by Jon Sharpe
Thunder Cloud glanced over his shoulder at his sister and they broke into a heated argument. When they were done, Birds Landing laughed lightly.
“It might please you to know that my brother agrees with you. He wants me to go, too.”
“You should listen,” Fargo said, knowing full well she wouldn’t.
“We can help you. We can spy on Durn and his men. Or follow them. Or whatever else you need.”
“Can’t you get it through that thick head of yours that Durn will kill you to make an example of you, if you are caught?”
Birds Landing shrugged. “We all die.”
“What about your brother?” Fargo tried another tack. “Do you want him to die protecting you?”
“Nothing you say will change my mind. I always do as I think best whether others think it best or not.”
This time Fargo did not hold it in. He swore, luridly.
Birds Landing laughed as if it were a great game to her. “The priest and the nuns would be shocked if they heard you talk like that. The priest says that swearing is a step on the stairwell to hell. His exact words.”
Fargo regretted ever making love to her.
“You are quiet all of a sudden. Do not be upset. I am a grown woman. I can do as I please.”
Fargo let out a sigh. For her sake, he would try one more time. “Just because a man and a woman make love doesn’t mean they are in love.”
“I know that.”
“I do not love you, Birds Landing.”
“You think you do not. But secretly you do.”
An urge came over Fargo to grab her and shake her until her teeth rattled. Not that it would do any good. He rode moodily on until they had gone over a mile. A dry wash seemed as likely a spot as any to stop.
“My brother will hunt for us if you would like,” Birds Landing offered. “I will make a meal.”
“The only thing I want from you,” Fargo said, “is to see you riding off.”
“You do not mean that.”
Fargo came close to doing something he rarely did—hitting a woman. A good smack or two might knock some sense into her. He wished he knew enough of her tongue to talk directly to her brother.
“So what now?” Birds Landing asked.
A question for which Fargo had no ready answer. “I need to think,” he said, and walked off along the bottom of the wash. Before he came to the first bend he acquired a shadow at his elbow. “Go back.”
“I would rather be with you,” Birds Landing said. “You are troubled and I will soothe you.”
Fargo wondered how she intended to do that, but he did not wonder long. No sooner were they around the bend than she gripped his wrist and pulled him to her. Her warm lips sought his in hungry urgency. Under different circumstances Fargo would not have minded one bit. But if he responded, it would feed her misguided notion of being in love. He went to push her away when suddenly she cupped him, down low.
“See? You pretend you do not like me but I can feel you growing hard for me.”
Fargo’s own body was betraying him. “It’s not that I don’t like you—” he began, and knew he had made a mistake the instant the words were out of his mouth.
Beaming joyfully, Birds Landing covered his face with hot kisses. “I knew it!” she happily declared. “I will never leave you now.”
The feel of her breasts, the taste of her tongue, were intoxicating. Struggling with his lust, Fargo pushed her back. He had to clear his throat to say, “When I say I like you, there is nothing more.”
Birds Landing grinned. “Your body does not lie.”
“Damn it.” Fargo was appalled at how badly he had misjudged her. Usually he caught on when a woman was after more than a tumble in the grass. But she had fooled him completely.
“There must be something my brother and I can do to help you. You have but to name it.”
“Why would he lend a hand?” Fargo asked. “He doesn’t even like me.”
“He will help because I am helping and he does not want any harm to come to me.”
“At least someone in your family has some sense,” Fargo remarked.
“Insult me all you want. You only do it because you care.”
Fargo was at his wit’s end. Nothing he said or did got through. Wheeling, he strode back. She quickly caught up, taking two steps for each of his.
“What is wrong?”
Fargo had had enough. He went to the Ovaro and opened a saddlebag. Inside was a coil of rawhide he used now and then for picketing the Ovaro to a picket pin, and for other odds and ends. Uncoiling it, he bent, drew his toothpick, and cut off a two-foot length.
Birds Landing watched with interest. “What is that for?”
