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Image: Free Wallpaper from http://www.scenicreflections.com/ ~Sephrena.

Author's Note: Thank you Hope for your encouragement and help in editing. Thank you Sephrena for making the post appear professional. Most of all thank you to all who have commented or left Kudos. For those who have left comments, I answer them with what I hope is something witty and appreciated. ~Barbara.

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Chapter 30: The Sheriff
 
Jesse, Gabriel, and Silver Ears resumed their watch on the rise above the rustler's base. They could see one man standing guard over the men lying face down, but didn't know the whereabouts of the others. The man standing guard would look their direction every so often to see if his friends were on their way back. The companions on the rise was beginning to worry that the sheriff wouldn't get there before the men in the valley became nervous about their missing partners.

They saw two men dressed in white and covered in blood step out of the back of one truck. These must have been the butchers. They walked over and started talking to the man standing guard. They started looking up toward the rise as the guard pointed the direction that the four wheelers had gone. The men took off their bloody aprons and picked up a couple of weapons. The guard went and knocked on the door of the truck until the truck drivers got out. The companions on the rise could only imagine what was being said as the animations of the men kept getting wilder.

Finally, the men climbed back into the trucks and started them. The butchers got into the cab of their truck to get ready to leave. The guard had moved closer to the prisoners. He looked like he was waiting for a signal from the truck. Gabriel cocked his rifle. If it looked like the guard was going to shoot the prisoners, he would try to kill the guard first. “Jesse, when I shoot, I want you to shoot out the front tires of the butchers truck. Then I want you to fall back to the horses. I will try to keep the others from killing the ranch hands.”

“I'm not leaving. I will shoot out the tires of the big rig after it gets closer. That will give us better chance by getting them separated.”

The guard in the valley had just raised his weapon to shoot, when the sheriff's helicopter flew over. The guard put his weapon down and ran toward the big rig as it began to pull off. He climbed on the running board on the passenger side to try and get in. The passenger rolled downed the window and hit the guard with a pistol causing the guard to fall off. The guard was so mad he jumped up and emptied the clip in his weapon into the passenger side of the truck.

Gabriel's father and brother pulled up behind them in their jeep. His brother had jumped out before it stopped rolling at the sound of the gun fire. He laid down beside his brother with his rifle and scope. “The sheriff is another 30 minutes out. The chief deputy has arrested the dispatcher.”

“The helicopter flew over just before you got here. They had a guard on the ranch hands down there and it looked like he was going to kill them. I was going to take him out, but the chopper scared him off.”

“What was all the shooting when we pulled up?” asked Gabriel's father as he took a position beside his youngest son.

“One of the men was getting left behind. He jumped up on the truck and they knocked him off. He unloaded on the truck, and ran off toward the forest.

“You do realize that you are lying next to a wild wolf?” the young rancher asked his dad.

“No, I thought he might have been the Hartman's family pet.”

“More of a neighbor than pet.

“I'll introduce you to my girlfriend when this is over. Right now, we need to stop the trucks and get those inside to surrender. They are heavily armed.”

“Joe, you and Gabriel take out the front tires of the big rig. Jesse?”

“Yes”

“Nice to meet you. You and I will take out the front tires of the smaller truck... On the count of three...One... Two... Three. Fire.” The four rifles sounded as one as each one hit their target. The trucks kept coming as the the tire slowly deflated. They made it two thirds of the way up the hill before the drivers decided that they couldn't go any further.

The butcher and big rig driver bailed out of their trucks shooting toward the family on the rise. The butcher's helper ran toward the forest to get away. “They're not going any where,” said the dad. “lets wait till the sheriff arrives. We'll just take a pot shot to keep them pinned down.”

“Are there any ambulances coming?” asked the young girl.

“There are some, but I don't know how many. Why?”

“All my ranch hands down there are probably dehydrated from not having anything to drink in three days.”

“Don't worry. We'll get them to the hospital.”

About every five minutes one of the Johnstons would take a shot at the trucks. The two men at the trucks would respond with a burst of automatic gun fire. Whenever the helicopter flew over the men would shoot at it. It wasn't much longer until the sheriff officers came up in their jeeps. Mr. Johnston filled the sheriff in on the situation.

“We need to end the this stand off, so we can get those men medical help. Sam, you and Will work your way to the left. Rodney, you and Tom work your way to the right. When your in place put a shot down range. I want these asses alive, so watch where you shoot.”

