A dark form a little way up the cliff, which suddenly gained momentum, curled itself up, and sent them both rolling, answered the question.
“Right here,” it said, sitting up and stretching its limbs experimentally. “On’y bruises, seem’ly. Why didn’t yu stop me?”
“Well, of all the gall,” Frosty retorted. “What was yore hurry, anyway?”
“Somethin’ fetched loose,” Sudden told him. “Reckon that cross-bar warn’t such a notion after all.” He explained.
“I’ll say it wasn’t—the damned thing on’y missed my head by an inch,” the Double K man agreed feelingly. “Yu must be loco to take a chance like that for a couple o’ ropes, an’ they warn’t even our’n.”
“Yore ideas o’ honesty won’t never lose yu nothin’ ‘cept yore liberty,” Sudden told him.
When they were mounted, he led the way west. The rescued man appeared to be indifferent as to his fate, and asked no questions. Sudden rode head down, deep in thought, and Frosty’s efforts to enliven the journey met with a chilling response.
“Yu’ll hear all about it presently,” he was told. “What’s the use tellin’ things twice over?”
Some time later they pulled up outside the Twin Diamond ranch-house. Though it was near midnight, there was a light in the living-room, and Merry himself answered the rap on the door. He seemed surprised to see them.
“Hello, boys,” he said. “Come right in.”
They filed into the house, Sudden bringing up the rear, and for a moment there was an awkward silence, the rancher studying the third man curiously. Then he said: “Why this visit?”
“We’ve brung back the hosses,” Frosty informed. “What hosses?”
“Them I borried—yu warn’t around, so I couldn’t ask. There was a couple o’ ropes, too.”
“How come yu overlooked the ranch-house?” Merry enquired ironically.”We wasn’t needin’ firewood,” Frosty grinned.
The fat man laughed, too. “That’ll be enough from yu, Mister Impudence. What’s it all mean, Jim?”
Sudden told him, his recital being punctuated by profane expressions of amazement from the rancher. When it was finished, he said : “An’ who is this fella yu risked breakin’ yore neck for?”
“One who only desired to be left alone,” the unknown replied gruffly.
Sudden deftly twitched the pulled-down hat from the speaker’s head. “I guess yu know him,” he said. Open-mouthed, Merry stared at the man disclosed, who glared back defiantly.
“Jeff Keith!” he cried. “Then who the blisterin’ hell is the Red Mask?”
Frosty, upon whom the revelation had produced a petrifying effect, now came to life again. “Mebbe Jeff can tell us?” he suggested.
The young man looked at Sudden. “You’re the clever guy,” he jeered. “Suppose you tell me.”
“Right,” the puncher said. “He is Lafe Lander, better knowed around here as Satan, boss of a band of outlaw thieves an’ murderers, an’ masqueradin’ as—yu.”
Keith’s expression was one of plain derision. “Are you expecting me to swallow such a tale?” he asked.
“It is true, boy,” Merry said sternly. “Dressed like yu, speakin’ in yore voice, and masked, he has deceived all who have seen him, even those who knew yu well, like Frosty here.”
“That’s so, Jeff,” the Double K rider supplemented. “An’ he trots out yore favourite cuss-word, too.”
“But there’s a good reason why he shouldn’t want to be taken for me. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Look at it this way,” Sudden said quietly. “Him an’ his gang are plunderin’ the country, killin’ , stealin’ cast, n’ cattle, an’ yo’re gettin’ the blame. If things get too hot, all he has to do is peel off that mask an’ slide out, leavin’ yu to face the music. Until now, yu alone have knowed who he is, an’ yore dead body, with that strip o’ velvet on it, would wipe the slate clean for him. He called yu his `ace in the hole’; it was a true word.”
The boy breathed hard and looked round helplessly. “It sounds incredible but the facts fit,” he admitted. “Lafe would never let me leave that cursed vault—said it was too dangerous, one of his people might give me away.”
Another thought came. “Why didn’t you take me to Red Rock? It would have been worth your while.”
“The sheriff would like to see yu, shore enough, but he ain’t offerin’ to pay a thousand for the privilege,” Sudden said drily. “That was just another lie.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Yore father hired me to make war on Hell City. He changed his mind, but I didn’t.”