“This.” Suddenly grabbing her by the arms, Fargo spun her around and looped one end of the rawhide around her wrist. She divined what he was up to and tried to pull free before he could loop the rawhide around her other wrist but he was too fast for her.
“What do you think you are doing? Untie me this instant!”
A flick of Fargo’s leg, and down she went. He caught her and lowered her onto her side. Pinning her legs with his, he tied her ankles. All done so slickly, she was bound and helpless before she could lift a finger to prevent it.
“You cannot do this!” Birds Landing protested.
Fargo slowly rose. Her brother had not intervened. Thunder Cloud was watching them, his expression hard to read. Fargo pointed at Birds Landing, then at Thunder Cloud’s horse, and wriggled his fingers to simulate riding away.
“He will not do it,” Birds Landing predicted, and launched into a long appeal to her brother in their own tongue.
Thunder Cloud’s reaction surprised her as much as it surprised Fargo. He threw back his head and laughed. Then he came over, and white fashion, offered his hand to Fargo.
Fargo went him one better. After shaking, he took the reins to the two extra horses and placed them in Thunder Cloud’s hands. The warrior looked at the horses, and then at Fargo, and something akin to warmth came into his eyes.
“Tell him they are his to keep for taking you away,” Fargo said to Birds Landing.
“I will not.”
Fargo shrugged. “I reckon he gets the idea anyway.”
“Don’t do this!” Birds Landing pleaded. “You need us. Durn is too formidable for you to fight alone. That is the word, yes? Formidable?”
“Save your breath.” Fargo stepped to the Ovaro and gripped the saddle horn.
“Please!” Birds Landing begged.
Paying her no mind, Fargo was about to swing up when he remembered the two rifles in the saddle scabbards on the extra horses. He slid each out. One was a Sharps, the other a Spencer. A check of the saddlebags turned up ammunition for both. He gave the Sharps and its ammo to Thunder Cloud, who lit up like a candle.
“I am keeping this for myself,” Fargo said, shaking the Spencer. At least until he reclaimed his Henry.
Thunder Cloud was caressing the Sharps as he might a lover. He indicated the horses and the Sharps and spoke a bit.
Fargo arched an eyebrow at Birds Landing.
“He says he misjudged you. He says you are a friend to the Salish, and to him.”
Thunder Cloud added more.
Scowling, Birds Landing translated. “He says he will take me so far away, it will take me two moons to ride back.”
Fargo chuckled. “Tell your brother I thank him.”
Another argument ensued. Birds Landing sat up, her knees tucked to her chest, and glared at both of them. “The two people I care for the most, treating me like this.”
“Be thankful I didn’t spank you,” Fargo said.
Birds Landing grinned in delight. “You still can if you want.”
“Women,” Fargo said. He swung onto the Ovaro, slid the Spencer into the scabbard, shoved the ammunition into a saddlebag, and was ready. He gave Birds Landing a last, fond look. “Try not to hate me. I did this for your own good.”
“Hate you?” she repeated.
“It shows you care, and it makes me care for you all the more.”
Fargo nodded to her brother, and got out of there. He was glad to have Birds Landing out of his hair; she was one less problem. But now he faced a greater challenge. Mike Durn and his deadly pack of two-legged wolves must be dealt with. The key, as Fargo saw it, was Durn, himself. Should Durn be turned into worm food, the whole loco scheme to drive the Indians out would come to nothing.
Fargo made himself a promise. From that moment on, he would devote every waking moment to the extermination of Mike Durn. He would do whatever it took, and not let anyone stand in his way.
The bloodbath was about to commence.
11
Another wild night in Polson.
The Whiskey Mill was bursting at the seams. Piano music, loud voices, drunken singing, and an occasional angry curse testified to the liveliness within. The hitch rail was lined end to end.
Few people were on the street at that hour. The settlement’s respectable citizens were in their homes and cabins, and many had already turned in.
