Shoot Him On Sight (21 page)

"Is—is Johnny here?" she panted, then she spied me and hurried across the room.

I didn't give a damn who was watching and I guess she didn't either. My arms whipped around her, holding her close. For a full minute neither of us could speak. Finally, Taggert's voice, holding a chuckle, brought us to our senses.

We heard him say, "Well, this is a new development."

We parted suddenly, flushing. Topaz spoke in surprise: "Marshal Taggert, what are you—well, I thought—"

Mama Benita must have been listening in her kitchen. Now she came bustling in, carrying the coffeepot and cups. I guided Topaz to a chair and she settled tiredly into it, saying something about coffee being welcome. We let her rest a minute.

I could hold in no longer. "Marshal Taggert, since when do you know Miss Topaz?"

His eyes twinkled. "For a long time. Hasn't Miss Topaz told you that she is one of Mr. Pinkerton's best operatives?"

"I couldn't, Johnny." Topaz set down her coffee cup. "I was sworn to an oath of secrecy—"

I let out a yell: "You're—you're a secret service agent, from Washington?"

She nodded and there was that beautiful smile again. Marshal Taggert said, "Topaz has been keeping tabs on Shel Webster and his doings for months now—"

"That and fighting him off," Topaz put in a bit grimly, "that and pretending to be what I wasn't. I hope, Johnny, that clears things up for you." I could only nod dumbly, as she went on, "Did you have a nice ride today, Johnny?" A smile went with that.

I could feel color climbing into my face. "Did you see me?" She nodded. "Webster didn't though—" Taggert broke in, "Now that various friendly relations have been put through"—he cleared his throat—"I'm waiting to hear about Onyxton, Topaz."

Topaz nodded. "Our men dropped in on schedule, Marshal. There was very little trouble and not a great deal of shooting. Onyxton was completely taken over. A great many prisoners were taken. There'd likely been more opposition if Webster had been there to lead, but as it was—"

"Where was Webster?" My voice was unusually loud in my excitement.

"That's what I've come to tell you," Topaz explained, "and warn you—"

Taggert swore. "Damn and blast! Orders from headquarters were to get Webster first of all, if possible. He was a key man—"

"He wasn't in Onyxton," Topaz explained and there was a sort of hopeless note in her voice. "I went riding with him, this morning—as Johnny knows—and immediately we returned to town he told me he was heading for Heraldica. Had he known his town was to be hit tonight, undoubtedly he would have stayed, but of course he didn't. He didn't even wait to get a fresh horse, but immediately left—"

"I doubt very much he came past here," Jeff frowned. "Somebody would have been sure to spot him—"

"He planned to ride wide of the Box-CT," Topaz explained, "taking a route over Buzzard Buttes, until he was clear of the ranch, then swing toward Heraldica—"

"Why?" Taggert demanded tersely.

"Webster lost his patience. One way or another he had to have a clear road for munitions through here. He's going to round up that gang of phony Mexicans and raid the Box-CT tonight—"

"How many men has he got over there?" Taggert snapped.

"About fifteen-hundred," Topaz replied.

Jeff exclaimed, "Good God! And we're practically defenseless against a gang that size!"

"When's he due to hit here?" I asked.

"By midnight, at least," Topaz said tiredly.

No one spoke. I reckon we were all too stunned to find utterance for the myriad thoughts coursing through our minds.

It was Taggert who first found his voice, and it was almost a groan. "And the soldiers being sent by the Mexican Government to Heraldica not due for two days." He swung on Jeff: "How many men you got here?"

Jeff's face was white. I reckon mine was too, as I thought:
Now that I've really found Topaz, it looks like we'll all be finished
. Numbly, I heard Jeff reply, "A couple of the boys are home on a visit. We can round up about a dozen. There's five of us here—"

"Six," Topaz corrected. "I know how to handle a gun." She seemed cooler than any of us.

Mateo put in, "Mama Benita is ver' good at the reload for us, an' we have plenty of rifles and six-shooters."

"But against fifteen-hundred raiders," Jeff said, "what chance will we have?"

Mama Benita came waddling into the room. "Also, I can make the fine coffee which fighters require," she announced coolly in Spanish. "What is this business that requires so much of excitement, like a running around by a chicken with the head separated from the body? Mateo! A warning to the
vaqueros
! Why delay?"

