Joyce leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “You’re wonderful, Dane, just wonderful.”
Ben Adamson studied Cherry more keenly now, noting his handsomeness, his good clothes and manners. He had never liked dudes, but in the present circumstances, hogtied as he was, he was prepared to accept the man’s word.
“I’d be mightily obliged to you, Cherry,” he said.
The gambler nodded. “I just hope this drifter, Durant, is worth it.”
“You’ll find he is.”
Cherry flipped out his gun so effortlessly that Ben Adamson frowned. But then Joyce tucked her hand under his arm and stood on her toes to kiss him on the forehead.
“Oh, Pa, I’ve been such a fool!” she said. “Such a stubborn little hot-headed fool!”
Adamson put his arm about her slender shoulders and held her close. “We’ve both been just that girl,” he said. “But I guess it will work itself out in time. What matters most now is helping my friend, Durant. Can you understand that?”
“Yes, Pa.” She gave him a hug and smiled warmly at him; then, as she made to move off with him, their attention was attracted by noise further along the boardwalk.
Dane Cherry muttered, “Well, the hounds are out by the look of it. And in full force. Our esteemed sheriff, our respected Judge Eggert and their faithful hired hands. I’d best get moving.” Cherry gave Joyce a nod and made his way along the yards. The cattle had settled down again. At the corner of the yards he stopped and watched two men lift the dead Rick Eggert from the ground and carry him into the jailhouse. Dane Cherry then walked slowly and thoughtfully across the street. He took up a position in the jailhouse laneway, produced a small cigar, bit off the end and lit it.
Four – The Law of Outcast County
Blake Durant watched the men file into the jailhouse. The big man wearing a tin star he took to be Sheriff Red Traversi. To him, Traversi had all the marks of a hard case. He seemed cocksure of himself as he walked across the jailhouse floor and took hold of the cell bars.
“Murdered a man in my town, eh?”
“I killed in self-defense,” Blake said.
Traversi snorted. “Ain’t how I heard it, mister.”
“Then you heard it wrong, Sheriff.”
Red Traversi swept his hair back with a flourish and then, drawing his gun quickly, banged it against the bars. Durant pulled his hands away just in time to escape the gun and Traversi leered at him. Then, nodding his head, he stepped back. Deputy Lem Edey had directed two sullen-featured cowhands to seat themselves on a wall bench and now he turned and looked gravely at a thick-set, gray-haired man who stood framed in the jailhouse doorway.
Behind this frock-coated man’s shoulders, two men stood facing each other and Blake Durant could see a dead man hanging limp between them.
Traversi turned, gave Durant his back and said tightly, “Bad night for you, Judge.”
The other nodded and took two steps into the room. Looking straight at Durant, he muttered, “Bring my boy in. Lay him down careful.”
The two cowhands entered with the dead man. They looked uneasily at Traversi who gave the room a sweeping look before he pointed to the end cell. “There,” he said.
The cowhands went down the room and lowered the body to a bunk. One picked up a blanket from the top of a box, but before he could place the blanket over Rick Eggert’s body, the judge said sternly:
“Don’t cover my boy. I want to be able to see him.”
Red Traversi watched the old man intently. When the judge came slowly across the room, taking his gun from his holster, the lawman frowned heavily.
“Listen to me,” the judge said. “We have enough witnesses here to testify that this scum made a break for it while we were hearing his lies and got in the way of a bullet.”
He lifted the gun and pointed it straight at Durant. Blake held his stare evenly and said calmly, “He came at me with a bucking gun, mister. It was him or me.”
The judge’s lips curled back derisively. “That your claim, mister?”
“It’s the truth.”
“It’s a damned lie!”
The words slashed into the room’s silence. Deputy Edey bit his lips and suddenly Red Traversi looked amused. But he gestured at the judge, saying:
“I’ve got a better way.”
Judge Eggert jerked around. His gray cheeks were like pounded putty.
“A much better way,” Traversi said. “Slower.”
The judge’s eyebrows climbed his heavily-lined forehead and disdain took hold of him.
