Ray awoke just as the sun began to shine through his bedroom window. He stretched, then sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. After taking care of his bathroom business, he slipped on his old, faded, raggedy jeans. He grabbed a flannel shirt, put his arms through, and buttoned it up. He loaded his pockets with the usual crap - wallet, keys, change, a few one dollar bills. Finally, he strapped on his gun belt and slid his guns into their holsters.

He made his way to the kitchen where the strong smells of bacon, eggs, and coffee permeated every crack and crevice. As he sat down, his wife Annie set a plate and a cup of coffee in front of him. She went to the fridge and returned with a glass of orange juice and a glass of milk. He ate and drank everything, thanked his wife, and headed to the door. He stepped into his beat up, mud covered leather boots. They were supposed to be brown, but there was so much dirt covering them that they looked gray. The last thing he did was to put his wide brimmed cowboy hat on and head out the door.

As he made his way to the barn, he looked up at the sky. For the time being, it was clear, but that didn't mean a thing. Out here, a storm could come up at any time. He hoped the weather would stay nice for at least a couple of days while they got started on the cattle drive.

He climbed on his horse and rode out to the pasture where his hundred head of cattle were grazing lazily. He dismounted and opened the gate. He whistled and his two dogs, Mutt and Sampson, came on the run. They were the best cow herding dogs he had ever seen, and he knew they would keep the herd in line.

Ray and the dogs gathered the cattle and ran them out the gate to the road. There, they met up with Charlie and Wayne, who were moving their cattle on the drive, as well. Charlie had one hundred fifty head. Wayne only had seventy five, but even that should fetch a pretty good price for him.

The men greeted one another, then took their positions around the herd and began their journey down the long, dusty dirt road. Raymond noticed that Charlie had his guitar strapped to his saddle bags. He was glad. It would be nice to have some soft music after dinner before they turned in for the night.

They rode all day, driving the cattle as far as they could before having to stop and set up camp. Once they had a nice camp fire going, they heated up cans of beans for supper. After they had eaten and washed their dishes in the nearby stream, they settled back to listen to Charlie play a bit on his guitar. As Charlie played, Raymond started to doze. It had been a long, hard, draining day.

Later that night, Raymond was awakened by the sound of wolves howling. They sounded pretty close. Close enough that the dogs were on guard and barking. Raymond rushed to wake the others. They all grabbed their shotguns and began circling the cattle, trying to see how close the wolves were. It was hard to determine just by sound, because sound traveled a good ways out in the wilderness. They didn't see any wolves, but they also didn't get any more sleep that night.

The next morning, they ate more beans and each an apple, then packed up and headed out. Around noon, they ran out of road. That was okay, they knew that would happen at some point. It wasn't a problem to herd the cattle through the prairie. The trouble would be when they got to the river. They always lost a few head to the river, but there was no choice but to cross it.

Before they got that far, however, they ran across another group of men. These men weren't herding cattle. They said they were heading down to the livestock market to purchase some heads of cattle to begin ranching. Ray and Charlie had an uneasy feeling about these men, but Wayne was more than happy to invite them to ride along with them. Ray and Charlie got him aside, finally, so they could have a talk with him.

"Wayne, what ya thinkin', inviting them to ride along with us? How ya know they can be trusted?," Ray asked.

"Yeah, how ya know they ain't gonna try to steal our cattle or somethin'?," Charlie added.

"Well," Wayne pondered, scratching his chin, "I guess I don't rightly know, but I didn't know what you men was about, either, when I first met ya, and yall was alright."

They couldn't really argue with that sort of logic, and besides, daylight was wasting away while they were stopped. Finally, Ray and Charlie agreed that they could come along. The six men set off again. The new members of the group had yet to introduce themselves, but that would have to wait until camp because everyone was spread out to herd the cattle. The men did help, there was no doubt about that.

They found a place to set up camp, and began heating up some beans for supper. One of the new guys, Neal, commented on how good the food smelled. Ray and Charlie exchanged a quick look. Ray spoke up.

"Well, friend, you welcome to use the fire to heat up yall's dinner, as well."

"Much appreciated, friend, but we ain't got any food to heat up."

"What happened to yall's food?," Wayne asked.

Billy, one of the other new guys, spoke up.

"We had a time crossing the river that was back a few miles," he commented.

Now Ray, Charlie, and Wayne all looked at each other with worried expressions. They knew very well that the river was between them and the market, not them and the town they had just come from.

"Mind if we have a bit of yall's grub friends?," asked Jimmy, the third new guy.

"Well, there ain't much, but I suppose we can spare enough to coat yall's stomachs," Raymond stated. "But I think in the morning you fellas should be on your way, and we will go about ours."

"That's fine," Jimmy said. He reached around behind him as he spoke. "However, we gonna be takin' what's left of that food in yall's bags, as well as about half the heads of cattle you fellas are movin'."

