‘What are we going to do? We have to stop him. My family is down there.’
‘Yes we do. And before we reach the canyon.’
‘Is that true you’re a Deputy Marshal?’
‘Yes.’
‘Arrest him then.’
‘Hard to do while he has that gatling gun.’
‘Then shoot him. Weren’t you about to shoot that rifle just a minute ago?’
‘I was thinking on it. That’s a hard shot though. I’ll need to wait till he gets closer, but even if I hit one of them there in the wagon, they can turn that gun on us and send a few thousand rounds into this space within a matter of minutes. And if that doesn’t get us, we’ll have revealed our position to them. Saul is somewhere in these woods. He’d find us.’
‘We have to do something. He’s going to kill them!’
‘Best thing we can do now is think. As long as those folks keep moving forward and don’t do anything foolish, they’re safe. It’s over two day’s walk to the canyon. Nelson’s going to want them all the way there.’
‘So what now?’
‘We stay ahead of Saul. And Joe. We need to find Joe.’
He let her climb into the saddle. She had suffered perhaps the roughest night of her life only hours ago, and she was beat.
They kept to the safety of tree cover, a fair distance ahead of those on foot. Saul was somewhere behind them. With the girl under his care Balum wished only to stay out of reach of the giant.
His eyes never stopped searching for Joe. A seed of worry began to grow within him. He fought it down but it returned stronger each time; the notion that Joe might be dead. He shook his head and ran through the possibilities again. Joe’s horse was gone when Balum had reached his own last night. That meant Joe had not been killed in the initial blast of gunfire. Perhaps he had fled to the opposing slope across the valley. That made no sense. He had no cause to do so.
The more he chewed on it, the more uneasy he felt. The day was already more than half over, and there had been no sign at all, not so much as a track to show his passing.
They stopped to drink at a trickle of water running over stone. The thin stream of water made no sound as it fell gently from one rock to another, making its way down the face of the mountain. The wind had died, leaving only the sounds of birds.
Squatting on his bootheels he listened through them, his ears straining to hear what lay beyond. As for Joe, he had little hopes of hearing him. The man moved like a spirit in the woods. How well Saul could move, Balum didn’t know.
He let his eyes lose focus and concentrated on the sounds around him. A cactus wren warbled further downhill. He tried to ignore it but the bird persisted, disrupting Balum’s focus.
Then it struck him. There were no cactus wrens in the Rocky Mountains. It was a desert bird. An Apache desert bird.
He stood suddenly and grabbed the reins of the horse.
‘Get in the saddle,’ he said to Leigha. ‘We’re moving.’
They found him hunkered down in a stand of blue spruce, a quarter mile from the water stream. Hidden as well as he was, they would have walked past him had he not spoken.
‘You wouldn’t have any coffee on you, would you?’ his voice came from beneath the low hanging branches.
‘Joe!’ Balum jumped, startled. Then he grinned and shook his head. ‘Cactus wren. Damn am I glad to see you. You alright?’
‘Seems like every time I link up with you I end up eating lead.’
‘You catch one?’
Joe stood and lifted his right arm slightly. His shirt had been cut away, exposing an entry and exit hole, each plugged with moss.
‘Through the meat,’ he said. ‘It’ll heal.’
Leigha stared open-mouthed from the roan’s back.
‘Joe!’ she exclaimed.
‘Ma’am’
‘You’re talking!’
‘Yes ma’am. Your people gave me an education to rival the Queen of England.’
‘But…,’ she started, not quite knowing what to say.
‘But nothing. Now let’s get that coffee going.’
They risked the fire. They kept it small and let the smoke dissipate through the needles of the pines before drifting into clear sky.
It took but a moment to get a read of the situation. The bowl canyon was still a two day walk away. Nelson’s only priority was herding the settlers down the valley chain. Once trapped against the canyon walls, killing them would be simple.
‘Our only chance is to get them at night,’ said Balum. ‘In daylight they’ll hammer us with the gatling before we get close enough to squeeze off a shot.’
‘They know that,’ said Joe. ‘That’s why all four stayed with the wagon last night. They’ll do the same again tonight.’
Balum warmed his fingers on the coffee mug. He breathed the steam into his nose. Joe had a point. With all four defending the wagon at night, the odds were slim to none of overpowering them, and pretty good that he and Joe would wind up dead on the valley floor.
He took another slam of coffee. It threw his mind to action. He looked up at Joe suddenly.
‘They need to comb through these hills on either side of the valley to make sure none of the settlers are trying to circle back. You see how Billy and Saul took into the hillsides today?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s our chance. Tomorrow while they’re on the slopes we hunt them down. That will leave just Nelson and Shroud in the wagon at night. It’s the best odds we’ll get.’
Joe nodded. ‘I’ll cross tonight to the other side. That’s where Billy was today. I’ll be waiting for him in the morning.’
‘I’ll be listening for the cactus wren.’
31
As badly as they would have liked to sleep alongside a fire, the risk was too great. Nelson and his men would most likely fort up in the wagon. But signaling their whereabouts with an open flame while they slept was nothing less than foolish. The best Balum could find was a rock ledge that offered some protection from the wind.
