Reaching the back of the saloon, he climbed up the wall, finding foot- and handholds where none existed. He could hear muttering sounds coming through some of the windows opened to the warm night. Realizing that they were windows that opened into occupied rooms, he passed by those windows, moving sideways across the back of the building until he reached the window that opened onto the hallway. Using it as his point of entry into the building, he climbed inside.
Even though it was quite late, the saloon was very busy, and from the floor below Wang could hear the sounds of the piano and scattered conversation. A woman’s loud shout was followed by a bellow of laughter from both men and women.
The hallway was dimly illuminated by low-burning wall-mounted lanterns, and as Wang moved down the hallway he extinguished the lamps one at a time. The result was a shaft of almost total darkness behind him.
Just ahead of him a door opened and a man stepped out into the hall. Wang moved quickly to step back into the darkness where he completely disappeared, thanks to his black clothing.
“That was good, Pearl. That was real good.” Obviously a customer, the man directed his words back into the room from which he had just emerged.
Wang heard a woman’s voice reply, low and indistinct, so he had no idea what the woman said.
“Ha! If you say so,” the man replied with a little laugh. He closed the door, then looked up the hall, noticing that some of the lamps were out. “Huh. I wonder how that happened.” He started toward the darkness, and Wang moved his sword into a thrusting position.
The sword wasn’t needed. The man shrugged his shoulders and started back toward the front of the hallway. Wang was glad. He would have killed the man to protect his mission, but he didn’t want to kill anyone unless he was forced to.
He left the last two lanterns burning so that the darkness of the hallway would not be noticed from the floor below. When he reached the door of the room he had seen Belle go into earlier, he opened it quietly and stepped inside. By the ambient light of the moon, he saw two boys sleeping in the bed. No one else was there. He walked over to the bed and after lighting the bedside lamp put his hand on Timmy’s shoulder and shook him gently.
“Timmy,” he said quietly. “Timmy, wake up.”
Timmy opened his eyes. “Mr. Wang?” he said in surprise.
The Chinaman nodded. “Come. I will take you back to your father.”
Ethan stirred awake then, and seeing Wang standing over the bed, gasped.
“It’s all right, Ethan,” Timmy said quickly. “This is Mr. Wang. He’s my friend.”
“What’s he doing here?” Ethan whispered.
“He’s come to take us home.”
It took the boys but a minute to put their boots on, then, admonishing them to be quiet by holding his finger over his lips, Wang opened the door. He saw no one, so they started toward the open window at the far end of the hallway.
At that moment, two men came out of the same room. “See, Lenny. I told you she’d give us a special deal on account of us bein’ brothers. All we had to do was—” he stopped in mid-sentence when he saw Wang with the two boys. “Here, where do you think you’re goin’ with them two?”
“I think they’re tryin’ to escape!” Lenny said. “Kill ’em, Larry. Kill ’em all!”
Larry and Lenny Israel went for their guns, but Wang, who was wearing his sword hanging down his back, whipped it over his shoulder and in two rapid thrusts, killed both men before they could fire a shot. It was all quick, and except for the brief conversation between the brothers before it began, it was silent.
Another loud burst of laughter coming up from downstairs gave proof that no one was aware of what had just happened in the hallway above.
“We must move them before they are seen,” Wang said quietly.
“Where?” Timmy asked.
“We will drop them through the window.”
Wang picked up one of the bodies and draped it over his right shoulder. He draped the other body over his left shoulder. “Get the guns,” he said quietly, and Timmy picked up one of the pistols as Ethan picked up the other.
When they reached the back window, Wang dropped the two brothers into the alley below. Then he took Timmy by the hands and lowered him through the window so that he was just a few feet above the ground and let go. Timmy dropped safely to the ground. Wang did the same thing with Ethan, before he dropped down himself.
His first order of business was taking care of the bodies, and he rolled the two brothers into the crawl space under the saloon. Likely they’d be found pretty quickly, but it would give Wang time to get the two boys out of town before they and the gunmen were discovered missing.