“The noose,” Traversi explained and ran a hand about his bull neck. “Slow and sure and a real spectacle. It’ll serve notice on all jaspers who might be gettin’ fool ideas that we run things right and ain’t losin’ our touch. Take a night to set the gallows up and we can use that time to spread the word. Come sunup, our killin’ friend here will have done a heap of sweatin’ and waitin’. Do him good.”
Judge Eggert pulled on his gray cheeks and glared at Durant again. Lem Edey put in, “We ain’t had a hangin’ in months, Judge. Folks are likely to forget what one looks like.”
Eggert glanced his way and took in a slow, deep breath. Seeing that he was still unconvinced, Red Traversi went on, “Got ourselves a courtroom, Joe, a presiding Judge and reliable witnesses. We enter it in the books so there ain’t nobody can grumble about our law-enforcin’.”
“Who cares about that, Red?” Eggert asked gruffly.
Grinning, Traversi thumped his chest. “Hell, I do, Judge. I got a reputation to think of.”
Eggert was thoughtful for a moment and then he looked fiercely at Blake Durant. “The slow way is maybe the best. Deputy, take down the notes of the trial. Witnesses, come forward and say your piece.”
The two men rose from the wall bench, exchanged satisfied looks and came across the room. Edey seated himself at the desk and began to write. Traversi lounged against the bars of the cell next to Durant’s and made up a cigarette. His stare mocked Durant into muttering a curse.
“Day, testify on what happened,” Eggert said.
The taller of the two cowhands straightened up and cleared his throat. Looking straight at Blake Durant, he said, “This here jasper walked up to Rick Eggert and shot him down cold. Wasn’t no reason for him to do that because Rick never even had a gun.”
Judge Eggert kept looking at Blake Durant. A nerve jumped in his temple and his lips were compressed and colorless.
“Peters?” he asked.
“Exactly the same, Judge. No mistake. There was plenty of light and we was right up close. Murder for sure.”
“Any other witnesses?” Eggert asked.
There was no answer. Traversi lit his cigarette and blew out a mouthful of smoke. Eggert drew himself straight and gripped the bars of Durant’s cell. His eyes narrowed and his lips curled back to reveal clenched teeth.
“Under the power invested in me by this community, and after hearing all evidence relating to the murder of Rick Alroe Eggert, I, Joseph Alroe Eggert, on this day of June, the ...”
Eggert stopped short and eyed the deputy. “What’s the damn date?”
“The tenth, Judge.”
“... tenth, hereby sentence ...”
Eggert’s eyes blazed with renewed hatred as he looked at Blake Durant. “What’s your damn name, mister?”
“Name’s Durant, Blake Durant,” Edey put back.
“... Blake Durant to be hanged by the neck till dead on the morning of the eleventh of June, at sunup. And may the devil take your soul!”
Traversi pushed himself from the wall and crossed to Judge Joe Eggert, sending an amused look Durant’s way.
The name of the judge stuck in Durant’s mind. He remembered back to Pinosa, a town on the fringe of the Platte River country ... to a judge leaving a courtroom and taking on Billy Younger in the main street. Joe Eggert killed Billy Younger in a shoot-out when the evidence presented in court was insufficient to convict Younger of murder.
&
nbsp; Blake looked at the old man more intently now. Five years. Joe Eggert had aged a lot in that time.
“Do all your court hearings stink, Eggert?” he asked.
Eggert shook the cell bars in his powerful grip. “Durant,” he said viciously, “I’m gonna make the noose myself and put it around your stinkin’ neck. Then I’m gonna release the trapdoor and watch you twist and squirm. My boy was all I had. I reared him to be ...”
“You reared a dog, Eggert, in your own image,” Blake Durant said.
Eggert shook the bars, his face growing purple. Traversi tried to pull him away, but Eggert smashed him back, shouting, “Damn you, mister, I’m gonna hang you personal! Then I’m gonna drag your body through the streets and lay it out for the buzzards and then I’ll watch them tear you to pieces!”
