Ralph Compton Death Along the Cimarron (29 page)

“Billy Boy's dead, I reckon,” said Frisco, his voice taking on a sad edge.

“You
reckon
he's dead?” said Cherokee Earl, sounding a bit testy about Frisco's answer. “You mean you don't know for sure?”

“Boss, Billy Boy shot that woman you sent us back to ambush. He shot her with that hideaway gun he carried. But then she nailed him with a Colt .45. So, yep, I'd say for sure poor Billy Boy's dead.”

“All right,” said Earl. “At least he managed to kill the woman for me.” He eyed Frisco. “What about the old man riding with her? Is he dead?”

“He is,” said Frisco. “I shot him myself, left him dead on the trail.”

“Good enough,” said Earl. “Things are starting to come together for us. We didn't need those two dogging us.”

“Hold on to your boots, Boss,” said Frisco. “I got some strange news for you.”

“Yeah? What's that?” asked Earl.

“I fell in with Dave Waddell on the way up here. He was with the old man and the woman when we ambushed them.”

“I thought I left him in the dirt,” said Earl.

“I know,” said Frisco. “That's what he told me. Evidently, the woman and old man showed up and saved him.”

“Then why didn't you kill him when you had a chance?” Earl demanded.

“Kill him hell,” said Frisco. “He saved me from those two. Besides, he helped me rob a stagecoach and some settlers on the way here.”

“That figures,” said Earl. “I always knew he was an outlaw at heart.”

“Yeah, well, he said you stole that pretty redheaded wife of his.” Frisco spat, wiped his mouth, and chuckled. “The damned fool said he aimed to take her back from you.”

“He's welcome to try,” said Cherokee Earl. “The fact is, I wore out on her awfully quick ... but I promised her off once I was through with her. I'll just have to explain all that to Dave if he shows up.” He grinned. “I hope he understands.”

“I don't think that matters now, Boss,” said Frisco. “It's a fifty-fifty possibility he's dead by now. Him or that redheaded woman.”

Earl and McRoy stared at him in the darkness. “What are you getting at, Frisco?” asked Earl.

“Boss, me and Dave ran into his wife on the trail. She told us you left Dirty Joe watching her, and she stabbed him to death with a butcher knife.”

“Damn it to hell!” Earl cursed. “Here I am needing men to rob a bank and that damned Dirty Joe goes and gets himself killed!”

“I know, Boss, it's a shame,” said Frisco. “I hate being the bearer of bad news, but I thought you'd want to know before you ride on to the hideout and find Dirty Joe bled out all over the floor.”

“This leaves me stuck with Buck Hite, who's a dope smoker, and his three men, a bunch of idiots, all of them together too damn dumb to prime a dry pump.” Earl shook his head slowly in disgust and dismay. “It's getting harder every day to hold a good gang together. Sometimes I wonder why I even try.”

“For the money, that's why,” said Avery McRoy, hoping to cheer Earl up. He looked at Frisco. “Why do you figure it's a fifty-fifty chance one of the Wad-dells is dead?”

“I left because I saw a big fight coming,” said Frisco. “They were all lovey-dovey when they first got back together. But it didn't take over five minutes until she was on the verge of riding him out about helping me rob the stage.”

“That's a woman for you,” said McRoy.

“Yeah,” said Frisco, “but I could also see that it wouldn't be long before Dave was going to start asking her some questions himself.” Frisco nodded solemnly. “You could tell Dave is a greedy, jealous man. I left before the sparks started to fly. Then I heard a rifle shot before I'd gone a mile.”

“That don't mean one of them killed the other,” said McRoy as if looking for a brighter outcome to the story.

“Let's put it this way,” said Frisco. “They was both armed and ready for some serious marital discussion.” He gave each of them a look of dread. “And it was too dark out to be shooting at rattlesnakes.”

“Then I suppose you're right,” Earl said to Frisco. “One of them's dead, and the other is long gone, would be my guess.”

“Say the word, Boss,” said Avery McRoy. “Me and Frisco will find out what's gone on.”

