Triumph of the Mountain Man (9 page)

“Do either of you think you could identify him?”

Both men nodded, and Diego spoke. “Oh, yes. He'll have his left arm in a sling. I am positive I got him in the collarbone.”

Hank Banner listened to their account of how the shoot-out had begun and left them with another admonition. “Remember, you make good and sure that they force the action every time. I'd not like to lock up a friend . . . friends,” he amended.

* * *

On the road to Rancho de la Gloria, Smoke Jensen and Diego Alvarado discussed the possibility that there would be another personal attack upon them. Diego weighed all Smoke said about these sort of gunhawks and offered a prophesy.

“You are probably right. But, Satterlee has so far kept it rather quiet. He does not seem ready to force the issue. I think it will be some time before any more of his
ladrónes
come after you or I.”

Five minutes farther down the trail proved how wrong he had been.

A fine Andalusian, the horse ridden by Don Diego Alvarado shied a fraction of a second before a plume of white powder smoke spurted upward in a thicket of mesquite that had been cut and stacked for burning. In the next fraction of a second, a bullet cracked past so close to the rancher that it clipped the sombrero from his head. Half a dozen more rounds came from the ambush site.

To Diego's right, Smoke had already fisted his .45 Colt and returned fire. He drubbed Cougar's flanks with his round knob spurs and started away from the hidden gunmen, only to find the way blocked by more of their kind. In a swirl of dust, Smoke Jensen released his packhorse, Hardy, and charged the obstruction.

9

Men cursed and fired blindly at where Smoke Jensen had been only moments before. They next saw him as he burst through the fog of dust and powder smoke and blazed away at point-blank range. Two men left their saddles in rapid succession. A third yelped a second later and clutched at his suddenly useless right arm. The rifle he had been holding dropped from his grasp, the small of its stock shattered by the bullet that had smashed his shoulder socket.

Smoke did not stop there. He whirled and disappeared into the miasma, to pop out on the flank of the mesquite barricade, flanking the ambush. One hard case sensed the presence of Smoke Jensen and whirled to fire his weapon. That way, he took the bullet from Smoke's Colt full in the face. He went over backward with a soft grunt. Beyond the dying man, Smoke saw Diego at the opposite end of the hiding place. Alvarado placed his shots carefully, wounding three men. As soon as they could recover enough of their difficulties, they hastily abandoned the fight. With their desertion, the ambush began to quickly dissolve.

But not before Garth Thompson snapped off a round that nicked Diego Alvarado in the fleshy part of his left upper arm. Diego squinted with the pain that shot through him and coolly pumped a round into another of the outlaws. Garth's hammer dropped on an expended cartridge, and he rose in his stirrups.

“Break off! Pull back, boys. Scatter,” he bellowed.

Garth's head spun in confusion over the ferocity and speed of the reaction of their targets. It had not been a fluke, or a sucker call, that had downed Oppler and Drago. Whoever this master gun happened to be, he was fast and mean as a hell hound. The man beside Garth fired again at Diego Alvarado and put spurs to his mount. Garth quickly joined him.

At once, Smoke and Diego joined up and went in pursuit of two of the hard cases who had chosen the roadway as the easiest route of escape. Diego hailed Smoke with a big smile on his face. “We have them trapped between us and the ranch. They will not get far,
amigo.”

“Might be, but will anyone be expecting them?”

“We are close enough that the shots will have been heard. Someone will be watching. It is too bad the others got away.”

Smoke thought on that. “Not for long if we get to question these two.”

They picked up the pace then. Within ten minutes they rode through the low scud of red dust stirred up by the hooves of the horses ridden by the fleeing men. Moments later, the sound of gunfire came from ahead, and the pursuers urged their mounts into a gallop. At that ground-eating pace, Smoke and Diego soon saw the backs of the two outlaws. One was on the ground, drawn up in a fetal position. The other, his horse shot out from under him, used the fallen animal as a breastwork.

Although wounded, he fired over the saddle at unseen adversaries as Smoke Jensen closed the gap between himself and the member of the Quinn gang. When Smoke and Diego came into clear view, whoever kept the outlaw pinned down ceased fire. In the silence that followed, the hard case heard the hoofbeats behind him and turned to see Smoke and Diego less than twenty feet away. All resistance left him, and he laid down his revolver and raised his hands.

“I'm givin' up. Don't shoot me.”

“Seems as how you tried like hell to do just that to us,” Smoke growled.

His feeble protest would echo down the halls of the future. “I was jist followin' orders. Nothin' personal, you understand?”

