by J. T. Edson
Impetuous as the red head might be on occasion, she had accepted her companion’s judgement upon the way the affair should be conducted. However, as the days went by without anything happening, she had asked when something was going to be done. Finally, the answer had come.
There had been no difficulty in arranging for Belle and the Kid to be able to converse in private, so she could pass on the latest news gathered by Calamity, after the day’s journey despite Vera’s efforts to the contrary. Pretending that the couple had bribed her to let them sleep together in her wagon at nights, the red head had asked her employer’s permission and offered to cut him in for a share of the money she received. Wanting to keep her in a co-operative frame of mind, he had agreed she could do so and declined the offer. Furthermore, he had instructed his other employees not to mention what was happening to “Mr. and Mrs. Roxby.” Having done so, he had assured Calamity there was no danger of the Chinamen talking out of turn. Nor he had considered would Frenchie Ponthieu and Joe Polaski be inclined to after the display of whip and gun handling she had given on their first day together.
Although le Loup-Garou had discovered the arrangement, he too had not seen fit to inform the anarchists. Lechery rather than discretion, or natural reticence, had been his motivation. His silence had been ensured by Calamity allowing him to become much more closely acquainted. As the Kid had made comments which warned him that taking an interest in “Lavinia Saltyre” would be regarded unfavorably, he had been pleased to have another alternative and was willing to accept the red head as a substitute. For her part, she had ensured he was kept too occupied each night to be able to approach her wagon and eavesdrop on her friends.
It had been decided that Calamity should ‘earn’ the fee she had received from Vera in a way which made it appear “Lavinia” believed the Kid’s sole purpose in traveling was to help fleece “Mr. Roxby”. She had claimed that the actual “fleecing” was not to take place until the party were almost in Canada. By delaying until then, the conspirators could avoid any repercussions by crossing the international border if their victim was to lodge a complaint with the authorities in the United States. As this corresponded with the reason Cavallier had said he would use for hiring the Kid, the story was accepted.
In addition, the red head had hinted that Vera and “Devlin” were wise not to trust le Loup-Garou, but had insisted she could not supply specific details to support her suppositions. She had been asked to see if she could obtain corroboration and this had left the way open for her to act as a decoy with Cavallier.
On the morning of the tenth day, there had been convincing proof of how successfully Calamity had hoodwinked Lincoln. At noon, while the party had been allowing the horses to rest and feed, he had taken an opportunity to speak with her beyond anybody else’s hearing and asked if she would make sure that she held le Loup-Garou’s attention all night. When she had promised to do so, without asking why the request was being made, the freighter had informed her that the time had come for him to hide the box of toggle-links removed from the firearms. Admitting she had suspected this must be the reason, she had guaranteed to prevent Cavallier from having an opportunity to interfere.
While Lincoln would have had no cause for complaint over the way in which the red head was carrying out her duties where le Loup-Garou was concerned, he would have been less pleased if he had known she was not entertaining the Metis solely for his benefit. Slipping away from the wagons after he had believed everybody else had retired for the night, he and the youngest of the Chinamen, who was to do all the actual work, had made their way to the hiding place he had selected during a reconnaissance he had carried out while the camp was being set up. As he – or rather his helper – had set about taking the precaution he had outlined to Calamity, neither of them suspected that they were being kept under observation.
Demonstrating a capability for silent movement which was yet another of the talents which made him so competent at his duties, the Kid had been able to follow the freighter and the Chinaman without his presence being detected. As neither had appeared to be taking any particular precautions against such an eventuality, his work had been easier in spite of being encumbered by the shovel he had borrowed from Calamity’s wagon. Safely ensconced behind the balsam poplar, he was now waiting for them to finish their work and leave so that he could carry out the purpose for which he had come.
Watching everything that was done, the Kid had been impressed by the thoroughness with which Lincoln was intending to avoid allowing the cache to be discovered. Before the digging was commenced, he and the Chinaman had carefully removed the coating of fallen leaves at the point he selected and put them on one side. After the box had been buried, the surplus excavated earth was scattered in the juniper shrubs and the leaves replaced.
