by Fran Striker
Chapter VIII
A MATTER OF MURDER
Tonto the Indian was breaking a trail across Thunder Mountain where itwas said no horse could travel. In a cavern in Bryant's Gap, a TexasRanger tossed in the torture of fever and infection. In the Basin,Penelope Cavendish ran to a house whose door had been chalked by Death.
Penny was slightly out of breath from running when she opened the doorof Becky's home. The place was of one room, with a cloth partition atthe far end shutting off the beds from view. Some of the children musthave been in bed, for there were only two in sight, both whimpering andsweaty. The room was like an oven with heat from the stove and humidityfrom the recent rain. Mort was scolding the uncomprehending baby in thecrib and the sobbing child who sat on the floor. Mort's presence was asurprise. It must have been later than Penny had thought. He swungtoward his cousin.
"What do you want here?" he demanded.
"Becky invited me for dinner," lied Penny. "I hoped to get here in timeto help her." Brushing past Mort she said, "What can I do, Becky?"
The mother of many looked up with tired eyes from the stove.
"What's the use?" she said.
"For dinner!" Mort's voice was loud. "My, but ain't we gettin' to be theclass. Invitin' company for dinner." He snatched a big spoon from atable and thrust it into a stew that was on the stove. "You call thatswill dinner? You'd come here an' eat the sort of truck she cooks?"
"Please be quiet a minute," said Penny.
Becky broke in. "'Tain't no use lyin' about it, Penny. Mort ain't nofool, an' he knows yuh ain't come tuh eat. Yuh come thinkin' he'd whaleme again tuhnite because he catched me in yer room this mornin'. Hewon't though--yuh needn't have no fear on that score."
Mort looked at Becky with a surprise that equaled Penny's. The tireddrudge returned his stare.
"I mean it," she said. The whimpering of the young ones ceased as theybecame absorbed in the adult conversation. "I've been licked by you ferthe last time. Yuh beat me fer hearin' things t'other night, but thatbeatin' ain't made me fergit what I heard. I know the kind of thingsthat's goin' on in this Basin."
"Yuh know too much," retorted Mort, advancing on his wife with clenchedfists. For an instant it looked as if the man were going to strikeBecky.
"Go ahead," cried Becky shrilly, "go on an' knock me down an' I'll seeto it that there ain't no slip-up the next time I try tuh put you an'yer pack of wolves where yuh belong!"
Penny darted a quick look at the children. They seemed fascinated by theargument between their parents. She felt the embarrassment the otherslacked the grace to feel. She was frightened for Rebecca, but Rebeccawas a changed personality who now seemed formidable.
"I thought the hull thing over, Mort Cavendish," went on Rebecca, herdark eyes glowing with hatred and defiance. "I ain't nothin' tuh gain byseein' the pack of you jailed. It don't matter tuh me if you an' Bryantan' all the rest of yuh stay here or rot in jail." Her bosom rose andfell quickly with the intensity of her outburst. "Or yuh c'n dangle atthe end of a rope. I wouldn't care. I've watched the lot of youCavendishes, with yer stuck-up 'holier-than-thou' ways. I'm sick of yuh,but I aim tuh stay here just the same. You keep outen this house an'leave me an' the children alone an' I'll keep my lips buttoned up as tuhwhat I know about yuh! Lay hand on me again, an' this time yuh won'thave the chance tuh kill off them that comes fer yuh!"
Mort looked apoplectic, as rage made his face deep scarlet. He trembledvisibly with his effort to control himself.
"That's my bargain, Mort--as long as I c'n be rid of you by keepin'quiet with what I know, I'm satisfied tuh go on livin' here an' doin'the best I can tuh raise the young'uns. Take it or leave it."
Mort turned abruptly and strode from the house, banging the door closed.
"Pack of skunks," fumed Becky to no one in particular. "It makes mesick, seein' the way they all think I ain't good enough fer 'em, whileevery last one o' them is a thievin' killer, takin' orders from Bryanthimself!"
"Becky," said Penny, "you can say all you want to about Mort and Vince,or even Wallie and Jeb--"
"Say all I want about anyone!" snapped Becky, with a fire she'd nevershown before.
"But when you call Uncle Bryant a crook, you're mistaken," continued thegirl, ignoring the interruption. "I know Uncle Bryant is stern, he's ashard as a hickory knot, and he's unforgiving. He resents your being hereand he's been mighty mean to you, but he's not a crook!"
"If he ain't a crook, why does he let crooks hang out here? He ain'tblind, is he? And as for you, I don't want none of yore sympathy orhelp, neither. Maybe I ain't no fancy education or high-falutin' clo'es,an' my looks an' figger ain't what they was ten years ago, but I c'nhold my head high afore anyone an' not have tuh admit that I got cousinsan' uncles that the law should o' hung some time ago."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Becky. Now calm down and getthat meal ready for the kids."
"I don't need you tuh tell me what tuh do," cried the infuriated woman."I done plenty of thinkin' since this mornin' when you the same aslaughed at me fer tryin' tuh warn yuh away from here. Yuh wouldn'tbelieve that this Basin is a hellhole, reekin' with murder plans. Allright, don't believe me. I know what I heard in the cottonwoods, an' Iheard aplenty. I was a fool tuh send word tuh Captain Blythe o' theTexas Rangers. All it got me was a beatin' an' all the Rangers done wastuh git themselves killed off. 'Stead o' tellin' what I know, I'll keepit private an' make that polecat husband of mine leave me alone tuh savehis neck. I reckon he'll keep outen my sight now, all right. He knowsthat I can fetch the law here any time I want."
