‘Gawd damn it, Joe,’ the cowboy snorted. ‘I weren’t gardening. I was trying to get away from the judge.’
The big man’s shoulders were shaking as he tried to stifle his merriment.
‘I hope you weren’t pruning holly bushes. That could be a mite tricky. And don’t suppose you could do much with the prickly pear. You would have set yourself a thorny problem there.’
‘Aw go to hell!’
The cowboy picked up a piece of firewood and shied it across at his giggling companion. Unable to contain his laughter, Joe fell back and howled.
‘Gawd damn naked…!’
And he was off again. It was too much. Butch launched himself across at the giggling man and began pummelling him. Joe was laughing so much he could hardly defend himself.
‘Naked!’ he gasped. ‘Judge Pleasance caught you naked in his garden. Was her name Eve? Did she offer you an apple?’
And he was off again.
‘Damn you, her name were Eleanor, not Eve!’
But the annoyance Butch felt was melting under the mirth of his helpless companion. Suddenly he cottoned on to the connection Joe was making between the apple, the garden and Eve.
‘Damn you, you’re an ungodly maggot, Joe Peters.’
He could feel Joe shaking beneath him, still convulsed with mirth. In the end Butch rolled from atop his gleeful companion. Listening to Joe’s guffaws, in spite of himself, the cowboy couldn’t help smiling as he stared up at the starlit sky. They had been acquainted for only a few days and those days were marred by bloody events back at the way station but he was already growing fond of the irrepressible carpenter.
‘Joe, I sure wish you’d change your mind about accompanying me.’
Joe sat up wiping at his eyes.
‘You know, Butch, I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that. Changes a man’s perspective. Maybe I just will tag along. Come to think on it I ain’t got nowhere else to go right now. Butt naked...!’
13.
‘How far you reckon they’re ahead?’ Joe asked.
By now they had got used to the old timer spitting to emphasise each sentence he uttered. They had found the remains of a camp and Frank had examined the site declaring it was almost certain the raiders had stopped overnight.
‘I figure two days at least. They’re heading somewhere safe to hole up is what I reckon. They’re gonna lay low till their next killings. Which makes me wonder if they were after something specific on that there stage. Mebby gold bullion or something the like.’
‘You could be right, Frank. Those hombres made sure there were no witnesses. Only we came along no one would have found those bodies till the next stage was due or someone like you came along. By which time they’ve long gone. And if nobody saw them no one can pin the killings on them.’
‘Beats me why they took the girl along,’ Butch interjected. ‘Surely she’s a witness.’
‘They don’t intend for her to live, young fella. My guess they’ve taken her along for sport. When they tire of her she’ll end up like the others back at the way station with her throat slit.’
‘Gawd damn it Frankie, do you have to be so specific?’
‘I’d have though it was obvious after what you seen back there.’
‘Yeah, well you don’t need to spell it out for me.’
Frank moved his wad about his mouth and spit over his horse’s head.
‘For a hardened jailbird you seem a mite naïve. Those fellas are killers and right brutal ones at that. They ain’t satisfied at straightforward murder but they get a satisfaction from inflicting pain. You fellas told me the screams of their victims went on for some time. Takes a special kind of killer to inflict so much suffering.’
‘Damnit Frank, I ain’t a hardened criminal. It was just a set of unfortunate circumstances that got me a prison sentence. You can’t compare me with those murdering sonsofbitches. I promised that fella as I would try and get back his sister from them renegades. It doesn’t make me feel any better for you to tell me she’ll be more an’ likely dead afore I find her.’
‘Okay, okay, keep your hair on. I’m only stating facts. Anyways we have to find water soon. The horses need watering. That feed you brought from Empire Fastness will keep them going for a while yet but we need to find water for them.’
‘Well, I reckon we ought to come across a creek sometime. If not, we’ll have to keep a lookout for a ranch and get our water there.’
