The Floating Outfit 11

by J. T. Edson

  ‘A couple here, a couple there, you know how it is,’ Red replied.

  ‘Can’t say I do, being a gal myself.’

  ‘Never meant it afore though,’ drawled Red.

  Something of a blush came to Sue’s cheeks and to hide her confusion she turned towards Louise and said, ‘It’s all right for you. I got tossed in the hoss trough.’

  Louise read the challenge and did not hesitate for a moment. Being in a new land she knew a new standard of values lay on things. Sue’s dare lay cast before her like a thrown-down gauntlet and Louise knew she must take it up. Without a word she flopped back into the water, going right under then emerged with a cool and dignified look on her face.

  ‘There now,’ she said. ‘Satisfied?’

  The challenge had been taken up, met and topped by Louise’s cool and calm action. Sue threw back her head, laughter pealing out, delight glowing in her eyes. Red watched the girl and knew she and no other meant everything in the world to him. His own laugh rang in then and Louise started. Terry watched them for a moment, then he too was laughing.

  ‘Let’s go down to our place, Louise,’ Sue gasped at the end, wiping tears from her eyes. ‘Wowee! Laughing’s sure hard on the face. You pack a mean right hand, gal. I’ll be eating mush for a week. I’ve got some dry clothes that should ought to fit us both.’

  The girls walked away side by side and the two young men followed. Red managed to tear his eyes from Sue for long enough to ask a question which had puzzled him ever since he met the distaff side of the Ortega family.

  ‘How come you talk northern and Sue sounds like she was born in Dixie?’

  ‘Reckon I got it from mother and she caught her accent from dad,’ Terry replied. ‘I reckon at times Sue should have been a boy.’

  ‘Which same’s one thing we don’t agree on.’

  Terry looked at Red for a moment and a grin came to his face. ‘The first thing I know you’ll be sparking my lil sister.’

  ‘Likely. My pappy always told me never to go sparking a gal unless you know she can cook.’

  ‘Well, she can and real good.’

  By this Red got the idea his sparking would not be unwelcome. They made for the Ortega house where the girls went upstairs to change into dry clothes. From the sounds of giggling and chatter which accompanied the changing Miss Raines and Miss Ortega held no grudge about their recent fight.

  Red sat down, his face was more serious as he looked Terry over. ‘We’d best see Cousin Dusty and let him make what he can out of the tries at killing Colonel Raines and blaming you for it.’

  ‘Cousin Dusty?’

  ‘Sure, he’s with the train. I never mentioned it,’ Red drawled and seeing Terry still did not understand went on, ‘Dusty Fog.’

  ‘Is he your cousin?’ asked Terry.

  ‘Has been ever since I was a button.’

  Red was still talking about his illustrious cousin when the girls came downstairs. They wore dry clothes, Louise felt just a trifle self-conscious in a pair of Sue’s jeans and Terry’s admiring glance brought a blush to her cheeks which did not go with her puffy and discolored left eye. Both she and Sue were well on the way to showing a beautiful black eye. It was the only visible sign of their fight although both carried bruises on their bodies.

  ‘Let’s go along to Uncle Eddy’s place,’ Sue suggested. ‘The boys’ll likely be there and I want to raise lumps on the head of a certain pie-stealing heller. Sure I know Duke took it and he’ll likely be at breakfast now. Anyways it’ll save us ladies cooking.’

  ‘Never saw a couple of ladies acting like you pair down at the corral,’ Red put in. ‘Nor sporting eyes like those, neither.’

  Sue’s reply came in a pungent and hide-searing blast of rangeland profanity which somehow sounded natural and not in the least disgusting from her lips. She offered Red her arm in a parody of the polite manner her mother tried to teach her.

  ‘You may escort me to the Arizona State saloon, noble sir,’ she said.

  Louise smiled. No longer was she surprised or shocked at anything Sue said or did. Then Louise held out her arm and allowed Terry to take it. The scene had an element of humor to Louise, more so when she saw herself reflected in a window.

  It seemed strange that she should be walking down the street on a young gentleman’s arm whilst dressed in a pair of jeans. She almost giggled but held it down for she saw how the giggle might sound and wanted nothing to spoil her friendship with the Ortega family, most especially with Terry.

