Read The Loner: Inferno #12 Online
Authors: J.A. Johnstone
The Loner: Inferno #12 (6 page)
“That’s a freight wagon,” Dunlap said as they closed in. “One of them Conestogas.”
The Kid knew enough about the freight business to be aware that Conestoga wagons were longer, taller, and heavier than the light wagons used by immigrants. They were behemoths that were used only for hauling freight.
The wagon hadn’t gotten out there by itself. It had been pulled by a team of eight draft horses, all of which lay slaughtered in their traces. Bloody, gaping wounds in the bodies of the unfortunate animals showed where large hunks of meat had been carved out and carried away.
“Apaches,” Harwood said, with no doubt in his voice. “They love horse meat.”
“There must’ve been several teamsters with a wagon this size,” Farnum said. “Where are they?”
“You know the answer to that as well as I do, Milo,” Harwood said. “They must not have been killed in the fighting. The Apaches have taken them prisoner ... the poor, doomed bastards.”
Chapter 8
An air of depressed foreboding hung over the wagon train camp that night. Nobody talked about it, but most of the adults knew that somewhere out there in the darkness, the freighters who had been with that Conestoga were probably screaming their lives away as they were tortured to death by their Apache captors.
The children were more subdued than usual, too. They had heard enough whispered comments from their parents to know what was going on.
The leadership of the wagon train held a subdued meeting next to Jessica’s wagon while they were eating supper. Dunlap had asked The Kid to join in, too.
“I just showed up yesterday,” he said, “and I’m only along for the ride. You don’t need me to help you make any decisions.”
“Ain’t any decisions to make,” Dunlap said. “We’re pushin’ on to Raincrow Valley, just like we always planned. But you’ve been around the frontier for a while, Kid. In spite of your age, you’re one of the most experienced men we’ve got. If you got any advice for us, I’m more than willin’ to listen.”
Dunlap obviously believed that inflated reputation The Kid had tried to develop about himself while he was searching for his wife’s killers. On the other hand, the past couple years in his life had been eventful, to say the least. He really
had
crammed a lot of experience into them.
had
crammed a lot of experience into them.
The Kid and Farnum sat on a couple of kegs that had been taken from the wagon, while Jessica and Harwood sat together on the wagon tongue. Dunlap paced back and forth in front of them.
“Who ships goods by freight wagon anymore?” he asked. “Everybody uses the railroad now.”
“Not everybody,” Harwood said. “There are still a few freight outfits hanging on. Their rates are lower than the railroad’s, and if you’re shipping something that doesn’t have to be anywhere in a particular hurry, like hammers and nails ...”
They all knew what he meant. The four men had poked around enough in the ruins of the burned Conestoga to find lumps of partially melted hammerheads and nails. The handles of the hammers had been consumed in the blaze, but the metal heads remained, as did the nails they were intended to drive.
“I’ll bet the cavalry patrol caught up with that wagon, just like they did with us,” Dunlap said. “And that blasted Lieutenant Nicholson probably rode right on past it without even slowin’ down.”
Farnum nodded as he clamped his teeth strongly on the stem of his old briar. “Wouldn’t surprise me a bit. And now those poor fellas ...”
He didn’t have to finish that statement. They all knew what he meant.
“We have proof now that the Apaches are out here, over and above what Nicholson told us,” Harwood said quietly. “I’ve seen plenty of their depredations over in Arizona.”
The Kid said, “A gang of white outlaws could have burned that wagon.”
Harwood turned to look at him and nodded. “They could have, but why would outlaws bother with a freight wagon? It wouldn’t be carrying money or anything else they’d want. Besides, they would have just killed the teamsters and left the bodies there.” He shook his head. “No, this is Apache work. Setting the wagon on fire like that, carrying off prisoners ... I’ve seen it all before.”
“Scott’s right,” Dunlap said. “Question is, what do we do about it?”
“There were tracks around what was left of that Conestoga,” Farnum said. “I reckon I could follow ’em.”
“And do what?” Harwood asked.
“Might be able to help those prisoners.”
A bitter laugh came from Harwood. “They’re already dead, or if they’re not, they’re wishing they were. There’s nothing we can do for them, Milo. Our responsibility is here with this wagon train and these people.” He looked at Dunlap. “We’d better double the guards, Horace.”
