Matt Jensen, The Last Mountain Man Savage Territory

by William W. Johnstone

  “There was no battle,” Matt said as he stepped up to the bar. “I’ll have one of Mr. Marcus’s beers,” he said.

  “What do you mean there was no battle?” Meechum demanded. “Are you saying we didn’t kill a bunch of Delshay’s murderin’ Apaches?”

  “You killed a bunch of Indians all right,” Matt said as he blew the head off the beer that was put before him. “But they weren’t murderers, and they weren’t with Delshay. You went onto the reservation and attacked a peaceful village.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I spoke to Nopoloto, one of the Indians who lived in the reservation village you attacked. And I found Delshay’s latest encampment. There were no signs of any battle there.”

  “Did you say Nopoloto?” one of the saloon patrons asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Nopoloto used to ride with Cochise. He’s not an Indian you want to get mad at you. We’ll be lucky if the entire Apache Nation doesn’t go to war because of that.”

  “Let ’em go to war,” Willis said bombastically. “If they do, we’ll be ready for them. Right, boys?”

  “Right,” Meechum replied.

  Matt noticed that the rest of the men, at least those who were not passed out drunk, were pointedly silent in response to Willis’s challenge.

  “It looks like you may wind up fighting this war all alone, Willis,” Matt said. “And even you can’t draw fast enough, or shoot straight enough, to handle this all by yourself.”

  “What about you?” Willis asked. “You say you found Delshay’s village. Did you see him?”

  “No, I did not see him.”

  “I see,” Willis replied. “And did you find the woman?”

  “No.”

  “Well, then, it looks like we are about even, don’t it, Mr. Matt Jensen?”

  Without answering, Matt walked back to the table where Bixby and Hendel were sitting.

  “May I join you?” he asked.

  “Yes, please do,” Hendel replied graciously.

  “I heard you tell them that you didn’t find my wife,” Bixby said.

  “No, I did not.” Matt reached for his pocket, intending to show Bixby the note he had found, but before he could, Bixby spoke again.

  “There’s no need in your going out there again,” he said. “Cynthia is dead. I know she is.”

  Matt shook his head. “I don’t believe she is dead.”

  “I know, I know, you explained all about how Indians don’t bury their enemy. But that means nothing to me. I know that she is dead.”

  “Mr. Bixby, I wish you had a little more confidence,” Hendel said. “I am convinced that she is still alive.”

  “You hold on to that conviction, Mr. Hendel,” Bixby said. “In the meantime, I want you to go to the depot and secure two tickets for our return to New York. I have been in this accursed place quite long enough now. I am ready to go home.”

  “No, Mr. Bixby, I will not purchase a return ticket for you,” Hendel said.

  “What? What did you just say to me?” Bixby gasped, shocked at the response of the man who had always been subservient to him.

  “I said, Mr. Bixby, that I will not purchase a return ticket for you.”

  “How dare you refuse me!”

  “We are not leaving Phoenix until Cynthia has been rescued,” Hendel said.

  “Cynthia, is it? Since when do you have the right to call my wife by her first name?”

  “As it is evident that I am more concerned for her welfare than you, I have assumed that right,” Hendel said. “Neither you nor I will leave here until she has safely returned.”

  “You are wasting your noble feelings, Hendel. My wife is dead.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “That’s because you don’t want to believe it. But I know she is dead.”

  “How do you know she is dead?”

  Bixby bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because, even as I escaped, I saw the savages kill her,” he said.

  “Then, if you saw that, why did you offer a reward for her safe return?” Hendel asked.

  “Maybe it is because I just didn’t want to admit it to myself,” Bixby said.

  Matt applauded quietly, and as he did so, both Bixby and Hendel looked toward him.

  “I congratulate you, Bixby,” Matt said. “With a performance like that, you should be on the stage.”

  “What are you talking about, sir?” Bixby asked, the tone of his voice righteously indignant.

