Wanted McBain

by I. J. Parnham

  Outside, Nat heard the shouting and the crashing from inside the post as the fight gathered momentum, but he gritted his teeth against the noise and shuffled away. With a last look at the post, he mounted his horse.

  Spenser mounted his own steed. Without a backward glance, they rode to the trail and then veered off to the hills, heading for their encampment.

  Even over the clod of his horse’s hoofs and with the distance growing, Nat reckoned he could hear the thud of fist on flesh, and when he closed his eyes, he reckoned he could see Cassidy’s gaze piercing into him.

  ‘Faster,’ Spenser said.

  ‘I’m not,’ Nat said. ‘I’m not proud of running.’

  ‘You’re not a lawman now.’ Spenser shrugged and lowered his voice. ‘If Cassidy is as good as you say he is, he’ll be fine. Either way, Luther won’t kill him.’

  Nat swirled round in the saddle to face Spenser.

  ‘How can you know that?’

  ‘This close to the raid it might cause too many problems. Unless Cassidy’s stupid enough to say that he’s a lawman, Luther will just rough him up and run him off. Now, hurry up.’

  Nat nodded. Then he hurried his horse to a gallop and sped past Spenser.

  Chapter Nine

  There were just too many of them.

  Every time Cassidy fought to his feet, another man bundled into him and knocked him down again. It’d been long minutes since he’d lost his gun and even longer since he’d last seen Hearst, but he guessed his deputy was faring as badly as he was.

  Cassidy threw yet another wild punch at the man before him, but even though he slugged his opponent to the floor, firm arms wrapped around his chest from behind.

  Cassidy flexed his back and settled his feet into a firm stance. Then he tried to hurl the man over his shoulder, but he couldn’t buck his assailant and instead, the man pulled him upright.

  When Cassidy looked up, he faced a row of six men, all of whom glared at him with their eyes bright and their fists raised.

  Behind them, two men had thrust both of Hearst’s arms up his back and were holding him upright. Hearst was disheveled and fierce determination burned in his eyes, but the men holding him were gripping him firmly.

  ‘You’ve got us wrong,’ Cassidy said, raising his arms at the elbows. ‘We weren’t looking for trouble.’

  One man raised his fist, ready to pummel Cassidy’s exposed stomach, but Luther pushed him aside and swaggered to the front of the row of men.

  ‘You were looking for someone,’ he said. ‘I don’t like that.’

  ‘We weren’t looking for anybody. We just wanted provisions.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. So, tell me. Who are you? Bounty hunters?’ Luther spat on the floor. ‘Lawmen?’

  ‘Nothing like that.’

  Talbot Malloy, a squat and swarthy man, walked up to Luther. He drew him aside and whispered in his ear.

  Luther shook his head and pushed Talbot away.

  ‘We can’t take the chance,’ he grunted.

  ‘You know who gives the orders,’ Talbot said. He rolled his shoulders and advanced on Luther.

  ‘If Fe . . . he were here, he’d say the same as me.’ Luther swung round to face Cassidy and pointed a firm finger at him. ‘You men picked the wrong place to buy your provisions.’

  ‘You can’t mean to kill us?’ Hearst said. He struggled against the men holding him, but they’d clasped his arms in a firm grip.

  Luther licked his lips, nodding.

  ‘That’ll attract attention, if someone realizes they’re missing,’ Talbot said.

  Luther shrugged. ‘Then don’t kill them here, and bury them somewhere where nobody will ever find them.’

  Talbot nodded and directed the men holding Cassidy and Hearst to head for the door.

  Cassidy dug his heels in, so Talbot joined the man holding him and his sharp shove wheeled Cassidy forward. Then the two men’s solid grip dragged him over the floor.

  Cassidy kicked back, trying to gain purchase on the smooth floor, but the men holding him pushed him towards the door.

  So Cassidy went limp, forcing the men who were holding him to use all their efforts to move him. On their third step, Cassidy stamped his feet to the floor and with his stance firm, hurled his arms out.

  His sudden action surprised one of the men and the grip on his right arm lessened as the man fell away. With this encouragement, Cassidy thrust his shoulders down, Talbot’s grip being so strong that he lifted Talbot’s feet from the floor and hurled him over his shoulder.

