Ralph Compton Whiskey River (5 page)

“Come on, then,” Bill said.

The two of them came forth, so weary and hungry it seemed their nakedness no longer bothered them. One of them had a lead burn across her chest, while the other had bled from a wound inside her left thigh. Briars and thorns had raked them unmercifully, and they were a bloody mess. But Mark Rogers and Bill Harder were temporarily speechless. The two girls seemed identical in the pale starlight. Mark recovered first.

“The two of you need some doctoring. We have some clean bandages and a couple of tins of salve, if you . . . uh . . .”

“We trust you,” said Amanda. “While you're doing that, we'll tell you what's happened to us. I'm Amanda Miles, and this is Betsy, my sister. We ran away from a bunch of outlaws, after the leader of the gang stripped us.”

“It's not nearly as simple as it sounds,” Betsy said. “Perhaps we'd better start at the first, when old Jake took us to the camp.”

Bill had spread a blanket. The girls lay down, allowing their boots to be removed. Betsy began talking as Bill Harder began to cleanse her wounds. Finally, Amanda took up the story as Mark doctored her as well as he could.

“So you spent five years in an outlaw camp with a man who wasn't your father,” said Bill. “He should have gotten you out of there.”

“It wasn't that easy,” Amanda said heatedly. “Jake had a price on his head, like most of the others. He protected us as long as he could.”

“Until this Wolf Estrello killed him,” said Mark.

“Yes,” Amanda said. “Estrello wants Betsy and me for ... for . . .”

“I reckon we have a pretty good idea what he wants you for,” said Bill, “and neither of you would have him if he was solid gold.”

“I'd rather be dead than have his hands on me,” Betsy said.

“So would I,” said Amanda with a shudder. “Will you help us escape?”

“I wish we could,” Bill said, “but we killed a pair of Yankee tax collectors, and we got a price on our heads. That's why we're settin' here in the Territory.”

“Oh, God,” cried Amanda, “they'll be coming for us at first light.”

“Suppose we stand up to them and don't let them take you?” Mark asked.

“It would be ever so brave of you,” said Amanda, “but there are thirty armed men. An order from Wolf Estrello, and they'd shoot you dead.”

“There must be an answer to this,” Bill Harder said. “If old Jake stood up for you and kept Estrello at bay, why can't Mark and me do the same?”

“Jake was able to do it because Wolf Estrello thought Jake was our father, and we can't make that claim of either of you,” said Betsy.

“Maybe Bill and me have an even stronger hold on you,” Mark said. “Suppose the two of you were committed to us back before we went to war? You reckon this Estrello's got the sand to try and steal two women who were promised to us more than five years ago in Texas?”

“I ... I don't know,” said Amanda. “The outfit's divided. Some of the men don't get along hardly at all with Estrello.”

“You're not sure every man would back Estrello in a showdown over the two of you, then,” Bill said.

“Most of the outfit's loyal to Estrello only because of the money,” said Amanda. “With no money involved, he can't count on more than half his men. Perhaps not that many.”

“Just one thing wrong with that,” Betsy said. “We have no right to ask either of you to risk your lives to save us. You can't do it.”

“Oh, but we can,” said Mark. “When we left to join General Lee, Bill, these two little shirt-tail gals was just seventeen. You remember 'em promising themselves to us, once the war was over? There was Betsy and you, Amanda and me.”

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Bill said. “Come daylight, we'll straighten out this damn bunch of outlaws. But we got to have your help, girls. Can you convince this bunch of bastards that you been spoken for, that you're hogwild crazy about Mark and me?”

“Save us,” said Betsy, “and I'll go anywhere with you, doing anything you ask of me.”

“She's speaking for me, too,” Amanda said.

“Then we have some heavy talkin' to do,” said Bill. “We got to know as much as the two of you can tell us about your lives in Texas, before you were brought here. Betsy, do you object to being my promised bride when we face that bunch tomorrow?”

“Not in the slightest,” Betsy said. “Just don't be shocked at how far I'm willing to go when I have to.”

“Amanda,” said Mark, “it's you and me. Can we convince the varmints you've been promised to me for five years?”

