Escape from Five Shadows (1956) (12 page)

Karla began, When I tell Mr. Falvey

And Willis, Renda broke in, will tell the marshal that he read the letters and threw them away when he was finished, and if some girl out for a ride happened to find them, that's no concern of his. All Willis will know is that he threw the letters away. You see how it is, honey?

Karla looked at Lizann who returned her gaze almost without expression, telling nothing, least of all offering assistance. Then, to Renda again, I don't see how you have the nerve to admit what you just did.

Renda shrugged. You're the only one hearing it. You got no witnesses. I got a man who'll admit reading the letters and throwing them away for you to find.

You're very sure of yourself, Karla said.

Honey, when you're minding thirty convicts you got to be sure of yourself.

I'm still going to tell my father.

You go right ahead'aAnd tell him for me, I want to know the day my supplies come in this week. I don't want them laying around for some stage passenger to drop a cigar butt on. You hear me? Soon as they come in, I want to know about it.

You'll notice, Lizann said mildly, he's worried about his investment and not your station.

I'll hear from you in a minute, Renda said. He looked at Karla again. You run home now. And remember what I said. Soon as it comes in I want to know about it.

I'm dismissed now? Karla said.

You're double dismissed. Ride directly through that gate and don't let me see your face around here till my stuff comes.

Mr. Renda, Karla said, you're a real gentleman.

Renda smiled pleasantly. Thank you, Karla. Now get out before I kick you the hell out! He saw her about to speak and he yelled, Go on! then kept his eyes on her until she had left the adobe, mounted her horse and ridden off toward the gate.

Lizann asked, What did all that prove?

When somebody talks like that, Renda said, I get sick to my stomach.

Maybe it's your conscience backing up on you.

A sermon now?

Lizann shook her head. Not even if I thought it would do you good.

Renda moved to the table. He half sat on the edge of it, hooking his leg over one corner, and leaned his weight heavily against the table. Watching him, still sitting in the canvas chair, Lizann said, Don't make yourself too comfortable.

I thought we'd have a talk, Renda said.

About what?

Willis's letters.

I'm not interested.

You want me to think you're not, Renda said. You're bustin' to know what was in them.

Then keep it to yourself, Lizann said, and see if I bust.

They were from Washington.

I told you, I'm not interested.

Renda came to his feet. I'm interested! You understand that? I'm interested and we're going to damn-well talk about them whether you want to or not!

As usual, Lizann said calmly, you'll be talking to yourself.

The table creaked as Renda leaned his weight on it again. Let's find out, he said mildly, and noticed the look of momentary surprise on Lizann's face. We don't have to yell at each other, Lizzy. Pretend you're in Washington and you're talking to one of Willis's political friends. Like Mr. Everett C. Allen.

The letters were from him?

That's better, Renda grinned.

Were they?

They were from him.

What did he say?

He was answering Willis.

I didn't know Willis had written him.

You expect me to believe that?

I don't care what you believe!

You should. It makes a difference.

I didn't know Willis had written to him, Lizann said evenly. You can believe that or not.

Let's say I don't. Who is he?

Everett? He's with the Department of the Interior.

High up?

High enough.

High enough to get Willis away from here?

Lizann nodded. What did he say?

Renda's leg, hooked over the corner of the table, began to swing slowly back and forth. He stared at Lizann and for perhaps a full minute he said nothing. Then, What're you so anxious to know for? You don't even know what Willis said to him first.

Does it matter? Lizann asked.

You know damn well it matters.

If you are going to insist that I know what Willis wrote, said Lizann, there's no use discussing it further.

I'll bet you even told him what to write.

Lizann sat lower in her chair. Her gaze went to the open doorway and she ignored Renda.

I'll bet Willis didn't even want to write it. But you made him.

Lizann's gaze came back to Renda. Willis asked for a transfer!

That's pretty good, Renda said. You must've been rehearsing opening your big brown eyes, looking surprised

What did Everett say, Lizann demanded.

What do you think he said?

Lizann hesitated thoughtfully. Something to the effect that Willis was gaining valuable experience'athat there were no openings elsewhere, but when the right opportunity presented itself

You know this man pretty well, Renda said.

I have seen his letters before.

So Willis is stuck, Renda said. I told him that a long time ago.

Lizann said nothing.

I told him. I said, 'yWillis, relax and enjoy it. You're gaining valuable experience here and if you do good, maybe they'll make you superintendent at my next camp.'

God help him, Lizann murmured.

That could happen, Lizzy.

I wish you wouldn't call me that.

It bothers you?

How do you know there's going to be a next camp?

Same way I got this one.

You bribed someone for the contract?

That's a bad word.

You must have.

Mine was low bid, Lizzy.