“No,” said Earl. “It's no big concern to me. We've got business to take care of. Besides, I'm sorry I ever wasted my time on that woman. Far as I care, they can kill each other.” He let out a sigh. “They always struck me as one of those couples who just weren't meant to stay together.” He heeled his horse forward at an easy walk. McRoy and Frisco rode along, flanking him on either side.

“Is losing Dirty Joe going to leave us short-handed?” asked Frisco.

“It would have,” said Earl. “But lucky for us, Buck Hite took on a new man ... a young gunman called Danny Duggin. ever heard of him?”

“No,” said Frisco. “Can't say that I have.”

“Me neither,” said Avery McRoy. “And believe me, I know every foulmouthed, low-down, back-shooting, murdering, crazy sumbitch in this territory.”

“So do I,” said Cherokee Earl. “That's what worries me about him.”

“You seemed to trust him all right back in town, Earl, from all outer appearance,” said McRoy.

“Get this straight, McRoy,” said Earl, turning in his saddle to face him. “From all outer appearance you would think I trust my own mother ... but you'd be awfully wrong thinking it. I'm going to stay one step ahead of Mr. Danny Duggin. You can count on that.”

“Stay one step ahead of him how?” McRoy asked.

Cherokee Earl gave them both a smug, crafty smile. “For starters, did either of you know there's a shortcut runs from behind our hideout all the way back to Cimarron?”

The two looked at each other. “No,” said McRoy. “We had no idea.”

“Well, there is,” said Earl, “and we're fixin' to check it out. Don't' get too comfortable tonight, boys. Things are going to be happening fast and furious.”

McRoy and Frisco grinned at each other. “We can hardly wait,” said Frisco.

McRoy said, “You mean there's something you know about when the money's arriving that you ain't told nobody yet?”

“You saw the shape Buck Hite and his boys are in,” said Cherokee Earl. “Would you trust telling them fools anything?”

When neither man answered, Earl said, “Boys, I know when the money is coming.... I've got inside information on it. We're going to use Buck Hite and his boys in case things don't go the way we want them to. But I wasn't about to tell them anything until it's time to make our play. We'll round them up on our way to town.”

“See?” McRoy said to Frisco. “I knew the boss had this all taken care of.”

They rode farther along on the main trail until they came to a fork, where they turned toward the secluded hideout.

Had Earl, McRoy, and Frisco lingered a few moments longer at the fork in the trail, they would have heard the hooves of Ellen Waddell's horse and met her as she rode through the night, headed for Cimarron. For a cautious second, Ellen stopped the horse in the trail and stared upward along the dark path toward the shack. She was struck by the sudden urge to ride up there tonight, stick the rifle barrel through a crack in the wall, and blow Cherokee Earl to kingdom come. But she fought the urge, reminding herself how it would be for her should something go wrong and land her right back into captivity. “I'll wait,” she whispered to herself. “And I'll be there when the time is right.”

 

In the gray hours of morning, Eddie Ray Moon, Clifford Reed, and Fat Cyrus Kerr lay snoring in their blankets. Buck Hite sat slumped beside the fire in a glaze-eyed opium stupor, a long wooden pipe lying across his lap. Lying with her head on her saddle, her hat pulled low across her face, Danielle's eyes darted back and forth beneath her lowered hat brim. Satisfied that no one would be awake for at least another couple of hours, she stood up and walked quietly to the horses, carrying her saddle with her. Checking again over her shoulder, she took Sundown's saddle blanket from the bought of a tree, smoothed it onto the mare's back, then pitched the saddle upon the mare and cinched it.

When she'd finished preparing the mare for the trail, she walked the animal away from the campsite to a place alongside the road where the night before she'd arranged for Deputy Tuck Carlyle to meet her. As soon as she stepped out upon the trail, she saw him riding out from Cimarron. A half mile behind him, the town's roof line loomed in a silvery mist.

As Tuck rode up, he glanced off the trail toward the high curl of smoke from the spot where Buck Hite and his gang lay drunk and unconscious around the low fire. “Think things will be okay here, Danny?” Tuck asked.

Danielle stepped up into her saddle, making sure to turn up her coat collar and lower her hat brim. “Yes, these boys will keep until we're finished with Cherokee Earl. The main thing is we've got to get Ellen Waddell safely away from Earl before all hell breaks loose. We'll take care of the Buck Hite gang on our way back to town.” She looked off toward the snoring campsite with a wry smile. “Provided they're sober enough to stand up by then.”

