“How does everything fit?” Raul asked. “I got the smallest sizes I could.”
“They’re just a bit large, but they’ll do fine,” she replied. “You can turn around now.”
He checked her over as she pulled on the boots. “It doesn’t matter if they fit well or not. You’ll be riding, not walking anyhow.”
Another rope appeared, this time with a chain attached. Horses’ hooves could be heard on the cobblestones below as Raul looped it around the window bars several time. Then he took the first rope and, after dragging the heavy bed over to the window, tied it securely to one of the legs. He checked things over quickly, then turned his attention to the girl.
“Do what I say, when I say it.”
“I will,” Loretta promised.
Raul whistled again to Angel. Below, the peon kicked his horse’s flanks, pulling the chain taut. He continued urging his mount forward as the bars on the window loosened. The animal strained against the resistance until the bars gave way with a loud crack that sent solid iron and heavy pieces of masonry crashing to the alley.
Raul threw the rope out and leaned over the window ledge to make sure it had not fouled on any projections. He had no sooner turned back inside the room when there was a pounding on the door.
“What is going on in there?” Doña Barbara yelled as she worked her key in the lock.
“Get on my back and hang on,” Raul said to Loretta as he started to go through the window. The girl had just begun to comply when the door was flung open.
“What are you doing?” the madam demanded. Two of her bouncers came in behind her.
Raul pulled his pistol and fired two shots. The large woman and her employees fled back into the hall. Once more Raul turned to Loretta, but she had already figured out what he wanted. She looped her arms tightly around his neck as he went over the window sill. The rope burned his hands despite the short distance as he lowered them both to the alley. By then Angel was back with Borrasca and another horse.
Several heads now appeared at the window above. Doña Barbara’s shrill voice screamed obscenities as one of her hired men leaned out the window, a pistol in his hand.
Raul literally tossed Loretta up on her horse and once more drew his own weapon. He snapped a shot at the window, but missed.
However, the shots did make his intended victim jump back inside the room giving Raul enough time to leap up on Borrasca’s back. The man reappeared and managed to shoot once before Raul’s next shots slammed two forty-five slugs into his chest. The impact knocked the bouncer up against the window sash, then he fell out and hit the alley with a thud.
A pair of toughs from the bordello appeared in the alley, and hands grasped at Raul’s legs. He spun Borrasca around, but not before he lost his balance and fell to the cobblestones. Raul got to his knees in time to dodge a heavy boot aimed at his head. He grabbed his assailant’s leg and pushed back, forcing him to the ground. The other man charged him, slashing wildly with a knife. Raul stepped back and brought his pistol into the fight.
The knife fighter caught the first round from the revolver in his side. He twisted over and slumped to the ground with a groan of pain. Raul’s pistol was empty now, and he drew a back-up from his belt. It was a Smith and Wesson Schofield revolver.
“Back up or you will go down like your amigo,” Raul threatened. He swung back up in the saddle, keeping his eye on the potential threat. He quickly fired the pistol without aiming, then swung Borrasca around and galloped down to where Angel and Loretta waited for him.
The trio rode down the dark street, past the city limits of Selva Vista. The exuberance of winning the fight stimulated Raul. “Vaya, Borrasca!” he happily shouted.
Angel yelled out as his optimistic yen for adventure fired up his own emotions. What could be better than performing another brave deed with his patron; and the more dangerous, the better.
Chapter Ten
As Raul, Angel and Loretta continued their wild ride away from Selva Vista, the width of the road gradually narrowed in relationship to the density of the jungle that bordered it. When Raul managed to take several quick rearward glances, he discovered they were still being followed. It was obvious their pursuers were not going to let darkness nor the thickening jungle deter them.
As the three rounded a bend in the road, Raul pulled his carbine from its boot and signaled a halt. “Miss Slattery, go down the road a short distance and wait.” He turned to Angel with a wink. “Let us greet our enemy with flying bullets, eh?”
“It is best to use our carbines, verdad, patron?”
“Indeed! You have learned your lessons well.”
Angel happily grinned as they pulled their horses off to opposite sides of the road, and dismounted. They concealed themselves in the foliage as much as possible and waited. In only a few seconds, the pale moonlight revealed four horsemen coming around a curve less than fifty meters away.
“Ahorita — now!” Raul shouted.
Since it was too dark to aim, he merely pointed his weapon at their adversaries, then pulled the trigger. Angel tried to aim but could barely make out his targets as he fired. A horse collapsed to the road sending its rider into a crushing fall. Raul and Angel cocked and fired again, then both instinctively went for their pistols. They shot rapidly into the misty shadows, and were rewarded with shouts of pain and the sound of another body falling to the hard roadway. Several more shots caused a horse to rear, making its cursing rider fight to control the animal before turning to gallop away.
Suddenly it was quiet.
No sounds came from the fallen men. Raul left the cover of the jungle, and carefully approached the casualties. He checked each as carefully as he could in the dark. “Todos muertos — all dead.”
Angel was ecstatic. “Another victory for us, patron.”
“You are right in a way,” he cautioned Angel. “Since we have gained some time, I am going to change my clothes.”
