Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 08 - Sudden Takes The Trail(1940) (26 page)

 
          
Mebbe
yu can help. Sark had a visitor yestiddy, a young fella named Masters. What
happened?”

 
          
Juba
hesitated, glancing right and left fearfully. The coin flashed into the air
again, and seemed to act as a spur.

 
          
“Neber
see
him come,” he began. “I hear high voices in de
front room. Dey’s fightin’ wid dere
han’s
. Dey slam
one anoder all ober de place, an’ den de young one t’row de boss clean ober his
shoulder an’ he lit ‘mong de brekfuss t’ings; I neber did see a table cleared
so quick.
De boss is out, lyin’ pow’ful still on de flo’.
De young fella takes one look at him, grabs his gun, an’ goes off whistlin’ a
chune.”

 
          
“He’d
walk into hell doin’ that,” Sudden smiled. “Where’d he head for?”

 
          
“I
neber see, sah; de boss come to life right after.” Sudden flipped the coin into
the air again, this time towards Juba. “Put that some place yore boss can’t
steal it,” he said. “An’ yu needn’t to mention I called.” Cutting short the
cook’s protestation of gratitude and obedience with a wave of the hand, he rode
away. What would be Dave’s next move? Obviously, he would seek Mullins. Cutting
across the straight line between that and the hills, he presently came upon
hoof-marks, and, at intervals, traces of some white substance.

 
          
For
a while the white “sign” was plentiful, enabling him to travel quickly, but
then it became infrequent—evidently the supply was running out in more than one
sense. However, it led him across an area of hard ground where a horse would
leave no tracks, and so to the fringe of the black mantle of timber masking the
mountain-side, and a cleverly-concealed opening in what appeared to be an
impenetrable wall of undergrowth. This was the other approach Dave had guessed
at, and was much more direct than the one he had been at such pains to
discover.

 
          
Leaving
the sunlight behind, Sudden paced steadily along a path which swung right and
left to lessen the gradient. For an hour the climb continued, and then came the
scrape of a slipping hoof, followed by an oath. Sudden swerved behind a
convenient bush, got down, and drew a gun. Round a bend, sitting his horse
slackly, a rider appeared.

 
          
“Git ‘em up, friend.”
The unexpected command made the fellow
start, but he did not hesitate to obey. The marshal stepped out of the shadow,
his own weapon levelled. “Hand her over, buttfirst,” he said, and when this had
been done, “Now talk, straight an’ fast. Where’s Mullins’ hang-out?”

 
          
“Never
heard ”
He halted abruptly as the menacing gun lifted
an inch.

 
          
“One
more
crack
like that an’ I’ll be diggin’ a hole for
yu,” was the harsh reminder.

 
          
“It’s
up the trail a piece,” the other said sullenly.

 
          
“Seen
anythin’ of a fella named Masters?”

 
          
“He
was locked up all night, an’ this mornin’ Jake an’ four others took him away;
they come back with a spare hoss—his’n. What happened, I dunno.” Sudden got
into his saddle and gestured meaningly with his gun. “Yu an’ me
is
goin’ to look for him,” he announced. “An’ if we don’t
find him yu’ll be outa luck. Lead on.”

 
          
“I’ll
do my best, but—knowin’ Jake—I figure it’s a waste o’ time,” the man said. He
swerved off to the east, forcing a way through a jumble of vegetation, to pull
up after a while where a tiny rill from the heights above spread to form a
moist patch. “
There’s tracks
here, but o’ course …”

 
          
“Yu
say Masters was on his own pony?” The guide nodded. Sudden examined the
hoofprints. “We’ve struck it,” he said, pointing to one of them. “Dave allus
had a cross cut in one shoe for luck.” They rode on, came to a deeper pool in a
rock hollow which broke the passage of a larger stream, and paused to drink.
Jake’s party had evidently done the same, for there were more prints. A few
hundred yards brought them to the clearing, and the prostrate form of the man
they sought.

 
          
“Gawd-a-
mighty !
” the rustler breathed. “
Ants !
He’s a goner.” But Sudden had seen a slight movement of the puffed lips, and
sprang down, crying, “Cut the ropes, an’ lift him up.” A moment sufficed for
this. “Run him to the pool we just passed.” Half dragging, half carrying, they
got their burden to the water, leaving the horses to follow, but before they
reached it, the rescuers also were having a taste of what Dave had suffered; in
scores of places at once their skins were sharply punctured by the voracious
little pests, with whom Dave’s body was still alive.

 
          
“Hell!”
the guide swore.
“The beggars must be damn’ near all teeth.”

 
          
“We’ll
see if they can swim,” Sudden replied. “Get right under.” Pushing his friend
ahead of him, he waded into the pool, and their companion lost no time in
following. The cool water was a heaven-sent anodyne for their smarting bodies
and speedily relieved them of the unwelcome visitors. Not until they were sure
of this did they emerge and spread their saturated garments, and themselves, in
the sun to dry. By this time, Dave had regained his wits.

 
          
“Jim,
yo’re a wonder,” he said. “I owe
yu ”

 
          
“Nothin’,”
Sudden told him brusquely. “There’s a tree just outa Welcome …” Knowing his
friend, Dave said no more, and turned his attention to the other man. “Hello,
Beautiful, I never expected to see yu again.
How come?”

 
          
“Rowley’s
the name,” the rustler returned uncomfortably. “I’m right glad we
was
in time.”

 
          
“It
was him fetched me here,” Sudden said.

