Slocum and the Ghost of Adam Weyland

by Jake Logan

  They rode toward the outcropping of rocks that Triedle and Adam had visited the day before when chasing Cale. As they drew closer, Adam told Slocum about what had happened when he’d followed the killers from the settlement to that spot. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to tell that Slocum couldn’t have figured out on his own. Adam had been anxious to say his piece the other day, but after his sister was shot, he’d been too worked up to remember much of anything they could put to use.

  “So,” Slocum said after Adam finished his brief retelling of events, “you’re sure this is where they went?”

  “That’s what I said, wasn’t it? You think I’m gonna chase after the assholes that shot my sister and not be sure?”

  Slocum thought about pointing out the fact that Adam had chased after them half-cocked, probably down a path that Cale had prearranged, and lost them, but decided against it. Not only would that have most likely ended up with Adam punching him in the mouth for being a smart-ass, but Slocum figured he would have earned as much for the same reason. “Where was the last place you saw them?” he asked.

  Pointing toward the highest outcropping of rocks, Adam said, “They crested that hill and scattered. I tried to get after them, but couldn’t find any trace of them.”

  “No trace at all?”

  “Nope.”

  “How hard did you look?”

  For a moment, it seemed Slocum was going to get that punch he’d avoided earlier. Then Adam realized it was an honest question and that this was no time to squabble. Grudgingly, he admitted, “When I lost sight of them, I rode a ways to the east. That’s where I thought I saw some dust, but then I heard some horses that way,” he said while nodding to the south. “That’s when I lost them for good so I turned back.”

  Nodding as he surveyed the lay of the land, Slocum became certain that the killers had figured they would have some men following them and picked this as the best spot to lose them. Rather than point that out to anyone else, he announced, “We’re searching these rocks, but not wasting a lot of time doing it. Have either of you men done any tracking?”

  “Only things I’ve ever tracked down are women and suckers and only if they’re inside a saloon,” Triedle replied.

  “Just hunting and such,” Adam replied.

  “Watch for scuff marks on the rocks,” Slocum told them. “Anything that looks out of place and a brighter color than the rest of the rocks. We want fresh tracks or anything that shows someone’s ridden through here. There was more than one of them, so the tracks should be in clumps. More than likely, they also met up again somewhere close, so I’m riding ahead. If you find something, holler. If you don’t, come find me.”

  “What if they’re hiding somewhere around here?” Adam asked.

  “If you find a spot where men and horses could be hiding, let us know. Otherwise, we shouldn’t waste any time looking under every rock.”

  Although Adam was quick to begin his search, Triedle cast nervous glances back and forth. “They shot Mia to send a message,” he said to Slocum. “If they wanted to rile us up, they could be watching us right now.”

  “Like I said before, I’m guessing they want to finish this face to face. Even so, be on the lookout for an ambush.”

  “How the hell are we supposed to spot anything like that with all this damned open country?”

  “I didn’t say it was gonna be easy. I just said we needed to do it!”

  That was more than enough to light a fire under the gambler. When Triedle rode away to search the other side of the outcropping, he didn’t take his eyes away from the rocks. Slocum knew he wasn’t dealing with expert trackers, but they weren’t about to take the time to scour every inch. All he wanted was to find obvious tracks that might have been left behind. Adam had come up with a good point when he mentioned the killers hiding somewhere in the vicinity of those rocks. If there was a cave or gulley large enough for that, those two should be able to find it. In the meantime, Slocum had his own work to do.

  He rode straight through the rocks, taking the quickest path he could find. Along the way, he was careful to watch where he was going to make certain he wasn’t trampling any of the tracks he and the other men were after. He spotted a few fresh scrapes that had been made by horseshoes chipping at the ground, but there was no way of knowing if they’d been made by Cale’s men, Adam, or anyone else. Once he rode beyond the point that Adam had said he’d gone, Slocum dismounted and studied every inch of ground.