“I'm willing to become a wife to you even if we never stand before a preacher,” said Amanda. “I'll die before Wolf Estrello takes me.”

“Damn it, the two of you deserve better than being tied down to a pair of outlaws,” Mark said. “We have prices on our heads, too, and you're just swapping one bad deal for another. Even if we had extra horses, we couldn't take you away from here.”

“We know that,” said Betsy, “but you're willing to risk your lives to save us. It may be more difficult than you expect. If this is to work out like we're planning, the two of you will have to join Estrello's gang. He's a devil with a pistol, just looking for a chance to kill. I'm afraid for you—for all of us.”

“In anything like a fair fight, Mark and me can face Estrello down,” Bill said, “but we must avoid any gun trouble if we can. We need time to divide the outfit, to win the favor of some of the men who might be willing to turn on Estrello. If it's our guns against the whole bunch, then the odds go to hell.”

“We need to know as much about this Estrello as we can,” said Bill. “Like how far can we push the situation shy of a gunfight?”

“Estrello has the pride of a dozen men,” Betsy said. “That's why some of the men hate him. He's pistol-whipped them for no reason. He vowed to take both me and Amanda to bed last night, and that's why we ran away. He's a cruel beast who will beat a horse until he breaks its spirit.”

“That's why he left us our boots,” Amanda added. “He
wanted
us to run away, knowing we didn't have a chance without clothes or horses. Now he'll feel all the more justified in punishing us.”

“That's the answer, then,” said Mark. “He's busy gettin' a mad on tonight, justifying what he aims to do tomorrow, after he's run the two of you down. We'll turn that around and use it against him, forcing the bastard to pull a gun if he has the nerve.”

“Oh, dear God, no,” Amanda said. “He
has
the nerve. Nobody will draw against him. We heard one of the men say he shot Jake twice, although Jake drew first.”

“Now don't you worry,” said Mark. “Bill and me have an edge. There's one thing that every bull-of-the-woods gunman is afraid of, and that's comin' face-to-face with a better man, a faster gun. This lowdown son-of-a-bitch is about to meet two of them, all in the same day.”

“You're risking your lives for us,” Betsy said. “I feel so ... so guilty.”

“Don't,” said Bill. “Remember, we're on the dodge ourselves. We got enough jerked beef and bacon for a week. If we stay in Indian Territory, we'll have to throw in with Estrello. The only way we can do that is to purely scare hell out of him.”

“I'm so afraid for you both,” Amanda said. “A fight over us will hurt your chances.”

“Wrong,” said Mark. “Many a man who's an outlaw and killer will still respect a good woman. Just bear in mind that after four long years of war, Bill and me come lookin' for the two of you, expecting you to live up to your promises. Not to say that Estrello won't try to kill us somewhere along the trail, but we can shame him before his outfit, once he comes looking for you.”

“We know you don't have much food,” Amanda said, “but could we have something to eat? We weren't allowed any supper.”

“We still got a pretty good chunk of bacon,” said Bill. “We'll broil you some of that and make a fresh pot of coffee.”

After eating, Amanda and Betsy went to the spring, where they filled their tin cups with fresh water.

“My God,” Mark said softly, “did you ever see two more beautiful girls? I'd fight my way through fire and brimstone and wrestle the devil for a smile from either of them.”

“By the time we bust up this Estrello gang—if we can stay alive—we'll each have a woman beside us that'll rattle the eyeballs of every man in Texas. But we ain't takin' 'em without going before a preacher, are we?”

“Not if we can avoid it,” said Mark, “but this Estrello may be just cruel enough to see that the girls live up to their promises to us, with or without a preacher.”

“We're a mite shy of blankets,” Bill said when Amanda and Betsy returned from the spring. “Betsy, you take my blankets, and Amanda, you'll take Mark's. We won't have you lying naked on the ground.”

“The wind is cold,” said Amanda, “but it's not fair, us taking your blankets. Perhaps we can share them.”

“Yeah,” Bill said. “The two of you sharing Mark's, with Mark and me sharin' mine.”

