Chapter Three
Chaos erupted.
Everyone in the hall panicked and rushed to get out of the way. They knew how dangerous Ben could be and feared the shooting might start at any minute.
Jim was ready to help Walker, but one of Ben's ranch hands forcefully grabbed him and held him back, and when Chet set Stacy aside to join in the fight, two of Ben's other men stopped him.
The fight was a fierce one.
Roni looked on in horror. She had never witnessed such a savage battle before. She was aware of the murmuring going through the crowd around her, and realized to her disgust that most of them were blaming Walker for the fight and hoping Ben would win, and that Ben's men were actually cheering him on. Wanting to do something to help, she hurried to Stacy to make sure she hadn't been injured.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No, no, I'm all right. I just wish I had my gun with me so I could break this up!"
Stacy was frantic as she looked around for something she could use as a weapon. She spotted some chairs pushed back against the wall and had just started to get one when Mark Davis, a deputy from town who was attending the dance, stepped in. He recruited some of the men in attendance to help him restrain Ben's ranch hands and break up the fight. It wasn't easy, but they finally managed to drag Ben and Walker apart.
"What do you want us to do with them?" one of the men asked as he struggled to hold on to Ben.
"Get them out of here!" Deputy Davis ordered, wanting to restore peace.
Ben and Walker were trying to break free, ready to go after each other again, but the other men forced them out through the front door. Ben was fighting so hard to get away, they had to physically throw him into the street to slow him down. Bloodied and furious, he landed heavily in the dirt and lay there glaring up at them. He was tempted to draw on them, but he was outnumbered.
"Get out of here, Thompson!" the deputy ordered as he went to stand over him, his hand resting threateningly on his gun. He had little use for the drunken, low-life rancher. Ben had been a source of trouble in the area for as long as Davis could remember. "Go sober up!"
Ben said nothing as he got to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. They might have thrown him out of the dance, but he was already planning his next move. He cast one last glare Walker's way, threatening, "This ain't over, Stevenson."
"You're right. It's not," Walker replied, not backing down.
The drunk moved off into the night.
Deputy Davis turned to the men who were still restraining Walker.
"What do you want us to do with him?" they asked him.
"Let him go."
They did.
Walker stood there, waiting to hear what the deputy was going to say next.
"Go on back inside for now." The deputy knew there was a definite risk of more trouble if he didn't keep the two combatants separated.
Walker turned and was just starting back into the hall when Thompson's ranch hands came out to follow their boss. They exchanged threatening looks, but said nothing as they passed each other. They knew better than to trade barbs with the deputy standing right there.
"Where'd Ben go?" Mick asked Deputy Davis.
"To sober up. You boys should go do the same. I don't want any more trouble in town tonight or you'll all be waking up in jail tomorrow morning."
Grumbling, they moved off to find Ben and see what he wanted them to do next. They had a feeling, no matter what the deputy said, the fight wasn't over.
Walker entered the hall to find all the other people standing back, watching him suspiciously, and one of the men from town keeping the crowd restrained.
Deputy Davis followed him in and went up front to announce, "All the excitement's over, folks. Go on back to having a good time. Musicians, let's get some music going!"
The musicians did just that and the mood in the room relaxed a bit. The crowd of onlookers went back to enjoying themselves, although more than a few cast troubled looks Walker's way, clearly wondering why he hadn't been thrown out of the dance along with Ben Thompson.
Roni managed to reach Walker first, followed by Stacy, Chet and Jim. "Are you all right?"
"I'll live." He'd been in far worse fights over the years and was more concerned about his sister. He looked at Stacy. "How are you?"
"Fine, now that Ben's gone," she told him quickly.
"Good." He was glad she'd come to no harm at Ben's hands.
"That man is nothing but an animal," she said in disgust, remembering how horrible it had felt to have Ben's hands upon her.
"He won't be bothering you anymore," Walker promised, his tone serious.
"Where did he go?" Chet asked.
"Deputy Davis and the other men ran him off and told him to sober up."
"Good. We don't need any more trouble tonight," Jim remarked.
"We don't need his kind of trouble—ever," Stacy insisted. She looked up at her brother. "Walker?"
