going to be sick, he himself felt as calm as he did eating breakfast that morning. He wondered if Bub felt calm the way he was. A.J. noticed all three horses had been unshod and had mud dried to their lower legs where they had clearly crossed the creeks at some point. A.J. could feel and hear his brother turn slightly in his saddle to look towards him momentarily then back again at the riders. A.J. being the experienced shooter didn’t take his eyes off the group of three Farland boys.
To Bub it seemed like an eternity that they were sitting there staring back and forth, no one saying a thing. Bub turned slightly as he quickly gazed over to look at his older brother. He noticed A.J. had his right hand laying loosely on his gun holster and his left hand off to the side of it on his right leg. He wondered if this was just an instinct his brother had or if he intentionally had placed them that way.
Bub felt mixed emotions about the situation. He felt angry because these intruders were on his land and obviously going to take his cattle, he felt worried that this might be the last time him or his brother take a breath, he felt relief that they had finally caught the suspected Farlands in action, and he felt motivated to end this confrontation soon. He caught himself quickly thinking of what his father, mother, and sister would be left with if him and his brother were to die here today. He slowly placed his hand on his holster like his brother had done and prayed everything would come out ok.
A.J. was very patient. He knew not to rush things like most people would do in these circumstances. He just figured it would play out in its own time. He always had wondered what he would feel like in a situation like this, but now that it was happening, he was surprised to find himself so calm about it. Knowing the others probably had all kinds of mixed emotions he thought he should be the first one to speak.
“Looks like we found our Indian cattle thieves Bub,” A.J. said never taking his eyes off the Farland boys.
Will Farland slowly turned his head and looked at his two cousins, neither of them looked back at him, instead they both looked straight at A.J. A.J. could tell Will was the most nervous of the group, he figured Will was the least of his concerns, if someone was going to try and draw on him or his brother it would be one of the other two.
“What you boys been doing with our cattle?” Bub asked finally able to speak.
Luke, the oldest of the three, was the only one of the three Farland boys able to find enough courage to speak. “We haven’t done anything with any of your cattle sir,” Luke stated in a sarcastic manner.
A.J. now noticed the difference in Luke’s attitude compared to the other two. Luke had confidence and would more than likely be the one to draw on them. A.J. played it out quickly in his mind. First to draw would be Luke with his confidence, then Luke’s younger brother Cole, followed by Will who seemed the most nervous of all. A.J. figured once the shooting started Will would try and pull his gun on Bub since he was closest to him, A.J. figured Bub would be Wills target while the other two came at him.
“Luke I told you and your family the other day, the next time any of you step foot on my families land without the law present my brother or I are going to shoot you as trespassers,” Bub said.
That was all it took. Luke’s face twisted in anger as he went to unholster his Remington. He was stopped before the cylinder even cleared the leather as the round from A.J.s Schofield slammed into his chest making him double over dead on his horse’s neck.
Both Cole and Will Farland went for their guns at the same time as they seen Luke go for his. For Cole it was too late as A.J. predicted correctly he would be the second to pull his firearm. The Schofield went off again as Coles palm hit the handle of his Remington. A.J. watched as the impact from his firearms round tore straight through Cole’s neck throwing him off his saddle as the red mist of blood exploded into the air.
Bub slightly fumbled his draw due to his brother hitting his initial target, Luke Farland, before Bub could even clear his holster. He quickly voted on skipping over Cole as his next target, who was in the middle of the three Farland boys, knowing his brothers second shot would more than likely be at Cole who was the next closest to his brother A.J.. Bub quickly targeted Will Farland as Wills gun was leveling out at Bub. Bub squeezed the trigger as he heard someone else’s gun fire just before him. He felt the long barreled Colt jump in his hand as the smoke poured from the barrel.
Once the smoke had cleared Bub could see Will slumped backwards in his saddle. Wills feet were still in the stirrups and he was now dead. Bub only now realized he probably wasn’t the one who killed Will even though he got his shot off before Will could fire his gun. On second look at Wills body lying backwards across his horse Bub noticed not only the hole in Wills chest, but that another one had obviously struck Will in the head also. Bub turned and looked at A.J. who was in the process of replacing three rounds into his Schofield from his gun belt. Bub realized the other shot that he had heard before he pulled his own trigger was from A.J.s Schofield.
