“They’ve already started doin’ somethin’,” Mutt said. “Vigilantes. There’s already been a half dozen outlaws hung, but there’s too many of ’em.” He gave Adam a warning frown and repeated, “Best thing now is to just let ’em take what they want, and leastways they won’t hurt nobody.”
“All right,” Adam replied, and sat patiently as Mutt pulled the coach to a stop several yards short of the three outlaws awaiting them in the middle of the narrow road. As Mutt had said, they were masked, two of them with full cloth hoods with eyeholes, the other with a bandanna hiding all but his eyes. Adam could already feel the anger moving rapidly throughout his body as he witnessed the casual manner in which the road agents sat their horses, as if they were tax collectors, waiting to steal from those who had worked to earn their possessions.
“Don’t do nothin’ foolish,” Mutt warned again, sensing Adam’s anger. “This ain’t the first time I’ve been held up. Just do what they say and you’ll live to make it to Bannack.”
With pistols out and aimed at Mutt and Adam, the outlaws moved up beside the driver’s box. One, a large man wearing a black hat pulled down over his cloth mask, was obviously the boss. He took a quick glance in the coach before speaking to Mutt. “Mutt Jeffries, I do believe,” he announced almost cheerfully. “It’s been a little while since I stopped you. Nice seein’ you again.”
“Yeah,” Mutt replied sarcastically, “it’s a real pleasure.”
Mutt’s response brought a brief chuckle from the outlaw before he ordered, “All right, everybody out of the coach!” He kept his pistol trained on Adam and Mutt. “You two just sit right where you are.” He waited then while his other three companions rode up behind the coach and dismounted. “Get ’em outta there,” he barked at one of the two beside him when there had been some hesitation from the passengers to disembark. His men snatched the doors open and rudely herded the terrified passengers out. Black Hat returned his focus to Mutt. “What’cha got in that compartment under your feet, Mutt?”
“I don’t know if there’s anythin’ in there,” Mutt lied. “That ain’t my department. I just drive the horses.”
Again, a chuckle from Black Hat. “Now, Mutt, you know better’n tryin’ to tell me shit like that. ’Spose you unlock it and we’ll take a little look?”
“I can’t,” Mutt replied. “I ain’t got no key for that lock.”
“Is that a fact?” Black Hat replied, enjoying the little game being played. “I guess this just ain’t our lucky day, boys. Ol’ Mutt here ain’t got no key.” He gave Adam a hard looking-over then, which told Adam the man was deciding if he was a special guard for the gold that he obviously knew to be under the boot. “I don’t suppose you’ve got the key to that box, have you?”
“Nope,” Adam replied stoically.
“I expect you’d best hand me that pistol you’re wearin’,” Black Hat said, “handle first.” Adam realized then that the outlaw could not see the rifle resting against his leg, so he drew the .44 from his holster and tossed it down. “I said hand it to me,” Black Hat spat in a flash of anger as the weapon fell to the ground at his horse’s hooves. He soon recovered his casual mood, however. “Now, I wonder who might have a key to that box with four thousand dollars’ worth of gold in it.” Unnoticed by anyone, Henry Murphy blanched when the exact sum was mentioned, but a moment later his trembling was evident to all. Thoroughly enjoying the position Murphy was in, Black Hat continued. “Whaddaya think, boys? I’m willin’ to bet the ol’ gent there in the fancy suit might have a key that fits that lock.”
“Might at that,” one of his men replied. They had already begun stripping the passengers of anything they found of value. “He ain’t got but a few dollars in his wallet and a gold watch—about the only things I found so far.” Murphy stood with all his pockets turned inside out. Next to him, Frank Potter stood, quaking with fear, his pockets inside out as well.
“We don’t have any money,” Frank’s wife spoke up. “Why don’t you leave us alone?”
“You just keep your mouth shut,” she was told, “or I’m gonna shut it for you.” The outlaw snatched her purse from her and dumped the contents on the ground. Potter made a move to come to his wife’s defense and promptly received a sharp rap across his face with the barrel of the outlaw’s pistol.
“There’s no cause for that.” The remark came from Adam, still seated in the driver’s box beside Mutt.
