Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 10 - Sudden Plays a Hand(1950) (11 page)

 
          
“Cheerful
cuss, ain’t he?’ Vasco smiled. “Well, gents, I’m shorely obliged, an’ I’ll be
pleased to see you any time.’

 
          
On
their way home Yorky was silent for a while, and then, “Ain’t you sort o’
helpin’
th
’ enemy, Jim?’

 
          
“I
guess not. Look it over. If Bardoe is found to be robbin’ other ranches, that’s
his finish. If
it’s owin’
to us, Vasco, any-way, would
be grateful; he’s a straight man, if I’m any judge. Bet yu a dollar Nick’ll be
pleased.’

 
          
“Tiny
sez betting is sinful ‘less yo’re certain o’ winnin’,’ Yorky fenced. “Me, I’m
aimin’ to be good—this time.’

 
          
This
decision was amply justified when they reported the day’s happenings; Nick was
patently delighted. “You done noble,’ he said. Puttin’ the Double V wise was
one smart move, Jim, an’ is goin’ to help me a lot. I ain’t met Vasco, but it’s
possible he’s been misled.’

 
          
“By
the way, Nick, not a whisper o’ this to anyone—even Quilt,’ Sudden warned. “If
Bardoe gets wind of it, we’re sunk.’ “As you say, Jim, but I’d trust Quilt with
all I got.’

 
          
“Mebbe,
but a careless word could be enough for one who’s waitin’ to hear it. Better be
safe than sorry.’

 
          
Drait
nodded. “So Gilman is after the S P, an’ lettin’ Bull steal stock, at a price;
I sorta suspicioned that. You didn’t get to Cullin?’

 
          
“No,
I reckoned we’d had all the luck due to us for one day.’

 
          
“He’s
a bad egg,’ Drait went on. “The king-pin of what’s wrong around here, I figure,
but he’s mighty careful not to show his hand.’

 
          
IN
an early morning drive, the cattle purchased from the S P had been brought to
Shadow Valley, and by the end of the day, bearing the brand of the new owner,
were turned loose; they could not get out, for the exit at the upper end had
been blocked by a solid wall of stone. Drait smacked the last bawling victim of
the iron on the rump as it lumbered past, and grinned at his perspiring crew.

 
          
“Good
goin’, boys,’ he complimented. “Thanks.’ And because he had himself worked as
hard as any this brief approval satisfied them. Pie tonight, if them dried
apple-rings came with the other stuff I ordered.’

 
          
“They
shore did,’ Long told him. “An’ I hope Lindy had made aplenty.’

 
          
“You
should worry,’ his brother said. “She allus counts you as three, anyways.’

 
          
Yelling
like madmen they raced for the bunkhouse and first use of the towel. Sudden and
the nester followed more soberly. “Glad that’s done,’ the former remarked. “But
I ain’t altogether easy.’

 
          
“I’m
suspectin’ a snag my own self,’ Nick admitted.

 
          
At
the bunkhouse door they parted; the uproar within told that the food was not
yet on the table. At the house, Drait, having made
himself
presentable, went into the parlour, where his wife was awaiting him. Her smile
was a surprise.

 
          
“A
tiring day, but I can see, a satisfactory one,’ she said.

 
          
“I’ll
have to be careful,’ he replied. “A face that tells tales is a considerable
drawback in these parts. Brandin’ is hard work, but when
it’s
yore own beasts it lightens the job. I’ve got a hundred head carryin’ my iron,
an’ that’s a good foundation for a herd’ He lifted his shoulders.

 
          
“You
think the ranchers may interfere?’

 
          
“Interfere
is good.’ His grin revealed the strong white teeth and she noticed—not for the
first time—the difference his infrequent smile made. “Oh, I guess they’ll try
again. Does that scare you?’

 
          
She
shook her head. “I’m gettin’ fond of this place,’ she said, and there was
warmth in voice and look. “That’s fine; any time you feel different, just
mention it.’

 
          
She
was disappointed. Again the thought came that he had divined her desire to
enslave and punish him. So far, his response had been entirely negative. It
annoyed, but did not decrease her determination.

 
          
“What
for sort of a burg is Rideout?’ Sudden enquired of Drait early on the next day.

 
          
“Bigger edition o’ Midway, with a branch railroad throwed in.
Wanta pay her a visit?’

 
          
“If
yu ain’t anythin’ special for me an’ Yorky to do …’

 
          
“Help
yoreself, Jim; we’re all likely to be lazy for a day or so now the brandin’s
done.’

 
          
The
news of the projected trip brought a solemn warning from Smoky: “It’s the
gosh-dangest town in the State,’ he said. “
Cowboys is
the natural prey o’ the varmints what live there. First they take yore guns,
an’ then the rest.’

 
          
“When
they’ve got my guns they’ll
be needin’
the rest.’
Sudden laughed. “An’ Yorky ain’t so Sunday-school as he might appear.’ He
looked round.
“C’mon, son.
Two breakfasts is aplenty;
we ain’t goin’ to a famine-struck land.’

 
          
The
first few miles were traversed in a silence which Yorky forbore to break.

 
          
“I’ve
been holdin’ out on yu,’ the puncher said at length. “It ain’t accident that
we’re in this part o’ the country. Fact is, Igot somethin’ to do, an’ I oughta
told yu it couldn’t be just holiday.’

 
          
The
boy’s eyes glistened. “But, Jim, that’s
th
’ best news
yet,’ he cried. “
If you’ll let me do somethin’.’

