Riders Of the Dawn (1980) (15 page)

"In other words, he doesn't want us to have the mone y to fight him."

Chapin shrugged. "I don't know what his idea is, but I'l l tell you one thing. He stands in well with the judge, who i s just about as crooked as he is, and they'll use your reputatio n against you. Don't think Booker hasn't considered all the angles, and don't think he doesn't know how flimsy his case ma y be. He'll bolster it every way possible, and he knows ever y trick in the book."

I sat down. This had come so suddenly that it took th e wind out of my sails. "Has this news gone to the Bar M yet?

Has it got out to Canaval?"

Chapin shrugged. "Why should it? He was only th e foreman. Olga has been told, and you can imagine how sh e feels."

My eyes went to hers, and she looked away. Katie O'Har a came in, and I gave her my order for breakfast and tried th e coffee she had brought with her. It tasted good.

As I sat there my mind began to work swiftly. There wa s still a chance, if I figured things right. Jake Booker was n o fool. He had not paid out money for those claims unless h e believed he could make them stand in court. He knew abou t how much money I had and knew that Olga Maclaren, wit h the ranch bank accounts frozen, would be broke. Neither o f us could afford to hire an attorney, and so far as that went , there was no attorney within miles able to cope with Booker.

What had started as a range war had degenerated into a rang e steal by a shyster lawyer, and he had arguments that coul d not be answered with a gun.

"How was Canaval when you left?"

"Better," Olga said, still refusing to meet my eyes.

"What about Morgan Park? I heard he escaped."

"Tharp's out after him now. That Colonel D'Arcy wen t with him and the posse. There had been a horse left for Park.

Who was responsible for that, we don't know, but it ma y have been one of his own men."

"Where did Tharp go?"

"Toward the ranch, I think. There was no trail the y could find."

"They should have gone east, toward Dark Canyon. That'
s where hell be."

Chapin looked at me curiously, intently. ''Why there?"

"That's where hell go," I replied definitely. "Take m y word for it."

They talked a little between them, but I ate in silence , always conscious of the girl across the table, aware of he r every move.

Finishing my meal, I got up and reached for my hat.

Olga looked up quickly. "Don't go out there! Bodie Miller i s in town!"

-Thanks." Our eyes met and held. Were they sayin g something to me? Or was I reading into their depths th e meaning. I wanted them to hold? "Thanks," I repeated. "I'
d prefer not to meet him now. This is no time for persona l grudges."

It was a horse I wanted, a better horse than the on e borrowed from Slade, which might have been stolen. This, I r eflected dryly, would be a poor time to be hung as a hors e thief. There was no gate at the corral on this side, so I c limbed over, crossing the corral. At the corner I stopped i n my tracks. A horse was tied to the corral, a horse strippe d but recently of a saddle, a dun horse that showed evidence o f hard riding! And in the damp earth near the trough was a boot print. Kneeling, I examined the hocks of the tied horse.

From one of them I picked a shred of wool and then another.

Spinning around I raced for the restaurant. "Katie!" I demanded. "Who owns that horse? Did you see the rider?"

"If you're thinkin' of Park, that horse couldn't carry hi m far. An' he would not stay in the town. Not him."

"Did you see anyone else?"

"Nobody--wait a
minute ! I did so. 'Twas Jake Booker.

Not that I saw him with the horse, but a bit before dayligh t he came around the corner from that way and asked if I'
d coffee ready.

Booker! He had small feet. He was in with Park. H
e wanted Maclaren dead. He had killed Slade's man and sho t our horses. Booker had some explaining to do.

Mulvaney was crawling from the loft where I'd slept bu t was all attention at once. He listened and then ran to th e stable office. Waiting only until he was on a horse and racin g from town, I started back to O'Hara's. My mind was mad e up.

The time had come for a showdown, and this time w e would all be in it, and Jake Booker would not be forgotten.

Key Chapin looked up when I came in. "Key," I sai d quickly, "this is the payoff. Find out for me where Booker is.

Get somebody to keep an eye on him. He's not to leave tow n if he tries. Keep him under observation all the time unti l Mulvaney gets back from the ranch."

Turning to Olga, I asked her, "How about Canaval?"

Can he ride yet? Could he stand a buckboard trip?"

She hesitated. "He couldn't ride, but he might stand i t in the buckboard."

"Then get him into town, and have the boys come wit h him, Fox especially. I like that man Fox, and Canaval ma y need protection. Bring him in, and bring him here."

"What is it? What have you learned?" Chapin demanded.

"About everything I need to know," I replied. "We'r e going to save the Bar M for Olga, and perhaps we'll save m y ranch, too.
In any event, we'll have the man who killed Rud Maclaren !"

"What?" Olga's face was pale. "Matt, do you mean that?"

"I do. I only hope that Tharp gets back with Morga n Park, but I doubt if we'll see him again." Turning to Key , who was at the door. "Another thing. We might as well settle i t all. Send a rider to the CP and have Jim Pinder in here. Ge t him here fast. We'll have our showdown the first thing in th e morning."

Twice I walked up the street and back. Nowhere wa s there any sign of Bodie Miller or of Red, his riding partner.

The town still had that sense of expectancy that I had notice d upon coming into town. And they were right--for a lot o f things were going to happen and happen fast.

Key met me in the saloon. He walked toward me quickly , his face alive with interest. "What have you got in mind , Matt? What are you planning?"

"Several things. In the first place, there has been enoug h fighting and trouble. We're going to end it right here. We'r e going to close up this whole range fight. There aren't going t o be any halfway measures. How well do you know Tharp?"

"Very well, why?"

"Will he throw his weight with us? It would mean a lot i f he would."

"You can bank on him. He's a solid man, Matt. Ver y solid."

"All right, in the morning then. In the morning we'l l settle everything!"