It was well past noon when they sighted the building. They had been thinking of stopping for a meal break and were looking for a suitable place to rest up.
‘Now that’s a welcome sight.’ Butch observed. ‘We’ll mosey on down there and use their watering place. Maybe invite us in for a meal. I don’t reckon I’ve had a decent meal in weeks. Just think on it – home cooking. Fresh bread just off the pan. Real coffee with molasses stirred in. My juices are running already.’
‘Butch, you really take the biscuit. Ever since I met you all you ever think about is food.’
The cowboy grinned at his companion.
‘When a man has a full belly and a plump woman to have some fun with he’s halfway to paradise. Don’t you ever yearn to be back East snuggled up with that little wife of yours rather than riding the owlhoot tail with a couple of rogues?’
‘I ain’t no rogue,’ objected Frank. ‘I’m a respectable drifter. Never run foul of the law. Well, only once or twice for drunk and disorderly.’
The shot came from the house and whipped past the old timer as he spoke.
‘Hell damnit!’
Another shot whistled near and they pulled the horses around and raced for a strand of stunted oak trees.
‘Hey, what the hell you firing at us for?’ Butch yelled, once they dismounted. ‘We don’t mean no harm. We come friendly.’
The reply was another shot that whizzed harmlessly overhead. They crouched low among the trees out of sight of the marksman.
‘We were figuring on watering our horses,’ Butch yelled again. ‘What the hell’s happened to Western hospitality?’
They cringed expecting another shot but this time the shooter shouted back to them.
‘There’s a creek two mile further on. Just look for the line of cottonwoods.’
‘All right, Gawd damn it, we’re going. But no more shooting.’
‘As long as you keep moving I ain’t shooting. If you plan on pulling any tricks the next shots will be a mite lower.’
‘Joe, I reckon that voice is female. You think she’s all alone in there?’
‘Butch, it matters little if she’s alone or not. She’s got a gun trained on us. Let’s just mosey on down to that creek she’s told us about. We can water our horses without getting shot full of holes.’
‘Yeah, I wonder how purty she is.’
‘Damn me if you ain’t the limit, Butch. She’s probably an old biddy with warts and a hairy chin. More than likely she smells of piss and would as soon put a spell on us as shoot us. We don’t want any more trouble. We got enough piling up ahead if we ever catch up with them there renegades.’
Cautiously they began to lead their horses out from the bushes.
‘Don’t shoot!’ Butch yelled. 'We’re going quietly.’
He looked round.
‘Now where the hell’s Frank got to?’
There was a sudden scream from the house and a shot. Instinctively the pals ducked expecting a bullet coming their way. There was another scream.
‘Hells bells, there’s some trouble up at that house,’ Butch yelled.
Before Joe could stop him he had leapt on his horse and was galloping towards the ranch buildings.
‘Wait Butch, it might be a trick,’ Joe yelled, but the cowboy did not hear.
‘Gawd damn you, Butch Shilton,’ Joe yelled in frustration. ‘He thinks he’s Sir Galahad rescuing fair damsels in distress.’
Then he too was riding after his companion and cursing as he went.
14.
; They hit the yard without any more shots being fired at them. Joe was a few yards behind his cowboy partner. Almost as the horses pulled up the two men slid from the saddles and flung themselves on the front porch. They flattened against each side of the door. Both had revolvers in their hands – Butch with one of the Sheriff Patterson’s purloined Remingtons and Joe with Uncle John’s Colt.
Now they were up close they could see the house was dilapidated and neglected. The porch sagged in the middle and the door had not seen paint for a considerable number of seasons.
Keeping his back against the wall of the house Butch cautiously reached out and tried the latch on the ramshackle front door. It lifted easily. He waited while they both listened. They were puzzled by the apparent silence from the house after the shooting and screaming.
