Callaghen

by Louis L'Amour

  Allison must have told him something to enlist his aid, if that was the way it had come about, and that information might have led them to this place. There were caverns in the rugged mountains to the west, but so far as Callaghen had heard, they were not connected with the legendary caverns that lay under the whole of the eastern Mohave.

  In any event, the chase had now come down to a shooting affair, and he was going against three tough men. Worst of all, in crossing Black Canyon he might be exposing himself, for there was little cover. Callaghen turned east along the face of the mountain, utilizing whatever cover he could. He kept his rifle in its scabbard, for nothing picks up and reflects light quicker than a gun barrel.

  When he was almost a mile south of where the smoke showed, he crossed the valley at its narrowest point, coming in behind the ridge. He rode his horse up among the cedars, finding a cul-de-sac where he could hide him. There was some grass there, and he picketed the horse.

  Not taking a rifle, but only the two handguns, he started up into the rocks.

  It was a weird formation. Here and there it looked as if great splotches of liquid rocks had been squeezed from the mountainsides and poured down, only to stiffen and become hard. The rock itself was a Swiss cheese of holes. Halting behind an outthrust, he studied the odd formation and could not decide whether it was volcanic, or whether at some far distant time there had been a hot spring there, a geyser that played itself out. He had seen somewhat similar formations in other lands, where water, with chemicals in solution, had eaten away at the limestone. In among the rocks around him, which were of many colors, the heat was intense. At no place could he see for more than a few yards.

  Apparently there was a sort of passage through the rock formation. It was not a cave, but a passage open to the sky, except where rock leaned above him. The floor of the passage was of sand. Moving as silently as possible, a pistol close to his hand, he worked his way through the place.

  He had never seen anything like this. The hair on the back of his neck rose with suspense and dread. It was such a place as one might imagine to be inhabited by monsters; there was something evil and grotesque about it.

  He touched his tongue to his dry lips, and longed for a swallow of water. Then he could smell smoke ... wood-smoke.

  He listened, and heard faint voices. He moved ahead cautiously, from one rocky projection to another. The passage had many turns, and the rock was pink or red, and in some places of an odd greenish hue. Just ahead of him the passage branched—one branch seemed to end in an abrupt wall; the other twisted among boulders and offered access to the top.

  Hesitating, he heard a sharp click and looked up. He could see Spencer standing on the ledge at the top of the rock wall with a rifle pointed straight at him. Callaghen had heard the cocking of the rifle.

  He drew and fired, the pistol leaping in his hand even as the rifle belched flame and the bullet clipped rock only inches above his head. He dived for cover, risking another shot as he moved. A second bullet struck rock near him. Only the fact that Spencer was shooting down at his target and misjudged it had saved him. He felt sure that he himself had scored a miss.

  He ran swiftly forward, scrambling up the rocks, gun in hand. He had to get close now, and fast.

  He heard startled yells, and somebody was demanding of Spencer what had happened. He heard the answering yell: "It was Callaghen!"

  "You're crazy!" Wylie called back. "Callaghen's dead—I killed him myself!"

  Callaghen ran forward lightly and eased himself between two slabs of rock and up into a corner overlooking a cove in the side of the mountain. From there, on a sandy stretch, a sort of half-moon surrounded by rocks, he could see their camp. He was looking right into it from behind a slab of limestone whose face on his side, was covered with the ripple marks of an ancient sea. On the other side the rock bulged out. Perhaps it had long ago been heaved up from the floor of that prehistoric sea.

  He could see Malinda and Aunt Madge, hands and feet tied, sitting against the rock wall. There was a fire, a coffeepot on it, and he could see Beamis a few yards off. He, too, was tied, but he was lying on his face and there was blood on his head. Champion appeared suddenly, wearing a dirty buckskin coat with fringe, and the same battered hat he always wore. He was a big man, not so tall as broad and powerful. "You set still," he said to Malinda. "I'll be a-comin' back. Kurt may not have much use for you, but I do—the both of you."

  Then Spencer came into sight. There was blood on his face. Wylie was with him. "What did you see?" he was demanding.