The sheriff turned to Gabriel and his family, “Lets give these men some cover. The Sheriff and the Johnstons started firing at the rustlers as the men crawled away. When their rifles ran out of rounds, the rustlers returned fire with their automatics. The men eased in to their firing positions and aimed to take out the rustlers. The sheriff and the Johnstons had reloaded and started firing at the bad guys again. This time when they stopped and the villains started to shoot back, the sheriff deputies could see the truck driver and the butcher as they stepped out. The deputies took careful aim as they wanted to incapacitate the villains and take them prisoner.

Sam fired at the truck driver catching him in the thigh. The driver went down howling in pain as the bullet shattered the bone. The butcher seeing the truck driver go down held his hands aloft. He still had his weapon, but he stepped out in the clear and slowly laid the automatic weapon on the ground. He stepped forward of the weapon and knelt with his hands behind his head. The deputies walked to the downed man cautiously with their rifles trained on him in case he tried to pick up the machine gun he was using again. They reach the two villains and kicked their guns away then handcuffed the butcher. They cuffed the driver and let him lie where he fell until the paramedics arrived.

The deputies turned their attention to the cab of the truck, they eased open the door to find that the passenger was already dead. He had been killed by the rustler that was knocked off the running board and had shot up the side of the truck in anger.

The sheriff spoke to the Johnstons and Jesse, “We better see to the men down there. Keep your eyes open for those other two. They may try to come back.”

“Sheriff,” said Gabriel, “there are two more bad guys tied up in the creek bed you crossed just before you came through the gate. And there is another further up the creek that died when he was clothes-lined while riding a four wheeler trying to catch Jesse and me. The other two had four wheelers too.”

The Sheriff looked over to his deputies, “you four go find those others and bring back the four wheelers. Be careful, there are still two other men loose out here. We don't want them finding the quads and escaping. Especially with their cronies.”

The four deputies climbed in a jeep and went to get the part of the gang that the three had caught earlier. The young cowboy helped the girl mount Big Spot, then he mounted his own horse to ride after the jeeps to check on the me in the valley. Silver Ears had lain quiet during all the shooting. The loud noises hurt his ears and he didn't think they would stop ringing for two weeks. Jesse called to him to follow and keep close to her. She didn't know if the Sheriff's men would shoot him. She would call him her pet if that is what it took to protect him from getting killed.

The two riders arrived shortly after the jeeps. The men had cut the prisoners bonds and rolled them over to see if they were alive. Jesse held her breath until the Sheriff stated that they were alive, but just barely. She was glad to see George among the prisoners, but worried over his condition as he seemed to be more frail than the others.

They took the canteens and water bottles from the jeeps and started giving the men sips of water. They wanted to gulp the water, but that would have been dangerous for them. The paramedics arrived in two specially designed ambulances. Because the roads in this area can be cover in snow and sometimes they have to travel further into the back country than a regular ambulance, these ambulances were converted half-tracks. They carried more patients than a regular ambulance and more of the vital medicines needed to keep people alive on a rough trek back to a passable road where they would meet with the more traditional ambulance to send the patient on to the hospital.

The paramedics took over the care of the ranch hands setting up IV's and getting the men ready for transport. When they came to George, the lead paramedic got a worried look on his face. The other men were younger and they were beginning to revive. They had a long way to go, but progress was being made.

George on the other hand was showing signs of sever shock and stress from his ordeal. His age was keeping him from bouncing back like the others. The paramedics quickly placed IV's in each arm to pump in the vital water and electrolytes. They had to be careful not to overwhelm his system, but they needed to bring his hydration up quickly. The sheriff helicopter had landed a few minutes earlier, so they loaded George in the chopper. A quick consultation with the local hospital had George on his way to Helena.

All of the ranch hands were loaded in the half track ambulances for the ride back into town and the local hospital. The paramedics saw to the injured rustler last. They strapped him to a gurney, shot him full of morphine, and put his leg in traction to keep the ends of the bone from rubbing together. He would need surgery on the leg and may never walk the same again.

The deputies had returned with the two men from the creek bed and the body of the third man. “Sheriff, you wouldn't believe how we found these two,” said Will. “The kids had tied 'em face to face with their hands behind their backs. The mean one won't talk and just glares at us. The other one keeps talking about being eaten by wolves. That is all we can get out of him.”

The man that had been tackled by Silver Ears was sitting mumbling to himself when he saw Silver Ears. The wolf looked at him and licked his chops. The man screamed, “DON'T LET HIM EAT ME! PLEASE! I BEG YOU! DON'T LET HIM EAT ME!” He broke into sobs, “Don't let him eat me, Don't let him eat me. Don't let him eat me. Don't let him eat me.