  Cassidy let Talbot’s momentum drag them both down and the two men tumbled to the floor, entangled. As Talbot floundered, Cassidy lunged for Talbot’s holster.

  Even as his fingers brushed the gun stock, Luther leapt at him and kicked his hand away. Within moments, two more men leapt on him, his chance disappearing even as it came.

  Cassidy squirmed, but strong hands held him down. From under the tangle of bodies, he peered up at Luther.

  ‘We’re just two passers-by,’ he said. ‘Let us go and you’ll never see us again.’

  Luther snorted. ‘Don’t worry. Nobody will ever see you again. Now, take them outside and no more of this—’

  ‘Wait!’ a voice ordered from the doorway.

  Cassidy looked to the door to see Sheriff Ballard stride into the post and aim his Peacemaker at Luther’s back.

  Luther turned on his heel and glared at Ballard. Then he softened his expression and held his hands wide apart.

  ‘Sheriff Ballard, we don’t often see you around these parts,’ he said.

  ‘You don’t,’ Ballard snapped, pacing into the center of the post. ‘But when I’ve got trouble to stop, I go anywhere.’

  Luther raised his hands, a smile on his face.

  ‘But we haven’t done nothing wrong.’

  Ballard gestured with his gun towards Hearst and then to the heap of men holding Cassidy down.

  ‘Why are you holding these two men?’

  Luther glanced at Cassidy and Hearst and flinched, almost as if he was noticing their plight for the first time.

  ‘That was just a misunderstanding and we were dealing with it.’

  Luther clicked his fingers and the men holding Cassidy peeled off him, one by one. Then the men holding Hearst pushed him forward.

  ‘That so?’ Ballard said, looking at Cassidy.

  ‘Yeah,’ Cassidy said, straightening his ruffled jacket. ‘We just had ourselves a misunderstanding.’

  Ballard nodded. ‘Then I’ll escort you two away, if that’s all right with you, Luther?’

  Luther nodded. ‘Yeah. That sounds like justice to me.’

  Ballard stood aside and pointed to the door.

  As Cassidy and Hearst collected their guns, Luther and Talbot flanked the doorway, their arms folded and their gazes lively, but when Cassidy and Hearst slipped outside, they averted their eyes from them.

  Ballard followed them. Without further word, the three men paced to their horses and mounted them. Then they headed to the Bear Creek trail.

  ‘Keep a calm pace,’ Ballard said, looking straight ahead.

  For 200 yards, they rode at a steady pace, but the desire to look back continued to pester Cassidy. So, when they reached the trail, he glanced over his shoulder.

  Outside the trading post, three men were mounting their horses.

  ‘We have to speed up now,’ Cassidy said. ‘They’re coming.’

  ‘They won’t.’ Ballard snorted. ‘For once in your miserable existence, believe me.’

  Cassidy rode on, expecting to hear approaching hoofbeats pounding after them, but the faint noises he heard were far away, and receding.

  With Ballard not initiating conversation, Cassidy and Hearst remained silent, but Cassidy glanced at the low hills, still expecting Luther to mount a raid.

  After twenty minutes of steady riding, they reached the junction of the eastward trail and the trail to Bear Creek with still no pursuit starting.

  ‘This
is where we part company,’ Ballard said, pulling his horse to a halt but still peering down the trail towards Bear Creek.

  Cassidy glanced east. ‘You expect us to head back to Monotony?’

  Ballard whistled a steady breath through his nostrils, his hands clenching the reins in a knuckle-whitening grip.

  ‘Yesterday, I asked you to leave. Today, I’m ordering you to go back to Morbid.’

  ‘Monotony,’ Cassidy said and then raised his voice. ‘You can’t order us to leave now. I saw Nathaniel, but he escaped when those men jumped us.’

  ‘I’m already regretting saving your lives.’ Ballard whirled round in the saddle to glare at Cassidy, his eyes blazing.

  Cassidy raised his hands. ‘I’m obliged to you for saving us, but I don’t understand—’

  ‘That’s your problem,’ Ballard roared, spit flying from his mouth. ‘You don’t understand. You’re a man who sees nothing wrong in riding into another lawman’s territory and running that lawman’s investigations for him. Even when you foul up everything you touch, you’re not concerned.’

