The Bandit Princess (12 page)
Read The Bandit Princess Online
Authors: J. Roberts
“You really haven’t seen my mother, Clint?” she asked.
“Not for a long time, Pearl,” he said. “You really don’t know where she is?”
“I have no idea,” she said. “I’m hoping she’ll come back here eventually.” She shook her head. “She took Sam’s death really hard.”
“And you?”
She shrugged. She was tall, and walked easily next to him, matching his strides. The gun on her hip did not look out of place. Take the gun away, though, and put her in a dress and she’d look sweet—sweet and beautiful.
“What are you trying to do here, Pearl?” Clint asked. “You’re young, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Are you looking to wind up at the end of one of Judge Parker’s ropes?”
“Why?” She asked. “I ain’t killed nobody. We’ve just robbed some banks, and stages.”
“Nobody was killed during those robberies?”
“Well, sure, but I didn’t kill ’em.”
“If your men killed them, you’re as guilty as they are.”
“That don’t sound fair.”
“That’s the law.”
They were walking down by the river’s edge. She looked at him.
“What do you care about the law?”
“I’ve always been on the side of the law, Pearl,” he said. “You’ve never heard anything about me being on the other side.”
“My mom thought a lot of you,” she said.
“That was a long time ago,” he said. “Before Sam.”
“Sam’s gone,” she said.
“A lot of time has gone by,” Clint said. “People go in different directions.”
She picked up a stone from the ground, tossed it into the river, then turned and looked at Clint.
“What are you doin’ here, Clint?” she asked. “I mean, really? Are you lookin’ for my mom, or for me?”
“I told Dave I was lookin’ for Belle,” he answered. “Just happened to be in the neighborhood.”
“But what’s the real reason you’re here?” she asked.
He looked at her, studied her face for a moment, and decided to tell her the truth.
“I’m here because Judge Parker asked me to come and find you,” he said.
“And why would you do that for him?” she asked. “Are you wearin’ a badge?”
“No badge,” Clint said. “But if he sent somebody who was wearing a badge and they took you back, you’d find yourself at the end of a rope, like I said.”
“So what’ll be different with you?” she asked.
“I thought maybe I could change your mind,” he said. “You’re young, you’re smart, and you’re beautiful. You could do anything.”
“And you’d help me?”
“I’d do all I can.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew your mother,” he said, “and I knew you, once.”
She grinned.
“When I was a little girl.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m not a little girl anymore, Clint,” she said.
“I know that.”
“I make my own decisions.”
“Like robbing banks? And wearing a gun?”
“It was good enough for my mother.”
“And look what happened to her,” he said.
“Well, that’s just it,” she said. “I don’t know what happened to her.”
“She lost two good men,” he said. “First your father, and now Sam.”
“Well,” she said, “I can tell you for sure that’s not gonna happen to me.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because,” she said, heading back to the house, “I don’t know any good men.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Pearl offered to make room in one of the tents for Clint and Alice, but they told her they preferred to camp down by the river. Then Pearl said Alice could stay in the house with her, and Clint left the decision up to the deputy marshal.
“No,” she said. “Uh-uh.”
“Why not?” Clint asked. “Maybe you’ll get to know Pearl better.”
“I don’t want to get to know her better,” Alice said. “I want to arrest her and take her back to Fort Smith. When are we going to do that?”
“If we try to do that now, there’ll be gunplay,” Clint said. “We’ll have to kill some of these men.”
“Isn’t that our job?” she asked, then amended, “
My
job?”
My
job?”
“Arrest, yes,” Clint said, “kill, no. Killing is not your job, Alice.”
They were down by the river making camp. Pearl told Clint that if Alice wanted to sleep in the house, all she had to do was come in.
“What about you?” Alice asked.
“What about me?”
“If I go in the house, you’ll be out here alone,” she said.
“I’m used to being alone.”
“Not in a camp full of outlaws,” she said. “If I leave you here alone, one of them will get it into his head to kill you—kill the Gunsmith and make a name for himself.”
