by Jon Sharpe
It took every iota of self-control Fargo had not to betray his surprise. Whatever else Big Mike Durn might be, he was not stupid. “I work for the army from time to time,” he admitted. “But as a scout, nothing more.”
“So I have heard,” Durn said. “But I wonder. Some might call it a coincidence, you showing up here, but I am not a big believer in coincidence. Convince me I am wrong and I will allow you to stay.”
Fargo had a sharp retort on the tip of his tongue, but he did not say it. He suddenly noticed that the other three had spread out and were ringing him, Kutler with his hand on his bowie, Tork with the Sharps casually pointed in his general direction, and Grunge with those enormous fists of his balled. “How do I go about doing that?”
“I leave that to you,” Durn said. “But I will grant you one night in Polson. Entertain yourself as you see fit, and if you want to stay longer, come see me in the morning and persuade me to let you stay.”
“I do not like being told what to do.”
“That makes two of us.” Durn smiled, and was about to walk off when a shout rose to the rafters.
“You, there! The son of a bitch who bloodied me!”
Fargo looked in the mirror. He had forgotten about the jackass who took a swing at him. The man was on his feet, swaying slightly, blood trickling down his cheek, his teeth bared in a snarl. “Go bother someone else,” Fargo said.
“Like hell!” The man was poised to draw, his fingers inches above his revolver. “Turn and face me! Or so help me, I will shoot you in the back.”
Big Mike Durn sighed. “That will be enough out of you, Everett. Be smart for once and go sleep it off.”
“Stay out of this!” Everett snapped. “You saw what he did to me. I have the right to repay the favor.”
“You have whatever rights I say you have,” Durn said quietly. “One of the rights you do not have is the right not to do whatever I tell you to do. I will say it one more time. Go sleep the booze off. In the morning look me up and apologize.”
By now the saloon had gone quiet again, with all present waiting to see the outcome.
Everett gestured, but not with his gun arm. “I swear. The airs you put on. You might have the rest of these yacks afraid but not me. I will do as I please, and it pleases me to kill this son of a bitch.”
Tork had shifted and was pointing the Sharps at Everett. “Let me take care of this peckerwood, Mr. Durn.”
“No. That buffalo gun of yours would splatter his brains all over,” Big Mike said.
“How about me, then?” Kutler offered, starting to draw his bowie.
“Open him up with that big pigsticker and he will get blood on the floor,” Durn said. “No, I would rather that Grunge do the honors.”
Everett was staring at them as if he could not believe what he was hearing. “I am standing right here!” he declared. “No one is a laying hand on me, do you hear?”
“Not a hand so much as a sledge,” Durn said, and bobbed his head at the man with the enormous fists. “He is yours. Try not to make too much of a mess or you will clean it up.”
Fargo saw it all.
Everett swore and grabbed at his six-shooter. His fingers had not quite reached it when Grunge reached him and swept both giant fists up and in. The double crunch was loud enough to be heard clear across the room.
Everett howled and covered his shattered ears with his hands. He bent slightly, enough that Grunge brought his fists smashing down on top of Everett’s head. Instead of a crunch there was a thump, and Everett was belly down on the floor, and did not move.
“Now get him out of my sight,” Big Mike Durn said gruffly. “And if you break a few of his bones while doing it, so much the better.”
Grunge and Tork were quick to obey, each taking an arm and dragging Everett out. Laughter and insults were flung at the unconscious man by some in the crowd.
Fargo observed that some did not laugh or poke fun. Durn’s high-handed methods were not appreciated by everyone. He downed the whiskey in his glass at a gulp and set the glass down.
“I did not take you for the squeamish type,” Mike Durn said.
Refilling his glass, Fargo was aware that Kutler had come up on the other side of him. They were slick as grease, this bunch. “I am thirsty, is all.”
“Now where were we?” Big Mike said. “Oh. Yes. I was saying as how I suspect you are working for the army. But I hear tell that you claim you came all this way to have some time to yourself.”
“What is unusual about that?”
“Nothing. Except that you had the whole Rockies to choose from, and they run from Canada to Mexico. Yet you picked our neck of the woods.”
“You have a suspicious nature,” Fargo said.
“As suspicious as they come,” Mike Durn confirmed. “It is why I have lived as long as I have.”
“What is this I hear about a thousand people moving to Polson by the end of next year?” Fargo casually inquired.
“Who told you that?” Durn snapped, and glanced at Kutler, who averted his gaze. “Some people can’t help wagging their tongues, it seems. Yes, I am counting on a lot more folks wanting to live here after I have made a few changes.”
“Changes how?”
Durn’s grin was no grin at all; it was a vicious sneer. “You have yet to convince me you are not a danger to me and my plans. Until you do—” He shrugged, then finished his drink. “It has been interesting. We will talk again tomorrow if you are still here. If you aren’t, I will take that as a sign you were lying, and if I ever hear of you anywhere in Polson or Mission Valley, I will send Kutler and Tork and Grunge to talk to you, along with a few others.”
“Was that a threat?”
“No. A promise.” Big Mike Durn walked off with Kutler in his wake. Three more men fell into step behind them.