“I agree,” The Kid chimed in. “I’ll be glad to stand a shift on watch.”
“I reckon we all will,” Dunlap said with a nod. “I’ll go around and talk to folks, get volunteers first and then figure out how many more men we need.”
Jessica spoke up. “Women can stand guard, too, Horace.”
“Oh, I don’t reckon that’d be a good idea,” the wagonmaster replied in a blustering tone.
“Why not?” Jessica asked. “Not just any of the women, of course, but I can handle a rifle and so can some of the others. And my eyesight and hearing are just fine, thank you. I don’t know what else you’d need to stand guard.”
“Shootin’ at targets ain’t the same thing as shootin’ at somebody.”
“I know that. I promise you, if I have one of those bloodthirsty Apaches in my sights, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”
That was easy for her to say, The Kid mused, but he had his doubts, too. He knew how difficult it was for most people to take a human life. He had been the same way at one time.
But he had gotten over it. Putting the barrel of a Winchester to the head of one of the men who’d killed Rebel and pulling the trigger had taken care of that.
Anybody who had lived on the frontier for very long and who was honest with themselves knew there were some people who just didn’t deserve to go on breathing perfectly good air. The Kid had met more than his share of them.
The meeting broke up as Dunlap went to arrange the guard duties. The Kid had volunteered to take one of the first shifts, so he didn’t bother spreading his bedroll under one of the wagons just yet. He could do that later.
He checked on the dun, then took his Winchester and moved out a short distance from the circle of wagons. He hunkered down in a clump of greasewood where he wouldn’t be visible and attuned his senses to the night around him.
If there was anything out of place—a sound, a flicker of movement, even a smell that shouldn’t have been there—The Kid would know it.
The three hours he spent standing watch passed in slow, tedious boredom. Of course, that was good, The Kid reminded himself. Excitement would have meant danger not only for him but for the members of the wagon train.
After his shift, he slept fitfully under one of the wagons for a few hours and was up again at dawn with the others, sipping coffee and getting ready to move out. Two more days would bring them to Raincrow Valley, according to Dunlap. From there, The Kid didn’t know where he would go, but he would deal with that when the time came.
He and Harwood and Farnum rode out again in front of the wagons. The landscape was empty, and except for the dust cloud from the wagons behind him, The Kid might have been the only living thing within a thousand miles.
Around midmorning, he saw buzzards circling ahead of him. For such ungainly birds on the ground, they wheeled through the air with a beauty and grace in striking contrast to their grim mission.
They began to descend.
A few minutes later, The Kid spotted them surrounding a dark shape lying on the ground several hundred yards away. Knowing there was no hope, he heeled his horse into a run anyway.
The buzzards took off again as the dun came pounding up. They squawked in protest as they spiraled into the air. He reined in and looked down at the man staked to the ground.
The Apaches had worked him over good with their knives, hacking and mutilating and peeling away much of his skin. His eyelids had been cut off so his lifeless eyes could only stare up into the blazing sun.
The Kid wondered if the man had still been alive when the Apaches left him there. It was a question that would never be answered. He was dead as hell now.
The Kid didn’t have a shovel, so he waited for the wagons to get closer. The buzzards had been at the corpse already, and he didn’t want them desecrating it anymore. When the wagons were within earshot, The Kid drew his Colt and squeezed off three rounds into the air. That brought Horace Dunlap at the gallop.
The wagonmaster grimaced and shook his head as he saw the body on the ground. “One of them teamsters, I expect.”
“Must be,” The Kid agreed, “but there’s not enough of him left to prove anything except that he went through hell dying. The women and the youngsters with the wagons don’t need to see this. If you’ll bring me a shovel, I’ll put him in the ground.”
Dunlap nodded. “I’ll help you. Wait here.”
An hour later, they had scraped a big enough hole out of the hard, rocky ground and lowered the dead man into it, wrapped in a blanket Dunlap had brought back from the wagon train along with the shovel. When the grave was covered up, Dunlap stood at the foot of it and took his hat off.
