Rope Burn

by William W. Johnstone; J. A. Johnstone

  “I reckon we could ask the same thing of you, mister,” Ace said.

  The lieutenant’s mouth tightened. “I’d say that under the circumstances, I get my answers first. We heard a lot of gunfire.” His gaze swung both ways along the gully, taking in the sight of two dead gun-wolves and a dead horse. “Are you responsible for killing these men?”

  “It seemed like the thing to do at the time,” Chance drawled. “They were doing their best to kill us.”

  This officer definitely hadn’t been with Olsen, and Ace didn’t recall seeing him at Fort Gila when the Jensen brothers were there. That might mean he wasn’t part of Olsen’s crooked scheme. Ace decided they would just have to run the risk of being honest.

  “My name is Ace Jensen. This is my brother Chance. Yes, we killed these men, but like my brother said, it was self-defense. They gave us no choice. They’re hired guns working for a man named Eugene Howden-Smyth.”

  “The mine owner?” the lieutenant asked with a frown.

  “You know him?”

  “I know of him. He was mentioned in a report I read. And that report is the reason for me being here.” The lieutenant studied Ace and Chance intently. “You say these men worked for Howden-Smyth?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why would they want to kill you? Did you attempt to steal gold from Howden-Smyth’s mine?”

  Chance snorted in disgust. “We’re not gold thieves or outlaws of any sort. It was our bad luck to be forced into working on that blasted road being built between the mine and Fort Gila.”

  That made the lieutenant’s interest perk up even more. “So you know about that road?”

  “Mister, we nearly busted our backs breaking rocks on it!”

  The officer seemed to make up his mind about something. He said to the troopers, “Lower your weapons, men, but remain alert. Private Otterson, Private Thomas, burial detail. I want these men buried properly. Private Simmons, you stand guard while they’re doing that. Private Burton, ride back and fetch the rest of the men.”

  The troopers saluted and set about carrying out the orders. The lieutenant turned back to Ace and Chance and went on, “Climb up out of there. We need to talk.”

  “I reckon we do,” Ace agreed. Something told him they could trust this young officer. He hoped his instincts weren’t letting him down.

  A few minutes later, they stood with the now dismounted lieutenant, chewing on some jerky he had offered them from his saddlebags. While they were doing that, the man introduced himself.

  “I’m Lieutenant Patrick Slattery. I work for the War Department in Washington. I was sent out here to Arizona Territory, along with a small detail of men, to investigate a rather puzzling situation.”

  “An army post furnishing the men to build a road to a gold mine owned by an Englishman?” Ace guessed.

  Lieutenant Slattery’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “That’s exactly why I’m here.”

  “How did you find out about it?”

  “The War Department received a report from Major Flint Sughrue, the commanding officer at Fort Gila. It was very matter of fact, detailing the progress on the road he’d been ordered to build, but the thing of it is—”

  “Nobody in Washington or anywhere else ever ordered him to build that road,” Chance interrupted. He glanced over at Ace. “I guess one of those reports the major sent in slipped past Olsen without him knowing about it.”

  Ace nodded. “That’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

  “Olsen,” Slattery repeated. “You mean Lieutenant Frank Olsen, who’s also posted to Fort Gila?”

  “That’s right,” Ace said. “For all practical purposes, he’s the commanding officer there now. He’s got Major Sughrue buffaloed and going along with whatever he says.”

  “But that’s insane! Why would the major go along with that? And why would Lieutenant Costello allow it? He’s supposed to be Major Sughrue’s second in command.”

  “Costello is dead,” Ace said flatly. “Before that, he was a prisoner, being forced to work on that road to the mine like quite a few of the other soldiers.”

  Slattery’s expression was grim as he said, “I need to hear more about this . . . this debacle.”

  For the next few minutes, Ace and Chance filled him in on everything they had heard about and experienced in the past week or so. Lieutenant Slattery’s face reflected his disbelief at first. Ace could tell he thought they were crazy, or else lying for some other reason.

