Slaughter of Eagles

by William W. Johnstone

  “MacCallister is not in any trouble is he, John?”

  “No. Half a dozen witnesses gave statements saying it was self-defense.” He laughed. “Hell, I told Cairns he should give Mr. MacCallister a medal. I don’t think there is anyone in Maricopa County who is sorry to see the son of a bitch dead.”

  “I think you are right,” Maxine said. “Wally barred him from going upstairs with any of the girls a long time ago. He used to beat on the girls sometimes.” She shuddered. “Thank goodness, I never had anything to do with him.”

  “Listen, have you seen either Marshal Cairns or Deputy Appleby lately?” Deputy Forbis asked.

  “No, why? What are they doing now?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t have any idea what they are doing. Or where they are. They seem to have disappeared.”

  “Having the two biggest bastards in Phoenix out of town is a problem because?” Maxine asked, with a laugh.

  Forbis laughed as well. “I guess it’s not really a problem. It’s just curious, though. They don’t normally wander off like that, at least not both of them at the same time.”

  “Maxine tells me you are the one who found the old prospector,” Falcon said.

  “Yes, sir, I found him.”

  “And he died the next morning?”

  “Yeah. Cairns told me to wake him up and let him go, but when I went over to him, I found him dead, with blood all over the bed.”

  “Was he bleeding badly when you first found him?” Falcon asked.

  “No, he wasn’t. I guess the wound must have opened up again during the night. What I’m upset about now is his mule.”

  “His mule? What about his mule?”

  “We’ve been keeping his mule in the stable behind the jail, but Cairns says he doesn’t want to be out the money it takes to feed it. He wants me to put her down. I hate to do that. I mean she’s a gentle natured soul. It just doesn’t seem right to shoot her. That’s the reason I’m looking for Cairns. I’m going to try and talk him out of it.”

  “You think you’ll have any luck in talking him out of it?” Falcon asked.

  “The truth?” Forbis shook his head. “I doubt it.”

  “What if I took the mule off your hands?”

  “Took her off my hands for what reason?”

  “To keep her alive.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “Yes, I’ll take her.”

  “Her name is Rhoda. I know that, because when we picked the old man up, he kept asking about Rhoda.” Forbis laughed. “At first, I thought he was talking about a woman, but it was his mule. So, you would take her, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you plan to do with her? I know you said keep her alive, but how?”

  “I have a ranch up in Colorado. I would probably just turn her out to pasture and let her live out the rest of her life in peace.”

  “Mr. MacCallister, that is a very noble thing for you to do,” Forbis said.

  “How soon can I pick her up?”

  “You can have her as soon as you want. Now, if you’d like.”

  Falcon stood, then nodded his head toward Maxine. “Maxine, it has been a delight meeting you,” he said.

  “Same here, cowboy,” Maxine replied. “You are welcome back, anytime.”

  As Falcon left the saloon with Deputy Forbis, a plan began forming in his mind, and the old prospector’s mule was part of it.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Just as he thought she would, Rhoda led Falcon straight to the area where the old prospector had been camping. The first thing Falcon found was Hanlon’s quick claim.

  This heer claim is made by me, Ben Hanlon. I found, and heerby clame all the gold that is within five hunnert yards of this spot.

  This quick clame will be leegle until I can make a clame at the rekorders office.

  There were few people anywhere who could read sign as well as Falcon, and within half an hour he could have written a report about Hanlon’s time there. He found depressions in the ground where Hanlon had thrown out his bedroll, he found bones and seeds from his meals, and feces from his toilet. He also found areas where Ben Hanlon had been using his shovel and pickax in his quest for gold.

  Falcon saw indications that Hanlon had climbed up the side of the mountain and was about to explore there when he heard sharp, flat, echoless reports of gunfire. Without an echo, he was able to determine the direction from which the gunfire was coming, and did something he had been doing from the time he was a very young man.

  Swinging into the saddle and drawing his pistol, he rode to the sound of battle. When he reached the top of a small rise, he saw a single rider being chased and shot at by four others. The single rider was making no effort to return fire.

  The situation would have been dire except the person being chased was an excellent rider. He was riding the horse at a full gallop, expertly maneuvering around the mesquite, cholla, and saguaro, as well as the occasional boulders and rifts that cut across the desert floor. At one point the horse seemed to take wings as it cleared a wide draw, providing the rider with a brief advantage. None of the pursuing horses were able to make the jump. The riders had to pull them to a halt, navigate down one side, across, and up the other side.

  Falcon took the opportunity to show himself, and as he did, he recognized the fleeing rider. He shouted, “Joe! Joe Henry! Come this way!”

  For a moment, Janelle didn’t react to the call. She didn’t know whether or not it was a trap. Once she recognized the one who had called, she guided Prince John toward him, with a huge sense of relief.

  “This way!” Falcon hollered. “There is a natural fortress of rocks where we can hold them off!”

  As the two rode toward the rock formation Falcon had chosen, he was once again impressed with the skill of the young rider. Lightning and the other horse matched each other stride for stride, until Falcon signaled for them to stop.

