“Don’t look to the woman for directions,” Van Arndt said. “I’m in charge here. Now I said for all of you to get over by the house and sit in one long row. Do it now, or I’ll shoot again. And next time it won’t be just an ear.”
The others, galvanized by Van Arndt’s cruelty in both action and words, now hurried over to sit down as ordered. Consuela reached out for Maria, intending to take her daughter with her join the others, but Van Arndt held out his hand to stop them.
“No,” he said. “The little girl stays here with me. Peters,” he called to one of his men.
“Yeah, Van Arndt?” Perhaps under normal circumstances, the puffy, purple scar that ran from Peter’s left eye down to his mouth, disfiguring part of his lip, would not have been as noticeable. But in the hell that Van Arndt was creating, the disfigurement just made him more hellish, adding to the horror of the moment.
“See what the hell is keeping that Mexican I sent after the horses. He should have both of them saddled and out here by now.”
Peters started toward the barn, then stopped. “Here he comes now,” he said.
Looking toward the barn, Sally saw Carlos leading two saddled horses. One was hers, and the other was from the string that they kept for temporary cowboys. Carlos walked up to Van Arndt and tried to hand him the reins.
“Don’t give ’em to me, you stupid Mexican,” Van Arndt said. “I’m not ridin’ that horse.”
Van Arndt waved for Peters to come over and take the reins. Carlos started toward his wife and child.
“Just a minute, you,” Van Arndt called to Carlos.
Carlos stopped.
“Your name is Carlos, is it?” Van Arndt asked.
“Sí, señor.”
“Well, Carlos, is there anything you want to tell me?”
“I do not understand,” Carlos said.
“Oh, you understand all right,” Van Arndt replied. “Did you hide something on this horse?”
Carlos didn’t answer.
Van Arndt walked over to Sally’s horse. First, he checked the saddlebags. Then he began running his hand around the blanket, then around and under the saddle itself.
“Well, now,” Van Arndt said with an evil grin. “What do we have here?”
Van Arndt pulled out a derringer and held it up for all to see.
“You hid this here, didn’t you, Carlos?”
Carlos remained silent.
“You hid this gun under the saddle blanket, didn’t you, Carlos?” Van Arndt asked again, loudly and angrily.
“Sí, señor,” Carlos replied, he spoke words so quietly that they could barely be heard.
“What did you say?” Van Arndt demanded. “Come on, let me hear it. Let everyone hear it. Did you hide this gun under the saddle blanket?”
“Sí, señor,” Carlos said again, louder this time, and in a voice that cracked with fear. “I hid the gun under the blanket.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, you sneaky son of a bitch,” Van Arndt said. He looked over at Sally, his widening smile making a large, dark scar across a face that was as white as if it had been coated with flour. He clapped his hands together lightly.
“Well, my dear,” he said. “You are to be commended for inspiring such loyalty as has been demonstrated here. The Mex there tried to sneak this pistol to you even though he was well aware that if he got caught doing it, he could be killed.”
Van Arndt looked over at Carlos. “That is right, isn’t it, Carlos? You did understand, did you not, that if you tried to give your mistress this gun, that you could be killed?”
Carlos made a barely imperceptible nod of his head. “Sí, señor,” he said.
“Well, that is very brave of you, Carlos,” Van Arndt said with a condescending smile. “You knew it could get you killed, but you did it anyway.” Van Arndt dipped his head in a small bow. “You have my respect for that.”
“I—uh—gracias, señor,” Carlos replied, not quite sure where all this was going.
“I congratulate you on your courage, Carlos. But you have just made it clear to all of us that you knew the danger of doing such a thing.”
“Van Arndt, leave him alone,” Sally said. “Whatever bone you have to pick is with me or my husband. None of my employees are a part of this, and neither is this girl.” She nodded toward Lucy.
“Oh, but Carlos made himself a part of this when he tried to sneak this gun to you,” Van Arndt said. Again, he held up the derringer. “And I think it is very important that everyone understand that he knew exactly what he was doing, just so there will be no misunderstanding over what I must do now.”
