Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 04 - Sudden Outlawed(1934) (16 page)

 
          
He
was about to mount when he saw Carol talking to one of the outfit and walked
towards them, leading his horse. The cowboy turned away when he saw the
newcomer. The girl asked the inevitable question and got the same explanation
her father had received.

 
          
“Of
course, I had no notion of Sam being hurt,” Baudry said. “He’s not looking too
bad.”

 
          
“His
recovery is wonderful,” Carol agreed.

 
          
The
man’s eyes dwelt on her, absorbing the straight slimness of her figure and the
healthy freshness of her young beauty. She stirred him, and there was warmth in
his usually cold voice when he said:

 
          
“He’s
had a wonderful nurse.”

 
          
There
was a mischievous gleam in Carol’s eyes. “He certainly has. If ever you fall
sick, Mister Baudry, I can recommend Judy.”

 
          
The
gambler’s lips tightened. Was the girl playing with him? But a man who depends
upon cards for a living must learn to mask his emotions and Jethro Baudry was
no novice.

 
          
“You
have some new faces,” the gambler remarked. “I don’t recollect the young fellow
you were talking to.”

 
          
“Oh,
you mean Sandy—the boys call him that,” she added rather hastily. “He’s a
friend of Mister Green.”

 
          
Baudry
had a black moment; the use of the cowboy’s nickname did not please him, the
less so since he knew it had been involuntary.

 
          
“Looks
a likely lad,” he said carelessly.

 
          
But
the girl was on her guard. “We’ve a good outfit,” was her reply.

 
          
“Well,
the hardships of the trail seem to suit you. Never seen you look so bonny.”
Again there was warmth in his tone and it made her flush a little.

 
          
“I
love it,” she replied, and with a smile, “Dad always says I ought to have been
a boy.”

 
          
“I
can’t agree with Sam on that, and he won’t find another man that will,” the
gambler said gallantly. “There’s plenty boys but only one Carol Eden.”

 
          
With
a wide sweep of his hat, he hoisted himself into the saddle and rode away,
leaving her pondering. She did not like the man, though she could have given no
reason. He was a friend of her father, who was under a considerable obligation
to him, and to her he had always been courteous and respectful, and yet…

 
          
The
river next morning showed an appreciable fall, but there still was a vast
volume of reddish, sand-laden water sweeping swiftly between the bluff banks,
and to the group of men studying the swirling currents it was clear that the
crossing would be a difficult and perilous undertaking. Danger to themselves
would not deter them; they were thinking only of the herd.

 
          
“I
guess we gotta take a chance, boys,” the foreman decided. “What’s yore opinion,
Jim?”

 
          
“Me
an’
Sandy ‘ll
try her out,” Sudden offered.

 
          
Stripped
to the waist and riding bareback they entered the stream at a point where the
bank shelved. In a few moments the horses were swimming, Nigger’s black head in
the lead.

 
          
Progress
was slow, for the current was strong and the crossing had to be made in a long
slant.

 
          
The
soupy state of the water and floating driftwood which had to be avoided added
to the task, but at length the riders emerged on the opposite bank and turned
to wave to their watching comrades. A short rest and they again plunged in for
the return journey.

 
          
“She’s
a gamble, with the odds against us,” was Sudden’s verdict. “But we’ve played in
luck, so far.”

 
          
The
foreman had already made up his mind and presently the leaders of the herd
appeared, trotting briskly, for in view of the crossing they had been kept
thirsty. At the sight of the turgid flood, however, they baulked and would have
turned but for the riders on both flanks, who drove them into the water. There
they stood, knee-deep, snorting and bawling with fright, the force of the
stream almost sweeping them from their feet. Beyond this they would not budge
until Sudden splashed in, roped the foremost steer round the horns, and
slipping the other end of his lariat across the broad breast of Nigger, headed
for the far bank.

 
          
Willy-nilly
the captive was dragged headlong into the flood and struck out lustily, seeing
which—after a brief hesitation —those behind followed. In a few moments, a
steady string of horned heads was moving across the river. Sudden, having
pulled his victim up the far shore, removed the loop, and grinned at the
disgruntled-looking brute, which seemed disposed to go “on the prod.”

 
          
“G’wan,”
he said, and slapped it over the nose with the end of his wet rope. “What yu
gotta belly-ache about? Yu had the easiest trip of any, an’ yu’ll be Big Chief
Show-‘em-how to them four-footed friends o’ your’n from now on.”

 
          
For
a while he sat watching the curving line of black blobs in the water,
shepherded by horsemen on the downstream side.

 
          
After
drying himself in the, warm sun, he recrossed the river. The foreman met him,
his face beaming.

 
          
“Jim,
that was a daddy of an idea,” he said. “Yu
shore know
cows.”

 
          
“Shucks,”
Sudden smiled. “The
critters is
like humans—give ‘em a
lead an’ they’ll go most anywheres.
It warn’t nothin’.”

 
          
“No?”
Jeff said. “Allasame, I’m damn glad we got yu in the outfit, son.”

 
          
“SAY,
Jim, do yu figure we’ve razzle-dazzled Rogue?” Sandy asked.

