Reaper's Fee

by Marcus Galloway

  “That makes us both lucky. Why were you following me, anyhow?”

  Lester dusted himself off as he struggled to come up with an answer. To buy an additional few seconds, he took a step and winced in pain as if his ankle was bothering him. After all of that, he replied, “I wasn’t following you.”

  “Yes you were,” Nick said. “I left the trail, took a few turns after that and you were still behind me when I passed that village.”

  “What I meant was I wasn’t meaning to follow YOU. I’m supposed to meet up with a friend of mine from Cheyenne and I mistook you for him.”

  Nick studied Lester for a few seconds. His hand rested upon the grip of his holstered pistol and remained there as if it hadn’t decided what to do next.

  Blinking as another thought hit him like a rock against the back of his head, Lester added, “My friend was coming in on a train from California. He must have gotten held up somewhere along the way. At least, I hope he wasn’t held up, but you know what I mean.”

  “Actually,” Nick said, “I do know what you mean. It seems like lots of trains were getting stopped in Rock Springs.”

  “Really? That must be it, then.”

  Nick nodded, mulling over what he’d heard. Eventually, he took his hand away from his pistol and walked back over to Kazys. “You should probably head back the way you came so you can meet your friend. You may even want to go to Rock Springs, although I’d advise you to wait a day or two. Things should be cleared up there by then.”

  Climbing into his own saddle, Lester started to speak but was cut off as pain lanced through his leg. In his haste to get onto his horse, he’d put all of his weight onto the ankle that had been snagged in the stirrup.

  “You sure you’re all right?” Nick asked.

  Lester nodded and took a few breaths to steady himself. “Yeah. I was just hoping you’d let me ride with you for a piece.”

  Glancing toward the village, Nick saw that the Sioux had already stopped and formed a line that was well within range for rifle and bow shots. “We’re still being watched,” Nick warned. “I don’t think those Sioux are anxious for a fight, but they’re plenty anxious for us to leave.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Lester said. “I just don’t want to ride all the way back to Rock Springs when my friend is probably waiting for me in the opposite direction.”

  Despite the things that came to Nick’s mind, the main thing he could think about was the group of Sioux that were watching them like hawks. Even when he’d ridden with killers and vigilantes, Nick had learned to never turn his nose up at Indian hospitality. Favors like that didn’t come along too often and they were never to be taken lightly.

  “Fine,” Nick said quickly. “Just keep your hands where they can be seen and don’t even think about straying from my side. There’s a burial ground not far from here and if we so much as look at it, we’re in for a war.”

  “Lead on, my friend. Lead on.”

  Despite the reservations he had, Nick led on. He kept Lester beside him and the Sioux’s horses in his sight for as long as he could. The Indians barely even moved as Nick and Lester rode away. They remained in their formation until both men’s horses had built up some speed. When Nick looked behind him again, the Sioux were gone.

  Just to be on the safe side, Nick kept riding into the Badlands. It was rugged and beautiful country, which he’d passed through several times. Still, for every stretch of land that he knew like the back of his hand, there was another stretch that Nick didn’t even recognize.

  In his younger years, Nick and Barrett had used the Badlands as their own personal refuge. It was a good spot for meeting up with other members of his gang to plan jobs or split up the fruits of their labor. It was also easy to charge through and shake off anyone following them in much the same way that Nick had shaken Lester.

  Even now, Nick glanced around at the rocky terrain and picked out caves where he could sleep and peaks he could use as lookout posts. The land hadn’t changed much in the time that he’d been away. It was still a dangerous ride for anyone who didn’t know their way, and a haven for everyone else. Barrett had loved the Badlands. That was why Nick had buried him there.

  Steering Kazys toward a gravel-covered ridge, Nick pulled back on his reins and brought the horse to a stop. Lester was more than happy to follow suit.

  “This is where we part ways,” Nick said.

  Lester blinked and looked around as if he was expecting another ambush. “What? Here? We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

  “I gave you the chance to leave before, but you didn’t take it.”

  “I know, but that was when them Injuns were about to kill us,” Lester whined.

  “They’re not going to kill us as long as we don’t stray where we’re not supposed to be.”

  “And where’s that?”

  “Just go back the way you came,” Nick said. “Ride straight past that village without looking cross-eyed at it and you’ll be fine.”

  “And what if they ride up on me again?”

  Guiding Kazys away from the ridge and back toward the narrow trail, Nick replied, “Fall out of your saddle again. They seemed to think that was pretty funny.”

  “Hilarious. You damn near got my leg snapped in two.”

  “Better than your neck,” Nick said in a tone that was colder than the bottom of a frozen lake.

  Rather than try to bargain or plead any more, Lester stayed put and let Nick go. Although his mouth was still, his brain was chugging like the piston of a steam engine. He squeezed the reins tightly and shifted his feet in the stirrups. His eyes snapped back and forth quicker and quicker as Nick moved farther away.

  Finally, Lester managed to spit out a few desperate words.

  “I know where you’re headed!”

  Nick was just snapping his reins to get Kazys to jump a small pit where a piece of the trail had broken off. He landed on the other side, turned and said, “I know you do. I’ve mentioned it a few times.”

