The Bandit Princess

by J. Roberts

  “Nobody here, Dave,” Randy said. “Why don’t we just ride on up to them and ask them where the hell they’ve been?”

  Dave stood in his stirrups and said, “No, Randy, not yet.”

  “Then whataya wanna do?”

  “We’ll ride just behind them, but not in a direct line. I don’t want them to be able to see us if they turn around.”

  “I don’t get it, Dave,” Randy said, shaking his head.

  “You don’t have to, kid,” Dave said. “Just do like I say, okay?”

  “Sure, Dave, sure,” Randy said, “whatever you say.”

  “Wait!” Clint said.

  Alice reined in.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  Clint was looking at the ground.

  “We’re crossing trails here.” He dismounted, got down on one knee. “Two more tracks.”

  “More of Pearl’s men?”

  “No way to tell,” he said, standing up, “but they’re not traveling together.”

  “Where did the other two go?” she asked.

  He pointed north. “That way.”

  “But our two are still going that way?” she asked, pointing.

  “Yes.”

  “Then we keep going?”

  “Yes,” he said, “but carefully. These other two could be watching. They might have been sent out to back up the other two.”

  Alice pointed and said, “So we may be watching them, but they may be watching us.”

  “Yes.”

  Clint mounted up again.

  “Interesting,” she said.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Clint and Alice followed the trail for another two hours. Each time she tried to speak, Clint shushed her quiet.

  “If there’s somebody riding along with us, watching us,” he told her at one point, “we might be able to hear them.”

  She listened intently from then on, but never heard anything.

  “We’re getting closer to them,” he said. “We might have to fall back or be seen.”

  Then he heard something.

  Dave said, “Stop.”

  Randy reined his horse in, looked at Dave.

  “What now?”

  “There,” Dave said, pointing.

  Dave and Randy were on a ridge. As Randy looked down, he saw the two riders.

  “Who’s that?” he asked.

  “Whoever they are, they’re tracking Del and Tate,” Dave said.

  “What did those two do now?”

  “Maybe nothin’,” Dave said. “These two might just be trying to find Pearl’s camp.”

  “Law?”

  “Maybe,” Dave said. “Can’t tell from here.”

  Randy drew his rifle.

  “We can take them from here,” he said.

  “Why?” Dave asked. “Maybe they’re just drifters.”

  “You don’t think that.”

  “No, I don’t,” Dave said. “Put your rifle away, Randy.”

  Randy did as he was told.

  “Now ride on home and tell Pearl she may be having company.”

  “And who should I say is comin’?” Randy said.

  Dave didn’t answer.

  “Come on, Dave,” Randy said, “you know somethin’, don’t ya?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Dave said. “Tell Pearl she may be getting’ a visit from the Gunsmith.”

  Randy stared, then pointed and asked, “That’s the Gunsmith?”

  “Clint Adams himself.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’ve met him before.”

  “When?”

  “When I was riding with Belle.”

  “So he knows Belle?”

  “He does.”

  “And Pearl?”

  “Maybe,” Dave Slaughter said, “but not for a very long time.”

  Randy stared down at the Gunsmith and the girl riding with him.

  “Who’s she?”

  “Don’t know,” Dave said, “but I’ll find out. Meanwhile, you ride for Pearl. Go right by Del and Tate and don’t talk to them.”

  “Why not?”

  “I want Adams to keep trailing them.”

  “Dave . . . I don’t understand.”

  “No, ya don’t,” Dave said. “But then again, you don’t have to.”

  TWENTY-NINE

  “Rider,” Clint said, pulling back on Eclipse’s reins.

  “Where?” Alice asked.

  Clint hesitated, then looked to the right. There was a rider coming down from a ridge, heading toward them.

  “There,” he said, pointing.

  Alice grabbed for her gun.

  “No,” Clint said, “don’t draw your gun.”

  “Why not? We don’t know who he is.”

