Wilderness Double Edition #7

by David Robbins

  “And when the time comes, what about us?”

  “I’m takin’ Smoky Woman with me. Flying Hawk and you can go wherever you want.”

  “Just like that?” Nate said skeptically.

  “Sort of. I’m not dumb enough to give your weapons back when I know full well what you’d do to me. No, I’ll likely tie you up before I ride out, but not so tight you can’t get free after a while, which will give me the head start I need. And I’ll leave your Hawken and such in the ravine that leads into the park for you to find once you get there. How’s that sound?”

  You expect me to believe you? Nate wanted to say, but he didn’t. Cain had already shown his true colors once, and Nate wasn’t about to trust the man a second time. “Seems to me it doesn’t matter what I think. You’ve given me no choice but to do as you want.”

  “Keep that in mind and we’ll get along dandy,” Cain said. He took several steps backward, then glanced at Smoky Woman. “Untie him. He has some work to do.”

  Covered by the two flintlocks, Nate stood still while the young woman removed the rope. Bringing his hands in front of him, he rubbed his sore wrists and awaited Cain’s pleasure.

  “I want you to go fetch the horse you rode in on and put it with the others. And don’t dawdle. There’s a lot to do.”

  “You’ll let me walk on out of here all by myself?” Nate remarked.

  “Why shouldn’t I? I know your type, King. You’re an honorable man. You’re not about to ride off when you know I’ll shoot Flying Hawk if you don’t come back. So off with you. And be quick about it.”

  Nate was a prisoner of his own principles. Cain had him pegged perfectly. He wouldn’t do anything to endanger the Ute, even though the two of them could hardly be called friends, and so long as Cain had the upper hand there was nothing he could do. Turning, he walked out of the cave, squinting in the brilliant sunshine, and across to the wash. A glance back showed Smoky Woman at the cave entrance, watching him, perhaps at Cain’s request.

  Going to the bottom of the wash, he hurried along until he came to where Cain had surprised them. A pair of objects lying to one side caused him to halt in surprise, then he darted forward and scooped up Flying Hawk’s bow and full quiver. For a man who seldom made mistakes, Solomon Cain had made a big one. Perhaps, Nate reasoned, Cain hadn’t wanted to be burdened with the bow and quiver after taking the Hawken and cramming all their other weapons under his belt. Now he could turn the tables on the bastard.

  Or could he? Nate hefted the bow and pondered. It wasn’t as if he could conceal the bow on his person and get close enough to Cain to use it. And since he didn’t have much experience as an archer, he might miss anyway. Viewed realistically, the bow did him little good. Either he hid it somewhere to use later if the opportunity presented itself, or he took it back with him. He didn’t want to just leave it lying in the wash, at the mercy of the elements. Warriors had to work many hours to produce quality bows, and this was as fine a one as he’d ever seen.

  Slinging the bow over his right shoulder and the quiver over his left, he resumed hiking. The horse was where it should be, sweaty and impatient to get out of the sun. Leading it by the rope rein, he headed back. Riding would have been faster, but he wanted time to think. There had to be a way to trick Cain, to disarm the man or kill him if necessary. He could throw dirt in Cain’s eyes, or maybe jump on Cain when the man wasn’t looking, or simply rush him and hope Cain missed. All involved an aspect of risk that couldn’t be avoided. Whichever way he picked, he must be sure when he struck, absolutely sure he stood an even chance of prevailing.

  As he walked, he gazed out over the wasteland at the jumble of boulders, gorges, and ridges to the west. The distance to the next range of mountains, he judged, was no more than five miles, twice as far as the distance between the mountains to the east and the cave. He wondered if any white men had ever visited that mysterious range, and imagined the streams and rivers overflowing with beaver. Perhaps, he reflected, after this was all over he would pay those peaks a visit.

  He came to the turn and made for the cave. Suddenly he stopped, his eyes narrowing, puzzled by a man-like shape silhouetted on a ridge half a mile away. He couldn’t determine if it was the trunk of a tree or a slender column of rock. Then the shape moved and he knew it was neither.

