The Death Hunter

by Lou Cameron

  As he dry fired and loaded it after setting up his new flop, Gaston said, “I noticed how skillfully you avoided telling that big Dutchwoman where you might be found tonight.”

  Captain Gringo shot Gaston a dirty look and asked, “Were you peeking, you dirty old goat?”

  “Mais non, I was listening. I thought it prudent to position myself between you two and the lady’s husband. Madame finds it amusing to live dangerously. But I was proud of you, my old and rare. She got nothing from you but your youthful energy.”

  “Do you think she was trying to pump me for information?”

  “No matter. Your survival instincts have developed since we first met. The only question is whether she wanted to know where you would be sleeping tonight in order to sleep with you, or to try and blow you through the roof again.”

  Captain Gringo nodded but said, “She could have been in on the attempt last night. On the other hand, someone may have been after both of us. I’ve been thinking about that rock that rolled down the mountain at us the other day.”

  “Ah? You suspect it may not have been a natural phenomenon? The earth out on this point trembles two or three times a day. The natives tell me Monte Purgatorio has been restless for some time.”

  “I noticed. But it sure was funny how that big boulder acted like it was aimed at us. The base of the volcano is miles around. There’s a lot of other places for a volcanic bomb to roll.”

  Gaston frowned and said, “True, but we know her husband did not have time to run up into the smoke and pry a boulder loose. Who else would have the motive? Another lover who takes his jealousy tres serious?”

  “No. That rock rolled down on us before Ernestine got around to telling me she liked me. I think that just may let old Jan off the hook. I mean, as the guy behind the attempt, if it was one.”

  “He may have been annoyed at her before we arrived, non? Remember the whip marks on her heroic derriere?”

  “That’s my point. If he’s been able to get his jollies by slapping her around in private, he’d hardly go public if he wanted to get rid of her. Their house is right above a cliff. A guy who wanted to kill his wife would have done it by now.”

  “True. Perhaps a disgruntled employee?”

  “Maybe. She seems easier on their help than he does, though. A guard or mine worker with a grudge against management would be smarter to start with the boss if he was out to kill anybody.”

  Gaston shrugged and said, “You may be building a plot in thin air. An active volcano tends to throw things, and things thrown have to go somewhere”

  “Monte Purgatorio didn’t throw high explosives into that other room. But you’re right. It’s a waste of time to try and figure it out at this late date.”

  He gave the corner nest a last once-over and said, “Let’s go. I have to gather our guys together and make some plans. We’d better pick up some chart paper and colored crayons downstairs, first.”

  “You intend to make a map, my old and rare? I can get you a chart already drawn of Punta Purgatorio, if that is what you wish.”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “That’s even better. But we’ll still need the crayons. I’ll use blue for our positions, red for the enemy, and maybe purple for people I’m not sure about.”

  -Gaston frowned and said, “I am familiar with battle plans. But it comes as news to me that we are about to have a battle. When is all this fatiguing heroism to take place?”

  “As soon as the U.S.S. Denver drops anchor out there. Come on, I’ll explain it as we go.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The U.S. Navy gunboat failed to show that afternoon. So sunset found Captain Gringo sitting at a sidewalk table in front of the cantina with Gaston, T.B. Jones, and The Detroit Harp. The tall American was nervously cleaning his new pistol as he stared morosely at the empty pier across the harbor. T.B. said, “The boys are in position and your Maxim gun is primed with a fresh belt up in your loft, Cap. But I just talked to some fisherman and they said the tide is falling.”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “I know. If the gunboat’s coming at all we can expect it on the midnight tide. But I want everyone to sit tight and stay sober, anyway. The other side’s been playing cool and smart and they just might figure our play and hit us early.”

  T.B. looked at Harp and said, “I don’t know what he’s talking about, Do you?”

  The Detroit Harp shrugged and said, “Sure, it looks simple enough to me. When himself gives the signal we sweep east to the mainland and secure the coast trail. Them red X marks out on the lava flats are where some murdering son of a bitch may be set up to stop us.”

