have to. Don't believe anything these men have to say. Your life depends on it."

  Two Toes was fearful but determined. "Don't worry. I won't let them get away."

  The cellar was dug into the side of a hill behind the cabin. The door was roughly made but appeared solid. Lovell opened the door and ordered the prisoners inside. He closed it and propped a heavy board wedged into the dirt against it. "Get yourself a chair."

  Two Toes nodded and went to the cabin, returning with a rocker.

  "Sit here in front. If that door so much as creaks, blow it to pieces with this shotgun." He handed Two Toes his shotgun and four shells. He went to a nearby live oak tree
and lay down beside it on the bare ground.

  Two Toes sat in the chair, examined the shotgun then nervously watched the door. "I can't believe one man would try this alone. I don't see how you made it for so long without any sleep."

  Two Toes waited for an answer then looked toward Lovell.

  He was already asleep.

  * * * *

  "Hold up," Lovell ordered as they topped the ridge. He looked back down in the valley. Two riders were following. He pulled his looking glass and focused on them. He could tell they were following his trail. "Who are they?" he asked.

  Nodine shook his head. "How the hell should I know?" The others refused to speak.

  Lovell studied them a while longer. One of them was a black man, the other an Indian. He wondered if they were the two missing men. He waited and looked again. It could be Bass Reeves and Ned Bells trying to catch up and help him. They were not. They didn't sit their horses right to be Reeves and Nells.

  "Who are those men, Tubbs?"

  "I ain't got any idea. If I did, I wouldn't tell you."

  Lovell turned toward the prisoners, angry and tired. "Get down from them damned horses. Do it now."

  He dismounted as they did. He pulled his Winchester from its scabbard and propped the shotgun against an elm tree. "Sit on the ground in front of your mounts," he ordered.

  The prisoners complied without speaking, none of them eager to challenge a man clearly at the limit of his patience.

  He checked his load and cocked the hammer of the Winchester.

  "You going to shoot them without no warning?" Tubbs asked.

  "Shut up and don't move," Lovell said. He braced the rifle against the elm tree and took careful aim. He reckoned the riders to be a hundred and fifty yards below and behind him. He waited as they closed the distance.

  As they came to the base of the rise, Lovell yelled. "Federal marshal! Who are you?"

  They held up their horses and searched for his location.

  "I'm a federal marshal. Who are you men?"

  The black man spoke. "We're cowboys heading for Fort Smith looking for work."

  "Not this way, you ain't. Take off."

  "We got's a right to ride this road," the black replied.

  Lovell drew down the sights of his rifle and put a round into the ground directly in front of the black's horse. The horse jumped and almost unloaded its rider. The men cursed and rode away at a gallop.

  Nodine grinned. "You getting' mighty jumpy. If'n they was my men, you wouldn't see them a coming."

  Lovell watched for a while to make certain the men would continue to ride away. He put his Winchester back in its scabbard, cradled the shotgun in his arms and threw the cuff key to Paco Trace. "Take a piss and mount up."

  Nodine grinned as he finished his chore. "I tolds you. My boys rode off."

  Lovell didn't smile. "Get mounted. We're still eight hours from Fort Smith."

  "I thinks my horse is going lame," Nodine said. "I thinks we need to rest him."

  Lovell aimed his shotgun at the horse's head. "That would be too bad. I can shoot him now and you can walk on in."

  Nodine stirred uneasily. "No, dat's alright. I thinks he can make it."

  "Get mounted," Lovell ordered.

  They mounted and started on for Fort Smith.

  * * * *

  An attendant entered the courtroom and asked to speak to the judge. Parker nodded and allowed him to approach the bench. As the man spoke in low tones, Parker's face registered surprise. He gaveled and ordered an hour's recess before rising from his desk and exiting the courtroom without waiting for the court to stand. He stepped out of the back door of the courthouse to see several guards marching Trace Nodine and three men into the cellar jail door entrance. An exhausted Don Lovell still sat in his saddle, his shotgun resting in his lap.

  "Where is your posse?" Parker asked.

  "I haven't one. I tracked these men from Black Fork and made the arrest alone."

  Parker shook his head and spoke with admiration. "You arrested these men nearly two hundred miles away and brought them in alone?"

  Lovell nodded. "I had no choice."

  "Marshall Lovell, I will never forget this. You are a brave man, although perhaps a bit foolhardy. I will never forget this."

  "Judge, I'm going home. I'll turn in my paperwork after I've rested."

  Parker smiled. "Take your time, take all the time you need."

  Lovell nodded and uncocked his shotgun for the first time in five days. He turned his stallion for home. He slumped in his saddle as the exhausted animal dragged its hooves down the dusty street, its head a foot above the ground.

  Evett Nix stepped out the door and waited next to Parker. "I just heard. Where is Lovell going?"

  "Home to get some rest, if that poor horse of his can make it."

