“I guess if you’re a star you don’t have to work so much,” Cody grinned. Then he glanced toward the deck that held the staterooms and shook his head. “No, that’s not right. Everybody works—even Colonel Cody.” He stood there silently, enjoying the roll of the ship as it chugged through the water. “I always liked boats. Planned to run away from home when I was fifteen and go to sea. Never made it though.”
Sam straightened his back wearily and groaned, “I guess we better get to bed. I found out we’ll be unloading tomorrow at Cairo, Illinois.”
“How long will we be there?” Cody asked. He had worked mostly with the horses and had made a good impression on the horse handlers as a whole.
Sam grimaced. “One day—and then we get to do this all over again. Sometimes it makes me wish I hadn’t decided to see this here country!”
The two broke off and found their places, which amounted to two bed rolls thrown on some straw down behind the area that held the stock. They went to sleep instantly and only awoke when the hands began groaning and calling to one another a little after sunup. Wearily they got to their feet, brushed the straw out of their hair, and then discovered that breakfast was available. Making their way to one of the dining rooms where the hired hands ate in shifts, they downed a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, grits, pancakes, and mugs of black coffee. Afterward, they went up on the deck, to the bow this time, and watched the Dixie Queen as it forged downriver. As they stood there, one of the cowboys, whose name they couldn’t remember, came up. “I’m Con Groner,” he said, nodding his head. “Your name’s Logan, I hear.”
“That’s right. Jim Logan.” Cody shrugged his shoulders. “All my life, I wished I had a good name, like Duke, or Studs, something better than Jim, and something better than Logan, too.”
“Well, a man hasn’t got much say about a name—unless he changes it,” said Groner as he stood there.
Cody remarked lightly that he was likely to do that someday just to get rid of it, then stood there talking to Groner, who seemed interested in the pair. Sam quickly took over and began describing some of his adventures in the past, and Groner listened patiently. “Where you from, Logan?”
Instantly Cody said, “Grew up in Kansas, flattest place on the face of the earth.” He began putting Kansas down, saying, “The best thing would be to dig a hole and make a lake out of it. Then all the dirt next door would be a mountain.” Groner smiled briefly, inquired about his family, then moved away.
“A little too curious, ain’t he, Cody?”
“Oh, just friendly, I guess,” answered Cody, leaning on the rail. The two moved around the ship, fascinated by it, for neither of them had ever been on a large riverboat.
Finally, at noon they pulled into Cairo, and Buffalo Bill appeared, his big voice booming: “All right, let’s get this stock unloaded!” He spotted the two and said, “Can’t think of your names.” When they told him, he nodded and said, “You give a hand with the horses and the buffalo.” His eyes were thoughtful as he studied Cody, and he asked, “You making it all right so far?”
“Sure,” Cody said quickly. “Been wanting to thank you for the job.”
Buffalo Bill grinned, then inquired, “You’ve known Miss Laurie a long time, I take it?”
“Oh, for a while,” Cody shrugged evasively. “Our folks were close to each other.”
The bearded showman nodded thoughtfully, then moved away yelling directions to the stock handlers. Cody went to help unload the stock, while Sam was recruited by Johnny Baker to help with the equipment.
“These hosses don’t like boats,” Buck Bronson complained mournfully. He towered over Cody but seemed friendly enough.
Cody grinned at him. “Well, if they give us any trouble, you can just pick one up and carry him off, Buck. You’re big enough to do it.”
Bronson laughed heartily and shook his head. “I hope it don’t come to that, Logan.” Staring across the runway he added, “I guess everybody’s out of the way. We can get these hosses and buffalo off now.”
Several of the cowboys helped, but others had gone ahead, so they were shorthanded. Cody had been given a small bay named Jack, and it was a pleasure to be in the saddle again. He slapped the horse on the neck, then whispered, “Come on, Jack. We’re gonna be real close.”
He rode the horse off the gangplank, then stood waiting as the rest of the animals were led out. Some of the horses stepped off steadily. One or two, apparently new at this, were wild-eyed and jittery. When they were all finally disembarked, half of the crew left.