  T.B. shook his head and said, “Okay. Now will somebody please tell me who the fuck we’ll find in them ravines and such out there?”

  The Detroit Harp said, “Jasus, you’re not getting paid to write their biographies. It’s their obituaries the Captain’s after. Ain’t that right, Cap?”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “There’s a fifty-fifty chance they won’t try to stop us from getting back to the mainland. If they do, we kill them. Gaston, here, will lead the sweep. If he’s hit or something, you’ll take over, Harp.”

  Both Harp and T.B. looked surprised and Harp asked, “Why me, Cap? The highest rank I ever held in any real army was lance corporal. Old Winston has seniority.”

  “That’s very modest of you and I’m sure Sergeant Winston is a very good soldier. But, at the moment, he’s in bed with that deserter from the U.S. Navy instead of where I told him to await my signal. Up to now, you’ve asked the smartest questions and taken all my orders. Next to Gaston, here, I can’t think of anyone else in the bunch who’d be more likely to get our people to the main road and wait for me through hell and high water.”

  The Detroit Harp looked like he was about to cry as he said, “By God, Sor, well hold the crossroads till both hell and high water freeze over! But can I ask another question?”

  “Shoot.”

  “I noticed you’ve circled the sulfur mine in purple instead of red or blue. Does that mean you don’t know which way they’ll be leaning if push comes to shove?”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “It does. I want you guys to avoid the mine in any case. Stay out of range of those stone walls and if they want to fight, make them fight you out in the open. Remember that a smart soldier bypasses strong points and secures the important real estate. Once we have the only way to the mainland secured, nobody, red, blue, or purple is going anywhere without our approval.”

  Gaston cleared his throat and said, “I have a question, my old and rare. While all this derring-do is going on, where in the devil do you plan to be?”

  Captain Gringo said, “Creating a diversion. My plans for the machine gun and me are sort of up in the air.”

  “Ah, I have heard you play by ear. It’s usually quite noisy. But I am as confused as our comrades, here. May I assume you have some idea where all these mysterious enemies are coming from? If we are not to shoot at the fishermen in this village, and if we are to avoid a confrontation at the mine, I must assume you have located that secret German base, non?”

  The tall American shook his head and said, “No. Not for sure. That’s why I’m waiting for that gunboat. There’s an outside chance they found it further down the coast. If they didn’t, my educated guess gets some meat on its bare bones.”

  Gaston looked wryly at the other two at the table and said, “He plays cards that way, too. I have never met anyone less willing to put his cards on the table before he’s ready to rake in the pot. I think he has a complex about looking foolish.”

  Captain Gringo grinned and said, “You’re right. Like I said, there’s a good chance that secret base is somewhere else and it’s not impossible that the whole thing was a figment of old Greystoke’s imagination, or a diversionary ploy to cover some other plot of British Intelligence. We’ll know by this time tomorrow night.”

  Gaston stared out at the inky water in the harbor and said, “The boats along the quay a
re high and dry, now. Even if that gunboat comes in with the rising tide, they’ll never give shore leave before morning.”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “I know. We may as well turn in. I’ll want a lookout posted. You guys work out the guard mount any way you want. You know where to find me when the gunboat arrives. We may have a long day ahead of us and I’m going to try for some shuteye.”

  He rose to leave for his new quarters. Gaston got up to follow him part way. As soon as they were out of earshot from the others, Gaston said, “I hope you really mean to sleep alone. I have been thinking about that cooper ring we found.”

  Captain Gringo nodded and said, “Right. It was a pretty stupid mistake on their part. They had me just about convinced there wasn’t anything important within miles.”

  Gaston said, “They didn’t think you’d survive. But you do agree that copper ring was the drive-band from a shell?”

  “I thought I just said so. They lobbed it into the tiles above my bed from a good distance, so it was fired by a damned good gunner. I understand the Kaiser trains his regulars to be damned good.”

