Pritchard nodded and headed back out of the barbershop to continue the fight. He needn’t have bothered.

The shooting had almost entirely stopped, and the huge dust-and-gun-smoke cloud was slowly dissipating. Rangers were walking among the dead, wounded, and dying men. The only firing left was the merciful dispatching of injured horses. Other Rangers rounded up wounded outlaws.

Captain Franchard stood in the street along with Sergeant Finley.

“Reload and stand ready,” Franchard bellowed. Rangers automatically complied.

“Report?” he asked his sergeant.

“All accounted for,” Finley said. “One Ranger dead, four wounded. One of the wounded Rangers, an El Paso boy, probably won’t last the night. No casualties among the townsfolk, although a couple of women have minor wounds, mostly from glass and shrapnel. All of Major Stiles’s men are either dead or wounded.”

Franchard nodded. “Once a watch is set, I want our wounded treated first. All prisoners are to be searched, bound, no matter how badly hurt, and placed under guard. Once that’s done, round up those loose cows, move the wagons, and get a detail to start hauling these dead horses out of town.”

“Yes, sir,” Finley said.

“Hello, Joe,” Franchard said, as Pritchard approached and Finley went off to implement his captain’s orders. “What do you think of our day’s work?”

“I think it could have gone a lot worse,” he said as he reloaded his revolvers. “Day ain’t over, though. Hell, it ain’t even noon yet.”

Maggie joined them from the barbershop, where she’d been helping with the wounded. “I’m sorry about your men, Tom. Another one just died. Miss Bina did all she could.”

“I’m sure she did,” he said. “Don’t fret too much. All Rangers know there could be a bullet waitin’ at the end of every trail. That’s just part of bein’ a Ranger.”

Chapter 45

Chapter 45

By noon, the nine surviving members of the Stiles Gang, including Major Dalton Stiles himself, were tied up. They were either seated or lying down, depending on their wounds, on the wooden sidewalk in front of the saloon. The townspeople, Rangers, and Apache warriors assembled in the street before them.

Not long after the smoke cleared from the battle, thirty Apache braves rode into town. Leading them was a very old tribal elder. The Rangers immediately began to take up arms, but Miss Bina walked out and greeted the newcomers as if they were expected.

“Tell your men they have nothing to fear,” Bina told Franchard.

Franchard ordered his men to stand down, but remain ready. The Apache dismounted, and the elder joined Bina with Franchard, Sergeant Finley, and Maggie.

“What do they want?” he asked Bina.