Showdown (14 page)

Frank began howling and roaring and throwing whatever he could find against the rear of the buildings on his side of the street.

“You still think that ain't a monster now, Sonny?” Crump asked.

Sonny did not respond to that. He didn't know exactly what to make of it all.

Frank ceased his howling and roaring and moved to the old church building. He peeked into a side window. Bessie had told him the women were being held in the church, the men in a building in the center of town, and she had been correct about the women, at least. They were all huddled together on benches in the center of the room. A couple of them looked as though they'd just been manhandled, and were crying. Their hair was all disheveled and their clothing very rumpled.

Raped, Frank thought.

He moved to the building where the men were being held, and chanced a look through a crack in a boarded-up window. The men were not in good shape. They had all been beaten, some of them savagely.

The time for fun was over, Frank concluded. It had been fun playing a monster, but the men and women being held hostage were not enjoying any of it. It was time to deal the cards and play the hand dealt.

But where and how to start?

Frank moved back into the timber. He was amazed that Sonny had not posted more guards around the town. He could only conclude that Sonny was too sure of himself without the experience to back up that self-assurance.

But Frank knew the odds were still very strong against him succeeding in this plan . . . whatever his plan might be.

He carefully made his way back to the church and crouched in the timber behind the building. He had to get the women out first and get them to safety. He could not let the raping continue. He tensed as the back door to the church opened and a man with a lantern stepped out, heading for the outhouse.

“Don't let no monster get you, Jones!” a man called out from inside the church.

“I don't believe in them things,” Jones said. “And don't you touch that redhead whilst I'm gone. I want me another taste of that one.”

You won't get another taste, you bastard! Frank thought, as the back door closed. Your time on this earth is over!

Frank's hand closed around a chunk of wood he'd picked up. Jones opened the door to the outhouse and set the lantern inside, on the floor. Frank quickly and silently moved up behind the man and smacked the outlaw on the head. He caught him before he could tumble to the ground. Stretching the outlaw on the ground, he jerked Jones's six-gun from leather, stuck it behind his own gunbelt, then quickly pulled the man's belt from his britches and secured his hands behind his back. He closed the door, then dragged Jones a dozen yards behind the outhouse and left him. He didn't know if he'd fractured Jones's skull and if the man might be dying . . . and he didn't care. Kidnappers and rapists and murderers were among those who deserved no mercy, and Frank sure as hell wasn't going to give them any.

One down, Frank thought. Thirty or so to go.

He figured he had maybe fifteen minutes at the most before somebody would get curious about Jones and come outside to check on him.

Frank once more slipped up to the boarded-up window and looked through the crack. He could see four guards, widely separated, one on each side of the large room. There was no way he could shoot them all and get the women into the timber. The other gunhands in the town would be all over him before he could accomplish that.

Frank was stymied as to what to do next.

He listened as the bootsteps of several men struck the wood of the old boardwalk, then faded as the men stepped off the boardwalk. He could faintly hear the sounds of talking. Then the conversation grew louder. The men were approaching the church.

Damn! Frank thought. Now what?

He slipped back into the darkness, circled around to the far side of the church, crouched beneath another boarded-up window, and waited and listened. He heard the front door open.

“Everything all right here, Woolsey?” a man asked.

“Okay,” Woolsey replied.

“Where's Jones?”

“In the crapper. Did y'all find the monster?”

Brief cussing followed that, then a moment of laughter. “There ain't no monsters, Woolsey. But a few boys damn shore believe it. They're talkin' 'bout pullin' out come mornin'. Sonny's tryin' to talk some sense into 'em now.”

“How's Claude and Jeff?”

“Claude is all right. Looks like Jeff ain't gonna make it. His head is all busted and swole up. He's talkin' crazy stuff.”

“No creature did that to them boys.”

“No. Sonny figures it's Morgan.”

“Morgan!
Here?”

“Yeah.”

“That ain't good news,” another man said. “Morgan ain't afraid to tackle a tornader.”

“He can't fight thirty of us. Sonny's thinkin' up a plan now if he tries it.”

“If that is Morgan out there slippin' around, he ain't tryin' it, Brownie, he's doin' it!”

“Relax, Davis. Just take it easy . . .”

“Easy, hell!” Davis came right back. “I don't like the idea of Frank Morgan slippin' around in the dark. I'd rather it was a monster.”

“None of you will get away with this,” a woman said, her voice firm and strong. “You'll all hang.”

