Vengeance in the Ashes by Johnstone William W

Author:Johnstone, William W. [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 2014-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Wichita Falls, Texas.

“As far as I can tell, Ben, we’ve pretty much cleaned out Hoffman’s infiltrators—at least in this state,” West said. “Dan’s boys and girls just wiped a station down around Fort Stockton. The outpost up in Wichita Falls held and beat back several attacks. As soon as they’re resupplied, they’ll be in good shape. I’ve ordered supplies in.”

Ben nodded his head and opened a map case. “I’m ordering the immediate evacuation of all Rebel-held outposts south of a Nacogdoches-Waco-San Angelo-El Paso line. I’ve ordered Ike and his teams to blow every bridge in this area. I’m going to make extreme southwest Texas impassable. Beginning here, just south of El Paso, everything south of I-10, from the Rio Grande east to 277, will be a no-man’s-land. If that goose-stepping son of a bitch wants Texas, he’s going to have to cross over down here.” Ben hit the map. “Now, he might come up through California, Arizona, or New Mexico. If he does, he’s going to find some damn rough and slow going. The roads and bridges running along the border from San Diego to El Paso will soon be virtually impassable. I—”

“General,” Corrie stuck her head into the room. “Some . . . ah, people here to see you, sir.”

“Who are they?”

“Cowboys, sir.”

“Cowboys?”

“Yes, sir. Their colonel says they number about five hundred in all. I mean, they’re not riding horses. But they’re all dressed in boots and big hats. They’re all in pickups and Jeeps. They are a, ah, formidable-looking force, sir.”

“I have to see this,” West said.

“Me, too,” Ben said.

The men walked outside.

The first thing Ben noticed was the small group of men waiting for him were all dressed alike. Blue jeans and brown western-style shirts. And cowboy boots. He was relieved to see none were wearing spurs. A tall, rangy man broke from the group and walked over to him, holding out his hand. Ben shook it.

“Ned Hawkins, General Raines. Commander of the Texas Rangers. At your service.”

“The . . . Texas Rangers?” Ben questioned.

“Yes, sir. We’ve been forming and training in secret for just about a year now. Around and just north of the Big Bend country.” He smiled and Ben felt it was genuine. He took an immediate liking of the fellow. “We have all sorts of folks in this battalion, sir. We weeded out any who can’t get along with other people ’cause of skin color. We had about fifteen hundred to start out. We have just over five hundred who made it through.” His grin widened. “And I’m proud to say that we’re all from Texas. The only thing I’d ask of you is to allow us to fly our Texas flag alongside the new flag of the United States.”

“How come my people didn’t detect your movement north, Ned?”

“We came up here to north Texas just before you and your Rebels arrived, sir. We didn’t want you to think we were a hostile force. We, ah, know that the Rebels often shoot first and ask questions later.

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