Young Ole Devil (25 page)

Although Madeline was emerging,
clad in Di
’s
shirt and trousers—which were tight enough to show off her full
figure to its best advantage—she was not alone. Walking close
behind her, with the muzzle of a pistol held against the side of
her head, was the man who had called himself ‘Galsworthy’ when he
had visited the Brindleys’ ranch His other hand, holding the
walking-cane which Ole Devil had already suspected was concealing
the blade of the sword that had murdered the wounded prisoner, was
resting on her shoulder and urging her onwards.

‘
Come
away from those horses!’ Galsworthy barked, pushing Madeline
forward.

‘
D—Do
it, please!’ Madeline gasped in a frightened voice.

‘
You’d
better, if you don’t want to get her killed,’ Galsworthy
supplemented. ‘And don’t think I—wouldn’t shoot a
woman.’

‘
Do as
he says!’ Ole Devil ordered, having no doubt that the man was not
making an idle threat.

Even as he spoke, the young
Texian was trying to locate Galsworthy
’s companions. It was unlikely that
he had left the other men with their horses. The nearest point at
which they and the animals could be concealed was almost two
hundred yards away, too far for them to be of use in an emergency.
So, in all probability, they would be in the cabin. They were
either positioned so as to be able to cover their leader, or were
waiting to follow him out.

‘
Stop
there!’ Galsworthy commanded when the trio had moved far enough for
them to be unable to use the horses as a shield. They did as they
were told and he went on, ‘Now throw down your weapons. Do it
carefully and no tricks, or she’s dead.’

Knowing that he had no other choice without
costing Madeline her life, Ole Devil extracted the pistol from his
belt loop. He tossed it in front of him so that it landed on its
left side with the hammer uppermost Having done so, he slid the
bowie knife from its sheath and flipped it point first into the
ground alongside the other weapon.

‘
How
about you and the “Chink”?’ Galsworthy asked, looking at
Di.

‘
Neither of them are armed, Randy,’ Madeline said, before
the girl could reply. Then she stepped away from the
man.

‘
What
the—?’ Di spluttered, then realization struck and her voice rose
like the squall of an angry bobcat ‘Why you—!’

‘
Easy!’ Ole Devil snapped, catching the furious girl by the
arm as she was about to spring forward. ‘That won’t do any
good!’

Much to Ole
Devil
’s
relief, Di restrained her impulse. She might be hot-tempered, but
she had enough sense to recognize sound advice when she heard it.
Now she realized that the way in which Madeline’s clenched fists
had been raised was not that of a frightened woman, and she also
saw the two men who were coming out of the cabin. Although she had
not had a close acquaintance with them, she identified them as the
Mexicans who had been Madeline’s ‘captors’. Grinning at each other,
they went to flank Galsworthy and the woman. Clearly the pair were
satisfied that the situation was under control While each was
holding a pistol, the muzzles were dangling towards the
ground.

‘
It’s
lucky for you that you stopped,’ Galsworthy told the girl with a
grin. Then he swung his pistol, which had been pointing towards Ole
Devil, in Tommy’s direction and snarled, ‘Bring it out empty, damn
you!’

‘
Very
sorry, sir!’ the little Oriental yelped, snatching his right hand
from his trousers’ pocket into which he had slipped it. However,
his hand did not emerge quite as had been instructed. ‘Don’t shoot
humble self, excellent and honorable sir.’

‘
What’s that you’re holding?’ Galsworthy demanded

Although Tommy had created
something of a diversion,
causing Galsworthy to take his pistol out of
alignment on Ole Devil, there was no hope of it being turned to the
trio’s advantage. The Mexicans had brought up their weapons and
we’re covering the Texian.

‘
Don’t
shoot him!’ Old Devil called urgently. ‘It’s only his
kongo.’

‘
His
what?’
Galsworthy asked, refraining from squeezing the trigger as
he saw the thing Tommy was holding and decided that it could do him
no harm.

‘
A
kongo,
mister,’ Ole Devil repeated. ‘It’s his
yawara
prayer stick.’

Laying across
Tommy
’s left
palm, the
kongo
looked harmless. It was a rod of some kind of hard wood,
rounded at the ends and with grooves carved around its six-inch
length.

‘
If I
am to join honorable ancestors,’ Tommy went on, displaying
the
kongo.
‘I must make
yawara
prayer.’

‘
We’ll
give you a chance to do it before we kill you, if you behave,’
Galsworthy promised, grinning sardonically and dismissing both
Tommy and the
kongo
as of no importance.

The handsome man considered that he had
every right to feel satisfied with the way things had turned out.
When Arnaldo Verde had first come to him for help, he had seen a
way in which he might make a lot of money. Loyalty to the Mexican
citizenship he had adopted was not his motive for serving Santa
Anna. In fact, his were much the same motives that Ole Devil had
given Grivaljo. Five hundred new caplock rifles and a plentiful
supply of ammunition were very valuable commodities. They would
command a high price whether sold in bulk or individually. He had
no intention of turning them over to the Mexicans if they should
fall into his hands. So, while he was willing to destroy the
shipment if necessary, he had been determined to gain possession of
it if possible.

With his band scattered,
looting the properties which had already been deserted by their
owners or pillaging such as were still occupied but only lightly
defended, Galsworthy had lacked sufficient strength to attack the
Brindleys and take over the means to transport the shipment. So,
having sent Halford and four men with Verde to intercept General
Houston
’s
messenger, he had tried without success to gather reinforcements.
Failing to do so, he had left word for any of his band who arrived
at their headquarters to come after him and had taken the
remainder, including his wife, to Gonzales. He had not known that
the remnants of Halford’s party were in the vicinity when he had
visited the Brindleys’ ranch to size up the opposition.