It happened so quickly that Bub still thought it seemed unreal, almost like a bad dream. He had never been placed in something so horrific in his entire life. He had heard of such things from his father, but Bub had never seen or been a part of a gun fight. “That happened so quickly,” Bub said.
“Did it?” A.J. replied. “It slows down for me in my head, so I have no idea how long it actually took. It felt like forever to me Bub.”
A.J. wasn’t affected at all about what just occurred, he was still as calm as he was before it happened. He dismounted his horse and picked up the body of Cole Farland. He then and threw Coles now lifeless body over the horse Cole had originally sat on moments before. “The horses must be as use to gunshots as ours are, they didn’t take off or even move when our guns were fired,” A.J. said. “My ears are still ringing though, so if you want to talk about it Bub, you’re going to have to speak up for a while,” A.J. continued. “Let’s get back to the house with these three and have Soph ride to town to get the sheriff,” A.J. stated as he remounted his own horse. He held the lead reins of the three dead Farlands horses in his hand as they headed back towards their little stone house.
Bub felt numb as they rode off back towards their home. The events clearly affected him a lot worse than it did his brother. “You seem pretty relaxed about the whole thing A.J.,” Bub finally said. “Killing those boys doesn’t make you feel sickly?”
“Oh I don’t think so Bub,” A.J. said. “They went for their guns first buddy. We just happened to be faster. I don’t feel all that sorry for them to tell you the truth Bub.”
“You mean you were faster,” Bub replied. “If it wasn’t for you I would probably be dead.”
“Nah, I knew I would probably confuse ya some hitting Luke,” A.J. said, “I fired at Will just to be sure he wasn’t going to shoot ya, but you would have killed him before he fired a shot either way Bub,” A.J. continued. “You stayed calm enough to think of skipping over the middle rider and targeting Will. I was glad to have you there with me Bub.”
Bub had always felt he was in charge of running the ranch, no matter what his sister said or felt about her being the one in charge, but he knew he would feel out of place in his first gunfight. He felt a lot better after his brother praised him some. Bub could feel his confidence come back before they got back to the house. He decided to stuff his pipe and have a smoke to try and relax further. As he struck the match to light his pipe A.J. smiled to himself knowing Bub was over feeling sorry for the three dead Farlands.
Soph panicked and started crying at the sight of the three dead men lying across their horses as A.J. and Bub approached the house. Bub immediately dismounted his horse and hugged his sister to comfort her until she felt better about it. As Bub puffed on his pipe he told Soph what had happened. “God please let their souls rest easy,” she finally said as she went back into the house and readied herself for a trip into town.
Bub and A.J. hooked Gwennie up to a buckboard wagon and placed the bodies in the back covered by a bl
anket. Soph hugged each of her brothers before she climbed up onto the wagon seat. She waved as she dropped the reins on the horses back and headed southeast towards town to visit with the sheriff. A.J and Bub watched until she was out of sight. “I hope she will make it back before dark Bub,” A.J. said.
“Me too,” Bub replied. “Even though we fight a lot I hope she knows I love her,” he continued, “I couldn’t picture either one of us without her.”
14
It wasn’t until late the next morning that Bub or A.J. seen any sign of Soph returning in the wagon. The boys had done Sophs chores for her and fried up some ham for breakfast along with making some coffee. Once she made it back to the house they allowed her time to change and clean up as they unhitched the horse from the wagon and fed it.
Soph sat and enjoyed her ham and coffee as Bub lit his pipe and began to puff away on it. “So what happened with the sheriff sis?” Bub finally asked.
“I told the sheriff what you both told me, “Soph said, “he took the bodies to the undertaker and told me to stay in the hotel overnight,” she continued. “He went out to tell the Farlands what had happened. He wasn’t back this morning so I waited a while then came back