1944 - Just the Way It Is (24 page)

Duke slowed down. ‘I can’t leave the car in the road,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to take it over the field and hide it up some place. Maybe you all had better walk, otherwise my springs’ll go.’

He went on after they had got out and bumped cautiously over the field. Clouds of dust rose from the parched ground, covering the car and himself in a fine white powder. He couldn’t see where he was going and he cursed as the wheel jerked and pulled trader his hand.

Finally, however, he reached Casy’s house. Kells was standing at the gate and Casy was on the porch.

‘Can I get round the back?’ he called. ‘I want this out of the way.’

‘Sure,’ Casy said. ‘Shove her through the fence. It won’t last much longer anyway.’

Duke nosed his way up to the fence, put a little more pressure on the gas pedal and ironed the fence flat. He jolted across the rough mud patch, swung the car round the back of the house and stopped. He climbed out and walked round to the front again.

‘Who’s coming?’ Kells asked, squinting through the dust.

‘Schultz’s girl and Joe, Miss Russell’s along with ‘em too.’

‘What’s this - a party?’ Kells asked in disgust.

‘Listen, pal,’ Duke returned, ‘Schultz’s knocked off Peter Cullen. The girl feels bad about it. Will you watch your mouth?’

‘What girl?’

‘Miss Russell,’ Duke said, patiently.

‘Cullen dead, eh? What did Schultz want to kill him for? Not that it grieves me. I had no use for that guy.’

‘Never mind what use you had for him,’ Duke said, his eyes cold. ‘Just lay off him, will you?’

Kells gave him a quick look. ‘Sure,’ he returned, hastily, ‘I wouldn’t speak out of turn.’ He hitched his trousers up. ‘Well, I must say you’ve done a swell job of work. These guys are like a lot of grasshoppers, jumping mad to kill someone.’

Casy joined them. ‘Mr. Duke,’ he said, shaking hands. ‘That was a swell assortment of guns you sent up, but I ain’t quite clear about this. We ain’t killing anyone, are we?’

Duke scratched his head. ‘I guess so,’ he said. ‘We’ve got every right. If they attack us, we’ll just let ‘em have it. It’s self-defence and besides I took the precaution of getting myself sworn in as a deputy sheriff, so we’ve got some legal covering.’

‘That’s a load off my mind.’ Casy spat into the dust. ‘I didn’t want these guys to get themselves into trouble.’

‘We’ll be having visitors in a little while,’ Duke said. ‘I want to be prepared. Are you keeping ‘em out of Pinder’s End or don’t you want a fight on your hands?’

Casy’s eyes hardened. ‘What sort of a fight?’ he asked.

‘A pretty tough one. Maybe, some of us’ll get hurt. These boys don’t play at it. Spade’s mob is tough.’

Casy scratched his beard. ‘If it wasn’t for the women and kids, I’d say yes.’

Duke took a roll of notes out of his pocket. ‘Tell ‘em to clear out for the day. Tell ‘em to take this money and go down to the Clarion offices. If they ask for Sam Trench, he’ll fix ‘em up.’

Casy looked relieved. ‘You’ve got a head piece on you, mister,’ he said. ‘We’ll fight.’

‘Okay.’ Duke looked relieved. ‘There’s lots to do, Casy. Get the women and kids off first. Then get your boys here with the guns and slugs. I want to talk to them.’

Casy went off fast, dust spurting up under his great feet as he broke into a shambling run.

Kells tilted his hat farther over his eyes. ‘Do you think they’ll fight?’ he asked, looking across the field.

‘Wouldn’t you for five hundred grand?’ Duke returned. ‘I bet they don’t fight at once. They’ll come in the night. I know Korris. He ain’t got the stomach to come out in the daylight.’

Clare, Joe and Lorelli joined them.

Duke introduced Kells to Clare. She hardly looked at him, but stood staring at the ramshackle houses and at the women and children who were bustling about getting ready to leave.

‘What’s the matter with her?’ Kells whispered to Duke. ‘She looks like she’s run her face up against a wall.’

Duke scowled at him. ‘You know Joe and the chicken woman?’

Kells smiled at Joe. ‘That face suits you,’ he said. ‘You ought always to wear it.’

Joe said something under his breath and Lorelli flared up. ‘You lay off,’ she snapped. ‘He wants fixing. Isn’t there some place where I can do it?’

Just then Casy returned and he took Lorelli and Joe into his house.

Clare hesitated and then followed them. Duke looked after her, shaking his head. ‘She’s in a bad way,’ he said to Kells.