Black Hat cocked his head sharply upon hearing it. “I’ll get to you in a minute,” he said. Turning back to the man searching Murphy, he said, “Unbutton his britches and pull ’em down.” Mortified, Murphy stood trembling as his trousers were dropped to his ankles, revealing the money belt he wore under them. “Well, lookee here,” Black Hat taunted. “If I had a key to that much gold, that’s where I’d hide it. Relieve the man of his burden.” Looking back at Mutt then, he said, “All right, Mutt, you and your friend climb down offa that seat now.”
Before there was time to comply, they were distracted by a minor drama taking place between one of the outlaws and Bonnie Wells. “What you got hid under that skirt?” he goaded. “You wearin’ a money belt, too?” Although his face was concealed by a red bandanna with his hat pulled low on his forehead, it was obvious he was a young man.
“You know what’s under that skirt, you son of a bitch,” Bonnie replied fearlessly. “You’ve paid for it plenty of times.”
“Ha!” he responded. “Not hardly. I ain’t never been that hard up, or that drunk. Now, you might as well hand over your money. I know you got it hid on you somewhere.” He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the coach.
Not at all intimidated, but angered by his aggression, she reached up and jerked the bandanna from his face. “Why don’t you let us all get a look at you, Billy Crabtree? You think I didn’t know that was you?”
“Oh, shit!” Mutt murmured almost too softly to be heard, for her act of defiance could very well spell execution for the rest of them. Billy Crabtree grabbed his bandanna and tried frantically to replace it over his face while looking plaintively back at Black Hat, knowing he had made a huge mistake.
“Well, now, Billy,” Black Hat said, his tone soft and patient. “It looks like we’ve got us a little problem, don’t it? You’ve gone and let these folks identify you. When they get to Bannack, they’ll most likely tell everybody, and those damn vigilantes will be lookin’ to run you down. I reckon you’d better head for someplace way the hell away from here, and you better not waste any time doin’ it.”
Confused and panicky from this unexpected turn of events, Billy pleaded for redemption. “I couldn’t help it, Jesse. I didn’t know the bitch was gonna grab for it.”
Obviously angry, but still maintaining his patient manner, Black Hat remarked, “Well, now you’ve told’em my name, too. Why the hell don’t you just tell ’em everybody else’s and be done with it?”
“I didn’t mean to, Jesse,” Billy begged, his self-control draining by the second. “We can kill ’em all,” he cried. “Then nobody will know. We’ve done it before! We’ll start with her!” He grabbed Bonnie’s throat again and pointed his pistol at her head. “Whaddaya say, Jesse? No witnesses.”
“You can have what’s under my skirt, Billy.” Bonnie managed to choke the words out in spite of the strength of his grip. She reached under her skirt, but there was no purse in her hand when she pulled it out again. By the time Billy realized it was a derringer, he was already on his way to hell, shot in the heart. In reflex, he was able to pull the trigger on his .44, but Bonnie had ducked and the bullet embedded harmlessly in the side of the coach.
The sudden gunfire triggered an explosive response that, even though it lasted no more than a minute, had everybody running for cover. In the ensuing chaos, the horses bolted, those pulling the stage, as well as those the outlaws rode. All Mutt could say for sure was that he heard Adam’s Henry rifle barking out round after round as he tried to control his frightened team as they tried to gal
lop away. On the ground an instant after Bonnie’s shot, Adam pulled Ethel out of the way of one of the outlaws’ horses and yelled for Potter to hit the ground. Bullets were flying, but the only casualty among the passengers was a grazed shoulder on Henry Murphy and the cut on Potter’s face. When the shooting was over, there were four bodies on the ground, one of them Billy Crabtree’s. Two surviving outlaws were already out of rifle range as they ran for their lives. One of them was the one called Jesse, his black hat lying on the ground with a bullet hole through the crown.
With the horses once again under control, the passengers, though noticeably shaken still, began to recover their wits from the chaotic minutes just passed. Ethel Potter tore a strip from her petticoat to fashion a bandage around Frank’s head, while Henry Murphy hastened to pull up his trousers. Adam reached down to pick up his .44, and was cleaning the dirt from it when he felt Bonnie at his elbow. “Mister,” she said, “you don’t say much of anything most of the time. But when your fuse gets lit, damned if you ain’t a regular tornado.”