Taking a deep breath Butch pushed hard and the door swung open. He risked a quick peep around the doorpost. Nothing happened. He looked across at Joe and signed to him he was going in. Joe readied himself and nodded. The cowboy dived low and rolled inside, his Remington at the ready. When there was no immediate gunfire Joe quickly followed.
‘Howdy fellas, I wondered if you were gonna join us.’
‘Frank!’
The men stared with some puzzlement at the old-timer. He was sitting on a chair with a rifle held across his knees. As usual his mouth moved rhythmically as he chewed. Against the far wall a young woman cowered. She was staring at the newcomers with frightened eyes.
‘While you fellas were hiding in the bushes I sneaked in round the back and took this rifle from off this here female. I tried to tell her we meant her no harm but my guess is she’s had trouble afore with riders.’
Both Joe and Butch holstered their weapons and removed their hats and nodded reassuringly at the woman.
‘Miss we spoke true when we said as we just wanted to water our horses. We don’t aim to hurt you.’
As they regarded the woman they realised she was only a girl. She was dressed in a ragged shirt and jeans. Her face was streaked with dirt. The tracks of tears were visible on her cheeks where the wetness had eroded some of the grime.
‘Where are your folk? Surely you don’t live here alone?’
She was trembling as she stood up. Self-consciously she brushed at the strands of dirty blond hair. She gestured towards the back of the house and walked towards the door. The men looked at each other shrugged and followed.
Her folk were laid out in the barn. They had been savagely beaten before they died. An elderly man and what must have been his equally elderly wife. The men stared with some concern at the grisly sight of the two corpses.
‘They’ve been through here,’ Joe whispered.
They looked with some sympathy at the young girl. Tears were running afresh down her grubby cheeks.
‘I’m sorry, miss. No wonder you fired at us. We’re following the monsters as done this. They murdered some more folk back a piece at Empire Fastness Way Station. We been trailing them ever since. Would you like for us to bury your folk afore we move on?’
The girl could not hold back her sobs. Joe moved instinctively and put an arm around her.
‘Why don’t you go back in the house and make some coffee,’ the big man told her. ‘When we dug the holes we’ll call you.’
It was Frank who lent some dignity to the burial ceremony. He produced a well-thumbed bible and read a few passages.
‘Where thou die, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. And he will make his burial place even with the wicked ones and with the rich class in his death, despite the fact that they had done no violence and there was no deception in their mouths.’
As they sat in the house and cooked up a meal they quizzed the girl about her plans. Her name was Jessica Kelsey and she was fifteen years old. She had been up in the top pastures tending the livestock when the raiders rode through. Hearing the commotion she had ran back to find out what was happening. Seeing so many horses in the yard she had hung back. Then she had seen her father and mother being dragged outside. The raiders had taken turns beating them with whatever farm implements were at hand. She had hidden till they looted what little wealth there was and ridden away.
‘How many were there?’
There were five men and they had two women with them who took no part in the killing.
‘Two women - that fella said nothing about two women. He only mentioned his sister.’
‘Can you describe these people to us?’
Her eyes seemed to glaze over.
‘I’ll never forget them. One older man thin and bony. Four younger ones. One tall and dark – one short and thick - one slight of build and dark and one about the size of Butch and dark also.’
‘What about the women - can you describe them?’
‘A very young girl about my age maybe and an older woman. Not old-old but older than the girl. Might have been her mother.’
Joe shook his head.
‘Nah, can’t be her mother. Must have been some other poor female taken hostage. Trouble is we don’t know who was on the stage or who was at the station. The second woman could have been from Empire Fastness.’
‘Nope,’ Frank interrupted. ‘The only females at the station were an Injun woman and her halfwit daughter. I saw both their bodies back there, God rest their souls. Looks to me this other woman was a passenger on the stage. I pity them both.’
‘Please take me with you when you go.’
The three men looked at each other and then back at the young girl.
‘Jessica, you don’t know what you’re asking. Have you any folk you can go to?’
She shook her head her large eyes pleading with them.
