"Lije, no!" Maguire said, but Beaumont ignored him and pulled the trigger. The gun roared, and Van Houten's massive body rocked back as the bullet slammed into him.
But that was the wrong thing for Beaumont to have done. Van Houten caught himself and lunged forward, again reminding Lon of a bear. Beaumont fired again, but the shot didn't slow Van Houten's attack. He crashed into Beaumont.
At the same time, Lon tackled Maguire, who had turned away so that his gun wasn't pointing at Lon and Brenda anymore.
Maguire's gun blasted as Lon drove him to the ground, but the bullet didn't hit anything except dirt. Desperation gave Lon strength as he slugged at the outlaw.
Maguire was just as desperate, though, and swung his gun in a slashing blow at Lon's head. The barrel clipped him, stunning him for a second. That was long enough for Maguire to battle free.
But as he surged to his feet, one of the horses, spooked by the shots, rammed a shoulder against him and knocked him down again. At the same time, Brenda grabbed one of Lon's arms and tugged urgently on it.
"Come on!" she cried. "Let's get out of here!"
Beaumont and Van Houten were still wrestling around on the ground, and there was no telling who would win that battle. Either way, the victor might represent a continuing threat. Lon scrambled to his feet and saw that one of the horses was still close by. He lunged and grabbed the trailing reins.
The quickest way for him and Brenda to get away was for him to mount first. He leaped into the saddle with the lithe agility he had developed from years of working on horseback around cattle and leaned down to extend a hand to Brenda. She clasped wrists with him, and he pulled her onto the horse's back behind him.
"Hang on!" he told her as he drove his heels into the horse's flanks and sent the animal leaping through the darkness. All he could do was hope a low-hanging branch wouldn't sweep them off the horse's back.
Maguire shouted a curse behind them. The outlaw's gun boomed as he fired after them. He wasn't worried about hitting Brenda anymore, Lon realized. Maguire was so consumed with rage he would rather kill her than let the two of them get away.
He turned his head and told Brenda, "Lean forward! Make yourself a smaller target!"
As he angled his body down over the horse's neck, he felt her huddling against his back as she hung on tightly with both arms around his waist. Even under these desperate circumstances, with bullets cutting through the air around them, he was aware of how good it felt to have her so close to him.
It would be all right with him if she never let go.
Lon wasn't sure where they were going – toward the head of the valley, he thought – but with at least one vicious killer and quite possibly two behind them, all they could do was keep moving. Maybe once they got away from Maguire, they could circle back and find Sawyer, Cole, and the rest of the rescue party. Until then . . .
"Hang on," he told Brenda as they raced through the night.
Chapter 20
The cabin was empty. Brenda and Lon were gone, but so was Beaumont. Of course, it was possible that the outlaw's bullet-riddled body was lying somewhere nearby, Cole thought, but his gut told him that wasn't the case.
"Spread out," Sawyer told his men as they sat on horseback in front of the old trapper's cabin, several of them holding torches. "Find Lon and that girl. And if you run into any more of those varmints we ain't killed already, you can take care of that little chore, too."
"It sounds like you're telling your men to commit murder, Sawyer," Cole said.
"I'm tellin' 'em to see that justice is done," the cattleman snapped. "We ain't in town now, Tyler. You don't have any jurisdiction out here. Anyway, there's what's legal, and there's what's right, and you know that just as well as I do."
Cole shrugged. "I won't lose any sleep over those outlaws, that's true. I just want to find Lon and Miss Durand."
"So do I. Come on. Frenchy, you ride with us, too."
The three of them left the cabin, Cole riding on a borrowed horse since Ulysses was still tied in the trees on the other side of the bench, and rode northwest toward the head of the valley. That was the direction Cole expected Lon to have taken to get Brenda away from the fighting, since he had drawn the outlaws' fire the other way. The rest of the Diamond S crew spread out across the valley.