  Sue almost reached a table in the empty saloon when she stopped and pointed to the floor, looking at Eddy Last who stood behind the bar.

  ‘What happened, Uncle Eddy?’ she asked.

  Louise looked down, seeing the patch of stained sawdust, a dull rusty colored stain which she recognized.

  ‘Fernandez,’ Last replied.

  ‘Fernandez!’ barked Terry. ‘Who did he kill?’

  ‘He didn’t. Got to riding Biscuits, trying to start a fight. Then Dusty Fog cut in and when the smoke cleared ole Fernandez just hadn’t made it at all. Then Manuel, him who was Fernandez’s right bower, he tried to do it with a knife from the door. Which same Mark Counter coppered and they buries Manuel with Fernandez comes this afternoon.’

  ‘Dusty Fog?’ Sue asked then looked towards Red. ‘I’ve heard tell of him. He hails from the Rio Hondo and pulls his guns like you pull your’n, Red.’

  ‘Nope,’ Red replied. ‘Cousin Dusty uses the cross-draw and I get mine out cavalry twist-hand. Difference being Dusty could roll and light a smoke then still lick me to the shot.’

  ‘He’s that fast?’ Sue inquired.

  ‘He’s so fast the rest look slow.’

  The party sat eating their breakfast when the batwing doors opened to admit Dusty Fog and Mark Counter. For a moment Sue suspected a joke when Red whispered the small man’s identity. Then she studied his dress, the way his guns hung, the general air of quiet competence about him and read him for what he really was. Sue knew a tophand when she saw one, she also knew a good man with his guns. Small or taller than a cottonwood this Texan was Dusty Fog.

  ‘This’s Terry and Sue Ortega,’ Louise introduced, watching Dusty and Mark’s faces as she spoke.

  If she hoped the words would cause a stir she received a disappointment for not by as much as a flicker of their eyes did Mark or Dusty show the names meant anything to them. They extended their hands to the Ortegas, then Mark glanced at the girls and asked:

  ‘You been fighting?’

  ‘Nope,’ Sue replied heatedly. ‘This’s the latest fashion in the east.’

  More people began to arrive at the saloon and clearly the no ladies rule no longer applied, being waived as when the court held session or a meeting for the mutual good of the county formed. Women came into the saloon with their husbands, all wore their best clothes and an air of expectancy seemed to glow around them. A holiday spirit was abroad, laughter and chatter attesting to the general good feelings of the people as they moved about the room.

  ‘It looks like you’ll get your own way at last, Sue, Terry,’ a woman called as she passed the table.

  ‘I always do,’ Sue answered.

  People crowded into the saloon. The cowhands returned from giving their horses an unusually careful grooming and paying equally careful attention to their personal appearance. The town barber had been open all night; the owner of the store long since sold out of his meagre stock of shirts, trousers, hats and bandanas. No cowhand wished to appear before the ladies of the wagon train unless he looked his best and the extra effort would be worthwhile.

  The citizens of the town, not that they were many in number, augmented by the ranch crews, crowded into the saloon. Outside the street held lines of buggies, horses and even the chuck wagons, for nobody wished to miss going out and meeting their new neighbors.

  Biscuits Randle’s appearance called for some jeers and comment among the cowhands for he sported a clean white shirt and a neatly fastened string tie. He
halted at the Ortega table and grinned down at them.

  ‘Are you coming with us, Biscuits?’ Sue inquired. ‘Somebody might rob the bank while you’re away.’

  ‘I ain’t got no money in it, even if we had one to have it in,’ Biscuits replied. ‘Like you and Mark to take on as special deputies, Cap’n Fog. Times are like to get hectic and I’ll need some help to keep the boys in control.’

  ‘Be pleased to,’ Dusty answered, holding out his hand to take the badge Biscuits offered.

  ‘Let’s take you around and get acquainted, Louise,’ Sue whispered. ‘I’m getting “who is she?” looks from all our friends.’

  The girls left the table and Terry rose to join the ranch owners at the bar. Red rolled a smoke which his cousin extracted from his fingers. ‘Terry’s not the one,’ Red drawled, offering Mark his makings and growling he was damned if he’d roll them as well as buying the tobacco and papers.