Fargo had not counted on this. That sharpshooting contest in Missouri a while back, along with a few other incidents, had brought him notoriety he could do without. Now, most everyone who heard of him knew that he scouted for the army on occasion. He refilled his glass. How in hell was he to convince Durn he was not working for the government when he only had his own say-so? Durn would never accept his word. He might as well ride out by morning. Sure, he could ask around, like the army wanted, but word was bound to reach Durn, and he would be up to his neck in curly wolves out to blow windows in his skull.
“Damn,” Fargo said to himself. He decided to find an empty chair and sit in on a card game. That would take his mind off his problem for a while. Picking up the bottle and glass, he pivoted.
Just then a commotion broke out at the batwings. Two men were blocking the doorway to prevent someone from forcing their way through.
“Let go of me, consarn you!” a woman’s voice demanded. “I insist on seeing your boss!” The woman tried to shove them out of her way.
Patrons were stopping what they were doing to stare.
Fargo glimpsed lustrous blond hair and a shapely figure, and then the onlookers were making space for Big Mike Durn. Durn gestured, and the two men at the batwings stepped aside to admit the woman.
“Sally, Sally, Sally,” Durn said with a smile. “The Whiskey Mill is no fit place for a lady. What are you doing here?”
Fargo had it, then. This was Sally Brook, the woman Thaddeus had told him about.
She put her hands on her hips, her emerald eyes flashing. “Not fit for a lady?” she repeated, and bobbed her head at a Flathead maiden. “Then why are she and these others here?”
“Don’t start,” Durn said.
“You do not seem to understand,” Sally Brook declared. “I will not rest until you stop using these women for your private gain. It is despicable.”
“My customers don’t think so.”
“I just heard that three more were brought in today,” Sally said. “Young ones, too.”
“The younger, the better,” Durn told her. “They are more popular than toothless hags.”
“You have no shame, do you?�
� Sally Brook said, her tone laced with condemnation.
“None whatsoever. But fortunately for you, I have a lot of patience. Otherwise, you would not still be in my good graces.”
“I will have to remedy that,” Sally Brook said. And before anyone could guess her intent, she stepped up close to Big Mike Durn and slapped him across the face.
4
Skye Fargo half expected Mike Durn to knock Sally Brook to the floor. Apparently, judging by the expressions of those around him, he was not the only one.
As for Durn, he started to raise his right fist, then lowered his arm, took a step back, and laughed. “You always did have more gall than sense. Want to do the other cheek? Here. I will make it easy for you.” Durn turned his head.
Sally Brook was furious. “There you go again. Making light of me. But I will not give up. I will do whatever it takes to stop you from mistreating these Indians.”
“I have been meaning to ask,” Durn said. “Why make all this fuss over a bunch of squaws?”
“They are people, confound you! Living, breathing human beings. Not animals. Not savages. Not squaws.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
Sally regarded Mike Durn almost sadly. “I pity you. I truly do. You have no regard for the feelings of others. No concept of what you are doing.”
“Like hell,” Durn said. “I have everything planned out. I know exactly what I am doing.”
“That is not what I meant.” Sally suddenly turned toward the maidens. “I know some of you can speak enough English to get by. Listen to me. What this man has you doing is wrong. It is degrading. He has no right to force you to parade yourself.”
“They don’t do anything a white dove wouldn’t do,” Big Mike said.
“Walk out!” Sally urged them. “All of you, together. Now. I will see that you get back safely to your families.”
Some of the Indian women swapped troubled glances but none of them said anything.
Durn’s amusement faded. “That is enough out of you. I will not have you filling their heads with contrary notions. I do not force them to come work for me. They do it to pay off debts.”
“I am not that gullible,” Sally Brook said.
Durn turned and pointed at several men, all Indians, who were playing poker or faro or roulette. “Look for yourself. I don’t force anyone to come here. I don’t force them to gamble. They do it of their own free will.” He shrugged. “I can’t help it if they lose all they have and can’t make good.”
“You set out honey to catch flies and then claim it is not your fault when they get stuck,” Sally said.
Durn looked about the room at all the players and drinkers. “Did you hear her, gentlemen? You are all a bunch of flies.”
Hoots of laughter filled the saloon. Sally Brook reddened, then wheeled and stalked out, pushing one of Durn’s men out of her way. Kutler started after her but Durn said, “Where do you think you are going? Leave her be. She is harmless.” He walked toward the back, his underlings at his heels.
Fargo did not waste a moment. The night air was bracing after the smoke of the saloon. He glanced up and down the street but did not see her. Then a shapely form in a dress passed a house with a lit window, her hair glowing golden. He hurried after her, his spurs jingling, and she heard him, and spun.
“That is far enough, whoever you are. Go back and tell your boss I will not be mistreated.”
“I don’t work for Mike Durn,” Fargo said.
“Then what do you want?”
“To talk to you. We have a common interest. Is there somewhere we can go to be alone?”
“What do you take me for? I don’t know you. I have never set eyes on you before. And you want to be alone with me?”
“I am not out to do you harm.”
