Devil's Canyon (31 page)

“Identify yourselves,” came the challenge.

“Faro and Tarno,” said Faro.

They rode in, dismounting, and the outfit gathered around.

“There are eight of them,” Faro said. “We'll wait until moonrise, and then we'll ride.”

“There are eight of us,” said Collins.

“Nine,” Mamie said. “You're not leaving me here alone.”

“You can go,” said Faro, “but you'll remain with the horses.”

“Do we dare leave the wagons and the teams unattended?” Collins asked.

“We don't have a lot of choice,” said Faro.

“A couple of us may have to ride mules,” Tarno said. “We're still two horses shy.”

“Not anymore,” said Shanghai. “While you and Tarno was gone, two saddled horses showed up, lookin' half starved. Likely they belonged to them renegades.”

“
Bueno
,” Faro said. “We can use them.”

“How do you propose to handle the attack?” Collins asked. “Will you challenge them with a chance to surrender, or just shoot them down?”

“I'm not as much a barbarian as I seem,” said Faro. “While we must be prepared to shoot if they resist, we'll leave them a way out, if they have sense enough to take it. We'll surround them, get the drop, and demand they surrender their guns. If they do, they can ride back to wherever they came from. Any man resisting will be shot. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough,” Collins said. “If they're here for any purpose other than attacking us and jumping our claim, they'll go peacefully. Resistance will prove their intentions and their guilt.”

There was little more to be said, and they waited until Faro gave the order to saddle up and ride. Slowly the moon crept above the treetops, adding its silvery glow to the light of distant stars. Finally it was time, and Faro gave them last-minute instructions.

“Levi, Dallas, and Josh, you'll be with Tarno, and the four of you will approach their camp from the east. Isaac, Felix, and Dallas, you'll be with me, and we'll circle around and approach from the west. Once we're in position, we'll fan out so we won't all be shooting at the same target. Remember, after I challenge them, any man going for his gun gets the same bitter medicine they're plannin' for us to take. Any questions?”

There were none, and with Faro and Tarno leading, they rode west. Reaching the place where Faro and Tarno had left their horses, they reined up. Without speaking, they all dismounted.

“Mamie,” said Faro in a whisper, “stay with the horses.”

“I will,” Mamie replied. “Do be careful.”

Nobody spoke, but Felix squeezed her hand before they were swallowed by shadows.

Quietly Faro led the way around the camp, which was now silent. Reaching the far side of it, Faro positioned his men a few feet apart. In the camp there was a glow as someone drew on a smoke. A voice spoke and another answered, proof enough that some of the men were yet awake. Faro counted slowly to a hundred, and with his Winchester at the ready, shouted his challenge.

“You men are surrounded. Drop your…”

But the response was about what Faro had expected, for the darkness blossomed with gunfire and the silence was shattered by the roar of Winchesters. To Faro's right and left, Winchesters barked as men fired at muzzle flashes.

“Don't shoot no more,” a voice cried.

“Hold your fire,” Faro shouted.

All firing ceased, and the rising wind blew a spark from the dying fire.

“Build up that fire,” said Faro, “and stand before it with your hands up.”

There was only silence, but the fire flamed up from the coals, revealing five men with their hands up.

“Tarno,” Faro shouted, “anybody hurt?”

“No,” said Tarno.

“Move on in,” Faro replied. “We're comin' in from over here.”

Carefully Faro, Isaac, Felix, and Dallas advanced, and soon they could see the shadows of their comrades moving in from the opposite direction. Faro sighed with relief, for it was over, and they hadn't lost a man.

As the teamsters neared the fire, they kept their weapons ready lest the captives renew the fight, but the five men made no false moves.

“Who are you men?” Faro demanded.

There was silence until Faro cocked his Colt. Finally one of the captives spoke sullenly.

“Ebeau, Jed, Kirk, Newsom, and Inkler. That's Luke, Marklee, and Giles there on the ground.”

“That's better,” said Faro. “Where are you from, and how did you know about us?”