You know nothing about road construction. Someone must have told you what to bid for a price. Someone on the inside.

Renda grinned. A silent partner.

What I don't understand, Lizann said, is why you bother. You have to use bribes. You have to watch every move anyone makes. You hire a man like Brazil, who would come higher than the ordinary guard. You're constantly in danger of being found out. For what?

For fifteen dollars a day profit, free and clear, Renda said.

Which isn't very much, Lizann said.

Besides what I make on the road contract.

But with your expenses, there couldn't be much left of that.

Enough, Renda said. Which adds on to the fifteen a day

How do you come to that amount?

The government subsistence! He sounded surprised that she had to ask. I don't know why they think each man's worth seventy cents a day when you only need about twenty cents to take care of one. But as long as they want to pay it, I'll make my fifteen a day. Figure that back over four months. Then go ahead a couple more months. See how it adds up? I figure I'll make three thousand on that alone'asomething I didn't even count on when I got the contract.

Do you think it's worth the effort?

Lizzy, I'm not straining. I sit in the shade all day counting my money. When this job's over, I spend the money. Then I get another contract.

Considering the chances you're taking, Lizann said, I would think you'd play for higher stakes.

Why? I'm not greedy.

How much do you pay my husband?

Whatever I feel like, now.

Just enough to keep him drunk.

He started low. Renda grinned. He said then, You better have a talk with Willis about his letter writing. I don't want to hear any more about trying to get transferred.

If it bothers you, Lizann said, talk to him yourself.

Lizzy, I'm being nice about this. I don't have to be.

What Willis does is no concern of mine, Lizann said evenly. I want to make that clear to you. As far as I'm concerned, Willis doesn't exist. At one time I wanted him to leave here and I tried to persuade him with every argument I could think of. Willis was afraid to do anything afraid for his life and afraid for what he chooses to call his career. So I stopped trying to persuade him. Willis is on his own and I'm on my own.

Well, Renda said pleasantly, if it's all right with you, I'll still consider you and Willis a pair. Whatever he does, you're behind it; and whatever you do, he at least knows about it. As long as you're living together that makes it easier to keep track of both of you.

Lizann nodded. As long as we're living together.

Renda studied her. Is that supposed to mean something?

Think it over.

I don't have to. I'm asking you.

You'll find out soon enough.

Lizann'anow don't do anything you'll be sorry for.

It's already done. And I won't be sorry.

What're you talking about?

Wait and see.

I don't wait on anybody! Renda came off the table. I'm telling you right now, if you're planning to leave, forget about it. You try anything, I'll fix you once and for all!

Frank, Lizann said patiently. I've already told you how I feel about Willis. You can ruin him, cause him to go to prison, and it won't make the least difference to me.

Who says I'm talking about Willis?

You've been holding him over me like a club.

Renda shook his head. Let's get it right out in plain sight. Lizzy, I'll tell you one time and one time only. His hand came up and he pointed a finger at her. You try to leave here without my knowing about it, I'll kill you. His hand dropped. It's that cut and dried.

Slowly, Lizann shook her head and her expression was composed as she said, I'm going to leave here, Frank. And there won't be a thing you'll be able to do about it.

You're bluffing, Renda said.

Am I? You'll see. Lizann smiled then. Start thinking about it now go over in your mind every possible way I could leave here and you'll still be thinking about it when it happens.

Chapter
11

The new road had reached as far as the sycamore grove the morning Manring arranged to work with Bowen's stump-pulling detail.

He waited until the wagons were unloaded and the convicts had moved off before he went over to Frank Renda, who had dismounted and was standing near the equipment wagon.

Manring touched the brim of his straw work hat. Mr. Renda

What do you want?

Manring leaned over the end gate of the equipment wagon then, reaching for the handle of a shovel. I want to work with the stump pullers.

Renda rolled a fresh cigar between his lips and clamped it in the corner of his mouth. He moved leisurely to the end of the wagon to scratch a match against the gate board. Before, Renda said, it was to get off that job.

I'm not talking about permanent, Manring murmured. Put me on it a couple of days'along enough to find something out.

What've you heard?

Nothing yet. Bowen and Ike got their heads together. That's all I know. Set me with them a couple of days and we'll know more.

What's your price this time?

I'll let you know. After I think about it.

Keep talking like that, Renda said, your price'll be the punishment cell.

Manring's eyes raised briefly. Look, I don't have time to be polite. Either put me with them or don't.

They find out what you're doing, Renda said, some morning we'll shovel you out of the barracks.

That's my worry.

I know it is, Renda said. I'm just curious to know what you want in return. You got about the softest job now riding that scraper.

If I'm going to pull stumps, Manring said impatiently, I better get at it.

Go ahead.

I'll have to get rid of the Mexican.