  “He looks familiar,” Clint said, squinting. And as the rider came closer, he looked even more familiar.

  “Wait a minute . . .” Clint said.

  “You know him?” she asked.

  “I believe I do,” he said. “Don’t draw your gun unless I do, understand?”

  “Of course I understand,” she said. “I’ve understood from the beginning.”

  “Good,” Clint said, still watching the man. When he got close enough, Clint said, “Ah . . .”

  “What?” Alice asked.

  “Hello, Dave,” Clint said.

  The man rode up on them with a smile on his face. He was fifty or so, his face heavily lined, scarred, and brown from the sun.

  “Alice Eads, meet Dave Slaughter.”

  “Clint Adams,” Slaughter said. “It’s been a long time.” He looked at Alice. “Hello, ma’am.”

  “Mr. Slaughter.”

  Slaughter’s eyes fell on her badge.

  “Excuse me,” he said, “Deputy Marshal Eads.” He looked at Clint. “What brings you here, Adams?”

  “We’re hunting,” Clint said.

  “Who?”

  “Two men,” Clint said. “All I know is their names are Del and Tate. Know ’em?”

  “Can’t say I do,” Dave said. “What did they do?”

  “Not sure,” Clint lied. “All we know is that Judge Parker sent us after them.”

  “Parker?” Dave said. “Are you a deputy in Parker’s court?”

  “No,” Clint said, “Parker was a little short of deputies, so I agreed to ride with Deputy Eads, but I don’t wear a badge. What about you? Still riding with Belle Starr?”

  “Belle,” Dave said. “I haven’t seen her since Sam was killed. She just . . . disappeared.”

  “So what’ve you been doing?”

  Dave shrugged.

  “Ridin’ alone,” Dave said. “Wanderin’.”

  “Far as I can remember, you never ride alone, Dave,” Clint said.

  Dave Slaughter shrugged.

  “People change,” he said. “After Belle, who would I ride with?”

  “How about Pearl?”

  “Pearl,” Dave said as if he hadn’t heard the name in years. “She’d be . . . she’s still a kid.”

  “A kid with a gang,” Clint said.

  “Her own gang?” Dave asked, “Who’d follow a girl?”

  “A girl named Pearl Starr,” Clint said. “Belle Starr’s daughter. A lot of men would follow her.”

  Dave frowned at Clint.

  “Is that who you’re really trackin’?” he asked. “Pearl Starr and her gang?”

  “These two men might be part of her gang,” Clint admitted. “Maybe they’ll lead us to her.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t mind seein’ Pearl Starr myself,” Dave said. “Could you use another hand?”

  “Sure, Dave,” Clint said, not trusting the man at all, “why not?”

  THIRTY

  Clint, Alice, and Dave Slaughter continued to follow the trail left by Del and Tate. Dave marveled at the stupidity of the two men to get mixed up with the Gunsmith, and end up with him on their trail. Pearl was definitely going to have to replace the two of them. She couldn’t afford any more idiocy from them.

&nbs
p; Dave knew Clint Adams could easily have taken Del and Tate, even without the help of the lady deputy. But he wanted them to lead him to Pearl Starr.

  And so they would.

  Randy rode back into camp alone. Pearl and Hunter Holcomb came out of the house when they heard his horse approaching.

  “What the hell is he doin’ comin’ back alone?” Hunter asked.

  “I guess we’re about to find out,” Pearl said.

  Randy practically fell off his horse in front of Pearl.

  “What are you doin’ back alone, Randy?” Hunter asked. “Where’s Dave?”

  “Dave sent me back to tell Pearl somethin’,” Randy said, glaring at Hunter. His jealousy was like a fire in his belly.

  “Tell me what, Randy?” Pearl asked, stepping between the two men.

  “Dave says you’re gonna have company,” Randy said. “A man who’s trailing Del and Tate here.”

  “If you know there’s a man trailing them,” Hunter asked, “why didn’t the four of you take care of him?”

