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  Reuben’s Revenge

  Reuben and Grace Chisholm led a happy, almost idyllic life on a small homestead. Until one day that was to change their lives.

  While Reuben was in town collecting provisions, he had time for one beer. While in the saloon, he’d heard that their closest neighbours, the Carver family, had been murdered and their home burned to the ground. Reuben’s first thought was for his wife, Grace, alone at the homestead. He had to get back as quickly as possible and protect her. But he was too late. The house had been burned to the ground and there was no sign of his wife.

  He had to find her, but it was five long arduous years before he finally found the truth about that day.

  By the same author

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  Reuben’s Revenge

  Ben Ray

  ROBERT HALE

  © Ben Ray 2018

  First published in Great Britain 2018

  ISBN 978-0-7198-2757-0

  The Crowood Press

  The Stable Block

  Crowood Lane

  Ramsbury

  Marlborough

  Wiltshire SN8 2HR

  www.bhwesterns.com

  Robert Hale is an imprint of The Crowood Press

  The right of Ben Ray to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him

  in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  This one is for my grandson

  Reuben Doyle

  I can't wait for him to get old enough to read it

  Love from Grumpy Dan Dan

  Prologue

  Reuben Chisholm loaded the buggy with supplies, helped by Silas, the store assistant. Sweat was pouring down his back as the temperature rose. Reuben took his Stetson off and, using his bandanna, wiped his head and neck.

  ‘Sure is a hot one, Silas,’ he said.

  ‘Sure is,’ Silas replied. ‘All set now?’

  ‘Yeah, thanks for your help,’ Reuben said as he pulled a tarp over the supplies, securing it to the buggy. ‘Think I’ll grab a quick beer before I set off. Would appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on the buggy. Be seeing you next month, Silas.’

  ‘Sure thing, Mr Chisholm.’

  Reuben walked over to the nearest saloon, pushed his way through the batwings and walked up to the bar counter.

  ‘Howdy, Reuben. Beer?’ the barkeep asked.

  ‘The colder the better, Marvin,’ Reuben replied. ‘Hot enough out there to fry an egg.’

  Reuben downed the beer without even breathing and, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, pushed the mug towards the barkeep. ‘One more, then I must be off,’ he said.

  While the beer was being poured, Reuben leaned back on the bar and took a look around the saloon.

  It was three in the afternoon, so the saloon was filled mostly with old-timers, nursing a beer for as long as possible. Shooting the breeze and, as was their wont, sharing all the gossip.

  Two men closest to Reuben were more animated than the rest, and Reuben overheard some of their conversation.

  ‘. . . an’ heard tell it was a coupla Quantrill’s boys what done it,’ the old-timer said.

  ‘Yeah, I heard that too. Seems they killed the entire family and set their house aflame,’ the second man said.

  ‘Here’s your beer, Reuben,’ the barkeep said as he slid the glass across the bar top.

  Reuben didn’t seem to hear. He took a couple of paces forward and stood by the two old-timers.

  ‘Where’d you hear this?’ he asked.

  The old-timers looked up, eager to share their gossip.

  ‘Coupla fellers riding through this morning,’ one of them replied. ‘I was sitting on my porch minding my own when they rode up,’ he added.

  ‘And where was this attack?’ Reuben asked.

  ‘The old Carver place, just south of here,’ they seemed to answer in unison, their old, rheumy eyes appeared to sparkle as if it was the most exciting piece of gossip they’d had in years.

  ‘I know them,’ Reuben said absently, and a sudden horror flitted across his face.

  The Carver spread was only three miles east of his own place, and Grace was there on her own!

  ‘You tell the sheriff?’ Reuben asked.

  ‘Sure did, said he’d ride on out there later.’

  ‘Later!’ Reuben was disgusted. ‘You seen them two fellers before?’ he asked.

  ‘Nope. Never seen hide nor hair of ’em,’ one of the men answered.

  ‘Describe them,’ Reuben said. ‘Didn’t you think they might be the ones responsible?’

  The two men thought for a while as if getting their brains to work.

  ‘Well,’ one of them started, ‘they both had big, bushy beards. Black ones, I think.’

  ‘Nope,’ the other man said. ‘One of ’em was black, t’other was brown. An’ he was wearing a Confederate hat, kinda dirty an’ well-worn.’

  ‘You tell the sheriff this?’ Reuben asked.

  ‘Nope, he never asked,’ one of the men replied.

  Reuben looked at the two men, disgust written all over his face, and then he stormed out of the saloon and ran to the sheriff’s office.