Renda nodded. Send him over. I'll put him on the scraper. He watched Manring shoulder the long-handled shovel and walk off toward Bowen's group.

Now another one to watch, Renda thought. And he wondered if it was worth it. You didn't trust anybody in this business, least of all a man who would inform on his own kind. Still, a man like that could be valuable and sometimes having one around was worth it, even if you couldn't trust him.

Manring had been right about Bowen planning to jump the supply wagon that day. It had marked the beginning of Manring as an informer. And it was a strange beginning, because he had given the information without first asking for a reward. It was not until days later, after Bowen and Ike were in the punishment cell, that he asked to be taken off the stump-pulling detail. And then only hinted that perhaps he would learn other things that would be worth passing along.

Because he had been right the first time, there was no reason to doubt Manring now. That Bowen and Pryde might be up to something made considerable sense. Some men you could beat till your arms fell off and they still wouldn't learn. Bowen had tried it once. You could tell by looking at him that he had the itch to run, and you could bet safely that he'd try it again.

And Pryde. Serving thirty years. Only six of them behind him. Thirty years for killing a man with a broken whiskey bottle in a saloon fight. Yes, Pryde qualified. With twenty-four years to go no time off he'd be more likely to run than Bowen. But Ike would be more choosy about how the break would be made, because he had more time to think about it.

So let Manring snoop, Renda thought. Make him tell whatever he learns. And if his price is out of line, then throw him the hell in solitary. Let him think it over by himself. He thought then: Which is what you ought to do with Lizann.

But you wouldn't be sure of Willis's reaction. Willis was weak, and by now too whiskey-soaked to think for himself. But if something were to happen to Lizann No, you couldn't be sure what Willis would do'aeven afraid as he was.

Since his talk with Lizann, Renda had thought it out very carefully. There were only two ways she could leave Five Shadows. Either try to run away by herself, or try to summon help from the outside. Both of these avenues were blocked. He read every piece of mail she wrote or received and a Mimbre followed her whenever she took her sorrel out. So Renda told himself she was bluffing. She was being wearisome, trying to get him excited, because there was nothing she could do about her situation.

Still, as Lizann had predicted, he continued to think about it, and merely telling himself that she was bluffing did not ease his mind.

Manring was confident now that Renda would believe almost anything he might tell him. That was a sign that his luck was still running. No, it wasn't all luck. Getting in with Renda wasn't luck. Arousing Bowen's interest in the dynamite wasn't luck either. It was work and thinking and sweating and being five jumps ahead of any luck that could turn against you.

The luck had been in the beginning. First, seeing the basis of a plan come apart with the word that Bowen was ready to run. Bowen the dynamiter, without whom the plan was nothing. So there had been no choice and informing on Bowen had been a good way to test his luck.

Manring reasoned it this way: If Bowen escaped, or, if he were killed in the attempt, the dynamite plan was finished. But if Renda knew beforehand that Bowen was going, they would be ready for him and Bowen would have only a slim chance at best. He might be killed; but, to Manring, the odds leaned slightly toward his being taken alive. Perhaps with gunshot wounds, but nevertheless alive.

As it happened, Bowen was taken and Manring's luck began its run. That he had tested his luck with a man's life in the balance rose to his conscience only briefly. He shrugged it off with the thought that if Bowen had been killed, he deserved it. He would be repaid for that night in the Prescott jail cell: the night Bowen slugged him four times before the deputy pulled him off.

It was not until a few days after Bowen and Pryde had been thrown into the punishment cell that Manring realized that he had not asked Renda for a reward. He could not risk Renda suspecting that he had informed on Bowen for any other reason than for a reward. So he asked to be taken off stump-pulling.

Now he was doing the same thing in reverse. Nearing the end of the canyon, it was time to be working with Bowen again. When the dynamite arrived he would still be with Bowen. Renda would be asking what he had learned and he would have to stall Renda. But that could be done, he was sure. And Pryde. It was too bad Ike was still working with Bowen. But maybe something would happen to Ike.

Bowen was backing the team into position, Pryde pushing down on the long handle of his shovel, levering the stump, and the Mexican was passing the chain through the stump's shallow roots. Pryde saw him first. He said, Here comes Earl. And now the three of them paused. They waited expectantly, watching Manring coming toward them.

As he reached them, Manring's eyes went to the Mexican and he lowered the shovel. Renda wants to see you.

The Mexican's hand moved to his chest. Me? What does he want with me?

Don't get overheated. You're going on the scraper.

On the scraper? But why does he want me?

Ask him. I don't run the place.

The Mexican rose slowly, wiping his hands on his thighs. Maybe he thinks I did something that I didn't do.

You're going on the scraper. That isn't punishment.