"That ain't gonna happen, fellas," said Charlie. He stood, because Jimmy had stood.

Jimmy brought his hand from behind his back, producing a six shooter. He pointed it at Charlie, while his comrades pulled their guns and pointed them at Raymond and Wayne.

"Guys," Wayne began, taking a couple of steps towards the three men, "can't we talk about this? I'm sure we can work something out."

"Sure we can, sure we can," Billy said. He cocked his gun, and before Wayne could even get his hands up, Billy had shot him in the gut.
Charlie went for his shotgun, but before he could grab it, he heard another shot ring out and then felt heat and pain in the back of his right knee.

"You lucky I ain't shot to kill," Billy told Charlie. "If I didn't need you, I would have killed you."

Billy then turned his attention to Ray, who was standing next to the fire with his hands up.

"Please, can I see about Charlie? I mean, you said you needed us, but he won't be no use to you if I don't stop his leg from bleeding," Raymond pleaded.

Billy considered this request for a moment, then nodded. Ray grabbed a clean shirt from his saddle bag and began ripping it into strips. When he was done, he went to Charlie, cut open his pants leg, and began tying off the wound. He glanced around, trying to see what the outlaws were doing. Billy seemed to have lost interest in Ray and Charlie. He had proven his point, after all.

Ray turned back to Charlie. He found a branch that Charlie could use for a crutch, then helped him stand. He took one more glance around, then whispered to Charlie.

"I'm gonna try to slit their throats in their sleep. No way am I just gonna stand by and allow them to take our cattle!"

"Ray, that is a really bad idea. What if one of them wakes up before you finish the job? They'll kill you, and you got a family back home that needs you to get back to them in one piece."

They both jumped when they heard the gun shot. They turned to look in that direction, and saw that Billy had finished Wayne off.
"I done decided that I don't need yall's help, after all. You two better skedaddle before I make short work of you, too. I would do it now, but I don't wanna waste the bullets," Billy told Ray and Charlie.

Ray untied Charlie's horse and walked it over to where he sat, moaning in pain. He got him up on the horse, but when he went to get his own, Jimmy was standing between him and the horses.

"I just need to get my horse, then we can go," Raymond told him in as calm a tone as he could.

"Well, you see friend, that ain't gonna work for me at all," Jimmy replied.

Ray was already angry as hell at these men for killing his friend and for taking them by surprise like they did. He was usually a great judge of character, but these guys had gotten past his radar, and that really pissed him off. However, he knew that he had to keep his cool, or he and Charlie would end up like poor Wayne. The only good thing was Wayne didn't leave behind a wife and kids. Ray and Charlie would be if something happened to them.

"How we supposed to leave if I can't have my horse?," he asked Jimmy. He was trying to control his tone, but it was getting harder and harder to do so.

"You got a horse, and you lucky you got that one. Only reason we was so nice is because we know your buddy there had himself an accident and can't walk outta here on his own. I suggest you hop up behind him and get on outta here before we change our minds."

Ray turned and went back to Charlie.

"We gotta share your horse. They won't let me have mine," Raymond told him.
As he climbed up on the horse, Neal walked over.

"Whoa, there. You hosses ain't leavin' just yet," he told them.

Ray turned back towards Neal.

"Why can't we leave? We did everything yall said."

"Yeah, but yall are leavin' with some of our property," Neal responded.

With that said, he walked over to them, opened the saddle bag, and emptied the contents. Then he went around and did the same to the other one. All of the food and supplies Charlie had packed were strewn all over the camp site. Raymond and Charlie were sent away with no blankets, no food, no weapons, and no protection as Jimmy, Neal, and Billy even kept the dogs.

Ray headed to the nearest town. He knew Charlie needed a doctor badly. He also knew Charlie would likely lose his leg, if not his life.

By the time he got to the town of Willow Grove, Charlie was unconscious and the horse was spent. Ray stopped in front of the doctor's office. He jumped down, threw Charlie over his shoulder and ran through the door. He laid Charlie on the exam table and the doctor went over to him. Raymond stepped back to let the doctor work.

"What happened to this man?," asked the doctor.

"We ran across some thieves and they shot him. Can you fix him? Can you save him? He's got a wife and five kids. He's a good, God fearin' man. He don't deserve to die, especially like this."

"Well, son, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything. He's lost a lot of blood, and it looks like infection is trying to set in already."

"I gotta go, Doc. Do your best, please. I will be back as soon as I can," Ray told him.

With that, he left the doctor's office. He headed down the street, leading the horse. He got to the stables, and was able to make a deal with the stable keeper to take Charlie's horse in exchange for a rested horse. He also promised the man two heads of cattle when he returned.

He led his new horse two doors down to the saloon. As he entered, several heads turned in his direction.

"Howdy, yall. I wonder if any of you fine people can help me out? I need to buy a couple firearms. Where can I do that in this town?," Ray asked.

One man that was sitting at the bar spoke up.

