From the look of the clientele, ranging from itinerant cowboys to businessmen in suits, he determined he’d made the right choice in keeping his sheriff’s badge in his pocket. He sidled up to the bar and ordered a whiskey.
The barkeep seemed a friendly sort and returned shortly with Whelan’s drink. He was an outsized man in height and girth. Whelan caught his attention. “Pardon, but where could a tired traveler find a room in this town?”
The barkeep looked him over. Whelan wasn’t Bullock material. “There’s a boarding house just up Congress Avenue that should suit you, pilgrim. Tell them Big Max sent you.”
Whelan thanked him and surveyed the saloon and its clientele once again. Might the Laredo whore come in here? He caught the eyes of one of the women working the tables, and she walked over to him. “Can I help you, cowboy?”
He kept his voice low. “It depends.” He strove to look secretive to heighten the importance of what he was going to ask. “I’m looking for a red-haired woman, ’bout as tall as you, and very pretty. Likely would have arrived a couple of days ago and has some gold in her purse.”
“You a lawman?”
“Do you need me to be?”
“I haven’t seen anyone matching that description. Have you tried Rhett’s Place or the Bullock?”
“I’ll check them out.” Whelan returned to form. “You have an exciting evening planned?”
“Maybe.”
“How’d you like to learn first-hand about the recent exciting goings-on in Corpus Christi?”
“Your place or mine?”
“Yours.”
“Cost you extra.” She led Whelan up a staircase at the rear of the place. “You can call me Misty.”
They were finished soon enough. Whelan got himself together, paid up, and headed toward the door. “If you see that red-haired woman, I’d sure like to know.” Seems Whelan never did get around to telling Misty about the exciting life in Corpus Christi.
Misty was curious about the red-haired woman Whelan was pursuing. “What is she to you, mister?”
“She’s a whore from Laredo who thought to do business in Corpus Christi. She got involved with a no-account outlaw and wound up robbing a bank and killing a patron.”
“You a bounty hunter?”
“You could say that.” He gave her a tip. “If you see her, I’d sure like to know about it.” He headed to the boarding house.
Next morning, he was at the Bullock House Hotel first thing. He found the manager straightaway. Now was the time to be sheriff again, so he’d affixed the badge on his vest. “Good morning. I would be obliged if you could help me. I’m the sheriff in Corpus Christi. I’m trying to locate someone.”
The manager looked at the badge. He was most pleased to help. “Was it someone who stayed with us, Sheriff?”
“Could be. She was a pretty red-haired woman a bit shorter than you. Likely paid with gold coin.”
“Why, yes, there was a young lady of that description here a couple of days ago. She spent one night and then left with Colonel Rucker and his wife.” The manager looked pleased with himself and acted as though he expected some sort of reward.
“Where might I find the Ruckers?”
“Their ranch is east of here. Did she break the law? Is there a reward?”
Whelan looked hard at him. Seemed that everyone had their hand out. “Bank robbery and murder. She’s also a prostitute.” He turned to leave. “If I find her and get the reward, I’ll be sure to remember you.” Whelan walked out the door and headed to the livery to fetch his horse.
***
Perez finally came out of his stupor on the second day of the trip to Laredo. Leaving the arrow embedded through his shoulder had probably kept him from bleeding out. Other than the continued pain from his wounds and his seriously damaged ego, his only discomfort was fouling himself. He called out weakly from under the canvas wagon cover. “A dondé vamos?”
Luke smiled. “Vamos a Laredo, amigo.” He enjoyed the touch of irony in calling Perez a friend.
They allowed Perez to sit in his own stench, giving him a small amount of water. They’d do him no favors. His type was giving Texas’ southern neighbors a bad name.
The trip to Laredo took three days. Luke’s little traveling caravan rolled into town tired but in good spirits. Three Toes once again wisely remained with the horses on the outskirts lest he run afoul of some citizenry with grudges against Indians. Luke pulled the rig up in front of the sheriff’s office.
