Bad Men Go to Hell

by Tony Masero

  There were cries of alarm and the four men turned to see the boy charging them down, a gleaming knife in his fist.

  ‘What the f….’ bellowed Scart, as Tag launched himself at him.

  It was Chevato that brought him down by diving forward and grabbing both Tag’s ankles. A hairsbreadth away, Tag was flattened in the dust before Scart’s feet. Screaming angrily, Tag stabbed in the air with the blade, the knife slashing past Scart’s quickly withdrawn boots. Chevato leapt forward, dropping his weight on Tag’s back and driving the wind from his lungs. Tag cried weakly as Telkashay stepped up and planted a boot on his wrist, drawing the knife from his grasp.

  ‘Let me have it,’ Tag pleaded. ‘Let me kill him.’

  ‘What the hell?’ asked Scart, climbing to his feet and looking down with a frown at Tag’s flattened body.

  ‘It’s that kid,’ said Crome. ‘You remember, the kid from the bank. The one you let go.’

  ‘Shit!’ exclaimed Scart. ‘Is it? The same little beggar that told me I was going to hell?’

  ‘The same goddamn it, what’s he doing here?’

  ‘You know this boy?’ asked Telkashay.

  ‘Sure,’ said Scart doubtfully, his mind racing. ‘Don’t know why he wants to pin me though. All I ever done to him was a good turn, I let the little bastard live, that’s all I done to him.’

  ‘You swine,’ spat Tag, looking up from where he lay, his face covered in dust and tears of frustrated anger coursing down his cheeks. ‘I will kill you, I swear it.’

  ‘What is this?’ boomed Shulki suddenly. ‘You would kill my guest? Is this the way of the Chokonen? We come in peace to make parley and our lives are threatened.’

  Telkashay held up his hand for silence. ‘Let him up,’ he ordered Chevato and the group of other warriors that had gathered around them protectively. ‘Now,’ he said to Tag in English. ‘What is this? Explain it?’

  Tag climbed to his feet and glowered at Scart. ‘Him,’ he said. ‘Him and the other one, they are responsible for my mother’s death.’

  Telkashay turned to Scart, ‘Is this so?’ he asked.

  ‘Hell, no,’ snarled Scart. ‘His ma was shot down by Ranger bullets, it weren’t none of my doing.’

  ‘It’s your fault,’ screamed Tag. ‘Your whole damned fault. My ma’s dead because you robbed the bank and took hostages, its your fault my sister’s gone from me.’

  Scart shook his head in angry disbelief, ‘The kid’s crazy. Listen boy, I did you a favor, I let you, your sister and the woman go. How come you hold that against me? Dammit! It shows you just how grateful the younger generation is these days. Shulki, we going to let some punk-assed kid interfere with this deal? Somebody take him away and slit his throat, will you?’

  The two chief’s looked at each other. Shulki shrugged, ‘This has nothing to do with our business,’ he said dismissively. ‘The boy has a grievance, that is his affair but he has offended against our laws by this attack. It is neither the place nor the time when we are in parley.’

  ‘You are right,’ Telkashay agreed. ‘He shall be punished, I promise you.’

  Shulki downturned the corners of his mouth as if the whole business was of small matter, ‘Can we continue then?’

  ‘Take him away,’ Telkashay ordered those holding Tag. ‘I will deal with him later.’

  Tag was thrown into a nearby empty wickiup and a guard placed at the door as the meeting continued. He sat, arms around his knees and listened sullenly to the raised voices outside.

  ‘How do we know this is not a trap?’ Telkashay asked. ‘I will not lead my people into danger until I know what awaits them.’

  ‘Come with us, Telkashay. We need your numbers to make war on such a large band of whites. Have no fear though,’ the last was said with a veiled tone of insult. ‘You can make sure all is safe before we make the attack.’

  ‘I will consider this,’ said Telkashay. ‘Let me consult with my elders and I will bring you word.’

  ‘I have come to you trusting we shall raid together again. Our last raid was a great success, many horses were taken. It shall be so again, do not be so fearful, Telkashay. This is great medicine we speak of.’

  ‘For myself, there is no fear. You know this. My caution is for my tribe, that is my duty as chief.’

  Shulki snorted a laugh, ‘It seems the white child you hold here has more courage. He does not hesitate to strike out against those he hates.’

