A Horse Called Mogollon (Floating Outfit Book 3) (21 page)

‘
Are
you so afraid of some—greasers, don’t you call them?—and four boys
that you need an army to help you?’

‘
Schell’s greasers’d fight the devil for her. Nobody with
sense’d sell them or that Scotch feller short. Much less the Ysabel
Kid. Them’s have mostly wound up too dead to wish they hadn’t. That
big blond jasper’s no slouch with his guns—and I saw just how good
Dusty Fog is at first hand.’

‘
You
can’t blame me for that!’ Peet protested, sensing that Stagge was
trying to turn the blame for the fiasco in Kerrville on to him.
‘I’d always heard Dusty Fog was as big as a house. He looked like
two cents’ worth of nothing; warn’t even riding that big paint he’s
been using since the end of the War.’

‘
I
knew
there was something about him as soon as I laid eyes on
him,’ de Brioude insisted. ‘But the plan had been made—’

‘
Talking about that,’ Stagge interrupted. ‘Let’s get that
bill-of-sale burned right now. If it got into the wrong
hands—’

‘
Caution
again,
Hubie?’ Beatrice purred.

‘
Listen,
lady,’
Stagge spat back, showing anger for the first time. ‘You
don’t have any notion of what kind of folks you’re fooling with.
They’re not dull-witted yokels. Even old Franklin’s smart enough to
start thinking things and coming up with the right answers if he
should lay hands on that damned paper. Sure, Royce and Coxin
haven’t been seen with us around this way. But they were in Fort
Sawyer. Give Franklin, Breda or Dusty Fog that much of a head start
and they might want to know other things.’

‘
Such
as?’ asked de Brioude.

‘
Why a
French count and his wife’d have a feller like me trailing along,’
the killer replied, and read from the de Brioudes’ expressions that
he had scored a point. ‘They’ll start thinking about that feller in
Fort Sawyer being French—’

‘
There
was no need for you to go after him,’ de Brioude objected
sullenly.

‘
We all
know that—now,’ Stagge answered. ‘Arguing about whose idea doing it
was won’t get us any place. The thing is that you want
Mogollon—’

‘
And
you had a so-clever idea to get it this afternoon,’ Beatrice
mocked. ‘All we had to do was lure them to the hotel and send the
cowhand into the bar-room where your men would goad him into
drawing a gun and shoot him, then kill Farquharson when he came to
investigate.’

‘
It
would’ve worked if that short-growed son-of-a-bitch had been what
he looked instead of Dusty Fog,’ Stagge declared. ‘Anyways, it cost
me more than it did you. I lost two good men. I even had to warn
Fog when it looked like Coxin was going to ask me for help. Fog’d
got the upper hand by then. There was no other way.’

‘
You
didn’t know he was Dusty Fog either, when we come to tell you that
him and the Scotch feller was coming,’ Peet pointed out, determined
to exculpate himself. ‘Or if you did, you never let on about it
while we was watching ’em go by through the window.’

‘
Nobody’s blaming you, Abe,’ de Brioude said soothingly.
‘Here you are, Hubie.’

A bitter, challenging sneer
twisted at Stagge
’s lips. Instead of speaking, he took the sheet of paper
offered by the de Brioude and glanced at its message.

I, the undersigned, have this
day sold one chestnut stallion called Mogollon to the Vicomte de
Brioude for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars and, as boot
for the deal have been given one diamond necklace by the Vicomtess
de Brioude as a wedding present for my
fiancée. The sale, being witnessed by
Abel Peet.

Perhaps an Eastern lawyer might
have quibbled as to the document
’s legality, but Stagge felt certain that
it would have been accepted by the influential citizens of
Kerrville in their eagerness to please the de Brioudes. He also
concluded that the sooner such a damning piece of evidence was
destroyed, the safer he would feel. Producing and lighting a match,
he set fire to the paper. When it was reduced to ashes, he
discarded the remains with a sense of relief.