  Matt took the little square of green cloth from his pocket and put it on the table.

  “What is that?” Bixby asked.

  “You don’t recognize it?” Matt replied.

  “No, I don’t recognize it. Why should I?”

  “But surely you recognize it, Mr. Bixby,” Hendel said. “That’s a piece of material from the dress Cynthia was wearing the day the two of you left to look at land.”

  Bixby looked at the little square of cloth, then nodded. “Yes, now that you mention it, it is what she was wearing,” he agreed. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting to see it here like this.” He looked up at Matt. “You found this, did you?”

  “I did.”

  “Then, does this not prove that she is dead?”

  “On the contrary,” Matt said, unfolding the cloth to expose the note that was inside. “If you read this, it will prove that she is still alive.”

  Bixby grabbed the note, and as he read it, Matt studied the expression on his face. He recognized the moment Bixby read the crucial words: Moved to pity by the sight of my husband’s great fear, Delshay let him leave unharmed, though he kept me as his captive.

  Finishing the note, Bixby folded it and started to stick it in his pocket.

  “May I see the note, Mr. Bixby?” Hendel asked.

  Bixby glared at Hendel. “No, you cannot see it. This is a personal letter from my wife to me.”

  “From the wife you saw killed?” Matt asked.

  “Well, I—I—thank God I was mistaken. There was some distance between us. I suppose it is possible that I just thought I saw her killed.”

  “Show the note to Mr. Hendel.”

  “I see no reason why I should do that just because you ask me to,” Bixby said.

  “If you thought I asked you to show Hendel the note, you misunderstood me,” Matt said. “I’m not asking you, I’m telling you to show him the note.”

  “You—you have no right to order me to do such a thing,” Bixby said. Then, looking at the determined expression on Matt’s face, Bixby broke into a sweat, licked his lips, and with trembling hands, gave the note to Hendel.

  Hendel read it, looked up at the moment he read the line about Delshay letting Bixby go, then returned to the note. After he finished reading it, he returned the note to Bixby without comment.

  “Uh, naturally, after receiving this note, my position has changed,” Bixby said. “I will not be returning to New York until we have found her. Mr. Jensen, I would appreciate it very much, sir, if you would continue to look for her.”

  “Call off your reward,” Matt said. “Not only were a dozen or more innocent Indians killed because of that foolish reward, it has made my job harder.”

  “All right.”

  “Do it now,” Matt said.

  “Now? Here? Look at them, they are drunk and carrying on—how do you expect me to get their attention?”

  “I can get their attention for you, Mr. Bixby,” Hendel said.

  “You? Ha! How can someone like you get their attention?”

  “Watch me,” Hendel replied with a confident smile.

  Standing, Hendel put his fingers in his mouth, then let out with an ear-piercing whistle. As he promised, it got everyone’s attention as the talking halted in mid-conversation while all turned to see what was going on.

  “Gentlemen—and ladies,” Hendel added, taking in the half-dozen or so women who were in the Dry Gulch, “excuse me for interrupting, but my employer, Mr. Bixby, has a
n announcement to make.”

  Hendel sat down and, with some hesitancy, Bixby stood up. He was extremely cognizant of the fact that everyone in the saloon was staring at him, and he cleared his throat before he began to speak.

  “I, uh, hereby withdraw the reward offer of ten thousand dollars.”

  “What?” Willis shouted. “Why?”

  “A question has been raised about the efficacy of the attack on the Indian village. It is entirely possible that several innocent Indians were killed and I want no part in it.” Bixby sat down.

  “You’re behind this, ain’t you, Jensen?” Willis said. “You’re behind this, and you’re doing it because you want the reward all to yourself.”

  Matt stared at Willis for a moment before he answered. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said quietly. “I’m behind this. And I’m doing it because I want the reward all for myself.”

  “You!” Willis said, choking on his anger. Turning to face Matt, he moved his hand so that it hovered threateningly just over his pistol. “I’ve had a bellyful of you.”

