Page 17
"Ohlson won't be coming back," Bradburn yelled," he's on his way to Louisiana." The men greeted this news in shocked silence.
"I shall be sending a telegram to Dayton, who, as sure as hell WILL be coming back." The cowboys began to chatter excitedly and Bradburn saw the fear on most of the faces.
"Listen up..QUIET," he yelled.
When silence had been restored he again raised his voice.
"I've got a proposition for you. We all know what a fire-bellied religious fanatic Dayton is. If I tell him exactly what's been going on here, he'll probably have the lot of you flogged and driven out of the territory. He's rich and powerful enough to do it, and you probably deserve it." Bradburn let this sink in for a few moments before he continued,
"If, on the other hand, you promise to keep your mouths shut, I could tell him that Ohlson just took himself off. Nothing more."
There was then more excited chatter until Bradburn bawled,
"Quiet, that's enough."
When he once more had their attention he said,
"Okay, those in favour of me telling Dayton the whole truth, raise their hands."
The cowboys looked at each other nervously but none raised their arm.
"Okay, those prepared to keep their mouths shut?"
All hands shot up and Bradburn felt a huge sense of relief.
"I'll telegram Dayton later today. In the meantime we need to select a new foreman, who's it to be?"
For a moment the cowboys looked nonplussed, then someone shouted,
"How about Walt?"
There was a chorus of shouts and Bradburn raised his arm for silence.
"Okay, let's vote on it. Whose in favour of Walt?"
Only three hands were not raised.
"Well, Walt it is," Bradburn said and there was a loud cheer.
He signalled for Jose to climb down and Walt came up to him, grinning from ear to ear.
"No hard feelings, eh Marshal?"
"No Walt, if you can lead men as well as you can fuck 'em, you should do well. See they keep their
word though, it will be real bad for any any them that don't."
"Don't worry Marshal, some of these men ain't very bright, but none of 'em is that dumb."
Chapter 19
Back at the Rugero ranch Bradburn peeled off his blood stained shirt and handed it to Sanchez.
"The welts are drying up Abe but you need to get them cleaned."
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," the Marshal replied as Sanchez handed him a fresh shirt.
Bradburn pinned on his badge then snapped,
"Where's Corky?"
"In the kitchen," Sanchez replied, "but go easy on him Abe."
Bradburn looked at the bruised and cut face and, throwing his arms around Sanchez, pulled him into a rough embrace.
"Thanks for what you did out there Sanchez."
"That's what friends are for, Abe."
Corky was sitting at the kitchen table, his chest and back swathed in bandages and his right arm in a sling. As he raised his pale face, Bradburn saw the fear glittering on his eyes.
"I'm sorry Abe...I.."
"Shut up, you little bastard. You and I have nothing to say to each other. If you weren't injured, I'd beat you to pulp," Bradburn snarled, then noticed Jose's mother hovering anxiously.
"Thank you Senora, I'll take care of him now."
She bowed and quietly left the room.
"Where's your shirt" Bradburn snapped, and Corky nodded towards the chair at the other end of the table?
The blood had been rinsed out and it had been washed, ironed and neatly folded. Bradburn snatched it up, ripped off the Deputy badge and slung it around Corky's shoulders.
"Get up, we are leaving."
"But..?"
"Don't tempt me Mister, up and move."
Bradburn led Corky out of the ranch house and Jose fell into step beside him, as he led him to his horse. They heaved Corky into his saddle and the Rugero family came out onto the porch to silently
watch the three horsemen ride slowly away.
As they rode into Tyler the townsfolk stared but kept their distance. They hitched their horses outside the Jailhouse and, helping Corky down, led him inside.
"Jose get the bastard's things packed while I go see Virgil. The stage leaves in about an hour and I want him on it."
Bradburn knew that if he wanted anything broadcast around the town, just tell Makepeace. The little man listened intently to the Marshal's tale of pursuit and ambush and Bradburn had to admit to himself that it sounded very convincing.
