Slocum and the Santa Fe Sisters

by Jake Logan

  “What’cha talking about?”

  “You were paid to trail us.” He jerked his pistol free and then busted the man over the shoulder with the barrel of it. The man went to his knees, screaming in pain.

  “Who paid you to follow us?”

  “I ain’t saying.”

  “I can fix the other shoulder next.”

  “Harvey Proctor.”

  “You’ve got fifteen minutes to get out of Santa Fe. By horse or on foot, I don’t care, but if I see you ever again in this town, I’ll shoot you between the eyes and say you were wanted in Texas for murder. Now get out of town. One—”

  “I’m going. I’m going.” The man got up and flew down the alley.

  “Guess he won’t track us anymore,” Consuelo said, amused.

  “I’m tired of all these bastards. Tomorrow Proctor won’t have an army any longer.”

  Before dawn, five dark-faced men arrived at the stables, hitched their horses outside, and came into the interior, which smelled strongly of horse piss and sweet hay. They wore large sombreros and noisy spurs that jingled.

  “Ah, you are the hombre who asked for us?” the tallest man, clearly the leader, said. “You must be Slocum. I am Frisco.”

  “I’m Slocum. My friend says you know all about this man Sanchez.”

  “We all know him well. This is my brother Miguel, next comes Fernando, the third man is Baca, and Sonora is on the end.”

  Slocum nodded to each of them. “Good to have you here.”

  “One word, señor,” Miguel said. “We want to know how you scared the piss out of Rivera.” He was obviously amused by what happened.

  “I fed his dogs a sleeping potion that a bruja sold me. While the dogs slept, I busted a large pot over his head, then tied him up and made him open his mouth. I put a few drops of that potion on his tongue and told him, before he passed out, that if I saw him in Sante Fe again, I’d kill him.”

  Frisco and the others laughed. “He told me a dozen men held him down,” Frisco said.

  One man added, “He said their leader was a ghost.”

  Frisco asked, “You want Sanchez killed?”

  “I want him and all his men to leave the territory and stay gone. We’re taking Proctor to court.”

  “He’s a powerful man. He may own the judges.”

  “Then let’s destroy his army and take away his power. I owe him for the beating I took from them.”

  “We’re ready.”

  “You lead, Frisco. You know the way,” Slocum said.

  They mounted and left in a hurry. He and Consuelo were forced to push their horses to keep up. When they were on the country road leading west, Frisco reined up. “We must circle this place from the back. They will expect us to make a frontal attack.”

  Slocum agreed.

  From where the road forked, Frisco sent the four men to go south. He, Slocum, and Consuelo would come down from the north. The plan was to strike them at high noon.

  Things went well and they were approaching the ranch from the backside. A shot rang out, and Slocum told Consuelo to stay back. He charged his horse after Frisco’s and they went through a peach orchard like they were on fire. Obviously some of Sanchez’s had men made it to the adobe house and were firing from the windows.

  Frisco’s other men were all right and waved to show him where they were at. Dismounting with his rifle in his right hand, Slocum moved in closer. A few more shots came from the house. Slocum took aim at a window where one shooter had popped up to fire at them. When he shot again, Slocum returned fire and silenced his shooting.

  The man’s screams were loud enough to make the whole crew nod at Slocum’s accuracy. Another shooter took his place and it took two shots to silence his shooting. Then someone shouted, “We give up!”

  “Come out unarmed,” Frisco said.

  Seconds ticked by, but then the men filed out with their hands high. Frisco ordered them on their knees. “Any tricks and you all will die.”

  Guns drawn, they closed in on their captives.

  “Sanchez is not here,” Frisco whispered to him. “Or he’s hiding inside.”

  Slocum nodded. Not familiar with the man on sight, he asked Frisco what should they do.

  “Talk to his men,” Frisco said.

  “Where’s your boss?” Slocum demanded.

  “We don’t know,” a man said. “He rode out early.”

  “There are two dead inside,” one of Frisco’s men reported, coming out of the jacal’s front door.

  “Find a shovel,” Frisco said. “These men can bury them. Ándale!”

  “What should we do with the rest of them?” Slocum asked him quietly away from the others.

  “We could shoot them and put them in the same grave.”

  “The authorities won’t like that.”

  Frisco nodded. “You’re right. We can drive them down the river today, and if they come back . . .” He drew the side of his finger across his own throat, like a knife. “They will know to move on. We can find their leader, too. By dark, he will disappear—or join the others who stopped breathing today.”

  Slocum and Consuelo rode back to town. They were silent most of the way. She finally spoke. “I should hire that Frisco if my husband comes back, eh?”

  Slocum laughed. “He’s a tough man.”

  “What will we do for money until you force Proctor to pay you what he owes?”

  “McKee trades with a man named Diego who is in business here. He will advance me some money. We’ll go see him when we get back to town.”

  After they ate lunch bought from a vendor, using the few centavos they had left, then found Pedro Diego in an office at the back of his large warehouse. The place echoed despite the stacks of food items, furs, and dry goods in there.

  “Ah, Slocum,” the short man said after standing and taking off his gold-framed reading glasses. “How are you? And good afternoon, lovely lady.”

