Sudden Plays a Hand (1950)

by Oliver Strange

  `Hell, what's broke loose?' Lanty cried.

  `Somebody after the girl,' Bardoe replied.

  By the unsteady light of the improvised torch they surveyed the crumpled, supine form of Lamond; a key was gripped in his right hand.

  `Well, I warned him,' the killer said dispassionately.

  `Where'd he git that key?' Lanty asked.

  `One o' the other doors, I guess; thought it'd fit, which it might've,' Bull said. `Take him away--she's stirrin'.' He called out : `It's awright, ma'am; a gun went off accidental-like.'

  Two of the men carried the limp body into an empty room. `He allus was a fool 'bout females,' one of them said, as they dumped it on the floor.

  Chapter XX

  Breakfast was over in Shadow Valley, and the nester, with Sudden, had ridden down to the gate, where Quilt was on duty. The foreman seemed worried.

  `Hope you ain't keepin' them S P steers long, Nick,' he said. `Our feed is limited, an' they make me uneasy, anyway.'

  `They'll be gone soon,' was the reply. `Who in blazes is this acomin'?'

  Sudden studied the approaching bunch of riders, ten in all. `It's the sheriff, an' seein' he's fetched along plenty assistance, it spells trouble,' he remarked.

  `Get the other boys, Quilt,' Drait said. `It may come to a scrap, but we'll hear what he has to say first.'

  Emboldened by his superior force, Camort rode right up to the barrier. Drait, standing in his stirrups, asked, `What might you want?'

  `You,' was the blunt answer. `I got a warrant.'

  `

  Again?' Nick said, with a shrug. `Don't you ever get tired o' doin' the same things?'

  `This'll be the last time. Open up, we're comin' in.'

  `You don't say?' The rest of the outfit had arrived. `There's on'y six of us, but we're good, an' this wall ain't easy to climb. Let's have a look at yore authority.'

  The sheriff handed up the document, and Drait read it. `The old charge--stealin' cows from the S P. Dug up some fresh evidence, Stinker?'

  `Yeah, an' we're here to see it don't run away.'

  Nick was studying the visitors. `Half o' you from the Big C. So Cullin's in this, huh?'

  `Quit foolin' an' let us in,' the officer said. `I want them cows.'

  `To put in as witnesses?' Drait asked. `Now, I'll give you a choice; the herd stays where it is until the Judge makes an order, an' I give myself up, or--you can let yore wolf loose.'

  Camort considered the proposition. His main purpose was to secure the person named in his warrant. He had talked boldly to Cullin, but faced with danger, he had no stomach for it. His followers showed no enthusiasm for the task of scaling that wall in the face of six skilled gun-wielders. In a battle his office would not protect him. Sudden's sardonic eye settled the matter; he seemed to be deciding where to plant his bullet.

  `Well, that's fair enough,' the sheriff said.

  Drait turned to his companions. `Take notice I'm goin' willin'ly. If I'm shot in the back....'

  `I'm comin' with yu, Nick,' Sudden put in. `Any dirty work an' Midway will be shy a sheriff.'

  Camort scowled; he did not like the arrangement, but was powerless to prevent it. Drait unbuckled his belt and tossed it to his foreman.

  `Take care o' that, an' hold the Valley against all comers,' he said.

  `Shore will,' Quilt said dourly. 'Yo're playin' the hand, Nick; me, I'd sooner argued with 'em.'

  With a gloomy face, he saw them depart, Drait and the puncher riding together, the posse--split into two groups--in front and oehind, a disposition which evoked the nester's contempt.

  `Cautious man, Stinker,' he commented. `Well, Jim, once more yo're right--I was a bonehead to cache the cattle in the Valley. Wonder how that worm got on to it?'

  `Somebody saw you fetch 'em in,' Sudden surmised. `It's serious this time.'

  `I'm believin' you. Rustlin' is bad, but robbin' a woman, my--friend, is damned bad. An' the truth ain't worth tellin'.' Their arrival in town was witnessed by many. Looking at the faces, Drait soon realised that public feeling was not in his favour; men he knew well avoided his eye. Pilch was not of these; the size of the posse gave him an opening.

  `On'y ten to bring in a desp'rit character like Nick?' he said loudly. 'Yo're takin' chances, Stinker. Think what a loss you'd be; we'd have nobody to laugh at.'