"So Mr Drew wants to quit, you say?"
"Yeah, he plans to go back to the railroads, says the pays a damn sight better and its a whole lot safer."
"I'm sure it is. He's a fine young man and I'll be sorry to see him go."
Bradburn bit back an angry retort and marched out of the shop.
When they took Corky down to the stage, Bradburn's heart sank. Virgil had done his job well and a group of well-wishers had gathered to see Corky off. There was a lot of tears, handshakes and fuss, and Bradburn stood by, tense and tight-lipped. Corky was eventually ensconced in the stage and, as it pulled away, Bradburn gave a huge sigh of relief. Then seeing that the well-wishers were about to turn their attention to the Marshal, Jose grabbed his arm.
"Come on Abe, let's get out of here."
Jose locked the Jailhouse door as Bradburn went up the creaky stairs to his room. He had already tugged off his shirt and was sitting on the bed tugging off his boots when Jose joined him.
"Where do you keep the towels" he asked as he poured water into the washbasin.
"Under the stand there," Bradburn replied, peeling off his borrowed levis and sinking back onto the bed with a sigh. Jose found a neatly folded pile of towels on a shelf beside a shallow enamel sterilising bowl, containing a scalpel and a couple of surgical needles. There was also two dark green cork-stoppered bottles.
"What's in the bottles, Abe?"
"Ah, that's my bullet wound kit. One's white spirit and the other iodine."
"Just when you need for those cuts Abe," Jose said.
He uncorked one, checked it was iodine, then said,
"Okay Abe, over on your belly."
Jose carefully washed away the dried blood and saw the big purple welts had began to sudside and the cuts were shallow, mostly just broken skin.
"Bad news is, this is going to sting like hell."
"What's the good news, if any?"
"You won't be left with any scars."
"Thank you Doctor Rugero. Ahhhhh."
After his first yelp, more from surprise than pain, Bradburn lay still and quiet.
"Okay, that's done, now over on your back."
"My God, Jose gasped, looking a Bradburn's groin. His lower belly and thighs were an angry dark red, his beuatiful cock, although tumsecent, was badly bruised and his huge balls almost purple. Also there were scores of tiny beads of blood made by the studs. As Jose swabbed away the blood, Bradburn hissed with pain.
"Sorry Abe, but you'll feel much better when I've finished."
"Thanks once again, Doctor Rugero," Bradburn said, managing a weak smile.
Finally Jose folded the towel and, putting it aside, leaned forward to suck the Marshal's delicious glans into his mouth.
"No," Bradburn said sharply. Jose pulled back as if he'd been slapped.
"What's wrong Abe, I just...?
"Sorry Jose, things have changed," Bradburn said, pulling himself up and swinging his legs to the floor. Jose's heart sank like a stone as the Marshal slumped forward and rested his wrists on his knees.
Bradburn saw the anguish on Jose's face and dropped his head as he whispered
"Ohlson fucked and beat me until ..I.."
"I can see that Abe but its over now. What's wrong?"
Bradburn's head dropped further forward and Jose saw that his neck was flushed red.
"He broke me like you would a young stallion. He....
There was a long pause and Jose waited, breathless.
"He mastered me."
"Okay Abe, you were helpless and he tortured you, that's over now,"
"It isn't Jose...." There was another even longer pause before Bradburn lifted his head and his dark eyes locked with Jose's.
"No, listen Jose, in the end I wanted him to."
The cropped head dropped forward again and Jose felt excitement begin to warm his belly.
"What are you saying Abe," Jose whispered?
Bradburn made no reply and, as the silence lengthened, Jose said, the excitement making his voice crack,
"You want me to......?"
Bradburn reached down and yanked the heavy studded belt out of Viking's levis.
"He used this on my balls. I want you to do the same and make as even better job of it. But they've
taken as much punishment as they can right now. Guess you'll have to settle for my ass."
As he took the belt, Jose's heart began to race and his body thrum with lust.
"You can use a towel to gag me and you'll find some rope in the closet."
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