 
          
Dave
nodded; he had a pretty clear idea of what had taken place. “Mister, I’d thank
Satan hisself for gettin’ me out’n that fix,” he confessed. “I’m mighty
grateful, even if yu are on the other side.” He held out a badly-swollen hand;
Rowley grasped it gingerly. “I ain’t,” he replied. “I quit soon as I saw you
spread out there. Bumpin’ off a fella you don’t like is one thing, but my skin’s
white, an’ I got no use for torture.”

 
          
“I’m
goin’ to like yu,” the deputy said. He regarded himself ruefully. “I must ‘a’
lost a lot o’ weight.”

 
          
“Yu’ve
put some on, by the look o’ yu,” Sudden corrected.

 
          
He
had just finished drying and reloading his guns and that of the rustler, and now
he passed the latter’s over to him, and went to see how their clothes were
progressing. The man’s eyes widened at this proof of confidence. Dave’s face
was distorted into what was intended to be a grin.

 
          
“That’s
means yo’re adopted, Beautiful,” he said.

 
          
“He
was takin’ a hell of a chance.”

 
          
“Jim’s
used to that, but he
don’t
often guess wrong.”

 
          
“I’ll
bet high he can fight.”

 
          
“Ask
Jake Mullins.”

 
          
“I
ain’t honin’ to see that fella no more.”

 
          
“Allasame,
I’m afraid yu gotta.”
This from Sudden, who had rejoined them
in time to overhear the remark.
“As yu know, Rowley, there’s a li’l
woman in Jake’s han’s who badly needs a friend. Mc an’ Dave can’t go back, but
yu can, without bein’ suspicioned. It won’t be long afore we return an’ smoke
out that swarm o’ hornets. Will you do this?”

 
          
“Glad
to,” Rowley replied readily, and turned to Dave. “Say, you ain’t got a gun;
take mine.”

 
          
“That’s
right kind o’ yu, but he won’t need any,” Sudden put in. “What he must have is
a mount.”

 
          
“I
can hoof it in. My bronc havin’ broke a
leg,
I just
naturally has to shoot it.”

 
          
“O’ course, but yu gotta tote in yore gear, or it’ll look phoney.
Can yu ride if the hoss don’t have a saddle, Dave?”

 
          
“I
can ride him if he
don’t
have a back,” the young man
retorted.

 
          
“Right,
then,
we’re
takin’ different trails.
yo’re
ridin’ to Welcome to round up some o’ the boys. How
strong is Jake, Rowley?”

 
          
“He
had thirteen, countin’ him, but he’s lost one.”

 
          
“Better
rope in some o’ the Bar 0—we may have to reckon with the Dumbbell outfit as well,”
the marshal told his deputy.

 
          
Dave
rose with a bound, grabbed his clothes and began to scramble into them. “Beautiful,
I’ll give you any price yu name for yore hoss an’ gun,” he offered.

 
          
“Don’t
notice him, Rowley, he’s just a kid,” Sudden smiled, and to Dave, “I know how
yu feel, boy, but yo’re in no state to go shootin’ up Sark. Because yu licked
him
once ”

 
          
“How
d’yu
hear o’ that?”

 
          
“Followed
yu there, didn’t see Jesse, but his cook told me.” Dave chuckled throatily.

 
          
“Awright,
I give in. S’pose
yo’re
goin’ to the Dumbbell, huh?
Don’t yu touch Sark—he’s my meat.”

 
          
“I
ain’t layin’ a finger on him, but I wanta know what he’s doin’. I’ll be back by
the time yu an’ the others arrive.” They dressed and left, the black bearing a
double burden until they neared the hang-out. There Rowley departed, taking his
saddle and bridle. The two friends continued along the trail by which Sudden
had entered. Here, the marshal had a parting word.

 
          
“Let
that cayuse know that yo’re wearin’ spurs. I’ll be expectin’ yu early in the
mornin’,
an’ that won’t be any too soon for Mrs. Gray, I’m
thinkin’.” The reminder sent the young man scampering away like a scalded cat.
Sudden turned his horse towards the Dumbbell range, to learn what he might of
its owner’s movements.

 
          
THE
owner of the Dumbbell had spent the day nursing his hurts, both mental and
physical. The fact that his hired assassin had not reappeared to claim the
price of his villainy did not add to his peace of mind. In the late afternoon a
messenger came, bringing a closed scrawl: Yore cousin, Mrs. Gray, is in my
hands. She will be released on payment of four thousand dollars, cash.
you
must come alone, or there’s no trade. If I don’t git the
money, she will—
suffer
.

 
          
MULLINS.

 
          
His
lips curled as he read. “She will—suffer,” he repeated. “Pretty neat, for Jake,
that. I guess any woman can savvy what it means, an’ my charmin’ relative
oughta be real pleased to see me. Four thousand, double the agreed figure, huh?
Mebbe, Mister Mullins, mebbe.” With an added expletive, he thrust the paper
into a pocket and went to give certain instructions to his men. He returned to
find Lyman awaiting him, an unwelcome sight.

 
          
“What’s
the trouble now?” he asked testily.

 
          
“None
so far as I’m concerned,” the lawyer replied. “You seem to have found some. Has
our friend, the marshal, been trying to alter the geography of the face God, or
the Devil, gave you?” Sark frowned darkly. He sees almost certain that Lyman
knew; he had probably been there some time, and would have wormed the story out
of Juba. So, for once, he told the truth.

 
          
“No, the next worst thing—that cub of a deputy.
Took me by surprise.
I’ll cut his heart out for it.”