  Chairs tumbled over and tables were scooted across the floor as everyone in the saloon moved quickly to get out of the line of fire. They watched expectantly as Willis and Matt stared at each other. Matt was still seated.

  “Stand up, Jensen,” Willis said with a snarl. “Stand up. Let’s get this done.”

  “I don’t need be standing to beat someone like you,” Matt said. “You want to play this out, go ahead and draw. I can kill a little pissant like you as easily sitting as I can standing.”

  Like the others in the saloon, Meechum had moved to get out of the way. Now, standing to one side of the action, and seeing that Matt Jensen’s attention was focused entirely on Pogue Willis, he realized that he had an opportunity he would never get again.

  He drew his pistol.

  “Draw, Jensen!” he shouted, even as his own pistol was clearing his holster.

  Within the blink of an eye, Matt reacted with a draw that was fast and smooth. His practiced thumb came back on the hammer in one fluid motion while his finger put the slightest pressure on the hair trigger of his Colt. There was a blossom of white, followed by a booming thunderclap as the gun jumped in his hand.

  Meechum tried to continue his draw, but the .44 slug from Matt’s pistol caught him in the heart. When the bullet came out through the back, it brought a chunk of Meechum’s shoulder blade with it, leaving an exit wound the size of a quarter.

  Meechum’s hand came away from his gun and it slipped back down into his holster as he staggered backward, crashing into a table before coming down on it with a crunch that turned the table into firewood. He landed flat on his back, on the floor, his mouth open and a little sliver of blood oozing down his chin. His body was still jerking a bit, but his eyes were open and unseeing. He was already dead. Only the muscles continued to respond, as if waiting for signals that could no longer be sent.

  The exchange had caught Willis by surprise, and by the time he looked back toward Matt, he saw that he was looking into the smoking barrel of Matt’s pistol.

  Willis put his hands up.

  “No!” he said. “No, I ain’t drawin’ on you. I ain’t drawin’.”

  “Get out of here, Willis,” Matt said dryly. “I don’t like you. If I see you again, I may kill you just for the hell of it.”

  “You all heard that!” Willis shouted to the others in the saloon. “I want you to remember that you all heard him threaten to kill me.”

  “If you are still here ten seconds from now, it won’t be a threat, it’ll be a fact,” Matt said.

  Willis glared at Matt a second longer, then turning, he hurried from the saloon.

  “Ha!” one of the saloon patrons said. “I never thought I would see Pogue Willis turn tail and run.”

  Several others laughed, though their laughter was nervous and guarded, as if they were afraid someone might tell Willis they had laughed at him.

  Matt stood up and looked down at Bixby and Hendel, both of whom were staring at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

  “I’m going to find your wife now,” Matt said. “I strongly suggest that you be here when I come back with her.”

  “I’ll—I’ll be here,” Bixby said.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Matt was close.

  He was not only close, he was pressing them because they were getting more careless in abandoning their campsites. At this campsite, they’d left the still-glowing embers of a campfire.

  As Matt was examining the campsite, he realized that he was being watched. And because whoever was watching him had not killed him, he did not believe he was in immediate danger.

  Stirring up the coals, Matt reignited the campfire, then put coffee grounds and water into his coffeepot and set it over the campfire to boil. Within moments, its rich aroma permeated the area. When he knew the coffee was done, he took two cups from his saddlebag.

  “Would you join me for coffee, friend?” he called out.

  Getting no response from his offer, he put one cup down by the fire and filled the second cup. Then, sitting on a nearby fallen log, he began to drink.

  He heard a movement, then out of the corner of his eye saw the person who had been watching him.

  Nopoloto came out from hiding, walked over to the fire, picked up the cup, then poured himself some coffee. Still without talking, he came over and sat on the same log as Matt.

  “Agent Baker told me that you tried to seek justice for the raid on my village,” Nopoloto said.