Mateo nodded and rushed from the house. I reckon we were all too stunned to think straight, but some preparations were made for a defense. Furniture was moved against doors and below windows. Half-shutters were raised, and windows lifted part way. Mateo returned to the house followed by the
vaqueros
, all bearing guns. From an inner room, Jeff produced more rifles and six-shooters, plus boxes of ammunition. Everyone pitched in to help and there was a continual chatter of Spanish and English. I glanced around. Everyone seemed to have his nerve with him. I looked at Topaz. She had again settled to the chair, eyes half-closed, weary almost to death, now that reaction had set in. Chepa, Mama's assistant, was rolling preparatory bandages.

Marshal Taggert spoke suddenly. "I reckon we're all a bunch of knuckle-heads, not thinking straight. Only a fool could think of fighting off a force of that size. We're doomed before we start. It would be only a question of time before we were overpowered."

"What's the alternative?" Jeff asked.

"We'd better saddle up and get out, while we've got a chance, through the canyon to Onyxton—"

"And bring back the cavalry from there?" Jeff asked.

Taggert shook his head. "Governmental regulations are pretty strict. I doubt the colonel in charge of the soldiers would cross the border without orders. He looked like a stickler for duty to me. Oh, the men deputized, non-soldiers, would come, but any way you look at it, we'd be outnumbered. It's just common sense for us all to get out."

I could feel my temper rising. I snapped, "Look, I never before owned a ranch in my life. I'm damned if I'm going to be run out now!"

There were protests from the others. Looking back, I can see where Taggert made sense, but my blood was close to the boiling point. I made a counter-proposal: "Marshal, my idea is that you head for Onyxton,
pronto
!" I saw the color rise in his face. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not suspecting your courage. But you're the only one who might be able to persuade the military and the others to come. And take Topaz and Mama Benita with you—"

Mama wasn't in the room, but Topaz cut in on my idea, "Johnny, if you stay, I stay."

Lord, I was proud of her when she said that. I started to object.

Marshal Taggert cut in, "There's a good deal in what you say, Johnny Cardinal, and if you don't think I'd be running out, I might try. Maybe you could hold the scuts off until I got back with riders—if they'd come—" And that was as far as he got.

From outside came the sound of galloping hoofbeats, wild yells. Jeff rushed to the window, then turned hopelessly back. "They didn't even wait until midnight. The house is surrounded—"

A volley of wild shots struck our thick adobe walls. A window crashed.

"So, the argument is settled," Topaz said coolly, getting to her feet.

Taggert swore. "We wasted too much time arguing in the first place. We're in for it."

There hadn't been any need of orders as lights were quickly doused all over the house. Men were taking places at windows, guns at ready. There came another burst of gunfire against the walls, more wild yelling. Horsemen loped their horses around the house and down near the corral, discharging firearms wildly.

Outside the country was bathed in moonlight, making everything as plain as day, which gave us some advantage.

Taggert said once, "They sound like they're all drunker'n hoot-owls. If everyone is set, unload your fire, but make sure of your mark."

From within the house came the sudden rattle of rifle shots and six-shooters. I don't know what luck the others had, but I know I dropped one rider as he started around the side of the house. I was crouched low at the window ledge, Topaz kneeling by my side.

Someone outside yelled an order. Topaz said, "That's Webster's voice. And I was hoping I'd never hear it again."

The firing of the Webster forces suddenly ceased, the riders drawing to one side. Webster's voice came again:

"You hombres within the house, can you hear me?"

None of us replied.

Webster's voice again, pitched louder. "You know by this time you haven't a chance, so give up. I give you my word if you'll come out, you may leave in safety."

"Liar!" Taggert yelled back. "A rat doesn't have any decent word to give. If you want a fight, we aim to give it to you!"

Kneeling at his window, he snapped three fast shots from his six-shooter. Someone let out a yell, but it wasn't Webster's voice. "Missed, dammit!" Taggert growled disgustedly. "There was four or five skunks bunched there. I wa'n't sure which was him, but—"

He had no time to say more as a rattle of gunfire flattened against walls. We could hear windows being shattered at the front of the house. Three slugs whined harmlessly through the room. The crazy yells increased, as riders coursed 'round and 'round the house.