They rode without a torch, since such a blazing brand might have drawn the fire of any surviving outlaws. Cole suggested that they follow the creek, thinking that was what Lon might have done.
They had gone about half a mile when the horses suddenly shied at something. All three men drew their guns. Cole spotted some ominous dark shapes on the ground and said grimly, "Looks like a couple of bodies."
"Strike a match, Frenchy," Sawyer ordered. His voice was as bleak as Cole's.
With a slight rasp, a match flared to life in the foreman's left hand. His right still held a Colt revolver. The match's flickering glow revealed the bodies of two men lying side by side, one face down and the other on his back. Cole felt relief go through him when he realized that neither of the men was Lon Rogers.
Sawyer let out a heavy sigh. Obviously he was relieved, too. "A couple of those outlaws?" he said.
"Yeah," Cole replied. "The one on his back is Lije Beaumont, Maguire's second-in-command. I don't know the other man's name, but I saw him back in Wind River when I was trading shots with the gang. He was definitely one of them, all right."
Frenchy said, "Looks like that hombre's neck is broke."
Cole saw the same thing. Beaumont's head sat at an odd angle on his shoulders, and his throat was mottled with bruises. Cole dismounted and rolled the big man onto his back. He had been shot at least four times.
"Danged if it don't look like they killed each other," Frenchy commented as he shook the match out just before the flame reached his fingers. "Like the big fella had hold of the other one's neck and snapped it even though he'd been ventilated through and through."
"That's the way it looks to me, too," Sawyer said. "Wonder why they turned on each other."
"We might not ever know," Cole said. "And I don't reckon it matters now, anyway."
"No," Sawyer agreed, "all that matters is findin' those two youngsters. Let's keep lookin'."
* * *
"Shouldn't we turn back?" Brenda asked as she held on to Lon. "I think we lost him."
"Can't be sure of that," Lon replied. "We need to find some place to hole up for a while. I've still got two guns and quite a few shells. I can hold off Maguire if he comes after us, as long as we've got some good cover."
"But your friends are back there somewhere. They can help us."
"Maguire was between us and them, the last time we saw him," Lon pointed out. "He could be waitin' to bushwhack us if we try to double back."
Brenda sighed and said, "All right. You know a lot more about this sort of thing than I do, I suppose." She laughed hollowly. "I've never been kidnapped by outlaws and then rescued from them. I'll know more about it next time."
"Bite your tongue," Lon said with a chuckle. "Not gonna be a next time."
He hoped that was true. Unfortunately, other dangers might lurk on the frontier. Wyoming Territory was a long way from being civilized.
That was something to worry about another time, he told himself. Right now they just had to be concerned with making it through the night.
He rode until a dark barrier loomed in front of them. As he reined in, Brenda asked, "What's that?"
"I think it's the cliff at the head of the valley. That creek probably comes out of a spring somewhere along its base. Formations like that are pretty common in these parts."
Her voice held a note of worry as she said, "That means we can't go any farther, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, this is the end of the line." Lon slipped from the saddle. "Let me take a look around."
She scrambled down from the horse's back. "You're not going to leave me alone," she said. "You can just forget about that."
"All right. Can you hang on
to the reins with your left hand?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Take hold of them, and then reach out with your right hand."
"Why am I doing that?"
Lon could see her only vaguely, but that was enough. He held out his left hand, and when his fingers brushed hers, he clasped them.
"We don't want to get separated."
"Oh. No, that's true. We don't."
Her hand was cold, but it warmed some as he held it. The temperature probably wouldn't drop below freezing before morning, but it was going to be pretty chilly anyway. He wanted to find a place where they could get out of the weather. It would have been nice if they could have a fire, but he thought that was too much of a risk. The flames might lead Adam Maguire right to them if he was still looking for them.
There hadn't been any shots from down the valley in a long time, but that didn't mean the fight was over. Some of the outlaws besides Maguire might still be alive. It could be morning before the posse finished rooting out all of them. So lying low was his and Brenda's best bet, Lon told himself again, if he could just find a good place for them to do that.
