Slocum and the Glitter Girls at Gravel Gulch (9781101619513) (12 page)

“The man who sold me the horses,” Orson said. “His name is Slocum.”

“John Slocum?” Jennings sputtered. Spittle flew onto his string tie and his pressed blue shirt. Jennings was clean-shaven with dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes, a thin neck, and thin arms and legs. He wore a pinstripe suit and wing-tip shoes. He wore no hat and Orson envied him his thick curly hair.

“The same, Matt,” Orson said.

“Jesus Christ,” Jennings said. “He was a friend of Faron Longley’s, I recall, and people in Dodge warned us that Slocum would be on your tail.”

“Slocum will be dead by sunrise,” Orson said.

“You sure, Orson?”

Jennings fidgeted with his string tie, flipping one strand
over the other. He was visibly nervous, and his fingers all trembled.

“There’s no way out for him,” Orson said. “I’ve got men all over town looking for him. And if he slips out of this trap, in a few days he’ll be burned to a crisp by the Apaches.”

“You think of everything, Orson,” Jennings said.

“We’ll have to change our names again, but we’ll be back in Deadfall to reap the rewards. Mining claims, miners working for us. The whole shebang.”

Jennings let out a low whistle.

“You think of just about everything, Orson,” Jennings said. “I’m glad we’re on the same side.”

“You’ve been faithful to me ever since I plugged Longley, Matt,” Orson said. “I believe in rewarding my closest friends.”

“When do we leave town?” Jennings asked.

“About four days from now, five at the most. Everything’s set.”

“What’s the signal for Blue Wolf?” Jennings asked. He knew about the Apaches and how Orson had bribed them with guns and whiskey since coming to Deadfall.

“There’ll be an empty wagon right smack in the middle of the valley,” Orson said. “I’ll set it on fire and the smoke will bring the Apaches down on Deadfall within an hour or two.”

“Christ,” Jennings said.

“Too bad we won’t be here to watch it, Matt.”

Jennings swiped a hand across his sweaty forehead.

“I don’t want to see it,” he said.

“It’ll be pure hell for everybody here,” Orson said.

He pulled smoke from his cigar and smiled through a blue haze as he let it out.

Jennings sat there, half-dazed at the magnitude of Orson’s plan.

He had known Collins was a ruthless man back in Dodge City, but had never dreamed the man could be as heartless and savage as the Apaches.

He vowed then and there never to cross Orson.

Orson wouldn’t even blink if he meant to murder him, Jennings knew.

“I’ll have everything ready to go when you tell me,” Jennings said. “Cash, gold, the books.”

“Be ready in three days, Matt,” Orson said.

“I hope you get Slocum,” Jennings said. “He’s a most dangerous man.”

“I know,” Orson said. “But at bottom he’s no different than any other man. He’ll bleed just as much.”

The smoke rose in the air and hung suspended until it began to drift into nothingness.

Just like the silence as both men thought about the horror that was soon to happen in Deadfall.

Marlene Vanders watched the two girls walk by her table at the Wild Horse Saloon. Bonnie and Renata were dressed in new outfits sewn by Maria and Teresa, who sat with her.

“You’ve got to sway your hips more, Renata,” Marlene said.

“Huh?” Renata stopped in her tracks and looked at Marlene.

“You’re too stiff, honey,” Marlene said.

“I don’t see why I have to walk a certain way,” Renata said.

Bonnie whispered something to her.

Renata turned to look at Marlene.

“I’ve had men attracted to me without my having to display my bare legs,” Renata said to Marlene.

“Tonight this room will be filled with men who are smoking, playing cards, drinking. They want to look at pretty women and that’s why you have to show your feminine side, dearie.”

Bonnie smiled and walked around. She swayed her hips.

“Like that,” Marlene said.

Maria and Teresa tittered.

Just then, Carrie Hobbs came in through the batwing doors. She walked over to the table where Marlene and her two girls were sitting.

“Did you hear the news?” she asked, not bothering to lower her voice.

Carrie was a matronly forty-five or so, with her graying hair tied up in a bun, her seersucker dress covered by a polka-dotted apron. She wore low-heeled shoes. Her face resembled a wrinkled pudding, while her eyes were porcine and sunken, close-set beside a large hooked nose.

“What news?”

“Men just searched my boardinghouse looking for that prisoner, Hornaday. They said he broke out of jail this mornin’.”