  He burst into the office and found the sheriff asleep in his chair, both legs resting on the desk in front of him.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Reuben shouted.

  The sheriff sat bolt upright.

  ‘There’s been murder committed and you fall asleep?’ Reuben was angrier than he’d ever been in his life.

  ‘I ain’t too well an’ the doc told me to rest up some,’ the sheriff replied. ‘There’s no way I could ride out today.’

  The sheriff reached into one of the drawers in his desk and brought out some papers.

  ‘Here’s the latest batch of Wanted posters. You’re welcome to them,’ he said. ‘You gotta excuse me, I need the John somethin’ awful.’

  Reuben stuffed the Wanted papers down his jeans and rushed out of the office.

  He had to get home. And fast!

  Chapter One

  He
saw the smoke when he was still a mile away from his ranch-house.

  His worst fears were beginning to become a reality. He only hoped his wife had somehow managed to escape.

  The closer he got, the thicker the smoke. He could see that not only was the ranch-house ablaze, but the barn as well. Any livestock in the barn would be dead before he could get anywhere near.

  He reined his sweating horse and jumped from the buckboard before it had even stopped.

  Running faster than he ever thought he could, he ground to a halt when he saw that his home was completely destroyed. The only remaining part of the small house was the stone chimney.

  He scanned the immediate area but could see no sign of his wife.

  Had she escaped, or had she been burned to death in the house?

  It was too hot for Reuben to get anywhere near the house. He stood as close as he could and peered through the curling smoke, but could not see anything resembling a body.

  He noticed two sets of hoof tracks heading north and vowed to find the scum who had either taken or killed his wife, as well as destroyed his home.

  Suddenly, his misery was shattered by a hail of gunshots. Self-preservation took over and he flung himself flat on the ground.

  He reached for his gun but could see no target. The shots seemed to be coming from two directions. The men were still here.

  But why?

  All thoughts came to a halt as a slug caught the side of his head, just above his left ear.

  Then everything went black.

  Reuben had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, but the sun was slowly sinking to the west, so he figured it must have been at least an hour.

  It took him a while to remember where he was, then it all flooded back to him like a huge, black, tidal wave. His head felt like a herd of buffalo had trampled it, and slowly, he sat up and took stock.

  There was a pool of blood to the right of him and he remembered the shooting, then looked to his left. The full impact finally hit him, and he lowered his head as tears streaked down his face, dripping onto the arid soil.

  Eventually, his crying stopped and he dry-retched for a few moments. Then he knew what he had to do. He could hardly walk. He felt as if the life had been drained out of him. But he made it to the buckboard.

  He knew where his wife would have chosen to be buried if she had been killed, and he needed to do something to clear his head. He chose the flower garden she had so lovingly tended. Taking the shovel from the buggy, he began to dig. The deeper he dug, the more his sorrow began to turn to anger.

  He vowed to himself that he would find the two men who had taken his wife and burned down his house and barn – and killed Reuben on the inside.

  He stuck the shovel into the loose earth when he’d finished the excavation, making sure it was deep enough to keep coyotes from digging it up and walked back to the buckboard and removed a tarp. He spread it into the empty grave.

  Then he began the gruesome task he had been delaying: finding his wife’s body. However, she was nowhere to be seen. No fresh mounds of earth – nothing.

  He started to search again, beginning with what remained of their home, kicking at the still-smoking embers. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere.

  Taking out the Wanted posters he scanned through them. Two men immediately caught his attention: William Clarke and Alexander Adams. The only two who vaguely resembled the old-timers’ description.

  From that day forth he ceased to be a small-time rancher and became a hunter.

  Chapter Two

  That had been five years ago, and Reuben had built up a reputation of being a fair and just man and was respected by the law, and feared by the men who raped, murdered and robbed.

  Wherever he was and whatever he was doing, his mind fought to answer the question: why? All that jumped into his mind was the day he would find his wife.

  Try as he might, he couldn’t get rid of the images that formed behind his closed eyes.He was forced to relive that fateful day yet again.

  He’d collected bounty on a lot of fugitives, using the Wanted posters; he’d memorized every face. It wasn’t just for the hell of it, it was to earn money to keep him free to hunt the two men who had his wife. He only killed when he had no choice. In the main, he liked to take his prisoners in alive, albeit many were wounded as they stupidly tried to outgun him.

  But in those five years, he still had not found a trace of those who had taken Grace. He’d learned from the two old-timers about their appearance, but beards could be shaved, so Reuben kept plenty of Wanted posters in his saddlebags, the law being only too happy to keep him up to date.