“Sheriff Stills! Sheriff Stills! We have a gift for you.” Luke climbed down and knocked heavily on the door.
“I’m coming. Hang on.” Stills opened the door and looked out groggily at Luke. “Sorry, I was taking a nap. What do you have that’s so all-fired important?” He now recalled Luke from when he delivered Strong’s bloated body. “You again.”
“You have an interest in Carlos Perez?”
“The hider from Mexico? Yeah. There’s a reward on the murdering thief.”
“Well, we have him in the back of the wagon. He murdered this woman’s husband and stole their wagon and horses.” They walked around to the back of the wagon and pulled Perez out. He groaned as his body hit the dirt. “Sorry about the stench. If you throw a bucket of water on him, it might help.”
“Is that an arrow sticking out of his chest?” Stills smiled. “Have you started using bow and arrow, Ranger?”
“Long story, Sheriff. Seems a Comanche chief has decided to adopt me as his friend. He believes that I possess some sort of strong medicine. He shot Perez when he went for his rifle to get me.”
“We don’t pay rewards to no Comanche, Ranger.”
Luke frowned. He found himself dismayed at how humans acted at times. Some lives apparently held more value than others. “Money means nothing to the chief. I’ve already paid him with horses. This woman should receive the reward. She’s lost her husband and much of her belongings.”
Stills pondered Luke’s suggestion. “I think we can work that out, Captain Dunn.”
“Great, Sheriff. I’ll leave Perez in your capable hands.” Luke judged from Perez’s condition that the prisoner was unlikely to live but another day or so. They’d likely get someone in the town, maybe the butcher, to remove the arrow. Luke wasn’t sure what they’d do about the man’s nether region. It gave Luke a creepy feeling to imagine what Perez had endured. That Laredo whore had made quite a statement.
Gretchen had been standing beside the horses taking this all in. She deeply appreciated what Luke was doing. Finally, Stills went back in his office to make arrangements to clean Perez and deposit him in a cell. She walked over to Luke to thank him in her thick German accent. “Captain Dunn, I am very grateful for your saving me and for your kindness and generosity. I am forever in your debt.”
“It’s my pleasure, ma’am. What do you figure to do?” Luke noted that she was young enough to start again, if she could put Perez’s horror behind her.
“I’ll try to get back to my people.” She’d try to start life anew. “What of you, Captain Dunn?”
“I’ve got someone waiting back in Nuecestown.” He escorted her to the boarding house, said his goodbyes, tipped his hat, and left her. As he mounted the big grey stallion and ambled out of town, he took it all in. He could only wonder at whether he’d ever return.
He caught up with Three Toes on the edge of town. “My friend, you have been a great help to me. You talk of my medicine, yet have saved my life twice. Have you not fulfilled your vision quest?”
Three Toes thought for a moment about Luke’s suggestion that he’d fulfilled his quest. “I will have to talk with the Great Spirit about that.”
“It would be fitting to return to your people. You have more stories to share at the campfire. Your children must know of the power of their chief and father.”
Three Toes nodded. Luke was making sense. He’d sleep on it.
When Luke awoke, Three Toes was gone. He left behind a ceremonial pipe as a gift. It was a tok
en of peace.
TWENTY-FOUR
Justice on the Nueces Strip
Rex and Stephen Rucker dutifully entered the library where Scarlett stood in front of their father’s desk. “I understand you know what your father intends that you study. I’m here to be certain you do as he says.” She turned to leave the room.
Rex nudged Stephen and smiled mischievously. “Miss Scarlett, we could use your help.”
She turned back to face them. “What sort of help? I’m a housekeeper, not a teacher.”
“That’s not what we heard.”
Not them, too, she thought.
“We want to study anatomy.”
“That’s a big word, boys. Where did you learn that?” She edged herself out of the library and into the hallway. “Perhaps we should get permission from your father.”
“We think he’d approve, Miss Scarlett.” They moved toward her. It had clearly become a threatening situation.