Adam dropped his pistol in its holster. “Maybe you could take a look at Mr. Murphy’s shoulder,” he suggested. “It doesn’t look like much.” His mind was already on the four horses that had galloped away with empty saddles, especially since he was in need of one to replace Brownie. Two of them had stopped about one hundred yards away at the mouth of the ravine. One of them, a bay, had already caught his eye. He was always partial to bays. “I expect we’d better collect the guns and cartridges off these bodies,” he commented to Potter. “No use lettin’ them lie out here to rust.” He walked over to two of the bodies and reached down to pull the mask from one of them, only to be startled a moment later. Rob Hawkins, he thought, one of the men who had camped with him. Glancing at the other body close by, he found it easy to guess who it was. Short and stocky, it had to be Rob’s friend, and he thought for a minute before remembering the name—Jim Highsmith. I reckon they were looking to do a different kind of mining. He found it especially ironic when he thought back on how they had cautioned him to beware of road agents. He could almost see Mose Stebbins nodding his head and saying, “I told you you’d better be careful who you turn your back on.”
With his dignity somewhat restored, Murphy spoke up. He begrudgingly offered an apology. “I guess I owe you thanks for protecting my gold shipment, and I reckon I was wrong in suspecting you of being part of the robberies on this road.”
“I don’t reckon you owe me any thanks,” Adam replied. “I wasn’t protectin’ your shipment. I don’t give a damn about your gold. I was more interested in savin’ the lot of us from ending up like these fellows.” He pulled the weapons and gun belts from the bodies.
“I understand how you could feel that way,” Murphy said. “Maybe I deserve it, but there is no animosity on my part.” He turned to send a scathing gaze in Bonnie’s direction, even as she was attending the slight wound on his shoulder. “Perhaps our lives would not have been threatened had it not been for that careless action of yours. Thanks to you, we could have all been killed.”
Bonnie met his scornful stare with one equally defiant. “You and your damn gold can go to hell,” she spat. “No man’s gonna lay hands on me like that and stick a gun in my face without paying for it.” For emphasis, she pinched the scrape on his shoulder, causing him to yelp.
“I expect Bonnie’s the one that saved your precious gold for you,” Adam said. “If she hadn’t shot that fellow, they mighta took your gold and left us all alive—or maybe not. One way or the other, they’d have taken the gold.”
“We can stand around here jawin’ until them other two decide to come back for another try,” Mutt interrupted. “Or we can get the hell on the road again and make the three miles on into Bannack.” They needed no further encouragement to climb back in the coach.
“I’m needin’ a horse,” Adam told Mutt.
Mutt understood. As Adam walked toward the end of the draw, Mutt drove the horses slowly up behind him. “I’d appreciate it if you’d ride along with us to Bannack. I kinda like havin’ you along.”
“Be glad to,” Adam replied, “if you’ll give me time to catch me a horse. I might have to chase one all over the territory if they spook easy.”
About a minute was all it took, for the bay gelding that Billy Crabtree had ridden stood patiently waiting while Adam approached, and made no move to resist when he took hold of the bridle and stroked the horse’s face. After letting the horse smell his shirt for a few seconds to become familiar with his scent, Adam climbed into the saddle and walked the gelding slowly over to pick up the reins of the second horse, a sorrel. Both horses seemed content to go with him. The only problem, a minor one, was the necessity to lengthen the stirrups to fit his long legs. But that could wait until he got to Bannack.
It was close to ten o’clock when the coach pulled up to a stop in front of the Meade House, and the weary passengers climbed down, thankful to have arrived safely in Bannack. They were met by the night clerk of the hotel, who stood ready to welcome them and help with luggage. “Runnin’ a little late, ain’t you, Mutt?”
“Made a little stop I hadn’t planned on,” Mutt replied, then went on to explain.
“My Lordy me!” the clerk exclaimed. “You’re lucky nobody got killed. I don’t know which one of the sheriff’s deputies is on duty tonight. I reckon you’ll wanna go tell him what happened.”