  But gradually, as they laid out all the details, Ace saw that Slattery was starting to believe them. Reluctantly, granted, but still, he could tell that their story had the ring of truth to it.

  Finally, he said, “We were aware that Major Sughrue’s wife had passed away, but no one had any idea that her death affected him so strongly.”

  “Because Olsen didn’t let anybody find out,” Ace said. “There are probably quite a few men at the fort who don’t actually realize how bad the situation is. As far as they know, the major really was ordered to get that road built.”

  Shaking his head, Slattery said, “Why would Olsen do such a thing? I don’t know the man personally, but I looked into his record. I checked the records of all the officers at the fort before I came out here. Olsen appears to have been a decent officer. Nothing really exemplary in the record, but nothing bad, either. How could he . . . why did he . . .”

  “We’re not sure if he came up with the idea or if Howden-Smyth approached him with it,” Ace said, “but I reckon it all comes down to gold. That stuff can make a man do things nobody ever thought he would. It can make him do things he never thought he would.”

  Chance said, “And a fella never really knows what he’s capable of until the opportunity is right there in front of him, gleaming and beckoning him on.”

  Slattery sighed and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I hope you know, however, that I’m still going to have to corroborate your story. I’m not going to accept Lieutenant Olsen’s guilt on your word alone.”

  “You start talking to the men at the fort and you’ll find out plenty,” Ace said.

  “Talk to Evelyn Sughrue, too,” Chance added. “She knows all about it now, and she’s seen what Olsen is capable of, first hand.”

  “Like wiping out those Apaches.” Slattery shrugged. “Engaging a band of hostiles isn’t going to be looked on with disfavor in Washington. Although the number of casualties among the women and children is rather disturbing. But I believe everything else you’ve told me is sufficient justification for taking Lieutenant Olsen into custody while I continue my investigation.”

  “You mean you’re going to arrest him?” Ace asked.

  “That’s right.” Slattery saw the frown on Ace’s face and went on, “You don’t think that’s a good idea?”

  “How many men do you have with you, Lieutenant?”

  “Nine troopers. The detail including myself is ten men.”

  “Olsen has at least twice that many who are in on the scheme, I’d say. It’s likely they’d back him if it comes to a showdown. Plus there are all the other men who don’t know the truth but might follow him anyway because they’re used to him giving the orders.”

  “Olsen’s mighty slick,” Chance put in. “He might convince the whole garrison that you’re the one in the wrong, Lieutenant. He could say you’re some sort of renegade, or a deserter, or something else to turn the men against you. And it’s likely that Major Sughrue would believe him and back him up, which would just make things worse.”

  Slattery looked at the Jensen brothers and said, “Then what do you suggest would be an appropriate course of action? And mind you, I’m not in the habit of asking civilians for advice!”

  Ace rubbed his chin and said, “Seems to me there’s only one thing that might work. Somebody’s got to get through to Major Sughrue and let him know what’s really going on. It won’t be easy to convince him, but if he can grasp that Olsen and Howden-Smyth are the real dangers to his daughter, I’m sur
e he’ll turn on Olsen and the honest troops will follow him. Then when you ride in, you’ll be able to arrest Olsen.”

  “When you say that someone has to talk to Major Sughrue . . . are you talking about yourself and your brother?”

  “Well, two men can get into the fort easier than a whole detail, seems like.”

  “But you’re civilians,” Slattery argued. “The major is much more likely to believe me. If I show him my credentials from the War Department, his sense of duty will almost compel him to accept the truth. You two will be needed to explain the details to him, though.”

  “So you’re saying all three of us will have to sneak into the fort,” Chance said.

  “That seems to be the best plan of action.”

  “We can give it a try,” Ace said. “You can leave the rest of your detail somewhere near the fort and arrange a signal for them to come on in.”

  “Indeed.” Slattery looked back and forth between them. “I’d very much like to end this affair without firing a shot, gentlemen.”

  “So would we, Lieutenant,” Ace said.

