by Neil Hunter
Wayland grunted impatiently at Masters’ hesitation. “What Lew is trying to say in his polite way, Mister Bodie, is that we would prefer you to deal with the matter. Your reputation is known even this far north, and if we want this job done properly then it is common sense to go to the best man.” He smiled frostily. “It’s to our advantage that you happened to be in Pine Ridge at this time.”
Bodie looked up from reading the poster. “Is there anything special about this Jody Butler?” he asked.
“He’s the only son of Howard Butler,” Wayland explained. “And Howard Butler is the wealthiest and most powerful cattleman in the area. He runs a spread large enough to be classed as a small country. He even has his own town, and he rules with a heavy hand. In his own territory he’s the law, the judge, and the jury.”
“Almost a man after your own heart,” Bodie murmured.
“I’ll admit the man has qualities I admire,” Wayland said. “But they are overshadowed by his faults. Butler rules by fear. By the threat and use of violence. He will not tolerate any kind of challenge to his right to run things the way he does. He’s hard and tough and he doesn’t even understand the meaning of the word compromise. It’s his way or nothing.”
“I take it that the boy - Jody - tends to play on his father’s name?”
“Precisely,” Orville Prine said, opening his mouth for the first time. “He treats everyone and everything with equal contempt. As if he has the right to do whatever he wants, take whatever he wants.”
“Let’s call it by the right name.” Wayland said. “Jody Butler is a mean, vicious little bastard who only walks tall in his father’s shadow. As far as I’m concerned he’s gone beyond the limit this time. Killing Nate Gower was a bad mistake. There’s no way Jody Butler can buy himself out of this damn mess.”
“The Major will do his best to do just that,” Lew Masters said.
“The Major?” Bodie glanced at him.
“Oh yes,” Masters said. “Howard Butler did army service during the war. He kept his title even after he’d been discharged. Everyone calls him the Major.”
Bodie folded up the wanted poster and tucked it in his coat. He picked up his hat from the floor beside his chair and climbed to his feet.
“Been a pleasure meeting you, gentlemen,” he said
Lew Masters looked faintly surprised. “I…er…does this mean you’ll be taking up our offer?”
Bodie smiled. “Let’s say I’m thinking it over. Good morning, gentlemen.”
As the door closed behind the tall figure of the dark suited man hunter, Lew Masters leaned back in his seat, releasing a pent up sigh.
“That man scared the hell out of me,” he admitted. “I had the feeling he could have cut my throat without even raising a sweat”
“What did you expect?” Jonas Wayland asked sharply. ‘The man is a bounty hunter, not a preacher. He puts his life on the line every time he goes after someone. Living under that kind of pressure is bound to affect a man’s personality.”
“An unpredictable personality,” Orville Prine said.
Wayland smiled. “But just the right man to stand up to someone like the Major.”
“I wonder if Bodie realizes the kind of man the Major is?” Masters asked. “What he’ll be up against if he does decide to go after Jody Butler?”
“He’ll handle whatever comes his way,” Wayland said.
“You talk as if you’re sure he’ll take the offer.”
‘He’d decided before he left this room,” Wayland assured the banker.
“You know something we don’t, Jonas?” Orville Prine inquired.
Wayland’s eyes glittered. “I know men like Bodie, Orville. Hand him an opportunity to go after someone like Jody Butler and he’ll walk through hell to see it through!” He nodded at some inner thought. “Do some checking on Bodie’s background - you’ll see what I mean.”
Wayland stood up and gestured in the direction of the tray of drinks on Masters’ desk. “Now” how about that drink, Lew!”
Drink was the last thing on Bodie’s mind. On leaving the bank he made his way across the street to the town jail and went inside. Pine Ridge’s lawman was a long faced individual named Butterick. He was lounging back in his swivel chair reading a dog-eared magazine, and he did little more than raise his eyes as Bodie entered the office.
“Made it official have they?” he asked.
Bodie helped himself to a cup of coffee. He crossed the office to where a large map of the territory was pinned to the wall. For a while he studied the map.