“He paid a gunman to get his own son,” the boy said bitterly.
“No to prevent him getting deeper in the mire,” was the sharp reply. “Yu were not to be harmed.”
The sneer was too much for Merry; he jumped up. “Get his straight, Jeff,” he cried. “Yu’ve been a damned young fool, but I’ve allus stood by yu, an’ I’m thunderin’ glad matters ain’t as bad as we feared, but yore father is a fine man, my friend, an’ I won’t hear a word against him.” His anger went as quickly as it had come, and his customary smile was back as he finished, “Except from myself.”
“I’m sorry, Mart,” Keith replied. “My mind’s in such a muddle … Hell! I know you’re all trying to help me, and I’ll do anything you say, on one condition, that no news of this reaches the Double K. Possibly my father was justified, but until this tango: is straight out and I can go to him with clean hands …”
“I guess that’s the right play,” the rancher agreed. “Ken is a proud man, sorely hurt, an’ we gotta have absolute proof. Point is; what are we to do with yu?”
“He can stay here, but he’ll have to lie close,” Sudden said. “If that devil gets hold of him again, we’re sunk. Now, I must be on my way.”
Keith held out a hand. “I’d like to thank you,” he said. “Do you have to go back?”
“Nothin’ else for it,” Sudden replied. “If they haven’t busted in that bedroom door, I’ll be sittin’ pretty. Frosty will look after yore bronc, Mart.”
As they raced through the night the Double K rider put a question.
“Did yu know it was Jeff yu were goin’ after, Jim?”
“No, but I suspected Satan might not be the fella he was pretendin’ to be; clever as he is, he slipped up once or twice. It ain’t goin’ to be easy to prove.”
“But if Jeff shows hisself …”
“Dealtry will gather him in, an’ the other man will vanish. No, ol’-timer, that wouldn’t work nohow; we gotta wait.” Streaks of light were showing in the eastern sky when they reached the secret entrance, and Sudden wasted no time in making the descent. He found the tied sentry and released him.
“If the Chief finds out ‘bout this he’ll crucify yu,” he warned. “I’m sayin’ nothin’, an’ recommendin’ yu to do the same.”
Confident that the advice would be taken, he made his way to the saloon, climbed to his room, and was asleep in five minutes.
Chapter XX
Sudden was aroused by a loud, insistent hammering. He had lain down fully clothed, even to his spurs, and when he stumbled across the room to fling wide the door, his tousled appearance and sleep-laden eyes were what might have been expected after the night before. The saloon-keeper was outside.
“What th’ hell?” the puncher said in a surly tone. “Can’t a fella have any rest in this shebang?”
The man chuckled. “Which I’m right distressed to cut short yore slumbers thisaway,” he said. “‘Specially as you ain’t had but a measly fourteen hours, but the Chief wants you—urgent.”
“Say I’ll come when I’m good an’ ready,” was the truculent answer.
Dirk looked concerned. “Best mosey along, friend,” he advised. “Dunno what’s amiss, but Scar brought the message, an’ he sez the Chief is murder-mad.”
Sudden slapped on his hat, jerked his gun-belt into position, and grumbling, followed his host to the bar. Roden w
as waiting for them, and his beady eyes gleamed maliciously as they took in the cowboy’s slovenly attire and disgruntled demeanour.
“Ain’t feelin’ so good, huh?” he said. “you certainly did git a skillful.”
Sudden blinked at him. “With that load yu’d be dead to the world for another twenty-four hours,” he retorted. “Where’s Silver?”
l left him with the Chief, an’ he’s the scaredest man in the south-west—if he’s still alive,” Scar replied.
“Bah! Silver is the on’y man he trusts,” Dirk stated.
“You don’t know him; he wouldn’t trust his own mother,’” Roden scoffed. “Let’s be movin’.”
Outside the entrance to the Chief’s quarters several of the band were loafing, among them Squint.
“No an’ take yore medicine, Sudden,” he gibed.
The puncher paused. “Come an’ get yores—now,” he offered, and when the invitation was not accepted, laughed and went in.