  “Not just which direction. I know the spot you’re looking for. It’s the spot where Barrett Cobb is buried.”

  Nick pulled back on his reins so quickly that Kazys shook his head to protest the bit pulling at the corners of his mouth. Nick sat in the saddle like a statue that had been chiseled out of ice. “What the hell do you know about Barrett?” he growled.

  At first, Lester had felt relieved when Nick stopped. Now he wished the other man was safely moving away from him again. Doing his best to keep his chin up and the fear from his face, Lester said, “I heard he was buried not too far from here.”

  “Who told you?”

  “Some friends of mine.”

  Nick was across the gap and within inches of Lester’s face in the space of a heartbeat. “That’s why you’re here? To defile a grave?”

  “Considering what’s buried in there with him, Cobb himself shouldn’t have been too surprised that there’d be folks coming after him.”

  “What do you know about it?”

  “Just that him and his gang pulled off one hell of a job before he was killed, and none of the stolen jewels were ever found.”

  Nick furrowed his brow slightly and leaned forward less than half an inch. His movements were slow and didn’t cover much space, but Lester pulled back as if he’d found himself in front of a rockslide.

  “And how do you know so much about Barrett’s last job?” Nick asked. “Are you a lawman?”

  “Hell no.” Lester gulped. “But I can read a newspaper. Anyone in this part of the country has either heard something about that job or something about the search for Cobb or his gang. When nobody found anything or anybody, word started to spread.”

  “Rumors,” Nick grumbled, as if he’d just uttered a profanity.

  “You should know all about that.”

  Nick nodded to himself and looked Lester up and down. Letting out a breath, he eased back in his saddle and took on a more relaxed posture. Nick let his eyes wander just until
he could see Lester following his lead and relaxing as well. That way, when he snapped his hand out to grab Lester by the front of his shirt, Nick was sure to put a fresh scare into him.

  “Don’t lie to me again and don’t take me for a fool,” Nick snarled. “That is, unless you want me to shoot you full of holes and leave your carcass for the Indians.”

  Lester shook his head vigorously until his hat toppled off. “I wouldn’t dream of it!”

  “Either you were a friend of Barrett’s or you were chasing after him, because no newspaper stories are that detailed.”

  “I wasn’t after him…or you! I swear.”

  Nick asked, “Do you know who I am?”

  Lester winced as he realized just how far ahead of his brain his mouth had been running. “Yeah, I know who you are. My cousins live not too far from here. There’s been plenty of talk about you and Cobb after all the shootings and such over the last few years.”

  “So your cousins were after Barrett’s grave?”

  “No, I swear!”

  Nick gave him a shake and pulled Lester forward as if he was about to pitch him off his horse. Rather than struggle, Lester lost the will to fight and went limp.

  “I’ve been on the run myself,” Lester whined. “Sometimes my cousins would get some work from Cobb since he was always lookin’ for steady gun hands. They would send me some money, since I couldn’t risk getting honest work from someone who would pay me real wages. They would always send word about the hell they had to raise to earn it. They also said Cobb was a good man.”

  “He’s been dead for years,” Nick pointed out.

  “He was still a good man. My cousins told me so. They told me all about how he would—”

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake, shut up,” Nick said. “Just tell me what you know about where Barrett is buried.”

  Lester blinked a few times as hope began to show within his watering eyes. “My cousins found the spot.”

  “How?”

  When Lester spoke, his words spilled out of him like water from a broken dam. “Two of them were supposed to meet up with Cobb after that last robbery with them jewels. They heard the shooting and went to see if they could help. One of them saw you two riding off, but couldn’t keep up. They caught up with you a while later, but you were carrying a body across the back of your horse. They followed you until they figured you were probably about to bury the body and then waited for you to leave the area.”

  As he listened to Lester’s account, Nick thought back to the way things had actually happened. Barrett had always been a fast talker and had almost convinced Nick to join him on that one final job. But Nick had known there would never be a final job where Barrett was concerned. Barrett wouldn’t stop robbing, just as surely as a fish wouldn’t stop swimming. When Nick had gone along with him, he’d done so just to make certain his friend didn’t get himself killed.

  Perhaps there had been other reasons at the time, but that was the only one that stuck out in Nick’s mind anymore. When the job was done, Barrett’s plan had proven to be as good as any of his others. They’d gotten the jewels and Barrett was ready for the next job. The only difference was that this time, Nick wasn’t.

  It wasn’t the first time the friends had fought, but this would turn out to be the last. Nick’s hand was forced and he fired a shot that still echoed within his nightmares to this very day. To make amends, Nick had buried his friend with his precious jewels. He’d gone over the incident a thousand times since he’d first set out from Ocean, and the absurdity of it was still enough to strike him squarely in the face.

  Nick shook the ghosts from his head and realized that Lester was still talking.

  “There wasn’t anyone around when I buried him,” Nick said. “I made sure of it.”

  “They never knew exactly where the spot was,” Lester replied. “But they had a pretty good idea.”

