After a minute, Harley reported, “I see the corral. There ain’t no horses in it.”
“It don’t look like there’s anybody there,” Tiny said, but they continued to wait there and watch for a few minutes more until Hawkins started walking again.
“Hello, the cabin!” Hawkins called. “Anybody home?” He walked out into the clearing where the cabin stood up close to the cliff and the waterfall. There was no response from the cabin, so the rest of the party followed up behind him.
Noticing a fire pit in front of the cabin, Harley was inspired to ask, “Ain’t there no stove inside the cabin?” It had been cold enough on the way from Atoka and it was bound to be colder still near the top of this mountain.
“Fireplace inside,” Tiny said, “but it’s easier to do most of the cookin’ out here. Ain’t much room inside that cabin.” That prompted everyone to hurry inside to claim sleeping places before thinking about taking care of their horses.
“Man,” Ernie blurted, “it’s cold as a whore’s heart in here.”
“Ain’t quite as fancy as Boggy Town, is it?” Harley was quick to point out. “Ain’t much bigger’n that jailhouse we just broke out of.”
“You’re damn sure welcome to move on to find you a fancy hotel,” Hawkins answered him.
“I would, but I don’t wanna miss all this high-class company here,” Harley replied. “The first thing we need to do is collect some wood for a fire and get us somethin’ to eat.”
“Amen to that,” Pete said at once. He looked around him inside the one-room cabin. “Looks like ain’t nobody been here in a good while. I sure am glad they left us an ax, though,” he said when he saw the ax leaning against a small stack of wood. “’Cause we’re sure gonna need more wood than that.”
After the packhorses were unloaded, the riding horses unsaddled, and the sleeping arrangement settled, enough wood was gathered and fires were built outside as well as in the fireplace to warm the cabin. Figuring he would starve to death if he depended on any of the others, Pete took over the cooking, but declared he would only do it if somebody else kept the firewood plentiful. While they settled in to their new quarters there was very little thought, and no real discussion, about the posse that might, or might not, be on their trail. But after everyone’s belly was satisfied, the topic was quickly brought up for discussion. “How long you figurin’ on stayin’ here, Ward?” Harley asked the question, but everyone else was immediately interested to hear the answer.
Before Hawkins could answer, Ernie commented, “Yeah, we ain’t got supplies enough to make it here for very long, and it ain’t even real winter yet. It’s gonna get cold as hell up on this mountain.”
“There’s a feller name of Jeremy Cannon that runs a tradin’ post on Blue River, halfway between here and Tishomingo, which would put it about fifteen miles from here,” Tiny said. “We can get supplies there when we start to run out. We can also get a drink of whiskey there.”
“Well, we’re sure short of that. I might wanna ride down to see that feller pretty soon,” Harley commented.
“There’s deer up in these mountains,” Tiny said. “There was plenty of sign on that game trail up here. We ought not to starve.”
Ernie, alone, was the only doubtful member of the gang, as well as the most practical. “That’s all well and good, that tradin’ post on the Blue River,” he commented. “But what are we gonna use for money? I don’t know if any of you fellers were able to hold on to any cash money, but that deputy cleaned me out.”
His remark served to remind the others that they were in a similar situation. They had all been relieved of their money when arrested. The lighthearted air they just enjoyed suddenly vanished. After a moment, Harley declared, “Well, it looks to me like I’m gonna have to go back to practicin’ what I’m good at, takin’ the other feller’s money.”
“Yeah?” Tiny responded. “Where you gonna do that? There ain’t nobody nowhere around here that’s got any money to steal. That’s the reason this is such a good hideout. There ain’t nobody, and there ain’t no banks or stores or railroads to hold up.”
