“Well, I’m lending you my two best men, and I’ll supply some things you need and help you get your herd up the trail. In return, you’ll bring me longhorns. I haven’t had the grit to go after cattle, not since the bluebellies confiscated the last bunch. First it was the Confederacy, then it was the Union. Knocked the fight right out of me. But you boys have lit a fire in me. Made me realize I want to build up another herd. A small one, anyway. I miss hearing them and smelling them, getting out there and cussing at them. I miss going to town and chewing the fat with men over at the feed store. All I do now is sit here and drink whiskey and pay men to live in my bunkhouse. Well, I’m fixing to change that. I’m gonna have some cattle. Life isn’t hardly worth living without being able to look out the window and see some longhorns. And if the bluebellies steal my cattle again, I’ll get some more. Or who knows? Maybe this time, now that I got my fire back, I’ll stand up to them Yankees and tell them to gather their own cattle.”
“You do that, sir, you let me know, and I’ll stand with you,” Will said.
“I’ll just bet you would, son. I’ll just bet you would. But listen, speaking of trouble, you go down there in the Thicket, you’re gonna have to watch out for something I never had to mess with.”
“Raiders?”
Forester nodded. “Raiders, marauders, murderers, whatever you want to call them. I hear there’s a bunch of them boys hiding out down there. You better keep your eyes open, or you’ll just be gathering cattle for some gang of no-good, murdering thieves giving the gray a bad name. You better be ready to fight.”
“I’m always ready to fight, sir,” Will said.
“I’ll bet you are,” Forester said. “Fletcher and Hill can both fight, too. You won’t have to worry about them. Good men. Top hands. I’m glad I kept them around after all. But you just watch yourselves. Some of those gangs are downright savage, from what I hear.”
Will nodded in agreement. “You ever hear of a man named Teal?”
Forester nodded grimly. “Guerrilla fighter gone bad. Got ice water in his guts and fire in his skull. A real hard case. He’d shoot his own mother for a chew of plug.”
Will nodded. “He’s a mad dog.”
“And he’s down there where you’re fixing to go, last I heard. You got something personal against the man?”
Will nodded, picturing the charred ruins of Maggie’s house. “Yes, I do. He killed my wife’s family. Burned them out and shot them when they tried to escape the flames.”
“You marry the Dunne girl?”
“Yes, sir, I did.”
“Good for you. I used to sell her daddy a horse from time to time. She’s a pretty thing. Reddest hair I ever seen. Good on a horse, too. She can really ride.”
“Yes, sir, she can.”
“Shame, what happened to her people. Real shame.”
“Yes, sir.”
Forester studied him again, looking almost wary. “You’re not going into that Thicket for revenge, are you? Because if that’s what you’re up to, I won’t send my men.”
“I’m going after cattle, sir, not Teal.”
But of course,he thought,if I happen to run into Teal while I’m down there, that’s another story.
“Good,” Forester said. “That’s good. The deal stands then. You go down there, gather your cattle, bring them back, tell me all about it. I get your first dozen cattle, Will, to pay for that ugly horse I’m about to sell you.”
“Yes, sir, if he’s as good a cutting horse as you say.”
“That good and better. You’ve never seen a cattle horse like Clyde. But ugly?” Forester shook his head. “You won’t be getting any compliments on his lines, that’s for sure.”
“That’s all right, sir. I just need a good cattle horse.”
“And you’ll have him. I’ll lend you some other horses, too. You boys’ll need more than one a day down there. But Clyde’ll be yours. Then I get your first dozen head of cattle. How are you boys splitting your gather, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Right down the middle,” Will said. “Fifty-fifty.”
Forester nodded. “Rufus, I suppose that means you get the second dozen. That work for you?”
“Yessir,” Rufus said.
“Then, we’ll split what’s left down the middle. Half’ll go to you boys, half’ll come to me. And trust me. That’s a bargain. Fletcher and Hill won’t just do their share. They’ll triple the size of your gather and teach a lot along the way. Gumption’s good, but nothing beats experience.”