Dusty Fog had come close to the
truth in his theorizing. The whole incident had been a plot to
murder Colin and gain possession of Mogollon. Before any witnesses
could reach the
barroom, Stagge was to have placed the money and necklace
in the Scot’s sporran. Then the de Brioudes were to have claimed
that Colin had sold Mogollon to them, been paid, but left the
dining room and was killed before he had signed the
bill-of-sale.

‘
We
may not blame you,’ Beatrice continued. ‘But I would like
to know when, if ever, you mean to get Mogollon for me.’

‘
As
soon as Weasel comes back with enough men to give us a better than
fair chance of doing it,’ Stagge promised.

Although she gave a cold sniff,
Beatrice let the matter drop. Determined to have revenge upon Libby
Schell and Mark Counter, it had been the
Vicomtesse
who insisted that Kerr County would
make the best starting point for their hunting expedition. Nothing
had happened since her arrival to make her change her mind. During
the journey, she had decided that Stagge was the man best suited to
help her settle her score with Libby and Mark. Lebel had too many
notions of honor to take part in her schemes. While Peet possessed
no such scruples, he lacked the intelligence to be of more than a
minor use. So that left Stagge. Possibly the fact that the killer
had Laura along increased Beatrice’s desire to make use of him.
Being much alike in their attitudes towards members of the opposite
sex, there had been some friction between the two women. Beatrice
had contrived to have Laura left at the camp so as to be free to
develop her relationship with Stagge. So far the opportunity had
not arisen.

‘
What
are the hunting chances around here, Abe?’ Beatrice inquired after
a short period of silence.

‘
Not
too bad,’ Peet answered, relieved to notice that her temper
appeared to have changed for the better.

‘
Then
why don’t you and Arnaud go and shoot some—camp meat, isn’t it?’
the
Vicomtesse
suggested. ‘Hubie and I can find the way to the camp easily
enough.’

‘
Why
not, Abe?’ de Brioude agreed. ‘Come along. If the new men have
arrived, we will need the meat. We’ll join you at the camp, my
love.’

Earlier in his association with
the de Brioudes, Peet had been surprised by the
Vicomte’s
behavior. Although he must have
known of his wife’s indiscretions, he had made no attempt to curb
them, nor showed anger over them. Peet did not care for the idea of
leaving Stagge with Beatrice, but consoled himself with the thought
that they would soon be at the Renfrew place where Laura was
waiting.

‘
Do you
think that we are foolish to try to take Mogollon, Hubie?’ Beatrice
asked as she and Stagge continued to follow the trail and the other
two swung off at an angle.

‘
I’d
say that depends on what you’re figuring on doing with him after
you’ve got him,’ replied the killer.

‘
Arnaud
plans to make money by racing him.’

‘
He’ll
have to go up North to do it. There’s not enough money in Texas, or
the rest of the South, to make racing him worth what it’ll cost you
to get him.’

‘
So you
believe we are wasting time and money doing—’

‘
Not if
you play your cards right,’ Stagge told her.

‘
How do
you mean?’ Beatrice wanted to know.

‘
Get
that hoss, by all means,’ Stagge explained. ‘Only don’t bother
about roaming around racing it for nickels and dimes. Stay on here,
take over that ranch and make it your home.’

‘
Why
should we do that?’

‘
Because I’ve got a hunch you can’t go back to France and
that you’re a gal who wants as much out of life as she can lay her
hands on.’

‘
Go
on,’ Beatrice offered, neither confirming nor denying his
summation.

‘
You’ve
already got most folks in Kerrville eating out of your hand,’
Stagge continued. ‘That spread’s not too big, but you’ve got all
you need to make it grow. Land’s cheap enough down here. You’d soon
own more than you ever did in France—and I’ll be on hand to take
care of whoever’s following you if he comes.’

Eyeing her companion in a speculative
manner, Beatrice let almost half a mile drop behind them before she
spoke. All the time, her eyes darted around and took in the
rolling, grass-covered scenery.