He unsaddled the roan and led it by the bridle in search of good grass. He found it close, at the edge of a deep crevice that fell sharply away into a deep-pitted gash running through the mountain face.
He spread his bedroll against the smooth wall of the ledge and laid his rifle and gun belt out next to him. He removed his hat and boots and crawled in.
‘Be careful walking about at night,’ said Balum. ‘That cliff is mighty close, and it’s deep. You take a slip and you’re not likely to come back out.’
‘I’ll be careful,’ said Leigha. She sat on the ground several yards off where she wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them close to her.
Balum slid out of his trousers and laid them out next to the guns and boots.
‘You ready to get some shut eye?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
‘You best get in here where it’s warm.’
‘In with you?’
‘Unless you’ve been hiding a set of blankets somewheres.’
‘You must be out of your mind. I’m not just going to hop into bed with you.’
‘Temperature’s dropping quick.’
‘I was fine last night. I’ll be fine again.’
‘Last night you had three, maybe four hours till the sun came up. Tonight’s all night.’
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Suit yourself,’ Balum said, and pulled the blanket to his chin.
Leigha rubbed her shoulders. She looked at Balum lying comfortably beneath the blankets.
‘I’m not some floozy like Suzanne.’
‘Suzanne might be a floozy but she’s also smart enough to stay warm.’
Leigha huffed and turned her back to him. She leaned onto the ground and lay in a ball and closed her eyes.
She held out for an hour. It was longer than Balum had expected. He had drifted into sleep when he heard her voice calling out to him.
‘Balum,’ she said. ‘Balum!’
‘
Huh?’ he mumbled back.
‘Are you awake?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m cold.’
‘Get in here.’
He lifted the blanket and she crawled to him. He draped it over her and she pressed her body into his.
‘Jesus,’ he said. ‘You’re half frozen.’
She shivered, and he rubbed his hands over her cold frame, massaging warmth back into the muscles. She wrapped an arm around him, squeezing herself against him, eager for any warmth she could steal. He rubbed her back, her shoulders, and moved his hands to her thighs, firm and smooth beneath her dress. His hands found their way to her bottom, and he ran them over her plump ass, unable to resist giving them a light squeeze.
She let out a soft whimper, and nestled her face into his neck.
‘You’re so warm,’ she said.
He continued to run his hands over her body. His head felt light, and his cock stood rigid, nestled in the space between Leigha’s thighs.
When the front of her body had warmed she turned and rested her back against Balum. He wrapped his arms around her body with his face in the crook of her neck. Her hips stretched back for him, instinctively. She wiggled her plump ass against him, allowing his cock to rest between her cheeks. They were cold yet, cold and plush against his hardened cock.
Balum took her chin and turned her head around. He kissed her, her lips still slightly cold against his. She moaned and reached an arm around his torso, pulling his hips against her. He massaged her young firm breasts beneath her dress, and as he did so Leigha pulled the length of it up past her thighs and bunched it around her waist.
He hooked a finger in her panties and slid them down her legs. She kicked them off, shoving them with her feet to the foot of the blanket.
Balum slid his hand along her flat stomach and around her thighs, finally finding her pussy, warm and wet. He played with it, kissing her and bringing moans from her lips as he stroked her clitoris and smeared her juices along her pussy lips.
She reached back for his cock and took hold of it. Lifting her leg slightly, she brought the tip against her pussy and stroked the tip along its length.
‘Put it in me,’ she whispered.
He slid into her, feeling the tightness of her wet cut wrap around his cock. He gave her small strokes, then slid the length of it deep into her snatch. She moaned, and bit his finger in her mouth. He ground himself into her, rocking against her, hearing the wet sound of his cock sliding in and out of her cunt.
He climbed on top of her and wrapped his massive thighs on either side of hers. He slid his cock between the flesh of her legs, the tip hunting for the hot lips of her pussy. He slid into her again, and she gasped and clutched his arms in her hands.
He drove his cock deep into her, and rocked his hips against her until she came, nearly crying as the orgasm racked her body. The sounds she made, the whimpering, the gasping, the moaning in his ear, brought him to a climax.
He pulled out and re-entered her, sinking his shaft deep inside and feeling the pulse of his ejaculation bursting inside her. He repeated the motion, his body shuddering as he came in her tight young pussy.
He rolled back to the ground and pulled her body close to him. They kissed, then closed their eyes and slept under the warmth of his blanket.
32
A voice woke them. It came from the foot of the blanket, like stone grating on stone in the pre-dawn light of the morning.
‘Nelson ain’t gonna like the sound of you getting to her first,’ said Saul. His gun was drawn. He held it casually at his hip, the barrel tilted towards Balum’s body. ‘Matter of fact, ain’t none of us going to like it much. Now get out of them blankets.’
Balum edged out from underneath. He had slept naked alongside Leigha’s body. Saul made a grimace.
‘I ain’t gonna have your dead body laying next to me looking like that. Wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the lady. Walk yourself over to that cliff yonder.’