Holding Brenda's hand while she led the horse, Lon explored along the cliff. He was searching for a cave or something like that, some place that would not only provide shelter for them but could also be defended easily. But in the end it was Brenda who found the place, not him.
Her hand tightened on his as she asked, "What's that up there?"
He tipped his head back to look up the cliff. A massive slab of rock lay at its base, slanting up. At the top of it was a patch of deeper darkness. He couldn't tell if it was an actual cave or just a place where the rock jutted out to create an overhang.
But either way, it looked promising to him. He said, "Stay here. I'll have a look."
"No, I told you that you're not leaving me alone. I'm coming with you."
"We don't know what's up there. Might be a bear settling down to hibernate through the winter."
"I'll take my chances," Brenda said.
Lon could tell that arguing with her wasn't going to do any good. He took the reins from her and tied the horse to a stunted tree that appeared to be dead. Then he asked, "Can you make that climb?"
"I can make it," she said with determination in her voice.
They started up the rock side by side. The slope was too steep to walk without putting their hands down to brace themselves. The climb was about forty feet, and as they neared the top, Lon drew his holstered Colt and whispered, "Hold it a minute. Let me take a look. I wasn't joking about the bear. Or there might be a mountain lion denned up in there."
"All right," Brenda said, "but I'll be right behind you."
He fished out a match with his left hand and scratched it to life on the rock, then tossed it into the dark opening. Light spread from the little flame and reflected back from rock walls. It wasn't an actual cave, Lon saw, but rather an overhang like he'd thought it might be.
The important thing was that it was empty.
"Thank God," Brenda said as she looked past him. "Can we stay here? I'm exhausted." She shivered. "And cold. I don't think I've ever been this cold. Can we have a fire?"
Lon was about to tell her that they couldn't when he decided that maybe the risk was worth it after all. it wouldn't do them any good to escape from the outlaws if they froze to death. Besides, he thought, maybe the fire would lead Mr. Sawyer and the others to them, instead of Maguire.
"I'll go get some branches," he told her. "You can stay here. You'll be all right."
"Wait a minute. You've got two guns, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Leave one of them with me."
Lon frowned. "You really think you can shoot a gun?"
"If I have to, I can."
Somehow he didn't doubt her. It was true that she had given in to her fear several times tonight, but he sensed a core of strength in her, too. He took the gun that was tucked behind his belt and pressed it into her hands.
"You have to pull back the hammer to cock it and then pull the trigger," he told her.
"I know how to shoot a gun."
"Have you ever used one?"
"Well . . . no. And I hope I won't have to tonight."
"Me, too," Lon said. "Make sure you don’t shoot me. I'll be back in a hurry."
He slid down the rock and gathered broken branches from the brush. When he had an armful, he climbed back to the depression in the cliff face.
A few minutes later he had a small fire burning near the back of the cave-like area, so the heat would reflect from the rock walls. The smoke rose and flattened against the overhang, then drifted away. The two of them sat next to the fire and extended their hands toward its warmth. Lon was still pretty cold, but gradually he began to get more comfortable.
Brenda took him by surprise by leaning against him. She was trembling despite the fire. Lon didn't think about what he was doing. He just put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to him.
"D-Don't think this means anything except that I'm f-freezing," she said.
"No, ma'am," he said.
"You don't happen to have a blanket or anything?"
"No, I checked the saddle bags on that horse. Didn't see anything that would help us."
"I guess we'll just have to k-keep each other warm, then."
"I reckon," Lon said.
"You d-don't have to sound so pleased about it."
"No, ma'am," Lon said again as he leaned back against the rock and she huddled even closer to him. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he figured that was all right since her head was pillowed against his chest and she couldn't see his face.
Eventually he could tell by her breathing that she had fallen asleep. That was good. She needed the rest. As for him, he intended to stay awake and keep watch all night. After everything they had been through, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her now.