The meeting with Ole Devil had
informed Galsworthy that Halford had failed in his assignment. When
he had learned of Mucker
’s capture, he had known that he must not allow an
interrogation to be carried out. Mucker was neither brave nor
staunch and would talk. He had known too much to be left alive. So
Galsworthy had excused himself and gone to the barn. Finding it
deserted and the key in the storeroom’s door, he had availed
himself of the opportunity with which he was being presented.
Entering, he had killed Mucker with his sword cane. Having laid the
body on the bed and covered it with a blanket, he had locked the
door and rejoined his party.

Still determined to try and
take the shipment, Galsworthy had realized that he could not hope
to do so unless he had more men. So he had reduced the number of
his already small party by dispatching one of them in search of
other members of his band. Having done so, he had brought the rest
to the coast He had known that the mule train would have to come to
Santa Cristobal Bay and had wanted to study its strength with the
idea of taking it over. Instead of staying in sight of the Bay, he
had taken his party to a hill which offered a good view of the
surrounding country and had set a watch against the
train
’s
arrival.

Learning that Di was approaching accompanied
by Ole Devil and Tommy much earlier than he had anticipated,
Galsworthy had guessed that they were travelling a long way ahead
of the mule train. He had also seen he was being given a chance to
outwit them. With the girl in his hands, he could force her
grandfather to transport the shipment and, as long as he held her
hostage, he could ensure that there would be no trouble from the
old man or the Tejas Indian mule-packers.

Knowing that Halford had been a
better than fair fighting man, Galsworthy had acquired considerable
respect for Ole Devil
’s capabilities in that line. Any man who could
get by Halford—who had been with Galsworthy for several years and
was second-in-command of the band—with the backing that he had was
far too dangerous to be treated with anything other than great
care. So, with Madeline’s approval, Galsworthy had formulated a
plan to get her into his potential victims’ company. He had not
been worried about asking his wife to take on the task. In spite of
her elegant appearance and air of being a well-bred lady, she was
tough, ruthless and able to take care of herself.
^xxix
As long as her true purpose was not
suspected, having her attached to the Texian’s party would be a
great advantage.

Realizing that there would be a
certain amount of danger involved if they were to make the
woman
’s
‘rescue’ appear genuine, the conspirators had planned it carefully.
Although Galsworthy’s warning had probably not been necessary, the
Mexican ‘captors’ had been instructed to allow Madeline to ‘escape’
at some distance away from her ‘rescuers’ so as to lessen the
chances of being shot by them. The precautions had been justified.
However, due to the nature of the terrain, they had been nearer
than they had intended before Di’s hasty actions had allowed them
to locate the trio and put the scheme into action.

On the other hand,
Madeline
’s
part of the plan had gone without a hitch. She was an excellent
rider and had been mounted upon a well-trained horse which she had
been confident she could trust While she had been sitting
sidesaddle with her hands fastened behind her back, her bonds had
been tied around the thick leather gauntlets. So, as an experiment
had proved, she could have freed herself if necessary. As a further
air, should she have needed to regain control of the black gelding,
its reins were dangling across its neck and the Mexican was leading
it by a rope that was too short to have entangled its legs when he
had released it.

Everything had gone to plan. In
fact, Madeline considered that her worst moment had been when Ole
Devil had questioned her about the
sidesaddle. Fortunately, she had been
sufficiently quick witted to have thought up a plausible
excuse.

When Madeline had heard about
the presence of the Mexican brig in the bay, she had recognized
that it was posing a serious threat to her
husband
’s
hopes. It would either frighten away, or capture, the ship that was
delivering the rifles. No matter which happened, the consignment
would be lost to them. Listening to her ‘rescuers’ discussing the
situation, she had been faced with another dilemma. She was aware
of Galsworthy’s desire to capture and use the girl as a hostage.
With that in mind, she had tried to talk Di out of accompanying the
men. Discovering that the girl was adamant, Madeline had offered to
participate in a more active manner than had been suggested.
Although not entirely displeased at being refused—for she
considered the chances of failure were high—she had been irritated
by the way in which Di had turned down her suggestion. Clearly the
girl had considered that she would be more of a liability than an
asset on such a hazardous mission. Being proud of her reputation
for competence and toughness, she had resented being treated that
way by a poorly educated country yokel even though she should have
regarded it as a tribute to her acting ability. However, she had
managed to conceal her resentment and, apparently yielding to Di’s
greater experience, had even consented to the exchange of
clothing.

Shortly before nightfall,
having followed the tracks of his wife and her
‘rescuers’, Galsworthy had
found his wife at the cabin. On being told why she was alone and
dressed in such an outlandish fashion (although he had regarded the
clothing as very fetching due to the way in which die filled them)
he had expressed his approval of her actions.

Then, in case the attempt to
get rid of the brig should be successful, Galsworthy and his wife
had made plans to capture the trio on their return. Wanting to take
them alive if possible and having heard nothing to diminish his
regard for Ole Devil
’s abilities, Galsworthy had told his party what he wanted
them to do. There were now only three men with him, the fourth
having been sent back to look for and speed the arrival of such
other members of the band whom he should meet.

Although Galsworthy had known that it would
most likely be after dawn before his victims arrived, he had been
disinclined to take chances. So, while he and his wife had spent
the night making love in the cabin, their horses had been picketed
beyond the nearest clump of bushes. The three very disgruntled men
had been compelled to occupy a draughty and poorly constructed
barn, being under orders to ensure that at least one of them
remained awake and alert at all times.