‘No one - there was just my parents and me.’
‘We…we’re three men on the trail of a bunch of killers.’ Joe stated. ‘We can’t take care of a child.’
‘I’m no child.’ Jessica protested. ‘I’m fifteen. And I can shoot too. I always brought game home for the pot.’
‘Joe, we can’t leave her here,’ Butch intervened. ‘I say we take her on to the next big town.’
It was Frank who decided the issue.
‘Ain’t you fellas forgetting this little gal is the only one as seen them there killers. She can identify them and not only that if we get them to the law she can testify what they done to her ma and pa.’
15.
The town of Coventree was a vast conurbation of clapboard buildings. The little band, now numbering four with the addition of Jessica rode up the main street and stopped at the livery.
‘What we supposed to use for money?’ Joe asked, eying the livery stable. ‘They ain’t gonna put up our horses for free.’
‘I figure I can grubstake you fellas,’ Frank answered, spitting over his horse’s head. ‘I got a little put by.’
‘That’s mighty swell of you, Frank,’ Butch observed. ‘I don’t know when we’ll be able to repay you.’
‘I got some money,’ Jessica said, and blushed.
Once the men had agreed to take her along she had ridden with them in silence, only speaking when spoken too.
‘Ma always had a tin of money she said she was keeping for a rainy day.’
She sniffed, suddenly remembering what had happened to her parents.
‘I guess she wouldn’t mind me lending you some.’
When the liveryman took charge of their mounts they enquired about lodgings. They were directed to a boarding house.
‘I reckon we’ll stay at least one night here and make enquiries about them killers.’ Butch suggested. ‘It looks as if they were heading this way. They may have stopped to replenish supplies. Someone might have seen them. We ought to parcel out the likely places and make the rounds.’
In the end Butch and Jessica were assigned to visit the boarding houses, eating houses and hotels. Frank was to mosey round the stores and places of business, while Joe took it on himself to look into the saloons and places o
f entertainment.
‘We meet back at the livery in an hour or so and confab,’ Joe suggested. ‘Whatever happens, no one should confront those fellas. Remember they’re coldblooded vicious killers.’
Joe tried three saloons without success, asking if a group of men and two women had stopped by for refreshments. Then he contemplated the sporting houses and wondered of Butch might be better at that sort of enquiry.
His fourth saloon was called the Good Eva Arcadia and seemed much livelier than the previous places he had visited. There was a baccarat table as well as roulette and a couple of card games going. Joe ambled in and ordered a beer.
‘Nope,’ the barkeep replied to Joe’s enquiry regarding the men they were seeking. ‘Best ask down at the livery. They see everyone as comes and goes.’
‘Now why didn’t I think of that,’ Joe observed ruefully.
He wandered among the crowd idly watching the games in progress and sizing up the men in the saloon. No one matched the descriptions Jessica had given. He stopped at one table where four men were playing poker. Fingering the few dollars he had in his pocket he was tempted to sit in but the betting was way beyond his means. He was more hopeful at the next table. There was a pile of dimes in the centre of the table indicating the level of play. Joe asked for a place and was accepted into the low stakes poker school.
*
‘We ain’t sure how long we’ll stay,’ Frank told the liveryman. ‘Can I pay you each day?’
‘Sure old-timer. That’ll be two dollars for corral and feed.’
‘You ain’t seen a bunch of fellas come through here in the last day or two? Mebby five men and a couple of women.’
‘Reckon I did old-timer. Mean looking bunch of fellas. Came by yesterday. Friends of yourn?’
Frank’s alert old eyes lit up at hitting pay dirt so soon.
‘Yeah, we were supposed to meet up but we missed them. Where’ll I find them now?’
‘Not in Coventree that’s for sure. They lit out soon after buying fresh horses.’
‘Damnit, I seem fated to miss those rannies. Anyone they saw in particular that can throw some light on where they went?’
Brothers in Arms Page 6