“Lord, I don’t know this poor sinner’s name,” he said, “but if any fella deserved a nice, comfortable spot in Your bunkhouse, I reckon it’s him. Have mercy on him, and on the fellas who were with him that we may never find, and bring ’em all home to be with You. Amen.”
When The Kid didn’t repeat that benediction, Dunlap glanced over at him. “You ain’t a religious man?”
“Didn’t say that. But I’ve done some things in my life ... Well, let’s just say I’m not sure the Lord wants anything to do with me anymore.”
“I’d bet this ol’ hat of mine you’re wrong about that.” Dunlap put the hat on and continued. “I’ll take the wagons around this spot. Won’t have to go much out of our way.”
“Probably a good idea,” The Kid said.
They didn’t find the bodies of the other teamsters, and by nightfall there had been no other signs of the Apaches. The Kid wondered if they had staked out the corpse as a warning to the wagon train to turn back.
If that had been the intention, it had failed. Dunlap was determined to push on, and The Kid didn’t blame him. According to the wagonmaster, by the time the sun went down again they would be in Raincrow Valley.
The night passed without incident, and so did the next morning. At the midday stop, Dunlap gathered everyone around and pointed to the hills north of them.
“We’re on the last leg of this trip now, folks. See that gap in the hills up yonder? On the other side of it is Raincrow Valley. The Injuns used to call it that because whenever it rains, the crows would flock to the valley. There are basins that hold the water and let it trickle out through some streams, and that lets the grass grow. It’s a mighty pretty place, and it’ll make a fine home for all of us.”
Not for me,
The Kid thought,
but for the rest of these folks, sure.
He was a long way from wanting to settle down. In fact, given the life he had chosen to lead, it was more likely he would die on some lonely trail with a bullet or a knife in him.
The Kid thought,
but for the rest of these folks, sure.
He was a long way from wanting to settle down. In fact, given the life he had chosen to lead, it was more likely he would die on some lonely trail with a bullet or a knife in him.
When the wagons rolled again, they headed north. All during the long afternoon, the hills seemed to recede in front of them, so the destination seemed as far away as it had been when they started.
Gradually, though, The Kid could tell they were getting closer. The grass wasn’t quite as sparse, and the ground had some slope to it as they climbed toward the pass. The oxen had to strain a little harder in their traces.
As they started up the approach to the pass, The Kid, Harwood, and Farnum rode together. Harwood pulled his Winchester from its saddle boot and worked the rifle’s lever, throwing a round into the chamber. “If there’s going to be an ambush, right on the other side of the pass is the best place for it,” he warned.
The Kid and Farnum followed his example. Gripping their rifles tightly, they rode through the wide pass until the landscape before them dropped down into a broad, surprisingly green valley that was every bit as beautiful as Dunlap had promised.
And there were no Apaches in sight. No shots rang out. Nothing threatened.
“Welcome to Raincrow Valley,” Harwood said.
Chapter 9
The three scouts spread out to search the area on the other side of the pass. According to the prearranged plan, Dunlap had stopped the wagons before they entered the pass, and the vehicles wouldn’t proceed until he got the all clear from Harwood, Farnum, and The Kid.
As he rode along the bank of a small creek, The Kid scared up a small herd of deer, but that was the only life he saw other than a few birds in the scrub pines. He rendezvoused with Harwood and Farnum at the mouth of the pass and reported the lack of any threat that he found.
“Same here,” Farnum said.
Harwood nodded. “The valley appears to be empty. I’ll let Horace know. If you two want to stay over here and look around a little more, that’s fine.”
Harwood headed back through the pass. The Kid and Farnum stayed together as they rode deeper into the valley.
“I’m surprised nobody has settled this place before now,” The Kid commented.
“Well, it’s a long way from anywhere,” Farnum said, “and you got to travel through some pretty rugged country to get to it. You saw that for yourself the past few days. There’s no railroad in here and ain’t likely to ever be one. The soil’s good enough for farmin’, and there’s enough graze for a small herd of cattle, but nobody’s gonna get rich by settlin’ here. But if you’re lookin’ for a nice place to live, where a fella who’s willin’ to work hard can get by, Raincrow Valley fits the bill.” The scout gave The Kid a shrewd look. “How about you, Morgan? You lookin’ to settle down?”
