Fort Revenge
Page 8
“How long will it take us?”
“If we push it, a day.”
“Well then,” Clint said, “let’s really push it.”
THIRTY
While Gene, Joe, and Brett got the horses ready to travel, Gabe went and talked to Andy James, Ty Walker, and the others.
“Keep somebody on lookout the whole time,” he told them. “When Heck Thomas shows up, take care of him.”
“It’ll be our pleasure,” Ty said.
“After that, follow us.”
“Is your Wolf Clan family gonna welcome us with open arms?” Andy asked. “We don’t wanna get shot up by a bunch of Cherokee.”
“Don’t worry,” Gabe said. “I’ll have the way cleared by the time you get there.”
“And what are we gonna do after that?” Andy asked. “Live with the Cherokee for the rest of our lives?”
“No,” Gabe said, “it’ll only be temporary.”
“You got a plan, boss?” one of the others asked.
Gabe looked over at the man and said, “Don’t I always have a plan?”
“Yeah, boss, you do.”
Gabe slapped Andy on the shoulder and said, “See ya.”
Clint and Heck rode most of the day without rest until Heck called their progress to a halt.
“What is it?”
“Black Hawk Lake is just ahead,” Heck said. “If they’re camped near it, they’re bound to have someone on watch.”
“So we go on foot from here,” Clint said.
“Right.”
They dismounted, secured their horses. Heck tied his to a bush while Clint simply dropped Eclipse’s reins to the ground.
“You think that’ll keep him here?” Heck asked.
“He won’t move until I say so, unless he has to defend himself.”
Heck simply shrugged, jerked on his own mount’s reins to make sure they wouldn’t pull loose.
“Let’s spread out,” Heck suggested. “I’ll go this way, you go that way. If we see somethin’ we’ll meet back here.”
“If we don’t see something, we’ll meet back here, anyway,” Clint said.
“Smart guy,” Heck said. “See you back here in about ten minutes.”
Clint moved to his left, up and over a rise, then along a ridge, keeping as low as he could. There was enough cover from brush and rocks, so he was able to move along pretty easily, keeping his eyes open for any sign of life. Finally, at one point, he smelled smoke. He move around a bend, found himself moving away from the lake itself until he saw the smoke and a shack.
Keeping his head down, he counted three men around a fire. He was betting there was a fourth somewhere, probably on lookout. Nearby, he saw some horses picketed and counted four. He turned and started to retrace his steps.
When he got back to the horses, Heck Thomas was there waiting.
“I spotted one,” Heck said. “He’s the lookout, but he didn’t see me. Some lookout.”
“I saw the other three, sitting around a fire,” Clint said. “They’re close enough to the lake to use it for water but they’re not camped out on shore. They’re near a small shack.”
“Anybody in the shack?”
“I didn’t see anyone,” Clint said. “I guess there could be somebody inside, but I only saw four horses.”
“Okay,” Heck said, “let’s figure there’s only four of them.”
“You want to take the lookout first?” Clint asked.
“That’s what I was thinkin’.”
“You take him and I’ll take the other three?” Clint offered.
“Hell, no,” Heck said. “I don’t want you to have all the fun. Besides, I’m the one wearin’ the badge, remember ? You move up on them and they’ll probably just start shootin’ .”
“And you think your badge glinting in the sun is going to keep them from firing?” Clint asked. “That’s just going to give them a good target.”
“Fine,” Heck said. “I’ll put my badge in my pocket, but we’ll take the lookout together and then take the other three together.”
“Okay,” Clint said. “It’s your call, Heck.”
“We need to take the first one quietly,” Heck said.
“You got a plan on how to do that?” Clint asked.
“Of course I have a plan,” Heck said. “What kind of lawman would I be if I didn’t have a plan?”
“Excuse me for asking,” Clint said.
“Now, here’s my plan . . .”
THIRTY-ONE
Clint mounted Eclipse and rode him around to the left, over to where Heck said the lookout was stationed. The plan was for Clint to distract the man long enough for Heck to get behind him. They just had to hope that the man wouldn’t fire first and ask questions later.
Clint only had to ride a few hundred feet before he saw the man, sitting on top of a boulder. He held his breath as he rode to within range of the man’s rifle.
The man acted as if he was suddenly startled. His head jerked up, and then he jumped to his feet, his rifle ready.
“Hold on, there!” he called.
Clint reined in.
“You talking to me?” he asked.
“Yeah,” the man said, “who the hell are you?”
“Who the hell are you?” Clint retorted.
“I’m the guy with a rifle pointed at you, mister,” the man said. “You ain’t law, are you?”
“Law?” Clint asked, sitting up straight. “Do you see a badge?”
“I don’t see no badge, but that don’t mean nothin’,” the man said.
They sat there in silence for a few moments, forcing Clint to wonder where Heck was?
“You want to make a move here, friend?” Clint asked.
“I should shoot you right outta your saddle,” the man with the rifle said.
