[Texas Rangers 05] - Texas Vendetta (20 page)

Andy pointed out, “Without bein’ a Ranger you’d have no authority to enforce the law.”

“The law ain’t enforced much here anyway.”

Late in the afternoon the stableman came into the building and stopped to blink until his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He looked behind him before he approached the three Rangers. “I ain’t gettin’ myself mixed up in you-all’s troubles, but I got a message for you.”

Andy took the lead. “What about?”

The stableman looked back again. He lowered his voice. “Walter Landon came to my house. Said he was speakin’ for his brother Jayce. He heard about the sheriff’s promise to let Flora Landon go if Jayce would turn himself in.”

Farley sat up on the edge of the cot. Pain from the quick movement made him wince. “Anything to get her out of that jail and away from Big’un.”

Rusty asked, “What’s this got to do with us?”

“You Rangers delivered Jayce here in the first place. He’d like you-all to be the ones to do it again.”

Rusty said, “He wouldn’t need us to deliver him. He could just deliver himself.”

“He knows one or another of them Hoppers would kill him before he ever saw the inside of the jailhouse. But if you-all were guardin’ him, they might not try.”

Andy said, “Maybe they would and maybe they wouldn’t. If they didn’t, they’d just wait till he was in jail, then break in like they tried to do the last time.”

“At least his wife would be free. If he got killed before he went into the jail, Oscar Truscott might not feel like he had to live up to his promise about Flora.”

Andy frowned. “Jayce seems to’ve made up his mind he’s goin’ to get killed one way or another.”

Rusty’s eyes were cold. “After all, he committed murder.” Since Josie’s death he had lost sympathy for criminals who had blood on their hands. He had that much in common with Farley.

Andy argued, “In a way he’s still our responsibility. It was Rangers who caught him and Rangers who brought him here.”

Farley said, “He’s set to hang anyway. A good, quick bullet would be better than chokin’ at the end of a rope.”

Andy turned back to the stableman. “How do we go about meetin’ up with Jayce?”

“After dark a couple of his kinfolks will come in the back way lookin’ for you. Be saddled and ready. They don’t want you bringin’ any guns.”

Rusty said, “We’re not goin’ anyplace without guns.”

“You’ll have to talk that over with them, not me. I’m just deliverin’ the message.”

Andy looked at Rusty. “You and me. Farley’s not in shape to be ridin’ anywhere.”

Farley said, “Like hell.” He rose to his feet but sat down again, sucking in a sharp breath and bringing his hand up to the wound. “It’s just as well. I don’t want to look at Jayce, anyhow, after what he’s put his good woman through.”

Rusty asked, “Can we trust these Landons?”

The stableman considered. “Their word is good. Their only bad failin’ is that they like to kill Hoppers. It’s brought a right smart of grief down on them.”

Rusty said, “It’s our job to bring Jayce in, not make deals with him. But I suppose it won’t do any harm to talk.”

The stableman looked behind him. “If anybody asks, I had nothin’ to do with this. Wouldn’t be healthy for me to get on the Hoppers’ bad side.”

Andy and Rusty delayed saddling their horses until full dark in case some Hopper might be keeping an eye on them. They waited inside the barn’s back door. After a time Andy heard a gate latch move. From outside, a voice spoke just above a whisper.

“Rangers? You-all in there?”

Andy looked to Rusty to answer, for he was senior. Rusty said, “We’re here. Who are you?”

“Walter Landon, but that don’t matter. Are you ready for a ride?”

“We’ve been waitin’ for you.” Rusty opened the back door and led his horse out. Andy followed. He saw two men, though in the darkness he could not make out their faces.

Rusty asked, “Where’s Jayce Landon?”

Walter Landon’s voice was young. “Not far. We’d rather you left those guns here.”

“The guns go or we don’t.”

Landon yielded with a shrug. “Then give us your word you won’t do anything against Jayce till he’s had a chance to talk with you.”

“That’s fair enough. Lead out.”

They rode about an hour. Andy realized the two men led them in a zigzag pattern to confuse them should they try to retrace their path in the daylight. But he had a good sense of direction. He knew they traveled generally northwestward.

A dark farmhouse loomed ahead. Landon hooted in the manner of an owl. From the house came an answer. No real owl would have been fooled, Andy thought. Nor would any Comanche, even given their dread of owls.

Landon warned, “Don’t neither of you make any suspicious moves. Jayce is mighty edgy.”