  “So you or your cousins are some of the assholes looking to dig him up.”

  Lester thought long and hard about how he should answer that. Even though he knew his life could very well depend on what he said next, he couldn’t come up with anything more profound than, “Not me. It was my cousins.”

  “You’re here to meet up with them?”

  Lester nodded.

  Nick nodded as well. With a grin that sent a chill down Lester’s spine, Nick said, “Then we’d best not disappoint them.”

  NINETEEN

  As Nick rode from one trail to another, he kept a close eye on his newfound partner. He didn’t trust Lester any farther than he could throw him. Then again, Nick figured he might be able to throw Lester quite a distance. He might even be able to test that theory if the little rat proved to be even slimier than he seemed.

  Lester didn’t sit still for one second. During the entire ride, he was constantly squirming in the saddle, shifting from one side to another, nervously glancing at various points on the horizon. His jumpy reflexes were getting quite a test, since there was no shortage of things scurrying about on the edges of his field of sight. Critters scampered across the trail, going about their lives as the two horses ambled by.

  The last time Nick had been to the Badlands was when Barrett was with him. He didn’t remember things quite the way that Lester had described, but the two accounts were close enough to make Nick glad he’d jumped off that train when he did. Otherwise, he might not have been able to cross paths with one of the grave robbers he’d been hoping to catch.

  As Nick led the way deeper into the Badlands, each ridge and every rock seemed familiar. While all of these lands had already been claimed by one tribe or another, the rocky patch that Nick now rode through was too rough for any Indian in his right mind to live on.

  For every flat stretch of trail, there were twice as many spots where a horse or man could slip and crack their skull against a rock.

  For every spot that could make a nice little campsite, there were three patches of sand that were being watched by anything from a nest of poisonous spiders to wild coyotes. Like any other sort of prey, Lester could sense that he was in over his head. And, like any self-respecting predator, Nick strode confidently into the heart of the Badlands.

  As he drew closer to the spot where he knew he would find Barrett’s final resting place, Nick felt a calm settle over him. Even Lester felt it and he allowed the breath he’d been holding to finally seep out of his mouth.

  “This is as far as you go,” Nick said as he drew Kazys to a stop.

  Snapping his eyes wide open, Lester asked, “We’re not there yet?”

  “We’re close, but not quite there. What did you think? Just because you got as close as you did, I’d just lead you in the rest of the way?”

  Judging by the expression on Lester’s face, that was almost exactly what he’d thought. Now that he realized the error of his assumption, Lester suddenly felt more isolated than if he’d been stranded in the middle of a desert. Even the small animals that had been scurrying about seemed to have chosen this moment to run back into their holes.

  “Just so you know,” Nick announced, “the moment I see anyone riding toward me who I don’t recognize, I’m shooting them first and you second.” After letting that sink in for a second or two, he added, “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

  At first, Lester kept perfectly still.

  Then, as the thoughts churned through his mind and his imagination wreaked its havoc, Lester started to twitch. Just the corners of his eyes twitched at the start, but then the tremors worked through his face until he was almost shaking.

  “There’s someone else coming,” Lester spat out. “He made me swear not to tell you.”

  “Then why are you telling me?”

  “Because I don’t think he’s gonna hold up his end of our deal. He was supposed to cut me in on a percentage of whatever we found in that grave, but then he saw you and wanted to cash you in for the price that’s on your head.”

  Nick nodded and looked around as he said, “A bounty h
unter.”

  “That’s right.” Dropping his voice to a harsh whisper, Lester added, “And he could be anywhere. He could be watching us right now.”

  “What was your plan?”

  “I was supposed to get in close and keep you occupied until he could get a shot. For all I know, he’s got us both in his sights right now.”

  “He doesn’t,” Nick said confidently.

  “How the hell can you be so sure?”

  “Because he would have killed you before you spilled so much about what was really going on. That either means he’s not close enough to hear us, or you’re making this up to save your skin.”

  Lester’s eyes widened to the size of saucers as he shook his head violently. “I didn’t make it up! I swear to God!”

  Oddly enough, Nick believed him. He had taken enough twists and turns while riding to this spot that he would have noticed if anyone else had been following him. For all the ridges, gullies and trenches in the area, there were plenty of spots to hide in, but not a lot of ways to move silently from one spot to another. There were too many loose rocks and nervous critters around for a man to go unnoticed for long. Nick knew that much from firsthand experience.

  Also, Lester was too scared to be lying well enough to pull the wool over Nick’s eyes. Nick had lost count of how many chances he’d given Lester to trip up on his stories. So far, Lester hadn’t tripped over much of anything other than his own tongue. Lester could be an exceptional liar, but Nick’s eyes were telling him to go along with his gut reaction.

  The surrounding landscape was jagged and made up of sharp lines. Even a man lying on his belly could be spotted if he was trying to spy on Nick and Lester from afar. If such a man was closer, he would have made noise, disturbed a rabbit, or done something else to tip his hand. If he was good enough to avoid doing all of those things, then there wasn’t much Nick could do about him.

  “Come on,” Nick said as he turned Kazys toward a wide, rocky slope that led to the east.