  Nate instinctively lowered his hands to his belt, his fingers closing on thin air. He watched breathlessly as the figure moved to the right. It was a man, a man watching him! A tingle of apprehension rippled through him as he realized it must be one of the savages who had taken Cain’s partner.

  The figure abruptly disappeared.

  Nate blinked and questioned whether he had really seen what he thought he saw. It was easy for the eyes to play tricks on a man in the wilderness; heat, elevation, shadows, distance, they all conspired to fool even the most sharp-eyed trappers and warriors. This time, however, he felt he had not been deceived.

  Had the strange Indians returned for Cain and the remaining horses? Or was there just the one? Should they anticipate an attack? These and other worries occupied him until he reached the spring and permitted Flying Hawk’s horse to drink. Then he stepped over to Pegasus, and was rewarded with a muzzle in the face.

  “I’ve missed you too,” Nate whispered, stroking the Palouse’s neck and scratching lightly behind its ears.

  “My, my. Ain’t this a touchin’ sight!”

  Nate didn’t bother to turn. He kept on rubbing Pegasus and commented, “Your visitors are back.”

  “What?”

  “I saw someone on a ridge to the west of us. He was too far off to make out clearly, but I figure it was one of the same band that took your partner.”

  “You’re lyin’. You didn’t see anyone.”

  Turning, Nate met Cain’s defiant stare calmly. “Not everybody is like you. Some of us make it a habit to always tell the truth.”

  The insult was effective. Bristling, Cain advanced a few strides, then caught himself. He’d tucked the pistols under his belt again, but now he drew one and gestured angrily. “Why’d you bring back the bow?”

  Nate, wondering why Cain had changed the subject, started toward the entrance. “Flying Hawk might want to use it later to kill you,” he replied.

  “Drop it, and the quiver.”

  “What about the man I saw?” Nate asked, pausing long enough to deposit both items at his feet.

  “I’m not convinced you did see someone. And even if you did, it could have been an Ute or an Arapaho or a Cheyenne or even a Navajo.”

  “The Navajo never come this far north,” Nate said. “And the Arapahos and Cheyennes never come this far west.”

  “They might every so often,” Cain stated with a total lack of conviction. Gazing westward, he gnawed on his lower lip. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other who or what you saw. We’re not leavin’ until we have enough gold to suit me, and that’s final. I know there’s a risk involved, but I’d put my own ma at risk if it meant the difference between livin’ out my days like old King Midas or windin’ up poor and miserable.”

  At that juncture Smoky Woman emerged and went to Cain’s side. She studiously avoided looking at Nate.

  “What are we going to do at night? Take turns standing guard?” Nate inquired. “We’ll be inviting trouble if we don’t. I suggest we each keep watch for three or four hours at a stretch. That way all of us will get some sleep.”

  “You’d like that!” Cain declared. “If I fell asleep while you were on watch, I’d wake up with my head split open if I woke up at all. No, we won’t bother to keep watch. Whoever these Injuns are, they haven’t gone into the cave yet. I figure they’re scared to enter. We’re safe inside.”

  “You hope. But what if you’re wrong?”

  Cain shrugged. “You’d better pray I’m not.” Motioning for Nate to precede him into the passage, he said, “Right now I’ve got something I want to show you. Walk slow and keep your hands where I can see ’em at all times.”

&nb
sp; In the main chamber Nate found Flying Hawk trussed up on the floor, his ankles bound as before. “Was this necessary?”

  “It was if I don’t want to be lookin’ over my shoulders every minute of every day,” Cain answered. “He’ll kill me first chance he gets and I ain’t about to give him that chance.” Cain smirked. “Don’t worry, though. He’ll be untied to eat twice a day. I wouldn’t want to upset you by starvin’ him to death.”

  “You’re quite the Good Samaritan.”

  “Just keep walkin’.”

  Nate went past the huge pile of quartz and dirt and into a narrow tunnel only seven feet high. A lantern suspended from a rock chisel that had been pounded into one wall afforded ample illumination. In moments he came on the vein, situated on the left-hand side at chest height, and saw where Cain and Simon had removed the ore. The wide vein of sparkling white quartz, streaked as it was with liberal clusters and pockets of gleaming gold, dazzled him. There was so much gold in the vein that it imbued the quartz with a yellowish tint. He couldn’t help himself. He gaped in awe.