"That would be at the mercantile, but that don't open 'til morning. You may as well pull up a stool and have a drink, get yourself a room and have a good night's sleep. Then, in the morning, you can get whatever you need."

"That sounds like it would be very nice, but I just don't have the time. Some damn thieves stole our cattle, horses, food, supplies, weapons, and all. They killed one of my friends, and the other one is likely gonna lose a leg. I need weapons tonight," Ray explained.

"You say thieves took all your stuff? Were they three hombres by the names of Billy, Jimmy, and Neal, by any chance?"

"Yeah, that'd be them," Ray replied.

"Come on over here and have a drink. We can have a little talk while we drink," Said the man at the bar.

"No time," Ray told him. "I gotta get back out there and defend the herd. I'm the only one left that can. Besides, the assholes even stole my damn dogs."

"Look, my name is Henry. Have one shot with me, and I think it will be worth your while."

Ray headed to the bar with a sigh. He really could do with a drink, at least a shot of whiskey. Besides, he needed to think about what he was going to do to get back his and the others' property.

Henry ordered them each a double shot of whiskey, and they drank them down. Once that was done, Henry asked Ray's name and he told him. After that, Henry began to speak.

"Ray, my new friend, let me tell you something. Those boys have been terrorizing this town for more than three years now. They have chased children in the streets, burned our crops, stole our horses, and raped our women. I, for one, would be more than happy to go out there with you and try to take care of them once and for all. I know quite a few other men, good men, that would want to help, too."

Ray and Henry went about the town, gathering a rather large group of men, all with weapons, revenge in their hearts, and the element of surprise. At first light, twenty men rode out of town. Ray led the way to where they had set up camp. When they got close enough to see the glow of the campfire in the dim light of dawn, they dismounted and tied up their horses. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if the outlaws heard horses coming.

They snuck up to the camp and circled it, hiding in the brush, and watched. The three men were just waking up. They began rummaging through the stuff they had stolen from Ray and his friends.

"Damn, is that all these assholes eat is beans?," Jimmy asked in a disgusted voice.

"You want the damn beans or an empty stomach?," Billy growled at him. Billy was not a morning person.

"The beans, boss, I'll eat the stinkin' beans," Jimmy said with resignation in his voice.

While they ate, their weapons remained by their sleeping bags. Ray strolled into camp and stopped in front of them, where they had to put their backs to their sleeping bags.

"So, you fellas are still here, I see. I'd of thought yall would've left by now," Ray said in as casual a voice as he could muster.

Billy looked up from his plate of beans.

"I can't believe you came back here! I guess you want some of what your buddies got. That one is still here as a reminder, if you need one," Billy taunted, gesturing to Wayne's body.

That was the last straw for Ray. He attacked Billy, knocking him to the ground. The rest of the men came out of the brush and made quick work of Jimmy and Neal. Ray and Billy were still fighting, rolling around in the dirt. Finally, they regained their feet, and looked at each other.

"That's all you got?," Billy teased.

Ray decided that no, it wasn't all he had. This man had terrorized his friends and him, he had killed Wayne, and he had shot Charlie and might have caused him to lose a leg.

Ray charged once more, this time knocking Billy into the fire. Billy began screaming. Ray backed away, watching Billy burn. Billy got up from the fire and ran towards Ray. He was completely on fire, but yet he still had fight in him. Henry could stand it no longer, and he lifted his gun and put a bullet right between Billy's eyes.

That done, some of the others grabbed blankets and put Billy out, while some others threw dirt on the campfire to put it out. They gathered up all of the food and supplies, then carefully strapped Wayne's body onto one of the horses. Ray wanted to bring him back to town to bury him. Henry tied a rope to Jimmy and Neal's bindings, slipped the other end of the rope over his saddle horn, and looked at the two men with disgust.

"You two had better keep up, 'cuz if ya don't, I'll just drag ya back to town," Henry warned.

Ray looked back at the herd of cattle, concerned about leaving them out in the wilderness all alone.

"Hey, Ray," Henry said, drawing Ray's attention back to him. "Don't worry about your herd. The others will herd them to town for ya, and once you're ready we will help you herd them to the market."

"I don't know how to thank you all for your help." Ray said with tears forming in his eyes.

"No need. We been after these boys for a while and the only thanks we need is to see them in a jail cell."

With that, he got his horse moving. Ray followed his example, and got his horse going, too. Henry had Jimmy and Neal, Ray had the horse that was carrying Wayne's body.

Jimmy and Neal were tried the next day. They were found guilty of many crimes, and were sentenced to death by hanging that afternoon. Just before they were dropped to their deaths, Ray stepped up to them and said,

"This is how things are done in the West."

With that said, the two men were hung.

As soon as Charlie was well enough to ride, he, Ray, Henry, and five other men from town guided the herd out of town and to market, where Ray and Charlie were finally able to sell the cattle and make some money to bring home.

They had never been so happy to see home in their entire lives.