  “Where do you think they have the big gun mounted – the mine?”

  “No. Too obvious. Nobody in town heard the muzzle flash before the shell slammed into the cantina, so the mine’s too close, too.”

  “Then what in the devil is the mine doing there? You don’t buy that merde about them shipping sulfur, do you?”

  “Oh, they’re shipping a little ore and acid, the hard and long way, and operating in the red. But I’m sure those Navy Intelligence officers checked the Hoovers out pretty good while they went through the motions of buying some sulfuric acid they didn’t really need.”

  “Aha, you agree that Hoover and his wife are German instead of Dutch?”

  “How the hell would anyone but a German or Dutchman be able to tell? They could be Germans posing as Dutch, or Dutch working for the Kaiser, or, for that matter, there’s always the outside chance they’re innocent.”

  “But you doubt it?”

  “You didn’t hear me telling Ernestine where I’d be bedded down tonight, did you?”

  Gaston laughed and said, “I thought perhaps you were fatigued.”

  “I am. You’d better get some sleep, too. Let me know when and if that gunboat shows up.”

  He left for his quarters in the sail loft as Gaston went back to join the others at the cantina. As Captain Gringo was moving through a narrow passage between two buildings, the Chinese girl, Ching, materialized before him. He stopped with a puzzled smile and Ching said, “Wo Fang has asked me to marry him.”

  “Hey, that’s great, Ching! It’s what you wanted, right?”

  She stepped closer and leaned against him as she replied, “I have been trying to get Wo Fang to treat me with honor since he bought me. Now that I seem to have frightened him into making an honest woman out of me, I am not sure.”

  He put a hand on each of her small shoulders and said, “Hey, take him up on it before he changes his mind.”

  “Last night, you said something about taking me with you when you left, Dick.”

  “That was last night and a stiff prick says all sorts of things. You’ve got a fish on the hook, kid. Strike hard and reel the sucker in!”

  She sighed and said, “I like Wo Fang and he is right for me, but he does not thrill me as you do.”

  “Did, Ching. Past tense. Somebody new is always a more exciting lay than the person you’ve been sleeping with a while. But the new guy soon gets to be someone you’ve been sleeping with a while, too. Wo Fang obviously loves you and the two of you will have a good thing going for you, here.”

  She sighed and said, “I know. My head tells me to marry Wo Fang and live happily ever after. But I itch between my thighs for your

  “We don’t live on itches, Ching. If you ran off with me you’d hate my guts in a month or so. I’m itching some, myself. But it’s a pain in the ass to listen to some gal telling you about the chances she passed up for you, and why can’t you get a steady job.”

  Ching said, “Maybe, if we did it one more time, I could be sure.”

  He said, “It’s tempting, honey. But somebody around here has to be the grown-up, so I’ll pass.”

  “Don’t you like me anymore?”

  “I like you a lot, kitten. That’s why I’m sending you home with your pants on. Someday, if you remember me at all, you II thank me.”

  She said, “I will always remember you, Dick.” Then she stood up on tiptoe to kiss him before she turned away with a sob to vanish in the darkness. He stood bemused, then shrugged and told himself, “All right, so you passed up a good lay. You’re going to need your energy anyway, right?”

  By the time he reached the loft over the chandler’s his erection was really pissing him off. Why was it that a guy’s pecker never seemed to agree with his common sense? He needed a lovesick runaway tagging along like he needed a dose of clap. It wasn’t going to kill him if he didn’t get laid tonight. It just felt like it was.

  He climbed up into the sail loft and then stiffened in the pitch darkness as he heard the sound of breathing. He was holding his own breath, so it wasn’t him. He drew his revolver, thumbed the hammer, and said, “Okay, somebody had better speak up, muy pronto, before I start blowing holes all over the joint!”

  A feminine voice in the direction of his sleeping nest called out, “Don’t shoot, it is I, Maria.”