The Kid shook his head. “Not hardly.”
A bark of laughter came from Farnum. “Reckon I knew that. You ain’t the type to ever let grass grow under your feet, are you?”
“I might have been ... at one time.”
“I won’t even ask you what happened to change things. Ain’t none of my business. I’m glad you came with us this far, even though it turned out we didn’t need your gun after all.”
They heard men calling to their teams and looked back to see the wagons emerging from the pass and starting the descent into the valley. The trail was an easy one. It was almost like the valley had been put here specifically for those immigrants.
Dunlap and Harwood led the wagons to a broad, level field next to one of the streams. The settlers would need a place to camp for a while, until they’d had a chance to explore the valley and decide where they wanted to build their cabins and ranch houses.
Later on, the camp might even serve as the site of a small community that was likely to grow up to serve the needs of the settlers. When word got around, it was possible more immigrants might arrive in Raincrow Valley.
For now, though, the most important thing was getting situated for the night. Dunlap had the drivers pull the wagons into the usual circle, for defensive purposes and also to shelter the livestock. As the shadows of dusk began to gather, cooking fires sprang up. The trees that grew along the creek provided fuel.
The Kid unsaddled his dun and picketed the horse with the other saddle mounts. He had been pushing the horse pretty hard the past few days, he thought. Although he had no intention of settling here, it might be a good idea to stay for a few days and allow the dun to rest.
That would also give him a chance to make sure the immigrants were settling in all right.
Dunlap caught The Kid’s eye and waved him over. “We’re still gonna post guards tonight. I figure those Apaches are back across the border by now. They stopped long enough to attack that freight wagon, but with the cavalry patrollin’, they’re gonna want to get back to their stronghold in Mexico.”
“You’re probably right,” The Kid said. “I agree that it’s a good idea to stay alert, though.”
“You’re gonna be here with us?”
The Kid nodded. “For a day or two. I don’t know for sure yet when I’m riding out.”
Dunlap clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you want. We’re much obliged to you for your help.”
“I didn’t do anything but ride along with you,” The Kid pointed out.
“Maybe so, but it eased my mind some knowin’ that we had a fella as handy with a gun as you are along with us.”
The Kid assured Dunlap that he’d be glad to take a turn standing guard again, then went in search of some supper. For some reason, his footsteps led him toward Jessica Ritter’s wagon.
He expected to find Harwood there, but he didn’t see the scout. Nor was Jessica visible outside the wagon.
The thought crossed The Kid’s mind that Jessica and Harwood might be
inside
the wagon. They were engaged to be married, after all.
inside
the wagon. They were engaged to be married, after all.
He was about to back off and go in search of Violet Price, figuring she would be happy to share her family’s supper with him, when he heard a loud thud inside the wagon, followed by a yelp of pain.
That didn’t sound good, so The Kid stepped to the back of the wagon and called, “Everybody all right in there?”
Jessica pushed aside one of the canvas flaps that hung over the vehicle’s rear opening and looked out at him with an irritated expression on her face. The irritation wasn’t actually directed at him, though.
“I dropped my blasted dutch oven,” she said.
“Are you all right?” The Kid asked. “One of those things can break a toe.”
“I’m fine. It didn’t land on my foot. But when I jumped back so it wouldn’t, I banged my head on one of the iron ribs that hold up the canvas cover.”
The Kid nodded in understanding of what had happened. A bump on the head probably wasn’t too serious.
“Where’s Harwood?” he asked.
“Scott said he was going to scout around a little more before it gets dark,” Jessica told him.
“That’s probably a good idea. He’s devoted to his job.”
“Yes,” she said with an edge in her voice. “Very devoted.”
The Kid wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t suppose it was any of his business.
“Let me give you a hand with that oven,” he offered.
For a second Jessica looked like she was going to refuse, but then she nodded her head. “All right. Thanks.”
The Kid lowered the tailgate, stepped up on it, and climbed in to the wagon. With the sun already down, it was pretty dim inside, under the arching canvas cover. He saw the dutch oven and bent to pick it up.
Jessica reached for it at the same time. “I said you could help, I didn’t say you had to pick it up by yourself.”
Their hands brushed together and stopped short of the dutch oven, with skin pressed to skin. The Kid expected Jessica to pull her hand away, but she didn’t.
