Young Ole Devil (18 page)

The introduction came to an end as the girl
realized that her grandfather was not alone.

Without having waited to discuss what had
happened, Di and Ole Devil Hardin had made sure that they had
nothing further to fear from their attackers. Arnaldo Verde, Soapy
and Al had all been dead. However, on examining Mucker, the girl
had stated that, while he was still unconscious, his wound was not
too serious and he would live. Then she had requested to be told
why the quartet had attacked them, only now her opinion of Ole
Devil was so improved that she spoke without making it a
demand.

Noticing the change which had come over the
girl, Ole Devil had given a full explanation. On learning that he
believed the two attacks were attempts to prevent him from reaching
her grandfather and being told the purpose of the visit, she had
said they should question their captive on his recovery. Ole Devil
had agreed that such would be their best line of action.

Looking a trifle sheepish, Di
had thanked the Texian for saving her from the bear and he had
returned the compliment with regard to Soapy. Neither of them had
referred to the spanking which had been the unfortunate aftermath
of her rescue. Instead, she had offered to have the men she would
be sending from the ranch to collect the bear
’s carcass bring in the three
bodies for burial at the same time.

Accepting the
girl
’s
offer, Ole Devil had agreed with her further suggestion that he
went to see if he could catch some of the horses while she attended
to Mucker’s wound. On being asked if she would be safe, she had
requested the means to reload the Manton pistol and, with it done,
had declared that she could ‘chill the ornery son-of-a-bitch’s milk
happen he woke up feeling feisty.’ Confident that she could do so
if it should become necessary, Ole Devil had mounted the dun and
set off. Neither the horse he had been riding nor Di’s
tobiano
gelding were in
view, so he went after and succeeded in retrieving the mounts of
the three white renegades. Verde’s horse had been nowhere to be
seen and he had not wasted time searching for it On his return, he
had found that Mucker was still unconscious but Di had done a very
competent job of bandaging the wounded shoulder.

While they were waiting for Mucker to
recover so that he could be questioned, Ole Devil had searched the
bodies. He had found nothing, but put off on examination of their
bed-rolls until he and the girl had arrived at her home. Di had
gathered up the second Manton pistol and her rifle. On checking the
latter to find out why it had failed her, she had concluded that
the powder in the frizzen pan must have slipped away from the vent
hole so that, when it was ignited, the flame had not reached the
main charge in the barrel. After she had commented on the matter to
Ole Devil, they had reached an amicable agreement about how they
should address each other.

When Mucker had regained
consciousness
—he had been in a state of shock although neither of his
captors had identified it by such a name—incoherent and unable to
answer questions. Di had suggested that they took him back to the
ranch and let him rest until the following morning. He had been
barely able to sit his horse and had had to be tied on the
saddle.

During the journey, Ole Devil
had satisfied the girl
’s curiosity regarding the Browning rifle. They
had also found his borrowed horse standing with its reins tangled
in a bush. On arriving at the ranch, without having seen
Di’s
tobiano,
they discovered the corrals and barn to be deserted.
Hearing a lot of noise from the cook shack, she had decided that
the hired hands were having their suppers. Having no wish to
disturb the men, she had suggested they should deliver Houston’s
message to her grandfather. Securing their prisoner had been no
problem, even if his physical condition had been less enfeebled.
The Blind-leys’ cook, an aged Tejas Indian called Waldo,
occasionally went on a drinking bout. To prevent him from causing
trouble—liquor had that effect on him—they had had a storeroom in
the barn fitted with a sturdy door and strong iron bars at the
window. Leaving the key in the lock—having placed Mucker on Waldo’s
bed—so that the cook could fetch him some coffee, Di had
accompanied Ole Devil to the house.

