Kill Crazy Read Free Page B

today?”
    â€œYeah, I did. But he ain’t there, and accordin’ to Earl, he ain’t seen hide nor hair of him since just after lunch.”
    Â 
    Â 
    As Elmer, Woodward, Martin, and Walker were having their impromptu conference, Simon Reid, the subject of their conversation and the man who had been the cause of Elmer’s earlier agitation, was having a business meeting with three men. The meeting was being conducted five miles away from the ranch compound. It was at the extreme west end of Sky Meadow, and its remote location was by design, for the business at hand was cattle rustling. The cattle being rustled belonged to Duff MacCallister.
    â€œAs you can see, I’ve cut out ten of ’em,” Reid said, referring to the cattle that stood stoically nearby. “They’re Black Angus, which is the finest and most expensive cow in the country. Do you have any idea how much these here cows is bringin’ at the Kansas market?”
    The three men Reid was making his pitch to weren’t Sky Meadow cowboys. They weren’t even local men. Creech, Phelps, and a third who called himself Kid Dingo, were from Bordeaux, a town that lay twelve miles north of Chugwater.
    When none of the three answered him, Reid continued his pitch. “Right now, these cows, at the Kansas City market, is bringin’ forty dollars a head.”
    â€œYeah, well that’s interestin’ an’ all, but you may have noticed that we ain’t exactly the Kansas market,” Creech replied.
    â€œAnd I ain’t askin’ for no forty dollars, neither,” Reid said. “I’m just tellin’ you that so’s that you know what a good deal I’m givin’ you. I’m only askin’ twenty dollars a head.”
    â€œWe’ll give you five dollars.”
    â€œFive dollars?” Reid replied, reacting sharply in response to the low offer. “What do you mean, five dollars? Come on, Creech, are you out of your mind? I’m takin’ a hell of a risk by sellin’ these cows to you in the first place. I stole these here cows from Duff MacCallister’s herd, and if you don’t know much about him, well, let me tell you, he ain’t somebody you cross. Besides which, I know you’re goin’ to get at least thirty dollars a head for ’em, when you get ’em back to Bordeaux.”
    â€œWhat we sell ’em for ain’t no concern of your’n,” Phelps said.
    â€œCome on, fellers, me ’n’ you’ve know’d each other a long time,” Reid said, continuing to plead his case. “You ain’t got no call to try and cheat me like that.”
    Creech, Phelps, and Kid Dingo moved away a few feet so they could talk privately. They consulted for a moment; then, nodding, Creech turned back to Reid.
    â€œAll right, we’ll give you ten dollars a head for ’em, but that is as high as we are goin’ to go. That’s a hunnert dollars for you, and we’ll take it from here. All you got to do is put the money in your pocket and ride away,” Creech said.
    â€œA hunnert dollars,” Phelps added, with a smile. “Think of the whiskey and the whores you can buy with a hunnert dollars.”
    â€œAll right,” Reid said. “Give me the hunnert dollars and the cows is yours.”
    The transaction made, Reid pocketed the money and started back toward the barn. He was supposed to be mucking out the stalls. That was a job he hated, but he smiled as he thought of the one hundred dollars riding in his pocket right now. Having that much money would make the job bearable.

Chapter Three
    At the butte where Woodward and the others had told him they had seen the wolves, Duff MacCallister reined up his horse, Sky, then sat in the saddle for a moment as he perused the range before him. Except for roundup, and cattle drives, such as when he would drive a herd down to the loading pens and rail head in Cheyenne, the