  Of all the posters he had, only two wore beards, and these were listed as having been with Quantrill. William Clarke and Alexander Adams!

  The rain was driving almost horizontally, edged with shards of ice and slush, as the lone rider walked his horse, head bowed against the wind; bodies of both man and beast were soaked, despite the slicker and trail coat.

  The man had been a-saddle for four days ever since receiving the telegram giving him the information he’d been waiting for.

  He’d left Tucson, Arizona, immediately, stopping only for provisions for his ride north.

  The heat of Arizona had long been left behind as his journey progressed and he had not come across a single soul since leaving town.

  Through slitted eyes he surveyed the territory, needing to find shelter for the night.

  A flash of lightning briefly lit up a mountain range to his right, no more than two hundred yards, he reckoned; surely there would be some sort of shelter there, he thought.

  Pulling on the reins, he led the animal towards the mountains, forcing his way through the strong wind and the scattering tumbleweed.

  Reaching an outcrop, he headed for the lee side, providing a brief respite from the wind. Lightning struck nearby, and he saw a cottonwood almost explode in flames, despite the torrential rain and slush. Again, the terrain was lit up in an eerie, blue light and he caught sight of what he hoped was a cave.

  For the first time in two days, Reuben’s luck was in.

  The small cave was big enough for both man and horse and, after checking as best he could in the dim light that it was not already occupied by rattlers, scorpions or bears, he dismounted and led his horse inside.

  He was still wary; scorpions and rattlers could hide in the smallest of places so, until he could get a fire going, was keeping his wits about him.

  He took down his saddlebags and fished inside for his Lucifers, knowing in advance they would be dry, wrapped in a small tarp. Striking one, he was both pleased and amazed to see a few tumbleweed and small pieces of wood littering the cave floor.

  But before building a fire, he fished out some oats and barley, tipped them into his hat, and fed the horse. The animal reached down and ate gratefully.

  Keeping his stout leather gloves on, he started to shred the nearest tumbleweed, making a neat pile in the centre of the cave. Placing the small twigs and branches – mostly cottonwood, which was easy to light – he built a fire.

  Within minutes, the glow of the flames lit up the cave and he was able to make out its dimensions and watch for anything crawling. What he didn’t notice was that the roof of the cave was packed tight with bats. The heat and light from the fire roused them from their day-time slumber and within seconds, bats were flying everywhere.

  Reuben Chisholm had faced many critters in his life: cougars, grizzlies, rattlers and scorpions, but his greatest fear had always been bats. Irrational, he knew, but somehow, they made the hair on the back of his head stand up.

  He calmed himself down, taking deep breaths, picked up his Stetson and placed it under the horse’s nose, encouraging him to eat.

  The animal snorted, ears still pinned back tight to his head and the whites of his eyes showing as if he shared his master’s fear. Gradually, the animal began to eat and he lowered the hat to the ground once more and removed his saddle.

  Reuben t
ook out his makings and rolled himself a welcome cigarette and, lighting it with a small twig from the fire – he saw no sense in wasting another Lucifer when he already had a fire – he lit up and inhaled deeply.

  The tobacco took its effect and rattled nerves were calmed.

  Dusk was falling and there was no let-up in the rain, but at least he had a warm, dry place to spend the night. He filled the coffee pot and set it on the fire, took out some jerky, and was content.

  Come first light, Reuben sat bolt upright.

  It took him a few seconds to remember where he was, and a few more before he realized the cave was full of bats, again! This time there was no wild fluttering; the bats made their way to the roof of the cave and within five minutes, silence reigned once more.

  Much as he wanted a hot cup of coffee, Reuben finished the cold pot; he didn’t want those bats flying around him again.

  He stood and stretched his stiff limbs and looked outside. The rain had stopped and there was hardly a breath of wind. The sky was a deep blue and he could see the bright, yellow shafts of sunlight peaking over the distant eastern horizon.

  Time to get going. He saddled up and led the horse outside; there would be plenty of water for his horse to drink, after three days of rain. By his reckoning, it was another two days’ ride, assuming the weather held, before he reached Northfield, Minnesota. Still plenty of time.

  One of Reuben’s many informants had told him something big was going to go down in Northfield within the next week to ten days. He didn’t know what, but was certain it was a fact. Reuben had wasted no time in making tracks; he trusted his informants and they rarely let him down.

  Letting his horse drink at a nearby stream, he had time to ponder. He’d been following the Youngers up and down the West for many a month, always just missing them. Now, as Quantrill’s gang had split up, it appeared they’d teamed up with the James boys. This time he was sure he’d be there before them and make sure they got the hanging they deserved.