The Works of Andre Norton (12 books)

by Andre Norton

  "Spur of bayou runs along here in back. Someone coming up from there."

  "Jeems?"

  "Maybe."

  "We'd better--" Val motioned toward the front of the cabin. Ricky shook her head. Jeems was to be allowed to meet the intruders unwarned.

  "This swamper may be tough," ventured Red.

  "We've met hard cases before," answered the other significantly.

  Red moved again, as if flexing his muscles.

  "One boy, and a small one at that, shouldn't force you to undergo all that preparation," goaded the Boss.

  Ricky must get away at once, her brother decided. Stubbornness or no stubbornness, she must go this time. Why he didn't think of going himself Val never afterwards knew. Perhaps he possessed a spark of the family love of danger, after all, but mostly he clung to his perch because of that last threat. Whoever Jeems was or whatever he had done, he was one and alone. And he might relish another player on his side. But Ricky must go.

  He said as much in a fierce whisper, only to have her grin recklessly back at him. In pantomime she gestured that he might try to make her. Val decided that he should have known the result of his efforts. Ricky was a Ralestone, too. And short of throwing her off the platform and so unmasking themselves completely, he could not move her against her will.

  "No," she whispered. "They're planning trouble for Jeems. He'll probably need us."

  "Well," Val cautioned her, "if it gets too rough, you've got to promise to cut downstream for help. We'll be able to use it."

  She nodded. "It's a promise. But we've got to stand by Jeems if he needs us."

  "If he does--" Val was still suspicious. "He may fall in with their suggestions."

  Ricky shook her head. "He isn't that kind. I don't care if he _has_ been playing ghost."

  Someone was walking along the path among the bushes bordering the back of the clearing. Although they could hear no sound, they could mark the passing of a body by the swish of the foliage. Val lay, face down, on the platform and reached for a stick of wood lying on the ground below. Somehow he did not like to think of being caught empty-handed when the excitement began.

  "Hello." It was Red, suddenly genial. The Ralestones could almost feel the radiance of the smile which must have split his face.

  "Whatta yo' doin' heah?" That was Jeems, and his demand was sharply hostile.

  "Now, bub, don't get us wrong." That was Red, still genial. "I know my pal sorta flew off his base this mornin'. But it was all in fun, see? So we kinda wanted yuh to stick around till he came and not do the run-out on us. And now the Boss has come down here so we can talk business all friendly like."

  "Shut up, Red!" Having so bottled his companion's flow of words, the other spoke directly to Jeems. "My men made a mistake. All right. That's over and done with; they'll get theirs. Now let's get down to business. What do you know about that big plantation up river, the one called 'Pirate's Haven'?"

  "Nothin'." Jeems' answer was clear. The hostility was gone from his voice; nothing remained but an even tonelessness.

  "Come now, I know you have reason to be hot. But this is business. I'll make it worth your while--"

  "Nothin'," answered Jeems as concisely as before.

  "You can't expect us to believe that. I followed you one night."

  "Yo' did?" The challenge was unmistakable.

  "I did. So you see I know something of you. Something which even the present owner does not. Say the ghost in the hall, for example."

  There was the sound of a deeply drawn breath.

  "So you see it is to your advantage to listen to us," continued the Boss smoothly.

  "What do you want?"

  Val knew disappointment at that question. Would Jeems surrender as easily as that?

  "Just an explanation of how you get into the house unseen."

  "Yo'll nevah know!" The swamper's reply came swift and clear.

  "No? Well, I'd think twice before I held to that answer if I were you," purred the other softly. "A word to the Ralestones about those nightly walks of yours--"

  "Won't give yo' what yo' want," replied Jeems shrewdly.

  "I see. Perhaps I have been using the wrong approach," observed the Boss composedly. "You work for a living, don't you?"

  "Yes."

  "Then you know the value of money. What is your price? Come on, we won't haggle."

  The Boss' impatience colored his tone. "How much do you want for this information?"

  "Nothin'!"

  "Nothing?"

  "Ah ain't said nothin' an' Ah ain't a-goin' to say nothin'. An' yo' bettah be a-gittin' offen this heah land of mine afo'--"

  "Before what, swamper?" Red was taking a hand in the game.

  "Yo' can't fright'n me with that gun," came calmly enough from Jeems. "Yo' ain't a-goin' to risk shootin'--"

  "There ain't no witnesses here, kid. And there ain't no law back in these swamps. Yuh're gonna tell the Boss what he wants to know an' yuh're gonna spill it quick, see? I know some ways of making guys squeal--"

  At that suggestion Val's fingers tightened on his club and Ricky choked back a cry as her brother crept toward the corner of the cabin. Their melodrama was fast taking on the color of tragedy.