Andy did not doubt that Jayce had a rifle or six-shooter trained on them. It did not seem probable that he would have summoned Andy and Rusty out here only to kill them. Nevertheless, Andy felt cold.

He saw a movement on the dark porch and heard a voice he recognized as Jayce’s. “Get down and tie your horses, Rangers. We’ll parley out here. The house is hot and dark, and I don’t favor lightin’ no lamp. You sure none of the Hoppers followed you?”

Walter said, “We were careful.”

Jayce asked Andy, “How’s your head? Too bad I had to club you that time, but I needed to try and get away.”

“The swellin’s long gone.”

“Where’s the Ranger that gave me a beatin’ for it?”

“Farley Brackett is laid up. Took a bullet tryin’ to keep a mob from breakin’ into jail and killin’ you. We didn’t know you’d already lit a shuck.”

Jayce showed no sign that he felt any guilt, or any sympathy for Farley. He turned to Rusty. “Don’t believe I know you. You are a Ranger, ain’t you?”

Rusty made no effort at sounding friendly. “Name’s Shannon. I’ve been a Ranger off and on since before the war. The other war.”

“Damned poor way to make a livin’, but I guess everybody has got to be somethin’.”

“What do you consider yourself to be?”

“A Landon first, then a Texan. I shot Yankees durin’ the war, but I was fightin’ Hoppers when I was a kid.”

“The last killin’ you did wasn’t any fair fight.”

“We didn’t always fight the Yankees fair, either. Main thing was to win. Polite gentlemen generally die first.”

Andy could see the exchange drifting from the subject at hand. He said, “We didn’t come here to talk about who’s to blame. We’re supposed to talk about you tradin’ places with your wife in jail.”

Jayce’s voice hardened. “I heard about Big’un and her. I’ve got to get her out of there, whatever it costs.”

Walter argued, “Givin’ yourself up is an awful price to pay, even for Flora. You know how long you’ll last in that jail. And even if you lived till the trial, Judge Hopper would see you hang before the sun went down.”

Jayce shook his head. “I don’t see no other way.”

Rusty said, “There might be one. What do you-all think of Sheriff Truscott?”

Jayce’s voice was sharp. “He’s a Hopper-in-law, but he’s a cut above the others. He’s about as fair as you’ll find amongst that tribe.”

Rusty nodded. “That’s the impression I got. On the way out here I’ve been thinkin’ about a deal we might put to him. We’d turn you in to the law but in another county.”

“This county or some other, it ain’t apt to make a lot of difference in the long run.”

“If we can get you a change of venue, you’ll at least have a fair trial in some court besides Judge Hopper’s.”

“A change of venue won’t save my neck. Ned Hopper was a son of a bitch, and I killed him. I ain’t denyin’ it. I’d holler it from the roof of the courthouse.” Jayce stared off into the darkness, weighing Rusty’s proposition. “You got a place in mind?”

“Sheriff Tom Blessing is a good friend of mine. Whatever the outcome, he’ll see to it that you’re dealt a square hand.”

Jayce stared into the darkness while he considered the proposition. “At least it’d be somebody besides a Hopper who put the rope around my neck.” Jayce beckoned his kinsmen into the house. Andy could hear the low murmur of voices but could not make out what they were saying. When they returned to the porch Jayce said, “Go talk to Oscar Truscott. If he says yes, I’ll surrender. Not to anybody else, just to you Rangers.”

Rusty told Truscott they needed to talk to him in private. Truscott called to the jailer. He was not the same man who had been on duty the night of Jayce’s escape. That unfortunate had prudently left town before daylight and had not been seen since. “Curly, go get yourself a drink. Maybe two of them. Don’t be in a rush to come back.”

The jailer gone, Truscott said, “I heard by the grapevine that you-all went out of town last night.”

Rusty replied, “You must have eyes everywhere.”

“I don’t miss a lot.”

“We had an interestin’ visit with an acquaintance of yours.”

“Jayce Landon? You didn’t bring him in, though.”

“No, but we worked out a deal for you.” Rusty explained his idea about delivering Jayce to a more secure jail and seeking a change of venue.

Truscott frowned at first but gradually softened. “I know Tom Blessing. If he said it was fixin’ to freeze on the Fourth of July, I’d carry my coat with me to the celebration.”

“He’d take good care of your prisoner.”

“I’m just wonderin’ who’d take care of me. Things’d get ugly around here when Judge Hopper and Big’un and the rest got wind of what I’d done.”

“If we handle it right, it’ll be over with before they know.”