Wang lifted the boys into the small, two-wheel cart he’d bought from Kai Mot earlier in the afternoon and covered them with a piece of canvas. Mounting his horse that was attached to the cart, he gave a cluck to his horse, and they started out of town with one of the wheels squeaking loudly.
“Where are they?” Belle demanded.
“Where is who?” Jaco asked, looking up at her.
“You know who I’m talking about. Where are they?”
“Woman, I don’t have an idea in hell what you are talking about.”
“She’s talking about the two boys, Jaco,” Sherazade said. “They’re not in her room.”
“They ain’t in the room? Where are they?” Jaco asked.
“That’s what we’re askin’ you,” Sherazade said pointedly. “Jaco, have you taken those two boys somewhere? You promised me you wouldn’t hurt them. Have you killed them?”
“Puke!” Jaco called.
The man Jaco had appointed sheriff came over to his table. “What do you need?”
“Them two boys is gone. Do you have any idea what happened to them?”
Puke shook his head. “No, I don’t have no idea at all.”
“Find ’em.”
“Find ’em? What do you mean, find ’em? I don’t know how to find ’em.”
“You’re the sheriff, ain’t you? Whenever somebody goes missin’, it’s the sheriff’s job to find ’em.”
The expression on Puke’s face was one of complete confusion. He had no idea what he was supposed to do next.”
“I’ll help you look for ’em,” Mattoon said.
Puke, Mattoon, and four others overtook the little cart that Wang was pulling. Wang was slouching in the seat and when the four stopped him, he kept his eyes down.
“Hey, you, Chinaman!” one of the men called to him. “Have you seen two white boys anywhere on this road?”
“Do you want melons?” Wang asked, grabbing the edge of the canvas as if about to lift it. “I have good melons here. You look, I show you.”
“No, you ignorant Chinaman, I don’t want to look at your melons,” Mattoon said. He spoke to the others. “Come on. We’re wasting our time here.”
Soon after that encounter, Wang told the two boys they could come out from under the canvas.
Eagle Pass
Practically the entire town of Eagle Pass greeted them when Wang rode down East Main Street. By the time he reached the sheriff’s office, Jason and Melissa were there to meet them.
Shumla
Neither Elmer nor Morley nor Justin Craig—the prisoner Morley had recommended—drew so much as a second glance when they rode into town.
When they stepped into the Red Dog, a few of the patrons gave them a casual glance, then looked away.
But for one of the men, the glance was more than casual. “Damn. Elmer Gleason, what are you doing here?”
“You know these three men, Cyr?” Mattoon asked.
“I know that old, ugly one in the middle. There ain’t no one nowhere more crooked than him.”
“Hello, Cuz,” Elmer said. “I see you never found the rest of your ear.”
Unconsciously, Cyr put his hand up to his mangled ear. “I ask again, what are you doin’ here?”
“We heard you had somethin’ good goin’ on here, ’n we thou
ght we’d join up,” Elmer said, playing the role.
“Yeah? Well you’re goin’ to have to take that up with Jaco. He’s the onliest one who can decide.”
“Where is he?”
“Right now he’s upstairs, and I don’t have no notion of interruptin’ a man while he’s takin’ care of business, if you know what I mean.” Cyr grinned.
“Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Come on, boys. Let’s get us a beer and wait on Jaco.”
The three men bought a beer, complaining about the quarter it cost, then went over to have a seat at one of the tables. Three of the saloon girls sidled up to them with practiced smiles.
Elmer had no idea how old the three women were. They could have been as young as twenty-two or twenty-three, and as old as mid-forties. The dissipation of their profession had taken a heavy toll. “Ladies, we appreciate the attention, we really do, but you’re just wastin’ your time with us. We ain’t got a whole dollar betwixt the three of us.” He smiled. “But oncet we get on with Jaco, why, I reckon we’ll have some money we can spend.”
