.44 Caliber Man (24 page)

‘
Go down to see how your mother and the others are,’ Colin
answered. ‘Come on, lassie. I’ll pipe you home.’

Picking up
Colin’s dirk, Jeanie followed him from the bushes. If she had known
more about Highland music, the girl would have been highly
delighted as she marched down the slope at the Scot’s side. The
tune Colin played was the one his clan used, when a chief brought
home his bride.

In the camp,
Dusty and the others heard the pipes beyond the rim, then listened
to the sounds which followed the music.

‘
Whee dogie!’ the Kid said. ‘That danged fool Colin’s scaring
their hosses.’

‘
Come on!’ Dusty snapped. ‘We’d best get up there and help him.
Stay put, Ma, we’ll get up to them.’

Leaving the
places from which they had made their effective fight, Dusty, Mark
and the Kid ran towards the slope. At any moment they expected to
hear shooting or other sounds to tell them that Colin and Jeanie
were fighting for their lives against the Tejas enraged by losing
the horses.

Crouching among
the clump of bushes, Flores and his last two men also heard the
pipes and departure of the Indians. Cijar and Gomez let out
startled exclamations, crossing themselves in superstitious awe and
seemed on the verge of bolting. While Flores had no more idea than
his companions of what caused the wailing, his nerve held. Snarling
at the others to keep still, he prepared to enforce the order with
lead if necessary.

‘
Wha–What was it?’ Cijar croaked as the pipes droned into
silence.

‘
The wind, or something,’ Flores replied. ‘Nothing
more.’

For all his
light dismissal of the sound, Flores knew just what it meant. His
Indian allies had fled and, after such a scare, would be unlikely
to return. When the wailing began again, he turned his eyes in its
direction. However a movement from Gomez distracted him.

‘
Look!’ the bandido hissed, sighting his rifle towards the
camp. ‘Some of them are coming out.’

Peering through
the darkness, Flores saw the three fast-moving figures. He
recognized them as the deadly trio of Texans who had been such a
decisive factor in the defense of the camp. In which case he had no
wish to draw their attention his way. More so when one of them was
Cabrito, famed for his ability at fighting in the darkness.

‘
Don’t shoot!’ Flores spat out. ‘Do you want them to know we’re
here?’

When he had it
pointed out to him, Gomez also saw the danger. Shooting in the dark
would be chancy and, if he missed, would alert Cabrito to their
presence. So he lowered the rifle and looked at his leader.

‘
What are we going to do, patron?’

‘
What we came here to do. Kill the man with the skirt. As soon
as it’s light, we’ll start looking for him.’

‘
There’s somebody else on the slope!’ Cijar whispered. ‘I think
it’s the man and the Schell girl!’

After staring
for a moment, Flores nodded in agreement, ‘It is! The
son-of-a-whore must have made the noise and frightened the
Tejas.’

‘
Are we going to attack them, patron?’ Gomez inquired in a
voice which showed no pleasure at the idea.

‘
Not now,’ Flores decided. Seething with rage though he might
be, the bandido leader could still think. Much the same objections
were against an attack as there had been to shooting at the Texans.
So he was willing to wait for a better opportunity, and if
possible, create it himself. ‘Come on, let’s get the horses and
ride.’

‘
You don’t mean to avenge your brothers?’ asked
Cijar.

‘
Of course I do!’ Flores snarled. ‘And I’ve an idea how to do
it. If I can’t get to him, I’ll have to make him come to
me.’

Colin received
a hero’s welcome on his arrival at the camp and the acclaim grew
greater when Jeanie told how he had saved her. Having left the
others to make a search of the surrounding area, the Kid arrived
back in time to hear the girl say that Colin had killed another
member of the Flores family. Then the dark youngster reported on
his findings.

‘
They’ve all pulled out,’ he announced.

‘
Then we’ve seen the last of Flores?’ Colin asked. ‘Or was he
killed?’

‘
He warn’t,’ the Kid replied. ‘And we ain’t seed the last of
him. Tiburcio and his two yahoos didn’t go with the Injuns. They
lit out for the south. With you downing Matteo, Tiburcio’ll be even
more set on taking your hair. I’d say Matteo was the only one he
gave shucks for.’