  "I seen Callaghen, I tell you! He was down in a hole back yonder. I drawed a bead on 'im an' when I cocked he looked up. How he got that gun into action so fast I'll never know. I fired, but he shot a shade ahead of me, an' if that durned Spencer didn't kick so much he'd of nailed me!"

  "Now talk sense!" Wylie was angry. "You say there's a hole back yonder. Even if Callaghen was alive, how would he get here and get into that hole? I ask you that."

  Champion had hunkered down on his heels. "You all better quit your squabblin' an' find 'im. If'n he's hereabouts he surely ain't gone far, an' ifn I know Callaghen he's huntin' scalp right now. Yours an' mine."

  "I killed him," Wylie insisted. "I shot him dead."

  Champion shrugged. Spencer took a bloody hand away from his head. "If you shot him, he's sure got a lively ghost."

  "We should've scouted yonder," Champion said. "I never figured it was anything but a wall of rock an' boulders."

  "You never seen anything like it—looks like it'd been burned out by the fires of hell. It's like one great big clinker."

  Callaghen eased his position slightly. His firing position was excellent, but to shoot from here would endanger everyone in the camp. His eyes went suddenly to Beamis. Had he seen a movement there?

  "Wylie," Spencer said, "we'd better light a shuck."

  Wylie shook his head. "No. This is where they said they'd come, and here is where we've got to be. Champ, you're the woodsman. Why don't you go down in there and find out who it was that shot at us?"

  Champion chuckled without humor. "Kurt," he said dryly, "you got plenty o' sand, an' it is surely your idea. I had a look at that hole. You want somethin' down there, you go get it. I wouldn't go into a place like that even if there was nobody down there. I think Spencer saw somethin' move, an' shot. I think he was hit by his own ricochet."

  Spencer started to speak, then he merely swore and walked off, dabbing at his head with a torn red neckerchief.

  Wylie, six-shooter in hand, went through a cleft in the rocks. He disappeared from sight, but after a few minutes he returned. "Can't see nothing. That's quite a hole back there—looks like a volcanic blowhole or something. Anyway, if he's down there he can't get out. It must be sixty feet straight down—maybe twice as much. He'd have to have wings to fly out of there."

  Champion remained squatted against the rock wall. Callaghen had to smile. The old mountain man had his back to the wall, and he could be seen only from in front. He might not believe all this, but he was taking no chances.

  "Who're those folks you're a-waitin' for?" he asked. "How'd they come to know of this place?"

  Wylie lit a cigar. "Ever hear of Webb Bolin?"

  "That renegade who was in Sonora? Sure, I heard of him."

  "He was a stepbrother to Allison, and he has the other map."

  Champion looked up. "Other map?"

  Wylie's smile was not pleasant. "There were two that fitted together, but each was made to look as if it was the whole map. Bolin and Allison got the map from their pa, who spent most of his life down Mexico way. Where he got it nobody knows.

  "Somebody, a long time back, spent a lot of time in this country and took out a lot of gold. He also explored a lot, and he claimed there were half a dozen entrances to the cave that he knew of, scattered miles apart. He located two of them—one on each map.

  "The story is that he gathered a lot of nuggets. Had them sacked and ready to take out, but then the Indians
located him and he had to fight his way out, leaving most of the gold behind."

  "Webb Bolin is comin' here?"

  "With two friends of his. They should be here today or tomorrow."

  Although the speakers were fifty yards away, Callaghen could hear the conversation easily. Bolin he knew, a thoroughly bad one, known to have robbed churches of their altar services, to have looted homes in Sonora, and to have killed several men. And he had a good idea who would be with him. Bigelow and Barber were two occasional horse thieves, claim jumpers, and worse, who had caused trouble in the gold fields of California and around the silver mines in Nevada.

  Whatever he was going to do had better be done before their arrival, but all he wanted to do now was to get Malinda, Aunt Madge, and Beamis free. Suddenly he realized that Beamis had moved. The soldier still lay on his face, but he was more than a foot from where he had been, judging by the edge of the rock near which he was lying.

