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Daniel Shaye wasn't all that sure how he and hissons had come to settle in Vengeance Creek, Arizona.Maybe the name had appealed to them. Afterthe Langer gang had robbed the bank inEpitaph, Texas -- killing Shaye's wife, the boys'mother, during their escape -- they had huntedthem down and extracted their vengeance at aheavy cost. The man who had ridden his wifedown with a horse had paid with his life, but notbefore he'd killed another member of the family,Shaye's middle son, Matthew. Vengeance had costthem dearly, so maybe it made sense that they settledsome months later in Vengeance Creek.
That had been over a year ago, and now Shayewas the sheriff of Vengeance and his two sonswere his deputies. Odd how things happened.Shaye had left his job as sheriff of Epitaph behind,feeling that it had, in part, contributed to thedeaths of his wife and son. Arriving in VengeanceCreek penniless and looking for work, he found that the lawman job was open. There had been noelection because no one else wanted to run for theoffice. No one wanted the job. Vengeance Creekhad a rowdy populace, and most of them liked theidea of having no lawman.
Shaye recalled discussing the situation with hissons.
"You want to pin on a badge again, Pa?"Thomas had asked. At twenty-six, he was theolder of the two remaining sons.
"The way I see it," Shaye had said, "we've gotthree options, given the skills we have to workwith. We can hunt bounty, take up the owl-hoottrail ... or pin on badges again."
"Badges?" James, nineteen, asked. "You meanus too?"
"Well," Shaye said, "if I'm the sheriff, you twowill be my deputies. We'll present ourselves to thetown council as a package deal. Whataya say,boys?"
Thomas and James exchanged a glance, andthen Thomas said, "Why not? What have we gotto lose?"
Shaye made his presentation to the town council,and they went for it. He became sheriff, andhis two sons became his deputies.
Now, roughly nine months after pinning on thebadges for the first time, there was some law andorder in town. The "rowdy" element had eitherstraightened up or left. It seemed Shaye's Texas reputation had preceded him, and after he and hisboys had handled the first few altercations, thepeople got the message: You don't step over theline in Dan Shaye's town.
Shaye wondered what the people would thinkif they knew that in his youth he'd been a gunmannamed Shaye Daniels, with a reputation in Missouri,Kansas, and the Indian Territory. It wasmore than likely they wouldn't even recognize thename. But his rep as a lawman -- well, that hadspread since the word got out that he hunteddown not one, but both Langer brothers, andtheir whole gang.
Shaye got up from his desk and walked over tothe window. He looked out at Vengeance Creek'smain street. His boys were out there, making theirrounds. Had it been the right thing to do, makingthem pin badges on again? It had actually beenThomas who killed Ethan Langer, taking revengefor his mother's and brother's deaths. Shaye couldsee the changes in Thomas, changes that killinganother man couldn't help but make. James hadchanged too.
In fact, they'd all changed since leaving Epitaphto hunt down the Langers, and then leaving again,for good. Maybe, he thought, he should have allowedthe boys to make up their own minds aboutwhat they wanted to do. Oh, he'd given them achoice, but they knew he wanted them to take thisjob with him, and they would have died before disappointing him. Perhaps it was time, now, togive them the push to make their own choicesabout their lives.
Then again, as a young man he'd made his ownchoice, and it had been the wrong one. Maybe ifhe'd had the strong hand of a father in his life, itwould have been different. But both of his parentshad died of a fever, leaving him to make his ownway. His boys had lost their mother, but they stillhad a father around to help them.
It was coming up on a year since their motherand brother had been killed. Maybe it was time tosit down and have a family meeting. They were,after all, men, and men deserved the leeway tomake up their own minds ...
Vengeance Creek
Excerpted from Vengeance Creek by Robert J. Randisi
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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