  Having seen his friend safely installed in the calaboose and made a mental plan of the place, Sudden returned to the Valley in the late afternoon and found another problem awaiting him. Yorky had come racing in with the news that the mistress of the S P had vanished. At first it was assumed that she had gone for an early morning ride, as her saddle and pony were missing, but when, after some hours she did not appear, it was discovered that her bed had not been used. Then the saddled pony drifted in, and the outfit spread out to scour the range. Yorky came for help. No, the foreman didn't send him.

  Sudden nodded. `How does he figure this out?'

  `Well, her hat an' coat is gone, an' the door to the veranda unbolted. Sturm suggests she went to sleep over th' fire an' wakin' in daylight, took a tide to freshen up an' met with an accident. Brownie was a pet an' would come at her call.'

  `Mighty ingenious, but it don't add up,' the puncher said. `She's been carried off, an' the hoss turned loose as a blind, mebbe by Sturm. Where was he last night?'

  `With th' rest of us, watchin' for cattle-thieves what never showed up.'

  `They were after other game. Yorky, we got a job to do. No, Quilt, two will be enough. The rest get some sleep; we'll be on the move early.'

  It was late that night when the sheriff, dozing in his office and feeling the effects of a lavish celebration of his capture--mostly at the expense of others--heard a light tap at his window. He was rather unsteady, but he managed to open the door, and nearly lost a tooth on the muzzle of a revolver.

  `One chirp, an' they'll be fittin' yu with wings--mebbe,' the masked man holding the weapon growled.

  The sheriff allowed himself to be pushed into the room, and turned round obediently when ordered. The gun-barrel boring into the small of his back, he submitted to his wrists being handcuffed behind, a gag jammed into his jaws and secured by a handkerchief--his own--which also deprived him of sight. A final operation roped him in his chair so that movement became impossible.

  In picking up a bunch of keys on the desk, the visitor observed a paper. It read : `I have the girl. Rush the trial and carry out verdict pronto.'

  It was signed with a sprawling `C,' and went into the finder's pocket. On a shelf, a dusty, little-used volume attracted him; it was a copy of the State laws. He took it down, read a certain section, and replaced it thoughtfully. Then he turned to a door on the left, which he knew must lead into the prison. Opening it softly, he saw a wide, dimly-lighted passage. At one end was the main entrance, heavily-barred, and at the other, the cell where the nester was confined. A thin line of light, almost opposite where he stood, indicated a room from which came the murmur of voices--deputies on guard, no doubt.

  Silent as a shadow he stole to the cell, took out the bunch of keys, and at the third attempt found the right one. The prisoner was deep in dreamland; he must be awakened without noise. Sudden tried the old hunter device--pressure below the left ear, and in a few moments the sleeper quietly came back to consciousness.

  `It's Jim,' Sudden whispered. `Follow me, and not a sound.'

  Drait obeyed, without argument. Stealthily they crept back to the sheriff's office, and the nester smiled widely when he saw the helpless, muffled figure. The puncher extinguished the light and they slid outside. Yorky was waiting for them; his task had been to procure the prisoner's horse and saddle from the sheriff's corral. In five minutes, keeping behind the buildings, they were clear of the town. Then the released man put a question.

  `Tell yu all about it at the Valley,' Sudden promised. `For now, we gotta ride.'

  It was not until they entered the bunkhouse, and the cheers which greeted their appearance had subsided, that Ni
ck got his answer.

  `An' you figured I'd like to help find her?' he said. `I'm thankin' you.'

  `Solitude has dulled yore wits some,' the puncher smiled. `Ain't it plain they want the girl out o' the way till yu've been disposed of, an' to leave yu in the calaboose would be handin' 'em the pot?'

  `You think that's why she's been taken?'

  `Yeah, they're scared she'd plead for yu. There'll be mostly men in the court, an' Miss Darrell is a mighty attractive person--though mebbe yu ain't noticed it.'

  The mild irony reddened the nester's cheeks. `That's one time yo're wrong, Jim,' he said quietly. `What else?'

  `This,' Sudden replied, and showed the message he had found on the sheriff's desk.

  `Cullin?' Drait exclaimed. `If he's harmed her I'll cut his heart out.'

  `If yu can find it,' Sudden said. `That can wait; we gotta get Miss Darrell.'

  `She wouldn't be at the Big C?'

  `No, that'd be too raw; someone is workin' for him. We can be at the S P by daylight an' mebbe pick up a trail.'