Fargo approached in a wide loop that brought him up on the saloon from the rear. He drew rein well back from a square of light spilling from a window and dismounted. Removing his spurs, he slid them into his saddlebags, then shucked the Spencer and crept to the back door. It was not bolted. Nor did the hinges creak as he opened it a crack to peer inside.
A gloomy hall, lit by a small lantern hanging from a peg, was flanked by rows of narrow doors. Fargo warily opened the first one and discovered a small room barely wider than a closet and about eight feet long. A bed was the only furniture, a single blanket the only luxury. The next room was the same except that a tattered beaded dress hung on a hook on a wall.
These were the living quarters for the Indian girls. Windowless, dingy, with no heat or water, they reminded him of a dog kennel he visited once.
Fargo tried a door on the other side. It was pitch black within. He blinked when cold air struck his face. A dank scent tingled his nose, hinting at bare earth. Wooden steps led down into virtual ink. He started to close the door, then stiffened.
From below came a sound that was not human, a low, long, eerie cry part growl and partly a keen of lament. Fargo had never heard anything quite like it. He listened until it faded, then quickly shut the door and moved on. He did not open any more doors until he was almost to the end. The door he chose was not plain pine, like the rest, but solid oak.
A luxurious bedroom lit by a large lamp spread before him. A broad bed, a mahogany dresser, a teak table and chairs, even a thick carpet, suggested that Fargo had found what he was looking for. Slipping inside, he shut the door behind him.
Fargo checked around the bed and under the bed. He noticed a closet and opened it. Neatly hung store-bought jackets and shirts and pants hung from a rod. Above, on a shelf, was a spare hat. Propped in a corner was the reason Fargo came. He smiled as he reclaimed the Henry and held it up so the lamplight gleamed on the brass receiver.
A sudden commotion in the hall caused Fargo to toss the Spencer onto the bed, whirl, and dart over near the door. He put his hand on the Colt and stared at the latch. It didn’t move. He could hear voices, a lot of them, and footsteps, moving toward the back of the building. One voice rose above the rest, bellowing, “Hold her tight, damn you! I have lost one this week. I will not lose another.”
Big Mike Durn.
Fargo waited until silence once again reigned. Carefully peeking out, he confirmed the hall was empty. But now light came from an open door toward the rear. The door, as he recollected, that led down to whatever lay below the saloon. Levering a round into the Henry, Fargo hurried toward it.
Light from a lantern revealed that the stairs wound in a spiral. Every nerve tingling, Fargo crept down them. The scent of cigar and pipe smoke hung in the air. So did the pungent odor of liquor. Laughter and voices came from somewhere below.
The stairs brought him to a dirt tunnel. Four feet wide and six feet high, it was a fairly recent excavation, if Fargo was any judge. At the far end was a door.
Bending so he did not bump his head, Fargo cautiously advanced. He was taking a gamble but he wanted to see what Durn was up to. A recessed door appeared on the right. He was surprised to find it was made entirely of iron. There was a small barred grille two-thirds of the way up and a thin slit no more than a few inches high at the bottom. He opened the slit and saw that it was wide enough to slide a plate or a bowl through. Putting his nose to the grille, he sniffed. An abominable reek assailed him, the stink of urine and feces and rotting flesh. He turned away before he gagged.
The hubbub at the far end had grown louder.
Fargo went faster. He needed to skedaddle before he was caught. But first he had to see. The door at the end, like the other, was metal. It did not have a vent at the bottom but it did have an opening near the top. Peering through, Fargo beheld a broad circular chamber dug out of the earth. In the center was a pit about ten feet in circumference. He could not tell how deep it was because his view was blocked by some of the more than two dozen people who ringed it. He was mildly surprised to see several white women among them.
Big Mike Durn was on the other side of the pit. On his right were Kutler, Tork, and Grunge. On his left, securely held by two more of Durn’s pack, was a young Blackfoot woman in a tight red dress. She was struggling mightily but could not break free. Her hair was disheveled, and blood trickled from a corner of her mouth.