  Consuelo giggled in response.

  Slocum explained about the kidnapping, the ransom, and Proctor’s reaction to the return of his daughters and grandson.

  “That Proctor is a mean man,” Diego said angrily. “He has his beautiful wife confined to an insane asylum so he can be free to screw his mistresses. He is not well liked in this city.”

  “I hired a lawyer to get her out. The daughters, I understand, were sent to a convent.”

  “I don’t doubt it. How much money do you need?”

  “Today two hundred. I may need more. McKee will pay you on your next shipment to him.”

  “Don’t worry. McKee is a man of his word. I’d even pay that and more to see Proctor disgraced and run out of town on a rail.”

  “Agreed. Now how should I get those girls out of the convent without bloodshed?”

  “I will talk to the bishop about such a release for you. Messing with the Church can be bad business, but I may be able to persuade him.”

  “I promised Elania, the elder one, I’d get them out if their father locked them away.”

  “I understand. Now what about his wife’s incarceration?”

  “My lawyer, name of Golden, is working on that case. A bright, hardworking young attorney who needs the money.”

  “Good. My wife will feel better if you get her released. They were friends.” Diego wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Slocum to sign. “I’ll make it three hundred, and if you need more, come back. Anything I can do, just ask.”

  “This morning we sent Sanchez’s men packing. If he shows his face in town, he’ll be taken care of.”

  Diego straightened up from getting the money out of the safe. “I supposed it was you who sent his henchman, Rivera, packing a few days ago?”

  “Yeah, that was us—Consuelo and I.�
��

  “He ran away like the scalded dog he was. All of Santa Fe owes you a debt for getting that bastard gone.”

  “Where can I find Proctor?”

  “I doubt he is at his business. With Rivera gone and Sanchez missing, I’ll bet Proctor is staying well guarded at his casa on the mountain off the Taos Road.”

  When Slocum looked over at Consuelo, she nodded that she knew the location. He turned back to Diego to have him count the paper money out in his hand and then he put it deep in his pocket.

  With a nod, Slocum thanked the man. “I’ll be in touch or send Consuelo to tell you what has happened.”

  Diego smiled. “She is prettier than you are anyway. Good luck. I will see the bishop this afternoon for you about the women.”

  They left his warehouse and rode back to her place after reading the sign on the attorney’s door: BE BACK LATER TODAY.

  “Well, all we can do now is wait. Maybe both this lawyer Golden and Diego will help us enough that we can confront Proctor and collect the ransom money. Plus get those two women out of their confinement. It’s a big mess.”

  At Consuelo’s place, they unsaddled their horses and put them in the corral. Then she hurried him into the casa.

  “Good. Finally I have you to myself. Get undressed, hombre. We have some catching up to do.”

  He kicked his boots off, then shed his pants, shirt, and long johns. The radiant heat from the fireplace warmed his bare skin. He hung his gun belt on the ladder-back chair so it was handy.

  Consuelo had already thrown off her clothes and was waiting in the bed, naked, for him. As he approached, she scooted over to make room for him and held up the covers. Her skin felt warm against his as they faced each other and kissed, getting snuggly with each other. Then he fed on her hard teacup breasts under the covers.

  With soft moans coming from her mouth, Consuelo writhed in pleasure. Her hips would hardly stay down as his hungry attention feasted on the rock-hard nipples. His hand ran down over her taut stomach muscles and through the pubic nest until she opened for him, to allow for his two-finger entry through the lips of her vagina. Their breathing grew wilder and she was near mad with need when he climbed over her legs and rose up on his knees. He shoved the head of his iron dick into her gates, easy-like at first. With a gasp, she clawed her nails on his back and he thrust deep inside her. They were a perfect fit, and the contractions inside her welcoming warmth proved to be fierce.

  Her fervor in having sex sent him spinning out of control. The ropes under the bed squeaked and strained as he plunged in and out. When he came at last, he grasped the cheeks of her ass, pushed all the way to the end of her inner walls, and exploded. Consuelo screamed as she came with him, and together they soared like two eagles, higher and higher to the edge of the sky. And when he’d emptied himself inside her and her pulsing ceased, they floated downward, exhausted, back to earth.

  Consuelo closed her eyes as her breathing slowed. They were both drenched in sweat. Slocum smiled down at her, but she was so weak that she only sighed and snuggled up against him.

  Holding her against his body, he rocked her and kissed her face. Soon he kissed her lips gently. Finally he raised her chin with the side of his fist. “You’re a hell of a woman, Consuelo. Some man in Santa Fe will be lucky to have you.”

  “Someday perhaps,” she murmured, as if drifting off to sleep. “But as long as you are here, I’m yours . . . and you’ll all mine.”

  11

  Later in the day, Slocum rode into town, went to the butcher, and bought some fresh-cut steaks, along with two bottles of red wine from a nearby store. Most of his pain from the beating was gone. After he returned to the casa, dismounted, and handed Consuelo his purchases, she kissed him and ran inside to start cooking. He put up the horse in her pen. So far, things were going according to plan. But getting justice for the Proctor sisters was his next wish. And if the lawyer could get the judge to release their mother, things would be even better.