“I hear tell this feller called the Major is some kind of big fish in his own pond,” he said.
Butterick tossed his magazine on the desk. “Long as he stays in that pond I don’t give a damn.”
“What’s the setup in this town he runs?”
“Elkhorn is pretty much Butler’s town all right. If he don’t own it outright he’s got money in most of the businesses. Same with the folk. They work for him or owe him. Not all, and them as do don’t like it, but they ain’t got much say in the matter.”
“There any law?”
Butterick smiled indulgently. “The kind you’ll like, Bodie,” he said. “The marshal is Butler’s man all the way. Daren’t blow his nose without the Major’s say so.”
“He got a name?”
“Frank Lowery. Now I ain’t one for handin’ out advice, Bodie, but I’ll say this once. Don’t trust that son of a bit one inch! If he tells you the sky’s blue - you go outside and check for yourself!”
“What kind of a ride is it to Elkhorn?”
“Close on three days,” Butterick said. "Pretty high country up there. Trails are thin. Man riding to Elkhorn would tend to cut his own.”
Bodie traced the route on the map.
“You figurin’ on maybe catchin’ up with those boys ’fore they reach Elkhorn?” Butterick asked.
“Could save a lot of trouble,” Bodie said. “I’d sooner face four than take on Butler’s whole crew.”
Bodie returned to the hotel and made his way up to his room. He went in, closing the door and tossing his hat on the bed. There was a slow stirring beneath the covers and a tousled blonde head appeared, blue eyes gazing sleepily around the room.
“Lord, what time is it, Bodie?”
Bodie answered by drawing back the curtains. Bright sunlight streamed into the room. The girl in the bed groaned as if she was in mortal pain, dragging the covers over her face.
“Bodie, you’re a sadist. How could you do a thing like that to a girl. Jesus, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m scarred for life!”
“Don’t get in a panic, honey, it’s only the sun. Didn’t you know folk actually walk around in it and it gets so they like it. You ought to try it sometime.”
As he walked by the bed Bodie reached out and caught hold of the covers, dragging them off the girl, leaving her naked on the crumpled sheet.
“Have a heart, Bodie,” she grumbled, “I ain’t used to being exposed to the daylight. I only function properly in the dark.”
Bodie grinned. “So I noticed last night,” he said.
The blonde rolled lazily on to her side and lay watching Bodie pack his gear into his saddlebags. After a while she got off the bed and padded across the floor to him.
“Hey, you leaving, Bodie?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s going to be dull around here,” the girl said. She leaned her firm body against him, thrusting her full breasts against his back.
“You’ll survive,” Bodie said.
“Sure,” the girl sighed. “Hey, where’re you going, Bodie?”
“Hunting!”
“I thought you found what you were lookin’ for last night.”
Bodie slipped his arm round the girl’s slim waist, easing her round to face him. “That’s right,” he said. “It was just where you said it’d be.” He slid his hand down her warm body, feeling her pliant flesh shiver. “Still there too!”
The girl squ
irmed expectantly, long thighs parting in anticipation. “Bodie, you ain’t in a hurry to leave are you?” she asked.
“Let’s say I ain’t in so much of a hurry I can’t say goodbye.”
The girl drew him down on to the bed smiling eagerly, “I always did prefer saying goodbye like this. Much nicer than just shakin’ hands, don’t you think, Bodie?”
“Honey, from where I am, whatever it is you’re shakin’, it’s a safe bet hands ain’t even in it!”
Chapter Three
“The Major’s goin’ to raise the roof over this mess,” Brenner said over the rim of his coffee cup.
Lee Haddon stretched his legs out, poking at the ashes of the small fire with the heel of one boot. “So you keep sayin’. What the hell do you want me to do? Bring Nate Gower back to life?”
“What the Major wants to do is to put that little shit on a goddamn lead!” Brenner said savagely. “Hell, Lee, ain’t nobody likes to kick up a bit of hell better than me. But that damn kid is crazy. He’s liable to turn round and shoot one of us if the notion strikes him.”