Buck groaned mournfully, “Now them blasted woollies! Sometimes I wish every one of them buffalo would drop dead!” He glanced over at Cody, saying, “Watch yourself, Logan. They either don’t cause no trouble at all, or they don’t do nothin’ else.”
Cody, who had never seen a buffalo at close range, was fascinated by the huge animals. They moved forward, prodded by cowboys, and seemed placid enough. Then, as the last of them stepped off, one of them, a huge bull, suddenly snorted fiercely and plunged away.
“Look out! Old Thunder’s loose!” somebody cursed. The animal was picking up speed, and without thinking, Cody whipped the lariat from off the saddle and spurred Jack forward, whispering, “Come on, boy—” Before the horse had gone two paces, Cody had made a loop. Two more paces and he flipped the noose in between the front legs of the huge buffalo, then took two quick turns of the lariat around the saddle horn. The buffalo stepped into it, and Cody’s horse was yanked forward as the huge bull hit the end. The beast turned one flip and landed heavily on the ground with an audible grunt. Buck went forward at once and threw his rope so the animal was snug by the neck. Con Groner did the same. Cody slipped off his horse and waited to see if his mount was trained to hold. When he discovered he was, he moved forward, removed the loop, and hastily stepped away from the buffalo. “Okay, let him up.”
When the animal was up on his feet and had tried the ropes a couple of times, he went along placidly enough. Johnny Baker, who was called the Cowboy Kid, was standing there with Buffalo Bill himself. The two had been talking about the show, apparently, and now Baker said, “That’s a pretty neat trick. Seen some good ropers, but nothin’ to beat that.”
Buffalo Bill nodded in agreement. “Anybody can drop a loop over a critter’s head, but to grab one foreleg—” He shook his head and asked suddenly, “Did you do that on purpose, Logan? Or was it just an accident?”
Cody pulled his rope in, made a loop, and said, “I usually catch what I want to.”
Buffalo Bill instantly said, “Catch Buck’s hat, then.” He nodded toward the huge cowboy who had started away, leading Thunder. And at once, almost instantly, the rope snaked out of Cody’s hand, forming a very small loop. It closed around the hat, and Cody jerked it off with a flick of his wrist.
“Hey!” Buck shouted. He turned around and saw the owner of the show and Johnny Baker laughing at him.
Cody retrieved the hat, dusted it off, and spurred forward. “The boss wanted me to show off a little. You’re not sore, are you, Buck?”
“No. That’s a pretty good trick. Maybe you’d better give me a few pointers. But mostly I think I’d rather shoot ’em than put a rope on ’em.”
Cody laughed and turned, then heard his name being called. Buffalo Bill gestured to him, and he spurred Jack back to stand beside the two. “You know any tricks with that rope of yours?” said Bill, looking up at the young man.
“A few,” Cody shrugged.
“Well,” Buffalo Bill said quickly, “we’ve got to get this show on the road, into Cairo, and set up. But I want to talk to you later. Maybe we can use you in the show.”
“All right,” Cody said and turned. Wouldn’t it be something, he thought, if I turned out to be a star!
The rest of the day went by like a blur. Cody learned more about how to move the stock around. Timing was everything, and he had to learn when to take them into the arena and when to retrieve them. He even took part in a fake stage robbery as on
e of the hold-up men with a handkerchief across his nose, firing blank bullets. He enjoyed it tremendously, and when the show was over, he joined in the arduous labor of breaking the show down. It was after three o’clock before they had gotten all the stock and equipment back on the Dixie Queen. Sam went to bed at once, but the excitement of the day had awakened Cody. He had the unusual ability of staying up all night and never seemed to miss the sleep—though two nights in a row gave him problems. He walked around the deck, enjoying the silence as the boat slid along the brown water, and was startled when a voice close beside him said, “Hi, Jim.”
He turned and saw Leona Aimes in the darkness. She came out of the shadow of the bulkhead to stand beside him, leaning on the rail. “How do you like it?”
“Like it? Like what?”
“Traveling with the show.” Then she laughed, a pleasing, musical laugh. “I guess it’s nothing more than hard work unless you’ve got an act.”