  ‘He is a child,’ Telkashay reprimanded. ‘Should one act as a child in this matter? No, this is not the way of grown men. All things must be given due consideration.’

  ‘Shoot! Are we getting anywhere here? Or just pissing in the wind,’ Tag heard Scart complain.

  There was a long offended silence between the chiefs following his words.

  ‘I apologize,’ said Shulki finally. ‘He is not of The People, but is a poor person of low order and does not understand how to behave.’

  ‘I have known wild dogs with more manners,’ Telkashay sympathized. ‘But it shows how these whites perform, they are not to be trusted and this is what my concern is all about.’

  ‘He and the other whites will be my problem, that I give you my word on,’ Shulki promised. ‘If you decide to take part in this raid, then we shall meet and discuss how to go about this. It must be decided in seven days, as then they will reach the place where the trail enters the high rocks above the twin peak canyon. You know this place?’

  ‘I do,’ agreed Telkashay. ‘It is a good spot for ambush.’

  ‘Oh-hah! Then we are agreed on that. It is the place to make a great killing.’

  It was to be the next day before Tag was to receive his punishment.

  He spent a lonely night awaiting his fate with some dread but when it came to it, Telkashay was more interested in learning from Tag all he knew about the two renegade white men.

  ‘What manner of men are they?’ he asked when Tag was brought before him.

  ‘The worst,’ spat Tag.

  Telkashay shook his head. ‘No, answer me with forethought not anger.’

  Tag calmed himself; he reconsidered what he had learnt during his time with them during the bank raid.

  ‘The dark one, Scart Benjamin. He is the leader, bold and a little crazy, I think. His mood can change quickly but when it comes to killing he is fast and merciless.’

  Telkashay nodded, ‘Go on.’

  ‘The other one is his second-in-command. He is a follower and loyal, a quieter man but just as capable of killing.’

  ‘You saw others?’

  ‘There were others, yes. I did not pay particular attention to them. Some were killed in the bank raid but a few escaped with Scart, I think they were two brothers.’

  ‘Are these men trustworthy? Will they keep their word?’

  Tag snorted a dismissive laugh, ‘That I doubt very much.’

  ‘I doubt it also,’ Telkashay agreed. ‘But do they speak the truth of this army payroll?’

  ‘If there is cash money involved, then that is all they will care about.’

  Telkashay rubbed his jaw pensively, ‘So, in this they probably speak truth.’

  ‘If you go after the army, kill soldiers and take that payroll,’ Tag warned. ‘The army won’t give up, they will come after you with all they have.’

  ‘Yes, they will,’ agreed Telkashay, musing aloud. ‘But they will not care who has made the raid, to them all Indians are the same. Our tribe is just as likely to be attacked even if we do not participate. Innocent or not, the long knives will make war on us.’

  Tag said nothing, in his heart he knew it was true. Until now all he had heard of were the worst of the Apache, how they abused and murdered and committed unspeakable tortures on settlers. They had seemed dusty little aboriginal people when he had seen them in town to trade, faceless and dirty. Now he had lived amongst them it was becoming clear to him that they were just different and not the ignominious natives that only pillaged and burnt. The thought of his frie
nd Chevato ending up on the end of a cavalry sabre was a thought that made him feel distinctly uncomfortable.

  He was not that enamored that he did not recognize the danger of the tribe, they were hardy people and warriors whose tough way of life was encouraged by the environment that forged them. But they had a culture and religion of their own and he had witnessed their capacity for compassion and good cheer whereas before he had only seen the stolid expressions written on their stony faces when the Indians had been confronted by the influx of whites that were as strange to them as they were to the newcomers.

  ‘Now,’ said Telkashay, his face taking on a sterner demeanor. ‘You must know it is an offense that you have committed when men come in peace to hold a council. How would we manage if there was no trust? Men could not speak to each to settle differences and aid agreements.’

  Tag understood what the chief was saying but he felt no remorse about his assault on Scart and knew if the opportunity presented itself again he would readily attack the man and kill him if he could.

  ‘Here,’ said Telkashay. ‘Drink from this gourd. Hold the water in your mouth. You will run to the top of the bluff without stopping. You will come back here to me and spit out the water to show you have drunk none. Maybe then you will have learnt something of how to behave as a man should.’