  A man with his sombrero in his hands came politely to Consuelo’s door after dark and asked for Slocum.

  “What is it?” Slocum asked.

  “Señor Frisco said to tell you that the one you talked about today is dead.”

  Slocum wanted to ask him how but instead thanked him for the message. “Also tell Frisco thanks for me.”

  The man nodded and hurried off.

  “Sanchez?” Consuelo asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Come eat. The steak is ready and I have some baked yams with brown sugar and cinnamon on them.”

  “Oh, how nice.” He hugged her. All Proctor had left were his house guards. He would clamp down on him soon.

  First he needed Golden to get Proctor’s wife, Camilla, out of the insane asylum. That might take some time. Courts worked slowly, but maybe with people standing up for her, it might move faster.

  * * *

  Two days later Slocum rode into town for a meeting with Fred Golden. According to the young lawyer, the judge’s own wife ordered him to get Camilla released as soon as possible. Slocum told him that the trader Diego was going to talk to the bishop about getting Proctor’s daughters released.

  “Damn. You have a lot of things going on,” Golden said, sounding impressed. “The word is out that someone destroyed Proctor’s army.”

  “They won’t bother you if you’re concerned.”

  Golden smiled. “I’m not but it is funny. Proctor may realize that his position is not so secure here much longer. We have a hearing on Friday for his wife’s release. There are ten prominent women willing to testify that Camilla is not crazy.”

  “Have you talked to her personally?”

  “Yes. And I ordered a new dress for her to appear in. I also told her that you were heading this campaign and how much you had done for her and the daughters. She’s anxious to thank you.”

  “I’m not so concerned about being thanked as much as I am to have her free. We may need to sue Proctor to get him to support her and his daughters.”

  “Get ready.” Golden smiled. “I want that cheap son of a bitch to squeal like a pig caught under a gate. I think we can make that happen. It would have been cheaper for him to have paid you the ransom in the first place.”

  “A lot cheaper.”

  Slocum then went to see Diego at his warehouse. When he walked into the man’s office, Diego jumped up, looking relieved. “I have been trying to find you for twenty-four hours. You will need a buckboard to go pick up the older girl. Her sister, Katrina, wishes to stay at the convent, but Elania is anxious to leave as soon as you can get there.”

  “Wonderful. There’s no need for a buckboard. She can ride double on my horse. Where is the convent at?”

  “Ten miles up the Taos Road. The head of the order knows you will be coming.”

  “I’ll go right away.”

  “Where will you take her?”

  “Maybe she can stay with a man I know.”

  Slocum left the warehouse and rode to the square. He slipped into Golden’s office. The young man looked up.

  “Slocum, you’re back?”

  “Do you have a wife or mistress?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Elania Proctor will need a place to stay when she leaves the convent. Can I count on you?”

  Golden nodded like he understood. “I can learn more about her father’s business from her, can’t I?”

  “Yes, I guess you could.”

  “I’ll be ready for her arrival.”

  “I should be back by tomorrow.”

  “Slocum? Thanks for your help.”

  He left on the run, got his horse, and rode north. The weather was cool, but not cold. He found the convent and dismounted, then knocked on the door.

  He waited for someone to answer, was tempted
to knock again, but then he waited.

  Finally a woman answered the door and said, “Yes, sir?” He’d expected a big broad-shouldered cow of a nun to answer. Instead he was greeted by a short pretty woman carrying a candle holder.

  He removed his hat. “I’m John Slocum. I’m here to get Elania Proctor.”

  “Oh, yes, Señor Slocum. I will tell her you are here.”

  She never invited him inside and closed the great door. No problem. Maybe men were not allowed inside. He didn’t know what was proper for such a place. He waited in the starlight and glanced around.

  The longer he stood there, the more he wondered if he was alone. His horse acted interested in something and had tried to turn around at the rack where he’d hitched him. He felt for the Colt on his side. He wished they would hurry up. He hadn’t noticed anyone following him—but if they knew his destination, they would not need to follow him closely.

  Elania soon appeared with a small bundle and dressed in a long wool coat.

  “Thank you, sister,” Slocum said to the nun who’d delivered her.

  “How are we getting back to Santa Fe?” Elania asked him.

  “On my horse. But I think we’ll have company. I didn’t notice anyone behind me, but the horse acts like something is out there.” He undid the reins and stepped into the saddle, then reached down for her to catch his arm so he could toss her behind him. “Be ready for a rough ride if we have to make a run for it.”

  She hugged his waist. “I can’t even believe this is happening.”

  He swung the horse around and headed for the back of the large building. For an instant he thought he heard someone shout. He rounded the back of the large dark structure and headed for the junipers. In an instant, the sounds of angry mounted horsemen came after them, but he and Elania were already deep in the cover.

  After stopping his horse, he set her down. Off the horse himself, he took his rifle out of its scabbard and had her hold the horse and quiet him down. Their pursuers had gone past them, but he could still hear them.

  “Who are they?” she whispered. “My father’s army?”