  “That’s about how I looked the first time I laid eyes on it,” Cain mentioned. “I thought I must be dreamin’.”

  Like all free trappers who had spent many an hour yarning around crackling campfires with boon companions, Nate had heard the many fantastic stories about the tremendous wealth just waiting to be found in the far-flung Rockies. It was common knowledge that the Spanish had operated many fabulous gold and silver mines in the mountains, and most of those mines had still been producing when the Spanish had been forced to retreat southward by hostile tribes and other factors. Thinking they would be back to continue their mining operations, the Spanish had cleverly concealed their mines, but left tantalizing clues carved into rocks and trees to help them relocate the sites when they returned. But they never did return.

  In recent years quite a few trappers had discovered such markings, but as yet no one had found one of the lost mines. Because legend had it that there had been so many, several dozen at least, the trappers logically concluded there must be other gold and silver deposits still waiting to be found by anyone lucky enough to stumble across them.

  And here was one, right in front of Nate. He reached out, tentatively, and touched a streak of smooth gold.

  “Beautiful, ain’t it?” Cain said.

  “Yes.”

  “And it’s all mine.”

  The spell was broken. Nate glanced sharply at his captor and said, “You’re a fool, Solomon.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. There’s enough gold here to make ten people rich. You didn’t have to force anyone to work for you at the point of a pistol. You could have offered me a small share and I would have been happy to help out. Hell, any trapper would be happy to lend you a hand mining this vein if you gave him enough to make it worthwhile. But no. You’re too greedy. With your partner dead you want it all to yourself.”

  Cain took the reproach in stony silence, then said, “Who are you to lecture me, King? You trailed me all the way here just to get your horse back, to reclaim your own, and then you have the gall to blame me for wantin’ to protect my own? I couldn’t just go out and invite the first man I met to join me. I wouldn’t know a thing about him. How could I tell if he was honest or not? Once a stranger saw the vein, once he saw how much gold there was, he just might put a knife in my back so he could have it all to himself.” Cain shook his head. “Your way is for fools, or for those who are too trustin’ for their own good.”

  Nate didn’t bother debating the issue. He folded his arms and awaited further orders, but Cain wasn’t done justifying himself.

  “I feel bad about this, King. I truly do. After all, you did save me from Flying Hawk. And like I said before, I can see that you’re an honorable ...” Cain stopped and blinked, as if astonished by a thought. Then he glanced at the vein. “Hmmmm.”

  “What?”

  “Maybe I’m goin’ about this the wrong way. I know you’ll jump me the first chance that comes along if you figure you can do it before I put a ball into Flying Hawk. I’ll have to be on my guard every minute. Unless . ..” Cain said, and let his voice trail off.

  Nate was becoming impatient. He stared at the pistol fixed on his midsection and gauged whether he could batter it aside before Cain fired. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite close enough.

  “The more I think about it, the more I like your idea,” Cain suddenly declared. “I know you’re a man of your word. If it means I won’t have to watch my back all the time, it’s worth it.”

  “What is?”

  “Givin’ you a share. You had two parfleches on your horse, as I recollect. I put ’em with the rest of my supplies. What say I let you fill ’em both with all the gold you can stuff into ’em in exchange for you agreein’ to help me mine until I’m ready to cut out?”

  The totally unexpected offer flabbergasted Nate. A parfleche would be able to hold thirty or forty pounds of ore. Maybe fifty. Two parfleches filled with gold wouldn’t put him in the same class as John Jacob Astor by any means, but he’d have enough to tide his family over for quite a few years to come.

  But was the offer sincere? Given Cain’s past performance, Nate doubted it, even though the gold he’d receive was a small fraction of the total in the vein. Cain didn’t just want a lion’s share of the wealth; Cain wanted it all. Yet Cain was smart enough to wait until the mining was done before showing his true colors, and by then Nate would have worked out a way to put Solomon Cain in his proper place.