“I put your trail garments in your saddlebags,” Angel said. “It seemed a shame to leave your suits back at the hotel.”
“I will have no further need of them until our job is done,” Raul said. He shucked his fancy clothing and tossed it all into the brush. After donning his trail outfit, he mounted Borrasca. “This fight is not over yet. We must continue on our way.”
“But why are we headed south?”
“They will be expecting us to turn north and that is where they will search for us. I have studied the map and located a small port city a short way into Guatemala.”
“Are we going to take a ship?”
“Let us hope there is one that will sail us straight to California. If not, we shall have to make other plans.”
They galloped down to where Loretta Slattery waited. She was visibly relieved at seeing them. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, Miss Slattery,” Raul answered. “We must ride on now. Our journey has only begun.”
The three headed down the road which was now deteriorating further until it would soon be just a path through the dense tropical growth.
~*~
The next morning they rode into Ocos, Guatemala. Although the town was small it bustled with activity. A quick survey by Raul showed him a deep water port consisting of several floating docks with ships tied up to them. It was not a principal harbor, however, only serving the fincas for the transport of their mahogany and coffee as well as the import of products they needed.
Raul paused long enough for Loretta to make some purchases at a surprisingly well-stocked general store near the waterfront. She picked out some practical women’s garments for continuing the trip. Then they made their way toward the docks through the laborers who were driving carts and wagons to and from the ships. Raul left Angel and Loretta to walk down to a sailing ship that was unloading various types of cargo destined for a plantation farther inland.
Raul went up the gangplank to the main deck and saw a huge, heavily-bearded man in the uniform of a captain. Raul approached the skipp
er and gave him a nod. He started to address him in Spanish, but the man held up his hand. “I only talk English and Gaelic, lad.”
“Fine,” Raul said. “I’d like to find out where you’re headed, sir.”
“The next course I lay will be due north.”
“To California?” Raul hopefully asked.
“Och, no. There’s no another ship here that’s going all that way,” the captain replied. “These vessels are serving ports in Latin America. I’m afraid ye’re outta luck, lad, unless ye kin settle for Mazatlan in Mexico. That’s as far north as I go.”
Raul thought for a moment. They could easily get another ship in Mazatlan’s harbor without any trouble. There was sure to be one headed for California. It not, they could travel by horseback north to Arizona if they had to. “Can I book passage for myself, my wife and my companion? And three horses.”
“Aye,” the captain said. “But ye must be ready to sail with the tide. I’ve no a bit o’ time to waste.”
“We’ll board now, if that’s fine with you.”
“Dinna ye want to talk o’ the price?” the captain asked.
“I’m sure we can reach a satisfactory agreement,” Raul said. He turned and signaled to Angel and Loretta to ride down the dock to the ship.
The captain looked at the pair approaching. “Well, ye’ve no a lot o’ baggage, do ye?”
“No, sir,” Raul said. He offered his hand. “Raul Mackenzie at your service.”
The captain laughed loudly. “MacKenzie, is it? Well, my name is Douglas MacDonald and ye’re standing on the good ship Bonny Prince Charlie outta Aberdeen. It’s as Scottish as I am and yer name as well.”
“My grandfather came from Scotland. My family has a ranch up in Mexico to the north.”
“Why’d yer father put a Spanish name like Raul on ye? Wasn’t something like Donald or Angus good enough?”
“My mother is Mexican,” Raul explained. “She named me after a favorite cousin.”
The captain gazed intently into Raul’s face. “Aye. Ye’re no a full European and that’s a fact. Well, Raul MacKenzie, let’s talk o’ the price fer yer passage.”
“Name it,” Raul said.
“A hundred pesos,” Captain MacDonald said.
“Fine,” Raul said. He drew his leather moneybag from his shirt and began counting out the money into the captain’s thick palm.
“‘tis easy to see ye’re only part Scot. No full blown son of Caledonia would strike so bad a bargain.”
“I’m in a hurry,” Raul said.
“Running fast is still no a reason to leave yer purse strings loose and letting money bounce all over creation like it held no a bit of value, laddie. ’Tis near a sin.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Raul said, not really caring. “Now what about a cabin?”
“I’ve only a wee one left,” Captain MacDonald said. “But it’ll be bonny enough fer yer wife. The bed’s bare wide as a plank and there’s no much cabin fer all o’ that.”
“It’ll do, Captain. And if you’ll excuse me, I must see to my man and the animals as well.”
“A fine laird,” Captain MacDonald commented critically. “I should’ve skinned two or three hundred more outta yer estate.” Plainly disappointed in Raul, the captain went aft to see to the loading that was commencing in that part of the ship.
Raul found Angel and Loretta waiting for him at the bow. The horses were already tied down and fresh water was available for them during the short voyage.
“I’ve gotten a cabin for you, Miss Slattery,” Raul said. “Angel and I will stay on deck, but we’ll store our gear in with you, if you have no objections.”
“Certainly not, Mr. Mackenzie,” Loretta replied. She followed him back to the stern and through the door located beneath the quarterdeck. The space there consisted of a dining room with officers’ and passengers’ cabins along both the port and starboard sides.