Somewhat of a shock awaited him; erect before the masked man, her face deathly pale, stood Anita. A few feet away, eyes fearful, and his great body shaking on his short legs, was Silver. The presence of the woman warned Sudden that matters had gone amiss; he would need all his wits. Satan turned his basilisk gaze on the newcomers.
“Well?” he barked at Roden.
“He was carried to bed ‘bout eight las’ night, blind, an’ I had to wait while Dirk waked him just’ now,” that worthy replied. “His hoss was in the corral at daybreak—it ain’t bin rode recent.”
Satan nodded. “That appears to absolve you, Sudden.”
“If I knowed what th’ hell yo’re talkin’ about, mebbe I’d thank yu,” was the dry answer.
The bandit’s cold eyes drilled into him. “A guest of importance to me has been kidnapped,” he said. “That he was here was known only to myself and that half-wit”—he pointed to the dwarf—”until he has to get drunk and babble to this slut.”
“Might ‘a’ walked out on yu.”
“Impossible; he was lodged in a room some thirty feet below this, and would have had to come through here, or use the opening for air and light.”
Sudden moved to the window and looked out. “Yu ain’t accusin’ a gal o’ climbin’ this cliff, are yu?”
“No, but none the less, that’s how it was done; there are tracks of three horses beneath. Silver was here with me all the time.”
“That lets him out,” the puncher agreed.
Inwardly, he was cursing the cowardly brute who, in the hope of saving his own skin, had betrayed the girl. That he himself would be at once suspected he had foreseen, hence the elaborate alibi. Covertly studying the masked man anew, he was amazed at his resemblance in build, manner, and voice to young Keith. Satan put another question.
“I have told you all,” Anita protested. “This—ape”—her contempt was real enough—”threatened to make trouble for me unless I gave him whisky; he took too much, and mumbled something about a solitary prisoner; it did not interest me.”
The bandit bent forward, his gaze intent. “That is a lie,” he hissed. “Fool, to try to trick one who can read your brain. It was an opportunity to avenge the loss of your lover. Tell me the name of your accomplice, or …”
Though the accuracy of his deduction must have startled her, the woman’s eyes, calm, unwavering, met his. “I know nothing of it,” she said.
With the snarl of a beast, the bandit stepped forward as though about to strike, but instead, twisted her round, ripped open the flimsy shirt-waist she was wearing, and called, “Muley.”
From the shadows near the door, the one-time teamster emerged, his pig-eyes glittering bestially as they rested on the victim’s bared shoulders.
“Can you write?” Satan asked, and when the fellow shook his head, went on, with a horrible laugh, “Then you must make your mark, a cross, Muley, so.” He gestured with one hand. “Six strokes, and we will repeat the dose daily until she unlocks her lips.”
Though there was stark terror in her eyes, Anita uttered no sound, but the grip on the torn raiment with Which she strove to cover her bosom tightened, and she shivered. Muley was toying with his whip and feeding his unsated lust for revenge upon the frail flesh he soon would mar forever. This was better than Pedro. He was squaring his shoulders to begin his task when Sudden spoke.
“Thrashin’ her won’t get yu no place, Satan; she can’t tell what she don’t know. I’m the fella yo’re after.”
He had no sooner said the words than a gun was rammed into his ribs and Scar warned, “No funny stuff, Sudden, or…”
His frame rigid, the puncher continued his confession. “Yeah, I took yore `guest’—the woman had nothin’ to do with it. A few nights ago, passin’ one o’ these rat-holes, I heard Silver’s voice, an’ bein’ curious, slipped in an’ listened. He was chuckin’ a chest, tryin’ to impress the gal with his own importance, an’ was plenty drunk. It was me crawled up the rock, an’ I was hidden in the window-hangin’s when yu paid yore visit last night.”
The masked man’s face had lost its immobility; doubt was swiftly followed by certainty and an insensate rage as he realized that this enigmatical stranger had surprised his secret and now defied him. His usually glassy eyes flamed, and for the moment, he was mad.
“By God !” he swore. “I’ll have your hide off for this,” and motioned to Muley.