  `Line yore bellies, boys, it looks like bein' a long day,' Drait warned. `I shall want all o' you, an' fetch yore rifles. The Valley must take care of itself.'

  The eastern sky was lightening when they arrived at the S P. No one was about. Sudden sent the others into hiding, and proceeded on foot to the ranch-house. At the end of the building he found a spot where two horses had stood. Tracks of two people came to the place from the veranda, and the narrow sole and high heel of one set pointed to a woman. They had mounted there and moved away in a westerly direction. Occasional indentations led him to an opening in the brush where hoof-pitted ground and cigarette butts proclaimed that a party of riders had waited; one print showed a cross in the off hind shoe.

  `Pretty much as I guessed,' Sudden reported, when he rejoined the others. `If we can keep on their trail ...'

  Keeping on the trail proved to be a trying and slow affair, for much of it passed over coarse grass; often they completely lost it, and all of them had to dismount, circle, and search on foot. Time after time, however, patience and perseverance prevailed, and in due course they reached the Big Quake. No one of them had seen the place before, but the tracks, showing plainly in the softer ground, led straight to the morass. Drait, who was getting impatient, quickened pace, but Sudden caught his arm.

  `I don't like the look of it,' he cried. `Why's the grass green there an' burned up here?'

  `But they went,' Nick argued.

  `Yeah, a couple of 'em rode past here an' backed their hosses mighty brisk. Look at Nig; he knows.'

  In fact, the black, with a snort of fear, had commenced to sift its feet uneasily. Nick looked down and found his own animal had sunk to the fetlocks. Hurriedly they retreated. Sudden, swinging down in his saddle, picked up a chunk of wood and slung it on the line they would have taken. For a moment, they saw it, and then it was gone.`Nice place--on a dark night,' he said.

  Retracing their steps, they found where the quarry had jumped aside on to firm footing. Circling the morass involved another wearisome ride, but at length they got to the pine-clothed slope, and saw, about halfway up, a tiny ribbon of smoke spiralling out of the tops of the trees. As they paced up the narrow pathway, rifles were examined in readiness. Soon they heard someone whistling, and could see the cabin through the trees.

  `We'll leave the hosses in that bunch o' bush off the trail,' Sudden suggested. `Quilt, Shorty, an' Smoky can sneak round back o' the buildin', case they try to vamoose. We'll give yu fifteen minutes to get into position. The firin' will tell yu when the dance is on; then use yore judgment.'

  The three men melted away into the undergrowth, and the others waited, silently. The quarter of an hour seemed endless, but presently Drait gave the word, and they moved forward, spread out, and using the tree-trunks as cover. When the cleared space in front of the cabin was reached, the nester shouted, `Hello, the house.'

  At once the door opened and Bardoe appeared, rifle in hand. `Who's there?' he called. `Come ahead, with yore paws up.' Nick stepped out. `You know me, Bardoe,' he said.

  `So you got away?' he said, amazement evident in his tone, and damned himself for the slip. `What you want?'

  `Miss Darrell, an' you needn't lie; I know she's here--Cullin has given the game away.'

  `Then I play my own hand,' Bull replied, and with a sneering laugh, `Go to hell.'

  With the last word he fired, sprang back, and slammed the door. His bullet whined past the other's ear. An instant later came darts of flame from the two windows and several loopholes; no damage was done.

  `Me an' Yorky'il deal with the windows, Nick,' Sudden called out. `Yu an' Long take the loopholes.'

  For some moments the stream of lead continued, but beyond trimming the trees and bringing down showers of twigs and leaves, it accomplished nothing. In both directions, lead threaded the air, chipping bark from the trunks sheltering the assailants, and zooming through the now glassless windows beneath which the defenders crouched. The latter had not been lucky; two would never fight again, and several were hurt. Bardoe strode up and down the room; things were going ill. Frayle, his left arm useless, had an idea.

  `Why not git away, an' take the gal with us? If they foller, we can wait for 'em--under cover. Shall I see if the back's clear?'

  Bull nodded; it seemed the only chance. He was wondering if indeed Cullin had weakened? `He would, curse him, to save his hide,' he muttered. `Where in hell is Frayle?'

  That individual was having troubles of his own. Incautiously poking his head out of the rear door, he received a rap with a revolver butt which dropped him senseless.

  `Tally one,' Smoky chuckled. `Next please.' No more victims offered. `What do we do now?'

