Showdown On the Hogback (1991) (7 page)

He drew up in the
dooryard
and swung down, trailing his reins. The door opened, and a girl came out with a pan of water. She started as she saw him, and he recognized her instantly. It was Sue Laine, the girl of the trail, the girl in whom Dornie was reputed to be interested.

"You!" she gasped as she stared at him. "They told me you were dead!" He shrugged. "Not dead, just hungry. Could you feed a man?"

She studied him a minute and then nodded. "Come in. Better tie your horse, though. He'll head for that meadow if you don't. And," her voice was dry, "you may need him. This isn't exactly friendly country."

He tied his horse near the grulla and followed her inside. "Isn't it?" he said. "Somehow I gathered you weren't exactly an enemy to the company."

"Don't say that!" she flared. "Don't ever say that!" Her voice lowered. "Not around here, anyway! If my brother ever heard!"

So Pit Laine and his sister did not see alike? That was an interesting point. He bathed his hands and face in the basin she gave him, and then combed his hair. Ruefully, he rubbed his chin. "Your brother got a razor? I hate to go unshaven."

She brought a razor without comment, and he shaved and then dried his face and hands and walked into the house.

It was amazingly neat, and on a side table there were several books. Flowered curtains hung at the windows, and several copper dishes were burnished to brightness.

He sat down and she brought him food, beef, eggs, and homemade bread with honey.

"Everybody's looking for you," she said. "Where have you been?"

He accepted the statement and ignored the question.

"After that messenger was killed, I had to get out of Yellow Butte. I did. What's been happening?"

"Keith served a final ultimatum. We either move, or they run us out. McLennon refused."

"He did right."

She turned on him, her eyes questioning.

"You think that? I thought you were their man?"

He looked up from his food and shook his head.

"I don't know where I stand, but I don't go for murder or for running people out of their homes."

"They can't stay, anyway. If this land becomes a reservation they will all be moved off. We will, too. They are foolish to fight."

"At least, the government will buy their land and pay for their investment. In any event, the company has misrepresented things."

"Does it matter?" She sat down opposite him. "They will win. They have money, influence, and power. The settlers here have nothing." She locked around her bitterly. "Perhaps you think I am going against my own people, but that's not true. These aren't my people. Pit and I don't belong here and we never have, although Pit won't see it. Do you think I want to slave my life
away
on this desert?"

She leaned toward him. "Look, Captain Kedrick, you're one of them, not just working for them, not just a hired gunman like Dornie Shaw. You can lead the men you have to, and I wouldn't be surprised but what you could even handle Keith. You could be' a big man in this country or any country. "Why be foolish and start thinking like you are? These farmers and ranchers can do nothing for you. They can't even help themselves. The company will win, and if you are one of them, you will have a share in the winning. Don't be foolish, Captain. Stay with them, and do what you have to do."

"There are things more important than money.

There's self-respect. his She stared at him, her eyes widening. "You don't really believe that. Try buying supplies with it sometime. You won't get anyplace. But that isn't the point. You'll do what you want, but I want a man who will take me out of this desert."

She got up quickly and came around the table. "You could do it, Captain. You could become rich, right here."

He smiled at her. "Ambitious, aren't you?"

"Why not? Being a rancher's wife doesn't appeal to me. I want to get away from here, go someplace, be something, and enjoy life." She hesitated, studying him. "You could edge Gunter out of it, and Keith-maybe even Burwick. But the first two would be easy, and I know how."

"You do?" He looked up at her. She stood very close to him, and she was smiling down at him. She was, he had to admit, a lovely girl and an exciting one too exciting for comfort right now, and that was a fact she understood completely. "How?"

She shook her head. "Oh, no! That I'd tell you only if you threw in with me, joined me.

But this much I'll tell you-John Gunter is small potatoes. They needed money, and he had that girl's money, so they roped him in. Keith is dangerous because he is ambitious and unscrupulous, but the man to reckon with is Burwick. He will be top man when this thing is over, and you can bank on it.

He has a way figured, all the time."

"You seem to know a great deal."

"I do. Men like me, and men talk. They don't have any idea how much I lead them to say or how much I remember."

"Why tell me all this?"

"Because
you're
the man who can do what has to be done. You could whip that bunch into line. All of them would listen to you, even Dornie Shaw-and he's suspicious of Y. his "Of me? Why?"

"He saw Dai Reid come from your room. He was watching you."

So that was it? He had suspected that Shaw had something on his mind. But why had Shaw been watching?

What was the little gunman thinking of? And had he reported that conference to Keith?

Kedrick finished his meal and lighted a cigarette. Ever since their first meeting in the desert, this girl had puzzled him. He was inclined to doubt any girl, reared as she must have been, could be so sincerely disdaining of all loyalty and so plainly self-seeking. And this girl was scarcely more than a child, slim, brown, and lovely, with her quick, measuring eyes and her soft lips.

Now she seemed to have selected him for the man who was to take her away from the desert. But how many others held the same idea? And then, he had no idea of leaving the desert.

"Your brother around?" he asked.

Her glance was a quick flash of alarm. "You don't want to see him or talk to him! You'd better get out of here!"

"On the contrary, Sue. I'd like to talk to Pit. I've heard about him, and I'd like to know him."

"You'd better go!" she warned. "He'll be back soon, and some of that Yellow Butte crowd may be with him."

"You mean he's not here? Then whose horse is that out there that grulla?" Her face was strange as she shook her head. "You'll think I'm a liar, but I don't know. I never saw the rider."

His eyes searched hers. He could see nothing but sincerity there, sincerity and a little fear. "You mean that horse showed up there, tied like that? And you never saw the rider?"

