Ole Devil at San Jacinto (Old Devil Hardin Western Book 4) (14 page)

Having such a good lead, the trio could
almost certainly outrun the newcomers. However, Ole Devil saw there
were disadvantages in making an escape. In warfare, as in nature,
to flee was a sign of weakness which invited pursuit. If, as he
believed, the party were Mexican soldiers, there might be more of
the enemy in the vicinity. He and his companions could find
themselves trapped between two or more groups. Assuming they were
allowed to surrender, they would find it difficult to explain why
they had felt it was necessary to flee from their ‘allies’; which
they could pretend to be as they had the renegade’s passport. Even
if they evaded capture, the district would be aroused and their
task made that much more difficult.

So, having taken all these
points into consideration, Ole Devil was hoping to avoid a long
chase which
—even if unsuccessful from the pursuers’ point of
view—would tire the horses and warn the enemy that Texians were in
the neighborhood. He believed that, given an opportunity, he could
lull the Mexicans’ suspicions and provide a satisfactory
explanation of his party’s presence.

When Ole Devil had visited General Houston’s
headquarters to collect the document upon which the success of his
assignment depended, he had discovered that there was an amendment
to the scheme. Since he had been given his instructions, the
General had contrived to have several notices printed on the
Government’s official stationery. By displaying one of them and the
passport he had taken from the dead renegade, the young Texian felt
sure that he could avert any difficulties caused by the unfortunate
meeting.

After the brief conversation, the youngest
and wealthiest of the Mexicans yielded to the orders, or advice, of
the leathery faced man by his side. Instead of increasing their
pace so as to attack the trio, they continued to ride forward
slowly. All but the youngster scanned the surrounding terrain
warily. He had eyes only for the Texians and the disguised Oriental
and his right hand rested on the hilt of the high quality rapier
which was hanging at his left side.

‘
Stay here and be ready to
run,’ Ole Devil ordered,
sotto voce,
setting his mount into motion.

‘
I hope he knows what he’s doing!’
Dimmock breathed, watching the captain riding towards the
Mexicans.

‘
Devil-san
always
knows what he’s
doing,’ Tommy declared reassuringly.

‘
Saludos,
senores
,’
Ole Devil greeted, signaling for the black to stop about
thirty feet from the leading riders. He had been ready to turn and
depart hurriedly at the first hostile gesture, but none was made.
They too reined in their mounts and he continued in Spanish, ‘I
have news of the greatest importance to deliver to His
Excellency
Presidente
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Can you direct me to him,
please?’

While speaking, the Texian was
watching the youngest of the riders rather than the older, tough
and capable looking
vaquero
at his side. No rebellious
Chicano
of his age, class and inexperienced
appearance could have avoided showing resentment and hatred at the
mention of
el
Presidente’s
abhorrent name. No such emotions came. There was only
puzzlement over hearing such a pronouncement being uttered by an
obvious
Americano del Norte.

‘
And what would
a
gringo
want with the
Presidente
of Mexico?’ demanded the youngster, his accent
that of a well bred
Creole.
^xxxi

‘
As I
said
,’
Ole Devil replied, feeling confident that his assessment of the
party’s status was correct. ‘I have news of the greatest importance
and urgency to deliver to him.’

‘
And who might you be?’ the youngster
challenged.

‘
My name is Sidbourne Halford,’ Ole
Devil introduced, lowering his right hand slowly to take the
renegade’s passport from his shirt’s breast pocket and riding
forward with it extended. ‘This will prove what I say.’

‘
So you’re a
renegade
?’
the youngster sniffed, his attitude one of antipathy. He
examined and returned the document.

‘
I
work
for
el
Presidente,
much to his satisfaction,’ Ole Devil replied, his voice
taking on a note of indignation, as he replaced the passport in the
pocket. ‘Whom have I the
honor
of addressing?’

‘
Lieutenant Carlos
Cataneda y Abamillo, of the Third Company, the Zacatecas
Lancers,
’ the youngster replied, impressed by the
Americano’s
air of haughty self
assurance. It was well known that
el Presidente
employed a number of
gringo
renegades and some
were said to be high in his favor. Such a man could make life
unpleasant for a junior officer who offended or delayed him. ‘And
what might this
important
news be?’

‘
Something that His
Excellency would not wish to be known by too many people,’ Ole
Devil declared, detecting a timbre of uncertainty and worry under
the apparently arrogant delivery of the question. Then, conveying
the impression that he was magnanimous enough to grant a favor, he
went on, ‘If you and your sergeant will come a short way with me, I
can show you why I must reach His Excellency
quickly.
’

‘
Very well,’ Abamillo
consented, after glancing at and receiving a nod of confirmation
from the hard-eyed
vaquero.

Although the second man had not
spoken, he had kept an unwinking gaze fixed on Ole Devil’s face
throughout the conversation. The Texian doubted whether he was
sufficiently well known to members of the Mexican Army to have been
identified. Not only did the
sombrero
cover the horn-like tufts of hair, but he had not
shaved since leaving San Felipe and was far from the trim, smart
figure normally seen by the enemy. However, he was aware that
the
vaquero
would be the one he must convince. To try and exclude the
man from the disclosure would arouse his hostility, so he had been
included in the invitation.