“The farthest one is yours,” Raul indicated. He allowed her to precede him to the tiny cabin, placing the gear and carbines in with her. “Would you like to rest for a while?”
“Yes, please.”
“If you need anything I’ll be just outside your door. Angel is going to watch the horses.”
She closed the door and sat down on the bunk that took the entire length of one side of the cabin. There was barely enough room for her to take two steps before reaching the opposite bulkhead. She suddenly felt hemmed in, but couldn’t stand the thought of going outside. The carbines were stacked against the bulkhead opposite her. She reached out and picked one up.
Loretta had fired a similar model many times before. Picnics and outings around Denver were social events, but there was always the danger of Indians or renegades, so the men never failed to go armed. And, like all frontier husbands and fathers, they made sure their women were familiar with guns as well.
She took a deep breath and gazed at the weapon she held. The man Raul Mackenzie was taking her to freedom. True she was saved from the life of a bordello, but she was going back to another kind of captivity. This would be the imprisonment of shame, knowing what evil men had made of her.
Loretta pulled the cocking lever out, hearing the metallic click as the cartridge was prepared to be rammed home. She closed the action, sensing the subtle change in the carbine now that it was ready to be fired. Almost absent mindedly, she place the barrel under her chin and let her finger dawdle lightly on the trigger.
It would be so simple.
~*~
On that awful day that Loretta Slattery was pulled off the stagecoach by the bandits she was a typically reared and educated girl of her time. Although eighteen years of age, she had only a vague notice of the true relationships between men and women. She and her girlfriends read silly romantic novels filled with flowery, unrealistic tales of what it was like for people to be in love.
The bandits had leered openly at her; particularly the one with the scarred face who seemed to be the leader. He reached out and touched her rudely, even grasping hard at her bottom. She squirmed away, confused by the strange attention. She hadn’t fully comprehended what they really wanted until she was taken from the road into the bushes. Then, to her horror, rough hands pulled and tore at her clothing until she stood naked to the eyes of the strange laughing men who spoke a language she didn’t understand.
Loretta’s shame and mortification was to such an extent that her emotions dulled the reality of the situation. A blanket was laid on the ground and gestures were made to her by the bandits. She seemed to comprehend that they wanted her to get on it. Frightened, and keeping herself covered up as much as possible with her hands, she walked over to it, feeling the wool on her bare feet.
They laughed even louder and motioned that she was to get down. Still trying to cover herself, she sat down, puzzled about what they were demanding of her. Then the laughing stopped and the leader angrily slapped her two or three times. Then he knelt down and pushed her over. Others grabbed her arms and legs, holding her exposed to view. Taking turns, they took her one by one in a painful grinding and pushing that left her torn and bleeding.
The girl went into shock as the scene around her seemed to whirl faster and faster until her awareness faded into nothingness. When she returned to a confused state of consciousness, it was dark, but a fire was going and these same men who had been tormenting her, were now eating. She noticed her torn clothing beside her, and she quickly dressed as best she could. Then the girl was roughly tied up and left to pass the remainder of the night as best she could on the same blanket where she had suffered her humiliation.
The next day was made up of long stretches of riding. When they stopped to rest the horses or cook their food, the bandits would once again produce the blanket and force her on it. She cried out so much in pain and fear that after a while they gagged her during the attacks.
Finally they began a long ascent that ended at the top of a mesa where the bandit camp was located. Once they had arrived she was pulled fro
m her horse and thrown into a crude shack. She spent the next three days there, sleeping on the bare ground and scratching at the hovel’s fleas who had begun a constant, unrelenting attack on her from the first moment she was shoved through the door.
But at least there was one dismal advantage to the new situation. Only one man, the leader, tormented her. And after a while even he stopped. She was taken to better quarters and fed passably good food and given some soap and a towel for washing. Then for a five-day period Loretta was well fed and left in peace. A better dress was produced from somewhere for her and she changed into it, completely confused about the new treatment.
On the sixth day she was taken from the shack and shown to a different man. This one was fat and definitely dressed better than the bandits, although his clothing was soiled and dusty. He gazed closely at her, but there seemed to be no lust in his eyes. He spoke a few words and the bandit chief reached out to unbutton her dress. She tried to resist, but he hissed some words to her with such hatred in his voice, that she allowed him to strip her. Once again the fat man carefully looked her over then nodded his head in an affirmative manner. She was allowed to cover herself once again as a long conversation punctuated with gestures and arguments developed. Finally it ended as abruptly as it had begun, and the stranger grabbed her and with a hard shove indicated the direction she was to go.
Loretta was taken off the mesa to a caravan of wagons that waited below. She saw a large group of armed men around the vehicles and for several terrible moments thought she would once again be forced to endure the degradation of the past days. But instead she was ordered into a closed wagon.
Loretta was both surprised and pleased to see there were other girls inside. All were sullen and red-eyed from crying, but at least she was no longer alone. They were all Mexicans and regarded Loretta with curiosity, some even attempting to speak to her. But the lack of a common language made any conversation impossible. The vehicle suddenly lurched and began to rumble, making it obvious they were being taken somewhere.
Pistolero Justice (A Piccadilly Publishing Western Page 9