  ‘We got into some trouble, but I was getting close to Nathaniel, and he won’t have gone far. I know him and his habits.’

  Ballard turned his horse to face Cassidy and leaned forward in the saddle. He appraised Cassidy and then shook his head, the anger gone from his eyes to leave just tiredness.

  ‘I don’t care about that low-life when I was getting close to Rodrigo Fernandez.’

  ‘If you’re close to him, I’ll do whatever I can to help.’

  ‘I’ve had enough of your help . It took me six months to find the right man to give me information about Fernandez. It took me three months to set up the right place to catch him. It took me a month to create a situation where I could catch him.’

  Cassidy winced. ‘You’re talking about Dewey Wade and the trading post?’

  ‘Sure. I let the petty outlaws who congregated at that trading post know the times I’d visit so that it’d be a safe place for the likes of Fernandez. Sure enough, Fernandez has used that post as one of his meeting places.’ Ballard sighed. ‘Want to guess who was going to be there tonight?’

  Cassidy glanced away from Ballard’s firm gaze to look at Hearst, who returned a wince.

  ‘Rodrigo Fernandez,’ he said.

  ‘Perhaps you’re not as stupid as you look.’ Ballard gestured at the surrounding hills. ‘I’ve got ten deputies hidden along every trail waiting for Fernandez to show. In case he broke through that cordon, I’ve got a backup posse in Bear Creek. Now, Fernandez won’t come tonight, or ever, and I have to start all over again.’ Ballard slapped his thigh and swirled round to look straight ahead. ‘You just ensured that Fernandez escapes justice for a whole lot longer. You proud of that?’

  For long moments Cassidy didn’t reply, but when Ballard turned to look at him with his eyebrows raised, he shook his head.

  ‘I’m not, but I just didn’t know.’

  ‘That sums up your life.’ Ballard raised the reins. ‘Now, leave before I find a crime to charge you with.’

  Cassidy took a deep breath. ‘Sheriff Ballard, I was wrong. If it helps, I’m sorry.’

  Ballard shook the reins, hurrying his horse on ahead to leave Cassidy and Hearst alone on the trail.

  ‘It doesn’t,’ he said.

  * * *

  In silence, Cassidy and Hearst rode down the trail away from Bear Creek, neither man daring to look at the other.

  Ahead, the trail stretched on. It was a good day to the county border, but by sundown, they’d traveled only ten miles.

  ‘You want to keep going?’ Hearst said. ‘Moon’s up in an hour.’

  ‘No. We make camp here.’

  Cassidy drew his horse from the trail and headed for a tangle of boulders that would afford them shelter from the low breeze whipping across the plains.

  ‘And tomorrow, we head back to Monotony?’

  Cassidy dismounted. He considered the trail towards Bear Creek and then looked up at Hearst.

  ‘I’ve got no choice. Ballard was right. I did everything wrong back there. My determination to get Nathaniel ruined his investigation. I can’t act in his territory any longer.’

  Hearst dismounted. ‘That doesn’t sound like you talking.’

  Cassidy busied himself with his horse’s rigging, but then broke off to turn to Hearst.

  ‘So what do you reckon we should do?’

  ‘I hate leaving when a lawman reckons I’m a fool. So, we should head back to Bear Creek and put things right by capturing Rodrigo Fernandez ourselves and earning Ballard’s respect.’

  Cassidy searched Hearst’s eyes, but his deputy fixed him with a firm gaze.

  ‘I appreciate the idea, but we can’t put things right with Ballard, other than staying out of his way.’

  ‘I never thought you’d give up,’ Hearst said, tipping back his hat. ‘But it seems we are leaving.’

  ‘Eventually, we are, but we still have Nathaniel to capture. When we’ve done that, we’ll leave.’

  Hearst frowned. ‘You’re getting even more confusing, Cassidy. I thought you said we weren’t investigating in Ballard’s territory any longer.’

  ‘We’re not.’

  ‘Now, don’t say that a good deputy should know what you mean, because I don’t understand you right now.’ Hearst slapped his thigh. ‘How do we capture Nathaniel if we’re not investigating?’

  For the first time since they had left Ballard, Cassidy let a smile emerge.

  ‘We don’t.’

  Hearst sighed. ‘Cassidy, you’re getting stranger.’