Mark almost choked, while the girls burst into laughter.

“Mark will sleep next to me,” said Amanda, “while Bill sleeps next to Betsy.”

“Yeah,” said Bill, “and you got nothin' to be afraid of. We only take off our hats.”

Wolf Estrello decided against further humiliating Amanda and Betsy Miles. He was just vain enough that he didn't want any man in the outfit seeing them naked, so he folded their clothing and placed it in his saddlebag. For appearances' sake, he would take some of his outfit with him, carefully choosing those who wouldn't question whatever he did.

“Jules Hiram. Hugh Odell, and Bert Hamby, you'll ride with me,” Estrello said.

“Four of you against two scared, naked girls is a mite one-sided,” said Todd Keithley. “I'll just ride along and see that the girls aren't mistreated and their clothing's returned.”

“You'll go nowhere against my orders,” Estrello shouted. “I'll have you bound and horsewhipped for insubordination. Now two of you saddle two extra horses.”

“Then you'd better include me in whatever you have in mind,” said Ed Stackler. “Jake Miles was my friend. I should have gut-shot you last night, before you stripped those two girls and drove them out of camp. I'll be riding with you this morning, like it or not.”

Wolf Estrello found himself in trouble. As Todd Keithley backed away from the group, Ed Stackler stood beside him. Behind the two of them came Carl Long, Lee Sullivan, Nick Ursino, and Vernon Clemans. Every man carried two guns. Some of the other men looked doubtfully at Estrello, perhaps of half a mind to join the opposition. It had soured them, seeing old Jake Miles baited into a gunfight he couldn't win and being shot down.

“Then I'll take four men,” Wolf Estrello said. “Keithley, you and Stackler can go, and I'll take Hiram and Odell. Does that strike everybody as fair?”

“As far as it goes,” said Stackler. “You've made your brag, but you won't be taking either of those girls against her will.”

“I'm with you on that,” Keithley said.

There was immediate agreement from the others. While these men were outlaws, there was a streak of decency within them all that forbade this disgraceful thing Wolf Estrello had in mind.

Without a word, Keithley and Stackler saddled their own mounts and then a pair for Amanda and Betsy. They rode out behind Estrello, Hiram, and Odell. The trail wasn't difficult to follow, for the girls had kept close to the riverbank, and their boot tracks were plain. There were bits of dried blood on leaves on the ground and on tree trunks.

Hiram laughed. “Looks like they got cut up some, or nicked by some lead.”

But his laughter withered quickly away when the cold eyes of Keithley and Stackler met his.

“Rein up,” Estrello ordered. “I smell smoke.”

“Them two wouldn't have no way to start a fire,” said Odell.

“Who says it's their fire?” Estrello said. “It could be the law. We'll leave the horses here and go on afoot. We got the wind in our favor.”

But in the camp a quarter of a mile distant, Mark Rogers and Bill Harder waited, not depending on the wind. Each man stood next to his grazing horse, and when the animals raised their heads and perked their ears, their riders quickly caught their muzzles before they could nicker. Amanda and Betsy had covered themselves with the blankets.

Estrello led the way, followed by the other four. None of them expected what they encountered.

“That's far enough,” Bill Harder said. “You're covered. Who are you, and why are you invading our camp?”

“I'm Wolf Estrello, and I'm here to claim a pair of runaway females that's been in my camp for near five years. Turn them over to us and save yourselves some trouble.”

“They've told us about their experiences in your outfit, including the shooting of Jake Miles, their pa. But that won't make any difference to you.”

Suddenly from beyond the spring, Mark Rogers stepped out, and it was he who spoke.

“I'm Mark Rogers, and my
amigo
is Bill Harder. Amanda and Betsy Miles are twenty-three years old. Five years ago, before Bill and me joined the Confederacy, Amanda and Betsy were promised to us. They would wait until the war was done. Now Bill and me are callin'in those claims, with or without your approval.”

“Wolf,” said Olson excitedly, “these
hombres
got prices on their heads. I saw the wanted dodgers while we was in St. Louis. Hell, they're worth twenty thousand dollars, dead or alive.”