  He moved closer on the balls of his feet, gun still pointing, as he said, “That’s nice. Who in the hell is Maria?”

  A match flared to light the ship’s lantern by his bed roll and he saw the little brunette from the Armenian’s was reclining on his blankets, stark naked. She smiled at him in the soft light and held up a twinkling wrist to add, “I came for to thank you properly for this pretty bracelet.”

  He said, “For God’s sake, how old are you? You don’t even have a full head of hair between your legs.”

  Maria smiled roguishly and said, “Nombre de Dios, I offer him a lay for a cheap copper bauble and he asks for hair!”

  Captain Gringo laughed. She looked no more than thirteen or so, but he doubted like hell that she was a virgin. He holstered his gun, then took the gunbelt off and sat down beside her to undress as he asked, “Does the Armenian know you’re here, kid?”

  “Of course not. He’d kill me if he knew.”

  “That’s a real inducement. Who the hell are you, Maria? I mean, who are you to the guy who runs the cantina?”

  “He’s my father. Didn’t you know?”

  “I do now. This is pretty sticky, Maria. Your old man’s going to be sore as hell if he catches you here with me.”

  “He won’t. He is sleeping with a widow from the village tonight. I was feeling most neglected. Then I remembered how that big blonde woman yelled in your room at the cantina. I decided if you could service such a great cow, you were probably as well hung as my father. So, here I am.”

  “Kee-rist! You’ve been sleeping with your own father?”

  “Who do you think taught me? He says I take after him. We are both oversexed.”

  “I never would have guessed,” sighed Captain Gringo, sitting there half undressed and half undecided. The little Armenian slut was tempting and repellent at the same time. Her boyish body was almost too androgynous to tempt a grown man, but her big dark eyes were filled with sexual wisdom and her lush little lips looked hungry.

  He sighed and said, “Shit, I’ve done my noble deed for the night.” and reached out to douse the light. He felt less silly with her in the dark. She certainly panted like a grown woman in heat, and when he shucked the last duds and rolled in beside her, she wrapped him up in passionate female flesh. Her breasts had been tiny in the lamplight, but as she rubbed her turgid little nipples against his chest they seemed quite adequate after all. He kissed her and as she tongued him he ran his free hand down between her skinny thighs, wishing he had a pillow to put under her little rump. Her almost hairless mons felt o
ddly exciting, and as he parted her lips and began to finger Maria he saw they’d need no pillow. Her little pelvis had powers of levitation he’d never suspected, watching her push a broom.

  She husked, “Don’t tease me. Do it! I was already hot enough before you got here!”

  He rolled over and got in position. But then he hesitated. Maria was so little. He was afraid he might hurt her.

  Then she swore and came up to inhale him into her wet, warm, and apparently bottomless pit. She was obviously able to take all that any man could give her. Her experienced little box would have been sloppy had she not had amazing control of her internal muscles. He said, “Kee-rist!” as she started sucking with it on the downstrokes and Maria laughed and said, “I told you I was oversexed. Am I as good as that Dutch girl?”

  He said, “Better.” as he let himself go, and Maria laughed and said, “I’ll bet I’m better than that Chinese girl, too!”

  “You must spend a lot of time spying on people when you’re not screwing, Maria.”

  “It pays to keep one’s eyes and ears open. Your little French friend has been trying for to lay me, but I knew you would be better.”

  He didn’t answer. He was coming. His encounter with Ching had given him a headstart and he was glad he hadn’t taken Ching up on her offer. This little spitfire was fantastic.

  She felt it as he exploded inside her and groaned, “Me, too. Don’t take it out. Don’t ever take it out!” And then she outdid herself as she moved up and down in a series of triphammer motions that would have hurt if she hadn’t been so soft and velvety. She suddenly went limp and purred, “Oh, that almost killed me, and I loved it. If I get on top, can you do it again?”

  He said, “So far, I’ve hardly done anything. You sure are active, Maria!”