  Nobody had so much as glanced at him, taking it for granted he was unconscious; but he had edged, ever so slightly toward that rock ... and closer to the women. He was not only conscious, but he was alert. Though he was bound, he was obviously thinking of getting himself free and setting the women free; but he could not move much farther without being observed, unless the attention of the men at the fire were distracted.

  Spencer had seated himself a dozen yards off and was holding his head in his hand. Callaghen had an idea that he had been badly frightened by his escape from death. Spencer had been a soldier only a short time, and had seen no action that Callaghen knew of.

  Beamis needed some help, and he had to give it. Choosing a fist-sized stone, Callaghen hurled it so that it would fall into that deep hole beyond the fire. It flew through the air, struck a rock and rebounded, and fell into the pit. Wylie turned sharply, drawing as he turned. Spencer came half to his feet, hand grasping a rifle, but whether to run or to fight it was hard to judge.

  "Something moved over there, Champ," Wylie said.

  "A rock fell. Maybe it fell by itself." Champion got easily to his feet. "We better take a look."

  Both men disappeared among the rocks, and Callaghen, knowing there was very little time, took his long chance. He left the ground, vaulting the natural rock wall and landing lightly on the ground not ten feet from Spencer, whose back was toward him.

  The soldier turned sharply around, and as he did so Callaghen took two quick steps and laid a pistol barrel back of his ear. Spencer dropped as if he had been hit with an axe.

  Callaghen drew his knife with his left hand and cut through the ropes on Beamis' hands and feet; then he tossed him the knife. "Get the women free," he whispered hoarsely, "and get Spencer's rifle."

  Only a minute had passed. Callaghen moved toward the rocks that shielded the descent into the hole.

  He heard a foot grate on rock. "Can't see anything," Wylie called out.

  Champion did not reply, and it was Champion who worried Callaghen. Beamis had the rifle, and Malinda and Aunt Madge were moving toward Callaghen. He pointed with his finger to indicate their direction, and stood, gun in hand, facing the opening through which Wylie and Champion had gone.

  Beamis moved quickly, his rifle at the ready. For a man who wanted no part of the army, Beamis was doing well. He had the makings of a good soldier. As he closed in behind the women, Callaghen backed after them.

  Suddenly Wylie came through the opening. "Spence—" he started to say. He saw the soldier, the women gone. "Champ! Look out!"

  Then he turned sharply and saw Callaghen. Both men had guns drawn, but Callaghen was ready. As Wylie saw him, Callaghen shot him. One moment their eyes met. Wylie's gun was in position, his finger tightening on the trigger as Callaghen's bullet struck him.

  He buckled at the knees, his head lolling back, then it fell forward as he toppled, dead before he hit the ground.

  Callaghen went down the rocks into the hole, bounding from one rock to another.

  Chapter 21

  BEHIND HIM HE heard a rash of hoofs, and somebody yelled. A bullet struck the rock over his head, showering him with fragments, but he had been only a fleeting, momentary target as he disappeared into the twisting passage with the overhanging rocks.

  Malinda was waiting for him. "Are you hit?" she asked breathlessly.

  "No." He gestured up toward the place from which they had come. "But there's somebody else up there now. It may be Webb Bolin."

  They waited, and Callaghen's breathing returned to normal. Beamis was not in sight ahead of them, but after a few minutes he appeared. "This hole cuts clear through the mountain," he said. "We're in a trap if they get on the other side of us."

  They had no water here, but there was a canteen on Callaghen's horse. "Let's go," he said. He was thinking about a way out, hoping to find an escape route. His pursuers would not know there were two entrances. There was a place where one could see through at the top, but unless they were close to it they could not see it.

  "Let's go," he said again in a whisper, and led off, worming his way through the winding passage, flattening himself when necessary over boulders, to reach the far side of the mountain.

  Out in the open nothing was in sight except a buzzard circling overhead. Some distance off, opposite the opening, there lifted the massive wall of a mesa ... Wild Horse Mesa it was called. Ahead of them was Wild Horse Canyon.