Balum turned his head towards the crevice near which he had left the roan to graze.
‘That’s the one. Get to walking. You,’ he waved the revolver at Leigha. ‘Stay right there. I’ll be back for you.’
The two men left her. Saul walked several yards behind Balum with the gun pointed at his back. Balum walked slowly. The frost on the ground bit into his bare feet.
‘You cold boy?’ said Saul. ‘You won’t be for long.’
Balum did not respond.
‘You think you’re something, don’t you? You kill my brother? Answer me. You kill my brother?’
‘I did.’
‘There’s no way in hell. No way you could outdraw Gus. My brother was always fast with a gun.’
Again, Balum kept silent.
‘You think you’re something, don’t you?’ said Saul once again. They had reached the crevice. Balum turned, and they stood facing each other along the edge, enough distance between them that Balum had no chance of attack without getting shot first.
Balum glanced down the rock face. It ended in darkness deep below them.
‘Your luck’s run out, Balum. You can be thankful before you die that you got to have some fun with that girl. I’ll tell you what though. She ain’t got no idea what’s coming for her.’
Balum felt his toes dig into the grass. He could rush him. It was his only option. He would get shot, but with enough momentum he could carry Saul into the crevice with him.
His legs tightened and a shot rang out. It blasted hard, and he braced for the bullet. None came. Instead, Saul’s body whipped in a half-circle and disappeared over the cliff edge.
Balum stepped forward just in time to see the man’s body take a jarring bounce off the rocks and disappear into the darkness.
Leigha knelt on the blanket. The rifle seemed twice as big as it was, held against her bare skin. Balum walked back to her.
‘Like I said, you’re a natural shot.’
‘Get back under this blanket,’ said Leigha. ‘I think we both need to warm up again.’
33
Joe lay on a bed of pine needles at the edge of the treeline. He had woken long before daylight and had chosen his spot with care. His horse he had left in a quiet grove of grass far up the mountain.
The valley stretched out before him. Neslon’s wagon sat alone in the middle. Further ahead he could make out the tiny figures of the settlers. They had slept in a huddled mass, like gophers burrowed deep in a hole over winter.
He waited patiently. Nelson would again send his men into the hills. He rested his chin in his hands and thought of his people in San Carlos.
The sun was not yet high enough in the sky to appear over the mountaintops when Billy saddled his horse and rode east. It was an easy job Nelson had given him; rustling any bullheaded settlers back down to the valley. He had only come upon two of them so far. So racked with fear they were upon seeing him that they had bolted back to the group too quickly for him to get a shot off.
He wanted to kill. He was still angry about what had happened. He had tucked tail and run, and everyone present had seen him. Now what did they think of him? He was weak? He would show them what it meant to be weak. By tomorrow they would reach the bowl canyon. Then they would see.
But that was tomorrow. Today still had to pass. He wished desperately to come upon another settler, hiding out in the woods. Of course, there was still Balum and Joe to consider. They were still out there. He swallowed when he thought of running into Balum. He preferred to think he might find the half-breed instead. That one would be fun. It had always bothered him how the dumb mute had stared at him from those black eyes, unresponsive and unmoving.
He wondered to himself if Nelson would still throw him the bonus if he brought the Indian back dead. He should. No reason why the deal would have changed.
He reached the trees and urged his horse into them. The ground rose steadily, and his horse slowed as it picked its way through the dense pines.
He squinted his eyes. It had not bee
n so dark on the valley floor, but beneath the trees the light of the sun was still lacking. He let the horse choose its own way. It was quiet. Each minute that passed was another minute for the sun’s light to illuminate the darkness. He rode with his ears pricked, then pulled the horse to a stop. He looked behind him.
Something felt wrong. It was too quiet. He thought of bears and mountain lions. Nonsense. He was letting his imagination take hold of him.
He rode on, but stopped once more a few minutes later. He looked behind him again. He had the feeling he was being stalked. He squinted into the trees. Sunlight was beginning to penetrate the canopy and he could see further along. Nothing moved. All was still and silent, save for the breath of his horse.
And then it was broken by a voice.
‘Billy.’
His body jerked. Goosebumps broke out over his skin and a chill ran down him.
‘Who’s that?’ he said into the grey landscape before him. He drew his revolver from the holster and cocked the hammer back.
‘Who is that?’ he said, louder.
He turned the horse around and squinted his face as he stared into the woods. The voice calling his name bounced off the trees, concealing its source. He turned again, his mouth hanging open.
Joe watched him from where he crouched. He placed a small stone over his thumbnail and flicked it to where he wanted Billy’s attention to center.
It landed and Billy jerked toward it. He raised his revolver and fired into the brush.
Joe rose from his position and ran towards Billy’s backside. He covered the distance in four bounds and jumped to the back of the horse. He wrapped his left arm around Billy’s neck and with his right tore the gun from his hand.
He whipped his body sideways and spilled them both from the saddle.
The force of the landing separated them. They came to their feet with no time lost, Billy backpedaling immediately. He raised his hands palms outwards.
Wagons to Nowhere Page 13