‘There’s a good little chap,’ the Kid breathed approvingly, as the freighter signified that the work had been completed to his satisfaction. ‘Off you go to your little bed and dream about all the good times you’re going to have with Calamity after the trip’s over. She’s somewhat put out that she won’t be able to take that visit to Chicago with you and meet die Fleischer, particularly as you haven’t been gentleman enough to tell her his real name and where to find him. It’s a pity you’ve been so bally inconsiderate, but Belle has at least a start when she goes after him and we’ll see if we can find some way to make it up to Calamity for her disappointment.’
In addition to finding out where the consignment was being carried and learning of the precautions to ensure a safe departure after its delivery, the red head had been gathering all the information she could with respect to the organization to which Lincoln belonged. She had acquired details without arousing his suspicions by pretending to be disinterested, or giving an unquestioning acquiescence to anything he told her, both of which had produced which might not have been forthcoming in any other way. Although she had ascertained that Ernst ‘die Fleischer’ Kramer lived in Chicago, the freighter had not yet confided in her to the extent of supplying his name and address. In fact, Lincoln’s attitude when he had realized how much he had told her had been a warning against any attempt to pry further. She had felt sure that to have done so would ruin all that had been achieved up to then and might even cause doubts to be raised about herself and her companions. With the approval of Belle and the Englishman, she had refrained from pressing the matter any further.
Allowing something over half an hour to elapse after Lincoln and the Chinaman had taken their departure, so they would be out of hearing and visual distance, the Kid crossed to the triangle formed by the pussy willows and juniper shrubs. He struck a match, shielding its flame even though confident the pair he had been spying on would be too far away to see the glow. Then he found the spot at which the cache was buried. Showing as much care as they had, he cleared the area and disinterred the box. As he did not have sufficient soil to replace it, he took the time to gather leaves and twigs well clear of it to supply the deficit and removed all traces of the removal.
Satisfied that there would be little or no trace of his meddling if Lincoln should return to check on the cache before leaving in the morning, the Kid turned his attention to the box. To his relief, as he had expected it to be secured in some fashion, he found that the lid was nailed on instead of a lock being fitted. Using the blade of the shovel, he prized it open. Having done so, he took the shovel and concealed it in another clump of common juniper shrubs. The reason for his action became apparent on his return. Picking up the box and carrying it on the crook of his left arm, he started to make his way back to the wagons by a circuitous route. As he walked along, he removed and scattered handfuls of the toggle-links over as wide an area as he could manage, trying to spray them into the most inaccessible places. By the time they were all gone and the empty box was disposed of, he felt confident that even a prolonged search would be unlikely to recover many of them. Satisfied that he had at least delayed Cavallier’s attempt to arm the Metis, he completed his perambulations without anybod
y other than Belle knowing he had left to carry out the task.
Irène Beauville was not normally an exceptionally light sleeper. However, with only a couple of blankets separating her from the wagon’s hard wooden floor, it was far from as soothingly comfortable as the bed to which she was accustomed when at home. Nor had being required to sleep in the vehicle for a number of nights caused her to grow accustomed to it. So the sound of a rider approaching through the darkness woke her and brought her from beneath the covers to investigate.
After leaving Nadeauville, the girl had continued to move at a leisurely pace towards the United States’ border accompanied by Roland Boniface and Jacques Lacomb. Although they were not hurrying, four days had elapsed before Raoul Canche rejoined them and he had arrived alone. He had explained that there was a fight when he and Henri Lacomb caught up with the le Boeuf brothers. Both had been killed, but Lacomb received a wound which, while not too serious, had prevented him from continuing the journey. In spite of the reduction in the size of their party, they had considered that the danger of being spied upon was over. While they had begun to keep a more careful watch than prior to learning they had been followed by Louis Riel’s adherents, Canche’s news had caused them to relax their vigilance considerably and the nearer they came to the international border, the less they expected any further contretemps.