About three steps separated them from Scarlett. She regretted leaving her pistol upstairs. “Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”
They were about to take another step, when they were stopped cold. “You boys have a problem?” It was a deep male voice.
Scarlett was relieved yet concerned to find Sheriff George Whelan standing behind her with his gun pointed at Rex and Stephen.
“You boys want to take another step?”
The Rucker boys froze. “Who…who are you?”
“My name is George Whelan. I’m the sheriff of Corpus Christi, and I’m here to arrest this whore for bank robbery and murder. You boys were about to make the dumbest move of your lives.”
The boys’ jaws dropped.
“Let’s go, Miss Scarlett. We have some long travel ahead.” He escorted her upstairs to gather her things, leaving the boys gaping in the library.
Once in the room, Whelan closed the door behind them, then hauled off and punched her in the stomach. She nearly threw up breakfast. “That’s for what you did to me in Nuecestown.”
“You deserved it, you sonofabitch.” She glanced at her clothes spread on the bed.
Whelan saw the pistol grip in the folds of her dress and grabbed the gun before she could move for it. “You won’t do to me what you did to Perez, you murderous whore.”
He manacled her arms behind her. “Let’s get you a horse and be gone from here.” He grabbed her satchel and pushed her out the door.
Rex and Stephen were waiting at the bottom of the staircase. Now, they were armed. Two young boys with 1851 Navy Colts in their hands. The pistols likely belonged to their father.
“You boys should reconsider.” Whelan hadn’t expected this. He’d underestimated these spoiled children. He was taking away their sex toy, and this was their childish tantrum. Problem was that bullets had a nasty habit of killing.
Scarlett wasn’t sure what to do. She was in the field of fire if any shooting started.
“I expect you boys understand that death is sort of final. When your mother and father return to find you boys lying dead in pools of blood at the bottom of the stairs, they’ll be very sad.”
Rex and Stephen looked at each other. “We just wanted our fun with her, sir.”
“Put the guns on the floor and back away.”
They obeyed.
Whelan picked up the guns and pushed Scarlett toward the front door. As they reached the door, he turned her to face the boys. “I wouldn’t want it to be a total loss for you boys.” He smiled and tore open Scarlett’s bodice, exposing her breasts. “That’s all you get.”
He pulled her out the door, looking back over his shoulder. “You boys stay where you are until we’ve ridden away. If not, I’ll make your folks very unhappy.” He pulled Scarlett along. “And the folks in Corpus will pay for the horse.”
Whelan dragged her to the stable, and soon enough they were mounted and headed south. He kept her shackled. She wouldn’t be pulling any more of her tricks.
Whelan rode due south. His plan was to skirt far to the east around San Antonio. There was no sense pushing his luck with Scarlett in tow.
The first night turned into a challenge. Rather than free Scarlett from the shackles, he fed her. But then came a moment of truth, when nature called. He tied one manacle securely to a live oak, leaving her other hand free to take care of her needs. When she was finished, he forced her free arm back into the iron cuff. She had to sleep sitting up, tied securely to the tree. In the morning, Whelan fed her again. He broke camp, untied her from the tree, and boosted her up onto the horse. It was an uncomfortable routine, but he was determined to get her back to Corpus Christi to face justice.
By the third day, they had already crossed the San Marcos River.
***
Colonel Horace Rucker was beside himself. “You let a two-bit, small-town sheriff come in here and take away the housekeeper we found to watch over you boys and this house? What the hell am I raising here?”
Mrs. Rucker was rather relieved, but the colonel would be a long time cooling off. “I spent damned good money on that detective to find out about that whore, and I’m not about to lose her.” In the back of his roiling brain the real concern was disappointing his commanding officer.
“Pack us some food.” He didn’t often give his wife a direct order. “Boys, saddle three horses and get the pack mule ready. Grab the Sharps rifles and each of you boys grab a Colt and a Bowie knife. We’re going after that sonofabitch sheriff.”
