Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 01 - The Range Robbers(1930) (43 page)

 
          
“Well,
Simon, how’re yu comin’ along?’ he asked.

 
          
“Reckon
I ain’t a-comin’, I’m a-goin’, bun yu needn’t tell Norry I said so,’ replied
the invalid, with a weak attempt at a smile.

 
          
“Shucks,
yu mustn’t talk like that,’ Tarman said. “Now, see here, yu needn’t worry about
anythin’. I’m goin’ to stay at the Y Z an’ look after things, so all yu gotta
do is set yore mind on gettin’ well. I wouldn’t ‘a’ troubled yu this mornin’
out it’ll help me considerable if the outfit knows I’m part owner o’ the ranch.
I ain’t carryin’ enough cash to settle the deal around with me but I can give
yu a draft. I’ve written out the agreement an’ all yu gotta do is sign it.’

 
          
Simon
shook his head feebly. “Guess it’ll have to wait, Tarman, I ain’t in no
condition to do business,’ he said. “
You spoken to Norry
yet?’

 
          
“No,
nothin’ definite, but I reckon she knows,’ replied the other, striving to keep
the irritation he felt from his voice. “What’s the use o’ delayin’? This place
needs a man to handle it just now an’ yu won’t be in a fit state to tackle it
for some time.’

 
          
“It’ll
have to wait,’ reiterated the sick man, and although Tarman went on to argue
the question at greater length, he stuck to his decision.

 
          
“Well,
it’s
yore say-so, o’ course, but I claim yu ain’t
treatin’ me fair? Peterson,’ the big man said meaningly. The ranch-owner’s face
flushed at the name and the implied threat, but before he could reply the door
opened and Noreen entered.

 
          
“Time’s
up, Mr. Tarman,’ she said. “I cannot allow my patient to be bothered with
business any longer.’

 
          
“I’ve
been tryin’ to fix things so that he won’t be troubled with it at all,’ was the
reply. “So long, Simon; keep a-smilin’.’

 
          
He
went out, after telling the girl that it was worth while being shot up to have
such a nurse, a compliment which did not produce the effect he intended. Noreen
had no illusions about him now, and when she heard of his attempt to get hold
of the ranch, her temper flared up.

 
          
“The
coward, to try and bully you into doing that when you are so ill,’ she cried.
“Don’t sign anything, Daddy.’

 
          
The
old man assured her that he had no intention of doing so and the girl was
satisfied, but she found it difficult to appear friendly with the unwelcome
guest. This difficulty increased as the days passed and Tarman acted more and
more as master of the ranch and of herself. Had it not been that the invalid
claimed most of her time she would have resented this, for she would have seen
more of it than she did. It was Snap who opened her eyes fully.

 
          
“Blaynes
has got orders to give Ginger, Dirty, an’ Simple their time,’ he said. “Mebbe
yu ain’t heard?’

 
          
The
girl stared at him in astonishment.
“Orders?
From
whom?’ she asked.

 
          
“Tarman,
I s’pose; I’m bettin’ high the Old Man never give ‘em,’ said Lunt.

 
          
“I
should think not,’ the girl cried indignantly. “What have those boys done to be
turned off?’

 
          
“They
were friendly to Green, an’ they ain’t made any secret of it.’

 
          
“They
are not to go—I will speak to Mr. Tarman. Have you any idea where Green is now,
Snap?’

 
          
“I
ain’t, Miss Norry, I wish I had. Tonk an’ his posse have

 
          
combed
the country an’ ain’t seen a trace of him; he seems
to have vanished complete, but I’m dead shore he’s around.’ He watched her walk
back to the house, his face set grimly. “An’ he’ll stay around too, as long as
yu need him, or I’m a gopher,’ he muttered. “An’ if he
don’t
,
I will.’

 
          
Noreen
found Tarman in the office, which had been resnored to a state of neatness
again. The sight of him sitting at her father’s desk drove discretion to the
wind and she plunged at once into her business.

 
          
“I
understand that you are dismissing some of the men,’ she began. “Is my father
aware of it?’

 
          
Tarman
looked at her in surprise; this was a different Noreen, and he suddenly
realised that instead of a chattel to be disposed of at his will, she had
become a factor to be considered, and one requiring careful handling.

 
          
“It
wasn’t worth while botherin’ yore father,’ he explained. “Blaynes complained to
me that the men were insubordinate an’ I told him to get rid of ‘em. This isn’t
a time no carry men who are not loyal to the ranch.’

 
          
“These
men are,’ she replied shortly.

 
          
“Then
you don’t trust yore foreman’s judgment,’ he argued.

 
          
“I
prefer to rely on my own, and my father would agree with me,’ she retorted. “I
will not have them sent away.’

 
          
There
was no mistaking the note of determination in her voice and Tarman hesitated
for a moment, pondering the best course to pursue. Her opposition enraged him,
but he fought down his anger and smiled instead.

 
          
“Guess
it ain’t worth quarrellin’ about—a man oughtta give into a girl, specially when
it’s the girl,’ he said indulgently, and then, noting her look, he added, “I’m
presumin’ that Simon told yu what we was both hopin’—that yu an’ me would tie
up?’

 
          
“You
certainly are presuming, Mr. Tarman,’ Noreen told him. The question of “tying
up”—to you or anyone else—is one I have not yet considered.’

 
          
Despite
his hardihood, the man flushed. “I’m clumsy—ought not to have put it just that
way,’ he excused. “I ain’t
no ladies’
man, Miss Noreen,
an’ I can’t make pretty speeches. The straight of it is, I want yu—want yu bad.
Will you have me?’

