“Had it made and dyed for this kind of situation.”
“I meant, why are you leaving your pistols? You’ll be defenseless. Please don’t do this, whatever you have in mind.”
“If I don’t make it back, you can have Night Cloud and all my other possessions,” he murmured with a roguish grin.
“Don’t joke about something so serious and dangerous.”
“Then kiss me for certain good luck.” He bent over, grasped her face between his hands, and took one before she could respond.
Beth watched him sneak between trees and bushes as he made his way closer and closer to the temporary campsite. Even at her distance, she heard Bruto when the dog began barking. Her heart felt as if it were about to jump into her throat and leap from her body when she saw the vicious creature take off in Navarro’s direction. He went toward a ravine and was out of sight. Minutes moved by like hours as she tensed forward to hear her love being attacked.
Her fear heightened when the animal’s master began yelling for him and walking toward the place she had last glimpsed her partner. Bruto raced into sight, joined his owner, and they returned to the wagons. Within ten minutes, the long line started to depart.
Beth used his fieldglasses to study the area where the agent had vanished: nothing. “Where are you, Navarro?”
“Right here.”
Beth almost screamed when he startled her from behind. She whirled and stared at the grinning man who was sitting Indian-style on the ground.
“Bruto won’t be a threat by tomorrow morning.”
“How do you know?”
“I fed him poisoned meat.”
She asked in amazement, “Where did you get poison out here?”
“Stole it from the ranch. Big John had some to use on rats and such.”
“That vicious beast ate from your hand without biting it first?”
“Nope. I tossed it in his path as he came my way. He stopped dead and gobbled it up. Real sweet-tasting stuff, I hear. Were you on full alert?”
“Yes, why?”
“That proves my point; I can sneak up on somebody without being seen or heard, so now you know you don’t have to worry about me next time I take off like that.”
Beth had no choice except to agree about his skills, but she knew worries would still plague her each time. “As Dan said, you’re the best.”
“Thanks, woman. Let’s get on their tails again.”
They mounted and returned to shadowing their target.
Mesas and buttes appeared. The countryside made a slow change into drier, scrubbier, and harsher topography. The mountains ahead loomed closer. Green amaranth, future tumbleweeds, became a common sight. Cactus and ocotilla increased in number. Where there wasn’t a water source, as there had been many so far, windmills supplied the life-sustaining liquid needed by stock, but none was pastured today in this region. Hills began to ascend gradually.
They reached the Chalk Mountains on their left. The inclines and declines became even steeper. Rocks of all sizes were abundant. They rode through passes with craggy peaks. Gorges and ravines knifed the terrain on both sides. They crossed flash-flood sections in current dry washes. Dense clusters of ocotilla formed near forests and caused detours around them.
At dusk, Charles and his men halted to camp in a low area of the rugged wilderness. Navarro and Beth did the same but at a higher elevation for easy observation and safety. He left the horses in a canyon where there was grass and a seep, as he knew Night Cloud would guard Sunshine.
In serious tones, he instructed Beth, “You’ll have to eat your supper without heating it; no fire, no coffee.”
“Water’s fine, and the weather kept Jessica’s gifts warm.” As she unpacked the meal and gathered their canteens, Navarro watched the men.
“I guess Bruto isn’t feeling too good about now; I don’t see him.”
“He was mean and dangerous, but I hated for you to poison him.”
“Didn’t sit well with me, either, but I had no choice.”
They ate in silence as Navarro continued his task. Finally he said, “I’m going to get a little closer while I have something to use for concealment. See what I can learn. Charles and Tiller have their camp off from the others, so maybe they’ll do some talking. I should reach them about the time they finish their meal and start settling in.”
“There’s no moon tonight. How will you see to move around? What about snakes and tripping on jagged rocks? It’s too risky.”
“I’ll be fine; I promise. I’m skilled and experienced in these things. If I’m not back by morning, you head for Fort Davis and contact Dan. You know the code. I have to do this, Beth; it’s my job; it’s important. A lot of lives depend on us succeeding. I’m not going to abandon you here. Get some rest and sleep. I won’t let any of them head up this way without stopping them.” He watched her give a reluctant nod.