  “Do you have a gun?” he shouted.

  “No!”

  “Get over behind those rocks!”

  Janelle dismounted and ran in the direction Falcon pointed.

  Sliding down from his horse, he snaked his rifle from its saddle sheath, then slapped both horses on their rumps, sending them out of harm’s way. He darted to the rocks where Janelle was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees. The pursuers were still shooting, the bullets whistling through the air. Falcon handed over his pistol.

  “Shoot back!” he shouted. “Give them something to worry about!”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know how?”

  “I’ve never shot a gun before.”

  “All right. Just keep your head down,” Falcon said. “It’s too bad you can’t shoot as well as you can ride.” Rising up above the rocks he fired, and one of the pursuers tumbled from the saddle.

  Drumm held up his hand to bring the others to a stop behind some boulders. “Hold it! Hold it! We can’t ride up on ’em like this,” he said. “We’re goin’ to have to move up on ’em slow.”

  “Son of a bitch!” Mueller shouted. “Did you see who that was? That was Falcon MacCallister!”

  “Yeah,” Drumm said. He looked back toward the place where the rider had fallen. “Looks like Appleby is done for.”

  “Yeah, well, I never liked the son of a bitch anyway,” Mueller said. “I’m just wondering what MacCallister is doing out here.”

  “Looks to me like he’s going after the gold,” Drumm said.

  “So, what do we do now?” Mueller asked.

  “What do you mean what do we do now? This was your deal, remember?”

  “Cooper, get over there behind that rock. See if you can get a shot at him,” Mueller said.

  Cooper dismounted and started toward the rock, but a single shot brought him down.

  “Damn, Appleby and Cooper are both gone. We’d better get out of here,” Drumm said.

  “And leave the gold?”

  “What gold?” Drum
m replied. “We don’t even know for sure if this Joe Henry has the map. I don’t intend to get myself killed trying to find out.”

  “I want MacCallister dead,” Mueller said.

  “Good for you. I want me alive more than I want MacCallister dead. I’m leaving. If you want to stay and face MacCallister, you go ahead.”

  “All right, all right, I’m comin’ with you,” Mueller said.

  “Maybe you aren’t as dumb as I thought.”

  Half an hour later, Falcon and Joe Henry were still well covered behind the rocks. No shots had been fired in a while. Falcon raised up a bit to look in the direction from which the fire had been coming.

  “I think they are gone,” he said.

  “What if they aren’t?”

  “I’m pretty sure they are,” Falcon said. “There are only two of them left, there are two of us, and we are well positioned. They no longer have the advantage.”

  “How can you be sure? They may just be waiting for us to show ourselves.”

  “I’ll go down and look.”

  “No! Don’t leave me up here by myself!”

  MacCallister chuckled. “All right, then you come with me.”

  “You-you want me to come with you?”

  “If you don’t want to stay here by yourself, you have no choice. You have to come with me,” Falcon said.

  “Couldn’t we both just stay here for a while longer?”

  “Look, Joe, you got yourself into this mess, I didn’t. They were already shooting at you when I came along, remember?”

  “Yes. Yes, you are right. All right, I’ll come with you.”

  “First give me the pistol,” Falcon said, holding out his hand.

  “Why?”

  “The way you are holding it, you are going to wind up shooting yourself with it. Or me.”

  Falcon retrieved the pistol then, holding it in his right hand and his rifle in his left, moved out from behind the rocks. “Stay behind me.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Five minutes later they were standing in the exact spot where their pursuers had been positioned during the gun fight.

  “Yeah, it’s just as I thought. They’re gone,” Falcon said, putting his pistol back in its holster.

  “Thank you for coming along when you did. I guess this is the second time you’ve saved my life.”

  “I guess it is,” Falcon said. “So I would say that you owe me now. Wouldn’t you?”

  “Owe you? Owe you what? I’ve given you my thanks.”

  “That’s not enough.”

  “What else do you want?”

  “I’m told you are Janelle Wellington’s friend. Is that true?”

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Mr. MacCallister, surely you aren’t looking for her for the reward money, are you?”

  “No, I’m looking for her for her parents.”

  “Her parents? What about her parents? Has something happened to them?”

  “No. But they want me to find Miss Wellington and bring her back.”

  “How do I know you are telling the truth? How do I know you aren’t just trying to find her for the reward?”

  Falcon sighed, then pulled a letter from his pocket. “I have this letter for her,” he said.

  Joe reached for it. “Let me see it.”

  “I’ll let you see the envelope, but not the letter. The letter is for Miss Wellington. Now, if you know where she is, I want you to tell me.”

  “I’ll tell you on one condition,” Joe said, and pulled out the map, showing it to Falcon. “I want you to help me find the gold.”

  “Joe, do you really know Janelle Wellington?”

  “Yes, of course I know her. I know her very well. Why would you think otherwise?”

  “I have spoken with Mr. and Mrs. Buckner, and they have never heard of you. I spoke with Mrs. Poindexter, and she has never heard of you. They all know Miss Wellington very well. Why is it they have never heard of you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “So I ask you again. Do you really know Janelle Wellington?”