“Que?” Carlos said, suddenly realizing that the conversation had taken a very dangerous turn.
Suddenly, and without warning, Van Arndt turned the gun toward Carlos and squeezed the trigger on the derringer. There was a loud report as fire and smoke billowed out from the barrel of the little pistol. The recoil kicked up Van Arndt’s hand.
Though the pistol was small, the bullet it fired was of a large caliber and heavy. The ball hit Carlos in the forehead and he pitched back, dead before he even hit the ground.
“Carlos!” Consuela screamed in horror, running to kneel beside her stricken husband.
Several others called out in fear and fright as well.
“You son of a bitch!” Sally cursed.
Van Arndt put his foot into the stirrup, then swung up into the saddle of his horse. “Keno, get Mrs. Jensen and the other woman onto their horses,” he ordered. “It is time for us to leave this place.”
“Gladly,” Keno said. By now his face looked somewhat like a glistening ham. He grabbed Sally and pulled her over to her horse. Because her arms were tied to her sides, she could not get mounted without help, so Keno lifted her foot into the stirrup, then put his hand on her butt and pushed her up until she was in the saddle. He chuckled as he did so.
“You know what? I wouldn’t be surprised but what you sort of enjoyed my hands playin’ around on your ass like that,” he said.
“You go to Hell,” Sally replied with a snarl.
“Oh, I am sure I will go to Hell,” Keno said. He turned to Lucy. “Now, little lady, it’s your time. But don’t worry, I promise to be gentle.”
“No, please!” Lucy said, cringing away from him. “Why do you want me to go with you?”
“Leave her alone,” Sally said. “Van Arndt, I beg of you, leave the girl here. She has no part of this.”
“You stay out of this,” Van Arndt said to Sally. He pointed at Lucy. “Look, here, girlie, you either come with us like I am telling you to, or I will personally shoot you dead and leave you behind. It’s up to you. Which shall it be?”
“I’ll—I’ll come with you,” Lucy said with a whimper.
“I thought you might see it my way,” Van Arndt said.
By the time Sally and Lucy were mounted, the men who were riding with Van Arndt were mounted as well.
“Now, Mrs. Jensen, you and the girl here will do everything we ask of you without giving us any trouble,” Van Arndt said. “If you don’t, I will kill the girl first, then I will kill you. And, just to show you that I am serious, here is a little demonstration of how serious I am.”
From the saddle, Van Arndt pointed, not the derringer, but his own pistol at Maria.
“No!” Sally shouted when she realized what Van Arndt was going to do. “My God, Van Arndt! Please, no!”
Van Arndt pulled the trigger and the little girl went down, the new dress she was so proud of now covered with red from the bleeding wound in her chest.
Consuela, who was still crying over her dead husband, screamed again, then passed out over her daughter’s body.
“I hope this gets your husband’s attention,” Van Arndt said.
Sally, who had been shocked into silence by the enormity of Van Arndt’s crime, did not answer.
“Let’s go,” Van Arndt said, and the men, with the two women as their prisoners, rode away from the ranch house. As best she could, w
ith her restraints, Sally twisted around in her saddle to look back at the grisly scene they were leaving behind them. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she saw the crumpled form of the little body. Maria was still wearing the dress Sally had so recently bought for her.
“Hey, Van Arndt, why are we takin’ both of them?” Jeeter asked as they rode off. “Seems to me like havin’ two of them will just slow us down.”
“The girl is our ace in the hole,” Van Arndt replied.
“Ace in the hole? What do you mean?”
“You don’t have a lick of sense, do you, Jeeter?” Van Arndt asked.
“Yeah, I do. I’ve got plenty of sense,” Jeeter said defensively.
“You seen what the Jensen woman did back at the house, didn’t you? If you’ve forgot already, just take a look at Keno’s face, then think about Miller lyin’ back there dead.”
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with why we are takin’ both of ’em?”
“I figure the Jensen woman is less likely to try anything if we have the girl, too.”