  ‘Figured that from what we heard last night and what we’ve just seen,’ Dusty replied. ‘That’s a nice gal you’ve got there, Cousin Red.’

  A flush of color came to Red’s cheeks and Mark grinned. ‘I admire your taste for the first time, Red boy. I can’t say much for her’s though.’

  ‘Shucks, you’ll be making folks think there’s something between Miss Ortega and me,’ Red growled.

  ‘Give it time and there’s likely to be something,’ Mark chuckled, then held up his hand as he saw the angry glint coming into Red’s eyes. ‘Hold hard now, hitting a special deputy town marshal’s plumb likely to land you in jail.’

  ‘One of these days—’ warned Red, leaving the rest of the threat hanging over Mark’s head. ‘I’d say we should know this big hombre who just came in.’

  Dusty had seen the man and reached the same conclusion slightly ahead of Red. The tall man who crossed the floor bore a striking family resemblance to Miss Considine. His appearance was striking, almost as tall as Mark and broad although there was an air of well-padded luxury about him which no hard worked cowhand could show. He wore a buckskin coat, white shirt with string tie, eastern style riding breeches and boots. He did not show any sign of a gun anywhere about him, not even to Dusty’s keen and practiced eyes. Hat in hand the tall man went by the Texans and joined the ranchers at the bar to which Terry called Dusty, Mark and Red a few moments later.

  ‘My sister is with the train,’ the tall man told Dusty after being introduced. ‘I hope she made the trip with no trouble.’ ‘Lost all but two drivers, but she’s all right,’ Dusty answered. Considine then turned the conversation to the siting of the town. His conversation was of a high standard. He never talked down to the others, treated them as equals while still maintaining his well educated superiority in view for all to see and respect. A smooth operator, Dusty guessed, a man who could stand some watching in anything he laid his hand to.

  A man in range clothes entered the saloon. Dusty would not have noticed him among the crowd had Considine not given an almost imperceptible shake of his head and motioned towards Dusty with his hand. The man turned but not before Dusty got a good look at him. He appeared to be an ordinary cowhand, his clothes no different in quality or line from the man who worked at the local spreads. That he wore a gun meant nothing, so did every man in the room. It hung right for a fairly fast draw but did not have the appearance of being a real fast man’s rig. The man’s face caught Dusty’s eye, somehow it looked familiar although he could not place it. The man did not stay. He turned and walked from the saloon once more and Dusty could have sworn a look of relief came to Considine’s face when the batwing doors closed hiding the man from sight.

  Dusty opened his month to tell Mark to follow the man but did not get a chance for Eddy pounded on the bar top.

  ‘All right, folks,’ he yelled. ‘We’re all here. Let’s get out and meet our new neighbors.’

  The last two from the room were Louise Raines and Terry Ortega. She felt his arm crush hers and looked into his eyes. Louise felt happy. The wagon train would be welcome here in Backsight and she guessed she was more than welcome to the man called Terry Ortega.

  Eleven – Dance Night in Backsight

  The Ysabel Kid and Colonel Raines watched the wagons streaming down the slope below the V-shaped gap in the hills. Throughout the train a feeling of excitement and expectancy prevailed, growing more and more plain with each turn of the wheels. Their new home lay ahead, so close after the long miles it almost passed beyond belief that nightfall would find them camped at Backsight ready to lay out their homes the following day.

  ‘There’s timber in plenty for the cutting up here in the hills, Colonel,’ remarked the Kid. ‘And you’ll likely not find yourself short of hands to help with the house raising.’

  ‘Good,’ Raines replied distantly. ‘I was thinking about Louise. I hope she’s all right. She should never have ridden ahead of us.’

  The Kid did not think it prudent at this point to mention he knew of the girl’s departure. ‘She won’t take no hurt. That girl’s packed with good sense. I’d trust her to do anything she set out to do.’

  Raines looked at the Kid, a suspicion forming. To distract unwanted attention the Kid pointedly stared ahead of them. Drawing Raines gaze after his own and effectively taking the Colonel’s mind from its suspicions. Raines let out an angry grunt, reaching down for the field glasses he carried in his saddle pouch as he did so.

