by F. M. Parker
"Ben did that."
"No time to talk," Ben said. "Evan, help Rachel up on her horse. We've got to be a long ways from here come sunup."
As he guided Maude to her horse, he realized the women were dressed in shirt and trousers. "Where did the clothes come from?" he asked.
"The woman gave us these in place of our dresses for she knew we would have to be riding horse back," Maude said.
"Which way?" Evan asked as he reined his mount close to Ben.
"Ramos will most likely think we'll ride fast as we can for the border. I'd like to fool him if we can. We'll go south for several miles and then west for another day. Then we'll work our way north on the far side of a mountain range called Sierra Las Tunas. It's a much longer route, but should be a hell of a lot safer."
"So you know that country?" Evan said.
"I rode over part of it once. However, most of it will be new to me and we'll just have to take it as it comes."
"How long do you think it'll take us to reach the States?" Rachel asked.
"I don't care how long it takes, not now," Maude said. She reached out through the darkness and touched Ben's arm.
"Several days," Ben said. Maude had voiced his exact thoughts. He sent his horse off.
They forded the black water of the Santa Isabel River. Hours later they passed south of Laguna Bustillos. Just before daylight, they reached the extreme upper headwaters of the Santa Maria River. The first drop of the river came from a spring flowing from a deep cleft in the side of a pine-forested mountain.
Ben called a halt beside the spring. The riders dismounted and stood stiff and weary.
"I'd guess you know where we are since you came straight to the spring," Evan said.
"I found it one day by accident." Ben didn't want to waste words explaining how Ramos had once been hunting him and the horses he had stolen, and cutting him off from a race straight to the border, had forced him into a roundabout route. "We'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow we have to get provisions for a long journey."
Ben spread their only blanket on a mat of pine needles beneath a giant ponderosa. "You three rest on this while I stake out the horses."
"I'll help you," Evan said.
"That's not needed, Evan," Ben said, short-tempered. He instantly regretted his tone. That came from being damn tired after not having slept for two days. "Rest and save your strength for when it's really needed," he said in a kinder voice.
"Like when?" Evan came back, ill-tempered.
"Like tomorrow. We have no food and no bedrolls. There's a town name of Mateo about twelve miles west of here. You'll have to go there and buy a packhorse and the other things we need for a long trip. I can't do that, but you can. Does that answer your question?"
Without a further word, Ben took up the reins of the horses. He led the animals to the small meadow below the spring, where he staked them out to graze.
When he returned, Maude spoke to him. "Ben, there's a little bit of room here on the blanket beside me."
Ben sank down on the edge of the blanket. Maude put her arm across his chest. He felt her hip and shoulder pressing against him. Her touch gave him a grand feeling of being accepted, of belonging. He wanted to say something to her, speak words that told her how much he cared. At the moment, he could think of nothing appropriate to say.
He took her hand in his and went to sleep the happiest he had ever been in all his life.
FORTY EIGHT
"Ninety pesos," said the horse trader. His sly, black eyes were fastened on Evan.
"That includes the horse and the packsaddle," Evan said, and indicated both with a sweep of his hand. The horse he was buying was of only middling quality and the packsaddle had seen much usage, showing worn leather strapping and splintery wood. Still, both items would serve well enough to get his comrades and him to the States.
"Yes," said the horse trader as his sight drifted away to Evan's mount tied nearby. "Going prospecting for gold?" he asked.
"Yes. Here's your money." The man's interest in Evan's mount, which had the Valdes brand in plain view, worried him.
The horse trader turned back to Evan and held out his hand. Evan counted out all the pesos he had, and finished paying the remainder of the price in dollars. The horse trader pocketed the money, took one last look at Evan's mount, and went inside his office.
Evan buckled the packsaddle on the back of the purchased horse and climbed astride his steed. He took up the lead rope of the second horse and led it off along the street of Mateo. He didn't see the horse trader come to stand in the doorway and stare as he rode away.
