Goodnight's Dream (A Floating Outfit Western Book 4) by J.T. Edson Page A

July,’ Wednesbury interrupted. ‘All steers. And can
follow them up at regular intervals as needed.’
    ‘ Will you have sufficient cattle to
keep up a supply, Mr. Goodnight?’ Hunter inquired.
    ‘ In addition to my own ranch, I’ve an
arrangement with John Chisum to fill my needs,’ Goodnight answered,
wondering if he should go on with the scheme he had
planned.
    Before the rancher reached a decision, there
was a knock on the door and a young lieutenant looked inside.
    ‘ Could Mr. Goodnight step outside for a
moment, sir,’ he asked.
    ‘ Excuse me, gentlemen,’ Goodnight said,
standing up.
    After the rancher had left the
room, the men looked at each other. Hayden coughed, then said, ‘Our men will be
selected, not a pack of roughnecks.’
    ‘ I haven’t heard any complaints against
Goodnight’s crew,’ Hunter pointed out. ‘They were rowdy, but did no
damage that wasn’t more than amply paid for.’
    ‘ They’re rebs—’ the veterinarian put
in, still smarting as he thought of how two of them had addressed
him.
    ‘ They’re civilians,’ Hunter corrected.
‘You can’t bawl them out and expect them to take it like
buck-privates.’
    ‘ I’d say the matter is not the behavior
of the men when they get here,’ Vindfallet put in, ‘but whether
they can bring the cattle in. The civil authorities can deal with
how they behave on arrival.’
    Hearing the low mutter of approval from the
commission, Wednesbury and Hayden knew their first line of defense
had collapsed. Then the door opened and they waited for the
resumption of the discussion.
    ~*~
    With a sinking heart, Goodnight walked over
to where the post surgeon was waiting. The rancher knew what
message the other brought, even before the doctor told him that
Loving had died.
    ‘ How was it?’ Goodnight
asked.
    ‘ He was in no pain. In fact he
recovered consciousness just before he died. He asked me to tell
you something—’
    ‘ Yes—?’
    ‘ He said, “Make your dream come true,
Charlie”,’ the doctor answered.
    ‘ Thank you, Doctor,’ Goodnight
said.
    ‘ Are you all right?’ the doctor
inquired.
    ‘ I’ll be all right,’ the rancher
replied and turned to walk slowly back in the direction of the room
from which he had come.
    Thoughts churned at Goodnight as he
approached the door. However, as he opened it, he reached his
decision. It was the one to be expected from Charles Goodnight—whom
the Comanches called Dangerous Man—and which he knew his dead
partner would have approved of. While his scheme might sound wild
and impractical, he felt certain that he could carry it out. So,
although nothing showed on his face, he was seething with
excitement as he returned to the commission.
    ‘ If you want, we’ll cancel the meeting
until tomorrow,’ Vindfallet offered on learning of Loving’s
death.
    ‘ No,’ Goodnight answered.
    ‘ These gentlemen have offered to
deliver fifteen hundred head to us by the end of July, Mr.
Goodnight,’ Hunter said. ‘What do you say to that?’
    ‘ I’ll have three thousand head here, by
the first week in July,’ Goodnight replied. ‘And I’ll put up any
sum of money you ask for as bond against my doing so.’
    Half an hour later, Hayden and Wednesbury
entered their room at the hotel. Hurling his hat angrily on to the
bed, the bigger man let out a savage course.
    ‘ So Goodnight got the contract, Stu,’
Hayden said philosophically. ‘It could be good for us.’
    ‘ How’s that?’
    ‘ When he can’t make it, none of those
other beef-head bastards will try.’
    ‘ Where do we stop him? Here, before he
leaves?’ asked Wednesbury.
    ‘ No thanks!’ Hayden snorted. ‘We’re
going to use better men than that lard-gutted Crutch you paid to
stir up trouble.’
    ‘ How was I to know some damned
blue-belly’d take the Texans’ side in it?’ Wednesbury protested.
‘At least Crutch had the sense not to come back here.’
    ‘ That’s about all he did right. He
didn’t start trouble