  "So yuh better speak up." Red was still encouraging Jeems.

  There was no immediate answer from the swamper, but Ricky touched Val's arm and nodded toward the bushes. She had decided that it was time for her to leave. He agreed eagerly. She dropped lightly to the ground and he watched her crawl away unnoticed by those in front who were so intent upon the baiting of their quarry.

  "Three minutes, swamper!"

  Ricky was gone, free from whatever might develop. Val edged forward and for the first time peered around the corner of the cabin. The two assailants were still only voices, but he could see Jeems. The swamper's face was bruised and there was a smear of dried blood across one cheek as if he had already been roughly handled. But he stood at ease, facing the cabin. His hands were hanging loosely at his sides and he was seemingly unconcerned by what confronted him. Suddenly his eyes flickered to the bushes at one side. Had Ricky betrayed herself, Val wondered breathlessly.

  Clear now of the cabin, Val wriggled his way around the platform. In a minute he would be able to see the Boss and Red. He gripped the club.

  Then Jeems stared straight into his face. But the swamper gave no sign of seeing Val. And that, to the boy's mind, was the greatest feat of all that afternoon. For Val knew that if he had been in Jeems' place he would have betrayed them both in his surprise.

  The others were at last visible, their backs to Val. Nervously he sized them up. The Boss was tall and thin, but his movements suggested possession of wiry strength. Red, his brick-colored hair making him easy to identify, was shorter and thick across the shoulders, but his waistline was also thick and the boy thought that his wind was bad. Of the two, the Boss was the more dangerous. Red might lose his head in a sudden attack, but not the Boss. Val decided to tackle the latter.

  Slowly he got from his knees to his feet. After the first quick glance, Jeems hadn't looked at him, but Val knew that the swamper was ready and waiting to take advantage of any diversion he might make.

  "Three minutes are up, swamper. So yuh've decided to be tough, eh?"

  "Whatta yo' wanna know?" Jeems' question was silly but it held their attention.

  "We have told you several times," answered the Boss, his temper beginning to fray visibly. "What is the trick of getting into that house?"

  "Well," Jeems raised his hand to rub his ear, "yo' turn to the left--"

  So he agreed with the listener. Val was to take the Boss on his left. He gathered his feet under him for the leap which he hoped would land him full upon the invader.

  "Yes?" prompted the man impatiently as Jeems hesitated. At that moment Val sprang.

  But his game leg betrayed him again. Instead of landing cleanly upon the other, he came down draggingly across the Boss' shoulders. The gun roared and then the attacked man
lashed back a vicious blow which split the skin over Val's cheek-bone.

  For the next three minutes Val was more than occupied. His opponent was a dirty fighter, and when he had recovered from his surprise he was more than the boy could handle. Val's club was twisted out of his hands, and he found himself fighting wildly to keep the man's clawing fingers from his eyes. They were both rolling on the ground, flailing out at each other. Twice Val tasted his own blood when one of the enemy's vicious jabs glanced along his face. Either blow would have finished Val had it landed clean.

  Then in a sudden turn the Boss caught him in a deadly body-lock which left him half-stunned and panting, at his mercy. And there was no mercy in the man. When Val looked up into that flushed, snarling face, he knew that he was as hopeless as a trapped animal. The man could--and would--finish him at his leisure.

  "This way, Rupert! Sam!" the cry reached even Val's dulled ears.

  The man above him stirred. The boy saw the blood-lust fade from his eyes and apprehension take its place. He got to his feet, launching a last bruising kick at Val's ribs before he limped across the clearing. On his way he hauled Red to his feet. They were going, not toward the path from the bayou, but around the house on the trail that Jeems had followed. Val struggled up and looked around. The turf was torn and gouged. In the dust lay his club and Red's revolver.

  And by the steps lay something else, a slight brown figure. Painfully the boy got to his feet and lurched across to Jeems.

  CHAPTER XII

  THE RALESTONES BRING HOME A RELUCTANT GUEST

  The swamper was lying on his back, his eyes closed. From a great purple welt across his forehead the blood oozed sluggishly. When Val touched him he moaned faintly.

  "Val! Are you hurt? What's the matter?" Ricky was upon them like a whirlwind out of the bush.

  "Jeems stopped a nasty one," her brother panted.

  "Is he--" She dropped down in the dust beside them.