Ward Hawkins made no comments while the banter continued between his four partners in the jail escape. But their concerns were the same ones he had thought about ever since he had left Boggy Town. And he did not intend to be without money for very long, which meant he might as well go ahead with his plans to rob the bank in Sherman. He had decided that to be a job two men could handle, especially when one of them was as good with a gun as Bill
Todd had been. Before he met Will Tanner, he reminded himself. He would talk to Tiny about it, now that he had nothing else holding him. He wasn’t as fast as Todd, but Hawkins didn’t expect to run into Will Tanner in the bank in Texas. He had not told any of the four now with him because it was a two-man job and he didn’t feel like sharing the money with four others. That thought caused him to look at Tiny, still with his arm in a sling. If he didn’t heal up pretty quick, Hawkins was going to have to consider cutting one of the other three in on his plan. And he was not impressed by any of the three. Damn, he thought, I owe Will Tanner for all this mess. I don’t care how long it takes, I will settle that score before I’m done.
* * *
The man Hawkins was cursing was at that moment talking the situation over with Ed Pine and Horace Watson. “There ain’t no doubt, that’s their tracks,” Ed commented as they looked at the fresh prints crossing the stream to continue on the game trail leading up between the mountains. “Looks like they’re headin’ right where you said they were.”
“Goin’ up that trail, they couldn’t be goin’ anywhere but that cabin,” Will said. “There ain’t but one cabin up there. The problem we’ve got to solve is whether or not we oughta climb up that trail to try to surprise ’em. We’d have to go up it single file and the higher it gets, the steeper the trail gets.”
“That don’t sound like too good an idea,” Horace was inspired to say.
“It might help us if we could get a look at that cabin and see what they’re up to before we decide what we’re gonna do,” Will said. When Ed asked how they were going to accomplish that without walking up the path, Will explained. “This ain’t the first time I’ve had to get to this cabin. But to do it, I had to circle about halfway around this mountain and climb to the top from there. You come out over that cabin right on the edge of a cliff. That’s where this stream goes over the cliff and makes a waterfall. From the cliff, you can see the cabin about seventy feet below.”
“Let’s do that,” Ed said. “That sounds better’n climbin’ up this trail, yellin’ Shoot me, shoot me, I’m a lawman.”
Will responded with a forced chuckle, then climbed back aboard Buster and led the way around to the back of the mountain. As best as he could determine, he made his way up a series of game trails that had taken him to the waterfall before. His memory proved reliable because just short of the top of the mountain he reached a ledge that looked familiar. He dismounted and followed the ledge back around the mountain until eventually coming to the stream where it came out of the top of the mountain and flowed down over the cliff. After crossing over the rapidly flowing water, Will inched up to the edge of the cliff where he could look down on the cabin below. Ed moved up beside him. “There they are, all right,” he muttered. Although there was no one outside the cabin, their horses were in the small corral beside it.
“Be careful,” Will warned. “Some of that loose gravel will give way with you if you get too close to the edge.” Ed nodded and moved up a little closer to the edge. “I ain’t ever been able to find a back way outta that place, at least one where you could ride a horse,” Will said. “If there is one, they’ve got it hid pretty good.”
“I see what you mean,” Ed said. “Don’t look like there’s but one way out of that place.” They continued watching in silence for a few moments before Ed gave voice to what they were both thinking. “They’ve got ’em a fire goin’ outside, must be thinkin’ about cookin’ out t
here instead of inside. Be kinda easy to pick two or three of ’em off when they came outside, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’d be temptin’, all right,” Will replied.
Horace crawled up between them to take a look for himself. “Dang,” he blurted in a loud whisper. “That’s a pretty fair drop, ain’t it?”
“I’ll say it is,” Ed answered. “So watch yourself on that loose gravel, or you’ll be takin’ dinner with ’em.”
Horace nodded in reply but continued to crawl up a little closer to the edge of the cliff, trying to get a better look. Up even with Will and Ed then, he grinned at Ed as he placed his hand on the wrong rock to withstand the weight of his body. Suddenly, the rock gave way, loosening a shower of small rocks and gravel down on the cabin below. Unable to catch himself, Horace went over the edge with the rocks, saved only by the quick reflexes of Will and Ed, who each grabbed a leg to catch him. He dangled over the cliff for only the few seconds it took for the two deputies to pull him back up to the top. “Oh hell!” Ed gasped as he and Will dragged the hapless cook away from the edge of the cliff, his face white as a sheet from the close call. “They sure as hell know they got company now.”
