“He’s right,” Blake Durant said. “We’ve got to do it ourselves.” He turned to Cherry and his voice was matter-of-fact when he said, “Where does Traversi’s outfit keep their money? Not in the bank, I don’t suppose.”
Cherry shook his head. “Nope. Traversi don’t trust banks. But there’s a big safe back of the jailhouse. I reckon he’s got his hoard there.”
Durant gave a slow nod of his head. “Then that’s the answer,” he muttered,
“Rob him?” Adamson asked, frowning.
“Why not? It’d be nigh impossible for us to run those cattle out of town. So we won’t bother to do that. We take money to cover their cost.”
Ben Adamson thought about it and smiled. “By hell, you’re right. If we were told right, Traversi’s been bleeding that town dry for months. He’d have plenty of money stashed away. We break in, take what we want and get to hell out. They don’t even have to know we came back.”
Joyce, studying Dane Cherry thoughtfully, saw his eyes cloud up with thought as he looked from one man to the other. When he straightened, sucking in a deep breath, she saw a rush of excitement take hold of him.
Then Blake Durant said, “What about it, Cherry? We can use you and your knowledge of that town.”
Cherry scowled at him. “You’ve just got to be foolin’, Durant. I wouldn’t go back there for anything.”
“Not even for the girl?” Durant pushed at him.
Joyce regarded Durant angrily. “That’s unfair, Mr. Durant.”
“Is it?” Blake said. “The right kind of man would want to help his woman’s father. And your father needs a great deal of help right now. I think you should begin to consider him a little. He spent a lifetime trying to look after you and it’s not his fault that you got dissatisfied with your lot.”
Joyce colored and looked guiltily at her father. Adamson said nothing. But Dane Cherry stepped towards Durant, his face tight.
“Now see here Durant. I don’t reckon this is any of your business. Damn you, mister, I ...”
“Don’t damn me, Cherry,” Blake cut in. “I have an obligation to you, sure, but that doesn’t give you any rights with me. What I know of you so far I don’t much approve of. The way you get your money sickens me. The way you strut annoys me. And the way you wheedle and scheme to get what you want puts bile in my belly. Either you do a decent thing for once in your life or you get to hell out of here.”
Durant’s angry outburst left the others stunned. Cherry stood there as if somebody had slapped his face, then he swung to the side and his hand slashed down for his gun. But before his Colt was clear of the holster, Blake Durant’s gun was in his hand, leveled, and the look in his eyes spelled only death.
Cherry’s hand froze on his gun butt. Blake Durant watched him closely. Only when Cherry’s hand dropped in submission did his own hand go back to holster his Colt.
“We’ll leave it at that,” Durant said. “Now climb on your horse and get going. And don’t stop.”
Cherry hesitated a moment, then he turned and walked to his horse. Joyce took a tentative step towards him but her father placed a hand on her shoulder and said:
“I need you girl. This last time. Don’t leave me.”
Moisture gleamed in Joyce’s eyes.
Cherry stopped and studied her critically but when she made no move to come to him, he said, “It’s loco. They’ll both get killed. Traversi owns the whole town and they’ll be primed up to kill.”
Blake Durant said, “We know what’s ahead of us, Cherry. Move off and leave well enough alone.”
Joyce still looked uncertainly at each of them, her father’s hand firm on her shoulder. She put her hand over his and said, “I’m sorry, Dane.”
Cherry shrugged and turned away. But a spasm of pain started again in his shoulder when he took hold of the pommel. He grunted and then swore under his breath. Joyce moved away from her father quickly and went to Cherry.
“Let me fix your wound first, Dane.”
Cherry nodded. “Wouldn’t mind,” he muttered. He dropped the reins and came back to where Durant stood. “Guess you got to stand my smell a while longer, Durant.”
“Why not?” Durant returned. “You don’t count in any way.” He walked away, stopped near Adamson and said, “We know the town well enough. If we get back there by tomorrow night, riding in easy stages, our horses will hold up for us. Under cover of dark we shouldn’t have any trouble getting into the jailhouse. You know anything about opening a safe?”