Following the girl into the
room, so that she could introduce him before going to make
arrangements for feeding and guarding Mucker and having the bear
and bodies collected, Ole Devil looked at the two men who were
sitting on the only two remaining chairs at the table. He did not
need to be told which of them was the girl
’s grandfather. Nor did he need to
seek an explanation for the meager nature of the furnishings.
According to the girl, the majority of their portable property had
already been sent to the east

Ewart Brindley was not much
taller than Di
’s five foot seven, but made up in breadth for what he
lacked in height. Despite his age, he looked as hard and fit as a
man much below his years. Almost bald, with his remaining hair a
grizzled white, his leathery, sun-reddened face suggested not so
much a bad temper but one which, like his granddaughter’s, was
quick and high. He was dressed in much the same way as the girl,
with a bowie knife hanging from his belt. There was a spectacle
case on the table in front of him.

Matching Ole Devil in height
and build, the other occupant of the room would be in his
mid-thirties, had dark brown hair and was suavely handsome. He was
dressed in expensive, if travel-strained, riding clothes of the
style much fancied by wealthy French Creoles in Louisiana. A
shining black, silver-headed walking cane lay with his white
‘planter’s’ hat on
the table and he did not appear to be armed. He had stood up when
Di entered, but had turned his gaze to Ole Devil when he had heard
the name she mentioned.

‘
Howdy
there,’ Brindley greeted, his voice having a kind of high and harsh
tone, also subjecting the young Texian to an interested scrutiny.
‘Wha’d you say, Di—gal?’

‘
Cap’n
Hardin’s brought you a message from General Houston,’ the girl
answered, daring a curious and interrogatory glance at the handsome
visitor. ‘Set ’n’ take the weight off your feet,
mister—?’

‘
Now
what’d General Sam be wanting from me, young feller? Brindley
inquired, ignoring what he had known to be his granddaughters hint
about the identity of the man at the table and the reason for his
presence.

‘
It’s
a confidential matter, sir,’ Ole Devil replied, flickering a look
to where there other visitor was sitting.

‘
Happen you’ve come about using my mules,’ Brindley drawled
and jerked a thumb in the well-dressed visitor’s direction. ‘Mr.
Galsworthy here, he wants ’em and he came first.’

Having delivered the information, the old
man settled back on his chair and eyed the young Texian in a
challenging fashion. Clearly he was waiting to discover how his
news would be received.

Knowing that the correct
response could be vital, Ole Devil thought fast. Possibly Brindley
was anticipating a demand that the General
’s requirements should be given
priority over private business. Or he might be expecting an appeal
to his patriotism. Remembering Houston’s comments regarding
Brindley’s contrary nature, Ole Devil felt certain that neither was
the way to handle the situation.

‘
That’s between you and Mr. Galsworthy, sir,’ the Texian
stated, meeting the old man’s gaze without flinching and pleased
with the opportunity to watch for evidence of how his words were
being received. ‘But I hope that you’ll be willing to read the
General’s letter.’

‘
You
couldn’t ask for nothing fairer than that,’ Brindley declared,
although his face showed nothing of his feelings. He turned his
eyes to the second visitor and went on, ‘What do you reckon, Mr.
Galsworthy?’

‘
Well,
sir,’ the handsome man replied and, despite his style of dress, he
spoke with the accent of a well-educated citizen of Boston. There
was a hint of icy arrogance in his voice, as if he was used to
giving orders and having them carried out unhesitatingly. ‘As I
told you, my property is valuable and I’m willing to pay a high
price to have it transported east. But, if General Houston needs
your mules for some official purpose, I’m willing to withdraw any
claim I might have on them. After all, the Republic of Texas must
come first’

‘
Be it
official business they’re wanted for, Cap’n Hardin?’ Brindley
asked.

‘
Yes,
sir,’ Ole Devil confirmed and gave his attention to Galsworthy,
noticing that the other seemed to be avoiding looking him in the
eyes. ‘Thank you, sir. That’s generous of you.’

‘
I’m
merely doing my duty as I see it, captain,’ Galsworthy answered and
once again stood up. Taking his hat and cane from the table, he
continued, ‘As your business is confidential, I’ll wait
outside.’