About an hour later, the colonel said good-bye to his wife, and he and the boys started down the trail headed toward Corpus Christi. He rightly figured they could make up the two-day differential by riding through the night as far as possible. He also figured that the sheriff would be delayed by having to deal with the personal needs of the very woman he was chasing. At the risk of having to answer questions from his commanding officer, General Truax, he stopped by the fort to give notice that he was taking emergency leave over a family problem. Fortunately, Truax was in Austin, so Rucker lucked out. He didn’t fully understand Truax’s obsession with the Laredo whore, though he sensed the general was getting orders from someone powerful.
Rex and Stephen weren’t sure what to make of this adventure. They’d never ridden with their father on any mission of consequence other than some game hunting.
***
Luke was more than pleased to be headed back to Nuecestown. He was all too aware that he had a long ride ahead and, given the rough nature of the country and the animal and human denizens that lurked there, uncertainty was assured. He decided to take Three Toes’ advice and not make so much noise. His hand had healed and squeezing that bandana seemed to have helped it almost fully regain its strength. The road Colonel Kinney had built from Corpus Christi to Laredo was a far easier ride than directly overland.
He felt comfortable with his pace as he stayed ever-vigilant. He was confident in what Three Toes had told him about the Comanche headed north, though no one could be sure how permanent that arrangement might turn out.
He passed occasional longhorns and varmints like coyote and javelina, as well as deer. He was ever on the lookout for rattlesnakes, especially having witnessed Bart Strong’s demise. Every now and then, he’d dismount and walk the big grey. There were very few treed mottes to afford shade. Given little or no relief from the sun, he simply kept a steady pace. He had the good sense to have stocked up on water, as most of the creeks and pools he’d counted on for water had dried up. He looked forward to seeing Elisa.
***
Whelan was frustrated but determined. Scarlett was a very unpleasant traveling companion. She had names for him that he’d never heard a man utter, much less a woman. While he remained tempted to avail himself of her, he’d lost any attraction he had for her. The jail cell incident still weighed heavily on his psyche.
They were traveling south at a good pace. By the tenth day, they arrived at the San Antonio River. It seemed about time that he and Scarlett got cleaned up as best they could. He kept her
manacled, and made her strip down to wash in the river. He had her on a long tether as a precaution.
As they saddled up after their bathing, Whelan began to sense they were being followed. He couldn’t be certain, but he just felt intuitively that they might have company. He decided to circle back and see, so he made a wide circle east and then traced north before arcing back to the south. The entire exercise took about two hours. He hoped that if anyone were following, he’d be able to position himself and Scarlett behind them.
Whelan calculated that once his diversionary track had been found, Rucker would double-back and come after them. He considered the risk it involved and found it acceptable. He’d be outnumbered three to one, even though two were young boys. Whelan figured he had hooked the colonel like a fish on a line. He’d see how well he could evade the pursuit. He headed east again before heading due south. Once he crossed the Nueces River, he’d be in territory he knew well and would have a distinct advantage. He’d need to pick up his travel pace, and Scarlett seemed more than amenable to that.
It was fortunate for Whelan that the colonel was not a very good tracker. It was said around Austin that, when he took his sons hunting, they’d often come back empty-handed because of the colonel’s less-than-stellar tracking ability. Had Whelan known, he’d likely have worried a bit less. However, sometimes ignorance can be bliss in the sense that Whelan kept his guard up. The colonel had likely relied too much on hired Army scouts, when he should have learned a bit of the craft himself.
***
As for Scarlett, she was ever looking for an opportunity to escape. If she could just get her hands on one of Whelan’s Walker Colts, she might yet escape and head north out of Texas. She was well past shame or any sort of embarrassment around Whelan. They’d been about as intimate as anyone could get, if rape could be perverted as intimacy. Scarlett also noticed she’d missed her cycle…twice. It was possible she was pregnant. Whose was it? Whelan’s? Cavendish’s? In any case, she wasn’t about to mention it to Whelan just yet.
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