Smoke snorted in contempt. “When someone throws lead at me, I take it right personal, y'hear?” Smoke dismounted as Alejandro Alvarado showed himself, along with three of the vaqueros.

Beaming, Alejandro extended a hand. “It is good to see you again. Poppa said you would come.”

“He made it sound irresistible. Let's take a look at the fish you caught.”

Roughly they searched the outlaw, supervised by Smoke Jensen. Two knives, a stubby-barreled Hopkins and Allen. 38 Bulldog revolver and a .41 rimfire derringer appeared from the voluminous clothing of the miscreant. For reasons known only to himself, Smoke found that amusing.

“Looks like whatever you lack in skill, you make up for in sneaky armament.”

“Who are you, mister? You tore through our ambush like a bull through a corral of steers.”

“Folks call me Smoke. Smoke Jensen.”

“Awh . . . dog pucky. That ain't fair. It jist ain't fair. How was we to know you were around here anywhere?”

“Chalk it up to bad luck. Now, my good friend here, Don Diego, and I would like to know who you work for?”

Defiance flared in his eyes. “You'll never hear it from me.”

Smiling, Smoke Jensen taunted the injured man. “I'll hear it when I want to. Although I don't think I really need to. Don Diego has told me all about your boss, Whitewater Paddy Quinn.”

Ever so slightly, the gunman's eyes narrowed and tension lines sprang up that did not come from the bullet wound in his thigh. He pressed his lips tightly together. Smoke shattered the man's newfound resolve with one terse, ominous sentence.

“If he won't confirm that, Alejandro, kill him.”

That broke the last of his bravado. “Yes—yes, you're right, goddamn you, Jensen. And when Paddy Quinn finds out what you done to us, he'll be down on you like stink on a skunk.”

Dryly, Smoke answered him. “I can hardly wait.”

“Amigo, we still have a league to ride to the
estancia,”
Diego reminded Smoke.

“Then, we'd best be going. I trust you can deal with this mess, Alejandro?”

“Sí.
Any day, Smoke.”

They left Alejandro to clean up after the ambushers and to send vaqueros to town to deliver the dead and living one to the sheriff.

* * *

Smoke Jensen was met by the entire Alvarado flock. The youngest, a totally naked toddler of two, crawled up on Smoke's knee and patted him on the cheek. Horrified by the overly familiar conduct of her infant son, Señora Alvarado, Lidia rushed forward to pluck the squealing boy from his perch and apologized effusively to Smoke for the social gaffe. Smoke laughed about it and patted the youngster on the top of his head.

“But, you are a
caballero,”
Lidia protested. “You should not be bothered by the prattling of children.”

Smoke smiled to show his sincerity. “He's no burden, Doña Lidia. I remember my own at that age.”

Lidia Alvarado gave him a surprised look. “But they are all grown, yes?”

“All but one my Sally and I adopted not long ago. He has thirteen years.”

“A burdensome age. I will leave you gentlemen to your tequila and old campaigns.” With that, Lidia exited, her giggling youngster on her hip.

Diego took up the subject of most interest to both men. “Let me tell you what I believe is behind Clifton Satterlee's determination to secure all of the land for twenty miles around Taos. It is greed, plain and simple. Somehow he has found a way to make a profit out of land that sells for twenty-five cents an acre, due to its poor quality of soil. In its natural state, nothing much grows here, except for cactus and mesquite. Perhaps he has learned, as I have, of the value of irrigation. I do not believe that is the case. He means to plunder the land and leave it desolate.

“There is gold in the mountains. Not much, but enough to attract a greedy man. There is also the cattle that I and others raise. The price of beef is going up, now that it has been made more tender and palatable to the eastern taste. Satterlee's entire assets, at least those I have been able to discover, are not worth more than one hundred thousand dollars. The sale of our cattle would increase his holdings by ten fold. There is five times that value in the timber on the Tua reservation. Although the land is protected by your government in Washington, treaties have been broken in the past and will be again, given enough money changes hands.”

Smoke smiled warmly. “You don't put much trust in the United States government, amigo.”

“No more than I did that in that of Ciudad Mexico. Politicians are . . . politicians. It is the nature of government to become more intrusive, more controlling of people's lives and their property. Yours, ours now, perhaps less than many others. But who knows what the future may hold? Satterlee is a law unto himself. Therefore, I believe that he is not so much empire building as empire looting.”

Smoke gave that some thought. “That's a strong accusation. Why would he want to acquire the town of Taos?”