Evan had arrived in Mateo a short time before and gone about the town hunting for a dealer in horses. He had searched no further than the first such business he'd encountered because he knew the danger increased with every minute he stayed in the town. Now as he rode to a general store he had seen earlier, his eyes roamed the streets and sidewalks. He was alert for anyone who seemed to pay undue attention to him.
Mateo was a prosperous, bustling silver-mining town. Several of the mines were visible on the forested mountain above town, their locations easily spotted by the large tailing piles of waste rock at each mine mouth. Two-and three-story brick buildings lined the main street, and the homes of the townsfolk were large, all telling of the substantial wealth of Mateo. Many people came and went on the street. He saw no Norte Americanos, no one with white skin.
He tied his horses and entered a red-fronted store with a sign stating the business was Rios Tienda. The clerk, a middle-aged woman with very dark skin, was serving two men dressed in miner's clothing. The three looked at Evan and then away and again picked up their conversation.
The store had a wide variety of goods, and Evan began to collect the various items he wanted and to stack them on the unused end of the counter. By the time Evan had made all his purchases, and loaded them on the packhorse, Mateo had fallen under the shadow of the mountain with the silver mines. He pulled himself astride and rode south. He must hurry and find his way back before darkness hid the trail. Also, he had hungry comrades waiting for something to eat.
He came to a splendid Catholic church painted a brilliant white and with stained-glass windows showing Christ in one big window and scenes from the Bible in three others. A towering steeple rose from the peak of the roof, and a large gold cross from that. The church's double doors were opened wide, and Evan halted and sat his horse and looked inside. A few parishioners could be seen in the pews. Two women were kneeling at the altar, before which stood a priest looking down upon their bowed heads. The priest seemed to be speaking to the women. No words reached Evan. He thoughtfully rubbed his whiskered chin and rode on.
In front of a cantina, three coquettish mujeres, faces powdered a pale lavender and smoking seegaritos, lazed lightly on the sidewalk. One of the languid ladies of the evening stepped out into the street in front of Evan. Her trade was in her eyes as she gave Evan a red-lipped teasing smile.
Evan touched the brim of his hat and shook his head in the negative. He had a more beautiful woman waiting for him to return.
He left the town traveling south. Frequently he glanced behind to see if he was being followed. When the town had dropped from view and no one was in sight, he turned due east and raised the horses to a lope.
* * *
Evan halted on the mountainside to let his horses catch their wind. Dusk was falling, and under the dense stand of tall pines darkness was already gathering. He still had a mile of stiff climbing to make good along a hazardous rocky trail before he reached the camp and his comrades.
He kicked his mount in the ribs and continued the ascent. He was concentrating on finding the trail on the darkening ground when his mount shied abruptly and almost unseated him. Holding to the saddle horn with one hand, he grabbed for his pistol with the other and looked for what had frightened the horse.
Ben stood in the gloom of the pine forest a few paces ahead. He held his rifle and spyglass. Evan knew it was like the man t
o be on the lookout for possible enemies, and he must have been observing his approach for some time.
"Glad to see you, Evan," Ben said. "Any trouble?"
"Nope. Any here?"
"No," Ben said, running his eye over the loaded pack-horse. "Looks like you got enough supplies to last several days."
"I believe so."
"Best we get on to camp before it gets full dark. Here, let me have the packhorse."
Evan handed over the lead rope and then waited for Ben to go first leading the way.
* * *
Ben and Evan came to the camp at the spring in the cleft of the mountain. A small fire of dry pine limbs burned in a low place from where the light could not be seen beyond a few yards. A spit had been rigged over the fire, and a piece of meat of at least four pounds sizzled as it cooked.
"I killed a deer earlier this afternoon," Ben said. "Looks like the girls are cooking the tenderloin."
Evan nodded. "Where are they?"
"Playing it safe, I'd guess." Ben whistled a low tone through his teeth. "Anybody home?" he called.