Beth didn’t argue when he took his precautions this time and left her sitting alone, to wait and worry again until his return. She knew if he was caught, they would kill him. Yet, she couldn’t be foolish and disobey—or see in total darkness without any moonlight. She stayed on constant alert to make sure he didn’t sneak up on her a second time as a test. She reasoned that if he could do it, so could an enemy.
Navarro headed toward the location which Charles and Jim Tiller were approaching. He pressed himself against a boulder and listened.
“We’re on our way to riches, Charlie. Sure was cunning how you got Diaz to order rifles and a Gatling gun, then changed the numbers on those papers and got Ben to pay the balance for our scheme.”
“Yep, old friend, one Gatling gun was easy to change to a four and one thousand rifles to four thousand.”
“That’s ‘cause you made him write his order in English so you could mark over his numbers without trouble. Hell, Charlie, you made him a deal he couldn’t refuse.”
“I had to give him a cheap weapons and delivery price so he’d take my bait and cover us with the law. I think they got on to us after that trouble Blue and the boys had last time. That mess scared some of them; they don’t like to challenge those government agents.”
“Wouldn’t have been no trouble if Grady hadn’t panicked and fired on ‘em. I had a gut itch we shouldna hired him.”
“Well, it’s too late to change what happened, but nothing came of it. I offered the boys high wages for this trip, so I insisted Diaz settle up with gold coins and he agreed. That’s enough to pay the boys real good. We don’t need to make a profit off Diaz, not with what we’re getting from that Indian and not having to repay Ben. We send old Diaz his two wagonloads and continue on with our secret haul. After the boys make the exchange, they’ll rejoin us near the Carmen River, and old Diaz won’t know he’s been used. He’s happy; the boys are happy, and nobody’s the wiser. Even the law’s fooled. Nice of that agent they stuck up our noses to get himself killed. His friend didn’t know we saw him spying and knew he’d report that fall as an accident; our hands were as clean as a baby’s after a bath. If they did any more investigating, we came out just as clean. Thanks to old Presidente’s signed papers, everything looks legal and innocent.”
“Nobody’s spied or trailed us since that agent got tossed off the case. We’re safe and we’re gonna stay safe; these fools will guard us with their lives for their hefty shares of those gold coins. All they want is lots of money, so they’ll do their jobs and they won’t turn on us. They all agreed: any man dies, they split his share; any man tries to rob us and escape, they hunt him down and kill him real slow and painful and take his share. We don’t have to worry about that deal tempting ‘em to kill off each other, least not before their job’s finished. They know they might need all gun hands if we have trouble with bandits or soldiers or Injuns either side of the border.”
“We’ll have our share as soon as we reach Morenci.”
“Smart of you to set up the exchange there so we can check out that Injun’s offer before we turn over such a big load to him.”
“You think he told Blue the truth?”
“Yep, I do, Jim, my friend. Those messages he left for us are real sweet. We’re lucky he ain’t got killed or captured before we could get our load made and delivered. He knows we’re on our way, so he’s being extra careful to stay safe and alive and on the loose. Ben’s supplying his band with food and stuff so they won’t have to risk raiding. If he can keep his braves under control while they twiddle their thumbs, we’ll be rich.”
“It’s a good thing old Geronimo ain’t in on this deal; I doubt we could fool that sly fox into paying such a price. Think he’ll give us trouble?”
“I doubt it; he’s doing his own romping around. He’s taking the attention off us. While the soldiers are scouting and chasing him, we’ll be supplying the chief who’ll make Geronimo look like a tamed wolf. We’ll head on to our planned crossing point. If there’s trouble in the area, we’ll change it.”
“What if there is trouble at the border? Soldiers patrolling it.”
“We’ll talk our way out of any complication there. We’ll pretend we decided not to deal with Diaz, say he was planning to use the weapons against peasants accused of being rebels, say we didn’t want to get involved in killings of innocent people. I’ll tell them we’re heading for Fort Apache to make a deal with the Army for battling those renegades we read about in the newspapers. Later, we’ll claim we were attacked by Geronimo’s band, robbed, and barely escaped with our scalps.”