  For the first fifty or sixty yards, there was nothing to see.

  A few yards after that, he picked up a hint of a horse that had passed by in the last few days.

  A dozen or so yards from there, things got interesting. The first set of tracks caught his eye, but only because they were the freshest ones he’d found so far. After widening the scope of his search, Slocum found another set of tracks that angled in toward the others from the south. He felt an anxious tug in his stomach, but didn’t want to get his hopes up just yet. It wasn’t until he found a third set of tracks joining the rest that he allowed himself to smirk.

  “Nothing over there but rocks,” Adam said as he rode up to where Slocum was crouched. “Damn it all to hell!”

  Triedle joined them next, announcing himself with, “Sounds like you had about as much luck as I did. Still, one of you two might want to double-check because I’m no tracker.”

  “I heard that the first time,” Slocum said. “But that’s not a problem. Do either of you see what I found?”

  Adam squinted at the ground for a bit before he finally jumped down from his saddle to get a closer look. Triedle, on the other hand, didn’t get past the squinting part.

  “What am I supposed to be seeing here?” the gambler asked.

  Slocum hunkered down while shaking his head. “You really aren’t a tracker, that’s for sure.”

  “Just tell me what’s got you so happy.”

  Too excited to wait for the other two, Adam pointed at the converging tracks and explained, “Them assholes that killed Mia scattered back there and met up right here.”

  “You’re sure it’s them?” Triedle asked.

  Without hesitation, Adam replied, “Hell yes, I’m sure. Ain’t that right, John?”

  “We can’t be absolutely sure, but it looks that way to me. The horses that left these tracks had to have passed by within the last day or two.”

  “I didn’t see many marks like that through those rocks,” Triedle said, “so that must mean that not a lot of horses came through here at all.” When he looked up to find the other two staring at him, he asked, “Isn’t that right?”

  “We might make a tracker out of you yet,” Slocum mused. “Since Adam saw those killers scatter, it only makes sense they’d regroup somewhere further along the trail. This looks like that spot.”

  “It sure as hell does,” Adam said. “Did you find any other tracks leading away from here?”

  “Not yet. Did you find anyplace in the rocks where someone could hide?”

  Both of the other men shook their heads.

  “Then I say we’re through here,” Slocum announced. “We’ll follow these tracks as best we can and hope to get a jump on those murdering sons of bitches.”

  “I hate to be the one to spoil the party,” Triedle said, “but even if we did find the right set of tracks, aren’t those men still ahead of us?”

  “More or less.”

  “And can’t they still be setting up an ambush?”

  “Yeah,” Slocum replied, “but if we know which way they’re headed, we might be able to figure a route that will allow us to get ahead of them.”

  “And what if they’re watching us?” Triedle asked.

  “Then they’ll have to make their play sooner instead of after they’ve had all the time in the world to lay a foundation. Either way, we’re a step up from where we were before.”

  “Several steps up, I’d say,” Triedle added. “Since you two are the trackers, perhaps I should ride out a ways to lo
ok for anyone trying to act as our shadow?”

  “Think you can spot an ambush before you ride into one?” Slocum asked.

  “I make a living out of knowing when someone’s trying to trick me, and before you say the bleeding obvious, I’ve been in enough scrapes to be able to spot a fight brewing away from the card tables as well.”

  Slocum held up his hands and said, “Just so long as you realize what’s at stake.”

  “I want to nail those bastards to a wall just as badly as you do.” Looking to Adam, he added, “Well, maybe not as badly as you, but pretty damn bad. I’m in this until the end.”

  “Good,” Slocum said. “Because from here on in, I won’t bother to ask if you’re gonna do what’s necessary. If you want out, just leave when you get a chance and don’t try acting friendly with me again.”

  “If you cut out like that,” Adam said, “you’d best never cross my path either.”

  “Point taken,” Triedle said. “Which way are we headed?”