  “All right, I’ll tell you something she told me, that she has told no one since she arrived. If you know her parents, then you will know that what I am telling you is true. Janelle told me the story of her shame in having a child without being married. She left New York so as not to be an embarrassment to her family.”

  “That is true. How do you know that?”

  “I know it because she told me.”

  “All right, if she told you that, then I am convinced you do know her. Will you take me to her?”

  “I will take you to her, if you will stay with me until I check out this map. Then Janelle and I will split the fortune with you. That way, Janelle will have enough money to go back home.”

  “She has enough money now,” Falcon said. “Her parents gave me enough money to take her back home.”

  “That may be so, but if you want to find her, you are going to have to stay with me.”

  Drumm and Mueller had gone about two miles, with Drumm riding in the lead.

  “Drumm?” Mueller called.

  “Yeah?”

  “Turn around. I want you lookin’ at me when I kill you,” Mueller said.

  “What?” Drumm responded, the inflection of his voice rising in fear. When he turned, he saw Mueller pointing his pistol at him.

  “I just don’t need you no more,” Mueller said.

  “Mueller, what the hell are you—”

  That was as far as Drumm got before the pistol shot cut him off. He fell from the saddle and lay on the desert floor without moving. Mueller rode up to Drumm’s horse and took the canteen. Then he turned around, and started back. He was going to kill MacCallister, and he was going to find the gold.

  Damn, it was going to be a good day.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Falcon and Joe were at least three miles away from the drama that had taken place between Mueller and Drumm, but Falcon heard the shot—flat, and far away.

  “Did you hear that?” Falcon asked.

  “Did I hear what?”

  “That sound just now. It sounded like a gunshot.”

  “I didn’t hear a thing,” Joe said.

  “Maybe I just imagined it,” Falcon said. He knew he had not imagined it, and he knew it was a gunshot, but he didn’t press the issue. He sensed that Joe was very nervous, and he needed to keep him as calm as possible.

  “Is it always this windy out here?” Joe asked.

  “It pretty much is,” Falcon said. “I think it has something to do with the heat. It’s like the hot air in a balloon that makes it go up. There’s no balloon here, but the hot air still goes up, and pulls more air in to replace it.”

  Joe laughed. “I’ve never thought of it like that, but I guess it makes as much sense as anything else.”

  Falcon and Joe were standing at the foot of Weaver’s Needle, looking up at the steep and craggy side of Superstition Mountain. Rhoda the mule stood nearby.

  “Let me look at the map again,” Falcon said.

  Joe handed it to him, and Falcon began studying it.

  Map to gold Mine

  Follow the salt river til you reech superstishen montan. Find Weevers Nedel, then look at the montan bhind the nedel.

  You haf to clum up the side of the montan to find it cuz the hol that gos into the mine can only be seed for a cupel minits in the aftrnun, and only for a cupel days in the erly sumer but evn if you caint see it, dont meen it aint ther caus tis. This heer X is the hol that gos into the mine. You haf to git down on yur belly and skiny thru to git inside wherats the gold.

  This heer map was drawd by Ben Hanlon

  He looked at the side of the mountain for a long moment, then he smiled. “There it is.” He pointed to a spot about four hundred feet up.

  “There what is?”

  “The opening.”

  Joe looked where Falcon poin
ted, then shook his head in confusion. “Either I’m blind, or you are seeing things, because I don’t see anything that looks like an opening up there.”

  “You have to know what to look for,” Falcon explained. “Look, see the color of the side of the mountain?”

  “Yes, it’s red. Well, mostly red. Some of it is brown or yellow.”

  “Right. Now, do you see how it gradually goes from yellow to red, and how the red deepens as you go up?”

  “Yes.”

  “Except right there—he pointed again—right there is a tiny spot that is a deeper red than the rest of the mountain. Do you see it?”

  “Yes, I do!”

  “That’s where the opening is.”

  “There’s no opening there. Do you see a hole?”

  “No. The actual opening is hidden by shadows. But there is a very slight difference in the shadows and color right there, and that is where Hanlon said the opening is.”

  “Hanlon also said you can only see it at certain times.”

  “You can only see the actual opening at certain times, but if you know how to look, you can see where it is, all the time.”

  “And you know how to look?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right, I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Are you ready for a climb? Or do you want to stay down here?”

  “No, I’m ready to climb,” Joe said.

  Falcon walked over to Lightning and retrieved his lariat. Making a double tie around his waist, he laid out about ten feet of rope, then double tied it around Joe’s waist.

  “What’s that for?” Joe asked.

  “As we go up, I will be going up first, finding the best way to climb. You’ll be coming up right behind me, so pay close attention. If you fall, this rope will allow me to stop your fall. It will either save you—or it will pull both of us down.”

  “That’s a pleasant thought,” Joe said.

  “Yes, well, if you fall, give out a yell so I can brace myself,” Falcon said.

  “What if you fall?” Joe asked. “If you fall, you are just out of luck, because there is no way I can stop you.”