“Yo’re forgettin’ somethin’, Satan,” came the icy reminder. “I ain’t a mongrel, like Pedro, nor a woman; whippin’ won’t wring a word from me, an’ if I should chance to cash in, yu won’t see yore friend Lander again.”
The mention of the name brought a quick look from the bandit. He hesitated, and then said abruptly “Roden, you and Muley can go. Take the woman with you, but she is not to leave the town.”
They filed out, Anita leading; she did not speak, or even glance at the puncher as she passed, listless, and apparently indifferent. Her companions, dumbfounded by this unexpected development, were also silent. When they had gone, the Chief looked at Silver, who was awaiting his turn with obvious trepidation.
“It seems you have been merely indiscreet,” he said. “Get to your post, or …”
He tapped the butt of one of his revolvers and Sudden wondered was it a signal? He heard the door open and shut, but it did not deceive him—Silver’s “post” would be behind the picture; that the stunted man knew nothing of firearms he had never credited for an instant. The Chief appeared to have regained his temper.
“This is a most unfortunate occurrence, Sudden,” he began, “The fellow you released was here for his own good. Dealtry is seeking him for the shooting of his son. Now I did that killing—you see, I am frank with you—but I knew that Lander would be fastened upon because there was bad blood between them. So he had to be hidden—I could not let him suffer for my own act.”
“It would ‘a’ cleared yu.” The callous comment was made with deliberation.
“True, but he was a friend.”
“Makes a difference, o’ course,” Sudden conceded. “Well, I ‘pear to ‘a’ gone to a lot o’ trouble to make the wrong play, but that’s me—get a notion an’ rush at it like an angry steer, without stoppin’ to think. Oughta seed he was contented where he was.”
“His conversation with me should have told you that.”
“Couldn’t hear much, an’ I just hated the idea o’ sweatin’ up that cliff tor nothin’ ; I guess I didn’t give him any choice.’ “Who helped you?”
Sudden shook his head. “I ain’t tellin’. He warn’t one o’ yore folk, don’t know anythin’, an’ all he did was fetch the hosses.”
To his surprise, the bandit did not press the point. “Where is Lander now?”
“Dunno—I just turned him loose,” the puncher replied, and his eyes creased at the corners. “I had to get back.”
“I can’t imagine why you meddled,” Satan said peevishly.
“Beats me, too, lookin’ it over, but prisons is pizen to me, an’ that rock
seemed a sort o’ challenge. Sounds loco, but there it is. Say, s’pos’n I can round up Mister Lander an’ bring him in again?”
“That’s an idea,” Satan said. “I’ll admit I’m anxious about him; it would be awkward if he fell into the sheriff’s hands.”
“Shore would—for him,” Sudden grinned. “Leave it to me.”
He went out and breathed deeply when he reached the open air, it had been a near thing. How far he had succeeded in deceiving the masked man he could not tell, but he had saved the woman, and was himself still at liberty. No doubt he would be watched, so when presently he passed Anita, it was with a face of stone; she too showed no sign of recognition.
“She’s got savvy,” he murmured, as he entered the store in search of tobacco.
Almost on his heels, Silver came in, purchased six boxes of cartridges, and with a sheepish look at the puncher, departed.
“What’s he want with all that gun-fodder?”
“They’s for his boss,” the tradesman said. “He’s my on’y customer for thirty-eights, but he uses a hell of a lot of ‘em—practises every darned day, Silver sez.”
Which provided Sudden with fresh food for thought, and a question for Dealtry when he next encountered him. Meanwhile, the man he had left was sitting deep in doubt. Once more the puncher had him puzzled. Had he really blundered blindly into the affair as he had stated, or …? He dismissed the alternative with an oath and a shrug—the overweening vanity of his nature made any stupidity in a fellow-being possible. The all-important secret of his identity was still safe, but Keith’s freedom was a danger.
“He would not dare to show his face at the Double K, Twin Diamond, or Red Rock,” he mused. “He must be in hiding, and if Sudden knows where, he will lead me to him.” He called Silver. “Arrange for that cowboy to be shadowed,” he ordered. “If he is lost sight of, I will have your ears torn off, which would make you still more ugly.”
Oliver Strange - Sudden Westerns 07 - Sudden Rides Again(1938) Page 18