“Good,” one of women said to him specifically. “When that happens, I want you to keep me in mind. All right, old man?”
“Who you callin’ an old man?” Elmer asked as if upset by the sobriquet. In truth, his bark was worse than his bite, as given away by the flashing smile in his eyes.
“Ha!” Morley said. “She’s got you pegged, Gleason. You are an old man.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“What are we goin’ to do if Jaco takes us on?” Morley asked.
“If Duff is goin’ to take this town, he’s goin’ to need to know what he’s up ag’in,” Elmer said. “I’d say that, over the next few days, we just sort of look around, so’s we got somethin’ we can tell ’im.”
“Here comes Jaco.” It was the first time Craig had spoken since the three arrived in town.
“How do you know?” Elmer asked.
“I hear you three men are wantin’—” Seeing Craig, Jaco broke out into a big smile. “Justin Craig. I thought you were in prison.”
“And I heerd that you was about to be hung,” Craig replied. The two men shook hands.
“I see what you mean. The law may have one idea for us, but we might have somethin’ totally different. You with these two, are you?”
“Yeah, this here is Jim Morley ’n this here is Elmer Gleason.” Craig pointed to the two men.
“You vouch for them, do you?”
“I can vouch for Morley. Truth to tell, I don’t know nothin’ about Gleason.”
“Well, I’ve heard of ’im, from Cyr,” Jaco said. “And none of it good.” He glared at Elmer. “Is it true you’re the one that bit off his ear?”
“Yeah,” Elmer said.
The glare left his face and Jaco laughed out loud. “Ha! Anybody who would bite off Val Cyr’s ear is all right in my book. I’d be happy to have you three boys ride with me.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Elmer spent two days inside Shumla, gathering information he would need in order for Duff to coordinate an attack on the town. He realized that the odds were going to be against Duff. He had only Wang, Jason Bowles, who had temporarily turned his sheriff duties over to his deputy, and Hanson. That was four men against an army of twenty.
Of course, Elmer planned on he, Morley, and Craig also being with Duff. Though that would improve the odds somewhat, they would still be doing battle against a force with more than twice as many men as Duff could muster.
Midway through the second day, the odds grew steeper.
Elmer stepped into the Red Dog. Ever cautious, he glanced around. Four more men were there, but they were townspeople, not part of Jaco’s gang. They represented no danger to him.
He was sitting at a table with Belle when Dane and Dingo came into the room, dragging a body—that of Jim Morley. They dragged it all the way over to the table, then dropped it.
Belle got up from the table the moment they approached and moved toward three other girls. All four moved to one side of the room. With shocked expressions on their faces, they watched the drama playing out before them.
“Here, what the hell is this?” Elmer stood up, glaring.
“Did you really think you would get away with it, Gleason?” Dingo asked.
“Get away with what?”
“Craig!” Dingo shouted. “You want to come over here?”
A moment later, Craig came into the center of the saloon. “I told ’em, Gleason. I told ’em ever’thing.”
“And you got Morley killed?”
“Yeah, I reckon I did.”
“I thought Morley was your friend.”
“So is Jaco, only he’s got more to offer than Morley did.”
“Gleason, Cyr has been tellin’ us about you,” Dingo said. “He says you ’n him rode together with Quantrill and Anderson. Good with a gun, are you?”
“I’m all right if I’m close enough to whatever it is that I’m a-shootin’ at.”
“Do you think you could beat me in a gunfight?”
“Is that what we’re goin’ to have? A gunfight? I figured you’d probably just shoot me.”
Dingo laughed, a high-pitched, insane cackle. “That is what I am a-goin’ to do to you, you fool! Do you think that, just because we’re goin’ to have a gunfight it’s goin’ to make any difference to you? I’ll shoot you down same as if I just walked up to you and held a gun to your head.”
“I don’t know,” Elmer said. “I don’t reckon I ever really give it that much thought. But you might be right.”
