“What’s he doin’ back there?” Webb demanded. “Make him ride up front, Sheriff.”
Foster smiled. “He can ride where he wants. He don’t make me nervous, Webb. What’s eatin’ you?”
The town of Pelona for which they were riding faced the wide plains from the mouth of Cottonwood Cañon, and faced them without pretensions. The settlement, dwarfed by the bulk of the mountain behind it, was a supply point for cattlemen, a stage stop, and a source of attraction for cowhands to whom Santa Fe and El Paso were faraway dream cities.
In Pelona, with its four saloons, livery stable, and five stores, Si Hutch, who owned Hutch’s Emporium, was king.
He was a little old man, grizzled, with a stubble of beard and a continually cranky mood. Beneath that superficial aspect he was utterly vicious, without an iota of mercy for anything human or animal.
Gifted in squeezing the last drop of money or labor from those who owed him, he thirsted for wealth with the same lust that others reserved for whiskey or women. Moreover, although few realized it, he was cruel as an Apache and completely depraved. One of the few who realized the depth of his depravity was his strong right-hand man, Ren Oliver.
Oliver was an educated man and for the first twenty-five years of his life had lived in the East. Twice, once in New York and again in Philadelphia, he had been guilty of killing. In neither case had it been proved, and in only one case had he been questioned. In both cases he had killed to cover his thieving, but finally he got in too deep and, realizing his guilt could be proved, he skipped town.
In St. Louis he shot a man over a card game. Two months later he knifed a man in New Orleans, then drifted West, acquiring gun skills as he traveled. Since boyhood his career had been a combination of cruelty and dishonesty, but not until he met Si Hutch had he made it pay. Behind his cool, somewhat cynical expression few people saw the killer.
He was not liked in Pelona. Neither was he disliked. He had killed two men in gun battles since arriving in town, but both seemed to have been fair, stand-up matches. He was rarely seen with Si Hutch, for despite the small population they had been able to keep their cooperation a secret. Only Neal Webb, another string to Hutch’s bow, understood the connection. One of the factors that aided Hutch in ruling the Pelona area was that his control was exercised without being obvious. Certain of his enemies had died, by means unknown to either Ren Oliver or Neal Webb.
The instrument of these deaths was unknown, and for that reason Si Hutch was doubly feared.
When Sheriff Foster rode into town with Webb and McQueen, Si Hutch was among the first to know. His eyes tightened with vindictive fury. That damned Webb! Couldn’t he do anything right? His own connection with the crimes well covered, he could afford to sit back and await developments.
Ward McQueen had been doing some serious thinking on the ride into town. The negotiations between Ruth Kermitt and old Tom McCracken had been completed almost four months ago. McCracken had stayed on at the Firebox even after the title was transferred and was to have managed it for another six months. His sudden death ended all that.
Webb had said he owned the ranch by virtue of young Jimmy’s signing it over to pay a gambling debt. This was impossible, for Jimmy had known of the sale and had been present during the negotiations. That, then, was an obvious falsehood. Neal Webb had made an effort to obtain control of the ranch, and Jimmy McCracken had been killed to prevent his doing anything about it.
The attempt to seize control of the ranch argued a sure and careful mind, and a ruthless one. Somehow he did not see Webb in that rôle, although Webb was undoubtedly a part of the operation. Still, what did he know? Pelona was a strange town and he was a stranger. Such towns were apt to be loyal to their own against any outsider. He must walk on cat feet, careful to see where he stepped. Whoever was in charge did not hesitate to kill, or hesitate to lose his own men in the process.
Sheriff Foster seemed like an honest man, but how independent was he? In such towns there were always factions who controlled, and elected officials were often only tools to be used.
Faced with trickery and double-dealing as well as such violence, what could he do? When Ruth arrived from the Tumbling K in Nevada, there would be no doubt that she owned the Firebox and that Jimmy had known of it. That would place the killing of young Jimmy McCracken at Neal Webb’s door.