 
          
The
girl was silent, studying this, her first real lover. Big, handsome, virile,
many a woman would have asked no more; but Noreen, inexperienced in the world
as she was, had seen beneath the surface and she profoundly distrusted Tarman.
Besides—but that was a reason she would not admit, even to herself. She shook
her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Tarman,’ she said.

 
          
“Think
again, girl,’ he urged. “I’ve got money an’ I’ll make more. We needn’t stay
here; after a spell we can sell out an’ travel; see the world an’ see it in
style. I’m buildin’ big an’ as my wife you’ll be somebody. Who else around here
can offer yu as much?’

 
          
“And
the Devil took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the cities of the
world and the glories thereof,” the girl quoted softly, and again she said,
“No, Mr. Tarman.’

 
          
This
time there was
a finality
in her tone which even his
egotism could not ignore; he saw that she was not to be persuaded and a black
anger welled up in him. Was he, Tarman, who had broken men and brushed them out
of his way like flies, to be bested by a chit of a girl? A hard look came into
his eyes as they rested on her.

 
          
“Yu
are takin’ a high hand, girl, but there’s one or two points yu are
overlookin’,’ he sneered. “First off, I’m part owner o’ the Y Z. The purchase
price is not paid, nor the agreement signed.’

       
“Shucks!
Mere
formalities.
It’s all settled an’ Simon ain’t the man to go back on his
word, even if he dared. Besides which’—and here he grinned in savage
anticipation of the blow he was about to deal—‘what’s it gotta do with yu? Yu
was talkin’ about presumin’ a while ago. Well, yu are presumin’ yo’re Simon’s
daughter an’ all the time yu ain’t no relation to him.’

 
          
For
a moment she stared at him in utter amazement, and then she laughed
contemptuously. “You must be mad,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you can tell me whose
daughter I am?’

 
          
“Shore
thing,’ came the reply. ‘
Yo’re
Mina, short for
Wilhelmina, only child of Bill Evesham, who used to have a ranch on Crawlin’
Creek, Texas. A man named Peterson stole yu when yu were a kid an’ brought yu
here; he now calls himself Simon Petter.’

 
          
Though
the girl’s eyes were incredulous, her brain was telling her that the man was
speaking the truth.

 
          
“Evesham
was the chap who befriended Sudden, an’ set him on the hunt for Peterson—an’ he
got him,’ Tarman went on. Almost she cried out that it was a
lie,
that
he himself had shot Simon, but with an effort she restrained
herself; after all, she was not sure. Her mind in a whirl, she was conscious of
one recurring thought—that for years Green had been searching for her—with a
vengeful motive, doubtless, but still, searching for her. In some intangible
way the knowledge gave her courage.

 
          
Tarman
watched her gloatingly, well aware of the effect of the blow so ruthlessly
dealt. His eyes roamed over the slim, rounded, youthful figure lustfully, and
the girl’s attitude of despair gave him only a sensation of savage triumph. He
wanted her—he meant that she should oe his, but first he would crush her to the
very earth.

 
          
“So
now yu know where yu get off,’ he continued harshly. “If the old fool
cashes—an’ by the look of him he’s due to—I’m yore best bet. I can turn yu
adrift without a dollar if I like, an’ if yu are cherishin’ any notions about
that feller Sudden, yu better lose ‘em; he’ll be stretchin’ a good rope before
long.’

 
          
The
girl straightened herself up and said stormily, “I’d sooner starve than be
beholden to you for anything.’

 
          
“Starvin’
is none so easy, ‘
specially
for folks who have lived
soft an’ had all they wanted,’ he sneered. “Reckon yu will change yore tune
when the pinch comes. ‘Nother thing yu gotta keep in mind, if Simon does get
well he’s liable to be sent to the pen for abduction, if the’ boys at
Hatchett’s don’t lynch him first.’

 
          
She
had not thought of this and her face paled at the possibility, for what she had
learned could not obliterate the affection of years and the old man was very
dear to her. More than ever she realised how completely she was in the power of
the leering ruffian before her. But she would not let him see it.

 
          
“Have
you anything else to say?’ she asked, and when he did not reply, she swept from
the room.

 
          
The
man watched her go with narrowed, squinting eyes and a clamped jaw.

 
          
“Guess
that’ll hold yu for a bit, my girl,’ he grated. “Later on we’ll take some o’
the stiff enin’ out o’ yu. Dunno, though, seem’ we’ve come to a showdown, it
wouldn’t be as well to—’

 
          
He
paused, and after a moment’s consideration, got up and went in search of Laban.

 
          
Noreen
meanwhile, in the seclusion of her bedroom, was pondering on her strange
position. Save for the sick man and the old Indian housekeeper she had no one
to turn to, and both of these were helpless. Then she thought of Leeming and
decided to go and see him. She went to make sure that Simon was comfortable,
but said nothing of her purpose,
nor
of what she had
learned, not wishing to give him more cause for worry. The ranch appeared to be
deserted when she went to the corral and saddled Blue. She wondered if the
three punchers had already been sent packing and peeped into the bunkhouse,
only to find it empty, even the cook being absent. So she rode away, unaware
that cunning eyes were watching her every movement.

 
          
She
had covered a bare couple of miles and was passing along a brush-filled arroyo
when
a movement in a thicket made her pull
in. Ere she
could start again, a rope swished and settled about her shoulders, while
another dropped over the head of her mount. Dragged from the saddle, she had a
brief glimpse of masked faces and then a blanket was thrown over her and
secured by a rope which also confined her arms to her sides. A gruff voice gave
an order and she felt herself lifted and flung across a saddle.