There was a slight movement at the door and I looke d up. My pulse almost stopped with the shock of it.

Bodie Miller stood there, his hands on his hips, his lip s smiling. "Why, sure!" he said. "If that's what you want. Th e morning is as good a time a s 12

Chapter
12

The sun came up clear and hot. Already at daybreak the sk y was without- a cloud, and the distant mountains seemed t o shimmer in a haze of their own making. The desert lost itsel f in heat waves before the day had scarce begun, and there wa s a stillness lying upon both desert and town, a sort of poise d awareness without sound.

When I emerged upon the street I was alone. Like a town of ghosts, the street was empty, silent except for th e echo of my steps on the boardwalk. Then, as if their soun d had broken the spell, the saloon door opened and the bartender emerged and began to sweep off the walk. He glance d quickly around at me, bobbed his head, and then with a n uneasy look around, finished his sweeping hurriedly and ducke d back inside. A man carrying two wooden buckets emerge d from an alley and looked cautiously about. Assured there wa s no one in sight he started across the street, glancing apprehensively first in one direction, then the other.

Sitting down in one of the polished chairs before th e saloon I tipped back my hat and stared at the mountains. In a few minutes or a few hours, I might be dead.

It was not a good morning on which to die--but wha t morning is? Yet in a few minutes or hours another man an d myself would probably meet out there in that street, and w e would exchange shots, and one or both of us would die.

A rider came into the street, Mulvaney. He left his hors e at the stable and clumped over to me. He was carryin g enough guns to fight a war.

"Com
in'
Mulvaney said, "the whole kit an' kaboodl e of 'em. Be here within the hour. Jolly's already in town.

Jonathan went after the others."

Nodding, I watched a woman looking down the stree t from the second floor. Suddenly she turned and left th e window as if she had seen something or been called.

"Eat yet?"
-

"Not yet.-

"Seen Olga? Or Chapin?"

"No.

"If Red cuts in this scrap," Mulvaney said, "he's mine."

"You can have him."

A door slammed somewhere, and then the man with th e two wooden buckets hurried fearfully across the street, slopping water at every step. "All right," I said, "well go eat."

There was no sign of Bodie Miller or of Jim Pinder.

Sheriff Tharp was still out hunting Morgan Park. Unless h e got back soon, I'd have to run my show alone.

Mother O'Hara had a white tablecloth over the oilcloth , and her best dishes were out. She brought me coffee and sai d severely, ''You should be ashamed. That girl laid awake hal f the night, thinkin' of nothin' but you!"

"About me?" I was incredulous.

"Yes, about you! Worried fair sick, she is! About you an'
t hat Bodie Miller!"

The door opened and Olga walked in. Her eyes wer e very green today, and her hair was drawn back to a loose kno t at the back of her neck, but curled slightly into two waves o n her forehead. She avoided my glance, and it was well she di d or I'd have come right out of my chair.

Then men entered the restaurant--Chapin, looking unusually severe, Colonial D'Arcy, and last of all, Jake Booker.

D'Arcy caught my eye, and a slow smile started on hi s lips. "Sabre! Well, I'm damned! The last time I saw Sabre h e was in China!"

He took my hand and we grinned at each other. He wa s much older than I, but we talked the same language. His hai r was gray at the temples. "They say you've had trouble wit h Cantwell. "

"And more to come if the sheriff doesn't get him. Park i s mixed up in a shady deal with Jake Booker, the man acros s the table from me."

"I?" Booker smiled, but his eyes were deadly. "You'r e mistaken, Mr. Sabre. It is true that Mr. Park asked me t o represent him in some trouble he was having, but we've n o other connection. None at all."

Jim Pinder stalked in at that moment, but knowing tha t Mulvaney and Jolly were watching, I ignored him.

"From the conversation I overheard in Silver Reef," I s aid to Booker, "I gathered you had obtained a buyer fo r some mining property he expected you to have."

Fury flickered across his face. He had no idea how muc h I knew.

"It might interest you to know, Booker, that the fightin g in this area is over. Pinder is here, and we're having a peac e meeting. Pinder is making a deal with us and with the Bar M.

The fun's over."

"I ain't said nothin' about no deal," Pinder declare d harshly. "I come in because I figured you was ready to sell."

"I might buy, Pinder, but I wouldn't sell. Furthermore , I'm with Chapin and Tharp in organizing this peace move.

You can join or stay out, but if you don't join you'll have t o haul supplies from Silver Reef. This town will he closed t o you. Each of us who has been in this fight is to put up a bon d to keep the peace, effective at daybreak tomorrow. You ca n join or leave the country."

"After you killed my brother?" Pinder demanded. Yo u ask for peace?"

"You started the trouble in the livery stable figuring yo u were tough enough to hire me or run me out of the country.

You weren't big enough for fast enough then, and you aren'
t now. Nobody doubts your nerve. You've too much for you r own good, and so have the lot of us, but it gets us nothing bu t killing and more killing. You can make money on the CP, o r you can try to buck the country.

"As for Rollie, he laid for me and he got what he aske d for. You're a hard man, Pinder, but you're no fool, and I'v e an idea you're square. Isn't it true Rollie stared out to ge t me?"

Pinder hesitated, rubbing his angular jaw. "It is," he sai d finally, "hut that don't make no--"

"It makes a lot of difference," I replied shortly. "No w look, Pinder. You've lost more than you've cost us. You nee d money. You can't ship cattle. You sign up or you'll neve r ship any! Everybody here knows you've nerve enough to fac e me, but everybody knows you'd die. All you'd prove woul d be that you're crazy. You know I'm the faster man."

He stared stubbornly at the table. Finally he said, "I'l l think it over. It'll take some time."

"It'll take you just two minutes," I said, laying it on th e line.