“There ain’t no hurry about it,” Mutt scoffed. “He ain’t likely to do any thin’ about it. I’ll let the station boss go see the sheriff in the mornin’.”
Understanding Mutt’s indifference toward reporting the attempted holdup to the law, Adam shrugged and dismounted from the bay gelding. He looped the reins of both his newly acquired horses to the hitching rail, in case they hadn’t accepted the fact that they now belonged to him. He got his saddle and saddlebags from the coach, then paused for a moment to look around him. While the little town on Grasshopper Creek was already declining from its heyday of a year or so before, it still managed a lively business in the saloons, with all four roaring away full blast. In addition to the saloons, there were three hotels, two stables, plus quite a few stores, all of them built of logs. It looked like the kind of town that would attract Jake.
Looking furtively over his shoulder, lest he might suddenly be attacked, Henry Murphy handed the key to the padlock to Mutt and waited impatiently for him to unlock it. “Why, I declare,” Mutt exclaimed upon opening the compartment, “it’s empty. There ain’t nothin’ in here.”
“What!” Murphy sputtered, failing to notice the devilish grin on Mutt’s face. He grabbed the door of the coach for support when his knees threatened to fail him.
“I’m just japin’ ya,” Mutt said with a hearty chuckle for his joke. He took the pouches from the box and handed them down.
Humiliated to the point of anger, Murphy took possession of his gold, but not without threatening the grizzled stage driver with the loss of his job. “Your superiors will certainly hear of your outrageous behavior on this trip. You’ll be looking for another job by tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” Mutt replied. “Glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for travelin’ with A. J. Oliver and Company.” He looked at Adam and grinned, thoroughly pleased by Murphy’s reaction.
Adam stepped out of Murphy’s way as the disgruntled passenger hurried into the hotel to put his treasure in the hotel safe. When Mutt climbed down, Adam remarked, “I don’t believe Murphy has much of a sense of humor. He might cost you your job.”
Mutt chucked again. “Hell, the company has enough trouble findin’ drivers dumb enough to take the run between here and Virginia City. I ain’t worried about it. Besides, I couldn’t resist it. Did you see him grab hold of the door?” He threw his head back and indulged himself with another hearty laugh. “I thought he was gonna pee his britches.” He gave Adam a hand with his saddle and when it was securely settled on top of the saddle that was already on the sorrel, he said, “I ’preciate you ridin’ alo
ng with us, and I sure as hell wanna thank you for savin’ all our butts back there in that ravine.”
“I wanna add my thanks to that,” Frank Potter said, walking up behind Adam. “You know, we were dead for sure when that woman jerked that outlaw’s bandanna down. So me and my missus are beholden to you.” He stuck out his hand and Adam shook it. “I just wish you were goin’ on to Salt Lake City with us.” He flashed a wide smile then and said, “I ain’t ever seen greased lightning before, but I reckon I can say I’ve seen it now.”
Hardly knowing how to respond to the accolades, Adam hesitated in his response. He really wasn’t comfortable in the role of hero. Finally he managed an answer. “Well, I’m glad everythin’ worked in our favor. We were just lucky, I reckon. It could have turned out a whole lot worse.”
Mutt watched Adam’s embarrassment with a great deal of interest. Some men would rush to the nearest saloon to crow about running off a gang of road agents. When the Potters left to follow their luggage inside the hotel, Mutt asked Adam what he was going to do now that he had reached Bannack. “Well,” Adam replied, “I reckon I’ll have to see about these horses first. Then I’ll have to start lookin’ for my brother.”
“There’s two stables in town, one of ’em next door to the stage office,” Mutt suggested. “Why don’t you put your horses up there? Then I’d be proud to buy you a drink. Whaddaya say?”
“I could use a drink,” Adam replied, hesitating, “but I need to see if I can find out what happened to my brother.”
“This day’s about done,” Mutt said. “By the time you get your horses took care of, and I check my coach in at the office, it’ll be too late to get started. So you might as well have a drink or two and start on it in the mornin’.”
Adam thought it over for a moment before replying, “You know, Mutt, I believe you talked me into it.”
“Maybe you’d like to buy me one, too.” They turned to see Bonnie Wells standing behind them. “Hell, I could use one after that ride.”
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