  ‘Riders! A fair bunch of them and we let them get this close without seeing them!’ he snapped. ‘It might be trouble.’

  ‘No trouble, Colonel,’ the Kid answered. ‘I’ve had them spotted for the last couple of mile or so. Dusty and Mark’s up at the point with Louise, Red and a man ’n’ gal I don’t know.’

  Raines did not speak for a moment. He focused the glasses and was willing to admit the Kid possessed tolerably keen eyes. Raines could barely make out the riders with the naked eye yet the Kid not only saw but recognized them.

  ‘What do you make of them?’ asked Raines, although he could guess.

  ‘Likely a welcoming party. Get them last wagons moving and on to the flat, Colonel. Then warn the drivers there’s likely to be some whooping and hollering in the near future.’

  By the time the last wagon reached the level ground all the people of the train could tell something was in the air. They saw the approaching riders and buggies, knowing no trouble was on hand. A man did not come looking for trouble dressed in his best clothes and bringing his womenfolk along. Besides Captain Fog rode at head of the approaching party so they could not be enemies.

  Any slight doubt held became dispelled when the other party came to a halt. Hands and hats waved in a friendly manner. Louise sprang down from her horse, caught Terry by his hand almost before his feet hit the ground beside her. She ran to meet her father, smiling and crying at the same time. Raines dismounted, caught the girl in his arms. Then people were milling around, cheering, pointing and mingling with the citizens of Backsight County who advanced, hands held out to greet the newcomers with typical western friendliness.

  Eddy Last drew his revolver, fired a shot into the air to attract attention, aided by one of his famous bellows.

  ‘Colonel Raines, ladies and gentlemen!’ he yelled when partial silence fell. ‘On behalf of your neighbors of Backsight County I greet you.’

  ‘Thank you, sir, thank you,’ Raines replied. ‘On behalf of my fellow travelers I thank you for this warm and inspiring welcome. I hope we will live up to the standard of friendship and hospitality this greeting brings to us. This is no time for speech making but I wish to thank Captain Fog, the Ysabel Kid, Mark Counter and Red Blaze for their help, without which we would undoubtedly never have arrived at all.’

  The thunderous cheers which rose repaid Dusty and his friends for the work and risks they gave and took bringing the train from Hammerlock. They’d done a good job, the train was at Backsight and the town could be built—unless the mysterious trouble causer still aimed to make trouble. Once the man behind the trouble was fou
nd they would be finished and could head back to Texas where most likely some other work awaited them.

  The wagon train remained where it came to a halt for everyone was busy getting to know their new neighbors. The girls of the train eyed the cowhands with interest and speculated how they could form an acquaintance while the young men of the train and the ladies of Backsight studied each other and hoped to get to know each other better.

  Miss Considine and her brother rode up to Raines as he stood talking with Last and the ranch owners.

  ‘Colonel,’ she said, ‘My brother and I would like to suggest we hold a grand ball tonight in town to celebrate our arrival.’

  ‘It’ll be expected,’ Considine went on. ‘You all need a chance to relax and the wagons will be safe enough if you form a circle by the stream near town.’

  Raines frowned, glancing around for Dusty’s permission. The ranchers all gave their eager and vocal agreement to Considine’s idea. So did such members of the train who heard. The news bounced from mouth to mouth and all seemed excited, eager at the prospect of the dance. Dusty came to Raines’ side but could see there was no way of stopping the dance even if he wished to.

  ‘All right, have your dance,’ he drawled. ‘But let’s get rolling and make the circle first.’

  The wagons rolled soon after, surrounded by laughing riders while many of the women shared buggies with the ranchers’ wives, all talking eagerly. Offers of help came from every hand.

  Dusty rode ahead of the others, allowing Red and Louise to break the news to Raines that the young man who rode with them was Terry Ortega. He heard the Colonel’s angry growl die away and knew Louise must have acted fast to prevent a scene. Dusty gave no thought to this, his mind was working fast as he thought of the dance. There would be no question of guarding the train for every man, after the long trail, had set his mind on attending the dance.

  Bringing the horse around Dusty rode back to the others and caught Terry’s eye. The young rancher rode towards Dusty, falling in alongside the big paint.