Chapter 21
"Well, if that's not the most touching thing I've ever seen."
The mocking drawl jolted Lon out of the sleep he had been so determined wouldn't claim him. Exhaustion and the strain of fighting for his life – and Brenda's life – had proven to be too much for him. He had dozed off sometime during the night. The fire had burned down to embers, and the gray light of dawn silhouetted the figure who stood at the entrance to the hollowed-out space under the overhanging rock.
It was Adam Maguire, and he had a gun in his hand. He was turned to the side enough that Lon could see the weapon pointing at him and Brenda.
He must have started a little when Maguire's voice roused him from sleep, because Brenda was waking up, too, slowly shaking off the weariness that had enveloped her. She lifted her head and muttered, "Wha . . ."
"Don't move," Lon told her tensely.
He felt her stiffen against him and knew she had seen Maguire. "No," she said in a hollow voice.
"Oh, yes," Maguire said. He came another step toward them. Lon could see the outlaw's face better now. Maguire had the haggard look of a man who hadn't slept. His face was gaunt. His hollow eyes burned with hate. He went on, "You're my ticket out of here, Miss Durand. I couldn't very well leave without you, now could I?"
"You can't get away," Lon said. "The Diamond S crew is all over this valley."
"I know. I've been dodging them all night while I was hunting for the two of you." Maguire's voice was bitter. "You've caused me a lot of trouble, both of you. I reckon it's only fair that you help me get out of it now."
Brenda said, "I won't help you do anything. You can go to hell."
"I think you will," Maguire said. He leveled the gun. "I've got a bead right between that young cowboy's eyes. You can go with me and be my hostage willingly, Miss Durand, or I'll just go ahead and kill him and take you anyway."
"Don't listen to him," Lon said. "He's an outlaw and a liar. He'll kill me whether you cooperate with him or not."
"I give you my word I won't. I'm more worried about getting out of here
alive than I am about any sort of revenge."
Brenda said, "He might be telling the truth."
"No," Lon said. "You can't believe him."
"Let go of me," she said as she started trying to pull away from him. "I'll take that chance if it's the only way to save your life."
Lon tightened his grip on her. "Damn it! You can't – "
She struck her fists against his chest and cried, "You idiot! Can't you see I have to?"
"How about this?" Maguire suggested. " If you make me wait any longer I'll just kill you both."
Lon glanced at the outlaw and saw such feral rage on Maguire's face that he knew the man was capable of carrying out the threat. That distracted him enough that Brenda was able to twist away from him. He reached for her, but she was too quick. She came to her feet and moved toward Maguire. Lon leaped up and started to go after her, but the threat of Maguire's revolver pointing at his face forced him to stop.
"I meant it," the outlaw said. "I won't kill you, as long as Miss Durand goes with me. The others won't dare try to stop me as long as she's with me."
"Brenda . . ." Lon said miserably.
She paused and looked back over her shoulder at him. "It's for the best this way," she told him. "I'll be all right."
Maguire grinned and said, "Sure you will be, honey. After you've traveled with me for a while, you'll wish you'd met me a long time ago."
Brenda didn't respond to that gibe. Instead she said, "It's really cold this morning, isn't it?" She slipped a hand inside her dress as if to warm her fingers.
When she brought it back out she was gripping the gun Lon had given her the night before. Maguire must have seen the weapon as she raised it in both hands and drew back the hammer, but he reacted slowly, probably from a mixture of exhaustion and sheer surprise. He had just started to yell and jerk his gun toward her when Brenda pulled the trigger.
The shot hammered painfully against Lon's ears in the close confines of the rocky space. He saw Maguire take a step back as blood flew from his upper left arm where Brenda's shot grazed him. A fraction of a second later Maguire's gun boomed, too. Brenda screamed and fell.
Ransom Valley (Wind River Book 7) Page 12