‘
Ain’t
no call to sit out on the porch, mister,’ Brindley remarked. Hey,
Di-gal, seeing’s how Waldo’s off feeding the boys, how’s about
taking this gent into the kitchen and giving him a cup of coffee
while I find out what General Sam wants?’

‘
Sure
thing,’ the girl assented cheerfully. ‘Come on, Mr. Galsworthy and
I’ll tend to it. You want I should fetch some in for you and Fancy
Pants, Grandpappy Ewart?’

‘
How
about it—cap’n?’ Brindley asked, having turned a speculative gaze
on the Texian when his granddaughter had used the
sobriquet

‘
I’d
admire to take a cup, Miss Charlotte,’ Ole Devil confirmed and
watched the old man’s head swivel rapidly between himself and Di in
what would one day become known as a ‘double take’. ‘Black with
sugar.’

‘
How
many times do you want it stirred and shall I blow on it to cool it
down?’ the girl grinned. ‘That’s what you’re used to, I’d
reckon.’

‘
No,
ma’am,’ Ole Devil contradicted, watching Brindley’s reaction to the
by-play. ‘My folks brought me up to be self-reliant and always made
me blow on my own.’

‘
Allus
did like a self-reliant feller,’ Di drawled. ‘Come on, Mr.
Galsworthy.’

‘
Well
I’ll be hornswoggled!’ Brindley ejaculated, after his granddaughter
and Galsworthy had left the room closing the door behind them. ‘She
was like to bust the last feller’s called her “Charlotte’s”
jaw-bone.’

‘
We
came to an agreement soon after we met, sir,’ Ole Devil explained
cheerfully and truthfully, sensing that his host was impressed.
‘Arranged that I wouldn’t object to her calling me “Fancy Pants”
once in a while and she’d let me use her given name in
return.’

‘
Sit
down, damn it, young feller,’ Brindley requested and there was more
than a hint of respect in his cracked old voice. ‘Let’s take a look
at what Sam’s got to be writing about.’

Reaching to the front of his
shirt, as he took the seat which Galsworthy had vacated, Ole Devil
produced a thin oilskin wallet from his inside pocket. Extracting
the letter which Houston had given to him, he passed it to the old
man. Brindley opened the flap of the envelope, took out the sheet
of paper and
spread
it
before him on the table. Then he removed the spectacles
from the case and donned them. With his lips moving and silently
mouthing the words, he started to read. On coming to the paragraph
about Ole Devil, he lifted his eyes and looked at die object of the
comments for a moment. Then he finished the letter.

‘
General Sam seems to set a whole lot of store on getting
these rifles, young feller,’ the old man commented as he removed
his spectacles and leaned back.

‘
Yes,
sir,’ Ole Devil replied. ‘Like he says, they could make a lot of
difference when the time comes for us to take our stand against
Santa Anna in open battle.’

‘
Likely,’ Brindley grunted in a non-committal tone. ‘How’d
you aim to go about doing it?’

Well, sir,
’ Ole Devil answered, sensing a
challenge and selecting his words with care. ‘Before I decide on
that, I’d like to know whether you’d be willing to do as the
General asks?’

‘
And
just supposing I am?

‘
Then
the problem’s at least partly solved, sir.’

‘
How
do you mean,
partly
solved? Brindley demanded. ‘You reckon I can’t handle it,
or something?’

‘
No,
sir,’ Ole Devil assured his host, whose tone had been prickly with
indignation. ‘It’s just that the situation has changed.’

‘
How?’

‘
The
Mexicans know about the shipment’

‘
The
hell you say!’ Brindley ejaculated. He glared at the letter, which
had explained why it had not been felt necessary to send a military
guard. ‘How’d that happened?

‘
I’ve
no idea, sir,’ Ole Devil confessed. ‘The General and I were alone
when we made the arrangements. We thought that as only he and I—or
so we assumed—knew how I was hoping to make the collection, I
wouldn’t need a escort if you agreed to handle it. Then I was
jumped by a bunch of renegades before I’d reached Guadalupe. We
downed two, but the rest got away—’