The Mexican shook his head. Something's wrong.

You're just jumpy, Manring said.

I'm jumpy since the time Chick Miller went to see Renda.

Go on, get out of here.

Manring's eyes followed the Mexican as he started off toward the equipment wagon, then his gaze returned. He looked from Pryde to Bowen as he said, I got transferred.

Bowen only nodded, but Pryde said, We saw you talking to Renda.

Sure. He was sending me over here.

You're talking to him all the time, aren't you?

Manring looked over at Bowen. Your friend don't trust me.

Maybe I don't either, Bowen said. He backed the team up to the stump and there was no more said until they had pulled the stump and Pryde moved off with the team, dragging the stump to the nearest bonfire.

Manring said then, I talked Renda into sending me over here. We got to be working together, Corey, if we're going to pull it.

You can talk in front of Ike, Bowen said. I already told him about it.

You told Ike!

He wants to get out just like you do.

We don't need three!

But you need me. And if Ike doesn't go, I don't.

Corey'ait's different with you and me. We got no business being here in the first place. Ike killed a man. He deserves to be here.

I'm not judging him, Bowen said. If I go, so does Ike.

By late afternoon, the road had passed the sycamore grove and was halfway to the horse trail that slanted gradually up the western tree-covered slope of the canyon.

By tomorrow afternoon the brush cutters will be on the slope, Manring said. His shovel jabbed at the roots of the stump they were working on. As Bowen went to his knees, Manring stooped, pushing down on the shovel and one side of the stump lifted, popping the roots that held it. Pryde passed the end of the chain to Bowen and they fastened it to the stump. As they worked, their eyes would raise to the tree-covered slant of the canyon wall looming above them.

More or less, Manring said, the road's got to follow that natural trail.

Pryde said, I don't see any trail. Though it must be there. The girl passes this way and so does Willis.

You can't see it for the trees, Manring said. It goes up a shelf, all the way up, that looks like it was put there for the purpose. When the trees are cleared, maybe the shelf would be wide enough for a wagon. But it'd be just wide enough, without any room to spare.

So, Bowen said. You blast the wall out and use the rock to build up the shoulder of the road.

That's the way I see it, Manring said.

Is that the way you and Renda both see it? Bowen said.

What do you mean by that?

You and he surveyed it together, didn't you? Is that the way Renda said it would be done?

Something like that, Manring said guardedly. He wasn't sure and he just talked about it generally.

So you weren't sure either how it would be done, Bowen said.

As sure as anybody, Manring insisted. There's only one way to get out.

We want to hear your idea, Bowen said.

You're awful damn anxious. We got about a week yet.

Earl, I don't think you have a plan.

You'll find out.

Bowen nodded. We'll find out right now.

It'd be easier to tell it once we got up on the slope.

Earl, I think you're stalling.

I can't give you details now! You got to be up there to see what I'm talking about, else it won't mean anything to you.

Try us anyway, Bowen said.

Well, Manring began, it's based on three things. We got to do three things else it isn't going to work. He spoke slowly, as if giving himself time to think.

First, we got to take care of the guard that'll be on us. I figure Renda or Brazil. We get hold of him, but without anybody else knowing about it. Second, we set the charge so as to close the road on anybody coming up from below. Lay a rock slide over it or else blow a hole in it that a horse couldn't cross. Third, we got to take care of the Mimbres. I figure we can force Renda or Brazil, whichever one we're holding, to call them out. See, we'll have another charge planted. All this is timed to the second and just as they come out boom they're blown sky-high.

Then what? Bowen said.

Then we run for the station. For horses.

Bowen looked at Pryde. What do you think?

He don't anymore have a plan than I do.

He must've just thought it up, Bowen said.

Manring looked from one to the other. What're you trying to pull?

You got a lot of holes in your idea, Bowen said. That's all.

Well, sure, Manring said. You can't work everything out until you got the stuff.

You can't work anything out, Bowen said.

It'll go like I said, or it won't go at all.

Maybe some of it will, Bowen said. You've wanted us to believe you had a plan so we'd get it in our heads we need you. You supplying the brains and Ike and me lighting the fuse. But it comes out all you have is a sketchy idea'aand now we're not sure if we do need you, Earl.

Manring remained calm, as if he had anticipated this and already knew how he would answer it. He shook his head saying, You won't do it without me. If you don't like my idea, think it's got holes, then figure your own way. But whatever way you do it, I'm going to be along.

Now he's threatening us, Pryde said.

You can call it whatever you want, Manring said.

Pryde shrugged. I was thinking you wouldn't want to go up there with us. A man could fall and kill himself.

Ike, Manring said, I can fix it for you right now.

You're going, Earl, Bowen said easily. We might not need your help, but we sure as hell need you in plain sight.