“No, I hadn’t heard.”

Renata and Bonnie sidled over to the table.

“Did you say Hornaday?” Bonnie asked Mrs. Hobbs.

“Yes, Wallace Hornaday, a horse thief.”

“He was the man I was supposed to marry,” Bonnie said.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up, girlie,” Carrie said. “If they don’t shoot Wallace on sight, they’ll surely hang him.”

“How’d he break out of jail?” Marlene asked.

“They say a man named Slocum broke him out. They’re lookin’ for him, too.”

“Slocum?” Bonnie blurted out. “John Slocum? Renata and I know him.”

“Well, he’s a wanted man now,” Carrie said.

Bonnie and Renata looked stricken.

“Who is this Slocum anyway?” Marlene asked. “I never heard of him.”

Teresa and Maria came to life next to Marlene. They giggled.

“What is it?” Marlene asked them.

“Slocum is a big man,” Maria said. “Came here with Obie and those two girls. Obie said he bedded them before they got here.”

“You slept with this Slocum?” Marlene asked the two new girls.

“I’ll never tell,” Bonnie said.

Renata blushed.

“You should see him, Marlene,” Bonnie said. “You’d want him, too.”

Marlene drew herself up.

“There’s no man here in Deadfall that I would ever want,” she said.

“You two look very pretty in those outfits,” Carrie said to Bonnie and Renata.

They were wearing white satin bodices with black vertical stripes, short black skirts, mesh stockings with red garters, and high-heeled shoes spangled with silver bows.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hobbs,” Bonnie said.

Renata curtsied and smiled.

“Well, I’ve lost two boarders,” Carrie said, “but lunch will be ready when you’re all through here. Have the girls seen their rooms upstairs yet?”

“Not yet,” Marlene said. “We’ll do that now and then come over for lunch.”

“Very well,” Carrie said. She turned on her heel and walked out of the saloon.

“Aren’t we staying with Mrs. Hobbs anymore?” Renata asked.

“Why no, Renata,” Marlene said. “See those rooms up on the balcony? Those are your new quarters.”

“Oh,” Bonnie said.

Marlene looked at Maria and Teresa.

“Bring their clothes over from Carrie’s,” she told them. “You did a fine job on their clothes. Make another set before tomorrow.”

The two Mexican women nodded and got up from the table. Teresa picked up a small wicker basket with pieces of cloth and sewing materials, and the two walked out through the batwing doors.

“Follow me, gals,” Marlene said, and rose from the table.

She took the two upstairs to the balcony and opened one door, then went to the next and opened it.

“These will be your rooms while you work for me,” she said.

“They’re so small,” Bonnie said.

“Tiny,” Renata said.

“You’ll eat at Mrs. Hobbs’s boardinghouse, but sleep here at night. This is also where you’ll entertain your guests.”

Each room had a small brass bed, a table and chairs, a small divan, and a sideboard with water, glasses, a pitcher, and a comb and brush. There was a bedpan under each bed and several towels on hooks.

“Entertain?” Renata asked.

“Guests,” Marlene said. “Pick which room you want. Maria will fetch your clothes from Carrie Hobbs.”

“I—I don’t know about this,” Renata said.

“You’ll learn, sweetie,” Marlene said. She closed both doors and the three of them left the saloon to walk next door to Mrs. Hobbs’s boardinghouse.

Outside the boardinghouse, they met up with Hack and Boze, who were just leaving.

“Marlene, we’re going to check the Wild Horse for an escaped prisoner,” Hack said as he touched a finger to the brim of his hat in greeting.

“You won’t find any jailbirds there,” she said.

“Have you seen a tall man wearin’ black clothes?” Boze asked.

“Slocum, you mean?” Marlene said. “No, I haven’t. Stay away from the bar when you go over there, boys. I keep track of my liquor.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t touch any of your bottles,” Hack said. “Orson would raise hell.”

“And so would I,” Marlene said.

The two men looked at the skimpily clad girls and their eyes widened.

They walked on to the saloon next door while Marlene and her charges entered the boardinghouse to the aroma of biscuits, pot roast, steamed spinach, and other foods prepared by Carrie’s cook.

“I hope Slocum gets away,” Renata whispered to Bonnie as they entered the dining room.

“I hope Mr. Hornaday gets away, too,” Bonnie said.