Will’s initial reaction was the same as Ed’s, but on second thought, he changed his mind. “It might not be as bad as it looks,” he said. “They had to hear all that stuff landing on the roof, but they might not think it was ol’ Horace fixin’ to make a call.” He glanced at the shaken man to receive a sheepish look in return. “We’ve been tryin’ to figure the best way for us to go after them and maybe Horace’s way is our best chance.” Ed wasn’t sure what he meant, so Will explained. “There wasn’t anybody outside the cabin to see Horace, so they won’t know what caused the rocks to fall. Might think it’s just the mountain dirt givin’ way, but it oughta give ’em something to worry about. And they’ll most likely wanna know for sure, so somebody’ll have to come up here to see what caused it. Seems to me that’s the best thing we’ve come up with to draw some of ’em outta that gully.”
“What if they don’t think nothin’ of it, and nobody comes up here to check on it?” Ed asked.
Will shrugged. “Then I reckon Horace is gonna have to come up with another idea to bring ’em outta there.” Ed offered half a chuckle for Will’s attempt to be funny. Horace, still shaken by his near-death experience, could see no humor in their dangerous situation and invited them to kiss his behind. “If it was me down there in that cabin,” Will continued, “I’d sure wanna take a look up here, just to make sure the mountain wasn’t fixin’ to come down on my head.”
“Most likely, that’s what they’ll do,” Ed agreed. “So we’d best get ready for ’em.” With that said, he looked to Will to set up their welcome party.
“More than likely, whoever comes up here is gonna take the shortest way, and that means they’ll come up here pretty much the same way we did. So let’s move our horses a little farther around the mountain, so they don’t see ’em.” He paused to look around him then before continuing. “That clump of fir trees where the stream comes outta the ground looks like the best place for us to hide. Then, if they do what I would expect, they’ll walk over to the edge of the cliff to take a look. That way, they’ll be backed up to the cliff and a helluva drop behind them. Whaddaya think?”
“I can’t think of anything better’n that,” Ed said.
“All right, then,” Will said, “let’s go hide these horses. It’s gonna take a little time for anybody to get up here, so we oughta have plenty of time to get back here and get set up for ’em.” The only thing he could not anticipate accurately was how many of the men down there would come up to find the cause of the rockslide. And they would still be left with the problem of how to arrest the ones who didn’t come up to check on the rocks.
* * *
“What the hell was that?” Harley blurted when the rocks and gravel landed on the roof of the cabin. Sitting around the small table in the center of the cabin moments before, all five were standing now.
“Somethin’ fell on the roof!” Tiny exclaimed. “Sounded like the damn mountain is fixin’ to fall on us.” He followed the others, who were already running out the door to take a look.
Of the five men, only Hawkins picked up his rifle as he went out the door. Obsessed with a feeling that the relentless lawman had somehow found this outlaw hideout, his first thought was to protect himself. He found his companions standing in front of the cabin staring up at the cliff above them. Tiny pointed to what appeared to be a broken place at the top edge of the face. “Yonder’s where that stuff broke off. I hope ain’t no more of it fixin’ to turn loose.”
Still suspicious, Hawkins stood staring at the little pile of dirt, rocks, and gravel that had just missed the roof. Pointing to the pile, he said, “That’s just what landed on the ground. That ain’t what we heard landin’ on the roof. Look around, there ain’t no other rocks and stuff on the ground down here—just that one pile that fell a minute ago. Seems kinda funny to me, kinda like somethin’ musta caused that stuff to fall.”
This alerted Tiny. “You think somebody’s up there?”
“I don’t know if there’s anybody up there or not,” Hawkins replied. “I’m just sayin’ the damn mountain ain’t just started to crumble on its own.”
“If that was the law up there, they’d be shootin’ at us right now, standin’ out here in the open like this,” Harley said, and took a nervous look up at the cliff. “Why don’t we just go up there and see what’s up there?”
“That’s a good idea,” Ernie said. “I’ll go with you, Harley. I know I’ll feel better about sleepin’ tonight if I don’t see no sign of anybody up there lookin’ down at this camp. How ’bout it, Pete, you goin’ with us?”