  But at the same time, he thought that was just about the unlikeliest thing he had ever heard.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  When Ash rode back with the news that the Jensen brothers had gotten away, Olsen was tempted to pull his gun and shoot the Navajo right then and there. The furious impulse was strong in him.

  But he controlled it. Ash worked for Howden-Smyth, not him, and the Englishman probably wouldn’t like it if Olsen executed one of his men. Besides, that might turn Chet Van Slyke, Navasota Jones, and the rest of the hired gunmen against him, and they outnumbered the cavalry troops. A situation like that could turn ugly in a hurry.

  So instead of giving in to the murderous urge, he said, “Take a couple more men and run them to ground. Take more than that, if you need to. But don’t let them get away this time.”

  Van Slyke sat his horse close enough to hear the exchange. He spoke up, pointing out the same thing that had just crossed Olsen’s mind. “We don’t work for you, Lieutenant. I didn’t have a problem with Ash goin’ after those Jensen boys, because I don’t like ’em, either, but now I’ve lost two men. Why are the Jensens important enough to risk more?”

  Olsen looked around. Evelyn sat on her horse about twenty yards away, with a trooper on either side of her, guarding her. Protecting her from harm, as far as she knew, but actually they were there to keep her from getting away again. Even so, Olsen didn’t want her overhearing what he had to say.

  “They know the truth,” he told Van Slyke quietly. “They’re too much of a danger to just let them roam around loose. They might find someone who would believe their story.”

  “As long as you’ve got Sughrue backing you up, it don’t matter what those boys say.” Van Slyke looked over toward Evelyn. “And you’ve just rescued the major’s daughter not only from the deserters who kidnapped her, but also from a bunch of filthy redskins, as well. He’s gonna be so grateful to you that he’ll never go against you.”

  “I’d like to think so,” Olsen said, “but I want to eliminate any possibility of it.”

  Ash said, “If it makes any difference, I want to go after them again. I don’t like failing. Never have.”

  Van Slyke shrugged and said, “All right, if that’s the way you feel about it, go ahead. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

  “I don’t intend to,” the Navajo replied. He turned his horse and rode over to the group of hired guns, pointing out three of them to take with him. They rode off, heading in the same direction the Jensen brothers had been traveling in earlier. Ash was a good tracker. He wouldn’t have any trouble picking up the trail where the fight had taken place.

  As the group moved out again after that brief halt, Van Slyke nudged his horse alongside Olsen’s and said, “You know, that girl spent a lot of time with those Jensens. No tellin’ what sort of things they filled her head with. She might not be exactly safe to have around, either.”

  Olsen stared over at him. “What in blazes are you suggesting, Van Slyke? No harm’s going to come to Evelyn—”

  The gunman held up a hand to stop him. “I’m not sayin’ anything should happen to her. If we didn’t have all these soldier boys around, maybe somethin’ like that would be the smartest thing to do. But as it stands, we might all be better off if she didn’t get a chance to do a lot of talkin’ to her pa. If she was up at the mine, say, in the boss’s house, she wouldn’t be much of a threat anymore.”

  Olsen considered that and slowly nodded. “It would be even better if she was married to Howden-Smyth. A wife being kept close to home by her husband wouldn’t raise any suspicions. And I know that Eugene had something very much like that in mind . . .”

  “I could send a man ahead on a fast horse and have him tell the boss to bring the rest of the boys and be at the fort when we get there. We could reunite the gal with the major and then have a weddin’ right away, before she had a chance to talk much to him.”

  “Evelyn would have to go along with that. I’m not sure she would.”

  “She would if she knew her pa’s life depended on it,” Van Slyke said.

  Olsen drew in a deep breath. “You mean threaten to kill the major if she doesn’t marry Howden-Smyth? That crosses a line!”

  “You got to decide, Lieutenant. Are you an officer and a gentleman?” The mocking tone in the gunman’s voice made Olsen’s face darken in anger. “Or are you a man who’s gonna have himself a nice little fortune in gold when this is all over?”

  For a long moment, Olsen glared at the man riding beside him. Then the truth of the matter soaked in on him, and he knew there was only one answer to Van Slyke’s question.