“You still going to marry him?” Renata asked.

“I sure hope so.”

“I’d like to marry Slocum,” Renata said.

Marlene gave both girls a sharp look.

“You’re a dreamer, Renata,” Bonnie said.

“That’s what I’ve been doin’ all my life,” Renata replied.

Marlene snorted in disapproval.

Laurie led Slocum to her brother’s nearly completed cabin. He had transplanted cactus and juniper trees to partially conceal the building and to add a touch of beauty to his digs.

“Harve put a lot of work into his cabin, and mine,” she said.

Slocum saw the pile of pine logs set to one side, but could see that Harvey had not yet finished debarking all of them.

“He does fine work,” he said.

“He’s going to transplant some cactus and trees around my cabin when he gets time,” she said.

“A lot of work,” Slocum said.

The two walked to Laurie’s cabin, which was taking the brunt of the afternoon sun as it traversed its westward path across the skies.

Inside, though, it was relatively cool as Slocum would have expected. Logs made for good insulation in both summer and winter.

“I’ll show you Harve’s room, where you can stay until it’s safe for you to leave,” she said.

Slocum followed her down the hall. She opened a door and went inside.

“All the comforts of home,” she said.

The room was large with a small brass bed, straight chairs, a small desk and table, three lamps, a window with a view of the valley, and another door that amounted to a private entrance from the side of the cabin.

“Pretty nice,” Slocum said. “What do you charge for a night’s stay?”

Laurie laughed and grabbed his arm.

“You might as well see the rest of the cabin,” she said.

She led him back into the hall and opened another door on the opposite side. This room was bigger than the other. It had a large four-poster bed with a canopy, an overstuffed chair, a small desk next to the wall, a leaf table, and straight-back chairs. There were framed Currier & Ives prints on the walls. No side or back door, and the view from the back window was of the creek and the butte several yards away.

“Even nicer,” Slocum said.

“It’s quiet and peaceful. Come on, I’ll show you the kitchen and we have a privy out back.”

The kitchen was large with lots of cabinet and counter space. There was a woodstove and utensils hanging from a roof beam. There was even a clothes tree by the back door and several wooden pegs driven into the log walls.

The kitchen smelled of sage and flour, of coffee and sugar. There was a coffeepot on the cold stove and a wooden tray on the counter with side handles.

“You must love to cook,” he said.

Laurie laughed.

“Harvey loves to eat. And so do I. I’ll fix us a nice supper.”

They walked back to the front room. Slocum sat in the easy chair, while Laurie seated herself on the divan.

“I’m still trying to absorb and understand all the information I got from you today, John.”

“You mean the smoke signals?”

“No, the Canby stuff. It’s hard to believe the man has come this far and is wanted by the law.”

“He murdered my friend over a business deal,” Slocum said. “He wasn’t satisfied with the money he made and wanted it all for himself.”

“So he’s ruthless,” Laurie said.

“Yes, he is that. In spades.”

“What are you going to do? How will you ever capture such a man? He’s evaded the law this long. He’ll be hard to catch or to bring down.”

“Yes, I expect that’s so,” Slocum said. He patted his shirt with a hand.

“Missing something?” she said.

“A cheroot. I have more in my saddlebags.”

He got up and walked to where Laurie had placed his saddlebags and rifle. He opened one pouch and grabbed up several cigars from a tin, stuck them into his pocket.

“May I smoke?” he said as he sat back down.

“Sure. That’s Harvey’s pipe next to the ashtray on the end table there.”

Slocum looked over and saw the pipe and ashtray. The pipe bowl was hard-baked clay and the stem carved from hickory or ash. He pulled a cheroot from his pocket and lit it with a wooden match he struck on the heel of his boot. He blew the smoke away from where Laurie was sitting.

“Tonight,” he said, “I’ll slip into town and see what I can find out.”

“What do you mean? What are you trying to find out?”

Laurie crossed her legs and he could see her ankles above her lace-up boots.

“By now, Canby probably knows about the jailbreak. He’ll have men looking for me. I want to see what he’s up to by way of finding me.”

“Won’t that be risky?” she asked.

“Living is risky,” he said.

“I mean dangerous. What if they see you?”

“There are no streetlamps in Deadfall,” he said. “I wear dark clothes. I can see if men with rifles are watching for me and Hornaday. I’ve seen some of the men’s faces who work for him.”