  “What’s your answer? Do you agree?” Cain prompted.

  “I’m tempted,” Nate confessed. “But what about Flying Hawk?”

  “What about him?”

  “If I agree, will you allow him to go back to his people?”

  “And have him come back with a war party to take my scalp? Are you out of your mind?”

  “What if I get him to give his word that he’ll leave you alone?”

  “I wouldn’t care if he swore on his mother’s grave. I still wouldn’t trust him. He stays here until I’m done minin’.”

  “Then I can’t accept your offer.”

  Cain made a curt gesture toward the chamber. “You’d pass up thousands in gold for some Injun? What the hell for? What’s so special about him?”

  “No man, white or otherwise, deserves to be treated like an animal.”

  Muttering under his breath, Cain began tapping his right foot. “Damn me if you ain’t the most righteous son of a bitch I’ve ever met! You missed your callin’. You should have been a minister.” He shook the flintlock as if he wanted to pound something. “I’m bein’ as generous as I can and you throw it back in my face.”

  “Let me talk to Flying Hawk.”

  “No.”

  “Hear me out. How about if I talk him into promising not to harm you, and get his word he’ll stay right here where you can keep your eyes on him until we’re done mining?”

  “No.”

  “He might listen to reason.”

  “No, damn it.”

  “Put the idea to Smoky Woman. I bet she’ll agree to help us persuade him.”

  “You just don’t understand,” Cain said bitterly. “Nothin’ I say or do is goin’ to stop Flying Hawk from killin’ me once he learns about his sister. And he will, sooner or later. She can’t hide a thing like that for long.”

  “I don’t follow you.”

  “She’s carryin’ my child.”

  Nate was so shocked he took a step backwards and nearly tripped over a chunk of quartz lying on the tunnel floor behind him. Straightening, he glanced down the passage and glimpsed Smoky Woman as she moved about in the chamber. Her condition explained a lot. No wonder she had refused to take sides when Cain and her brother clashed. And no wonder she had been so defensive about Cain.

  “I want to tell you something,” the father-to-be said. “It’s none of your affair, but I want you to know so you won’t think I’m worse than I am.” He paused. “I didn’t force her, King.
As God is my witness, I’ve treated her decently since I took her. I’ve never beat her. Never so much as hit her.”

  Now Nate fully understood why Smoky Woman acted so ashamed when she was around Flying Hawk. In the eyes of her tribe she had shamed herself and her people by what she had done. Her brother, she must fear, would hate her once he learned the truth.

  “Do you see the fix I’m in?” Cain asked. “I can’t shoot Flying Hawk ’cause he’s kin to the woman I’ve grown to love. And I can’t let him go neither, if I want to keep on breathin’.” He gestured angrily with the pistol. “You tell me. What am I supposed to do?”

  “It’s not for me to say,” Nate replied.

  “She can’t go back to her people now. They’d treat her as an outcast. And they’d sure as blazes never accept me as her husband. So I have to take her away with me even though this land is her home.” Cain leaned his shoulder on the wall. “I know you’ll think I’m lyin’, but she’s the reason I hit you on the noggin when Flying Hawk and his bunch were closin’ in on us. All I could think of was her, here alone with no one to depend on but me. I got scared, King. Not for me. For her. I knew the two of us on horseback would never get away from Flying Hawk, but I figured I could alone. So I did what I did and I’m mighty sorry.”

  “I see,” Nate said thoughtfully. Although he still didn’t condone Cain’s treachery, he felt some small sympathy for Cain’s plight. There were many other trappers, himself included, who had fallen in love with Indian women, but in those instances the tribes involved were all friendly to whites. Cain had the misfortune of loving a woman whose people despised the mountain men and who might slay him for the outrage he had committed on her.

  “I figure this gold will buy us the happiness we need,” Cain commented, gazing fondly at the glittering vein. “We’ll live in a mansion surrounded by high walls, with servants to wait on us hand and foot. I know there will be gossip, and a lot of the wealthy folks will look down their noses at us. But I don’t care. Well keep to ourselves and be perfectly happy.”