Cody ordinarily would have said little, but the day had excited him and he began to talk to her. She was a pretty girl, on the verge of beauty. Her best feature was a pair of bold green eyes—which she knew how to use on men effectively. Cody could see them faintly by the glow of the light from the pilothouse. “Maybe I’ll be a star,” he shrugged with a grin. “Colonel Cody wants me to do a little fancy roping.”
Leona leaned closer to him so that her arm pressed against his. She smiled up at him and said, “Can I have your autograph, Mr. Logan?”
He laughed, and for the next ten minutes the two stood there chatting. He soon discovered that she’d had a hard life, and only when she had found her place in the show had she had any kind of security. The talk of her past seemed to trouble her, and she veered the conversation away from it.
Cody said, “I guess it’s late. I better get some sleep.”
“You can sleep when you’re old,” she said. “Besides, we won’t have to get up till noon tomorrow if we don’t want to. We’re headed straight for New Orleans, and that’ll take a couple of days.” She put her hand on his arm and stroked it, the touch of it running through him. “What’s the matter? You don’t like to talk to me?”
Cody was uncertain of himself. Some women he knew about—but this one was a puzzle. She caught his glance and was pleased to have his attention. She was a woman who had to have the notice of men, and her lips were soft as she smiled up at him. “You’re trying to figure me out, aren’t you, Jim? Nothing complicated about me—I’m just a woman who intends to have a good time. That’s what life’s all about, isn’t it?”
“Well, I guess there might be a little more to it than that,” Cody said wryly. “Like work, doing your job, things like that.”
“Time to think about that later,” she said. She had a way of looking up at a man and parting her lips slightly. She made an enticing picture and knew it. When she saw the look he gave her, she laughed. “I’m bold, aren’t I?” Her grip tightened on his arm, and she demanded softly, “Why is it all right for a man to chase a woman—but not the other way around?”
“Just the way it is, I guess,” said Cody, feeling a bit awkward.
“Not with me.” She looked up at him again, reached up, and stroked his cheek. “When I like a man, I like him, Jim.”
Cody was alarmed and tried to make a joke out of it. “You remember,” he smiled, “I’ve seen you shoot, Leona. I guess if a man got out of line, you’d shoot him.”
Leona reached over and pulled him around till he faced her. “Well,” she whispered, “we won’t know until you try it, will we?”
And without another word, she reached out, put her hands behind his neck, and pulled him down, kissing him firmly. She pressed her body against him, and almost involuntarily his arms went around her, and for a moment the two clung together. Despite her boldness, there was a softness and a freshness about her lips, and yet at the same time he knew that she had her desires even as he had his. Finally, she pulled her head back. An enigmatic smile curved her lips, and her eyes were half-shut. “Wait till we get to New Orleans. I’ll show you the town.”
She smiled, then turned and left the deck. She went at once to her stateroom, which she shared with Laurie, and began undressing. Laurie was already in bed, reading as usual. “That old friend of yours—Jim Logan?” she said as she slipped out of her clothes and pulled on a pink silk nightgown. “He knows a little something about women.”
Abruptly Laurie laid the book down flat and stared across at Leona, who was brushing her hair. “How do you know that?” she demanded a little more loudly than she had planned. Leona turned and looked at her, the corners of her lips turned up in a coy smile. “How would I know? He kissed me. That’s the way you tell about a man, isn’t it, Laurie?”
When she saw the look on Laurie’s face, she laughed, came over, and ruffled her hair. “You’re going to be an old maid if you don’t wake up, Laurie. There’s more to life than riding around on the back of a horse.”
She slipped into bed and closed her eyes. The last thing she said before dropping off to sleep was, “I told Logan I’d show him the town when we get to New Orleans. That ought to be interesting . . .”
Laurie sat there, saying nothing. Finally she turned the lamp down, then lay down again, pulling the covers over her head. She was displeased and did not know why she should be so strongly stirred. I ought to know that Leona is going to try every man she sees, she thought. But she could not manage to put it out of her mind. Finally, she dozed off to sleep, thinking about the two up on the deck.
