Texas Kill of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.; Johnsto]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2020-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sidewinders’ hideout

“I’ve got another job for us,” Catron said.

“More horses or another bank?” Dawkins asked.

“Neither. It’s going to involve cattle.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Professor,” Jory Gibbons said. “Me ’n Dooley has both cowboyed some. Hell, we even pushed a herd up into Kansas, ’n that’s when I learned that me ’n cows don’t get along all that good. ’N if we was to steal some cattle, we’re goin’ to have to drive ’em somewhere, that’s for sure.”

“When you made your foray up into Kansas, how much were you paid?” Catron asked.

“Thirty dollars a month and found. Took us two ’n a half months so when we was paid out, we drawed seventy-five dollars.

“The job I have in mind will pay you many times that, and you won’t be directly involved with the cattle for any more than a couple of days.”

“You’re talkin’ ’bout rustlin’ cattle?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve done some rustlin’ before,” Gibbons said, “’n when you rustle cows the first thing you got to do is get ’em away quick so’s that no one sees ’em ’n sees where they come from. Then you got to find someplace to sell ’em. Any cows we steal here would more ’n likely have to be took as far away as San Antone, or maybe up to Dodge City or some such place. ’N that sure as hell takes more ’n a couple o’ days. Then generally the folks you can sell ’em to will know they are stoled cattle, so they won’t hardly give you nothin’ for ’em.”

Catron shook his head. “Do you remember how easy it was with the horses?”

“Yeah.”

“Taking the horses was simply a test to see if the operational plan would work. It worked to perfection, so now all we have to do is apply those same procedures to rustling the cattle.”

“So, what you’re a-sayin’ is, rustlin’ these here cows you’re talkin’ about ain’t goin’ to be no harder than it was to steal them horses?” Gibbons asked.

“Only marginally so,” Catron said. “And the reward will be significantly greater.”

“You know what, Professor? Whenever you talk, most o’ the time I ain’t got no idea what it is that you’re actually sayin’, so’s I’m goin’ to ask you to say it in words that I can understand,” Jory said.

“Because there will be several cows involved, this operation will be only a little more difficult than moving the horses was, but we won’t go much farther than we went with the horses. And this operation will pay a lot more money to each of us than the business with the horses paid.”

“You mean like maybe over a thousand dollars?”

“Quite easily so.”

“Well, all right then,” Jory said with a broad smile. “I’m ready to go. When is it, exactly, that we’re goin’ to take them cows? ’N where are we goin’ to take ’em from?”

“We didn’t take the horses until we had them sold. It will be the same thing with the cattle. We will take them when we have sold them.

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