  Chapter Ten

  By the edge of a sprawl of spidery cottonwood trees that protected him from casual interest, Nat paced back and forth.

  He avoided looking at his horse, which he’d tethered under an overhanging rock, fifty yards back, knowing that he needed all his control to avoid jumping on his steed and galloping back to the trading post.

  The wiser part of him knew that he couldn’t do that now – not after running when he had a chance to act.

  Then he saw the rider approaching from across the plains. Nat edged back into the trees, but then recognized the man as Spenser and hailed him.

  ‘What happened?’ he called.

  In a cloud of dust, Spenser drew his horse to a halt and dismounted.

  ‘Sheriff Ballard rode into the post and saved Cassidy,’ he said. ‘Fernandez won’t show now.’

  Nat frowned. ‘Anyone reckon we did anything wrong?’

  ‘Luther reckons Cassidy was after us, and that we’re more trouble than we’re worth, but I reckon we’re still in Fernandez’s set-up. Hopefully, that means Cassidy won’t try to get you again.’

  Nat sighed. ‘Wrong. Cassidy won’t avoid trouble, and I won’t do anything to get a friend killed – even an ex-friend.’ Nat headed into the cottonwood trees. ‘That means I have no choice.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Spenser said, but when Nat thrust his head down and continued pacing, he hurried after him. ‘I said – what do you mean?’

  Twenty yards from his horse, Nat stopped.

  ‘I’m giving myself up. Cassidy knows how to get to me. He knew that putting himself in danger was the best way of making me turn myself in.’

  Spenser stared at Nat, an incredulous smile on his lips, but when Nat returned his stare, he threw his hands high.

  ‘You can’t be saying that he deliberately tried to get himself killed to shame you into giving yourself up.’

  ‘I’m not. Cassidy didn’t know Luther would attack him, but he knew I’d know he was in danger.’

  ‘You really are serious about this, but what about your promises to me?’ Spenser said.

  Nat moved on and unwound his horse’s reins from the tree.

  ‘You’ll be fine. The plan probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. Just sell the information you have to Isaac or to Sheriff Ballard.’ Nat mounted his horse. ‘That’ll be enough for a good return without putting yourself in dan
ger.’

  ‘I’m not interested. We had a deal.’

  ‘We did.’ Nat bunched the reins in his fist. ‘My promises to Cassidy are older.’

  Spenser sighed and kicked the earth. ‘Nothing I can say will stop you acting like a damn fool, but what about you? You’re walking into a jail sentence when you could walk into being a rich man.’

  ‘I’ll get five years, maybe seven.’ Nat swung his horse round to face the trail. ‘That’s a whole lot better than being rich and getting Cassidy killed.’

  * * *

  ‘I’ve got to hand it to you, Cassidy,’ Hearst said. He locked his hands together and sat back against the boulder behind him. ‘With every passing hour, you get stranger. I thought we’d head back to Monotony at sun-up, but that was two hours ago, and we’re still sitting by the camp-fire.’

  ‘I told you – I’m not returning without Nathaniel,’ Cassidy said, tossing a spare twig on to their camp-fire.

  ‘I know, but as far as I can tell, your method of finding him is to sit here and wait for him to ride into our camp.’

  Cassidy firmed his jaw and wafted a hand through the flames.

  ‘He will.’

  Hearst shrugged and leaned forward. ‘That’s because you shamed him, or . . . or something?’

  ‘Or something.’

  ‘All right. I accept you don’t want to talk about it.’ Hearst licked his lips and shuffled on to his haunches. ‘As you’re a betting man, do you want to bet on this?’

  ‘This is no betting matter,’ Cassidy snapped, swirling round to glare at Hearst. Then he peered through the fire at the plains beyond and snorted. ‘Perhaps I should lighten up. So, if Nathaniel rides into our camp, you’ll stand me a night’s drinks.’

  ‘Deal,’ Hearst said, smiling.

  ‘And if he rides into camp within a time of my choosing, you’ll stand me a week’s drinks.’

  Hearst grinned. ‘Even better – what’s your time limit?’

  Cassidy rocked his head from side to side. ‘Within the next two minutes.’

  ‘Two . . .’ Hearst swirled round to peer in the direction Cassidy was looking.

  From across the plains, a man was riding towards them, his gait slow.