Haddon glanced out beyond their camp. They had chosen a spot close to the edge of one of the wide, placid lakes that were often to be found in this high country. Ringed by the ever-present rise of the ascending peaks and bordered by thick stands of timber and grassy meadows, the lakes lay deep and silent, the undisturbed surfaces reflecting the surrounding land. They were a thing of beauty in a land of savage grandeur to anyone with the time to pause and take a long look.
“Where is he now?” Haddon asked.
Brenner shrugged, indicating that he also didn’t really care where Jody Butler was. “He ate breakfast and then upped and wandered off.”
“He’s probably pulling wings off flies,” Haddon muttered.
He picked up the frying pan and scooped out the last slice of bacon.
“Lee,” Brenner said.
“What?”
Brenner scratched his chin. “Why ain’t they come after us?” he asked, voicing the question they’d all been asking themselves. “What the hell they playin’ at back in Pine Ridge?”
Haddon wiped grease off his mouth with the back of his hand. “Wish I knew. But I don’t figure to hang around until they do make up their minds. So let’s break camp and ride.”
While Haddon and Brenner started to gather their gear, Travis rode in. He’d been back down their trail a way, checking to see if there was sign of any pursuit.
“Anything?” Haddon asked.
Travis swung down off his horse and helped himself to the last of the coffee. “Nothin’,” he grunted. “It don’t sit right, Lee.”
“We just been sayin’ the same,” Brenner told him.
“Yeah, well it ain’t doin’ us any good jawin’ about it, so let’s move,” Haddon said.
“Where’s Jody?” Travis asked.
“I hope he’s fell in the goddamn lake and drowned,” Brenner snapped.
“If it wasn’t for the fact he’s the Major’s kid I’d push the bastard in myself,” Haddon said. “But if we let anything happen to him the Major’s going to make us damn sorry. And I ain’t about to upset the Major.”
“Well, next time we got to push some beef to market we leave Jody back at the spread. Major or no Major, I didn’t sign on to wet-nurse a lame-brain like Jody Butler!”
“The Major wouldn’t like to hear you talkin’ like that, Brenner,” said Jody Butler. He had come up on them unnoticed, out of the brush. He stood watching them, a faintly mocking grin curving his mouth.
“The Major ain’t here, Jody,” Brenner said. “And don’t you try holding him over my head, you little asshole! You got us into this mess of trouble ’cause beatin’ the shit out of that feller Gower just weren’t enough for you! The big Jody Butler had to go and kill him! Boy, I hope your daddy whips the skin off your ass!”
Jody’s grin widened for an instant, then faded. He stared hard at Brenner, shifting his gaze when Brenner refused to back down. “Go to hell,” he muttered savagely and stamped off to his horse.
“All right,” Haddon rasped. “We’ll talk later. The best thing we can do now is get some distance between us and Pine Ridge.”
They threw the remaining gear on their horses and mounted up. Without further delay they cut off around the perimeter of the lake, making for the high-rising green slopes on the far side. There was little to be said between the four - each had his own thoughts on the situation and its possible outcome. They were hard men, born and bred to the harshness of the land - yet they were as conscious as any to the rough justice liable to be meted out to the transgressors of the fragile peace existing in this untamed land.
Close on noon they halted for the first time to rest the horses. For the past couple of hours they had been climbing steadily, much of the time through densely wooded slopes. With the sun blazing down from a clear sky both men and horses were sweating and weary.
Lee Haddon eased himself stiffly from his saddle. He cuffed back his stained hat, flicking beads of sweat from his face. “Goddamn country,” he growled. “Boils a man dry in summer and come winter she’ll freeze your ass off soon as think about it!”
Brenner chuckled. “And on top of all that you got to ride herd on the Major’s kid! Hell, Lee, it’s real tough at the top!”
Haddon’s grim expression did little to improve his looks. “You want the job?” he asked.
“No.” Brenner shook his head. “No. I’m happy pushin’ beef around.”
“Yeah? Well you just...” Haddon’s voice faded away to silence as he found himself staring at the horseman who had emerged from the thick stand of timber only yards from where they had halted.