Ren Oliver was on the walk in front of the Bat Cave Saloon when they tied up before the sheriff’s office. He had never seen either McQueen or Sartain before but knew them instantly for what they were, gunfighters, and probably good.
McQueen saw the tall man in the gray suit standing on the boardwalk. Something in the way he carried himself seemed to speak of what he was. As he watched, Oliver turned in at the Emporium. Ward finished tying his roan and went into the sheriff’s office.
Nothing new developed from the talk in the office of the sheriff, nor in the hearing that followed. Young Jimmy McCracken had been slain by persons unknown after a considerable chase. The evidence seemed to establish that several men had been involved in the chase, some of whom had been killed or wounded by McCracken.
Ward McQueen gave his own evidence and listened as the others told what they knew or what the tracks seemed to indicate. As he listened, he heard whispering behind him, and he was well aware that talk was going around. After all, he and the Tumbling K riders were strangers. What talk he could overhear was suspicion of his whole outfit.
Neal Webb had a bunch of tough men around him and he was belligerent. When telling what he knew, he did all he could to throw suspicion on the Tumbling K. However, from what McQueen could gather, all of Webb’s riders were present and accounted for. If Webb had been one of those involved in the killing of McCracken, it must have been with other men than his own.
After the inquest McQueen found himself standing beside the sheriff. “What kind of a country is this, Sheriff? Do you have much trouble?”
“Less than you’d expect. Webb’s outfit is the biggest, but his boys don’t come in often. When they want to have a blowout, they ride down to Alma. They do some drinkin’ now an’ again, but they don’t r’ar up lookin’ for trouble.”
“Many small outfits?”
“Dozen or so. The Firebox will be the largest if you run cows on all of it.” Foster studied him. “Do you know the range limits of the Firebox?”
“We figure to run stock from the Apache to Rip-Roaring Mesa and Crosby Creek, south to Dillon Mountain, and up to a line due east from there to the Apache.”
“That’s a big piece of country but it is all Firebox range. There are a few nesters squatted in Bear Cañon, and they look like a tough outfit, but they’ve given me no trouble.”
“Miss Kermitt holds deeds on twelve pieces of land,” Ward explained. “Those twelve pieces control most of the water on that range, and most of the easy passes. We want no trouble, but we’ll run cattle on range we’re entitled to.”
“That’s fair enough. Watch your step around Bear Cañon. Those boys are a mean lot.”
II
Kim Sartain was somewhere around town but McQueen was not worried. The gunslinging segundo of the Tumbling K was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and in the meanwhile Ward had business of his own to take care of. He glanced up and down the street, studying the stores. Two of them appeared better stocked than the others. One was Hutch’s Emporium, a large store apparently stocked to the doors with everything a rancher could want. The other stores were smaller but were freshly painted and looked neat.
McQueen walked along to the Emporium. A small man with a graying beard looked up at him as he came to the counter. It was an old-fashioned counter, curved inward on the front to accommo-date women shoppers who wore hoopskirts.
“Howdy there! Stranger in town?”
“Tumbling K. We’ve taken over the Firebox, and we’ll need supplies.”
Hutch nodded agreeably. “Glad to help. The Firebox, hey? Had a ruckus out there, I hear.”
“Nothin
g much.” Ward walked along, studying the goods on the shelves and stacked on tables. He was also curious about the man behind the counter. He seemed genial enough, but his eyes were steel-bright and glassy. He was quick-moving and obviously energetic.
“Troublin’ place, the Firebox. Old McCracken seemed to make it pay but nobody else ever done it. You reckon you’ll stay?”
“We’ll stay.”
McQueen ordered swiftly and surely, but not all they would need. There were other stores in town, and he preferred to test the water before he got in too deep. The Firebox would need to spend a lot of money locally and he wanted to scatter it around. Hutch made no comment until he ordered a quantity of .44-caliber ammunition.
“That’s a lot of shootin’. You expectin’ a war?”
“War? Nothing like that, but we’re used to wars. Jimmy McCracken was killed for some reason by some right vicious folks. If they come back, we wouldn’t want them to feel unwelcome.”