‘
You
think we can do as you say, Hubie?’ she finally asked.

‘
I
know we
can,’ Stagge assured her. ‘You—and Arnaud—have got the
money. I can hire men and know how to make sure you get all the
land you need.’

‘
And
what will you get out of it?’

‘
The
job as segundo—at first.’

‘
And
later?’

‘
Way
Arnaud treats you,’ Stagge replied, ‘I don’t reckon you’d be
grieving or mourning happen he wasn’t around.’

‘
That’s
something to think about,’ Beatrice purred, easing her horse closer
so that she rubbed legs with the killer. ‘I’ll think; once I’ve
seen if
this
plan works out better than your last.’

Riding on in the same intimate
manner, Stagge continued to elaborate on his scheme. He claimed
that the fiasco in Kerrville could be turned to their advantage by
establishing that one of the Schells
’ friends had already gunned down two of
the de Brioudes’ hired hands. It would be a point remembered by the
townspeople once trouble started. Nor, according to Stagge, would
anybody be willing to face up to an outfit which had defeated Libby
Schell’s
mesteneros
and Dusty Fog’s OD Connected contingent. So buying more
land would become easier.

Despite the glowing picture
Stagge painted, there was one aspect that he did not mention.
Although it had turned out that there was no reason for him to try
to kill the man in Fort Sawyer, Stagge could neither forget nor
forgive Breda
’s intervention. Stagge’s shoulder had been sore for hours
and he hated to think of the humiliation stemming from Breda having
him held in the town’s jail. So, like Beatrice, he had come to Kerr
County in search of vengeance.

The plot Stagge had made that
afternoon should have set him on the way to achieving his ends.
Even as he had reassured de Brioude that there could be no
legal
comeback, he had known that, no matter what the citizens’
hearing found on the two killings, Breda would insist on conducting
an independent investigation. Once that had happened Stagge had
believed that he could arrange Breda’s death in such a way that the
peace officer appeared to be the aggressor.

The scheme had come to nothing
due to Dusty Fog, but Stagge had no intention of giving up his
revenge. Backed by the de Brioudes
’ money, he felt sure that he could not
only take it but also pave his way to a fortune.

Any hope of furthering his ideas
regarding Beatrice ended as they came into sight of the
ranch
’s
buildings. Sturdy, well constructed and erected with defense in
mind, the house, barn and combined bunk- and cook-shack formed an
‘n’ shape. Two pole corrals faced the open end of the ‘n’. Although
showing signs of neglect, the spread’s headquarters could easily be
brought into a most satisfactory condition. So far the de Brioudes’
party had carried out only such repairs as were necessary for a
brief period of occupation.

Thinking about the repairs and
alterations he would make if his employers accepted his plan,
Stagge saw men emerge from the cook-shack. Three he identified
immediately as their cook, wrangler and Peet
’s skinner. If their general
appearance meant anything, the other five had been sent by Weasel.
In fact, on going closer, Stagge discovered that he knew the
quintet. Slouching forward with hands thumb-hooked into
revolver-and knife-laden belts, the newcomers devoted most of their
attention to gazing hungrily at Beatrice.

‘
Howdy,
Hubie,’ greeted the lank, be-whiskered, buckskin clad man in the
lead, dragging his eyes reluctantly from the
Vicomtesse.

‘
Howdy,
Buck-Eye,’ Stagge responded. ‘Hi there, Roarke, Glum, Walde, Orell.
It’s good to see you all again.’

In the order named, the last
four men were respectively: medium-sized and stocky; big and
heavily built; tall, lean and bearded; and scrawny, middle-sized,
with a face even a mother would have trouble loving. The first two
wore buckskins. Walde sported cowhand clothes and Orell had on a
filthy Confederate States infantry uniform which had lost its
military buttons and insignia. While Beatrice normally enjoyed
being the
center of male attention, she found the newcomers’ scrutiny
a little disconcerting. She had seen similar lascivious expressions
when other men had heard of her easy-going nature in sexual
matters.