Ben Adamson shook his head. “Only seen one or two; didn’t have any use for one at home. Hell, I never had enough loose money lying about to fill a gun chamber.”
“It’s easy,” Cherry put in, causing Blake to turn.
“That so, Cherry?”
“Sure. I had a friend who blew up a few. You pack gunpowder sticks on the hinge side. Light the fuse and the door falls off.”
“Where do we get gunpowder?” Blake asked.
Cherry grinned. “At the gunpowder store, where else?”
Blake Durant’s hardening look made him grin wider. He stepped away as Joyce finished bandaging his arm and said, “Been thinking it over. Maybe I’ll tag along. I been down the south country and didn’t take to it much. So I guess I’ll just go through Outcast County again and keep tackin’ to the north. On the way I might as well throw my weight in with you fools. Then maybe Joyce will reconsider her promise to me.”
Joyce smiled warmly at him. “Of course I will, Dane. Naturally things will be different if you help Pa.”
“Then it’s a deal,” Cherry said, stepping towards his horse. This time he went into the saddle effortlessly. His brows hooded his dark eyes as he looked into the country they would have to travel. “The sooner we quit this place, the better,” he muttered and heeled his horse off through the timber, Joyce following on her pony.
Ben Adamson asked, “What you reckon?”
Blake shrugged. “I don’t know yet. We’ll see.”
“Don’t trust him,” Adamson said thickly. “Too many twists to him.”
Blake nodded, wondering how much money was in Traversi’s safe. Maybe Cherry had the same thought.
Seven – Confrontation Trail
Blake Durant tried to see Joyce’s face but the deepening shadows hid her expression. However, he had the distinct impression that whatever Cherry was saying to her was not impressing her much.
Durant wondered if the long day’s ride had given her sufficient time to think things out. He couldn’t believe she was so stupid that she didn’t see beneath the veneer of Cherry’s charm. The man was a clever rascal.
They had come across the vast rolling plain of sand, rock and cactus which was the northern desert and were now on the fringe of stunted pine country. The air was cool after the heat of the desert, and the silence seemed to have comfort in it, for which Durant knew Joyce would be grateful. Finally, towards sundown, they made camp.
After supper, Joyce left Cherry and crossed the campsite to her father who was stretched out near his horse. Cherry climbed to a hilltop where Blake sat watching the country about them. Squatting on his haunches, Cherry dug into the ground with a stick and whistled to himself.
Then, finally: “Durant, we got nothing going for each other, have we?”
“Very little, mister.”
Anger showed in Cherry’s face. “Fair enough. But you reckon two men in our state of mind should take on a town like Outcast County? You reckon one of us might break?”
“I won’t,” Durant told him.
Cherry grinned in the growing darkness. “Well, in ordinary circumstances, I wouldn’t let any man down. But I’ve got the feeling that Joyce is taken with you, drifter. And I don’t like it.”
“I don’t much care what you like or don’t like, Cherry,” Durant told him, almost casually.
“It’s because of Joyce that I changed my mind about not tagging along,” Cherry said. “I’d just hate to tack off on my own and leave you with a free rein
. She’s too young to understand about men like you.”
It was Durant’s turn to smile. “What about men like me, Cherry?”
Cherry dug up a piece of hard earth and tossed it away, then he began to widen the hole it had left. “Your kind, Durant, don’t impress me at all. You drift along, trying to give the impression that you’re carefree and couldn’t give a damn. But you ain’t like that one spit, mister. You’re scared deep down.”
Blake frowned.
Cherry explained quickly. “Scared of staying in one place too long, scared of letting folks get to know you too much. What kind of past have you left behind, Durant?”
“That’s my business, mister.”
“Women, Durant?” Cherry’s eyes widened with the mocking question. He tossed the stick away and cleaned his right hand down the side of his levis. When the hand came close to his gun, his look sharpened. But Blake Durant didn’t react.
“Leave it alone,” Durant said after a moment. “Better that way for both of us.”
There was a hint of warning in Durant’s tone, but Cherry took no notice of it. Settling back, he caught his hands behind his neck and grinned up at the sky.
