“You go to hell,” Longley said, staying where he was in the dirt as he wiped blood off the corner of his mouth.
Rector, well known as a reliable trail boss and Christian gentleman, then told the hired man to draw what wages were owed him. “Hit the trail back to Texas as you are finished here.” He turned and walked away.
Longley yelled, “You fool. I’m damned if I will.” He drew his murderous revolver and with a vile curse, fired three balls into Rector’s back.
The unfortunate trail boss immediately fell to the ground, weltering in his blood, and said to his friend John Black who kneeled by his side, “He’s killed me, John. My backbone is shot through and through and I cannot long survive.”
Longley then mounted and rode around the camp, hurling curses at the dying man before he stole the contents of a moneybox kept in the chuck wagon for emergency expenses. He rode away, vowing to “kill any man stupid enough to follow me.”
Rector lingered in great pain until the following morning.
As Sullivan left the high ground and once more descended into mud, he swore to himself that he’d never repeat the mistake Hank Rector had made.
He’d never turn his back on Wild Bill Longley.
CHAPTER TEN
The Phantom Railroad
A small, wiry man wearing the blue uniform and gold-braided cap of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad stood on the station platform and watched Tam Sullivan until he was close enough to get on speaking terms. “The nine-o-twenty left an hour ago, young feller, but there’s a midnight cannonball goes right through to Santa Fe if that’s to your liking.”
Sullivan walked onto the platform and much to the stationmaster’s chagrin stomped mud off his boots.
Isaac Loomis was in his early sixties with shrewd brown eyes and a pair of little round glasses perched on his sparrow’s beak of a nose. His skin was pale, not the ghastly gray of sickness but rather the white pallor of a man who spends much of his time indoors. A silver watch chain hung across his small, rotund belly and all his brass buttons were sewn in place and shined.
“I’m here to send a wire,” Sullivan said.
“Business or pleasure?”
“Business.”
“Not much call for business wires . . . or pleasure wires, either,” Loomis said, his little birdlike face tight. “Seems that the folks of Comanche Crossing don’t have anything to say.” He hesitated a moment. “Can I sell you a ticket for the midnight cannonball?”
Sullivan frowned. “You don’t have any rails, or haven’t you noticed?”
“So you say, big feller, but the rails are there if you look hard enough. What I do got is coffee on the bile. It’s for passengers, like, but since you’re giving me wire business, I’ll make an exception this time.”
“I’m obliged,” Sullivan said, touching his hat brim.
Loomis smiled. “You’re a real polite young feller. Did you fire them two shots I heard?”
Sullivan didn’t want to get into it. “Thought I saw a wolf.”
The stationmaster shook his head. “Haven’t been wolves around this neck of the woods in years.”
Sullivan nodded. “I know. I was mistaken.”
“Probably a coyote. Plenty of them. But they ain’t a patch on timber wolves.”
“I’d sure appreciate that coffee before I send the wire,” Sullivan said.
“Yup, it’s a rip-roaring day, ain’t it? Come inside and set.”
Sullivan nodded and they went inside.
Loomis poured coffee. “Give ’er a taste, young feller. See if she’s to your liking.” He lit his pipe.
Sullivan was fascinated by his ceramic cup. It was big enough that it was decorated with a fine locomotive and the words, Terre Haute & Richmond, Madison & Indianapolis, and Bellefontaine Railroads.
“Beauty, ain’t it?” Loomis said. “Good railroads, them.”
“Their trains stop here, huh?” Sullivan smiled through a cloud of cigar smoke.
“Think I’m crazy, don’t you, young feller?”
“As a loon,” Sullivan said.
“Well, that’s what you think, but it ain’t necessarily true.”
Sullivan raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I still get paid by the Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe, right?”
“So I heard.”
“Well then, work it out fer yourself.”
Sullivan considered the situation. “As long as they keep sending you a check, you’ll go on pretending this is a real railroad station. Am I right?”
“Right as ever was. You’re a smart young feller.”