  Tag took the gourd and kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on the chief, his attitude was recalcitrant and unwilling to obey.

  ‘Go on!’ growled Telkashay harshly, towering over the boy. ‘Do as I say!’

  Such was the power of his ominous look and the dark aggression with which he said it that Tag obeyed, swilling the water until his cheeks bulged.

  ‘Now run!’ said Telkashay.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘Jimmy Two-Spoon. That’s a danged funny name,’ drawled Link from his side of the fire. ‘How’d you come by that?’

  Jimmy looked up from gutting the antelope they had shot earlier and he was preparing for the pot. His bronzed skin glowed in the firelight and the flames flickered shadows across his face. ‘My father was a white trapper and my mother Apache,’ Jimmy said. ‘When I was young I was taken away from my people by white soldiers. They took me to their fort and kept me there. I was taught to speak the white man’s language but when they asked me my name I told them it was ‘Tulpsun’. The soldiers found this hard to say so they called me Two-Spoon, which they said sounded the same to them.’

  ‘And the ‘Jimmy’ part?’ asked Cornpone.

  ‘My father’s name was James, so I use that amongst the whites.’

  Mortimer looked up from his Bible and frowned, ‘So, is it true you have never known the water of purification and had a proper Christian baptism?’ he asked.

  Jimmy shrugged, ‘There was never a need. I was welcomed to the world and introduced to Usen, the Great Spirit with the amulets of a holy shaman, I have walked the path of new moccasins on the pollen trail to the east. I have made the four sacred raids, that is all that is needed to be a man.’

  ‘Not enough,’ said Mortimer, with a sad shake of his head. ‘Your immortal soul lies hidden under all that heathen nonsense and needs to be released into the light.’

  ‘I am content as I am,’ said Jimmy, bending again to his task.

  ‘I am willing to save you,’ offered Mortimer eagerly. ‘The relief you will feel in coming before the Lord is untold. Take my hand Jimmy and let me purge you of your ignorance.’

  Jimmy looked at him across the flame, his face calm and steady, ‘Thank you for the offer,’ he said politely. ‘But on this we must agree to differ.’

  They were camped for the night in a clear area amidst a bed of thorn scrub, hoping the spikey growth surrounding would give them some protection from any stealthy attack whilst they slept.

  ‘You seen any sign around here?’ Tarfay asked the half-breed, watching him expertly flay the dead animal.

  Jimmy nodded affirmation, ‘There is old sign of a scouting party. Not many but The People are nearby.’

  ‘Best post a guard then,’ said the Ranger. ‘I’ll go first, then the rest of you on the hour. Cornpone you take the dawn watch, okay?’

  Jimmy was setting slices of meat on wetted sticks before the fire and the hungry party gathered closer as if their presence would roast the meat quicker.

  ‘How do you feel about this?’ Tarfay asked Jimmy. ‘Going with us into Apache land.’

  ‘You mean,’ said Jimmy, catching the Rangers drift. ‘Going up against my own people?’

  ‘Must be kinda hard to decide just who your people are,’ said Cornpone watching the half-breed closely.

  Jimmy shrugged, ‘No, that is not a problem for me. It is where I am at any given time and who has right to my loyalty. Here I am with you white men, so my white half stands with you.’

  ‘What happens when an Apache comes along?’ asked Cornpone. ‘The other half going to make an appearance.’

  Jimmy looked up at him, the firelight dancing in his eyes and a grin splitting his face, ‘You will have to wait and see, won’t you? Maybe I will divide in half and one go one way the other another.’

  ‘That’d be a trick I’d like to see,’ chuckled Link.

  ‘The devil has many faces,’ leered Mortimer, raising his eyes solemnly from his Bible and fixing a baleful gaze on Jimmy. ‘He is all trickery and deceit and though he wears the guise of man he is often amongst us like a slinking beast of the desert.’

  ‘Well, Mortimer, you tell me when you see a one-legged Apache and a one-legged white man hopping around here and I’ll get right down on my knees and shout ‘Hallelujah’,’ grinned Link.

  ‘You ever been a regular preacher, Mortimer?’ asked Cornpone.