“North of here, three days' ride,” Ebeau said. “Gent name of Durham told us.”

“We ought to stampede your horses and make you walk,” said Tarno.

“Just give us a chance,” Inkler pleaded. “We'll ride out and keep goin'.”

“Damn right you will,” said Faro. “If any of you show up here again, you'll be shot on sight and without warning. Now saddle your horses, take your dead with you, and ride.”

The five wasted no time in saddling all eight horses. The dead were tied belly-down over their saddles, and
without so much as asking for their discarded weapons, they all mounted and rode out. The three led horses nickered in protest, not liking their grim burdens or the smell of blood. The sound of their going faded, leaving only the silence of the night.

“Do you suppose they'll keep riding?” Collins asked.

“I think so,” said Faro, “but just to be sure they do, I'll ride back this way, ahead of the wagons. One of you put out that fire. Now let's gather up those weapons.”

Nearing the horses, they paused. In the silence of the night, the cocking of a Colt seemed loud.

“Mamie,” Faro said, “it's us.”

“Thank God,” said Mamie. “I could hear the shooting. Are any of you hurt?”

“Not a scratch,” Faro said, “and the bunch waiting for us are no longer waiting.”

“I'm glad,” said Mamie, “but how did they know we were coming?”

“Our friend Durham told them,” Faro said. “If he followed the Colorado, he could reach Denver a lot sooner than he'd make it to California.”

“The sorry, no-account coyote,” said Mamie bitterly. “He might have gotten every one of us killed.”

“I reckon that's what he was hopin' for,” Tarno said. “Once we get back to Santa Fe, remind me to take a ride up to Colorado.”

“We'll be a while gettin' back to Santa Fe,” said Dallas. “You'd never find him.”

“The hell I wouldn't,” Tarno said doggedly. “A skunk leaves his smell everywhere he goes.”

“Forget it,” said Faro. “We came out of it better than they did, and we picked up some extra Colts and Winchesters. Now let's get back to the wagons.”

Following the river, they soon reached the wagons. One of the mules brayed as they approached, but there was no other sound. Quickly they dismounted and unsaddled their horses. It was near midnight.

“The first watch will take four hours and the second watch four,” said Faro. “That will allow all of us to get a little sleep, even if it means a late start tomorrow.”

“I think we deserve that,” Collins said.

He took his Winchester from the saddle boot, and Felix, Tarno, and Dallas joined him for the first watch. Less than an hour later, Mamie approached Felix.

“You should be sleeping,” said Felix.

“I couldn't,” Mamie said. “I was afraid some of you might be hurt, and I was prepared for that. Now I…I can't seem to overcome the thought of it. It's like…all of you are my family, and after Odessa…I can't bear losing any of you.”

“You must overcome that fear,” said Felix. “I believe our troubles are over, except for a possible clash with the Utes, and they shouldn't have rifles.”

Nothing disturbed the tranquillity of the night, and with Mamie helping, Felix soon had breakfast ready.

“I believe we can reach the claim today,” Collins said.

“Maybe,” said Faro, “but we'll have to step up the gait some.”

“Then let's do it,” Josh Snyder said. “It seems like we've been on the trail forever.”

“Levi,” said Faro, “I'll want you to take the first
wagon the rest of the way. While I don't expect those
hombres
to return, we can't take the risk. They may have had extra Colts and shells in their saddlebags. I aim to ride well ahead of the wagons.”

“We should have searched their saddlebags before we let 'em go,” Shanghai said.

“I don't expect any more trouble from them,” said Faro. “Not after they saw three of their friends die before their eyes.”

“It does have a way of driving home the finality of a man's own mortality,” Felix said.

While the teams were being harnessed, Faro rode out. Since Odessa's death, Felix had taken responsibility for her wagon. Today, instead of riding alongside the wagon, Mamie had tied her horse behind and sat beside Felix.

“I hope you don't mind,” said Mamie. “I think they all know about us, by now.”

“I daresay they do,” Felix said, with some humor.