“You’re crazy alright, Loomis. Crazy like a fox.”
The stationmaster grinned and tapped the side of his nose with a forefinger. “Isaac Loomis by name, Isaac Loomis by nature, my old ma used to say.”
Sullivan let that fly over his head. “I guess I should send my wire.”
Loomis pulled a yellow pad across the table and then looked at Sullivan, pencil poised, a question on his face.
“Make it to County Sheriff, Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory.’
“Got it,” Loomis said after a while.
“Um . . .”
“You want the um?”
Sullivan stabbed the man with a look. “Have killed Crow Wallace and claim reward. Stop. Have recovered silver watch and six thousand dollars from Butterfield stage robbery. Stop. Please advise. Stop. Urgent. Stop.”
“Well spoke, young feller.”
“Send it right away, huh?”
“Once I know what name you want to use.”
“Tam Sullivan.”
“Tam? What kind of name is that?”
“My kind,” Sullivan said.
Loomis rose to his feet, the slip of paper in his hand, but he never made it to the wire key.
The door burst open and a young towheaded boy hurled himself inside along with a blast of cold air and sleet. “Send a wire!” he yelled.
“Who to?” Loomis said. “And slow down, younker.”
“The law,” the boy said, asthmatically gulping for breath. “Mayor York says send a wire to the law.”
“What law?” Loomis asked.
Sullivan took over. “What’s your name, son?”
“Matt Hardy.”
“Tell us what’s happened,” Sullivan said.
“Sheriff Harm has been shot along with Pete McPherson and Clete Miller.”
“Are they dead?” Loomis asked.
“Yeah, all three of them, up at the cemetery,” the boy said. “Shot through and through an’ tossed in that outlaw’s grave.”
Sullivan frowned. “Crow Wallace’s grave?”
Matt shrugged. “I guess that’s his name.” He looked hard at Sullivan. “You’re the one that brung in the outlaw, ain’t you?”
“Yeah, that would be me,” Sullivan nodded.
“Can I see your gun?” the youngster said.
“No.” Sullivan looked at the stationmaster. “Loomis, I guess now you’ve got two wires to send to Santa Fe.”
“Like the county sheriff is going to care about what happens in Comanche Crossing.” Loomis shook his head. “Like he’s going to come all the way up here.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Sullivan grinned. “He can always take the train.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Some Bad Enemies
“Well, lookee, Bill,” Booker Tate said. “The golden boy is headed our way.”
Longley’s eyes went to the tall man crossing the street. “Let him come.”
“I could kill him real easy, Bill. Drop him right in the mud.”
“Later. This hick town can’t handle four killings on one day.” Longley watched Tam Sullivan step onto the hotel porch and kick mud off his boots. He noticed the bounty hunter’s coat was open, his Colt clear.
Longley nodded at Sullivan. “Howdy. I ain’t seen you since breakfast.”
“Funny you should say that, Bill. I figure you saw me real recent.”
�
��Over a gun sight, like?” Longley smirked.
“That’s about the size of it,” Sullivan said.
“You’re talking about them two rifle shots I heard. Oh, about thirty minutes ago.”
“Yeah, them two.”
Longley shook his head like the news surprised him. “Man, if I’d taken a pot at you, I’d have needed one shot, only one.”
“Bill’s right,” Tate said. “Ain’t nobody better with a long gun than he is.”
“You listen to them shots, Sullivan? That’s your name, right? Tam Sullivan? I got it off the hotel register.”
“Who read it for you?” Sullivan asked.
Longley smiled. “You’re a funny man, Sullivan, a real hoot. You an’ me are gonna give this hick town some snap.”
Sullivan quickly disagreed. “You and me aren’t gonna do anything. Try to ambush me again, I’ll come shooting, not jawing.”
“Damn it, I thought you were smart,” Longley said. “Didn’t you listen to the shots?”
“No. I was too busy running for my life.”