‘
We’d best make ready for him then,’ Dusty stated. ‘Set out
pickets, Lon. Make sure they don’t sneak back again. Then we’ll
have a fire built and a meal made while we tend to the
horses.’

Leaving the Kid
to handle the placing of guards, Dusty set all the others to work.
Two mesteneros had been killed and three wounded, none seriously.
Ma attended to the wounds and left the rest of the cleaning up in
Dusty’s capable hands. By the time April and Fernan had the fire
going and food cooked, the horses had been separated, sarprimas
replaced on the mustangs, saddle-mounts taken to the picket line
and herd-mares driven off to range feed.

The night
passed without incident and the following day was to be spent in
clearing up after the attack. However the Kid returned from a
scouting mission with strange news.

‘
One of Flores’ boys’s coming,’ he said, halting his white
stallion at Dusty’s side. ‘Got him a white rag on the end of his
gun barrel.’

‘
Best see what he wants,’ Dusty decided. ‘Get everybody in
cover ready for trouble, Ma.’

‘
Yo!’ the woman answered and gave the orders.

‘
Any sign of the rest of them, Lon?’ Dusty inquired, watching
the preparations for defense.

‘
Nary a flicker,’ the Kid answered. ‘Them Tejas won’t’ve
stopped running yet and Flores’ man’s alone.’

When Gomez rode
into sight, he found the camp prepared to hold off any attack.
Halting his horse, he stared at the leveled rifles and waved his
white flag to make sure that it could be seen.

‘
Come ahead slow and easy!’ Dusty ordered in Spanish. ‘If
there’s any trickery, you’re dead.’

‘
No tricks, señor,’ Gomez promised hurriedly. ‘My patron has
sent a message to the man in the skirt who killed his
brothers.’

Riding forward,
still displaying his piece of white rag prominently, Gomez came to
a halt before Ma’s wagon. Followed by Jeanie, Colin emerged from
beneath it but Dusty ordered the others to remain in their places.
Taking the rifle from the bandido, Dusty went to the Scot’s side
and asked what Gomez had in mind. Much to Dusty surprise, the man
began to speak in passable English.

‘
My patron, Senor Tiburcio Flores, sent me to say that he has
no quarrel with anybody here except the man who killed his
brothers.’

‘
That’s right neighborly of him,’ Dusty drawled. ‘If it’s all
he wanted to tell us, you’ve had a ride for nothing.’

‘
Senor Flores says if the man who wears a skirt will meet and
fight him at the deserted village to the south, he will make no
more trouble for you.’

‘
And if he won’t?’ asked Dusty before Colin could
speak.

‘
Much as he would dislike doing it, señor, my patron would have
to make plenty trouble for all of you.’

‘
What kind of trouble?’

‘
You hunt wild horses. He would burn your corrals, scatter the
mestenas, have your mesteneros killed from ambush—’

‘
And we’d just sit back and let him?’ Dusty said
sardonically.

‘
While you hunt us, you can’t hunt your horses, señor’ Gomez
pointed out. ‘And Senor Flores is a patient man. If he has to, he
will go back to Mexico to gather more men. Then one day he will
return for his brother’s killer.’

‘
That figures,’ the Kid put in.

‘
Señor Flores said for me to tell the one who wears a skirt
that a true man does not hide behind his friends,’ Gomez continued,
looking directly at Colin.

‘
I hide behind no man!’ Colin blazed, stepping forward. ‘Tell
yon murdering heathen you serve that I’ll fight him anywhere and at
any time.’

‘
Colin!’ Jeanie gasped, moving to his side.

‘
There’s no other way, lassie,’ Colin told her gently. ‘If I
don’t fight him, we’ll never be free from that murderous
blackguard.’

‘
He’s right, Jeanie,’ the Kid said without taking his attention
from the country about him. ‘Even if it doesn’t come now, Flores’ll
not forget. Colin can’t live safe in Texas while Tiburcio’s
alive.’

The girl gave
no sign of hearing the words. Instead she clung to Colin’s arm and
looked into his face. ‘I–I don’t want to lose you.’

‘
Do you still think I need wet-nursing, lass?’ the Scot
asked.

‘
N–No. It’s not that. You can’t trust Flores to play
straight.’