“You sure that Injun will keep his word?”
“Yep. He wants what I have real bad, and what he has means nothing to him, not confined to no reservation.”
“What about Ben? Still planning to put him in a pine box?”
“As soon as he’s served his purpose, you arrange a convincing accident for him. We needed his money to finance this deal and keep those Indians supplied and out of mischief. His part’s about over. Before he’s gone, I want you to make sure he doesn’t have any clues lying around to point at us.”
“You amaze me all the time, Charlie; you must have the smartest brain in the country. You think your brother’s smart, too? Think he suspects anything?”
“No, Matt’s too trusting; he believed what I told him. If he’d been home where he belonged and hadn’t run off like a coward after that whore scorned him, those bastards wouldn’t have gotten to me. He shoulda been there to protect me or kill those sons-of-bitches. You saved my life, Jim, and I’ll never forget it was you who did it. I would have bled to death if you hadn’t come along. Not many men would have tended that kind of injury. Ruined my life. Can’t ever have kids or even bed a woman again. It’s hell when the wants attack you and you can’t do anything about them. I’m glad you killed those Yankee bastards. They had no right to do that to a young boy; hell, I weren’t but sixteen.”
“Why’d you give that traitor money to buy more cattie?”
“To keep him duped and quiet, put him off guard.” “Why didn’t you let him be destroyed? He earned it for deserting you and your family. They’d be alive and you’d be whole if he’d been there. It was best I didn’t get around him or I mighta put my knife in his chest.”
“I know; that’s why I told you to stay clear until we left. Soon as we get rid of this load and claim our reward, we’ll have everything we want. I may even find a way to get that redhead for my wife. Even if I can’t hump, I’ll need the perfect female for show.”
“You really liked her, didn’t you?” “She’s just what I need for my new status.” “Matt’s wife is a real prize, too, from what I saw.” “As soon as I finish off my brother, you can have that vain twit. When you’re done with her, I’ll take the kids as mine. They favor Uncle Charlie as much as Papa Matt. Raise ‘em as mine and nobody will be the wiser. Or maybe I won’t take those irritating brats. Maybe I’ll let you father a child for me with the redhead; it’d be more like mine than his would. We’ll think on that possibility, old friend. Beth Breed Cordell…”
Navarro was furious at hearing those dark plots against his loved ones. It told him how crazy and evil Charles was, and how doubly dangerous. He listened a while longer, but the two men were talking about nothing of interest to him as they turned in for the night. He sneaked away to rejoin his woman and to protect her from harm.
Navarro had memorized the return path, so he traversed it without a problem. He used keen wits, deft hands, and agile feet as his eyes. His partner’s breathing told him she was still awake, and a change in it revealed she had detected an arrival. “It’s me, love,” he whispered to prevent startling her again.
“I’m over here. I have your bedroll ready.”
He inched his way to her and lay down on the roll she had spread next to hers. When she pried him with questions, he told her to go to sleep and he’d tell her everything tomorrow during their ride.
Through fieldglasses at dawn, Navarro’s gaze followed the moving man who held his dead dog wrapped in a blanket. It appeared Bruto’s master was taking his pet’s body into the hills to bury it, hills opposite and south of their location. The agent looked at Beth who was sleeping peacefully and knew she was safe where she was. He prepared himself and went to intercept and slay one of Charles’s men.
Navarro reached the site just as the stranger finished his task. He couldn’t understand why the man carried the dog atop a high rise to bury it. He sneaked up and clubbed him on the temple with a rock, then shoved his body over a cliff. With haste, he concealed his actions and set up false clues. He finished in the nick of time to elude the two men who arrived.
“Evan! Where the hell are you? Evan! We’re ready to pull out. Leave that stupid dog be and git your ass back to camp. Evan!”
“There he is, Blue, down there.”
“Well, shit in my face if the fool ain’t done got hisself kilt.”
“You think he jumped or was pushed?”