“But I’d still be here afterward.” Truscott mulled it over. His mustache began turning up in a tentative smile. “It’d probably lose me a wife, but she’s took to sleepin’ in another room anyhow, and her cookin’ wouldn’t tempt a hog.” The smile broke into full bloom. “I’d love to see what it feels like to look the judge in the eye and tell him I’m through shinin’ his boots. And I’ve wanted for a long time to poke Big’un in the eye with a sharp stick.”

“When’re you goin’ to release Jayce’s wife?”

“Right now, into your custody. She’s been an albatross around my neck.” Truscott reached into a drawer and withdrew a printed form. He dipped a pen into an inkwell and scribbled some lines. “Bring this back to me with Tom Blessing’s signature on it, swearin’ that he’s got Jayce Landon locked up.”

Rusty took the paper. “When it’s all over you can catch up on your sleep.”

“Not after the word gets out.” Truscott led Rusty and Andy back to the cells. He said, “Gather your things, Flora. You’re leavin’.”

She remained hidden by the blanket that covered the front of her cell. Her voice was anxious. “What’ve you done to Jayce?”

“Ain’t even seen him, but he’s agreed to give himself up to these Rangers if I let you go.”

She pulled the blanket aside, her eyes fearful. “You know he’s got no chance if he comes back in here. I ain’t lettin’ you trade me for him.”

Truscott told her that Jayce would be jailed in another county. She chewed her lip. “I’d rather see him run off to Mexico or someplace.”

Rusty said, “He wouldn’t do that, not and leave you in here. He’s that much of a man, at least.”

She declared, “He’s a better man than any I see here.”

Truscott said, “You better git while the gittin’s good, Flora.”

“I’ll go, but if I get a chance to help Jayce get away I’ll damned sure take it.”

The sheriff grunted. “I don’t doubt that.” He unlocked the door. “I’ll leave the blanket up. Likely nobody’ll miss you before mornin’.”

Flora came out carrying a small canvas bag. Her hair was disheveled, her dress wrinkled from sleeping in it. Truscott walked ahead of her and blew out the lamp in the front office. “You-all better go out the back door.” He opened it cautiously and peered out into the night. “Looks clear.”

Flora paused. “Oscar, for a Hopper-in-law, you’re a better man than I thought.” Then she was out the door.

The sheriff warned Rusty and Andy, “You-all better keep a close eye on her. She meant what she said about helpin’ Jayce get away.”

Rusty said, “You’ve got to respect a loyal wife.”

“Jayce never deserved her. I can’t see why she chose him over his brother Dick. There’s no figurin’ women.”

Andy had not expected Truscott to release Flora so quickly, so they had not brought an extra horse for her. Andy put her up into his saddle. “I’ll go back to the stable and get Farley’s horse. He won’t be needin’ it for a while.”

Rusty said, “While you do that I’ll get her out of town, to where Walter Landon said he’d be waitin’.”

“I’ll find you.”

In the stable, Farley arose stiffly and sat on the edge of his cot. He watched by lamplight while Andy saddled up. “You stealin’ another horse from me, Badger Boy?”

Farley never would give up needling him about Long Red, Andy thought. “Call in the law if you want to.”

Farley shook his head. “I can guess why you need him. Tell her not to use spurs. He’s liable to throw her off.”

At the edge of town Andy put Farley’s horse into an easy lope. He caught up to Rusty and Flora before they reached the farmhouse where Jayce was supposed to be hiding.

Rusty asked, “Anybody see you?”

“Just Farley and the stable hand. They won’t be talkin’.”

Flora was still nervous about her husband. “This place where you’re takin’ Jayce, are you sure it’s safe? Them Hoppers have got a long reach.”

Rusty said, “If you’re lookin’ for an ironclad guarantee, there ain’t any. But it’ll be safer than that jail back yonder. There’s not a better sheriff in Texas than Tom Blessing.”

“From what I’ve seen of sheriffs, that ain’t a strong recommendation.”

“You’ve got to realize that savin’ him from a lynchin’ doesn’t change things for him in the long run. He hasn’t got much of a future either way.”

She squared her shoulders. “Maybe. We’ll see about that the first time somebody gets careless.”

Walter and a couple of other men stepped down from the porch to meet them in the yard. The house was dark, but Andy could see a rifle in Walter’s hands.

“That you, Flora?”

“It’s me. Where’s Jayce at?”

A figure stepped out from a black corner of the porch. “Right here, darlin’ girl. Come see Papa.”