“Shut up, lady,” Brownie said. “Just keep your mouth shut and you'll live through this. Keep flappin' your gums and we'll bury you out yonder in the dump.”

“You are a vile, disgusting man!” the woman said. “All of you. What have you done with my husband?”

“He's alive,” Brownie told her. “He begs right good.” Brownie laughed. “He's more concerned with his own hide than with yours. He said we could have you if we'd just turn him loose.”

“I don't believe that!”

“Then you don't know your husband a-tall, lady. He's been beggin' and a-sobbin' and a-carryin' on like a baby.”

“Fuller has never begged for anything in his life,” Mavis Ross said haughtily.

“Teddy, you and Burke bring her husband over here and have him say to her face what he done tole us,” Brownie said.

Mavis hissed her fear and loathing at the man.

“That'll be fun,” Teddy said. “Then he can watch us strip her down and have a poke at her.”

“That's the idea,” Brownie replied.

Frank sighed, his breath steaming in the cold air. He could not wait any longer. The situation was getting out of hand. He didn't think he had a chance of getting all the women free, but he sure had to try.

Frank moved around to the front of the church and waited by the side of the steps. The door opened and Teddy and Burke stepped out, closing the door behind them. Frank waited until they had stepped down to ground level before he eared back the hammer on his .45. “You boys stand real still and I'll let you live,” Frank told them softly. “Make any loud noises and you'll both be dead before you hit the ground.”

“Morgan?” Teddy asked.

“That's me. And you boys know I will kill you.”

“We ain't movin' nothin' but our mouths, Morgan. What do you want?”

“You boys walk back up the steps. I'll be a step behind you. You open the door when I tell you to. Understood?” They nodded their understanding. “And when you're inside, you step to one side. You make a try for your guns and I'll kill you first.”

“You're crazy, Morgan,” Burke said. “You can't buffalo ever'body in that church. Somebody is gonna make a play for their guns, and if you shoot, this place will be surrounded by men in two minutes. . . or less.”

“You're already in trouble, Morgan,” Teddy said with a quiet laugh. “Yonder comes Sonny. Now what are you gonna do?”

Frank cut his eyes. Sonny was walking toward the church, for a fact, carrying a lantern. “We'll just wait for him, boys. This is either going to go real smooth, or it's going to get real bloody real fast.”

“I ain't lookin' to die, Morgan,” Burke said. “Keep that in mind.”

“Whether you live or die is all up to you,” Frank told him.

“I feel the same way about dyin', Morgan,” Burke said.

“Just stay cool and collected, boys.”

Sonny walked up and before he could raise the lantern to see who it was on the steps, Frank shoved the muzzle of his .45 under the man's chin.

“Stand easy, Sonny,” Frank warned him. “And don't make a sound.”

“Morgan!” Sonny whispered. “You son of a bitch!”

“We're all going into the church, Sonny,” Frank said softly. “And if you behave, you'll live. You get my meaning?”

“I got it.”

“Good. Move!”

Sonny stepped up the steps, behind Teddy and Burke. When they reached the door, Burke whispered, “Openin' the door, Morgan.”

“Go ahead.”

The outlaws pushed open the door and stepped in, Morgan crowding in close behind them. As Teddy and Burke moved to one side, Frank again stuck the muzzle of his pistol under Sonny's chin and pulled him to one side.

“What the hell?” Brownie said.

“Shut up,” Frank told him. “Tell them, Sonny.”

“You boys keep your hands away from your weapons,” Sonny said, a definite edge to his voice. “Do what Morgan tells you to do.”

“And if we don't?” Woolsey demanded.

“Sonny dies and you boys never know who your contacts are in Boise and South Raven,” Frank said. “You get no ransom money. Think about it.”

“If you take the rich folks out of here,” Davis said, “we get no money no way. Right?”

“I'm taking the women,” Frank said. “And leaving the men. So your glass is still half full, or half empty. Depends on your point of view.”

“I reckon that's so,” Davis said. “Now what, Morgan?”

“You boys shuck those guns. And do it real careful-like. Put them on the floor and back away from them. All of you get over there in the corner at the far end of the building.” He moved his head, indicating the corner. “Start moving, right now.”

When the outlaws hesitated, Frank again eared back the hammer of his .45 and Sonny said, “Goddamnit, move, boys. Don't do anything stupid or we're all in trouble.”

“He can't take us all, Sonny,” Woolsey said.

“He can take me,” Sonny said. “And I'm the only one who knows all the details about this kidnapping. If I die, you're all leaving here broke as the day you were born.”