“I can get it—” he began.
She turned, put her hand on the back of his neck to hold him still as she came into his arms and pressed her mouth to his.
The kiss was unexpected, but The Kid didn’t pull away. Since his wife’s death, he hadn’t sought out any romantic relationships, but a few of them had come his way and he hadn’t turned them down. Not all of them, anyway. He still enjoyed the feel of a woman in his arms and the taste of her lips.
But this was just asking for trouble he didn’t need, and The Kid knew it. He’d instinctively put his arms around Jessica, but moved his hands to her shoulders and tried to ease her away from him.
She clung to him with obvious need and desperation. When he finally succeeded in breaking the kiss, she whispered urgently, “Damn you, Morgan. Why did you have to come riding along and get me all mixed up like this?”
“If you’re mixed up, it’s because of you, not me,” he told her. “You’d be better off thinking about your fiancé—”
“Stop it! I don’t want to think about him. He’s not thinking about me right now, I can promise you that. The only thing he’s thinking about is finding some Apaches to kill!”
“That sounds to me like a good way of staying alive,” The Kid said. “I’m sorry if there’s trouble between the two of you, but I’m sure as hell not the solution.”
A shudder went through her. She was close enough to him that he could feel it.
“I’m not going to marry him. I decided that even before you came along, Kid. I only agreed because I ... I’d known him for so long, since before my husband died. I guess I was scared to face things alone.”
In the time he had known her, Jessica hadn’t acted like much of anything scared her. But there was no way of knowing what went on inside a person’s heart and mind, where their true self was found.
“You’ll have to work that out without my help.” He started to turn away.
She clutched at him again. “Kid, please—”
From the wagon’s tailgate, Scott Harwood roared a curse and flung himself toward them. “Let go of her, you son of a bitch!” He tackled The Kid and knocked him away from Jessica. Both men crashed to the floor of the wagon. Harwood started throwing wild punches in the gloom.
“Scott, stop it!” Jessica shouted. The collision’s impact had driven her to her knees nearby. “Stop it!”
Harwood ignored her and kept flailing away at The Kid.
Biting back angry curses of his own, The Kid blocked as many of the punches as he could, but some of them got through and landed on his chin and jaw, jerking his head back and forth, stunning him. His arms sagged.
With a shake of his head, he threw off the effects of the punches and reached up to grab the front of Harwood’s shirt. A sudden heave sent Harwood crashing into the wagon’s sideboards. The Kid rolled away from him and came up on a knee.
“Blast it, settle down!” The Kid said as he held out a hand toward Harwood, as if to ward off the scout’s attack.
It didn’t do any good. Harwood scrambled up and launched himself at The Kid again. As they crashed together, they rolled toward the rear of the wagon, through the canvas flaps, and right off the lowered tailgate.
The fall to the ground was a good four feet, and the awkward landing broke them apart. People had heard the shouting from Jessica’s wagon and were hurrying toward it to see what was wrong. Surprised exclamations went up as the two battling men emerged.
The Kid wasn’t one to run from a fight, but as he got to his feet he backed off. It was a pointless struggle that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. He was just thankful that so far Harwood had only used his fists. If the scout had reached for his gun, that would have been real trouble.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Harwood,” The Kid said as he tried to talk some sense into the furious man. “There’s nothing between Mrs. Ritter and me.”
Harwood had reached his feet, too, his chest heaving and his eyes blazing. His fists were clenched at his sides. “You’re a damned liar! I saw the two of you together. You either attacked her, or you’re trying to steal her away from me!”
“Scott, stop it,” Jessica said again from the rear of the wagon. “Mr. Morgan didn’t do anything. It was me, all me!”
Harwood lifted his head, and an even bleaker look settled over his face. “What are you saying, Jess?”
She swallowed hard. “You heard me. I’m sorry, Scott, but I ... I can’t marry you.”
Silence fell over the people who had crowded around Jessica’s wagon as Harwood stared at her uncomprehendingly. Finally, a grim realization settled over his face. “I was right,” he said quietly. He turned his head to look at The Kid. “You did this.”
And with that, he twisted his body and grabbed for the gun on his hip.
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