“I reckon there was a woman, Durant. Did she give you that fool bandanna you’re wearin’?” There was amusement in Cherry’s drawl.
Durant’s face hardened. The twisted curl of Cherry’s thin lips annoyed him now. He said, evenly, “We’ve been thrown together to help a man, mister. Don’t make it any rougher than you have to. In an hour we’ll be pushing on. I suggest that you use that time to get some rest.”
Blake stood up and turned to leave, but Cherry kept at him, his voice suddenly becoming harsh. “What I mean to say, Durant, is that I want you to steer clear of Joyce. If you don’t, I’ll kill you. I’ll find a way.”
Cherry stood rock-still and defiant as Durant’s stare swept over him. From the very beginning he hadn’t taken to Cherry, but now he wanted to drive him into the ground, to put him in his place really hard.
He said, “There was a woman, Cherry, a pretty wonderful woman. She meant the world to me, and her memory still means everything. You mention her again, even hint at her being a part of my past, and I’ll spread you all over this slope.”
Cherry took a quick step back and looked uneasy for a moment. But then Durant walked away. When he got to the bottom of the slope he saw Joyce standing against a tree. The way she looked at him told him that she’d heard everything.
She said, “That was wrong of him, Mr. Durant. He had no right.”
Blake shrugged. “Nothing Cherry does worries me, ma’am.”
Durant had stopped and now he looked at her in a way that made her blush. She didn’t know why but she felt heat rising in her face. The cool wind whipped across her body and tightened her light blouse against her breasts. She felt his gaze linger on her bosom a moment and didn’t mind. It occurred to her then that this man excited her. She found herself comparing him with Dane Cherry.
“Was she beautiful?” she asked suddenly.
Durant nodded. “Very.”
“Your wife?”
“We had planned to marry. It didn’t come to that.”
Joyce looked surprised. “She gave a man like you away?”
Blake shook his head. “She was killed. An accident.”
“Oh.” She shifted away from him and looked into the sky. After a moment she said, “Dane has a habit of upsetting people. I wouldn’t take too much notice of what he says. He gets restless when there’s no excitement. But when trouble comes, you’ll find that he’s reliable.”
Blake heard her out and smiled tightly. “He’d better be.” Then he went off to get some rest, leaving Joyce staring after him. Her father was snoring on the ground a short distance away and Dane Cherry was squatting on a log tossing stones at a dead tree stump. When Durant disappeared from sight near the horses, Joyce returned to Cherry. He looked up with a start to find her there and said:
“Where have you been?”
“Talking to Mr. Durant. I like him, Dane. Why don’t you?”
Cherry sneered. “Durant ain’t my type, that’s all. And you keep away from him. I know what you’ve been thinking, that he’s done so much for your pa. Well, just leave it at that. I’m not risking my neck a second time for him unless I get what’s due me.”
“I wish you wouldn’t refer to me in that way, Dane,” Joyce said angrily. “I’m not a piece of trading material.”
“Maybe not. But I’ll get you, Joyce—and more. Traversi has plenty of cash money and gold stashed away in the safe. So we kill two birds with the one stone. We get compensation for your pa for all his trouble and losses and I get me a slice of good currency to help you and me get settled good someplace. Won’t hardly be stealing, taking money from Traversi.”
Joyce looked worried. Dane Cherry had changed a great deal in these last few days. Or had he really changed? Could it be just that she’d been blind to his shortcomings and now the comparison with Blake Durant gave her a truer picture of him?
She said, “Mr. Durant said we should get some rest, Dane. I think we should.”
“Sure,” Cherry agreed and after a furtive glance across to where her father lay, he reached for her. But she moved away, shaking her head.
“When it’s all over, Dane. Not until.”
“A damn waste,” he grinned, his good humor coming back suddenly.
“I have my pride,” she said.
He chuckled then, enjoying her more. Now, as she made for her father’s side, she knew with certainty that a great many changes would have to be made in Dane Cherry’s make-up for her to keep her promise to him.
