'Other Men's Horses'

Cletus Slocum stole Donley Bannister's best horse and crip pled it. Now Slocum lay facedown in the dirt, as dead as he would ever be. Bannister was known locally as a horse trader, finding them in faraway places and bringing them to the West Texas hill country for sale. He could recognize a good horse as far as he could see it, and spot a blemish from fifty yards. He loved horses as other men might love a woman. The blue roan, he thought, was one of the best he had ever owned. The four Slocum brothers— three now that Cletus was gone— also had a reputation for knowing good horses, steal ing them when and where they could. They had gone unpun ished because law officers had not been able to bring a strong case to court. It was difficult to persuade a witness to testify against one of them, knowing that to do so was to invite an unfriendly visit by the other three. Bannister did not wait for the law to act. He pursued Cle tus across the rockiest ground along the South Llano River. He caught up with him when the roan stumbled and went down, breaking a foreleg. While witness Willy Pegg trem bled and begged for his own life, Bannister put an end to Cletus's dubious career. He felt no remorse over the man, but his heart was heavy with pain when he shot the crippled roan...read more