  “Dave didn’t wanna do it that way,” Randy said. “Plus, the man’s got another rider with him.”

  “Law?” Pearl asked.

  “Don’t know,” Randy said. “I think Dave was ridin’ down to talk to ’em.”

  “I don’t understand,” Hunter said. “Why would Dave send you back here to tell us that?”

  “To tell Pearl,” Randy said bluntly, “that the man is Clint Adams.”

  “The Gunsmith?” Hunter looked at Pearl. “What’s he doin’ comin’ here?”

  “I don’t know,” Pearl said. “He’s not law, and he knows my mother.”

  “So he’s what? Comin’ for a visit?”

  “I don’t know, Hunter,” Pearl said. “We’ll find out when he gets here.”

  “Why let him get here?” Hunter asked. “Why don’t we ride and take care of him? The six of us? Or if you don’t wanna go, the five of us can handle him.”

  “Five of you against the Gunsmith?” Pearl asked. “You think you got enough men?”

  Hunter started to answer, then stopped and looked at Randy.

  “Randy, wait over there. I want to talk to Pearl.”

  Randy looked at Pearl, who nodded. Grudgingly, Randy withdrew.

  “This is not about ego,” Hunter told Pearl. “I’m not gonna face the Gunsmith one-to-one to impress you. The five of us should ambush him and whoever’s with him and gun them down. Period.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t see any reason to kill Clint Adams.”

  Hunter stared at her.

  “When is the last time you saw him?”

  “Wow,” she said, “I musta been a kid.”

  “Were you impressed with him?”

  “I was a kid, Hunter,” she said. “I didn’t know nothin’ about him except that he was a man my mother knew.”

  “But you found out later, right?”

  “Sure,” she said. “How could I not? After all, he’s the Gunsmith.”

  “And you’re impressed?”

  “I respect him.”

  “And your mom?”

  “What about her?”

  “What was his relationship with her?”

  “You’d have to ask her.”

  “She’s not around.”

  Pearl shrugged.

  “Okay, so what do you wanna do?”

  “Wait.”

  “For what? For Adams to get here?”

  “Why not?”

  “Just wait,” he said. “Nothing else.”

  “Well, no . . . you could cook something.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Didn’t you hear?” she asked. “We’re gonna have guests.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  “Trail’s kinda clear,” Dave commented. “These guys are sloppy.”

  “They don’t know we’re here,” Alice Eads said.

  Dave looked her over.

  “How’d you get to be a deputy marshal, little lady?” he asked.

  “First,” she said, “I would like it if you didn’t call me ‘little lady.’ ”

  “I’m sorry,” Dave said, holding his hands up. “How’d you get to be a deputy, Deputy?”

  They were riding three abreast, with Dave in the center. This was by design and he knew it. Clint didn’t trust him.

  “Judge Parker saw the wisdom of having a female deputy,” Eads said.

  “And you’re the only one?”

  “So far.”

  “So he sent a female deputy to find a female criminal?”

  “Looks like it,” Eads said.

  “Whataya think about that, Adams?” Dave asked. “A woman with a badge.”

  “I’ve seen it before,” Clint said. “Usually takes a special kind of woman to wear a badge.”

  “So . . . she’s special?” Dave asked.

  “That’s right, Dave,” Clint sand, “the deputy is special.”

  Alice looked at Clint, wondering if he believed what he was saying.

  Tate and Del rode into camp with the packhorse dragging behind. Randy, Hunter, and Pearl were standing there, waiting. Tate had a bad feeling and looked at Del. He could tell his partner felt the same way. They were going to have to make their story good.

  “Hey, Pearl,” Tate said, “Hunter.”

  “Get the supplies unloaded,” Pearl said, “and then get back here.”

  “What’s goin’ on?” Del asked.

  “What’s goin’ on is that you two idiots are bein’ followed,” Hunter said.

  “Followed?” Del said. “What’re ya talkin’ about? We ain’t bein’—”

  “Followed by who?” Tate asked.