Accompanying the two Mexicans a few yards
from the rest of their party, Ole Devil extracted the top sheet
from the bundle of notices which were in his saddle pouch along
with the original document. Passing it to Abamillo, he sat back on
his saddle and, although apparently completely at ease, waited
expectantly.

‘
Madre de
dios
!’
the youngster ejaculated, reading the message printed in
his native tongue. ‘Look at this, Hernandez!’

‘
As I said,
senor,’
Ole Devil remarked
calmly, as the
vaquero
was taking the sheet ‘It
is
important news and His Excellency would
not
want something like
that made public.’

‘
Huh
!’
Abamillo sniffed, but he looked decidedly uneasy and his
voice lacked conviction as he continued, ‘Nobody would pay any
attention to such a thing!’

‘
Well, of
course,
you
would know the feelings of the Army far better than
I
do,’ Ole Devil
answered, the words expressing more than a hint of sarcasm.
‘In
my
opinion, the
Texians’ offer is a threat to
el Presidente’s
life. Somebody who has lost a kinsman, or
friend at the Alamo might consider getting paid so much money to
kill him an attractive way of taking revenge.’

‘
The
gringo’s
right, Don Carlos,’
the
vaquero
declared. He had concealed his feelings better than the
youngster when he had read that the Government of the Republic of
Texas would pay the sum of ten thousand
pesos
to ‘any member of the Mexican Army who
executes the bloodthirsty tyrant and oppressor of the
people,
Presidente
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’. ‘There
are
some who might be willing to try and
collect such a large bounty.’

‘
Where would the foreign
land thieves get hold of so much money?’ Abamillo asked, being
unwilling to admit before an
Americano del Norte
renegade, even one who
apparently was loyal to
el Presidente
, that any Mexican would contemplate such base
treachery.

‘
They already have it,’
Ole Devil replied, confident that he had guessed correctly about
which of the pair was the more dangerous. The
vaquero’s
contribution to the
discussion might not have been great, but its outcome depended upon
him rather than the youngster. ‘And, as they know the money will be
worthless to them whether they win their independence, or are
driven out of Texas, they consider it is being put to good use in
the form of a reward.’

‘
How do
you
know so much about
their sentiments?’ Abamillo demanded, with the air of one who had
sprung a trap.

‘
It’s my
duty
to find out such
things,’ Ole Devil countered, his attitude implying impatience and
a belief that the conversation should be brought to an end so he
could be on his way. ‘Now,
senor,
if you’ll be so good as to tell me where I can
find His Excellency, I’ll get to him as quickly as
possible.’

‘
So you work
for
el
Presidente
?’
the youngster scoffed. ‘But you don’t know where to find
him.’

‘
Not exactly,’ Ole Devil
agreed, throwing a look of resignation and warning at Hernandez.
‘I’ve been with the Texians’ Army since just before the start of
the siege at the Alamo. So I’m not certain of exactly where His
Excellency might be at the moment. I’ll find him all right, but I
thought
you
could shorten the time it will take me.’

‘
We’ll do better than just
tell you,’ the
vaquero
promised, coming to the decision that Ole Devil
had hoped for. ‘We’d better have six of our men take them to His
Excellency, Don Carlos.’

‘
We’ll be grateful for a guide,’ Ole
Devil declared, realizing that Hernandez was taking a sensible
precaution no matter how unwelcome it might be to him. ‘But there’s
no need for you to send so many men.’

‘
It will make us feel
better to know that you get there safely,’ Hernandez stated. ‘So
they’re going with you
—unless you’ve any objections.’

‘
It’s a pity that those
damned foreign land thieves daren’t stop running away for long
enough to give us a chance to
get
at them,’ the thickset, surly featured
vaquero
announced loudly to
the other four enlisted men of the Zacatecas Lancers, throwing a
provocative glance to where Corporal Moreno was standing talking
with Ole Devil Hardin, Lieutenant Paul Dimmock and Tommy Okasi.
‘Then we’d soon make an end of them. But courage like
that
isn’t to be expected
from
gringos
.’

Although the last thing Ole
Devil had wanted was to be given an escort to make sure that he and
his companions arrived at the main body of
Presidente
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s Army,
there had been no way he could avoid it. Sergeant Hernandez had
been adamant and Lieutenant Carlos Mataneda y Abamillo had accepted
his guidance in the matter. As it had clearly been a choice between
accompanying the six
vaqueros,
or being taken prisoner and, in all probability, shot on
the spot, the Texian had yielded to the first
alternative.

Satisfied that he had taken
precautions against possible trickery or treachery, Hernandez had
asked for information about the country through which Ole Devil’s
party had passed. Having a shrewd
idea of the Mexicans’ purpose in the
vicinity, the Texian had claimed there was a ranch house about ten
miles to the northeast and, while its owners had fled with most of
their belongings, there were a number of horses and a fair sized
herd of cattle grazing nearby. It was, he had continued to
Abamillo’s obvious interest, a well kept property which would be
most suitable for a young man wishing to start a
hacienda
after the ‘foreign
land thieves’ had been driven out of Texas. From the lieutenant’s
comments, he intended to investigate the situation.