Rachel and Maude came out from behind trees. Maude held Ben's pistol in her hand. "We heard someone coming and wasn't sure it was you," Rachel explained.
Evan was looking at Rachel. She was in the distant reach of the firelight; however, her face seemed to glow far more brightly than the fire would make it, as if she glowed from an inner light. How he had ever survived before knowing her, he couldn't imagine.
"Is the meat done," Ben asked Maude.
"Nearly so but needs salt."
"I've got salt for it," Evan said. "Help me unpack."
The four turned to, and in short order the items Evan had brought were spread on the ground. A meal was prepared of baker's loaf bread venison hot from the fire, canned corn, and canned pears. The women and men, seated on dry logs the men had dragged up within the light of the fire, began to eat lustily.
As Ben ate, he ran an eye over his comrades. They were far from being out of danger for Ramos Valdes had a long reach. Evan would have been seen by scores of people in Mateo. Any one of them could be in the service of Ramos. A man on a fast horse could ride from Mateo to the Valdes rancho in four hours.
Maude caught and held Ben's eye. She smiled at him. What a glorious thing a woman's smile freely given was, Ben thought.
The group finished eating and Maude and Rachel gathered the tin plates and other utensils that Evan had bought in Mateo. They took them to the spring to be washed.
"How long before we cross the Rio Grande?" Evan asked.
"Three weeks or so. How long do you want it to be?"
Evan grinned at Ben. "I don't care if it takes months. How about you?"
"Same here. I say we take it slow and careful. Go farther west than I first said, say another fifty miles, before we turn north. That would be on the far side of the Sierra La Catrina Mountains. Ramos would never look for us on that roundabout route to El Paso."
Maude and Rachel returned and took seats on the logs. "What were you two talking about?" Maude asked.
"How best to keep Valdes from finding us," Ben said.
"And how is that?"
"Go farther west before heading north," Ben said, "It'll be safer that way. I've never been over the route but that shouldn't be a problem. Just go north until we hit the Rio Grande and then turn east to El Paso."
Maude was watching the flames of the fire play upon Ben's scarred face. The battle wound had done terrible damage to his features. That seemed to have made him stronger, tougher. She admitted to herself that he was horribly disfigured, yet at the same time her mind softened the picture by overshadowing his face with the handsome one he had once possessed. He looked at her and her heart began a little dance.
A thought came to her, but dare she do it? Tense as a hummingbird, Maude climbed to her feet. She knew what she desired. However, she must begin the action for Ben would never do it.
She held out her hand to him. "Ben, I've found a soft bed of pine needles just right for sleeping. If you'd like for me to show you, bring two of those and come with me." She gestured down at the blankets on the ground.
Ben was stunned for a moment, then speedily recovering, came to his feet. What was Maude offering? Could it be what he was thinking? He couldn't tell because her woman's eyes were hiding what she was thinking. He scooped up two blankets and took Maude's hand, still extended toward him.
She led him away from the fire and into the darkness of the forest. Walking slowly hand in hand among the pines, they went a hundred feet. Then Maude stopped them. "Right here," she said. "Feel the softness under your feet?"
"Thick bed of needles, all right."
"I got cold last night," Maude said as she spread the first blanket. She took the second one from Ben and placed it in preparation for a cover. "Tonight that shouldn't happen."
She moved to stand against Ben. She caught his hand and brought it up and pressed it to her bosom.
Ben, his blood a hot, swift tide, began to fondle the warm, soft breast. Maude was offering him everything. He wanted everything.
She took his hand from her breast, and still holding it, drew him down on the blankets with her. Seated there, she began to disrobe, with more and more of her white body becoming visible as first the shirt and then the trousers were removed.
"You too," she said.
Ben hastily undressed and lay back on the blanket. Maude came to him and lay all her naked body along him. Ben folded her into his arms.
As the darkness thickened to deep night in the pine forest, Maude and Ben made their own private world wrapped in a blanket. Afterward, Ben lay holding Maude and studying the big stars studding the ebony sky. They seemed to be murmuring a song down to him. That was impossible, just his imagination. Then, to his amazement, Maude began to hum a soft, melodious tune up into the night sky. Was she as happy as he was and had she also heard the star song?