“I might be right? I might be? Damn, Gleason, how dumb are you, anyway? You don’t really think that you would have a chance ag’in me, do you?”
“Probably not,” Elmer agreed.
“You’re just goin’ to have to deal with it.” Again, Dingo laughed. “You’re goin’ to be shot down like a dog right in front of all these soiled doves.” He pointed to the side of the room, glaring at Elmer. “Get up.”
“I’ll stay where I am.”
Dingo grinned. “Don’t you think we owe them a show?”
“Not particularly. If I’m goin’ to die, I may as well die comfortable.”
Dingo laughed. “That’s funny. That’s real funny.”
“Dingo, you might want to think about this again,” Elmer said. “I warn you, it may not turn out quite like you’re a-thinkin’.”
“You warn me?”
“Yeah.”
“First, you say you want to die comfortable, then you warn me. Yes sir, Gleason, you are a real funny man.”
“It’ll be good for you to die laughin’,” Elmer said. “When you show up in hell, laughin’, the devil is goin’ to be some confused.”
“Enough of this!” Dingo shouted. He started for his pistol, but before he even touched the handle, a gun roared from under the table. Slapping his hands over the wound in his chest, he looked at Elmer with a surprised expression on his face. “How? How?”
“I don’t have to beat you if I’ve already got the gun in my hand.” Sensing a movement from Dane, Elmer turned his pistol toward him. “You want to die, too?”
Dane threw both hands up in the air.
“Belle, I want you to get Dingo’s pistol. You”—Elmer pointed to one of the other bar girls—“come over here and get Dane’s pistol. Bring them to me.”
When he had both pistols in hand, Elmer took out the cylinders and dropped them into his pocket. He handed the guns back the two women. “Drop them over there in that spittoon, would you?”
“You think Jaco is goin’ to let you get away?” Dane asked angrily.
“Well, I don’t know. I hadn’t planned on askin’ ’im,” Elmer said as he backed toward the door.
Leaving the saloon, he mounted his horse, then untied the reins of six other horses that happened to be tied to the hitching rail. Firing his pistol a couple times scattered the other horses, then, slapping his legs against the side of his horse, he galloped away. He kn
ew it would take several minutes for Jaco and his men to get mounted, and by that time he would be well out of town.
He rode north to throw anyone off who might be following him, then moved into Blanco Creek and took it to the Frio River, where he turned south toward Eagle Pass.
When the residents of Shumla awakened the next morning, they were greeted by printed flyers that had been posted on fences, walls, trees, and windows all over town.
Citizens of Shumla!
Your Time of Delivery is near.
The outlaws who have taken
over your town will be dealt with.
You are advised to stay in your homes.
Anyone seen on the street will be a target.
“Where the hell did these come from?” Jaco demanded angrily when first Cyr, than Mattoon, brought him one of the posters.
“They’re posted all over the place, Jaco,” Mattoon said. “Hell, there ain’t a buildin’ in town that don’t have one or more of these things posted.”
“Who put them out?”
“I don’t know, but somebody sure as hell did.”
“Get all our men together,” Jaco ordered.
Half a mile south of town, Duff, Elmer, Wang, Jason, and Hanson were finishing their breakfast. It was Wang who had sneaked into town to post all the flyers. They had a number of reasons for doing it. One reason was to unnerve Jaco and the men with him. Another was to let the victims of Shumla, those good citizens who were trapped in the outlaw town by no fault of their own, know that help was coming. And finally, it was a warning to all to stay off the street.
Rarely was a battle ever planned against greater odds. Duff and his friends made five, but there were least twenty men arrayed against them.
“We aren’t at as big a disadvantage as it may appear,” Duff said. “When we launch our attack, we will do so with a plan. That means we determine what is about to happen. Jaco and his men can only react to what we do.”
“And,” Hanson added, “as Euripides says, ten men wisely led are worth a hundred without a head. We are wisely led.”
MacCallister Kingdom Come Page 25