Glass from the window crashed in before the sound of the shot reachedPenny's ears. She instinctively knew it was a forty-five slug that torethrough the window. Her startled half cry of alarm and surprise chokedin her throat as she saw Rebecca spin halfway around from the impact ofthe lead and stagger giddily for several seconds. Then Penny clutchedher about the waist and tried to guide her to a chair. Becky's mouthdropped open, her hand clutched her breast, and she stared unbelievinglyat the red that seeped between her fingers.
"Easy now," said Penny, "take it easy, Becky." The slim girl found thewoman surprisingly heavy to support. She was compelled to ease her tothe floor. She was only vaguely aware of the cries that came from theolder children, who raced from beyond the curtains.
"It--it don't hurt much," faltered Becky. "I--I should o' knowed better.Mort ... Mort's the one ... mebbe now you'll believe...." Her voice wasweak, so weak that Penny could barely understand what she was saying.Rebecca's body trembled convulsively. Her eyelids fluttered, thenopened wide, and her dark eyes looked at Penny with a glaze over them.
"Now," she began slowly, "now you'll believe this Basin is a nest o'killers." The tired eyes closed. Penny lowered the woman's head and feltfor a pulse she knew was gone. The children crowded around, wide-eyedand unbelieving. The oldest boy said:
"Now Maw won't have tuh be hurt by Pa no more."
At the brave look in the pinched, small face, Penny choked up. Shegathered the lad to her. "No, Billy, Maw won't have any more pain of anysort, and don't you worry. I'm going to take care of you littlefellows."
She would have said more, but another crash from outside interrupted.She raced for the window through which the previous bullet had come, andsaw a startling sight. Mort Cavendish was clawing at his throat andstaggering like a drunken man. But only for an instant. Then his legscaved as he crumpled to the ground.
Penny ran from the house and splashed through the puddles on the groundto where Mort lay. Yuma, running from another direction, reached thefallen man at about the same time.
"Stand back," he said. "I'll tend tuh things." He rolled Mort over. Thewound in the neck, just beneath the jawbone, was still clasped by thehand of the unconscious man. Red moisture seeped between his fingers.Yuma drew a bandanna from his pocket, then paused as he looked again atPenny. "I told yuh tuh stand back," he said. "I got tuh have a look atthis wound."
"Go on and have a look," snapped t
he girl. "Feel his pulse and see ifhe's still alive."
"He's livin', all right, but you vamoose--this mayn't be a pleasantsight tuh see."
"What do you take me for, a sissy? Pull his hand away, and let's see howbadly he's hurt."
Yuma nodded, muttering beneath his breath. Penny noticed that the bigcowboy was now fully composed and at ease. He seemed competent anddirect in manner. His flustered embarrassment of the corral was gone. Heexamined the wound with a skill that showed familiarity with suchthings. Though it bled profusely, Yuma said, "Just grazed him. I reckonhe'll live without no trouble."
"If he lives, he'll hang! He's murdered Becky," said Penny flatly. "AndI hope he lives."
Yuma, holding the bandanna against the wound, looked at the girl andspoke with an exasperating drawl.
"Maybe you ain't heard straight, Miss Penny, but I tried tuh tell you alittle while ago that they don't hang killers in this Basin. What theydo is tuh hire 'em an' sleep 'em an' eat 'em an' keep 'em hid so's thelaw cain't git at 'em."
Penny chose to let the speech pass for the time being. There were otherthings that needed attention. Yuma looked at the wound and commented,"Maybe I better put a tourniquet around his neck tuh stop the bleedin'."
"A tourniquet would strangle him," advised Penelope.
Yuma nodded. "I know it."
Vince came running to investigate the shots, with Jeb ambling behind.
"Who done it, who shot him?" demanded Vince in a loud voice. He elbowedYuma to one side and bent to examine the wound. "Better git him tuh thehouse; there's more room there than here in the shack." Yuma noddedsilently. "Well, go on," snapped Vince. "Pick him up an' carry him toBryant's house."
Penny watched the blond Yuma lift Mort off the ground as if he had beena baby. He tossed him over one shoulder as he might have done with asack of flour and walked toward the house, followed by Vince. Pennyturned abruptly and bumped into Jeb, who stood close behind her.
"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry. I've got to get back to Becky's and takecare of the children."
Jeb nodded. "What o' Becky?" he asked.
"Mort killed her. I don't know who shot Mort."
Jeb said, "Bryant himself done it. He's standin' on the porch with arifle right now, watchin' what goes on."
Penny looked and found this to be true.
"His shootin' Mort gives me cause fer a heap more thinkin'," went on theleanest of the Cavendish men. "I figgered I had it all thought out, butthis comes up an' throws me off. Men with eyes that ain't no good can'tshoot a rifle."
"I've got to go to the poor children."
"Wait, Penelope." Jeb gripped the girl's arm, and lowered his voice."This is the start," he said mysteriously. "But it ain't the finish.Bryant is fixin' tuh wear a shroud, too."