“Go ahead,” Clint invited him. “Take your best shot.”
He was about to draw on the man when Heck clubbed him over the head from behind. The man tumbled from the boulder and hit the ground very hard.
Clint dismounted and went to check on the man. He looked up as Heck joined him.
“He’s dead,” Clint said.
“I didn’t hit him that hard,” Heck said.
“No, he broke his neck when he hit the ground.”
“Didn’t mean to knock him off, either,” Heck said. “Just out.”
“Well,” Clint said, straightening, “he’s out. We better move on.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Clint could see Heck felt bad about killing the man.
“What about the other three?” he asked as they walked.
“What about them?”
“You want to try to take them alive?”
“Hell, no,” Heck said. “We could get killed tryin’ to do that. We’ll let them call it, although I would like to take at least one alive so he could tell us where the others are.”
“If there are others,” Clint said. “And if these are even Colter’s men.”
“Well,” Heck said, “we’ll just have to find out.”
“Okay,” Andy James said, getting up from the fire, “I’ll go and relieve Dennis.”
“Yeah, okay,” Ty Walker said.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Andy asked. “You look like somebody shot your dog.”
“I don’t like the waitin’,” Ty said. “I want somethin’ to happen.”
“Well,” Andy said, “it will, as soon as Heck Thomas gets here.”
“Yeah, well,” Ty said, “I ain’t so crazy about killing a lawman, either.”
“Shoulda said somethin’ to Gabe about that,” the other man said. “Before he left.”
“Look,” Andy said, “when the deputy gets here, he ain’t gonna give us much choice, anyway. He’s gonna try to take us, so we’ll have to take him first. That’s all there is to it.”
“You think we can?” Ty asked. “He’s got hisself a big rep for a reason.”
“Well, there’s four of us and one of him,” Andy
pointed out.
“Yeah, but like I said,” Ty repeated, “he’s got a big rep for a reason.”
“His big rep ain’t gonna help him much, Ty,” Andy said. “Not against the four of us. Just relax, huh? Have a drink.”
The other man, Dolworth, took a swig from a whiskey bottle and held it out to Ty.
“Naw,” Ty said, “I wanna be real alert when he shows up.”
“Suit yourself,” Dolworth said.
“Like I said, Ty,” Andy said, “just relax. It’s gonna go just like we planned.”
“Yeah,” Ty said.
Andy looked at Dolworth and shook his head, then turned and went to relieve Ralph Dennis.
THIRTY-TWO
Clint and Heck worked their way around the lake to where the men were squatted by their fire.
“I see two,” Heck said.
“Then we’re in luck,” Clint said.
“How do you figure?” Heck asked. “The other one is probably in the shack.”
“I was thinking he went to relieve the other one,” Clint said.
“Well, when he sees him dead—”
“—he might think he fell off that boulder all by himself.”
“Well, we better stop talkin’ about it and make a move,” Heck said.
“We can get around behind them,” Clint said.
“One behind, one in front, I say,” Heck said. “If we surprise them from behind they might go for their guns.”
“Okay,” Clint said, “who’s in front?”
“Me,” Heck said. “It’s my arrest.”
“Okay,” Clint said. “Give me two minutes and then step out in front of them.”
“Right.”
When Andy got to the lookout point, he frowned because he didn’t see Dennis up on the boulder.
“Dennis!” he called. “Hey, Ralph? Where the hell are ya?”
No answer.
He climbed up onto the boulder so he could get a look around. He didn’t see the body immediately because it was directly below him. When he did finally look straight down, he swore. “Damn it!”
He moved down to the body, bent over it, and saw that Dennis was dead. His rifle was lying on the ground next to him. Andy studied the body for a few moments, looked up at the boulder. He supposed Dennis could have lost his footing and fallen. On the other hand, somebody could have sneaked up behind and knocked him off.
Dennis’s hat was a few feet away. Could have fallen off during the fall, but... Andy examined the top of Dennis’s head, and then the back. He found what felt like a bump.
He turned and started running back to the camp. That was when he heard the shots.
Heck gave Clint his two minutes, then stepped out in front of the two men.
“What the hell—” Ty Walker said.
“Who the hell are you?” Dolworth demanded as both men stood up.
“Hang on a second,” Heck said, holding his hand out to them.
He dug his badge out of his shirt pocket and pinned it back on.
“There ya go,” he said.
“Lawman!” Dolworth said.
“Deputy Heck Thomas, at your service, boys,” Heck said.
“Jesus!” Ty said.
“Don’t go for your guns,” Heck said.
“Why not?” Dolworth said.
“Because I didn’t come alone.”
“He’s lyin’,” Ty Walker said. “Take him!”
Both men drew.
While Andy James was running back to camp, he heard the volley of shots, and then it got quiet. Abruptly, he stopped running.
What should he do? Keep going or light out? He wouldn’t get far on foot. He needed his horse, and that meant going back to camp.
He started up again, gun in hand, but more slowly.