There were half a dozen windows on each side of the house, four in front and three at the rear. I was at a side window, Topaz with me. Both of us, as were the rest, were keeping heads down, raising only to shoot from time to time.

At least we had moonlight to spot the enemy by, and from various agonized cries I judged we were all making our shots count. From a front window I heard Jeff say, "Maybe there were fifteen-hundred of those coyotes due here, but I got a hunch Webster couldn't round up that many."

"How many you figure?" Mike asked.

"I don't reckon Webster has more than three hundred riders with him."

"That's a big relief," Topaz said dryly at my side. "Only three hundred against us." She lifted a rifle, tightened finger on trigger. I spied a man go sprawling from his saddle, and a shot of mine knocked over a horse.

"What's out there sounds drunk," Marshal Taggert said, above the drumming of firearms. "Could be the rest of the fifteen-hundred were too soused to sit a horse."

One of the
vaqueros
at a rear window called, "Those
cabrones—
they try to set the fire to the bunkhouse."

There came more crazy yelling. Jeff said, "Luckily, adobe doesn't burn easily."

Glancing around, I caught a brief flash of ragged, crimson streaks at the windows. I could feel the perspiration pouring down from my forehead. My eyes and throat and nostrils burned from the acrid fumes of burned gunpowder. Smoke swirled through the room. I felt Topaz give my arm a squeeze. "Nice shindig, eh?" she laughed coolly.

I stared at her through the gloom. "Good Lord, you must have steel nerves."

"Something very necessary in the life I've been leading—" She broke off, lifting her gun for another shot.

The din was terrific, guns and galloping hoofs, as some of the bandits coursed round and round the house, like a gang of wild Comanches, encircling a wagon-train.

From time to time, I'd catch news of one of our men being hit, but apparently no one had been wounded seriously. Mama Benita bustled about, bringing steaming cups of coffee and helping bind up wounds.

Mateo, at a front window, called suddenly, "They have brought that big timber from the rear. They intend a battering ram against the front door." Now we could hear Webster shouting harsh orders.

"Hold your fire until they get close," Taggert yelled. We all listened. Then there came running, stumbling steps on the gallery, sounds of men grunting under a heavy load.

"Now!" Taggert shouted.

Gunfire and powdersmoke spurted at the front of the house. We caught the sounds of agonized cries and then a heavy thud on the gallery as the battering-timber was dropped. There were quick, retreating footsteps. Taggert reported a moment later, "We stopped that, anyway. Four of the scuts are sprawled out on the gallery. The rest got off—" Again he snapped two quick shots. "Got one of them."

I could hear Webster's cursing voice above the terrific booming of guns. Leaden slugs continued to spatter against the adobe walls on all sides. Somewhere outside a horse screamed and went down.

Abruptly, the wild yelling was redoubled as were the sounds of guns. There was a sudden rush of horses' hoofs. "
Por Diós
!" Mike groaned. "That must be the rest of the fifteen-hundred arriving!"

My heart sank, then I paused, scarcely able to believe my ears, at what I was hearing. Surely, those must be military commands! A bugle call split the night air. Someone was yelling for Marshal Taggert.

From the raiders there came sudden frantic yells. There were renewed hoofbeats, vanishing toward the south, as the raiders retreated in wild confusion, with pursuing hoofs running fast at their rear.

"It's Mackley—Colonel Mackley!" Taggert yelled triumphantly. "How in the devil—?" He didn't wait to say more, but started to tug at the front door.

Several of us followed him through the doorway. Outside, a large number of riders, civilian and cavalry, sat horses. To the south, more men were on the trail of the raiders.

Taggert was glancing up at a tall rider in blue. "Welcome, Colonel," he was yelling triumphantly. "But how did you happen to cross the line? I never expected—"

"One of the prisoners we took in Onyxton knew what Webster intended. He wanted to save his own skin. So I gambled," the colonel explained stiffly, "that Washington and the Mexican Government will give their approval to my operating without orders. We started as soon as the prisoner confessed what was under way."

"God, I'm glad to see you—we all are."

I glanced around. Dead men and horses were scattered everywhere, it seemed. I asked if Webster had been captured. The colonel didn't know yet. I began to search among the bodies, but couldn't find trace of Webster. I went farther afield, and was just passing a tall cottonwood when I heard a voice: