“Very good, gentlemen, the army thanks you, and I thank you,” Colonel Dodge said. He stood and started toward the door. “I’ll see you next week.”
By the time the three men left Colonel Dodge’s office, Lemon, having heard all he needed to hear, had moved his mop and pail to the opposite side of the room.
“If you three men want to remain on the post for dinner, I’ll send word to the officers’ mess to expect you,” Sergeant Major Dawes said.
“That’s thoughtful of you, Sergeant Major, but we’d better get back to town.”
“Yes, sir,” Dawes replied.
“Hey, Sergeant Major, can I go now? I’ve got the whole floor mopped, and Sergeant Caviness is lookin’ for me in the stables,” Lemon said.
“Go ahead,” Dawes said without looking up.
“Thanks.”
After Taps, that evening, while some were sleeping and others were playing cards in the barracks, Private Al Lemon got out of his bunk, left the barracks, and went to the stables to saddle a horse. As there was no stockade fence around Fort Dodge, it was easy for him to leave the post.
“Al, what are you doing here? And you aren’t even in uniform,” Rosalie said, when the young man stepped into the Devil’s Den. Rosalie was one of the soiled doves who had become Al Lemon’s favorite. She was a quadroon, with a smooth, golden-toned skin that gave her an exotic beauty.
“I ain’t in the army no more.”
“What? What did you do? I thought you said you’d be here for a year.”
“I decided I didn’t want to wait a year.”
Rosalie’s eyes got big. “You deserted! Al, you can’t stay here, someone will see you and they’ll find you.”
“I ain’t goin’ to stay aroun’, but I couldn’t leave without tellin’ my favorite girl goodbye, now, could I?” He smiled at her.
“You don’t fool me, Al. Any girl that you’ve got money for is your favorite girl.” Rosalie kissed him.
“I have to see Fargo. Is he here?”
“Yeah, he went up with Dolly about a half hour ago.”
“A half hour? It don’t never take me that long,” Lemon complained.
Rosalie laughed. “It sure don’t, honey.”
“There he is, now,” Al said, as he went to meet Fargo at the bottom of the stairs.
“Damn, Lemon, what are you doin’ here and out of uniform?” Fargo asked.
“I ain’t never gonna wear that uniform again.”
Fargo sighed. “What have you done this time?”
Lemon smiled. “Wait ‘til you hear what I’ve got tonight. I won’t never need the army again.”
“I’m thinking that for a job that’s this important we should take it ourselves,” Cade said the next morning. He, Jeter, and Jacob were discussing the delivery of the rifles to Camp Supply.
“I agree,” Jeter said. “This is a high-risk trip, and after what happened to Lambdin and Morris, I wouldn’t feel right putting it off on our drivers.”
“Because it’s such a high risk, I don’t think we should try and take it without guards,” Jacob said.
“I agree,” Cade said, “but because of the danger involved, I think we should ask for volunteers to ride as shotgun and then pay them double.”
“That would work, but don’t tell them about the pay until after they volunteer,” Jeter said.
“It won’t be fair if we don’t tell them what the cargo is,” Jacob said.
“Let’s hold off on that,” Cade said. “Remember what Colonel Dodge said. We have to keep this a secret, and we can’t take a chance on word of it getting out ahead of time. At first, we’ll just tell them that the trip could be very dangerous.”
“I’ll bring the men in,” Jeter said.
Fifteen minutes later all six employees of Harrison, McCall and Willis were crowded into the little office.
“What’s up, Boss?” Cahill asked.
“You mean bosses, don’t you?” Foster asked.
“Yeah, it must be somethin’ big, bein’ as all three of ‘em are here,” Keaton said.
“Men,” Cade began. “We have a trip coming up that can be, well, I don’t want lie to you, but it can be very dangerous.”
“How dangerous?” Pullen asked.
“Extremely dangerous,” Cade replied, and all the drivers looked at each other.
“Because of that,” Cade said, speaking quickly before any other questions could be asked, “Jacob, Jeter, and I will be taking the trip ourselves.”
“Wait a minute,” Cahill said. “If it’s all that dangerous, why would the three of you go all by yourselves?”
Cade smiled. “When I say we would be taking the trip ourselves, I didn’t say we would be going off alone. And that’s part of the reason for this meeting. I’m going to ask for three volunteers to come along as outriders for the wagons.”
“I’ll go,” Cahill said, without hesitation. “I’ll ride alongside Jeter’s wagon, seein’ as how me ‘n him have been workin’ together so long.”
“Thanks, Pete,” Jeter said.
The other five men looked at each other. Three of the remaining five were married, and there was a hesitation before Pullen spoke up. He was one of the two remaining unmarried men.
“I’ll go.”
‘I will too,” Foster said. Foster was married.
“You’re married, Foster, are you sure you want to do this?” Jeter asked.
Foster smiled. “Well, hell, boss, you’re married too, ain’t you?”
Jeter returned the smile.
“All right, Cahill, Pullen, and Foster, you stay here for a couple of minutes so we can get this trip all planned out. The rest of you can get on back to what you were doing.”
After the other three left, those who remained looked expectantly toward Cade.
“What is it about this trip that’s making it so dangerous?” Cahill asked.
Cade shook his head. “Huh, uh, I can’t tell you yet. But I will tell you when we pick up the load.”
“All right.”
“Here’s another thing,” Cade said. “Each of you will be getting double pay for this trip. I didn’t want to mention it before, because I didn’t want you to volunteer just based upon the extra money you would be receiving.”
The three men exchanged smiles.
“Mr. Harrison,” Foster said. “Uh, if somethin’ was to happen to me, I mean, seein’ as how dangerous it is, ‘n all, would you see to it that my wife gets the money that would’a been comin’ to me?”
“I tell you what, Foster, suppose I give you your money now, and you can give it to your wife before we leave?” Jacob suggested.
Foster shook his head. “No, sir. If I was to do that, she’d worry somethin’ fierce. I’d rather you give it to her after the trip is over, if, for some reason, I don’t get back.”
“Here’s a better idea,” Jeter said. “Let’s just all get back.”
The others laughed.
27
Luke, Weasel, Dunn, Dutch Henry, Fargo, and three more vigilantes rode out of Dodge raising the curiosity of the citizens of the town as they saw them all leaving in a group. They saw another man join them at the edge of town.
“Where do ya think there a goin’? one of the citizens asked.
“Maybe they’re leaving town,” another one said, as he chuckled.
“We wouldn’t be so lucky.”
“Oh, now don’t be so hard on ‘em. They did stop most of the violence.” another suggested.
“Stop the violence, like hell. They just took it over.”
Back at the Devil’s Den, Lola was looking at the ledger she kept for the girls who worked there. Since the Slaters had taken on the job of supporting the vigilantes, the income generated by the girls had dropped drastically. Ironically, they were now busier than they had ever been, but for much of the time they didn’t make any money because they were expected to entertain the vigilantes for free.
Rosalie was sitting at Lola’s table discussing th
e vigilante problem.
“At least we don’t have to deal with so many of them today,” Rosalie said. “Where are they, anyway?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Dunn and his men. They’re gone, or at least half of ‘em are.”
“That’s strange,” Lola said. “Luke and Weasel are gone too, but I don’t have any idea where they are.”
“The longer they’re gone the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Rosalie said.
“Miss Lola, Miss Lola, you’ve got to help me!” Cetti said, hurrying up to Lola’s table.
“What is it?”
“It’s Shardeen. Frankie says he’s lookin’ for me again.”
“Shardeen,” Rosalie said. She spit as she said his name. “He’s the worst one.”
“Then we need to get Cetti out of here. The only thing is, I don’t know where to put her.”
“I know somewhere,” Rosalie said.
“You do?”
“Yes, it’s someone I knew a long time ago. She’ll hide Cetti; I know she will.”
“Who is it? No, wait, don’t tell me. If I don’t know where Cetti is, I can’t give it away.”
“Come on, Cetti,” Rosalie said.
“I’ll just get my . . .” Cetti started, but Rosalie interrupted her in mid-sentence.
“No, come on, now, before Shardeen knows you’re missing.”
Rosalie took the young girl across the track, then down to Fourth Avenue. Then hurrying up Fourth Avenue she reached the corner house.
“I know who lives here,” Cetti said as they walked up to the house. “This is the lady with the two little girls.”
“Yes,” Rosalie answered, as she knocked on the door.
An older woman answered the knock. Rosalie was wearing the dress and makeup of her profession, and seeing the young woman Mary Hatley took a step back in surprise.
“Is Magnolia here? I mean, uh, Mrs. Willis?” Rosalie asked.
“She is.”
“Tell her it’s someone she knew from before. From Le plaisir d'un Gentleman.”
“Did I hear you say you knew me from New Orleans? I don’t remember you,” Magnolia said, having come to the front door just in time to hear Rosalie. “Who are you?”
“Here I’m Rosalie, but you knew me by the name my mama gave me. She called me Antoinette.”
“Antoinette? Wait a minute, was your mother Gabrielle?”
Rosalie smiled.
“I do remember you, but you were just a child, not much older than this one.”
“This is Cetti,” Rosalie said. “And she’s the reason I’m here. Miss Magnolia, please, you have to help her. If we don’t get her away from the…” she paused for a moment, then spat out a word that could almost be profanity, “vigilantes . . . I don’t know what will happen to her. Please, will you help?”
“Of course I will,” Maggie agreed. “Get her in here.”
When Rosalie returned to the saloon, Mack was talking to Lola, and Frankie.
“Where is she?” Mack asked.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Frankie replied. “Mr. Slater, help me find my sister, I’m afraid she’s run away.”
“Now why would she do that? She’s got a nice place to stay here.”
“I don’t know, but I’m scared. She’s only sixteen years old; she don’t know how to take care of herself. You gotta help me find her.”
“She’s a little fool, now that’s what she is,” Mack said. He smiled. “I know you ain’t let her be with a man. Why, I could hold an auction this very day, and sell her to any man who steps foot through that door. There ain’t no tellin’ how much money that would have brought, ‘n I’d a give Cetti half of it.”
Frankie shook her head. “I’m hoping she never goes into the business.”
“Nonsense, look how good it’s been for you,” Mack said. “Cetti’s a pretty thing. She’ll find out she can’t do no better than workin’ right here at the Devil’s Den. You mark my words, she’ll be slinkin’ back in here, and when she does, why she’s gonna have to earn her keep. No more of this cleanin’ stuff.” Mack turned and walked away.
Frankie looked at Rosalie with questioning eyes.
“Everything is fine,” Rosalie whispered.
“Thank you,” Frankie said. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.”
At that very moment, Luke and the others were waiting at the ford of the Cimarron River in Indian Territory. It had rained for three days, and the water was up.
“Lemon, you’re sure now that these here wagons is carryin’ guns?” Weasel asked. “I’m goin’ to be some upset if we take the wagons ‘n find there ain’t nothin’ in ‘em but flour.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I heard the colonel himself tell ‘em that they’d be carryin’ two hunnert ‘n fifty rifles ‘n two hunnert thousand bullets,” Lemon said.
Luke smiled. “Damn! You got ‘ny idea what we can get from this? I’m thinkin’ we can take ‘em down to New Mexico to the Comancheros. We’d get a hell of a lot more money than we could get from anybody around here, and the guns would be outta here.”
“How you plannin’ on pullin’ this off, Luke?” Dunn asked.
“I figure soon as they come around the bend, we’ll commence a’ shootin’,” Luke replied.
Dunn shook his head. “That ain’t the way to do it.”
“How would you do it?” Luke asked, a little piqued by Dunn’s response.
“This here is the only place they can ford the river, ‘n they’re goin’ to have to do it just real slow and careful what with the water up and all,” Dunn replied. “If it was up to me, I’d wait until they are about half way across, then we’ll ambush ‘em.”
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “That’s a good idea. ‘n if we shoot the mules when they’re comin’ acrost, why, we’ll have ‘em trapped.”
“Don’t shoot the mules,” Weasel said. “If you do, how we gonna haul away the guns?”
“All right, we won’t shoot the mules.”
Cade was driving the first wagon, and when they reached the river he stopped.
“What is it, Cade?” Pullen was on horseback, riding alongside the wagon.
“I don’t know,” Cade said. His rifle was in the foot-well of the wagon, and he reached for it.
Cade thought he had seen something on the other side of the river, but he couldn’t say for sure that he had. He didn’t know if he was reacting on something he had seen, or something he was feeling.
“Trade places with me, Pullen, you drive the wagon and let me have the horse.”
“All right,” Pullen agreed and the switch was made. “You want me to start across the river?”
“No, hold up. I want to talk this over with the others.”
Cade rode back to a curious Jeter and Jacob. Jacob was driving the second wagon, but Jeter, who was in the third wagon, had jumped down and was standing alongside when Cade came back to them.
“What’s going on, Cade?”
“If we’re going to be hit, it’ll be right here, while we’re crossing the Cimarron,” Cade said. “I think we should be ready for anything.”
“I have a suggestion,” Jeter said. “Remember at Shiloh when Forrest had us bring the wagons up all together? We could do that here so all three wagons are side by side. That way if we’re hit, we’ll have our maximum strength organized.”
“A good idea, for a Johnny Reb,” Jacob said, as he pulled his wagon up to the right side of Cade’s wagon.
“Just watch your mouth, Harrison.” Jeter was laughing as he walked back to his own wagon.
“Now what?” Jacob asked when the wagons were three abreast, facing the river.
Cade, who was holding his rifle in his right hand, stroked his chin with his left as he studied the other side.
Weasel was certain he hadn’t been seen, so what was holding them up? Why didn’t they come on across?
“What is it?” he asked. “What are they a’ doin’?”
“It looks
like Mr. Cade McCall has got hisself a notion,” Dutch Henry said.
“So, what do we do?”
“We kill ‘im,” Dunn said.
Dunn raised his rifle drew a sight on Cade’s head, then began, slowly to tighten his finger on the trigger.
Seeing that the bit had repositioned slightly, and in a way that might be uncomfortable for the horse, Cade bent over to reposition it. As he did so, he heard the crack rifle-fire, and felt his hat fly off his head.
“Cade!” Jeter shouted in alarm.
Cade leaped down from his horse. “Get down!” he called. “All of you on the ground!”
The other five men abandoned horse and wagon, and all six of them took up a prone position on the north side of the river. Cade lined up his sight on a target, and pulled the trigger. A man fell forward, pushing the scrub willows aside, exposing another. Jeter took out the man who was exposed.
“Dunn, do somethin’!” someone yelled from across the river. “They got Dutch Henry and Carter!”
The man’s shout was followed by a volley of fire from the other side of the river.
For the next few minutes there was a brisk exchange of gunfire.
“Uhh!” Pullen called out, and glancing toward him Cade saw that he had been badly hit.
Another of the ambushers was hit.
“I don’t know how many they’ve got, but we’ve taken care of three of them now,” Foster said.
“They got Dunn!” someone shouted from across the river.
“Dunn?” Jeter said. “That has to be Edge. You don’t think this is the work of the vigilantes?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. We’ve seen what kind of men they are, and a gun shipment has to be an attractive target.”
“But how did they find out?”
“I don’t have any idea. All I know is, we didn’t tell.”
“Weasel,” Luke said crawling toward his brother. “We gotta get out of here.”
“And leave all them guns?”
“They’s only five of us left, ‘n that means they got us outnumbered. No way we’re goin’ to get them guns now.”
“Damn, I hate lettin’ ‘em go.”
“Then you go get ‘em,” Luke said. “But me, I’m gettin’ out of here.”
The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set Page 59