“Well, I don’t have any plans scheduled for this afternoon. I reckon I could go along with you,” Pete answered. He always partnered with Ernie on just about everything.
Ernie turned to Hawkins, but before he could ask, Hawkins told him that he was satisfied to let the three of them scout the cliff. “Me and Tiny will keep the coffee warm for ya.” He was looking Tiny straight in the eye when he said it. His gaze seemed to tell the big man to stay there.
“How we gonna get up there, walk?” Pete wanted to know.
“Hell, no,” Harley answered him. “We’re gonna have to ride down the gulch, then go around the mountain till we find a place that ain’t too steep to climb. That’s the reason I bought a horse, so I wouldn’t have to walk.”
“You mean that’s the reason you stole a horse,” Pete told him.
The three of them walked out to the corral to saddle their horses. Behind them, Tiny asked, “Why’d you give me the bad eye when I started to get up and go with ’em?”
“Because we might be leavin’ this place right away, and if we have to leave, I need you to go with me on a bank job.” When Tiny was obviously confused, Hawkins explained. “This was a bank I scouted out with Bill Todd on our way up here from Texas. We didn’t say nothin’ about it because it’s just right for two men to get in and out of there without the rest of the little town knowin’ it was happenin’. Todd got himself shot, so now I’m offerin’ it to you. You were too busy runnin’ Boggy Town before, or I woulda offered it to you instead of Todd. I wasn’t gonna hit that bank until next spring, after I was satisfied that you were gettin’ along with the saloon all right. But the fix we’re in right now, needin’ cash money, changes that plan. We need to hit that bank right now. Are you up for it?”
“Hell, yeah,” Tiny replied at once, but he didn’t understand the sense of urgency Hawkins appeared to have, so Hawkins explained.
“This Tanner is harder to shake than a case of the itch and I’ve got a feelin’ he’s tracked us up here,” he said. “Now, maybe that ain’t nothin’ a-tall, them rocks fallin’ on the roof, just a piece of the cliff that’s broke loose. But what if it ain’t? What if it’s somebody wantin’ to smoke us out of this cabin? They come ridin’ up that gully and they
’ll get shot, sure as hell. But if they get us to come outta here, go up there to see what’s what, then we’re dead meat.”
Never known for his quick perception, Tiny nonetheless was beginning to understand. “You think Tanner might be waitin’ for Harley and them up there?”
“I think he might be and it’s gonna take them a little while to go around that mountain and climb up there. So I’m gonna saddle my horse and get ready to go if I hear the first sound from up there on that cliff. Are you wantin’ to go with me?”
“I sure am,” Tiny said. “I don’t like bein’ holed up here on this mountain, anyway. Let’s get saddled up.” He paused a moment to think. “What if there ain’t nothin’ up there and they see us gettin’ ready to leave?”
“We’ll just tell ’em we changed our minds and was fixin’ to come up there with ’em,” Hawkins said.
“Right,” Tiny responded, “we’ll tell ’em that.”
“We might as well load up a packhorse, too,” Hawkins said. “If they get ambushed up there, they ain’t gonna be needin’ any of these supplies we’ve got.”
CHAPTER 15
Lying flat on his belly, holding a short branch from a fir tree next to his head to hide behind, Will watched the cabin below. Ed and Horace stood back from the edge, waiting for his report. Below him, he saw the three men come out of the cabin and go to the corral to saddle their horses. “So far,” he said softly, “there’s only three of ’em. Hawkins and Tiny stayed in the cabin.” He continued to lie there after they had saddled their horses and disappeared down the gulch toward the stream. “Looks like they’re on their way.” Disappointed that Tiny and Hawkins were not with them, he started to back away from his position but halted when he saw them come out of the cabin and go to the corral. “Wait a minute, maybe they’re coming up, too.” He watched a few minutes longer, knowing he had some time before the first three could make their way up to the cliff. “Oh hell,” he uttered when he saw them loading a packhorse, “they’re not comin’ up here, they’re runnin’.”
Pray for Death Page 19