“SHUT UP,” said the surly man. “I told you they won't feed you to the wolf. “ He turned to the deputy, “Can't you get me away from this idiot.”

The Sheriff turned to the kids, “What did you do to that man?”

“We needed to know how many more bad guys we had do deal with until you came,” explained the rancher. “Silver Ears was standing over him and I told him that if he didn't talk that I was going to let Silver Ears eat him. The wolf put on a very convincing act.”

The large male laughed to himself, {Act, I was hungry. Still am.}

“Silver Ears, behave,” said the girl. “We don't want to give the Sheriff the wrong idea.”

The Sheriff turned toward the young woman, “What did you say?”

“Nothing really. I was just telling my wolf to behave.”

“Hmmm. I know you. You're Bill Hartman's tomboy of a granddaughter. You sure grew into a pretty thing. Ole Bill said his dad used to be able to talk to the wolves. I never believed him. Don't tell me you understand the beast.”

“Sometimes it is easier to understand him than it is people.”

“I can understand that,” said the Sheriff.

“I need to call Gail and let her know that George has been found and on his way to Helena to the Hospital”

“Okay, do that and then we will talk about what to do with the other two rustlers.”

Jesse took the satellite phone and called Gail. She gave the older lady a short summary of what has happened so far and that she should go to be with George. The ranch hands can get by one day without her and as the owner Jesse will look after the ranch hands until she gets back.

“What about Merry?” asked Gail.

“I'll call Doc Henley. He won't mind watching her for a few days. I don't know if he has grandchildren, but you'd think a doctor would be able to look after a small girl.”

“Even one as precocious as Merry?”

“That might be a stretch for anyone. I don't know how you do it.”

“She's a sweet girl and not much worse than my young'un. I had a hard time keeping her from running after her daddy when she was that age. Why aren't you coming straight back?”

“Two of the rustlers managed to escape. I'm going to stick around with Silver Ears to help the sheriff find them.”

“Silver Ears?”

“Merry's daddy. He's very keen at tracking.

“Let me get off here and call the Doc.”

The young girl called her friend, Doc Henley and arranged to have the wolf pup picked early the next morning. The doctor would take her into the hospital for full x-rays and MRI to send to the doctor in Helena. The MRI was used when the hospital bought it from a larger hospital, but it met most of the needs of the small community. Anything more life threatening or needing better imaging was sent to the larger hospital. Still, it'd give Dr. Jones a good idea of what to look for when Jesse brought Merry in to see him.

The young wolf informed Gail so she could pack for herself her daughter and the pup. The young lady turned her attention to the sheriff. “When are we going after the two that got away.”

“I don't know what you mean by we. You are going to stay behind where it's safer. I don't need a silly girl to watch out for in these woods.”

“In case you forgot Sheriff, we can find these men quicker if we let Silver Ears track them, and I'm the one who understands the wolf. He is my friend and I don't want your blundering deputies to shoot him by mistake.”

“I take offense at that remark.”

“Like I took offense at your stupid remark.”

“Wait a minute...”

“No, you wait Sheriff. This is my ranch and they were my cows. It is my responsibility to protect it and the animals that live on it. If you can't live with that, I suggest you pack up and leave it to my friend and me.”

“Now what chance does one small girl and a her wolf stand against two armed men?”

Jesse looked at the Sheriff, “You don't know me well enough to know what I am capable of. As for my wolf friend...” She threw her head back and howled as only a wolf could howl. Silver Ears followed in kind.

“You think you can scare those men with a couple of howls?”

“Wait a minute, Sheriff.”

Off in the distance there was an answering howl. Another howl was heard from opposite direction. Soon, there were howls all around. “I believe my pack has arrived. Any questions Sheriff?”

“Your pack?”

“Yes, my neighbors, friends, and family. The two men won't get far.”

“It's getting dark and I don't feel like hunting those men in the dark.”

Mr. Johnston intervened in the conversation between the Sheriff and Jesse. “Look you two. It wasn't the sheriff's fault that his dispatcher was mixed up in this crowd. He did come when we called him direct. And you Sheriff, need to ease up on Jesse. If she hadn't come looking for her ranch hands you wouldn't have caught these men. I agree it's getting too dark to hunt for the two that got away, but we have an advantage.

“Jesse and her... family can see better in the dark than the rest of us, so here is what we are going to do...”

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To Be Continued...