The door opened and Neal Webb walked in. He strode swiftly to the counter and was about to speak when he recognized McQueen. He gulped back his words, whatever they might have been.
“Howdy. Reckon you got off pretty easy.”
McQueen took his time about replying. “Webb, the Tumbling K is in this country to stay. You might as well get used to us and accept the situation. Then we can have peace between us and get on with raising and marketing cattle. We want no trouble, but we’re ready if it comes. We did business with McCracken and I couldn’t have found a finer man. His son seemed cut from the same pattern.
“They didn’t belong to my outfit, so I’m dropping this right here. If it had been one of my men, I’d back-trail the killers until I found where they came from. Then I’d hunt their boss and I’d stay with him until he was hanged, which is what he deserves.”
Behind McQueen’s back Hutch gestured, and the hot remarks Webb might have made were stifled. Puzzled, McQueen noticed the change and the sudden shift of Webb’s eyes. Finishing his order, he stepped into the street.
As he left, a gray-haired, impatient-seeming man brushed by him. “Neal,” he burst out, “where’s that no-account Bemis? He was due over to my place with that horse he borried. I need that paint the worst way.”
“Forget it,” Webb said. “I’ll see he gets back to you.”
“But I want to see Bemis. He owes me money.”
Ward McQueen let the door close behind him and glanced across the street. A girl with red-gold hair was sweeping the boardwalk there. She made a pretty picture and he crossed the street.
As he stepped up on the walk, she glanced up. Her expression changed as she saw him. Her glance was the swiftly measuring one of a pretty girl who sees a stranger, attractive and possibly unmarried. She smiled.
“You must be one of that new outfit the town’s talking about. The Tumbling K, isn’t it?”
“It is.” He shoved his hat back on his head. Kim should see this girl, he thought. She’s lovely. “I’m the foreman.”
She glanced across the street toward Hutch’s store. “Started buying from Hutch? Like him?”
“I don’t know him. Do you run this store?”
“I do, and I like it. What’s more I almost make money with it. Of course Hutch gets most of the business. I’ve had no trouble with him, so far.”
He glanced at her. Did that mean she expected trouble? Or that Hutch was inclined to cause trouble for competitors?
“I’m new here so I thought I’d scatter my business until I find out where I get the best service.” He smiled. “I want to order a few things.”
A big man was coming up the walk, a very big man, and Ward McQueen sensed trouble in the man’s purposeful stride. He was taking in the whole walk, and he was bareheaded. His worn boots were run down at the heels and his faded shirt was open halfway down his chest for lack of buttons. His ponderous fists swung at the ends of powerfully muscled arms, and his eyes darkened savagely as he saw Ward McQueen.
“Watch yourself,” the girl warned. “That’s Flagg Warneke.”
The big man towered above McQueen. When he came to a stop in front of Ward, his chin was on a level with Ward’s eyebrows and he seemed as wide as a barn door.
“Are you McQueen? Well, I’m Flagg Warneke, from Bear Cañon. I hear you aim to run us nesters off your range. Is that right?”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Ward replied. “When I do, I’ll come to see you.”
“Oh, you haven’t made up your mind yet? Well, see that you don’t. And stay away from Bear Cañon! That place belongs to us, an’, if you come huntin’ trouble, you’ll get it.”
Coolly Ward McQueen turned his back on the giant. “Why not show me what stock you have?” he suggested to the girl. “I…”
A huge hand clamped on his shoulder and spun him around. “When I talk to you, face me!” Warneke roared.
As the big hand spun him around, Ward McQueen threw a roundhouse right to the chin that knocked the big man floundering against the post of the overhang. Instantly Ward moved in, driving a wicked right to the body, and then swinging both hands to the head.
The man went to his knees and McQueen stepped back. Then, as if realizing for the first time that he had been struck, Warneke came off the walk with a lunge. He swung his right but Ward went inside, punching with both hands. The big man soaked up punishment like a sponge takes water, and he came back, punching with remarkable speed for such a big man.