  “Send the rider to your boss,” he said. “And tell him not to waste any time!”

  * * *

  As Ace and Chance were riding toward Fort Gila with Lieutenant Slattery and the rest of the lieutenant’s detail, Slattery asked, “Where is this gold mine and the road to it that I’ve heard so much about?”

  Ace pointed to the southwest and said, “The mine is in that direction. I haven’t been there, so I don’t know exactly where it is. And the road doesn’t run all the way to it yet. Most of the way there’s only a trail fit mostly for horses or mules. Howden-Smyth’s buggy is the only vehicle that can travel over it. That’s why Howden-Smyth was so set on having a road built, so he could transport the gold out easier in big ore wagons.”

  “If the man owns a gold mine, why not just hire men to build the road?”

  Chance said, “Some men can never have too much money, Lieutenant, and if there’s a way to save some and put it in their pocket instead of spending it, they’re going to take it. I suppose Howden-Smyth is that sort of man.”

  “As is Lieutenant Olsen, if what you’ve told me about him is correct.” Slattery shook his head. “I hate to think about an officer in the United States Army doing such a thing. But I suppose corruption can be found anywhere.”

  Ace said, “I’m curious what you were doing up in the foothills, Lieutenant. Why didn’t you just go straight to Fort Gila?”

  “Because I was sent to investigate the situation and that’s what I was trying to do,” Slattery answered crisply. He sounded a bit more abashed as he added, “I wanted to take a look at the road first. I just hadn’t, ah, found it yet . . .”

  In the awkward silence that followed, Ace said, “Well, it was lucky for us you and your men came along, Lieutenant. I’m sorry a couple of the troopers had to double up so we’d have horses.”

  “Have you been in Arizona Territory before, Lieutenant?” Chance asked.

  “No, this is actually my first time west of the Mississippi. I’m from Ohio, and all of my previous postings have been at forts in the east.”

  “And now you work in Washington,” Ace said.

  “That’s correct.”

  “It’s a lot different out here.”

  Slattery looked around and said, “I can see that. The lan
dscape is rather . . . empty . . . isn’t it?”

  Ace smiled. “An old mountain man friend of ours named Preacher says the West is getting so blasted crowded that a man can’t hardly breathe anymore. So I guess it’s just a matter of what you’re used to.”

  As they traveled on, Ace kept an eye out for other riders. If they ran into Olsen’s bunch, it might mean a running battle, and the Jensen brothers and their companions would be badly outnumbered. Stealth and speed were important now, but out here on these open, sandy plains, there weren’t many places to hide if they needed to. And they could only push their mounts so hard, too, which meant they had to stop now and then to rest the horses.

  It was late afternoon before their path intercepted the road and Ace knew they weren’t far from the fort. They all reined in, and Ace pointed to a cluster of boulders and rock spires that stuck up from the ground about two hundred yards to the north.

  “We can wait there until nightfall, Lieutenant, and then the three of us can try to get into the fort and talk to Major Sughrue. Your men can wait in the rocks until you signal them. I’d suggest that three shots, then two more, would be a good signal for them to ride on in.”

  “Very well,” Slattery said. “But if we’re unsuccessful and they haven’t heard from us by daybreak, I think they should return to Packsaddle and send a wire to the War Department asking for reinforcements.”

  “That would probably be too late to do us any good,” Chance said, “but it’s a good idea anyway. Somebody needs to put a stop to what’s going on around here.”

  They rode into the cover of the rocks and dismounted. Lieutenant Slattery shared his canteen with Ace and Chance. It had been a long day, but both brothers sensed that the end of this dangerous ordeal was getting closer. They were more than ready to have it over with.

  While they were waiting, Ace spotted some dust rising not too far away, along the road leading into the foothills. He asked, “Do you have some field glasses I can borrow for a minute, Lieutenant?”

  “Of course,” Slattery said. He opened one of his saddlebags and reached inside. As he brought out the glasses, he went on, “What’s wrong?”