“Sometimes I wonder what they're thinking,” said Mamie. “After all, they know what fools Odessa and me made of ourselves over Hal Durham. My God, the proper folks back in Amarillo…”

“Have become too civilized for the frontier,” Felix finished. “Faro, Shanghai, Dallas, and Tarno are frontiersmen, and I like to think the rest of us are becoming like them. I know I am, and I don't expect any less of Levi, Isaac, and Josh. I'd gamble my share of the gold there's not a man among us who's not guilty of some things he can't recall with pride. I knew several men in New Orleans who later came west and married women right out of whorehouses.”

Mamie laughed. “At least you didn't sink quite that low.”

Southwestern Utah. The Sevier River.
October 17, 1870
.

Faro rode west along the river until he reached the first of the pyramids marking the claim. Since they had to establish a camp for many months, he sought some kind of shelter that might also afford protection against possible attacks by the Utes. But he rode all the way to the bend in the river, well beyond the claim, without finding any natural shelter. Finally, convinced there were no unseen dangers, he rode back to meet the wagons. They stopped to rest the teams so that they might learn what Faro had discovered.

“No tracks except what that bunch made when they rode out last night,” Faro said. “I rode west along the river, well beyond the claim, without finding anyplace we might use as shelter and maybe defense against Indian attacks.”

“There is no shelter and no cover along the river, near the claim,” said Collins.

“No,” Felix agreed. “That's how the Utes made it so hot for us, we had to run for it, instead of waiting for Levi and the supplies.”

“One thing I noticed that might work in our favor is the high banks of the river, half a mile or so beyond the claim,” said Faro. “There's a considerable overhang that can shelter us from rain or snow, and would make attacks by the Utes difficult.”

“There's just one problem,” Isaac said. “There's
water from bank to bank, and I'd say it's deep. There's no place even for us to hunker down there, and certainly no protection for the horses, mules, and wagons.”

“Nobody's said anything about the location of the gold,” said Faro, “but from where the claim markers are located, I'd say it's in the riverbed. Am I right?”

“One hundred percent,” Collins said, “and that's why we have dynamite in all five of the wagons. There's a canyon—Devil's Canyon, we call it—that parallels the river. In fact, the river flows into it several miles east of our claim.”

“I noticed that,” said Faro, “and you have plans for blasting the river into a new path, so that it flows into the canyon somewhere beyond the claim. That would leave the portion of the river's bed dry where your claim's located.”

“Exactly,” Collins said. “You are an observant man.”

“Then let me offer a suggestion,” said Faro, “since you intend to divert the river anyway. Devil's Canyon runs alongside the river for maybe two miles beyond the claim, all the way to the bend in the river. Suppose, just this side of the bend, the river was diverted into the canyon there, instead of just barely beyond the claim?”

“The river's original bed would then be dry well beyond those high banks,” Collins said excitedly. “Those high riverbanks would become our shelter and fortification.”

“That's what I'm thinking,” said Faro. “Our only difficulty might be in finding a place where the banks are low enough to get the wagons down there.”

“More dynamite,” Felix said. “With that and some shovel work, we can build ourselves a road. After all, we built a bridge, didn't we?”

“For needed shelter and defense against the Indians, it would be worth the extra work, I think,” said Faro.

“There's more advantage than that,” Dallas added. “When you're dealin' with gold in a riverbed, how can you be sure where it starts and stops? Blasting the river into Devil's Canyon a mile farther upstream instead of doin' it right next to the claim might produce even more gold. How do we know gold can't be found farther up the river, beneath those high banks?”

“We don't,” said Collins. “In our excitement, we overlooked the obvious.”

“Didn't we, though?” Felix said. “We ought to follow Faro around and learn from him, if we can.”

“Oh, hell,” said Faro, embarrassed. “I wasn't thinking of the claim extending upriver beyond your markers. When I couldn't find any shelter and no decent place for defense, I was only thinking of a way we could use those high banks and their overhang in some way. Even if there's more gold upriver, it won't be worth as much to us as shelter during the coming winter and as a defense against Indian attacks.”