Longley shook his head again. “I carry a forty-four Henry. Them shots fired at you were from a big gun, a Sharps fifty or a fifty-five sixty Spencer. A Henry don’t make a big bang like that.”
“You know your rifles, huh?” Sullivan stomped more mud off his boots.
“Well, I was in the army, at least for a spell.”
“What caliber was used on Sheriff Harm?” Sullivan asked.
“I’m not catching your drift.”
“He was murdered this morning along with two other men.”
“Was that what all the stir was about?” Longley shifted on the rocker.
“This morning I saw you follow the wagon carrying Crow Wallace’s body. Seems like you’d something hidden under your coat, a Henry rifle, maybe.”
Longley and Tate exchanged glances, then Tate said, “Bill likes to take a stroll of a morning. He calls it his constitutional.”
Sullivan waved a hand in the direction of the windy, sleety turmoil of the street. “In this? With a rifle?”
“Bears,” Longley answered. “I always carry a rifle when I go for a walk as protection against big, growly bears. Ain’t that so, Booker?”
“You murdered the sheriff and two other men and took pots at me.” Sullivan looked Longley in the eye. “I want to hear the reason from you, not Booker.”
The bounty hunter raised a hand when Longley opened his mouth to speak. “What I can’t figure out is the why of it.”
“There ain’t no why of it,” Longley said. “And I’ll shoot any man who accuses me of killing Harm and them other fellers.”
“I just did,” Sullivan said.
“Yeah, but Bill never shoots the village idiot,” Tate said. “He likes to keep him around fer laughs, like.”
Sullivan turned to Tate. “Booker, you’re really starting to be a burr on my butt. Don’t irritate me any longer, because when I get irritated bad things happen.”
“Booker means no harm,” Longley said. “Just joshing with you.”
“Joshing with me can get a man killed,” Sullivan said.
“Look at us, Sullivan,” Longley said, spreading his arms wide. “What do you see? I’ll tell you what you see—just two honest, peaceful citizens who plan to winter in this town and then, come spring, ride on.”
“After you rob the bank, I imagine.”
“All righty then, maybe that’s part of my plan. So now we come down to it . . . are you with us or agin us?”
“Neither, I’m standing pat.” Sullivan leaned against a pole holding up the roof.
“Then you can expect no trouble from us. Ain’t that right, Bill?” Tate put in.
Sullivan said, “Don’t let him speak again, Longley. I’m too close to drawing down and scattering his brains, if he’s got any.”
“Booker, shut your trap. Can’t you see you’re getting on the gentleman’s nerves?”
One fact about a sure-thing killer, if you tell him to shut the hell up he will. It’s when you turn your back on him that he’ll kill you.
So Tate sat in silence, took what Sullivan was dishing out and said nothing, biding his time.
“I’m taking over this town between now and the spring thaw, Sullivan,” Longley said. “You catching my drift?”
“It ain’t difficult to figure out.”
“Then you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. Can I say fairer than that?”
“Sure. But step on my toes and I’ll take a side.”
“Hell, Sullivan, there ain’t no sides. You don’t give a damn for this dung heap.”
“You’re right about that. But if another bullet is fired in my direction, I’ll come looking for you, Bill.”
“Fairer words was never spoke,” Longley said. “Ain’t that right, Booker? Oh, I plum forgot, you’ve been struck dumb.”
Tate glared at Sullivan, the hate in his eyes a burning thing.
“Well, live and let live, I always say.” Longley stuck out a hand. “Let’s shake on it, Tam.”
Sullivan stared at Longley’s outstretched hand for a full second, then walked past him into the hotel.
Tate made a strange eee, eee, eee sound in his throat. “Bill, I want to kill that man real bad.”
Longley looked at him. “Be patient, Booker. Your time will come.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Fat Lady Sings
Lashed by wind, snow, and sleet, the open overloaded wagon trundled south from Cimarron, the settlement that marked the cutoff from the old Santa Fe Trail. To the west, the wagon and two harnessed mules were dwarfed by the massive, jagged bulk of the Tooth of Time Ridge and beyond that, hidden by lowering clouds, the tall peaks of the Cimarron Mountains.