  "He's knocked out, and he'll have a bad headache for some time, but I don't think it's any worse than that."

  Ricky had pulled out a microscopic bit of handkerchief and was dabbing at the blood in an amateurish way. Jeems moaned and turned his head as if to get away from her ministrations.

  "Where's Rupert--and Sam?" Val looked toward the path. "They were with you, weren't they?"

  Ricky shook her head. "No. That was just what you call creating a diversion. For all I know, they're busy at home."

  Her brother straightened. "Then we've got to get out of here--fast. Those two left because they were rattled, but when they have had a chance to cool off they'll be back."

  "What about Jeems?"

  "Take him with us, of course. We won't be able to manage the canoe. But you brought the outboard, so we'll go in that and tow the canoe. We ought to have something to cover his head." Val regarded the bleeding wound doubtfully.

  Without answering, Ricky leaned forward and began systematically going through Jeems' pockets. In the second she found a key. Val took it from her and hobbled up the cabin steps. For a wonder, he thought thankfully, the key was the right one. The lock clicked and he went in.

  Like the clearing, the interior of the one-room shack was neat, a place for everything and everything in its place. Under the window in the far wall was a small chest of some dark polished wood. Save for its size, it was not unlike the chests the Ralestones had found in their store-room. Opposite it was a wooden cot, the covers smoothly spread. A stool, a blackened cook stove, and a solid table with an oil lamp were the extent of the furnishings. Lines of traps hung on the walls, along with the wooden boards for the stretching of drying skins, and there was a half-finished grass basket lying on top of the chest.

  Val hefted a stoneware jug. They had no time to hunt for a spring. And if this contained water, they would need it. At the resulting gurgle from within, he set it by the door and returned to rob the cot of pillow and the single coarse but clean sheet.

  Ricky tore the sheet and made a creditable job of washing and bandaging the ugly bruise. Jeems drank greedily when they offered him water but he did not seem to recognize them. In answer to Ricky's question of how he felt, he muttered something in the swamp French of the Cajuns. But he was uneasy until Val locked the cabin door and put the key in his hand.

  "How are we going to get him to the boat?" asked Ricky suddenly.

  "Carry him."

  "But, Val--" for the first time she looked at her brother as if she really saw him--"Val, you're hurt!"

  "Just a little stiff," he hastened to assure her. "Our late visitors play rather rough. We'll manage all right. I'll take his shoulders and you his feet."

  They wavered drunkenly along the path. Twice Val stumbled and regained his balance just in time. Ricky had laid the pillow across their burden's feet, declaring that she would need it when they got to the boat. Val passed the point of aching misery--when he thought that he could not shuffle forward another step--and now he came into what he had heard called "second wind." By fixing his eyes on a tree or a bush a step or two ahead and concentrating only upon passing that one, and then that, and that, he got through without disgracing himself.

  At the bayou at last, they wriggled Jeems awkwardly into the boat. Val had no doubt that a woodsman might have done the whole job better in much less time and without a tenth of the effort they had expended. But all he ever wondered afterward was how they ever did it at all.

  It was when Ricky had made their passenger as comfortable as she could in the bottom of the boat, steadying his head across her knees, that her brother partially relaxed.

  "Val, you run the engine," she said without looking up.

  He dragged himself toward the stern of the boat, remembering too late, when he had cast off, that he had not taken the canoe in tow. The engine coughed, sputtered, and then settled down to a steady _putt-putt_. They were off.

  "Val, do you--do you think he is badly hurt?"

  He dared not look down; it required all his powers of concentration on what lay before them to keep his hand steady.

  "No. We'll get a doctor when we get back. He'll come around again in no time--Jeems, I mean."

  But would he? Head injuries were sometimes more serious than they seemed, Val remembered dismally.

  It was not until they came out into the main bayou that Jeems roused again. He looked up at Ricky in a sort of dull surprise, and then his gaze shifted to Val.

  "What--"

  "We won the war," Val tried to grin, an operation which tore his mask of dried blood, "thanks to Ricky. And now we're going home."

  At that, Jeems made a violent effort to sit up.

  "_Non_!" his English deserted him and he broke into impassioned French.

  "Yes," Val replied firmly as Ricky pushed the swamper down. "Of course you're coming with us. You've had a nasty knock on the head that needs attention."

  "Ah'm not a-goin' to no hospital!" His eyes burned into Val's.

  "Certainly not!" cried Ricky. "You're bound for our guest-room. Now keep quiet. We'll be there soon."

  "Ah ain't a-goin'," he declared mutinously.