A few in the crowd were staring at her but most were gazing intently into the pit. One man pointed and said loud enough for Fargo to hear, “I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be down there with that thing!”
An ominous growl filled the chamber. It hushed almost everyone, and those still talking stopped when Mike Durn held up a hand for silence.
A louder growl caused many on the rim to fidget with unease.
“What we have here,” Durn declared, indicating the young woman, “is a horse that won’t be broke. And what do you do when a horse won’t let you ride it and tries to cave in your skull every time you try?”
Someone shouted, “You shoot it!”
“A horse, yes,” Durn said with a grin. “But why waste lead on a squaw when there is a better way?”
Coarse mirth greeted his remark.
“This squaw’s father is in debt to me. Out of the goodness of my heart I allowed him close to four hundred dollars in credit and he lost it all. He couldn’t pay me back so I agreed his daughter could come work for me for a year to work off the money he owes. And what does she do?” Durn poked the young woman, hard, in the chest. “She refuses to do what I tell her. She puts on airs and won’t let anyone touch her.”
Murmuring broke out, but none of it, Fargo noted, was sympathy for the Blackfoot.
Mike Durn loved to hear himself talk. He had gone on with barely a break in breath. “But I was patient with her, as I am with all the red gnats. I gave her chance after chance to change her ways. Granted, I had to have her beat a few times, but not so she was crippled.”
“You are a saint!” a man hollered, to the loudest laughter yet.
“That I am,” Durn agreed, bobbing his chin. “I gave this bitch a roof over head and a bed to sleep in. I even gave her a new dress. And how does she repay my generosity? Last night she tried to scratch out the eyes of a man who put his hand on her behind. Can you believe it? And then she had the gall to try and run away.”
A hiss from the pit interrupted his speech.
“It is plain to me that there is no breaking her,” Durn told his listeners. “I could send her back to her father. But she is bound to go around telling tales about how poorly she was treated, and stir up her tribe, and we can’t have that.” He adopted a sad expression. “I am afraid she leaves me no choice. She must share the fate of the other squaws who refused to do as they were told.”
All eyes were now on the pit.
“I will tell her father that she did not like the work so I let her go. When they find he
r remains, they will blame it on old One Ear, as they did the others.” Durn gazed down, and smiled. “No one suspects the truth. No one ever will.”
A loud snarl brought a low cry from the young Blackfoot. She struggled harder, to no avail.
Fargo did not know for sure what was in the pit but he had some idea. The growls were a giveaway. Bears did not growl like wolves and wolves did not growl like mountains lions. If he was right, Durn had a hideous end in store for the young woman.
By intervening, Fargo would give himself away and possibly lose his own life. But he could not stand there and let it happen. And, too, here was a golden opportunity to put a permanent end to Mike Durn’s ruthless spree.
Taking a step back, Fargo wedged the Henry’s stock to his shoulder and sighted down the barrel, fixing a bead on Durn through the opening in the top of the door. He centered the sights smack between Durn’s eyes. Then, holding his breath to steady his aim, he lightly curled his finger around the trigger. All it would take was a slight squeeze and Durn was done for.
“What the hell do you think you are you doing?”
A hand fell on Fargo’s shoulder and he was spun around. It was one of Durn’s men, a beanpole with an Adam’s apple a buzzard would envy. He wore a revolver and a knife and an amazed look.
“You! But you are supposed to be dead!” the man exclaimed, swooping his hand to his six-gun.
“You first,” Fargo said, and shot him in the head. Instantly, Fargo turned back to the door but the harm had been done. Kutler and Grunge were between Durn and the door. He no longer had a clear shot.
Kutler cupped a hand to his mouth. “What is going on out there? What was that shot for?”
Many of the others had turned but no one was anxious to open the door. The few who could see through the opening could not see enough of Fargo to recognize him.