  ‘I was a sinner for many years, brother,’ said Mortimer, his voice rising in a quiver. ‘Oh, what a sinner! Fornication and the drink were my downfall; I lusted after the flesh of harlots and drank the rust-red and fiery waters that run down along beside Perdition’s gate. A lost soul indeed. And then, one day, it came to me. As soft and airy as a feather on the wind. The Light, such a glorious glow. I rose from my stupor and could see all with brightness and clarity through Jesus’s blessing.’

  ‘You never been tempted since by a fine looking woman or a golden glassful?’ asked Link with a teasing glint in his eye.

  ‘I keep my eyes fixed on the straight and narrow path,’ Mortimer promised. ‘Seeing only the wrongs that lie on either side and avoiding them.’

  ‘That why you brought fire and damnation down on that blacksmith back at Cabraville?’

  ‘The man was a cheat!’ spat Mortimer. ‘My pony had thrown a shoe and the scoundrel wanted to charge me over the odds for a replacement. Admittedly my punishment was a trifle excessive….’

  ‘Way I heard it, you laid that red hot shoe across the poor bastard’s ass.’

  ‘True,’ admitted Mortimer with a self-righteous glance heavenwards. ‘Like Cain in the Bible, the mark of his sin was branded upon him.’

  ‘How about you, Link?’ interrupted Tarfay. ‘How come a cowboy ended up doing hard time in jail.’

  ‘Well,’ drawled Link. ‘Tell the truth, I don’t reckon it were too righteous a claim on my time either. I always been kind of tangle-toed off the back of a pony. Give me a good mustang and I’ll ride to kingdom come and back neater than a seamstress in a sewing school but walking ain’t my forté, if you get my meaning? I was in there buying me some beans and eggs when I tripped over this display of ladies hosiery. Fellow in there starts in on me and saying all kinds of insulting things ‘cos I holed his ladies-wear. But then he started in on my ma, as you fellow’s will appreciate, there ain’t nothing I hold more sacred that my ma’s memory. She was a wonderful creature and I loved that woman.’

  ‘So you showed him the error of his ways?’ smiled Cornpone.

  ‘Surely did. Broke his damned nose for him.’

  ‘Well, you is one warlike bunch alright,’ laughed Cornpone. ‘Reckon the whole Apache nation best watch their step. We got us
a branding preacher and storekeep-buster and one goddamned breed who don’t know white from red. Hellfire! If we come out of this with our hair still on it’ll be a damned miracle.’

  ‘Trust in the Lord,’ intoned Mortimer. ‘It is the blessed that shall prosper.’

  ‘I’ll check in on that one when this is all over,’ said Cornpone dolefully. ‘Right now we need a plan. You got something in mind, Bayou?’

  Tarfay shook his head, ‘No sir, I ain’t. Least nothing definite, I just want those children returned.’

  ‘We can buy them,’ offered Jimmy, reaching forward and plucking a piece of cooked meat from the fire.

  ‘That the best way?’

  ‘For horses the Apache will trade, that is what they value.’

  ‘Trouble is I don’t have none,’ said Tarfay.

  ‘I heard tell of a thing whilst in Cabraville,’ said Jimmy, chewing off a piece of cooked meat. ‘There is a railroad they are planning through this territory.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Cornpone agreed. ‘The Pacific Railroad. They reckon it will come down from Memphis, Tennessee clear across to California and the southern route heads right along through Arizona to Yuma City and then up by the Gila River. Only thing is, its just a plan right now and them folks investing in it can’t get their business together yet.’

  ‘No, but they are preparing the way. There are teams of surveyors planning the route now,’ said Jimmy. ‘And they have horses.’

  ‘Are you recommending we rustle us some ponies?’ asked Tarfay in surprise.

  ‘How else will you get them?’

  ‘To steal is a sin in the eyes of the Lord,’ warned Mortimer.

  ‘Maybe, but ponies I can handle,’ promised Link excitedly. ‘I ain’t adverse to such an idea.’

  Tarfay narrowed his eyes and sunk back down considering the proposal.

  ‘We can’t, Bayou,’ said Cornpone. ‘We’re Texas Rangers, for Christ’s sake.’

  ‘Not right now, we’re not,’ said Tarfay harshly. ‘Right now, we’re off-duty. We don’t have no rights as Rangers and I’m thinking this deserves consideration unless you’ve got a better scheme.’