Without knowing it, throughout the journey they had adopted similar means of avoiding detection to those carried out by Jerry Potts and Sandy Mackintosh. They had not lit a fire until night had fallen and made sure it was neither burning nor even smoldering when daylight returned.
Irène had been bored and irritable as the time passed uneventfully. Although she had practiced handling the lance from the back of the palomino gelding when opportunity permitted, her efforts were directed against a straw filled man-shaped and life-sized dummy instead of living creatures. In spite of her complaints, she was growing ever more confident that she could carry out the task for which she had been selected when the time came.
Having delivered his news, Canche had set off to find his elder brother, Conrad, who was responsible for guiding the six Indian chiefs to the rendezvous. He had promised he would return when everything was arranged and accompany Irène’s party there.
In spite of being clad only in her shirt and a pair of more scanty underpants than the average Metis girl would have dared to wear, Irène did not hesitate over going to the end of the wagon and opening its flaps without donning her trousers. Looking out, she found that Boniface and Jacques Lacomb were already awake. They were standing near the fire holding their rifles, but were lowering the barrels as they recognized the rider who had come into the light of the fire.
‘Tomorrow’s the day!’ Canche greeted without preliminaries, sliding his lathered and hard-ridden mount to a halt.
Letting out a hiss of satisfaction, Irène looked behind her. There was sufficient illumination from the fire for her to see the lance, the special garments and two other equally important items which were essential for her to carry out her part in the following day’s, or rather evening’s, events.
‘Going be tomorrow after sundown,’ Jerry Potts announced to Sandy Mackintosh, who had woke up as he returned to the place in which they were spending the night.
Not only the Remittance Kid had been displaying, or rather avoiding exhibiting a superlative skill at stalking and carrying out an undetected surveillance that night. If anything, as the scout’s quarry was camped in open country instead of woodland, he had performed an even more difficult feat by completing his task with equally successful results.
In spite of the added difficulties after the incident at Nadeauville, Potts and Mackintosh had contrived to carry on performing their duty. Instead of keeping the party in sight, albeit from a distance, they had improved upon the tactics employed by David Hesdin and the le Boeuf brothers. While following the tracks, they had taken the precaution of remaining sufficiently far behind to prevent their own sign being located when Boniface had made searches for evidence that anybody was taking an interest in le Loup-Garou’s affairs.
Not only had the relaxation of Boniface’s precautions following the visit by Canche made the scouts’ task simpler, they had extended their efforts. For the past three nights, knowing they were approaching the border with the United States, they had taken it in turn to move closer on foot and keep watch sufficiently near to the other party’s camps to be able to hear any conversations that took place.
‘Tomorrow, you say?’ Mackintosh answered, sitting up with his blankets around him.
‘Canche say so,’ Potts confirmed. ‘Reckon brother’s got chiefs waiting ’n’ le Loup-Garou be there.’
‘I know my old mother always used to say, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride”,’ the Scot remarked. ‘So I don’t hold much faith in doing it. But I wish we knew what they’ve got in mind. It can’t be they’re planning to bamboozle the chiefs into thinking yon Beauville klooch is the Jan-Dark. One close look at her would show she couldn’t be, with them gray eyes and her hair cut so short.’
‘Learn tomorrow,’ Potts stated, as if the matter required no further discussion, picking up his blankets.
‘Aye, we’ll do our wee best to, laddie,’ Mackintosh agreed, conceding that his young companion had once again said all that mattered on the subject with the two words. ‘Thing is, though. We’ve got to do more than just learn what’s happening. We’ll have to do what we can to stop it.’
Chapter Fourteen – She’s the Rebel Spy?
‘Don’t bother to get up, mon ami,’ Arnaud Cavallier requested, as the two Metis who had accompanied him when he and “Matthew Devlin” had returned to the wagons earlier than usual that afternoon covered Belle Boyd and Captain Patrick Reeder with their weapons to emphasize what was clearly a command for all the friendly manner in which it was being uttered. ‘Just lift your knife and revolver very slowly, please, and hand them to me.’