It was late afternoon when Red Traversi returned to Outcast County after two days on the trail. Alec Day and Ben Peters, who had fouled up the cattle yard raid in which Rick Eggert had been killed, trailed a few horse lengths away. Strung out behind them were seven raw-eyed, thirsty, disgruntled hired guns. Traversi had been anything but pleasant company on the long dusty ride through the foothills, across the desert and back along the low country. They had seen his temper get worse by the mile until now only Day and Peters were game to go within call of him.
Turning a corner on the long main street, Traversi suddenly reined up and flung himself out of the saddle. In two bounds he was on the boardwalk and in another stride had Bo Strawbridge by the collar. He pulled Bo off his feet and with a tremendous heave sent him smashing into the building wall. Bede Strawbridge then came rushing out of a store doorway, throwing punches at Traversi’s head, but the sheriff stopped him dead in his tracks with a powerful right that landed flush on Bede’s jaw. The big man merely shook his head and came back swinging. Traversi hit him twice more on the side of the jaw, but Bede retaliated with a blow over the heart. Red Traversi went reeling back. By then Bo had come off the wall, wiping blood from his chin. Traversi glanced back and saw his hired guns bunched, none of them coming in for a share of this fight.
He took a sudden step to the boardwalk’s edge and when Bo came at him, pulled his gun clear and brought it crashing down on the side of his big head. Bo’s feet went out from under him. Bede lunged in past his brother’s falling body but Traversi flung his gun-loaded fist up and caught him in the middle of the face. Bone cracked.
Bede went down on top of Bo. Traversi then kicked both of them in the ribs, and stepping back, wiped the sweat from his face with a bandanna.
“Drag these scum back into the jailhouse,” he said. “One of you go fetch Eggert and somebody find Weedon for me. By hell, this town is gonna know what’s what!”
Traversi gave the moaning Bo Strawbridge a kick in the neck for good measure before he turned and strode down the boardwalk. He was pacing his office, the cell doors open, when the gun hands came in. Traversi watched them dump the unconscious brothers in the two cells, then he sat on the edge of his desk, black eyes fixed on the door.
Judge Joe Alroe Eggert came in first, tugging at his black coat ends. Traversi barked, “Well, what y
ou been up to while I was eatin’ damn ridge dust, Judge?”
Eggert stopped short of Traversi and scowled. “Seems you’re in a bad mood, Red. Figure to lose some heat bawlin’ me out?”
Traversi’s lips curled back. “Been settin’ in the saloon by the stink of you, Judge.”
The judge nodded. “Yeah, I been doing that. Does that bother you, Red?” He dragged a fat cigar from his vest pocket, “Didn’t find them, eh?”
“Nope. Got wind of Cherry at one stage, but he wriggled away, damn snivellin’ little sneak.”
“No sign of the others?”
Traversi shook his head. He was rapidly composing himself. “Only their tracks, heading for the creek country. Cherry was aimed further south, in the direction of Eagle Rock, but we lost his tracks in the desert. Spent a whole damn day lookin’ out there and got nothin’ but windburn. So we come back.”
Eggert bit off the end of his cigar and thumbed a match alight. “Is that the end of it for you, Red?”
Their stares locked across the empty room. Then Eggert smiled. “You failed, Red. That’s too bad. I don’t like a man who fails.”
Cold anger burned from Traversi’s eyes. But he kept his temper in check. “Nobody failed. We didn’t have an owl’s chance out there. We should have got them here in town. You were in that ruckus at Marie’s place. How come you didn’t do so well?”
“I didn’t figure Cherry had the guts he showed. That’s a mistake we both made, Red. We didn’t check out Dane Cherry well enough. We underestimated him just as we did that drifter, Durant. What we should have done was hang Durant when we had the chance. Then maybe Edey would still be alive along with that woman of yours.”
“And that was my fault, Judge?” Red Traversi barked.
“You run this jailhouse, Red. They took him from here, and it was here that Edey took his Boot Hill steps. So let’s have you simmer down some, eh, and get this wrangle sorted out.”
The Loner 6 Page 7