“Are you the one who's supposed to be in town keeping an eye out for the big silver load?” asked Tuck.

“Yes,” said Danielle. “I'm the man in town today. That gives me a reason for not being here when they wake up.”

“Good thinking,” said Tuck.

They turned their horses and rode off along the main trail. But before they'd gone three miles, they sighted a riderless horse grazing along the edge of the trail, it reins dangling freely in the dirt. “Whoa, Sundown,” said Danielle, reining the chestnut mare down far enough back not to spook the grazing horse. Tuck reined down beside her.

“What do you think, Danny?” asked Tuck, slipping his pistol from his holster. “Think it might be a trick of some kind?”

“I don't know,” Danielle said in a soft tone. “Cover me from back here. I'll go check it out.” She stepped down from the mare and handed Tuck her reins. Then she walked the few yards separating her and the riderless horse with her hands out to her sides in a show of peace. “Easy there,” she whispered, getting closer. The animal nickered low but didn't spook and bolt away. When she got close enough, she took a hold of the dangling reins and ran a gloved hand down the horse's muzzle, calming it. She looked all around and started to lead the horse back to where Tuck sat keeping her covered.

But Danielle stopped abruptly when she heard a moan coming from a patch of waist-high wild grass. Upon looking closer toward the sound, she saw a woman's red hair glisten through the tall swaying grass. “Tuck, over here,” she said, gauging her tone of voice, keeping it loud enough for Tuck to hear but not loud enough to carry much farther. Leading the horse, she hurried to where the woman sprawled face down. Recognizing Ellen Waddell, Danielle knelt quickly and turned her over, laying Ellen's head on her lap. “Take it easy, Mrs. Waddell,” Danielle said, feeling Ellen try to resist even in her weakened condition. “We're not going to hurt you. You're safe here.”

Catching a glimpse of Danielle's face before Danielle lowered her hat brim between them, Ellen squinted her eyes and said, “Who are you? I've ... seen you before somewhere.”

“No, ma'am,” said Danielle. “You don't know me, Mrs. Waddell. But I know you. I've been hunting you ever since you left your place near Haley Springs.”

“You're not ... one of them?” Ellen asked, her eyes beginning to well with tears.

“Them? You mean one of Cherokee Earl's gunmen? No, ma'am. I'm Danny Duggin. I started out hunting them for what they did in Haley Springs ... but then I began hunting them to get you away from them.”

Tuck stepped in, carrying a canteen of water. “And I'm Deputy Tuck Carlyle. You're under our protection now. Don't worry about a thing.” He twisted the cap of the canteen free and passed it to Danielle, who in turn helped Ellen raise it to her lips. She took a long sip, then closed her eyes for a moment as if trying to accept that this was real, that she was finally free. When she opened her eyes again, tears ran down her cheeks.

“I didn't know anybody was trying to save me,” she said. “I thought I was all alone.”

“No, ma'am,” said Danielle. “I was there, right behind you all along. Now you take it easy for a minute or two, make sure you've got your head clear.” Danielle gently touched the large bump on Ellen's head. Luckily, it was only going to leave a large bruise. The skin was not broken.

“I fell off the horse last night in the dark,” Ellen said. “I must've hit my head pretty hard.”

“Yes, ma'am, you did,” said Danielle. “But you're going to be fine, I can tell.”

“Thank you, Mr. Duggin,” Ellen said in a weak voice. She tried to reach a hand to the rifle lying nearby. Danielle reached over, picked it up, and laid it across Ellen's lap.

“There you are, ma'am, if holding it makes you feel better. As soon as you feel like getting up on the horse, we're going to take you to Cimarron and get you looked at by a doctor.”

“Deputy,” aid Ellen, trying hard to focus on Tuck Carlyle, “I think you need to know that Cherokee Earl and his men are intending to rob your town's bank.” She paused, then said, “That's why I was headed to town: to warn you about it.” She wasn't sure how to present what had happened between her and her husband.

“Much obliged for the information, ma'am,” said Tuck. “But thanks to Danny here, I already know about it. I'm ready for them any time they feel like taking me on.”