  "If anything happens to me," Callaghen told Malinda, "try to get up on that mesa, or in the rocks close to it, and stay still."

  Mounting both women on the black horse, he led the way along the side of the mountain from which they had come. There were scattered boulders, as well as some cedar and other growth. The greasewood grew in scattered clumps, enough of them to offer a measure of concealment.

  He walked swiftly, then changed to a trot. Beamis came along in the rear, constantly looking over his shoulder. Callaghen kept on, walking and trotting until they had put a mile behind them and were entering the narrower part of Wild Horse Canyon. He glanced back and heard a distant shout, but kept on going.

  Beamis came up beside him. The young soldier looked nervously at the rock walls closing in on either side. "They'll have us trapped, Sarge. We won't have a chance."

  "It was this or open country," Callaghen said.

  Wild Horse Mesa rose seven or eight hundred feet higher than the dim trail they now were following. If they could find a trail up the mesa they might be able to defend it, but he was under no illusions. Bolin and Champion were dangerous men, as were Barber and Bigelow. And there was Spencer.

  He slowed to a walk, and they plodded on. Continually, his eyes shifted to left and right.

  The mountainside turned and twisted on itself. Its wall might be climbed, but to attempt it here would mean abandoning the horse, and they would likely be caught exposed on the mesa's side. He knew they were in serious trouble. If he could cut back to the south, there was a route that might offer access to the mesa top. He turned and started up through the cedars.

  How much farther could they go? Behind them were six tough men, but it was just possible they might give up. Webb Bolin might be more interested in the gold than in eliminating them, and he had not held up the stage, had not kidnapped the women and Beamis. That was Champion's and Spencer's problem.

  The climb grew steeper. Ahead of them it led up through scattered cedar. A minor peak was on either side, but possible access to the mesa top was possible between them. Beamis was some distance behind. "Sergeant," he said, "they're down there—all six of them!"

  Callaghen led the horse into a small clump of cedars and tied it with line enough for a little grazing on the rough forage near the trees. Then he helped the women down.

  There was no good defensive position here other than the natural outcroppings and scattered rocks and cedars, but it would have to do. "We might as well settle down," he said when Beamis had joined them. "It looks as if this is where it happens."

  "What became of the other man?" Aunt Madge asked. "The Indian w
ho was on the stage with us?"

  "He may be dead," Callaghen said, and took a position in a gap between boulders that offered a little shelter. The field of fire was not what he would have wished. "He may have been shot when they attacked the stage."

  It was hot and still here. He could see the sun shining on the flanks of the horses down below, saw the men dismounting and tying their horses. They were taking their time, unhurried, unworried.

  Callaghen mopped his forehead. This was a long way from Ireland, a long way from the cool, green shores of the Bay of Glandore. He rested his Henry on the rocks, and waited. Nobody felt like talking.

  Major Sykes, with two troops of cavalry, rode out of Camp Cady following the thin line of the Mohave River.

  The day was hot, and he kept his command to a walk. The sky was serenely blue, the desert was still. It was sixteen miles to the caves where they would camp for the night.

  The hours passed. They made their nooning and then rode on. He had tasted the water of the Mohave and did not care for it, but there was nothing else. The river bed was wide and there were high banks; evidently the river carried, at one time or another, a great volume of water. Major Sykes squinted against the glare and swore softly. He sat straight in his saddle, however, and carried himself with style. He was autocratic, but no fool; this country worried him.

  During a short break when he dismounted the men and gave the horses a brief respite, he spoke to Marriott about it "There's been a good deal of talk of ambush, but the country seems very open."

  "It seems so, sir, but it isn't. There are folds and creases and watercourses everywhere. And this country has been subject to earthquakes ... they had a bad one at Fort Tejon a few years ago. The worst of it is, our route of travel depends on the water channels."

  Sykes was seated on a slab of rock, and Marriott squatted facing him. "Sir, one of my men who served here before says the canyon ahead—Cave Canyon—is tricky. It seems to be all abrupt walls and very high cliffs, but there are ways a man on foot can get down ... and get away after an attack."