Clint and Heck checked the two men.
“Dead,” Clint said.
He shot one, and Heck shot the other one.
“I better check the shack, see if the other one’s there,” Heck said.
“I’ll watch and see if he comes running from the lookout point.”
Heck nodded, started toward the shack, keeping low in case somebody wanted to take a shot from the window.
There was one man left, and Clint knew they had to take him alive if they were going to get any information about the Colters and where they’d gone.
He heard someone coming and got ready to greet him.
THIRTY-THREE
When Andy saw the man standing at the fire, with the bodies of Dolworth and Walker at his feet, he stopped. He looked around, but didn’t see anyone else. Heck Thomas had already gone into the shack.
He didn’t see any badge on the man. He had probably come up behind the boys and killed them.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
“Take it easy,” Clint called. “Don’t do anything foolish.”
“Foolish?” Andy asked. “What’s foolish about killin’ you, which is what I’m about to do.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re covered from the window of that shack.”
Andy looked at the shack, didn’t see anything. He had his gun in his hand, pointed in Clint’s general direction.
“And second, I don’t think you’d be able to do it, anyway.”
“Who am I supposed be afraid of in that shack?” Andy asked.
“Deputy Heck Thomas.”
“Ha!” Andy said. “I’m supposed to believe Heck Thomas is here.”
“That’s right.”
“And who might you be?”
“Me?” Clint asked. “My name is Clint Adams.”
Andy paused. The gun in his hand lowered an inch.
“Clint Adams?” he asked. “The Gunsmith?”
“That’s right.”
Andy swallowed.
“You still want to make a play?” Clint asked.
Andy looked down at his gun, then dropped it as if it had become red-hot.
“No! No, no, no.”
“Good,” Clint said. “Then put your hands up.”
Andy obeyed.
“Heck!”
The shack door opened and Heck Thomas came out. He walked to the campfire, which was still burning brightly. There was a coffeepot on it.
“Coffee, anyone?” Heck asked.
They moved the two bodies, putting them inside the shack. Then the three of them sat around the fire with coffee cups in their hands.
“Those two,” Heck said, jerking his head toward the shack, “they didn’t give us much choice. But that other one, that was an accident. He fell. I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“So?” Andy asked. “You’re gonna kill me, ain’tcha?”
“No,” Heck said, “we’re not.”
“Would we give you coffee if we were going to kill you?” Clint asked.
“How do I know?” Andy asked.
“Well then,” Clint said, “drink it while it’s hot.”
“Is that it?” Andy asked. “When the coffee cools off, you kill me?”
“We’re not gonna kill you!” Heck said. “We just need some information from you.”
“What information?”
“Colter,” Clint said.
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb,” Heck said. “What’s your name?”
“Andy James.”
“And you ride with the Colter gang,” Clint said.
“Gabe, Joe, Brett, and Gene,” Heck said. “That’s who I want. Not you.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“Did you hear him?” Clint asked. “It’s not you he’s interested in. Once we know which way the Colters went, we’ll go after them. You’ll be on your own.”
Andy stared at Clint and Heck with distrust in his eyes.
“You ain’t gonna kill me?”
“No,” Heck said.
“And all I have to do is tell you where the Colter brothers went?”
“That’s rig
ht,” Clint said.
Andy James stared at them in turn, working the problem over.
“Heck, I get the feeling Andy here is not a great thinker,” Clint said.
“What?”
Heck sighed. “Then we need to put this another way.”
“I guess so, Clint.” said.
Heck drew his gun and pointed it at Andy James. “If you don’t tell us where the Colter brothers went,” he said, “I will kill you.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Clint and Heck stood by the fire and watched Andy James ride off.
“Think we should’ve let him go?” Heck asked.
“We told him we would if he talked,” Clint said.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“And he’s going in the opposite direction.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t double back.”
“Maybe,” Clint said. “But I think he was pretty scared.”
“Yeah, of you,” Heck said. “The Gunsmith.”
“You’re the one who said you’d kill him if he didn’t talk,” Clint said.
“And he did.”
Clint looked down at the fire and kicked some dirt on it.
“Might as well put this out and get going.”
They both kicked the fire to death, and then walked to their horses.
Along the way Heck said, “From the looks of the inside of the shack, I think they have a woman with them.”
“A woman?”
Clint nodded.
“The wife,” Clint said. “Gabe’s Cherokee wife.”
“No horse, though,” Heck said.
“So she must be riding double with him.”
Heck nodded. “That’ll slow them down.”
“Still,” Clint said, “they might have enough of a head start on us to reach the Wolf Clan before we catch up to them.”
“Yeah, they might,” Heck said. “So I guess we better get movin’ .”
They reached their horses and mounted up.
“East,” Heck said.
“Since Andy didn’t know where the Wolf Clan was camped, we’ll have to pick up their trail.”
“If they do get to the Wolf Clan camp before we catch them, this is going to be a lot harder.”