  "I heard he brought in Nodine and three other men by himself."

  "There's two bodies as well."

  Nix smiled. "Arrested and brought in the Trace Nodine gang single-handed. Ain't that something? Did you tell him about Amelia Thompson?"

  "No, let him rest. There's nothing he can do for her right now. Tell him after he's had a chance to get some rest. The man is exhausted."

  "He's lucky to be alive," Nix said grimly. "We hadn't heard a thing from him after he left Tishomingo almost a month ago. I figured he was dead. We have four posses out looking for him and Nodine."

  Parker nodded. "He'll be the most famous marshal in the country for this. I want to talk to you about this man. He's probably just the marshal we need for the Tahlequah position."

  "If you can get him to take it. I think he's wanting to retire. I figure he had plans to ask Amelia Thompson to marry him. He was waiting to put some money together. Of course, who knows now?"

  "No, this man will not retire," Parker said abruptly as he turned to go back through the door. He gave Nix a stern look, one that Nix knew quite well. "I will not allow this man to retire."

  Chapter 25

  Lovell entered the Fort Smith Hospital and asked for Amelia Thompson at the front desk. He was directed to Dr. Chamberlain when he explained his relationship with her. Chamberlain was a short, young man with spectacles, whom Lovell had not seen before. He was examining a child with a broken arm and asked Lovell to wait for him in the hall. When he met Lovell in the hall he was grim but professional.

  "She had an appendix attack three weeks ago. I performed an appendectomy once I realized what it was but I'm afraid for her welfare. It is a relatively new procedure and the appendix was nearly ruptured. She's been a mighty sick woman."

  "Will she make it?" Lovell asked.

  "I don't know. If she can fight off the infection, she has a chance. Most cases like hers don't make it. Two years ago, she'd have died and there would have been nothing we could have done about it."

  "May I see her?"

  "Don't stay too long. She has to rest. She is a very sick woman." He led Lovell to her ward and waited by her bed.

  She had lost a lot of weight and her face was pale. Her eyes were hollow and her skin sallow. She smiled weakly when she recognized him. "You finally got back," she said with a feeble voice.

  "Yes, I had no idea about this or I would have been here sooner."

  "They are talking about you in the ward. They said you brought in six men alone. They are saying that you arrested the Trace Nodine gang and brought them two hundred miles single-handed."

  Lovell smiled. "Not quite. I had some help along the way."

  "They say you are lucky to be alive."

  "That's what I hear about you."

  "You've lost weight. You look thin and tired, Don."

  "I'm alright. How are you?"

  Tears formed in her eyes. She took hold of his hand. "I've been so sick. I felt like I'd be better off dead. I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd never see you again."

  "Well, you didn't die and you are going to be just fine. What can I do? Is there anything at the house that needs attention?"r />
  "No, thank you. The woman who helped me get to the hospital is watching the house for me."

  "She's lucky Mrs. Black found her when she did," Dr. Chamberlain said.

  "Mrs. Black?" Lovell asked. "John Black's wife?"

  "Yes, I thought I had the flu. I couldn't get up. I realized it was much worse than that. I crawled to the front porch and Mrs. Black was passing by. She went for help and later stayed with me. She has been a very good friend. It is strange. I had never met her before. She says she knows you. She made a joke. She told me to tell you that this was payback for what you did for her."

  Lovell smiled. "She did, did she?"

  "Yes, she saved my life."

  "She's a good woman. You'd like her."

  "I do." She hesitated. "I could tell by her manner that she thinks very highly of you."

  He could tell she was looking for answers. "I found her in the Cherokee Nation with her daughters. Her buggy was broke down and she was miles from anywhere. I repaired her wagon and escorted her back to her husband."

  "I guess they are getting a divorce," Amelia said softly.

  "I knew it wasn't working out very well," Lovell said.

  "She's a very pretty woman."

  Lovell smiled and squeezed her hand. "No prettier than you."

  "She's much prettier than me…and younger…and healthier."

  Lovell stared into her eyes. His features were gentle and warm. "But she's not you, Amelia. No one could replace you…ever."

  Tears came to her eyes again. "I missed you. I missed you so very much."

  "And I missed you. I thought about you every day." He leaned forward and kissed her. She returned the kiss.

  "She needs to get some rest and I need to examine her," Dr. Chamberlain said.

  Lovell nodded. "We'll talk tomorrow," he said to her. Then to Chamberlain, "If it's alright for me to see her."

  "Yes. I can't think of better medicine for her right now."

  "I'll see you tomorrow. We have lots to talk about." He kissed her again and went to the hall, followed by Chamberlain.

  "What are her chances?" Lovell asked.

  "I know she looks bad but she is much better. I think her chances are good, now. She's a healthy woman, otherwise, and in good shape. She brightened considerably when you came into the room. I didn't know before but now I think she has a very good chance."