  Slocum climbed into his saddle, took another moment to study the tracks, and said, “The tracks go to the southeast. It’d be best to keep moving and cover as much ground as possible.”

  “I’ll ride one way, circle in the other, and keep watch the whole time. Can’t be as hard as spotting when that old man tried to slip those three nines past you in Bickell. I guess that’s why you chose me for this chore.”

  “Right, Ed,” Slocum replied. “Just keep rubbing those three nines in my face and I’ll make sure you’ll have a real hard time catching up when you want to join us for supper.”

  The gambler snapped his reins and rode to the east.

  Adam wasn’t in any mood to dawdle and he sure as hell didn’t want to joke with Slocum before following the tracks they’d found. Once they’d decided the best way to track Cale and gain ground on the gunmen, they were off and running.

  17

  “We got ’em on the run,” Cale announced as he peered through a telescope at the trail they’d left behind.

  The other two men with him breathed as if they were the ones to do all the running instead of their horses. One was a fellow wearing a battered leather vest with dozens of loops sewn across the front to hold spare rounds for the Sharps rifle he carried. His hair had thinned into a ring that encircled the back of his head from behind one ear all the way to the other. Squinting into the setting sun as if his eyes were just as powerful as any set of lenses, he said, “Looks like there’s only two of them following us.”

  “The other one’s trying to scout ahead,” said the third man, who looked to be the youngest of the three. “He’s been swinging back and forth between east and south all damn day.”

  Collapsing the telescope and dropping it into his saddlebag, Cale said, “They’re mad as hell and tearing after us like their asses were on fire. Outstanding.”

  “When do we take our shot at them?” the youngest one asked.

  Cale looked over at him as if he’d barely said anything worth acknowledging. “Not anytime soon, Warren, so just simmer down.”

  The younger man gritted his teeth and ran his hand over his sweaty, pockmarked face. He was clean-shaven, but had so many scars on his chin and cheeks that it seemed doubtful any whiskers could take root there. His dark, greasy hair had the consistency of a brush that had been flattened by the dusty hat he wore. As much as he wanted to respond to Cale’s scolding comment, he kept his words to himself.

  Shifting his eyes to the balding man carrying the Sharps, Cale asked, “You got something to say, Bryce?”

  “We shouldn’t wait too long to make our move. The more time we give them, the longer they have to throw something back at us.”

  “You knew my brother, right?”

  “Yeah. He was a good kid.”

  “The way he was killed don’t call for some half-assed potshots being thrown at the ones that gunned him down. The job needs to be done right, not just quick.”

  “I know that,” Bryce said. “But we can’t take too long to do it.”

  “Let me ask you something else. Do you know who it is that killed my brother?”

  “John Slocum,” Warren said as if he was expecting a prize. “I heard of him.”

  Cale turned to face the youngest member of the group as if he’d only popped into existence. “Really? And what have you heard?”

  “I heard he took on a gang of rustlers outside of El Paso.”

  “Make that two gangs of rustlers,” Cale corrected. “And he did it single-handed.”

  “He bushwhacked most of ’em,” Bryce said. “And it wasn’t El Paso. It was Santa Fe.”

  “Odds are that both of you are right,” Cale said to his men. “John Slocum’s spilled more blood than a guillotine and there’s probably plenty more that we don’t even know about.”

  “A what?” Warren asked.

  “A guillotine. Didn’t you ever read a goddamned book?”

  Judging by the offense he took from that comment, it seemed Cale’s words had definitely struck a nerve. Warren grumbled to himself and then turned toward the south. “Are we headed into town or not? The more we stand around gossiping, the more time we give to them assholes.”

  “He’s right,” Bryce said. “We knocked them off their guard and managed to get away before they came after us when we killed that woman. No need to let them get any closer to us. A man don’t have to be John Slocum to make good on mistakes like that.”