“You’re probably right,” Clint said.
“Then I’ll stay with you,” she said, “and watch your back.”
“You’re starting to think like a lawman now,” Clint said. “I’m proud of you.”
Inside the house, Hunter said to Pearl, “What did you and him talk about?”
“The old days.”
“What old days?” Hunter demanded.
“We talked about my mother, Hunter,” she said. “That’s really none of your business, is it?”
“If it affects this gang, it’s my business,” he said.
“I’ll decide what affects the gang and what doesn’t,” she shot back. “Don’t forget who’s in charge. I’m the Bandit Princess, remember? You’re not the Bandit King.”
He glared at her for a moment, then turned and stormed out, slamming the door.
Pearl looked at Dave, who was sitting at the table. He’d kept quiet during the exchange.
“What do you think, Dave?” she asked.
“The woman is a deputy marshal from Judge Parker’s court, Pearl,” he said.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me that before?” she demanded.
“I didn’t want to say it in front of anyone else.”
“Why not?”
“They would’ve killed her.”
“Why’d you bring them here if you knew she was the law?”
“She’s not in charge,” Dave said. “Clint is.”
“He’s not wearin’ a badge,” she said. “He told me that.”
“He’s not the type,” Dave said. “Once he was, a long time ago, but not anymore.”
“What do they want here?”
“Different things,” Dave said. “I think she wants to arrest you and take you back.”
“And what does he want?”
“Didn’t he tell you?”
“He did,” she said, “but I don’t know whether to believe him or not. Maybe he’s just waitin’ for a chance to take me back.”
“If he wanted to take you back, he would,” Dave said. “You don’t think he’s afraid of your men, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“They’d all be dead by now if that’s what he wanted,” Dave said.
“So what are you tellin’ me?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe this will be good for you,” he said, “help you decide what you want to do.”
“What would my mother have done years ago, in this position?”
“That’s easy,” Dave said.
“Is it?”
Dave nodded and stood up, headed for the door.
“Wait!”
He stopped.
“If it’s easy, then tell me.”
“If it’s easy,” he said, “you’ll figure it out.”
He went out, closed the door, and left her alone with her thoughts.
THIRTY-SIX
Hunter gathered the men in one tent. The other he shared with Dave Slaughter, but he didn’t want to include Dave in this meeting.
“What’s goin’ on?” Randy asked.
“What’s goin’ on is I’m takin’ over,” Hunter said. “This gang is mine now.”
“What about Pearl?” Del asked.
“What about her?” Hunter said. “She hasn’t got what it takes to lead this gang anymore. She’s just waitin’ for her mother to come back. She’s become like a little girl, and it’s even worse with Adams bein’ here.”
“So what are we gonna do?” Tate asked.
“We’re gonna kill Adams.”
“And the girl with him?” Del asked.
“Maybe we’ll keep her for a while,” Hunter said.
“She’s kinda skinny,” Del said.
“Too skinny for you, maybe,” Tate said. “Not too skinny for me.”
“And what about Pearl?” Randy asked.
Hunter turned to face the man. He knew Randy was in love with Pearl.
“Randy, you’re gonna have to make up your mind what you want,” Hunter said. “You want Pearl, or you wanna be rich?”
“Yeah, come on, Randy,” Del said. “Don’tcha wanna be rich?”
Randy looked at the three men who were staring at him, then said, “Yeah, sure, I wanna be rich, just like the rest of you do.”
“We can give Pearl the chance to come along,” Hunter said. “And you can have her, Randy, but she ain’t gonna be in charge anymore.” Hunter looked at Del and Tate. “We’re full-growed men, and we shouldn’t be takin’ orders from a girl. I don’t care what her last name is.”
“What do we do if Belle comes back?” Del asked.
“We’ll deal with that if it happens,” Hunter said. “But in the end Belle Starr is just a woman, too.”
The others nodded.
“Hey, what about Dave?” Tate asked.