When Casy came out, the women and kids were ready to leave. They went off in a body, some thirty of them, over the fields at the back of Pinder’s End. It was the longest way round, but Duke thought it would be safer. By going that way they would bypass the dirt road and would not be likely to run into Korris and his mob.

Duke, watching them go, wondered what Sam would say when they walked in on him. He’d have given a lot to see Sam’s face.

‘Well, come on, get your boys together,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a lot to do and not much time.’

‘What about Jetkin?’ Casy said. ‘Does he know what to do?’

Duke looked at Kells. ‘Maybe you’d better take a couple of guys with Thompsons and relieve Jetkin. If anyone comes up the road, stop them and turn them back. Don’t start shooting unless you have to.’

Kells looked across the broad field. ‘Hell!’ he said. ‘You don’t want me to walk all that way, do you? Why can’t this guy go.’ He jerked his thumb at Casy. ‘He’s used to the dust.’

Duke bunched his shoulders. ‘You said you’d work for five hundred grand. This is where you start. Get off!’

‘Who do you think you are? Stonewall Jackson?’ Kells asked, but he went.

TWENTY-FIVE

W
hen Lorelli had fixed Joe’s nose, she threw the red-tinged water down the sink, put away the towel she had been using and then inspected her handiwork.

Joe hid behind a large plaster bandage. All she could see of his face were two glowing eyes. He looked as mean as a rattlesnake.

‘Well, come on,’ she said, briskly. ‘This is the house and we may as well start looking.’

Joe gritted his teeth. His wrist still hurt him and his nose gave him hell. The prospect of searching the house didn’t appeal to him. ‘You leave me alone,’ he said, sitting down, ‘I want to rest.’

‘You’ll have a lifetime to rest if we find this money,’ Lorelli said, tartly. ‘So come on, you lazy lug.’

Joe just sat and glared at her. ‘Leave me alone,’ he snarled.

Clare, who had been standing by the window, turned. ‘Where are you thinking of looking?’ she asked. ‘And do you know what you’re looking for?’

‘Never mind,’ Lorelli said, hastily. ‘You keep Joe company,’ and she went out of the room.

She ran into Duke who was just coming in. ‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Where are you off to?’

‘Hadn’t we better start looking?’ she said, a little anxiously.

He grinned. ‘Sure, why not? Come upstairs with me. Where’s Joe?’

‘Oh, he’s sulking in there,’ Lorelli said. ‘The fuss men make over a little pain. You’d think he was dying.’

Duke went into Casy’s sitting room and stood over Joe. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘You’re going to do some work. There’s a lot to be done.’

Joe got out of his chair and swung his left fist up in a sizzling uppercut.

Clare screamed as she saw Joe shape for the punch, but Duke swayed away and blocked Joe’s fist with his forearm He grabbed Joe’s arm, bent it behind him and kicked him across the room.

Joe landed on his hands and knees at Lorelli’s feet. She stepped back, drawing her skirt round her knees. ‘What do you think you are . . . a twelve-minute egg?’ she demanded.

Joe got to his feet. He looked dangerous. His hand went to his hip pocket, but Duke slid across and grabbed hold of him again. ‘Cut it out,’ he said. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ He walked out of the room, pushing Joe in front of him.

Lorelli followed them upstairs into the lumber room overlooking the front mud patch.

Duke let Joe go and stood back. ‘You going to behave or do you want me to slap you?’

Joe straightened his coat, gave Duke an ugly look and stood silent.

‘Swell,’ Duke said. ‘Now, this is the first room. Go over it as if you were looking for a needle. Take it to pieces. It’ll be fun for you both.’ He picked up a rusty crowbar that stood in the fireplace. ‘Get the flooring up and hack the walls down if you

think there’s anything behind ‘em. If you don’t find anything, start on the room next door. Casy don’t care what happens to the joint. He’s moving into something smaller.’

He handed the crowbar to Lorelli and moved to the door. ‘If that guy doesn’t work, bop him with the iron or call me,’ and he went downstairs.

Clare turned back to the window when he came into the room. He stood looking at her. She seemed so tense and pathetically alone that he wanted to take her in his arms. He went over to her.

‘You shouldn’t’ve come,’ he said. ‘I know how you are feeling. Why don’t you get out while there’s time? My car’s outside, you could just do it if you went now.’

‘I’m all right,’ she said, coldly. ‘Please don’t bother with me.’

‘But I want to do something for you. . .’ he began, but she turned sharply away from him.

‘You’ve done quite enough already,’ she said, fiercely.