A blow caught McQueen on the jaw and he crashed against the side of the store, his head ringing. Warneke followed up on the punch, but he was too eager for the kill and missed.
Ward stepped in, smashing his head against the big man’s chin, and then punching with both hands to the body. His head buzzed and his mouth had a taste of blood. The big man clubbed at his kidneys and tried to knee him, but Ward slid away and looped a punch that split Warneke’s ear and showered Ward with blood.
Warneke staggered but, recovering, came back, his eyes blazing with fury. When Warneke threw a punch, Ward went under it and grabbed the big man by the knees, upending him. The big man hit the walk on his shoulder blades with a crash that raised dust, but he came up fast, landing a staggering right to Ward’s head. Ward countered with a left, and then crossed a right to the jaw. The big man went to his haunches.
A crowd had gathered and the air was filled with shouted encouragement to one or the other. Ward’s shirt was torn, and, when he stepped back to let Warneke get up again, his breath was coming in great gasps. The sheer power and strength of the big man was amazing. He had never hit a man so hard and had him still coming.
McQueen, no stranger to rough-and-tumble fighting, moved in, circling a little. Warneke, cautious now, was aware he was in a fight. Before, his battles had always ended quickly; this was different. McQueen stabbed a left to the mouth, feinted, and did it again. He feinted again, but this time he whipped a looping uppercut to the body that made Warneke’s mouth fall open. The big man swung a ponderous blow that fell short and McQueen circled him warily. The speed was gone from the Bear Cañon man now, and McQueen only sought a quick way to end it.
McQueen, oblivious of the crowd, moved in warily. Warneke, hurt though he was, was as dangerous as a cornered grizzly. McQueen’s greatest advantage had been that Warneke had been used to quick victories and had not expected anything like what had happened. Also, McQueen had landed the first blow and followed it up before the bigger man could get set. He stalked him now, and then feinted suddenly and threw a high hard one to the chin. Warneke was coming in when the blow landed.
For an instant he stiffened, and then fell forward to the walk and lay still.
McQueen stepped back to the wall and let his eyes sweep the faces of the crowd. For the first time he saw Sartain standing in front of the store, his thumbs hooked in his belt, watching the people gathered about.
Nearest the porch was a tall man in a gray suit, a man he had observed before when he first rode into town.
“That was
quite a scrap,” said the man in gray. “My congratulations. If there is ever anything I can do, just come to me. My name is Ren Oliver.”
“Thanks.”
Ward McQueen picked up his fallen hat, and then tentatively he worked his fingers. Nothing was broken but his hands were stiff and sore from the pounding. He gave Sartain a half smile. “Looks like we’ve picked a tough job. That was a Bear Cañon nester.”
“Yeah.” Kim gave him a wry look. “Wonder who put him up to it?”
“You think it was planned?”
“Think about it. You’ve made no decision on Bear Cañon. You ain’t even seen the place or its people, but he had the idea you were going to run them off. And how did he know where you were and who you were? I think somebody pointed you out.”
“That’s only if somebody has it in for him, or for us.”
Sartain’s smile was cynical. “You don’t think they have? You should have seen how green Webb turned when you said you had title to the Firebox. If the sheriff hadn’t been there, he’d have tried to kill you. And why was the sheriff there? That’s another thing we’d better find out.”
McQueen nodded. “You’re right, Kim. While you’re around, keep your eyes and ears open for a man named Bemis. You won’t see him, I think, but find out what you can about him.”
“Bemis? What do you know about him?”
“Darned little.” McQueen touched his cheek with gentle fingers where a large red, raw spot had resulted from Warneke’s fist. “Only he ain’t around, and he should be.”
Sartain walked off down the street and the crowd drifted slowly away, reluctant to leave the scene. McQueen hitched his guns into place and straightened his clothes. He glanced around and saw a sign: Clarity’s Store.
The girl had come back into her doorway, and he glanced at her. “Are you Clarity?”
“I am. The first name is Sharon and I’m Irish. Did they call you McQueen?”
“They did. And the first name is Ward.”
West of the Tularosa Page 13