“So you say. But a woman can’t be too trusting these days.” Sally shook her blond mane. “If you really need to talk, visit me tomorrow at my shop.”
Reluctantly, Fargo watched her walk off. He headed back to the saloon. Next to it was a general store, which was closed and dark, and as he was passing the gap between them, he heard the sounds of a scuffle and a woman’s voice, pleading, coming from the rear. Instantly, he darted into the gap and ran the length of the buildings.
The back door to the saloon was open. Bathed in the rectangle of light that spilled out were two husky men and a Flathead woman struggling to break free of their grasp. Her back was to Fargo, so all he could see was long black hair and her doeskin dress.
“—back inside and change clothes, squaw,” one of the men was saying. “You will do as you are told or we will take a switch to you.”
The woman struggled harder but they were too strong for her. They began to haul her toward the door and she dug in her heels.
“Damned wildcat,” the other man complained. “Quit it, or I will sock you on the jaw.”
“No bruises that anyone can see, remember?” the first man said.
In three bounds Fargo was behind them with the Colt out. He slammed it against the back of the head of the man on the right, shifted, and slammed it against the head of the man on the left. Both crumpled, but he hit them again to ensure they stayed out. Then he turned to the woman.
Only she wasn’t there.
She was bolting.
Fargo ran after her but it was soon apparent that barring a miracle, he could forget catching her. She was a two-legged deer, bounding smoothly and lithely, and god-awful fast. He poured on more speed yet gained only a little. “Wait!” he called, but not too loudly. “I only want to talk to you!”
She looked back, her face a blur, and momentarily slowed, breaking stride. In doing so, she tripped and nearly fell.
The mistake cost her.
Fargo launched himself through the air and tackled her about the shins. He tried not to hurt her by bringing her down on top of him. For that he nearly lost an eye when she raked at his face, her fingers hooked like claws. Jerking back, he grabbed her wrists.
“Stop it! I am not your enemy.”
Her long hair had fallen over her face and Fargo could not get a good look at her. He tried to grab her chin but she pushed his arm away and kicked and bucked to break free.
The only way to keep her still was to pin her. Suddenly rolling, Fargo covered her body with his and pressed her arms to the ground. She was breathing heavily, and he was aware her dress had hiked above her knees.
“Will you behave?” Fargo requested. He had grown warm all over, and felt a stirring, low down. “I only want to talk.”
“Get off me,” she said in perfect English.
“Not until you give me your word you will not run off.”
She puffed at her hair and some if it fell away, revealing a face as lovely as a sunrise.
“You!” Fargo blurted. It was the young Flathead who had been with Kutler and Tork.
“I remember you,” she said, studying him. “You are not one of Dead Heart’s men.”
“Who?”
“Dead Heart. It is what my people call Mike Durn. His heart is dead to everyone with red skin.”
Fargo glanced toward the saloon. The two men still lay where they had fallen but they might come around at any moment. “Do I have your promise you will hear me out?”
“You have it.”
Rising, Fargo helped her to stand. Together they hurried half a block to an alley.
“Wait here,” Fargo said. “I will be back in a minute with my horse.”
“Be quick,” she urged.
Fargo sprinted to the end of the alley and out into the street, nearly colliding with a townsman coming the other way. The man swore but did not stop. Slowing so he would not attract attention, Fargo reached the saloon. He untied the Ovaro, forked leather, and rode at a walk back up the street to the alley. When he was sure no one was watching, he reined into it.
His jaw muscles twitched when he did not find the woman where he had left her. “Where are you?” he called out.
“Here
.” She materialized out of the shadows and held up an arm for him to grab.
Fargo swung her up behind him. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Mary Two Trees.”
“That is a white name.”
“It is the one I was given at the mission. My father is Charlie Two Trees. He stopped using his real name when he took up white ways and began drinking white liquor.”
“What do the Flatheads call you?”
“We call ourselves the Salish, not Flatheads. That is another white word. And my Salish name, in your tongue, would be Birds Landing.”
Fargo was going to tell her that he knew of many tribes who did not call themselves what the whites called them, but a shout interrupted them.
A portly man in an apron had discovered the unconscious forms behind the saloon. Fortunately, he was on one knee with his back to them.
A jab of his spurs, and Fargo was on his way out of Polson. Birds Landing pressed against him, holding tight. He could feel the swell of her breasts and the contours of her hips. He tried not to dwell on her body as he brought the Ovaro to a canter.
Fargo did not know where he was going. He had not thought that far ahead. “Where do you want me to take you?” he asked. “The mission?” It was a good thirty miles or more south of Polson.
“I live with my people now,” Birds Landing said.
“We will go to your village, then.”
“That is the first place Durn will have his men look. They would find me and drag me back.”
“Your people won’t help?”
“Some would, yes. But I do not want Durn mad at them. He hates us enough as it is.”
“What about your father?”
“He is the reason I was taken. He likes to gamble. About a moon ago he went to the Whiskey Mill and lost all he had. Durn extended credit to him, and he lost that, too. Since he could not repay the money, Durn took me.”
“Durn can’t make you work for him against your will.”
“My father gave his consent. He was so drunk he could not sit straight, but he marked an X on the paper.”