  “We ain’t made a mistake yet,” Cale snarled. “But we gotta make them think we did. That’s why two of us will be moving along like we’re happy as pigs in slop and the third will be keeping an eye on Slocum, Adam, and that other one.”

  “You don’t think they’ll notice they’re only following two of us?”

  “Not if we get far enough ahead of them. And if we can’t get ahead of a bunch like that, we deserve to get caught. What’s the closest town from here?”

  Both of the others thought about it, but Warren was first to answer. “Adalee is less than a day’s ride southeast,” he said.

  “What’s farther than that?”

  “What about Teaghan’s Cross?” Bryce offered. “If we ride like bats out of hell, we should be able to make it there by tomorrow morning. Even sooner if you want to ride through the night.”

  “No need to push it that hard,” Cale said. “We just need to put some distance between us, give ourselves a chance to run Adam Weyland and Slocum in circles for a while and tire them out before letting them get somewhere they can rest. More than likely, they’ll tucker out before getting to town.”

  Snapping his fingers, Warren said, “We may even get them to think we’re holed up in Adalee! It’s a small town, but they might waste the better part of a day searching it from top to bottom if they think we’re there.”

  Cale nodded. “That ain’t such a bad idea. In fact, since you’re so fired up to go there, you should be the one to lead them to that spot. Be sure to stay there for a while to be certain they take the bait. In fact, you might wanna let them catch sight of you so they’re sure to follow you into Flattery.”

  “Not Flattery. Adalee.”

  “I don’t give a shit if the town’s painted red and called Hell,” Cale said. “Just make sure them assholes see you go there and stay for a while so we can set something up proper in Teaghan’s Cross.”

  “And how do you propose I lead them to the next town?” Warren asked. “Let them shoot at me for a few miles?”

  “More than just a few miles,” Bryce said. “You might want to make sure your horse is good and rested before you strike out from Adalee.”

  Before the younger gunman could say what was on his mind, Cale told him, “If they’re good enough trackers to get to Adalee, they’ll make it to Teaghan’s Cross. It ain’t like we’re gonna hide or make it too tough for them.”

  “That’s fine for you to say,” Warren groused. “You ain’t the one acting like a clay pigeon in a shooting gallery.”

  “I swear to Christ, you
whine more than that bitch we killed. You’ve been talking so tough about how well you can handle yourself and how bad you wanted to prove yourself by collecting on this debt but now you turn your nose up at leading three cocksuckers around by the nose?”

  “One of those cocksuckers is out to kill the men who put his sister in the ground and another is a known gun hand!”

  “You know who else is a known gun hand?” Cale asked while drawing his pistol and aiming at a spot directly between the younger man’s eyes. “Me! Do your fucking job before I cut the deadweight from this outfit right here and now.”

  To his credit, Warren didn’t flinch when that gun was pointed at him. He merely grit his teeth and forced himself to nod as he said, “All right, Cale. No need to get rough with me.”

  “Are you gonna lead those men where we want them to go, or should we waste even more time jabbering about it?”

  “I said I would, didn’t I?”

  “Not so’s I’d believe it.”

  That seemed to have a greater impact on the younger man than the pistol that was being pointed at him. Setting his jaw into a stoic grimace, he said, “I’ll do it.”

  Cale nodded and lowered the gun. When he spoke again, it barely caused his drooping mustache to shift. “Now I believe you. Get the hell out of my sight.”

  Warren steered his horse away from the men that Cale had spotted through his telescope and flicked his reins to get the animal moving slowly away. Only after there was no chance of showing himself to the men they were hunting did he get moving any faster than that. And only after he’d put plenty of distance between him and his two partners was another word spoken.

  “That might not have been a good idea,” Bryce said.

  “Why not? This is my outfit, ain’t it?”

  “Yeah, but we’re a little out of our range here. All the time I’ve known you, we’ve lent money to men too stupid to know any better and knocked some heads around when they didn’t pay up. Back in Amarillo, we had a proper gang. This may be more than we can chew.”