 
          
“Mebbe,
but he’s a foxy fella an’ now he knows we ain’t workin’ for him he’s probably
trackin’ us,” Sudden replied. “But I expect we’ve put one over on other gents
watchin’ the trail.”

 
          
They
were riding some five hundred yards ahead of the herd, for being in Indian
territory
, scouts were deemed necessary, and, since they
were no longer following a used trail, the easiest route had to be selected.
More than a week had passed since they left the Red River and during most of
the time they had travelled westwards before turning north again. Not one of
the
outfit
had more than a vague notion of their
location, for save to the Indians and a few trappers and buffalo hunters, this
was unknown country. Moreover, wide detours to avoid difficulties had been
made, and they had only the sun and stars to guide them.

 
          
“Plenty
lonesome in these parts,” Sandy remarked presently. “We ain’t seen a soul since
the Red.”

 
          
“Suits
me,” his friend replied. “Anybody we met would likely be hostile. What yu think
o’ Lasker?”

 
          
“I
don’t,” Sandy grinned.
“Not never
.”

 
          
“Huh!
I’m forgettin’ that yu got a single-track mind these days,” Sudden said
gravely.

 
          
“Allatime
it circles round a certain hatchet-faced”

 
          
“Shurrup,
yu idjut; here’s Carol a-comin’.”

 
          
Sudden’s
eyebrows lifted at the familiarity, but before he could offer any comment, the
girl reined in beside them.

 
          
“Jeff
sent me for you, Sandy,” she said. “I’m to take your place for a spell.”

 
          
The
boy’s face fell. “Shore it wasn’t Jim he wanted?” he asked.

 
          
Carol’s
eyes twinkled teasingly. “Quite sure,” she told him, and when he had wheeled
his mount and loped back towards the herd she murmured, “He seemed to just hate
leaving you.”

 
          
“Yeah,”
Sudden said. “Wonder if Jeff wants him bad?”

 
          
She
saw the little crinkles at the corners of his eyes and laughed herself. “I’m
afraid he doesn’t,” she confessed. “You I
te
. Jeff I’d
like to ride ahead for a while and he said, Send Sandy back; a fellow scouting
needs his eyes in more than one place.’ Now what did he mean by that?”

 
          
“I
ain’t a notion,” was the mendacious reply, and then, with a sly smile, “Mebbe
he figures Sandy ain’t very dependable.” The girl bridled instantly. “Then I
think it’s too mean,” she cried. “Dad said something of the sort last night.
Just because Sandy is gay and light-hearted”

 
          
She
stopped, and her cheeks went red beneath their tan as she saw the quirk of
amusement on his lips. Then she smiled also. “That was too bad of you,” she
accused.

 
          
“I’m
askin’ yore pardon, ma’am,” Sudden said. “Yu see, Sandy is my friend; he can
have anythin’ I got, an’ there’s no limit.”

 
          
“You
have known him long?”

 
          
“
That don’t
follow. Friendship is a funny thing; it ain’t a
matter o’ time. Yu know one fella for years an’ in the end he’ll disappoint yu;
yu know another for hours an’ yu can gamble on him.”

 
          
So
he closed the subject. In those wild days a person’s past was his or her
concern and it was neither polite nor prudent to probe into it.

 
          
The
foreman having agreed to call it a day, camp was made near a thicket of oak and
mesquite, while the cattle were bunched on the flat top of a swell not far
away. There was no water but the animals had had a sufficiency the night
before, and the longhorn could travel forty-eight hours without drinking.
Nevertheless, the lack of it made the herd restive and Jeff anxious. Sudden,
giving the cook a hand with his team, offered a word of advice:

 
          
“I’d
hobble them critters an’ keep ‘em handy, Peg-leg. This is Injun territory an’
them red devils would ruther eat mule-meat than prime beef.”

 
          
“All
a matter o’ taste, I reckon,” the cook replied.

 
          
“More
a matter o’ teeth, I’d say,” the cowboy grinned, as he swung into his saddle
and went to help with the herd. Some hours later Sandy came to relieve him and
even in the darkness Sudden could see that the young man was not his usual
bright self; slouched in his saddle, head down, he appeared moody and
depressed.

 
          
“Yu
look as happy as a wet hen,” was the greeting he received. “What’s bitin’ yu?”

 
          
“I
dunno, Jim, an’ that’s a fact, but I got a feelin’ trouble is comin’.”

 
          
“Trouble
allus is comin’ an’ worryin’ won’t stop it. Get such fool notions outa the
thing that holds yore hat up, an’ keep a close eye on them durned cows; half of
‘em ain’t even dozin’ yet.”

 
          
Riding
back to the camp he heard the mournful, weird howl of a coyote and a moment
later came an answering cry. He pulled up in doubt; to his trained ear they did
not sound just right. Smiling sardonically at the reflection that Sandy had
made him nervy, he nevertheless circled to approach the rear of the timber
behind the camp, whence the cries had seemed to come. This took some time, for
the thicket was larger than he had thought and it was incumbent to move
cautiously. Reaching the trees, he sat listening the indistinct mutter of a
voice came to him. Slipping from his saddle, he crept into the undergrowth. It
was nervous work; once he put a hand on a clammy, writhing form and heard a
sharp hiss as the reptile slithered away. Sudden shivered.