Grimly, Sally realized that Van Arndt was right. If she was by herself, she was confident that she would find a way to escape. But, as long as they had Lucy, too, her options would be very limited.
“Yeah,” Jeeter said. “Yeah, I see what you mean. Besides which, I reckon before all this is said and done, we’ll have some fun with her.” Jeeter chuckled. “Yeah,” he said. “I reckon I’m goin’ to appreciate that.”
“Lucy, I’m so sorry you got caught up in all this,” Sally said.
“It isn’t your fault,” Lucy replied, her voice shaking with the terror of the moment. “I’m the one who came over today.”
Chapter Seventeen
It was late afternoon by the time Smoke, Pearlie, and Cal arrived at Sugarloaf. They saw several people standing around outside the house, and the tension was almost palpable. As Juan approached them, Smoke saw that the old Mexican was wearing a bandage wrapped around his head. There was a spot of red over his right ear where it had bled through.
“What happened to your ear?” Smoke said as he dismounted.
“My ear is nothing, Señor,” Juan said as, almost unconsciously, he put his hand over it. “Carlos and little Maria are dead. Murdered. And Señora Jensen the bandidos took.”
“Van Arndt,” Smoke said, speaking the name almost as an oath.
“Sí, Van Arndt. They took the señorita, too,” Juan said.
“Took the señorita? What señorita? Who are you talking about?” Smoke asked.
“Señorita Lucy,” Juan said.
“What?” Pearlie asked quickly. “They took Lucy?”
“Sí, señor.”
“I don’t understand. How did they get her?”
“She had come to greet you when you came home, Señor Pearlie.”
“Damn,” Pearlie said. “Damn, damn.”
“Juan, do you have any idea where they went? Did you hear any of them mention where they were going?”
Juan shrugged his shoulders. “I heard nothing, Señor Smoke,” he said. “But when they left, they were going in that direction.” He pointed.
“It looks like they are headed for either Hardscrabble or Red Table Mountain,” Pearlie said.
“Yes,” Smoke answered. Looking around, he saw Consuela being comforted by some of the others, and he walked over to her.
“Señora Rodriguez, I am so sorry about Maria and Juan,” he said. “I wish there was something I could say or do that would comfort you.”
“Consuela had no family but Carlos and Maria,” one of the others said. “Now she has no place to go.”
“She doesn’t need to go anywhere. She is welcome to stay on Sugarloaf as long as she wishes,” Smoke said.
Smoke embraced Consuela, felt her crying against him. He held her for a long moment. Then she moved away.
“You must find Señora Jensen,” she said. “Find the men who did this evil thing. Find them and punish them.”
“I will find them, “Smoke said. “And I promise you, they will be punished.”
Smoke walked back over to Juan. “Tell me, Juan, I think I know why Van Arndt took Sally, and maybe even Lucy. But why did he kill Carlos and Maria?”
“He kill Carlos because Carlos hid a gun on the horse of Señora Jensen. Van Arndt found the gun,” Juan said.
“Damn,” Smoke said. He shook his head. “That was very courageous of Carlos. But what about the little girl? Why on earth would Van Arndt kill a little girl like that? What possible danger could she have been to him?”
“He said if he kill the little girl, he will get your attention,” Juan replied.
“Is that it? He killed Maria just to get my attention? Well, I’ll say this for the son of a bitch. He’s gotten my attention all right.”
“There is another one,” Juan said.
“Another what?”
“Cadáver,” Juan said. “Another body, Señor,” he added. “There is another body.”
“One of our people?”
“No, Señor, he was one of the evil ones,” Juan said. “Señora Jensen killed him.”
“You say Sally killed him?”
“Sí, señor,” Juan replied. He put his hand to his face. “To Keno, the one who worked here before, Señora Jensen burn his face, very bad, with a hot plate from the store. Then she took the pistol from Keno and she killed another man.”
Smoke nodded his head. “Good,” he said. “Good for Sally. Where is the man she killed?”