Sweat ran freely down his face and his breath came faster and faster until he was choked up with fury. Traversi pulled him away and held him at a distance, saying, “Easy now, Judge. We done what we had to. No sense in letting it get away with you now. Durant’ll hang and we’ll drink to it tomorrow.”
Eggert allowed himself to be eased across the room. He walked to the cell where his son lay uncovered and stared down at his death-gray face. The judge closed his eyes and mumbled to himself.
Traversi said lazily, “Lem, best get them nail hitters on the job right away. Work ’em through the night if needs be. You boys can go,” he told the cowhands, Day and Peters. “And we’re mightily obliged for your assistance.” He frowned darkly. “But I ain’t forgettin’ you took on somethin’ without consultin’ me. Git now!”
Day and Peters moved quickly towards the front door. Edey lifted his arms above his head and worked his shoulders. Joe Eggert walked past Durant’s cell and went out without another word, his head bowed, his feet shuffling. As the door closed on him along with Day and Peters, Traversi blew smoke at the end of his cigarette and watched the sparks fly.
“Rick ain’t no loss,” he muttered. “Never was much damn good anyway.”
Lem Edey grinned and went out to the boardwalk. Looking at the long, winding main street of Outcast County he thought he was a very fortunate young man to have met so many important people so early in his life. He went off looking for the gallows builders.
Dane Cherry made his way into the back street and headed for home, a shack at the end of the main street.
Entering his yard, he found Ben Adamson and Joyce waiting under the overhang. He pulled out a fresh cigar, inspected it and lit it.
“Bad news,” he said.
“What are they gonna do?” Adamson asked.
“Hang him.”
Adamson’s voice became a cry. “What?”
“They had a hearing. Judge Eggert presided, witnesses were called and notes taken. Durant was found guilty of murder and they’re hanging him at sunup.”
Joyce pulled back from her father, frightened by the fury bursting from him. Adamson paid her no heed now. “That’s crazy, Cherry! Durant never murdered anybody.”
Cherry drew on his cigar and shrugged. “I’m just telling you about the court finding, Adamson. You asked me to go and find out and I’ve done that. In the meantime I hope Joyce has explained the trouble we had with Traversi ourselves earlier tonight. She might also have told you that we’ve got a deep feeling for each other.”
“To hell with that!” Adamson barked. “I’m only worried about Durant and getting him out of that darned jailhouse.”
“That’ll take some doing,” Cherry told him.
“I don’t care what it takes. I’m not standing by and see an innocent man hanged—and a damned good friend at that.” Adamson plucked out his gun and inspected it. Joyce moved back to him, grabbing at his wrist. But he pushed her roughly away.
“Pa, what are you going to do?” she said. “You can’t fight them. There’re too many of them and they’re mean and vicious. You’ll get yourself killed.”
Adamson snorted disdainfully at that. “No matter. Do you expect me to ride off and leave him there? Do you reckon I could stand living any place knowin’ I backed off on him? I’ll get him out, you’ll see, and I’ll give those scum something to think about for a while. Then I’ll get my cattle and get to blazes out of this town.”
Adamson moved quickly out of the shadows and looked towards the lights of the town. There was very little noise now and only a few people were moving about. He stopped, making his decision, and looked back at her, ignoring Cherry.
“If somethin’ happens to me, girl, I guess you’re old enough to look after yourself. Maybe it’s Cherry you want. Well, I got no argument against that, though I’d like to know somethin’ more about him before I give my consent. No matter about that either. If I pull this off, I won’t have time to come back for you. It’d be too risky havin’ you along anyway. You know where my place is, you’re welcome to come back any time.”
“Wait,” Dane Cherry said. “That attack was an attempt to get your cattle, Adamson, or at least it was meant to get you and Durant out of the way. The next attempt won’t fail, believe me. Those cattle have reached the end of their walk in this territory. Come a day or so, they’ll get freighted out and Traversi, Eggert, Weedon and the deputy, Edey, will cut up the profits.”
Adamson gaped at him. “You’re loco, mister. What the hell damn foolery is that? Are you askin’ me to believe that in a town this size, with so many folks about, a crowd of four ...”