‘I hope this isn’t your idea of a joke,’ the Remittance Kid said calmly, remaining seated on the folding chair by the larger of the two camp fires and avoiding anything that might be construed as a hostile gesture. ‘If it is, old chap, I can’t say I find it terribly amusing.’
Having witnessed and countered Jebediah Lincoln’s precautions the previous night, the Englishman had realized they must be nearing the rendezvous. However, he had not anticipated that they were so close. His first intimation had come when Cavallier and “Devlin” arrived from ranging ahead. They were accompanied by – although no introductions had been made – Roland Boniface and Raoul Canche. Knowing that the newcomers were not the pair who had delivered the message to Stokeley, the Kid had guessed what had brought them to meet their leader. It was not, he had felt certain, as le Loup-Garou had claimed, that they were two of his countrymen who had been met by chance and invited to take a meal before they resumed their journey.
Having been convinced that they were accepted for what they were pretending to be, Belle, the Kid and Calamity Jane had allowed Cavallier’s story to go unchallenged. None of them had envisaged the development which was arising at the conclusion of the meal. There had not been the slightest indication of what he was planning.
As had happened every night, the Occidental members of the “hunting party” and their Metis guests had gathered at the larger of the fires which were lit on making camp while the three Chinamen prepared the evening meal for everybody on the smaller. Having eaten more rapidly than the others, Boniface had announced that he and his companion would be moving on. Picking up the Winchester Model of 1866 carbine and the Henry rifle, they had turned the barrels in the direction of Belle and the Kid. Then le Loup-Garou, who had risen on the pretext of seeing his countrymen off, had delivered his politely worded order.
‘It isn’t intended as a joke, mon ami, and I regret deeply that I am compelled to ask you to do so,’ Cavallier answered, then indicated Vera Gorr-Kauphin and “Devlin” as they came to their feet. ‘But I am afraid my –
partners – insist upon taking what they consider to be a necessary precaution.’
‘Your partners?’ the Kid queried, wanting to avoid letting it be apparent that he already knew of the connection.
‘Regrettably, they are,’ le Loup-Garou confirmed, either oblivious of or uncaring about the way in which the anarchists were scowling and clearly disapproved of his far from complimentary references to them.
‘I can understand why you say regrettably,’ the Kid declared. A glance at Calamity informed him that she was ready to render assistance but was waiting for a hint as to what form he wanted it to take. Giving a slight prohibitive shake of his head as a warning that it would be inadvisable for her true status to be made known at that point, he went on, ‘It would appear that “Lavinia” and I have been led upon what I believe you colonial chappies refer to as a wild-goose chase.’
‘Hardly that, mon ami, although I admit that I did invite you on false pretenses,’ Cavallier corrected. ‘But I assure you that the journey will prove more profitable than you imagined and will tell you why before midnight tonight. Until then, I must ask you to do as I said.’
‘Whatever you will, old boy,’ the Kid assented. Carefully, using his left thumb and forefinger only, he extracted first the badik and, having surrendered it to le Loup-Garou took out and passed over the Webley Royal Irish Constabulary revolver. ‘Although I can’t say I’m in favor of your way of doing it, I find you’ve aroused my curiosity and am eager to have it satisfied.’
‘I’m pleased to hear it,’ Cavallier declared. ‘And, as I told you, my partners insisted that we did it this way.’
‘Partners do tend to make one do what one would rather not and may even suspect be inadvisable,’ the Kid admitted, noticing that neither the actress nor her “husband” cared for the way in which le Loup-Garou continued to place the responsibility for his actions upon them. Wanting to convince them all that he was accepting the situation, he continued, ‘Anyway, you’d better have “Lavinia” hand over her little Derringer-thing to keep them happy. Give it to them, dear girl.’