“It is the seat of power in this part of New Mexico. We are far removed, by mountains as well as distance, from the government in Santa Fe. Our governor is a good man. I regret that I cannot say the same for some of those around him. Recently there was an affair that is being called the Lincoln County War. Governor Wallace offered amnesty to those of both sides. Secretly, some of those in power put out the word that certain among the combatants were to be killed upon their surrender. It seems that their continued existence would prove an embarrassment to some of our politicians.

“But, I digress, old friend. You are here to determine exactly what it is Satterlee intends, and if it is illegal or harmful to the best interests of the people, to put an end to it.” Diego paused to refill his clay cup with tequila. He prefaced his next words with a low, self-deprecating chuckle. “That sounds remarkably like a politician, does it not? Forgive me, you came here of your own accord. If I have burdened you with too great a load, it is only because of my great concern.”

Smoke shrugged. “If you'd put too much on my plate, I'd be riding out now.”

“It's the people I am concerned about. Many of those who live around Taos work for me, or have sons and daughters who do. And Alejandro has business interests in the town. Then there are the Indians. Did you know that they rose up one time and slaughtered all the Spanish living around here? They are capable of doing so again. Now, let us go in to dinner. Fernando has roasted us a whole small pig. It will make excellent
carnitas de puerco.”
Diego added in explanation, “One of those traditional dishes that happened by accident the first time. Someone accidentally dropped chunks of pork into boiling oil. By the time they were fished out, the meat was crispy on the outside, juicy and tender inside. I'm sure you will enjoy it.”

Smiling, Smoke emptied his cup of the maguey cactus liquor. “Anything Fernando cooks is an equal to my Sally's best efforts. I'm sure I'll like it.”

Later, after the sumptuous meal, Smoke retired to a guest room for the night. As he lay on the comfortable bed, his thoughts strayed to the High Lonesome and to Sally. He fell asleep with visions of her in his mind.

* * *

Around noon the next day, Sheriff Monte Carson rode up to the main house on the Sugarloaf. He brought with him two dispirited, hang-dog youngsters atop a mule he led by a long rope. Seth and Sammy Gittings, although looking contrite, to Sally Jensen's expert eye managed to reveal their confidence that they would escape punishment. Monte reined in and greeted the two women who were picking spring flowers to brighten the interior of the house.

“Mornin', Miz Sally. Mornin', ma'am. These two belong to someone out here? Least they say they do.”

Mary-Beth looked up with apprehension and surprise. “Why, they are my sons. Where did you find them?”

“In town, ma'am.”

A fleeting frown spread on Mary-Beth's forehead. “Seth, Sammy, didn't I tell you not to leave this place? It is wild and dangerous out there.”

“There's more to it than that, ma'am.”

“Why, what do you mean—ah—Sheriff?”

“I caught them in the general store, stealin' horehound drops from a jar.”

Predictably, Mary-Beth sprang to the defense of her sons. “That's not possible. My sons never steal.”

Monte nodded to the boys. “Unlike these two, I never lie, ma'am.”

“They don't lie, either.”

“Oh? Then they are the sons of Johnny Ringo, and he and his gang will come get me if I don't let them go?” Monte maintained a straight face as he related the wild tale the boys had spun.

Shocked, her shoulders slumped with defeat, Mary-Beth Gittings resorted to a woman's best defense—tears. She dropped her bouquet and covered her eyes with both hands. Her body shook with sobs.

“Whatever am I to do? My hus-husband is nearly always away on business. And when he is home, he spoils the children abominably. I feel so helpless. Someone tell me how to deal with these things?”

Unconvinced by her performance, Monte snorted in disgust. Sally, equally dubious, smiled sweetly. “It's simple,” she spelled out for her guest. “First, you talk to them and explain that what they did was wrong. That such behavior by children or adults is not tolerated by society.”

“What do I do then?”

“Excuse me. I'll be right back and tell you.”

Sally went into the house and directly to one corner of her kitchen. Then she returned, one hand held behind her. “Now comes the part that has the most positive effect. You yank down their britches and smack the hell out of them,” she concluded, revealing the thin willow switch she had held behind her back.

Monte Carson whooped with laughter. “Now, that sounds like jist the thing. I'll haul them down and you do that, ma'am. You do that right now.”

* * *

Dohatsa tugged at his forelock and looked down at his moccasin-clad feet in the manner his people had been taught since the Spanish first came. He was not conscious of his hand extended with palm up. The small bag of coins that dropped into it felt heavy indeed. It made Dohatsa glow inwardly.

“That's me good lad, Dohatsa. Now you go back to yer mud houses and stir up some mischief for me, won't ye now?” Paddy Quinn grinned at the young Tua warrior.