“This is gonna be another wild goose chase, Helga,” the man at the reins yelled to the fur-wrapped woman sitting in back. He’d raised his voice above the roar of the wind.
“Sure is,” agreed the man beside the driver. “Crow Wallace ain’t around here. He’s probably in Old Mexico by now.”
Helga Eckstrom wailed, shook her head and set her yellow pigtails flying. “I must find my darling Crow. He needs his Helga now more than ever before.”
“Hell, he could even be hung by this time, Helga,” the driver said.
She shrieked, a significant sound from the throat of a three hundred and fifty pound woman. “Don’t you dare say that, Dan Culp. I know my Crow is alive and waiting for me.”
Culp and the man next to him exchanged glances.
“What do you think, Jack?” Culp said. “Is it a go or are we turning back?”
“Don’t whisper!” Helga screamed. “I can’t hear you when you whisper.”
“We ain’t whispering, Helga,” Culp said. “We’re planning a route.”
“It’s over there! The man in Cimarron said it’s over there!” The woman jabbed a fat forefinger at the Tooth of Time Ridge.
“We can’t go over them peaks, and the passes are blocked, damn it all, Helga,” Culp said. “We got to keep on this heading then swing west at Rayado Peak.”
“The man said it’s over there! Over there!” Helga wailed. “Over there!”
Culp drew rein and turned in the seat, a white maelstrom of the snow cartwheeling around him. “Helga, the damned ridge rises near two and a half thousand feet straight up,” he yelled. “God Himself couldn’t get a wagon and two worn-out mules over that.”
“Besides, there ain’t no towns in this wilderness south of the Turkey Mountains,” the man called Jack said.
“Over there! Over there!” Helga shrilled. “It’s over there!” Her round face was bitten by cold, her cheeks like two red apples in a pink ceramic bowl. One of her pigtails had become undone and strands of her hair coiled and uncoiled in the wind like yellow snakes.
Helga Eckstrom was twenty-six years old that winter, a schoolmarm by profession. Crow Wallace’s short visit to Cimarron a couple of months before had left her with a small problem in her belly tha
t was rapidly growing larger.
Crow had told her he was on the scout. He believed the law was closing in on him and that he’d be gone when the baby was born.
Cimarron was fast becoming a boomtown, the center of a gold rush that attracted thousands of miners and some of them had already struck it rich. Fancy women and gamblers had arrived first, followed by grifters, goldbrick artists, claim jumpers, gunmen, whiskey peddlers, hangers-on, and dance hall loungers, all of them conducting business in a wide open town free from church bells.
According to Crow, where sin comes easy but never cheap, the law was bound to follow. When he became convinced that hard-eyed men were beginning to look at him strangely, he decided to leave town.
The note he’d left on Helga’s bedside table stated his intentions.
Going sowth. See you in sum other town.
Helga, of an excitable Nordic nature, immediately panicked and the Viking in her took over. She retrieved her life savings from under the mattress and hired a couple of shifty characters to take her south in a mule wagon.
Dan Culp and Jack Flood, in imminent danger of being hung by vigilantes for being damned nuisances, had readily agreed to Helga’s terms.
But adrift in a land of vast distances, brooding mountains, and black, ominous shadows, the two men were about to renege on their part of the bargain.
Culp climbed down from the wagon seat and walked back to Helga. Her enormous body was wrapped in a buffalo skin coat and she was angry enough to spit.
Snow circling around him, the man’s breath smoked as he said, “We’re turning around. Me an’ Jack will take our chances back in Cimarron. I’d rather get hung than freeze to death.”
Helga’s rage grew as the berserker in her made her throw caution to the winds. “I paid you fifty dollars to take me to Comanche Crossing, and that’s where we’re going.” She pointed at the ridge and shrieked, “Over there! Over there!”
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