 
          
“Shucks,
why d’yu s’pose I fetched yu?’

 
          
“Is
Nick mixed up in it?’

 
          
“I
dunno—yet. Meetin’ him was just plain luck—I
was needin’
an excuse for stayin’ in the district. Yu can add too that I like him, an’
reckon he’s bein’ treated mighty mean.’

 
          
Yorky
nodded sagely. “What we gotta do?’

 
          
“Discover
the rightful owner o’ the S P first off,’ Sudden said. “That’ll put Mister
Gilman’s li’l scheme in the discard, an’ some other noses outa joint too, I
wouldn’t wonder.’

 
          
“In
fact, we’re goin’ to make ourselves real unpop’lar, huh?’ Yorky grinned. “Well,
I don’t give a damn.’

 
          
Rideout
proved to be what they had been led to expect, a bigger and busier Midway, but
equally sordid and unpleasing to the eye. They found an eating-house and
devoured a meal which evoked a philosophic reflection from Yorky: “To ‘preciate
good cookin’ you gotta get away from it.’ As he paid the bill, Sudden asked a
question.

 
          
“Seale, the lawyer?
You’ll see his shingle down to the
deepo. Will you find him in? I dunno, but I’m damn shore you won’t find him
out—nobody’s done that yet. He’s cute, is the ‘Weasel.’’

 
          
They
left the fellow still chuckling over his witticism, and went in search of its
subject. The lawyer’s office appeared to consist of one room over an empty
shop, and was reached by a stairway at the side. Sudden rapped, and a squeaky
voice invited them to enter. The Westerner has a happy knack in the matter of
nicknames, and one glance at the receding forehead, long nose, pinched-in
mouth, and small, suspicious eyes told the visitors that the man behind the
desk in the centre of the room was he they had come to see. Soiled
linen,
and a shiny black coat which hung sack-fashion on the
narrow shoulders only added to the rodent-like impression. The office itself
was equally shabby: a rag of carpet, a table upon which were law-books, a
filing cabinet, an old-style safe, and two hard chairs comprised the rest of
the furniture.

 
          
“Temporary
premises, gentlemen, just temporary premises,’ the lawyer excused, and it was
evident that the words and the gesture accompanying them had become automatic. “Find
seats and let me know what I can do for you.’

 
          
Sudden
leaned forward; he had taken his man’s measure. “To begin,’ he said, “I want yu
to savvy I ain’t here to waste yore time, which, to a legal gent, is the same
as money.’

 
          
Seale’s
beady eyes lighted up a little. “It is true my profession requires that certain
charges be made,’ he replied. “Strictly in accordance with the service I am
able to render, Mister—’

 
          
“My
name wouldn’t mean a thing to yu,’ Sudden said. “I’m from down South, near the
Border, on a kind o’ vacation. Yes, sir, I was shorely tired o’ lookin’ at
cows’ hind-ends. When Eli Dean—fella I was ridin’ for—heard I was headin’ for
these parts, he sez would I do him a service? Well, I agreed, for Eli is one
white man, an’ here I am, yu see.’

 
          
“Quite,
but you haven’t told me why.’

 
          
Sudden
slapped his leg.
“If I ain’t the chucklehead.
It’s
thisaway: Eli wanted me to search out an old friend, man he’d punched cantle
with from hell to anywhere an’ back again in the days when they was both a deal
younger. The name was Pavitt —Sam
Pavitt,
an’ I hear
he’s been under the turf for ‘bout a year.’

 
          
“That
is true, I am sorry to say.’

 
          
“We
all gotta go, an’ I reckon Eli was expectin’ that—Pavitt bein’ older’n him, an’
he ain’t no yearlin’—for he said there was a daughter he’d welcome news of; it
was when I asked ‘bout her, I got sent to yu.’

 
          
“Naturally,
since the estate is in my hands,’ the lawyer said importantly. “As regards the
daughter, I am afraid I cannot help you. She ran away, more than twenty years
ago, to marry a man her father disapproved of, and I am still trying to
discover her whereabouts; she owns the S P ranch now. You see, I’ve no
information; neither the name of the husband, nor that of the place where they
lived. The old man never spoke of her.’

 
          
“No
letters?’

 
          
“One only, with the address missing, saying that her husband had
died, and mentioning a child, “Frankie”.
It was signed, “Mary”. I have
advertised, and have a man out now, making enquiries, all to no purpose. It is
very discouraging and expensive. The property is a good one, but is losing
value, and I’ve written to the Governor of the State suggesting he authorise me
to sell it and hold the proceeds on trust for the missing heir.’

 
          
“Pears
to be a sound idea,’ Sudden said.

 
          
“I
think so,’ Seale said complacently. “I’ve had a generous offer and am only
waiting for permission to close the deal. I fear that is all I can tell you,
and as I have a conference …’

 
          
This
was dismissal, but Yorky had been whispering. “My friend suggests yu might let
us look at that letter yu spoke of,’ Sudden said. “We fellas are used to
followin’ trails, an’ might spot a pointer.’

 
          
“Why,
certainly,’ the lawyer agreed. After all, he must make some sort of a show for
the “easy money’ these greenhorns would pay him. Taking out a bunch of keys, he
opened the safe, selected a paper from several others, and, with satirical
smile, watched them study it.

 
          
“Nothin’
there,’ Sudden declared, as he handed it back. “It was just a chance; I
wouldn’t like Eli to think I’d overlooked a bet.’ He laid a bill on the desk,
and stood up. ‘Talkin’ allus makes me dry; mebbe yu’ll join us?’