‘
Now you don’t reckon that we’d let Colin ride down there on
his lonesome, do you?’ Dusty put in and turned to Gomez. ‘We’ll be
riding with our amigo to the village—’

‘
Damn it, Dusty!’ Colin barked. ‘The man’s challenged
me—’

‘
Sure,’ agreed the small Texan. ‘Only we’re going along to see
there’s no tricks. Hey, hombre, tell your patron the three of us
will stop outside the village as long as his men do the same. If
they cut in, so do we.’

‘
It’s that way, or I’ll shoot you in the leg afore I’ll let you
go, Colin,’ Jeanie stated. ‘I mean it!’

‘
I believe you do,’ the Scot smiled and gave his attention to
Gomez. ‘Tell Flores that I had no choice but kill his brothers and
I’m sorry I had to do it. If he won’t have it any other way, I’ll
face him man to man.’

‘
I will tell him, señor,’ Gomez promised. ‘But it will not
change his mind.’

‘
We’ll be there at sun-down tomorrow,’ Dusty said. ‘Tell Flores
that we’ll want to see you and his other man out the back of the
village before Colin comes in alone.’

‘
Si, señor. Can I go now?’

‘
We’ve nothing more to say,’ Dusty answered. ‘¡Vamos,
pronto!’

‘
You want for me to trail along after him?’ the Kid inquired as
Gomez mounted up and rode away.

‘
I don’t reckon so,’ Dusty replied. ‘There’s work to be done
around here and anyways, we’ll be ready if they try to lay for us
on the way there tomorrow. And if Flores’ fixing any smart play,
we’ll ride into the village with Colin.’

Nobody spoke
much for a time after Dusty’s decision not to let the Kid follow
Gomez. While the mesteneros went about their various tasks, the
Texans gathered at the fire with Ma, Jeanie and Colin. They all
knew that a fight with Flores could not be avoided and wondered how
the young Scot would fare against an experienced man like the
bandido. April walked over, bringing a tray loaded with mugs of
coffee.

‘
I’ve allus found it’s easier to think over a pot of
Arbuckle’s,’
^xv
the blonde
remarked. ‘And there’s some thinking needs doing right
now.’

‘
How will he fight do you think, Dusty?’ Colin asked after a
slight pause.

‘
Could be any way,’ the small Texan answered. ‘He had a Spencer
rifle yesterday, so he might use that.’

‘
You’d best take your Henry along,’ the Kid
suggested.

‘
I’m a better shot with the old double,’ Colin
replied.

‘
Then take that,’ Dusty said. ‘You’ll have your Dragoon, but
stay out of a close-up, draw-and-shoot if you can.’

At the mention
of the Dragoon, Jeanie stiffened slightly and looked hard towards
the gun in Colin’s holster. Then she turned and whispered into her
mother’s ear. Surprise flickered briefly across Ma’s face, to be
replaced by a faint smile as she nodded in agreement to her
daughter’s request. Standing up, Jeanie walked away from the fire.
Colin watched her go in a puzzled manner, unable to understand why
she went without an explanation.

‘
I’d say he’ll fight shy of using a knife after you finished
Matteo with one,’ Mark said as Jeanie swung out of sight into the
living room. ‘But you’d best have that Arkansas toothpick along
just in case.’

‘
Aye,’ Colin answered in a distracted manner.

Jeanie appeared
at the end of the wagon and dropped to the ground. ‘Colin,’ she
called.

Straightening
himself from squatting on his heels, Colin strode towards the girl.
He saw that she had her hands behind her back but gave it no
thought. There was a light in her eyes which held his full
attention.

‘
What is it?’ he asked.

‘
I love you,’ she replied. ‘No. Let me finish. I treated you
mean and said some bad things when we first met—’

‘
I deserved them—’

‘
Please, Colin!’ she breathed. ‘I’m sorry for everything I said
and—and here, when you go after Flores, tomorrow, take
this.’

Bringing her
right hand into sight, she held her father’s ivory-handled Dragoon
Colt in Colin’s direction.

‘
Damned if I’d’ve thought it, but it looks like Flores’s
playing it straight,’ the Ysabel Kid commented as he rode with
Dusty, Mark and Colin towards the deserted village. ‘Look over the
other side there.’