Duke suddenly felt a hot surge of anger. He put his hand on her arm and jerked her round. ‘You’ve got to listen to me,’ he said, angrily. ‘You’ve always thought that Pete was just an ordinary kid who ran around not knowing his right hand from his left. Well, it’s time you knew better. Pete wasn’t all that good. He knew more about taking care of himself than I ever did. He and I worked together. He was smart. Do you know why? He kept out of trouble. I wasn’t so smart and I caught the rap, but he and I were in the same game and he was the guy who should have taken the rap. . .’

Clare smacked his face. ‘What a swine you are,’ she said, her face white and her eyes blazing. ‘I might have expected that from you and you’ve always called Peter your friend.’

Duke stood very still, looking at her. He touched his face and then suddenly shrugged. ‘What the hell does it matter?’ he said. ‘Think what you like. I was mug enough to fall for you. You may as well know. It won’t hurt you and it gives me a kick just to tell you. You’re the one woman that has ever meant anything to me. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. We’ve fought ever since we met, but I’m still crazy about you and I’ll always be crazy about you. Pete’s dead. Otherwise I wouldn’t have told you, but if I know you, you’ll hang on to his memory until it’s too late to do anything about anything. Then you’ll be sorry. I’m telling you, you are hanging on to a pipedream. Pete was no better than me and I liked him. But if you’d known him as well as I did you would have hated him as much as you hate me, because you’ve always played for safety and you think you like guys who are safe. Believe me, a girl with your brains couldn’t have a worse set-up. You’d better get that car and beat it. Having you around here just gives me a pain,’ and he walked out leaving her staring after him with angry, but bewildered eyes.

Casy joined him as he walked on to the porch. Casy looked at him sharply. ‘Anything wrong, mister?’ he said. ‘You sure look as mad as a hornet.’

‘Never mind how I look,’ Duke snapped. ‘We’ll go round and have a look at the boys.’

He paused for a moment to watch a bunch of fellows filling potato sacks with mud and piling them against the windows of Casy’s house and then he walked on to the back of the house where another gang of men were digging a slip trench a few hundred yards from the house.

‘I’ll move my car,’ he said, getting in and starting the engine. ‘It spoils the uninterrupted view we have here.’

He drove the car across the field and parked it behind another bungalow, then he came back.

Casy watched him with interest. ‘You sure are expecting trouble,’ he said, stroking his beard. ‘This reminds me of the last war.’

Duke grinned. ‘You wait until it starts,’ he said, ‘you’ll think it’s the present European war.’ He satisfied himself that the men digging the trench knew what was wanted and then he moved on back to the front of the house.

There he could see a party of men digging carefully spaced slit trenches way out in the field.

‘They’ll make swell machine gun nests,’ he said. ‘Put two guys in each of those trenches with the Thompsons. How many men have you got?’

Casy screwed up his face and did some arithmetic. ‘Thirty all told,’ he said. ‘And each of them has got a gun of sorts. We’ve got some shotguns as well as the stuff you sent up.’

Duke nodded. ‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘I’ll walk over and see how Kells is doing.’ As he turned away, he added, ‘You keep those guys hard at it Make the house a tough nut to crack. You haven’t any barbed wire?’

Casy said he thought he might have, but he wasn’t sure.

‘Have a look and get some round the house,’ Duke said. ‘There’s nothing like a little barbed wire to slow up enthusiasm.’

He set off across the field and as he drew near to where Kells was stationed, he saw a cloud of dust coming up the road. He broke into a run and reached Kells just as a car drew level.

Kells bawled at it to stop and it drew up with a jerk.

Korris, sitting at the back, leaned out of the window. He scowled at Kells and then seeing Duke, his mouth tightened. ‘What’s all this?’ he asked.

There were three men in the front of the car and two men with Korris at the back. Duke recognized most of them and he knew they were a tough bunch of killers.

He walked up to the car and put his foot on the step. ‘Don’t start any trouble, boys,’ he said, quietly, ‘I’ve got a couple of guys behind those bushes with Thompsons, and they’re fainting to let ‘em off.’

‘What’s the idea?’ Korris said, looking first at Duke and then at the bushes.

‘I’ve taken over Pinder’s End,’ Duke said, easily. ‘Sorry if I’ve spoilt your play, but the dump interests me. We don’t want any visitors up here until the end of the week. So just turn the car and go home.’

Korris adjusted his glasses. ‘You can’t take it over,’ he said. ‘It ain’t yours to take. You’d better beat it before you run into trouble.’