****
The next day, Cody noticed that Laurie’s manner was stiff, and she seemed to be avoiding him. He and Sam walked around the boat as usual, slept a great deal, had three good meals, and at dusk, after finishing another excellent meal, he came up on the deck. Several men were standing in the bow, so he went to the stern, watching the paddles churn the water into a lusty white froth. He wasn’t thinking of anything in particular as he stood there, just enjoying the cold breeze and the sense of being free, when he saw Laurie headed down the deck. He called to her, “Laurie—?”
Laurie glanced up quickly, and he thought for a moment that she would leave. Instead she came to him. “Hello, Jim,” she said, then shook her head and frowned. “Hard to call you that.”
“A lot safer, though.” They stood there for a few moments and finally Cody said, “What’s wrong, Laurie? Are you sore at me about something?”
“Why should I be?”
He peered at her as the last rays of light from the sun seemed to melt into the river. “I don’t know. I thought I’d done something.”
Laurie turned, and he saw the flash of anger in her dark eyes. “If I were you,” she said, “I don’t think I’d get too close to some of the people in the show.”
“What does that mean?” he asked in surprise.
“It means . . .” She stopped and realized what she was about to say and how it would sound. She clamped her lips together, shook her head, and he stood watching her helplessly. “I—I guess it’s none of my business, but Leona—well, I’ve known her for quite a while now, and I ought to warn you that she never sticks with a man.”
He suddenly understood that she had seen him on the deck, with the girl. Either that or else Leona had told her about their meeting. Instantly, he said, “That doesn’t matter, Laurie. The way I am, I’ll never have any long-term relationships with a woman, anyway.”
His comment caught her off guard. It displeased her, too, and she turned to leave. He reached out and took her arm. “I know you’re just looking out for me, and I appreciate it. But you don’t have to worry about that.”
They began walking back toward the stern and had almost reached the door leading to the stateroom deck. Suddenly Cody felt that something was dreadfully wrong. He grabbed her arm and held her. “What is it?” she asked, startled.
Cody didn’t answer for a moment, then he threw his hand up and pointed. “Look at that light up there. Isn’t that another ship?”
Laurie looked up and was shocked to see the vague outlines of another vessel dead ahead. “They’re going to hit us!” she cried out. “Is the captain blind?”
Helplessly they stood watching the two ships close on each other. At the last moment, the captain apparently spotted the boat and tried to turn away, but it was too late. The two crafts met with a rending crash, and a jarring so abrupt that if Cody had not caught Laurie with one hand and the railing with the other hand, they would have fallen. The sound of the crashing continued, and the Dixie Queen raised up to port from the shock. When it settled down, Cody yelled, “We’re gonna sink, Laurie! No boat can take a lick like that!”
Instantly Laurie cried out, “I’ve got to get to Star!” She wheeled and ran toward the section that held the stock, with Cody following her closely.
Even as they dashed along the deck, wild cries of fear began to pierce the night air. Almost at once the deck was filled with people who came scrambling out to see what the trouble was. The two boats circled each other, the pilots and the crew cursing violently, until finally the two separated as they were dragged downstream by the current.
When they reached the hold where the horses were kept, Laurie started to enter, but Cody pulled her back. “You stay here! I’ll get your horse.”
He grabbed a rope that lay beside the gate and slipped the lock. As he moved inside, he was driven up against the barrier by a wild-eyed pinto. Pain shot along his back, and he heard Laurie crying out. “Stay back, Laurie!” he yelled. “When I get Star to the gate, open it.”
Laurie strained her eyes but could see only the moving shapes of the terrified horses. Finally a taller form appeared, and she made out Cody on the back of Star. She slipped the bolt, opened the door, and as soon as they were clear, slammed the door and fastened it.
“Can you swim?” Cody asked as he slipped off the horse.
“No. Can you?”
“Not a lick. We’ll have to hope this thing comes into shore. If we go down, get in the saddle and guide him to the bank. Never saw a horse that couldn’t swim!”
The Jeweled Spur Page 20