The rider had a leveled and cocked rifle in his hands and a hard gleam in his eyes, and Haddon, cursing inwardly, knew that they had been taken. For one wild moment he was tempted to go for his gun, but caution overrode his reckless impulse - he knew damn well that if he pulled his gun he’d be a dead man. Lee Haddon was a lot of things, though a fool was not among them. He had no desire to die for nothing. And he had no intention of dying on account of Jody Butler.
Chapter Four
“Put the guns on the ground,” Bodie said evenly. “Handguns first. Then the rifles. And don’t be fooled by my good manners. First one who does anything to make me nervous is going to get himself very dead!”
The guns were tossed to the ground. Bodie edged his horse forward until it was standing over the pile of weapons. He wedged the butt of his rifle against his hip so he had a hand free to pull out the folded wanted poster he’d brought from Pine Ridge.
“They rate you fellers pretty high back; in Pine Ridge,” he said, shaking the poster open. “Paying a fat bounty. And they prefer you alive. Seems they’re arranging a special day for you.”
Lee Haddon made an angry sound. He glared up at Bodie. “A goddamn bounty hunter. That’s why they didn’t come chasin’ after us in a bunch. They hired this miserable son of a bitch to do their dirty work.”
“You upset about something, feller?” Bodie asked. “Still I reckon you got cause. Must be a mite unsettlin’ knowing you’re on your way to a hanging - more so ’cause it’s your own.”
“A funny man!” Haddon spat. “Give me a chance, mister, an’ I’ll have you laughin’ so hard it’ll kill you!”
“Ain’t no way you’re takin’ us back to Pine Ridge!” Jody Butler yelled. He waved a threatening finger at Bodie. “My father…”
“Boy, you wave that finger at me again I’m liable to cut it off and shove it down your throat,” Bodie warned. “And don’t give me any bullshit about your old man. I don’t scare easy, and one of the things that don’t scare me at all is hearing about big men with big names. Now if you ain’t got anything better to say I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.”
“Mister, I hope you get the chance to meet the Major,” Brenner said, grinning. “I somehow figure it’d be an interestin’ day.”
“I reckon I’ll have to live without that pl
easure,” Bodie said. He jerked the muzzle of his rifle. “Time we moved. It’s a long ride back to Pine Ridge so the sooner we start the sooner you boys can be relaxing in the town jail.”
Jody Butler let out a wild screech and rammed his spurs into his horse’s sides. The startled animal bolted forward, colliding with Brenner’s mount. Brenner, almost unseated, yanked on the reins and his horse lunged to the side. It twisted wildly, its rear end barely missing Bodie’s horse. Bodie’s horse stepped back, hooves striking the pile of guns on the ground, and it sidestepped hurriedly. There was a split second when Bodie’s rifle moved off target, and Lee Haddon, watching intently, used that moment. He ducked low, under the neck of Bodie’s horse, coming up on the man hunter’s blind side. Reaching up, Haddon caught hold of Bodie’s gun belt and dragged the man hunter out of the saddle.
As Bodie went down he lashed out with the Winchester. He felt the barrel crack down across Haddon’s shoulder, but it was too late to stop him from falling. Bodie hit the ground partly on top of Haddon, felt the man roll under him. Haddon’s hands reached out and took hold of the Winchester. Bodie drove a hard fist into Haddon’s side, hearing the man grunt.
He sensed movement around him, and knew that the other men had joined in. Strong hands grabbed at his clothing, dragging him across the ground. Somebody tore the rifle from his hands. Bodie kicked out and felt his boot strike soft flesh. A man cried out and Bodie recognized Jody Butler’s voice. Then a hard blow caught him across the side of the skull. Brutal punches rained down on him until his face and body throbbed with pain. He felt his body being dragged over so that he was lying face down, and then he became aware of the cold muzzle of a gun being pressed cruelly against the side of his face. The hammer went back with a deadly sound.
“Bastard!” Lee Haddon said. “Son of a bitch near broke my shoulder with that Winchester!”
“Kill him! Kill him!” Jody Butler shrieked.