Blue studied the ground and said, “See those loose rocks and skids? He got too close and tumbled over. No other tracks. Dumb bastard. Been crazy since that mean dog took sick yesterday. Never seed him act loco.”
“Think he’s dead? How we gonna git him outta that gorge?”
“We ain’t. Don’t matter if he’s still alive; he’d be all busted up. You know the rules: you git hurt, you git left behind. Grab his horse. Let’s go.”
Navarro stayed hidden until the men were back in camp and distracted by departure chores before he sneaked to Beth’s side. He thought about how cold-hearted Charles’s hirelings were. It astonished him to learn how different the Cordell brothers were from each other. He reasoned it would hurt Matt bad if he learned the truth.
Beth looked at Navarro as he entered their camp. “Where have you been? Did you creep down there again this morning?”
“Nope. Evan left camp and I got him. Made it appear an accident.”
Beth stared at him. “How do you know it was Evan?”
“Blue told me.”
“You’re confusing me even more or I’m not wide awake yet. I thought we were going to hang back until the border.”
“I changed my mind. Or you could say, they changed it for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I figured, if Charles and his friend were going to do any boasting or plan changing, they’d do it first chance they had real privacy away from the ranch; that was last night, and I was right.”
“Darn it, Navarro Breed! Do I have to drag every scrap of information out of you a crumb at a time? What happened?”
“Sorry, Beth, my mind drifted.”
“It’s no wonder; you’ve gotten little rest and sleep.”
“I’ve gone on a lot less of both when I had to. My mind was sorting what I heard. They’re pulling out in a few minutes. We’ll talk first, then catch up. At least we have a few clues
to go on now.”
Beth listened intently as Navarro related what he’d done, what he’d learned yesterday and this morning, and what his conclusions were.
“That deal with Diaz gives him a sly cover I hadn’t expected. And his claim about heading for Fort Apache might sound logical to a judge and jury if we moved against him too soon; at least, give ‘em too much doubt to convict him. Charles can be clever and a smooth talker; look how he’s tricked and duped his own brother. We don’t want him turning on a persuasive innocent act we can’t destroy with solid evidence.”
Beth nodded agreement but didn’t interrupt.
“We have to learn who this Ben is before Tiller gets rid of him; he could’ve recorded facts we’ll need as proof. He’s somewhere near Morenci, Arizona, and he’s rich; that’s a copper district, so he may be a mine owner. When it’s safe to send Dan a message, I’ll get him to assign an agent to nose around there. I also want to let the Agency know Geronimo isn’t involved so our men won’t be chasing the wrong shadow. If Dan gets hold of the list of Indians on San Carlos Reservation and who’s escaped, we can use it to come up with possible suspects. At least, Charles thinks he’s safe with Jake gone; that was smart of the Agency not to put another one of our men in his gang or on his tail. For now, he’s lulled and cocky.”
“That other trouble he mentioned concerning Blue and Grady, do you think it was about Papa and Steven?”
“Could be. He had on gloves so I couldn’t see if he had X’s on his hands. After I get him, I’ll check for you.”
“I want to help, not sit in camp every time you challenge them.”
“You can help soon, I promise. I’m skilled at what I’m doing at this point; you aren’t.”
“I never will be if you don’t take me along and teach me.”
“I can’t let you get that close until I train you to be as quiet as a shadow and as invisible as air. There’s no time for learning and practicing here. Before we cross the border, I can’t watch after you, do what I must, and cover both our tracks. If you tagged along, you’d endanger our mission and our lives. After the dog, Evan, and Blue are gone, they’ll be wary and on alert for a while. That’s when we hang back, rest, and I train you. His load to Diaz will head straight for Chihuahua. We’ll have to be extra careful those men don’t ride up on us when they head to join up with Charles again. Our easiest and safest terrain is west of them, and that’ll put us right in those boys’ path to the Carmen. Charles is crazy, but he isn’t a fool. I’d bet my best boots he had campsites scouted for available water and grass and ready defense. He probably knows just when and where to watch for trouble.”
Chase The Wind Page 38