  The spiteful crack of the rifles had ceased again when Quilt answered : `If they won't come out, we just naturally gotta go in. I'll give Nick the signal.'

  He sent three rapid shots skyward, and they dashed into the building, guns out and spitting lead. The foreman's first objective was the big door, which he unbolted and flung wide. He caught a glimpse of his friends racing for it, and twisted only just in time to dodge a rifle-butt which would have split his skull.

  For the next few minutes the invaders had a hectic time, for they were outnumbered and fighting desperate men. Even the advent of their comrades did not at once settle the issue. Choking in the acrid reek of burnt powder and dust raised by stamping feet, the battle continued. At such close quarters reloading was impossible, and the combat soon resolved itself into single-handed tussles in which rifle or pistol-butts, fists, or feet were the weapons.

  In this wild melee, Yorky was pounced upon by Bardoe, who had not forgiven the Shadow Valley incident. The boy fought like a wildcat, striking, kicking, biting, but he was outsized and out-weighted, and a crashing blow sent him reeling to the floor. Sudden, who had just accounted for one opponent, turned on the rustler.

  `Try one yore own size,' he gritted, and drove a granite fist to the body, following it up with another to the jaw which jolted the big man back on his heels.

  Bull grunted and cast a swift glance around; it told him that the day was lost. With a headlong rush, and a rain of furious punches, he forced his man to give ground, and then, twisting, leapt through a nearby window to vanish in the undergrowth a few yards distant. Sudden swore; he had set his mind on getting Bardoe.

  So he too used the window, but instead of following the runaway, he made for his own horse. He conjectured that the man would head for the 8 B, and he knew Nigger could overtake anything in the shape of horseflesh Bull might possess. Passing down the winding trail, he re-charged his weapons, and halted in the fringe of the pines. His reasoning proved correct; after a short wait, the fugitive emerged well to the left, and he was mounted.

  Sudden rose into view, hoping the fellow would turn and face him, but apparently Bardoe had but one idea--to get away, for he at once began to spur and thrash his horse furiously. A word, and the big black shot forward as though o
n springs, the mighty muscles moving to and fro beneath the satin skin like the well-oiled parts of a machine. Swiftly the gap between the two animals was closing up, and Sudden saw the man front making frantic efforts to get more speed.

  `If he thinks he can tire Nig out, he's due for a surprise,' the pursuer reflected.

  Then comprehension came; Bardoe was galloping straight for the Big Quake; the inviting green patches were already plain. `There's a road across an' he knows it. Quit dawdlin', yu imp o' darkness.'

  A lengthened stride resulted, and when the black, scenting danger, stopped abruptly on the brink of the morass, the fugitive was less than a dozen yards distant. Sudden slid his drawn gun slowly back into the holster; there was no need for it. One of two things had happened; either Bardoe, in his haste, had mistaken the crossing-place, or the treacherous sub-structure of the bog had shifted. Apparently he had soon learned his peril and swung his horse round to return, but too late. The violent struggles of the terrified beast only hastened the end; already, its head alone protruded. Standing in the stirrups, with distended, horrified eyes, the rustler voiced an agonised appeal:

  `Shoot, damn you, an' finish it.'

  `Had yu a hand in killin' Olsen?'

  `That was Cullin's work. I was there, an' spoke agin it; he wouldn't listen.'

  `Will yu bear witness to that, if I save yu?'

  `I'll spill everythin'--I swear it,' Bardoe said earnestly. `For Gawd's sake, hurry.'

  The last words were almost screamed. The trapped man's mount had disappeared, and only by holding his arms high could they be kept clear of the churned-up, vicious mess which, like a live thing, seemed to be reaching for them. He strove to move his legs, close-clamped by the clinging mud, but fiends below were tugging at them. A vile smell of rotting vegetation almost choked him. In a spasm of frenzied fear, he repeated his promise and his oath to keep it.

  With what must have been maddening deliberation, Sudden lifted his rope from where it hung and made his cast. The loop fell truly over the up-stretched arms to be grabbed and pulled tight below the arm-pits by feverish hands. The puncher twisted the other end round the horn of his saddle, and spoke to the horse: `Back, boy, but slow, mighty slow, at first; we don't wanta tear him in two.' Inch by inch, the man was drawn from the clammy clasp, and at length lay spent and gasping, but safe. When Sudden removed the rope, Bardoe sat up, gazed at the hell from which he had escaped, and shook as with an ague.