“It’s going on all the time, Adamson. Nobody has found a way to stop it. Those who tried aren’t available for comment any more. So I’ll tell you just one more time. Forget about Durant. He’s as good as gone.”
Adamson’s face went gray with shock. He stood there, crushed, trying to fight his way out of his depression. Joyce moved to him and placed a hand on his arm.
“It’s the truth, Pa. That’s the way the town is run. Nobody even bothers to argue against the top men.”
“Then what in blazes are you doin’ in a stinkhole like this, girl? This the kind of town you picked for yourself? And him, what’s he doin’, puttin’ up with hellhole capers like that?”
Cherry blew out a mouthful of smoke. “I live, Adamson. I mind my own business and I let sleeping dogs lie. Nobody bothers me and I don’t bother anybody else.”
“How do you earn a dollar, mister?”
Cherry spread his hands. “With these and a pack of cards, Adamson. Maybe it’s not the most honorable way to make a living, but it’s done fine by me ...”
Adamson snorted in disgust. “A gambler!” He shook his head. “My place was never suitable for her and I guess now I know why.” His shoulders sagged and he looked terribly tired. He put his gun back in his holster and for a time looked to be about to change his mind. Then he straightened, fixed Joyce with a sad-eyed look and added, “Look after yourself, girl. I evidently can do no more for you.”
Tears sprang up in Joyce’s eyes and she turned to Cherry, silently pleading for help. Cherry gave her a frown, drew in his breath and muttered, “There’s no chance.”
“They’ll kill him, Dane,” she insisted. “He doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”
Ben Adamson walked to the fence and hesitated, then he opened the gate, went into the night, his head bowed. Joyce grasped at Dane Cherry’s arm.
“Please Dane, stop him. I’ll do anything for you, I swear it.”
Cherry let his eyes sweep down over her comely body. His desire for her had always been a troublesome thing, but he had held out hope that before long she would give herself to him.
He glanced back to where Adamson was walking and muttered something to himself. He thought about the town and the men he was up against. He’d always calculated the odds carefully, and realized there might be a chance to win out. If they got Durant out of jail, Joyce would be free to go anywhere with him. Adamson and his cattle would not be a barrier to that, because the herd was of no interest to Joyce or himself. He had taken enough money out of this town to set himself up comfortably in ano
ther area, and lately he had come to realize that more than a few people in this town were taking a critical interest in his activities, Traversi for one.
He called out, “Adamson, hold on!”
Ben Adamson turned, frowning. Joyce kissed Cherry gratefully on the side of the face and he moved away, checking his gun as he went. Reaching the rancher, he said:
“Is Durant that important to you, Adamson?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll give it a try. But by hell we’ll do it my way and in my time. Right?”
“You’ll go all the way?”
Cherry nodded grimly. “Being a damned fool, I guess I will. For the moment there’s no need to hurry. We’ll wait till the saloon closes and things settle down. It’ll be an hour or so yet so we’ll wait inside in the dark.”
Adamson looked doubtfully at him. “Why, Cherry, do you think the gamble will pay off?”
“I’ve got a stake in it now,” Cherry said and left it at that. He returned to Joyce and put his arms about her, holding her close. Joyce did not respond as eagerly as he would have liked and he was conscious that she was watching her father closely, still worried for him. So what? Her body felt good against his own and the scent of her hair excited him. Another town, another life, it’d suit him fine. He eased Joyce away, unlocked the door and let Adamson and his daughter go ahead of him. When he closed the door and got his last look at the town’s main street, he began to make his plans.
Sheriff Red Traversi pushed open the jailhouse door and hurled a drunken, blubbering and bruised Bo Strawbridge inside. Directly behind him, Deputy Lem Edey dragged an unconscious Bede Strawbridge by the back of his coat and pitched him into the middle of the room. Scowling, he crossed to the desk and picked up a ring of keys, selected one and went to the end cell. He opened the door as Traversi came up behind him and shoved Bo Strawbridge into it. Edey then dragged Bo’s brother to the cell, and after dropping him inside, slammed the door shut.
The Loner 6 Page 4