“Dave’s an old man,” Hunter said. “He rode with Belle, and he might not like that we’re takin’ over from Pearl. We’ll just have to see which way ol’ Dave goes when we take over.”
“And when will that be?” Randy asked.
“You boys just keep your eyes on me,” Hunter said. “When I make my move, you back me up.”
“But when will it be?” Del asked.
“Soon,” Hunter said. “Very soon.”
It was dark. Clint and Alice were seated by their fire. The moon was reflecting off the surface of the river, which was ambling, not running.
“There’s one man I think we’ll have trouble with no matter how we play this,” Clint said.
“Who’s that? Slaughter?”
“No,” Clint said, “Hunter. He’s got ambitions.”
“A criminal with ambitions?”
“To be a bigger criminal,” Clint said. “He’s not going to be content to follow Pearl for much longer. He’ll want to take over.”
“And kill her?”
“If she won’t follow him.”
“What about the other men? What would they do if he tried to kill Pearl?”
“Dave would try to stop him,” Clint said, “so he’s probably going to try to kill Dave first.”
“And then?”
“The way Randy looks at Pearl, I think he’s in love with her,” Clint said, “but Hunter might still get through to him.”
“How?”
“How else? Money.”
“This sounds like a dangerous game we’re playing, Clint,” Alice said. “Why are we playing it?”
“It’s not a game, Alice.”
“Then why don’t we just take Pearl in?” Alice said. “I know you have something else in mind.”
“Look—”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said. “Don’t treat me like a fool, okay?”
He stared across the fire at her and said, “All right, Alice, I won’t. You’re right, I do have something else in mind.”
“Do you want to let me in on it, since I’ll be risking my neck?”
“I want to give Pearl a chance to change.”
“Do you think she can?”
“She’s young. Of course she can change.”
“But do you think she will?”
“I don’t know,” Clint said, “but I think it’s worth a try.”
“And if she convinces you and you let her go? What are you going to tell the judge?”
“That depends on you.”
“Me?”
“Yes,” Clint said, “because I won’t let her go unless you’re convinced. And then what will you tell the judge?”
“What about her men?”
“We’ll take them in.”
“Dave, too?”
He hesitated, then said, “I guess that’s something else we’ll have to talk about.”
“Did you know you were going to do this when we left Fort Smith?”
“No.”
“Then when?”
“When I talked to Pearl today,” he said. “We talked about her mother. She’s really just waiting around here for her mother to come back.”
“And if Belle comes back while we’re here, are we going to let her go, too?”
“Like I said, Alice,” Clint said, “we’re not letting anybody go unless we both agree.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
When Clint and Alice awoke the next morning, they were grateful that they weren’t facing five or six guns.
“Well,” Alice said, “nobody changed their minds during the night.”
They washed up in the river, then walked back to the camp. There was some smoke coming from the chimney, which meant—hopefully—someone was making breakfast.
Clint saw some movement in the tents, which he assumed were used as bunkhouses. He approached the house and knocked on the door. Pearl opened it and smiled at him.
“Come on in,” she said. “Both of you. The coffee’s ready.”
“Thank you,” Alice said, stepping into the house. Clint followed.
“Sit at the table,” Pearl said. “I’ll bring the coffee.”
Clint looked around. Except for Pearl, the house was empty. There was another room—a bedroom. He wondered if anyone was in there, like Hunter?
Pearl brought them each a cup of coffee. Except for the coffee, though, Clint didn’t smell any breakfast making.
Then he had a bad feeling, but it was too late.
Hunter stepped from the bedroom, along with Randy. The front door slammed open and Del and Tate rushed in.
All four of them had their guns out. When he looked at Pearl, she was standing with her back to the stove. Her gun was in her hand as well.
Clint and Alice each had a cup of coffee in their hand. They’d been caught flat-footed, with their pants down, and whatever other clichés Clint could think to hammer himself with.
All he could think was that he’d managed to get Alice Eads killed.
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