“He is out in the pigpen, Señor. I did not want his body near those of Carlos and little Maria. I hope I did not do wrong.”
Smoke shook his head. “You didn’t do wrong,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, the pigpen is just the place for him,” Smoke started toward the pigpen, with Pearlie and Cal close on his heels.
“What do you think this is all about, Smoke?” Cal asked.
“Well, if the fella lyin’ up there on top of the canyon wall is to be believed, this man Van Arndt is holding Sally for ransom,” Smoke said.
“But if he’s holding her for ransom, doesn’t that mean he is going to have to send you a note or something to let you know where to take the money and how to get Sally back?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Then we find Van Arndt, and we kill him,” Smoke said easily.
Sally and Lucy were riding in the middle, while three of their captors were riding in front and three were riding behind. They stopped just before starting up Hardscrabble Saddle Pass.
“Where the hell is Shardeen?” Van Arndt asked with a growl. “I told the son of a bitch to meet us here.”
“Maybe he’s gone on ahead,” Boswell suggested.
Van Arndt shook his head. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that. But I don’t know where he is. All the hell he was supposed to do was slow down Jensen, then head right to here.”
“Did you say he was supposed to slow down Smoke?” Sally asked. She laughed. “Slow down Smoke?” She laughed again. “Do you have any idea how funny that is?”
“What the hell are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing at the idea that you actually thought you could do anything that would slow down Smoke. I’ll tell you right now, Van Arndt. If you sent your man to try and slow Smoke down, you may as well just forget about him, because you aren’t ever going to see him again.”
“Yeah, well, he must’ve done it,” Van Arndt said. “Jensen didn’t show up while we were at the ranch now, did he? Peters.”
“Yeah?”
“I want you to ride on back to the ranch. I am pretty sure that Jensen is there by now. If he isn’t there yet, you wait. When he shows up, tell him that if he wants to see his wife alive again, it’s going to cost him forty-five thousand dollars.”
“You want me to tell him that—in person?” Peters asked. “What the hell do you want me to do that for? Why don’t we just send him a note?”
Van Arndt shook his head. “Huh-uh, a note won’t wo
rk,” he said. “We need to be absolutely certain that he gets the information. Don’t worry, he’s not dumb enough to do anything to you as long as we have his wife.”
“Am I supposed to get the money from him?” Peters asked.
“Haw! You’d sure like that, I s’pose,” Van Arndt said. “Nah, tell him to get the money together and send it, by mail, to Clay Thomas, general delivery, Denver.”
“Clay Thomas?” Keno said. “Who the hell is Clay Thomas? Why should he get the money?”
“There ain’t no Clay Thomas, you dumb shit,” Van Arndt said. “That’s just a name I’m usin’.” Then, to Peters, he continued his instructions. “Tell him when we have the money, we’ll let his wife go.”
“What about the girl here?” Peters asked. “Should I tell him we have her?”
“I’m sure he will know.”
“Are we goin’ to ask more money for her?”
Van Arndt chuckled. “No, we aren’t. Tell him we’ve got this girl as well as his wife, and if he cooperates with us, we’ll throw her in for free.” Van Arndt chuckled. “She will be a token of our good faith, so to speak.”
“All right,” Peters said, turning away from the others.
“There’s an old abandoned mine on the other side of the pass,” Van Arndt said. “We’ll meet you there when you come back.”
“There are two abandoned mines over there. Which one are you talking about?” Peters asked.
“You don’t need to be worrying any about that, Peters, since you won’t be coming back,” Sally said.
“What?”
“Don’t pay any attention to that bitch,” Van Arndt said. “Just do what I told you.”
“Peters, just ask yourself this question,” Sally said. “Did Shardeen come back?”
Van Arndt rode back to Sally, then slapped her hard.
“I thought I told you to shut up,” he said.
Peters lingered for a moment longer.
“I don’t know, Van Arndt, maybe the woman has a point,” Peters said. “I mean, when you think about it, just where is Shardeen anyway?”
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