  “Clint Adams,” Pearl said.

  Tate and Del looked at her blankly.

  “The Gunsmith?” Hunter said. “Ever hear of him?”

  “H-How do you know he’s followin’ us?” Del asked.

  “Randy?” Pearl said.

  “Because Dave is followin’ him.”

  “What’s the Gunsmith look like?” Tate asked.

  Pearl looked at Hunter, who looked at Randy.

  “I ain’t seen him in a long time,” Pearl said. “Randy, you were with Dave when you both saw him, right?”

  “Right, and Dave knew who he was.”

  “So?” Hunter asked. “What does he looks like?”

  Randy shrugged and said, “A man on a horse, ridin’ with another man on a horse.”

  “The horse,” Tate said, “tell me about his horse.”

  “His horse?” Randy said.

  “Tell him about the horse, Randy,” Pearl said.

  “His horse,” Randy said, “is big, and black. Really big. And very black. Oh, except for a white blaze on the nose.”

  “Oh,” Tate said.

  He and Del exchanged a look.

  “What’s goin’ on, boys?” Pearl asked. “What’s that look for?”

  “Well . . .” Del said.

  Tate’s look hardened.

  “Tate!” Hunter said.

  “Yeah, okay,” Tate said. “We saw this horse in . . . we saw this horse, and I kinda . . . wanted it.”

  “So you tried to steal the Gunsmith’s horse?”

  “We didn’t know he was the Gunsmith.”

  “So what happened?” Pearl asked.

  “He caught us,” Tate said.

  “Wait a minute,” Hunter said. “He caught you stealin’ his horse . . . and he let you go?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s easy,” Pearl said. “So he could follow them.” She turned to Tate and Del. “Boys . . . where was this?”

  “Um, in town,” Del said.

  “What town?” Pearl asked.

  “Well . . .” Del said.

  “Tate?” Pearl asked gently.

  Tate looked at the ground and said, “Briartown.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  The gang went into one of the tents. When they all had
coffee in their hands, Pearl said, “Okay, tell it to us again. Slowly.”

  “Yeah,” Hunter said, “start with why you were in Briartown when Pearl told you to go to Whitfield.”

  “Okay, stop,” Clint said.

  They all reined in.

  “Dave, I’m going to guess the camp is over that ridge,” Clint said.

  “So?”

  “And I’m going to guess that you’re riding with Pearl Starr.”

  Dave remained silent.

  “We’ve never been friends, Dave, but we know each other,” Clint said. “And I was Belle’s friend.”

  Dave took a deep breath, then suggested, “Why don’t we dismount.”

  He stepped down, followed by Clint, and then, reluctantly, Alice.

  “You’re right, Clint,” Dave Slaughter said. “I’m ridin’ with Pearl.”

  “Why?”

  “Belle.”

  “What about her?”

  “She asked me to keep an eye on her girl.”

  “Does Pearl know?”

  “No,” Dave said. “She just thinks she’s doin’ me a favor by keepin’ me on. The rest of the men think I’m over the hill.”

  “But you’re not.”

  “No, I ain’t.”

  “So tell me,” Clint said, “what happens if we follow this trail over that ridge?”

  “Well, you’re wrong about that,” Dave said. “The camp is not over that ridge, it’s over the next one. Spot right on the river. By the time we get there, they’ll have somebody on watch for us.”

  “You sent word ahead?” Alice asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Will they start shooting as soon as we ride into camp?” Clint asked.

  “Probably not,” Dave said, “Pearl will know it’s you.” He looked at Alice. “I can’t say what they’d do to you, though.”

  “Alice—” Clint started.

  “I know,” she said. “Take off my badge.”

  “Now you’re getting it,” Clint said.

  “But why do I have to hide my badge?” she asked, pointing at Dave. “He knows.”

  “He won’t say anything,” Clint said.

  “I won’t?” Dave asked.