Chapter 11 - When the Town Came for Them
Voss entered Rattler Creek before dawn.
He brought fourteen armed men.
They seized the telegraph office.
Blocked the road.
And demanded Mian, Atseli and Silas Ward.
Nobody surrendered them.
That surprised Voss.
Months earlier, the town would have gladly driven the women away.
Now Thomas Bell stood with a shotgun.
Mrs. Ardell carried ammunition.
The blacksmith barricaded Main Street.
Reverend Pike rang the church bell.
People emerged from houses.
Voss rode into the square.
“Ward brought this on you!”
Silas stepped from the mercantile.
“No, Caleb.”
He looked around.
“You did.”
Voss demanded the ledgers.
Silas refused.
Then Voss raised his revolver.
Before he could fire, a voice came from behind him.
“Federal marshal!”
Nathaniel Cole and six officers entered from the north road.
Voss's men hesitated.
That hesitation ended everything.
Several surrendered.
Others fled.
Voss escaped toward the mountains.
Silas followed.
Boon followed Silas.
Atseli followed both.
Silas turned.
“No.”
She kept riding.
“Still not argument.”
Despite everything, Silas laughed.
They pursued Voss into the snow.
By evening, they found his horse.
Blood marked the saddle.
Tracks led toward Ward Ranch.
Silas's smile disappeared.
Voss was going home.
Not his home.
May you like
Silas's.
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