  “I tried,” Matt said. “I wasn’t very successful, I’m afraid.”

  “What happens inside the heart is more important than what happens outside the heart. Because you tried, you are the friend of Nopoloto.”

  Matt touched his cup to that of Nopoloto as if in toast. It was not a gesture with which Nopoloto was familiar, but he responded quickly.

  “I am honored to be the friend of Nopoloto,” Matt said.

  Nopoloto was quiet until they had finished drinking their coffee. Then he spoke.

  “I will take you to Delshay,” Nopoloto said.

  “I appreciate that.”

  “But you must do as I say.”

  “All right,” Matt agreed.

  Searching around the camp, Nopoloto found a dead tree limb that was about six feet tall, and ended with a Y. He tied the branch to his saddle, then asked for Matt’s weapons.

  “I don’t know,” Matt said. “I feel naked out here if I’m not armed.”

  “You must do as I say,” Nopoloto said again.

  Matt hesitated for just a moment, then handed his pistol to Nopoloto. Using a small strip of rawhide, Nopoloto tied the pistol to one side of the Y at the top of the branch. Then he did the same thing with Matt’s rifle, tying it to the other side. As they rode off, it was obvious to anyone who might see them that Matt was unarmed.

  Matt followed Nopoloto, then chuckled as he realized they were circling back to an encampment he had already located, and discarded. Delshay was coming back to previously used encampments, realizing that whoever was following him would continue on.

  As they approached the camp, Matt saw three Indians standing on the trail, waiting for them. One of the Indians was the biggest Apache he had ever seen. One was young, perhaps in his early twenties. The one in the middle was Delshay. Matt recognized him from the days when he had scouted for the army. Matt held his hand up, palm out, and was gratified to see that Delshay responded in the same way.

  Delshay and Nopoloto spoke a few words in their own language. Then Delshay spoke to Matt in English.

  “I have seen you before,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “You were with the soldiers. Are you still with the soldiers?”

  “No.”

  “You have come for Mountain Lion Woman.”

  “You have given her a fine name,” Matt said.

  Delshay nodded. “Yes. She has the courage of a mountain lion. Her man has the courage of a rabbit.�
��

  The other two Indians laughed.

  “I have come for her, yes.”

  “You would take her back to the coward?”

  “I will take her where she wants to go,” Matt said.

  “She will not wish to return to the coward.”

  “I believe it is for her to decide.”

  “Yes,” Delshay said. “It is for her to decide.”

  With Matt and Nopoloto leading their horses, they followed Delshay and the other two Indians for about a mile until they came to the site of an encampment. As Matt had surmised, this was one of the earlier camps he had already discovered.

  “You have been here before,” Delshay said.

  “Yes,” Matt answered,

  “You track like a wolf,” Delshay said. “I knew that you would find us. That is why I sent Cochinay to tell Nopoloto to bring you to me.”

  “I am Cochinay,” the youngest of the three Indians who had met him said.

  “You are married to the daughter of Nopoloto,” Matt said.

  “You know this?” Cochinay asked in surprise.

  Matt had heard about Cochinay and Alope from Nopoloto when he took him to the reservation hospital.

  “Yes, I know this. It is a good marriage for her.”

  “She is dead. She was killed before we could marry.”

  “You are married,” Matt said. “In the spirit world, you are married, and she is very pleased.”

  Cochinay nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I think that is right.”

  Matt looked around the campsite for Cynthia. At first, he saw only Indians—then he realized that one of the people he was seeing wasn’t an Indian.

  “Mrs. Bixby?” he said.

  “Mr. Jensen!” Cynthia replied with a happy shout. “You have come for me!” She started toward Matt, but he held up his hand to stop her.

  “Delshay, will you let Mountain Lion Woman come with me?”

  Before his question could be answered, the big Indian spoke to Delshay. He spoke in Apache, so Matt had no idea what they were talking about.

  “Do not let the woman go with him,” Nalyudi said.