He gazed down at her and saw the concern in her eyes. "What?"
"Thank you."
He nodded, remembering the promise he'd made to their father on his deathbed to protect her and keep her safe.
"Come on, darling," Chet told Stacy. "Let's dance."
"I'd like that," she agreed, going into his arms.
Roni stayed with Walker as they moved off to the side of the room with Jim.
"Why did Ben Thompson deliberately want to pick a fight with you tonight?" Roni asked. Violent behavior always troubled her.
"He hates us because the Dollar is so successful. My father had trouble with him in the past. Before he died, he warned me that Ben might be behind some of the rustling that's been going on."
"Well, let's just hope Ben gets out of town and stays out of town for a while."
"That would be good. Real good, because I want to finish my dance with you."
Roni smiled up at him in delight. "That's right. We were interrupted, weren't we?"
He took her hand and led her out to join the other couples. When the music ended, they reluctantly started back to join Jim, and Roni noticed a woman standing with him, looking anxious and worried.
"Dr. Reynolds, I'm Polly Hathaway," the woman began earnestly when she drew near. "I need your help. It's my son—"
"What's wrong?"
"He's started running a terrible fever—"
"Let's go see him right now," Roni offered without hesitation. She turned to Walker and Jim, regretfully telling them, "I have to go."
They said good-bye and watched as she hurried from the hall with the mother to tend to the sick young boy.
"I don't know about you, but I could use a drink right now," Jim said. "Why don't we head over to the Ace High?"
"That sounds good," Walker agreed. With Roni gone, he could see no reason to stay at the dance.
They made a quick exit, glad to get away.
On the far side of the hall, one of the young ladies from town, Christie Miller, was upset as she watched Walker leave with Jim.
"I can't believe it," Christie said in a disheartened tone as she looked at her friend, Sandra Welch. "I waited all night for the Ladies' Choice Dance, and when it's almost time, Walker leaves."
Sandra understood her friend's disappointment. Christie had been talking about the handsome rancher and wanting to dance with him all night long. Knowing Christie's parents as she did, though, Sandra realized Walker's leaving was probably the best thing that could have happened.
"There are a lot of other men here you can ask to dance when the time comes," Sandra told her.
"I know, but I wanted to dance with Walker. He's so—"
"Good-looking?"
"Yes," she agreed quickly, an image of the tall, lean, darkly handsome rancher going through her mind.
"But you have to remember what your father would say about your dancing with him. You know how he feels about Walker being a half-breed."
"I know, but he is a Stevenson and he's rich. That should count for something, wouldn't you think?"
"Not with your father it doesn't, and not with a lot of folks around town. They don't approve of Walker."
"I know you're right, but I was still hoping to get the chance." The fact that her parents disapproved of Walker had made him all the more exciting to Christie, but that didn't matter now that he was gone. Disappointed though she was, Christie started looking around the hall at all the eligible bachelors, planning her strategy for claiming a dance partner as soon the Ladies' Choice was announced.
Ben met up with his men in a dark alley on the far side of town.
"What are you going to do, Boss?" Mick asked. He knew Ben well enough to know his fight with the half-breed was far from over.
"Yeah, you can't let Walker get away with this!" another man added.
"You're right. He's not going to get away with it." The pain and humiliation Ben was feeling were driving him on. It had been bad enough that Walker had been getting the best of him in the fight at the dance, but then when the deputy had let the half-breed stay and had thrown him out, he'd been beyond furious. "I'm not through with him yet. I'm going to be there waiting for him when he heads over to the hotel. He told me I was going to 'pay the price,' but tonight, he's the one who's going to be paying up."
"But what if he's not alone?"
Ben turned a deadly look on the man who'd asked the question. "Then the people with him will learn a lesson about how to pick their friends."
"How soon do you think he'll be showing up?" Mick asked.
"I'm heading over there now. I only need a few of you with me. The rest of you can go on back to the ranch."
"Why don't you just shoot him and be done with it?" another ranch hand asked.
Ben laughed. "Shooting him would be too easy. I want him to feel this and remember it."
A few minutes later, Ben and the men who remained with him took the back way across town. They positioned themselves in the dark passageways in the area around the hotel to keep watch.