The outlaws put their guns on the floor and slowly moved to the corner of the building. Frank still held Sonny under his gun. “You ladies,” Frank said. “Get into your coats and move over to the wall to my left. But stay clear of me. Don't get between me and the outlaws. Move.”

The women quickly obeyed.

“You men get out of your winter coats,” Frank said. “Throw them into the center of the room. Do it!”

“What the hell are you up to, Morgan,” Davis asked, tossing his coat on the floor.

“Getting clear of here,” Frank said. “Without killing anyone else. You want to be the one who spoils my plan?”

“I didn't say that,” Davis blurted out quickly. “I just axed a question, that's all I done.”

“I answered it.”

“Shut up, Davis,” Burke said. “For God's sake, close your mouth.”

“Some of you women pick up those coats,” Frank said. “Do it carefully. Rest of you gather up those pistols.”

The heavy coats and pistols were quickly collected.

“Now what, Morgan?” Sonny asked.

“Strip,” Frank told the outlaws. “Peel it all off right down to your skin.”

“What?”
Woolsey demanded.

Several of the women smiled.

“Strip, damnit!” Frank said. “Right now. Boots and clothing in the center of the room.” He pushed Sonny a few feet away. “You too, big man. Do it.”

Frank chanced a glance at a couple of the women. “You ladies get their boots and clothing. Bundle it up tight and secure it with their belts and galluses. Do it quickly, ladies.”

The outlaws were soon naked and shivering, doing their best to cover their privates with their hands.

“You son of a bitch!” Sonny cussed Frank. “I'll cut your balls off for this.”

“Yours have shriveled up to the size of peanuts,” Wilma Crawford told the leader of the outlaws.

Sonny cussed her.

“That's enough,” Frank said. “You ladies, out the back door. Move it, ladies. Let's get the hell gone from here.”

Outside, Frank closed the door and paused for a few seconds, just long enough to say, “We've got about three or four minutes, ladies. At the most. Follow me and don't say a word. Try not to break off any twigs or low-hanging branches. Let's go.”

Frank led the women into the timber, and they were well away from the old town before the shouting began. Frank led them first to the lean-to and let the women rest for a time.

“Where are you taking us, Mr. Morgan?” Eudora Edmonds asked.

“To where I have Colette hidden.”

“She's unhurt?”

“Yes.”

“Our husbands?” Nellie Vanderhoot asked. “What about them?”

“After I get you to safety, I'll go back and try to free them. But I can't promise anything. I've got to be honest about that.”

“What you did for us was very brave, Mr. Morgan,” Ethel Steele said. “You risked your own life when you certainly didn't have to. Not after the way we have behaved toward you. I shall see you are compensated quite handsomely.”

Frank chuckled in the darkness.

“Does that amuse you, Mr. Morgan?” Clovis Knox asked.

“In a way, yes. I didn't do this for money. I assure you, I have enough money to last me several lifetimes.”

“Then the rumors about you and Mrs. Browning are true?”

“I don't know what all the rumors say, ma'am. But Vivian and I were married right after the War Between the States. Conrad is my son.”

“I knew Vivian,” Nora Greene said. “Most of us here did. She was a fine woman, and Conrad is a very handsome young man.”

“Then you came to rescue us because you are a United States marshal?” Margaret Harrison asked.

“I guess so, ma'am.”

“You still risked your life.”

“I reckon so.” Frank stood up. “Come on, ladies. Let's move out. We've got a ways to go before you can relax and get really warm.”

* * *

Frank sat before the fireplace drinking coffee and smoking. The women were sprawled all over the cabin, all of them sleeping very heavily. Marvella came over and sat down. She whispered, “You had the Good Lord with you this day, Frank Morgan.”

“I reckon I did, Miss Marvella.”

“But you ain't got a chance in hell of gettin' these ladies' husbands free from them white trash and you know it, don't you?”

“I reckon that's so. I 'spect time I get back to the town tomorrow, they'll all be long gone to that old fort. And I don't know where that is.”

“I do.”

Frank lifted his eyes and smiled at the old woman. “I had me a hunch you did.”

“I'll draw you a map. It's on the north fork of the Boise River. Halfway 'tween the north fork and the middle fork.”

“That's a ways from South Raven.”

“It is for a fact.”

So Sonny is probably planning a double cross, Frank thought. He doesn't have a man in South Raven. But he has one in Boise. And he'll be the one to ride in and collect the money, and that will be the last any of the outlaws will ever see of him. Very cute.

But there will be one person who'll damn sure see you again, Sonny.