"That's right. I looked out this morning, shortly after Pit left, and he was tied right there. This isn't the first time! He has been here twice before when Pit was gone, and some others have seen him, most of them women when their husbands are away. Mrs. Burt Williams said he was tied to her corral for three or four hours one day." his, .

"But surely someone sees the rider come and mount up"...
never
. He'll be out there like he is now-he's gone!"

Kedrick came to his feet with a start and stared out the door. Sue was right. The mouse-colored horse was gone. His own palouse stood where he had been left, but the grulla had disappeared.

Walking out into the yard, he looked around very carefully, but there was nothing in sight on the plain or the hills. The horse, and he was positive he had seen it only a few minutes before, was gone! He looked at her and saw the strained expression on her face. Then he walked out to the Appaloosa. Pinned to his saddle was a note.

He took it down and glanced at it and then passed it to Sue, who had come up beside him.

STAY AWAY.

Kedrick shrugged. "Your brother do this?"

"Oh, no! I told him about the horse, and he knew no more about it than 1. Besides, he didn't print that. He couldn't. Pit never learned to either read or write."

Long after he had left the Malpais Arroyo behind, he was puzzling over the strange horse.

Somebody was seriously trying either to puzzle or frighten the squatters, yet it was an action unlike the company. Moreover, it must be somebody who had a lot of time to spend.

Kedrick rode north toward Blue Hill and then swung east, crossing the Old Mormon Trail and skirting the rim.

This was good grazing land. There was an abundance of rough forage here, and a good herd of cattle could fatten on this range without trouble. Moreover, the herding problem was solved in part by the rim, which provided a natural drift fence beyond which the cattle could not go. When he reached Salt Creek he turned down the creek toward the river, but then swung east again. Passing near Chimney Rock, he rode southeast until he struck the Hogback Trail. Once over that ridge, he headed due east for Mustang. Yet as always, his eyes were alive and alert. He loved this land, harsh though it might be at some times. He loved the dim purples and blues, the far-flung mists, and, morning and night, the gray-green of the sagebrush and the rust-red of the sandstone. It was a good country and there was room for all if it were left open for settlement.

His own mind was not yet resolved. The problem of his debt to Gunter weighed heavily upon him, and there were other considerations. He wanted no trouble, and to withdraw now might mean plenty of it, particularly if he remained in the country, which he had every reason to do. He would try to talk the company into withdrawing, but knew that would fail.

Just where, in all this, did Connie Duane actually stand? Was she involved more deeply than he believed? Or was it only what had been implied, that her uncle had invested her money in the land speculation? If such was the case, it might be difficult or impossible to get out at this stage-even if they would allow it.

Burwick puzzled him. Obviously the controlling power, he gave no evidence of where that power came from aside from some native shrewdness.

Yet there might be much more to the man, and evidently was, for that Keith and Gunter deferred to him was obvious.

Purposely, Kedrick had said nothing of his hideaway near Yellow Butte when talking to Sue. That young lady already knew more than was good for her, and that spot might again become useful. It was something to know. Mustang was asleep when he rode into the town and headed for the stable. He put his horse up and rubbed it down thoroughly, gave it a good bait of corn, and forked down some hay. Then he made his way quietly to the St. James. As he neared the hotel a tall, lean figure arose from the chair where he himself had been sitting a few days before. The build and the broad hat, the very hang of the guns, left no mistake. It was Laredo Shad.

"Captain?" The voice was low. "You all right?"

"Yes, and you?"

Shad chuckled. "Don't worry none about Shad! I stay healthy." He motioned to a chair.

"You better sit down. I've been hopin" you'd show up."

"What's the talk? Did they think I was dead or skipped the country?" "Some of both, I reckon. Keith was fit to be tied. He wants to see you as soon as you show-no matter when."

"He'll wait. I'm tired."

Shad nodded and then lighted his cigarette, which had gone out. "You know, I ain't right sure about this business."

Kedrick nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm not the man to run folks out of their homes."

"You quittin'?"

"Not vet. I'll talk to "em first."

"Won't do no good. They are mighty bloodthirsty. It was Poinsett shot that messenger.

Dornie put him up to it. Poinsett killed him, an" then four, five of those rannies shot up the body. I don't think Fessenden shot any, an' maybe Goff didn't. You can lay your last peso I didn't shoot none. It was mighty raw, Captain, mighty raw!"

"They'll pay for it. were you on the Yellow Butte raid?"

"Uh-huh, but I didn't shoot nobody.

I'm no Bible packer, Captain, but I do figure a fightin' man shouldn't tackle folks who can't fight back, an' I ain't the man to be firin' on no women or kids."

"What are they talkin' up now? Any plans you know of?"

Shad hesitated, and then shrugged. "Reckon you'd better talk that out with them, Captain. I may know somethin', but I ain't tellin', not yet."

The Texan sat silent for a few minutes while both men smoked, and then he waved an impatient hand. "Captain, I hired on as a gunhand, an' such I am, but I didn't figure on this sort of thing. Some of those hombres on the other side of this shindig look a durned sight more human than some on our own side. I'm gettin' shut of the whole shebang."

"Uh-huh" surprisingly
, Kedrick found resolution coming to him-was I know how you feel, but my own way will be different. I think if I can't talk Gunter an' the rest of them out of that I'll change sides."

Shad nodded. "I've thought of it. I sure have."

Kedrick turned suddenly and found Dornie Shaw standing not twenty feet behind them. Slowly, he got to his feet, and Laredo Shad did likewise. Shaw's eyes avoided Kedrick.