The joy Ben felt at the sound of Maude's voice was nearly impossible to endure. He rolled onto his side to face her and ran his hand over her smooth, curved body. He basked and reveled in his happiness. She was the right woman for him, and the right woman had an infinite value to a man.
Ben knew one thing for certain. He would have to commit murder, shoot Lester Ivorsen, for the man would never let Maude go, regardless of the new federal law barring multiple wives that Evan had told him about.
FORTY NINE
"Damn it, Evan, you know it's not safe to go back to Mateo," Ben said with a shake of his head. "Ramos might've found out you were there and be searching that area for us."
"I've asked Rachel to marry me and she said yes," Evan replied. "There's a Catholic church in Mateo and I saw a priest. He could perform the ceremony for us."
"He could be gone off on church business and we can't go running around the country looking for him."
"There's a residence beside the church. That must be where the priest lives. The odds are good that since I saw him yesterday late in the day, that he'll be there today if we ride in early."
Ben glanced at Rachel, standing with Maude near the spring and looking in Evan's and his direction. She was a grand sight and he understood why Evan wanted to marry her as soon as possible.
"Do you really have to be married first?" Ben said in a low voice, knowing Evan would understand the full meaning of the question.
"Yes, married first," Evan said sharply. "She's been through that and I can't ask her to do it again."
Ben faced about to stare down from the mountain and in the direction of Mateo. The sun was up and filled the wide valley. He knew where Mateo lay; however, it was too far away to be seen. He dreaded taking the white women into a town where there were only brown-skin people. They would stand out like jewels, and in minutes the town would be buzzing about their presence. It would require the greatest kind of luck to find the priest and get Evan and Rachel married and then ride away before Ramos found out about their presence in the town. Hell, Ramos practically owned t
his part of Mexico.
"Did you see other white men in Mateo?"
"No. Still, there could have been others besides me and I just didn't see them." He wouldn't tell Ben how the horse trader had eyed the Valdes brand on his mount.
"It's still a foolish thing to do."
"Ben, I'm going to marry Rachel today with or without your help," Evan said flatly. "But I'd like for you and Maude to be witnesses."
"Does Rachel know how dangerous going into Mateo will be?"
"We talked about it and she knows."
Ben turned to Maude and called out. "What do you think, Maude, about us all going into Mateo so Evan and Rachel can get married?"
"How can we really say no?" She gave Ben a look that told it all, how they had felt during the night in each other's arms.
"All right. The sooner we get it done the better." If Ben's face had been restored he would at this moment have asked Maude to marry him, make it a double wedding ceremony, for he wanted her permanently in his life. He could not do it for Evan might not be able to perform such a miracle, or he might be killed for there were many hazards to avoid before reaching El Paso. Ben didn't want Maude to be married to a man with the face of a scarecrow.
Hurry, Ben urged the priest silently as the man performed the rite of the wedding ceremony with Evan and Rachel. It was damn risky to be here. Their horses with Valdes brands were on the street, and the front doors of the church were open so that anyone passing on the sidewalk, should they happen to glance inside, could not fail to see the four Norte Americanos.
The sunlight shining through the wide stained-glass windows cast a sparkling, wondrous rainbow of colored light into the place of worship. The priest in his religious vestments was caught in the full splendor. So too were Rachel and Evan, and even their very common clothing was brightened and seemed suitable for a marriage in this religious place.
Ben and Maude stood beside Evan and Rachel. A half score of townswomen were seated in the front pew just beyond Ben. When the four Norte Americanos had arrived, the women had been scattered about in the church, no two sitting together as they meditated or said their prayers. Once the women discovered the purpose of the four strangers, they had gathered as near as possible to view the ceremony. A very young woman appeared to be in a trance of wonderment as she gazed at Rachel and Maude.
