Wife Stealer

by F. M. Parker

  The four Americans had reached the outskirts of Mateo in early morning. There Ben and the two women had remained while Evan had gone on to find the priest and arrange for the wedding. Luckily, the priest, Father Xavier, had been at home, and readily agreed to the request to perform a marriage. Evan returned to his comrades and they all rode directly to the church.

  In spite of Ben's concern with their safety, he was caught up in the brilliantly colored light pouring into the church, in the quiet words and dignity of the priest, and most of all in the joy his friends showed as they were being married. He peered down at Maude, holding his hand. She was absorbed in the ritual. Pretty gal, maybe someday you and I can do the same.

  The jingle of spurs came to Ben from the rear of the church and he looked over his shoulder. A tall white man stood in the open entryway, eyeing them. He wore dusty clothing and twin pistols and a belt full of cartridges. His face registered obvious recognition. He gave Ben a wolfish grin, and then pivoted about and disappeared from the doorway. Ben focused back to the front in time to hear the priest say, "Now kiss the bride."

  Evan took Rachel into his arms and kissed her soundly. He looked happily at Ben, and saw worry pulling at his scars. "What's wrong?" Evan asked.

  "There was an American in the doorway just now. I could tell he knew who we were. He's on his way to tell Ramos where we are. We've got to leave at once."

  Ben caught Maude by the arm and hastened from the church and out onto the sidewalk. He flung a look along the street in both directions. The American wasn't in sight. He would be hiding someplace close to mark the direction of their flight.

  "Let's ride," Ben said quickly to Evan, who had followed with Rachel from the church. "Get the girls up."

  The presence of the American most probably meant that Evan had been identified the day before and Ramos and his sons were in Mateo. The four of them were in a hell of a fix. Their horses had just covered twelve miles at a fast pace, and now must try to outrun Ramos and his son on fresh ones. It was impossible to do that for the Valdes men would be riding the very fastest of all their horses.

  The four mounted hurriedly. With Ben leading the packhorse, they raced from Mateo.

  Tattersall came out of the alley and stared after the four riders racing their horses down a street of the town. They were caught and just didn't know it yet. He hastened to his mount and rode swiftly along the street.

  Hawkins was a stupid man to have stopped in Mateo, which was only a few hours' ride from the Valdes rancho. Tattersall understood the man's need for provisions, but that surely had been accomplished the day before. Had he remained there for a second day just to get married? And in the meantime allow the horse trader time to ride and give Ramos the information about the presence of a gringo riding a Valdes horse?

  Ramos had played it shrewdly upon discovering the two girls had escaped. Carlos and Leo had wanted to mount and race out over the land searching for them. Ramos had corralled them at the hacienda, and in their place had sent a hundred men out to alert the people of the surrounding ranchos and towns that four Norte Americanos were wanted by Valdes and that any information as to their whereabouts would be hugely rewarded. Within one day the horse trader had appeared.

  Ramos and his sons and Tattersall with Adkisson and Oakman had immediately traveled to Mateo. Ramos had established a temporary headquarters at the home of Juan Bustamente on the edge of the town. Again Ramos had sent riders out to tell the people of his need to find the four Americans. Tattersall had, with the greatest of good fortune, found the four not a quarter mile from where Ramos waited.

  Tattersall entered the Bustamente home and reported his discovery to Ramos.

  "Are you certain they were getting married?" Ramos asked.

  "They were paired off. The blond woman with Hawkins, I knew him by his face, and the green-eyed woman with the second gringo. The priest was doing the ceremony. They were getting married arid that's why they were still in Mateo."

  "Are you sure of that?" Leo asked. "Getting married?"

  "Sure am," Tattersall answered sourly, not liking being asked the same question twice. He spoke to Ramos. "Hawkins ain't as savvy as you thought he was."

  "I'll kill her, I'll kill them all," Carlos raged, no longer able to control his disappointment and anger.

  "I don't want to kill Maude," Leo said.

  "They've betrayed us, Leo," Carlos said. "They've got to die."

  "How could they betray us? They weren't married to us, not yet."

  "They knew they would be soon as the priest arrived. They must be punished."

  Leo spoke to Ramos. "Father, they shouldn't die for what they did. We'll catch them and go on with what we planned."

  "Carlos is correct," Ramos said. "Now that they are married we can't act as if nothing has happened." Ramos spoke to Tattersall. "Did Hawkins see you?"

  "I'm sure he did for they immediately ran from the church and rode off fast."

  "How long ago was this? Which direction?"

  "To the west and not more than ten minutes ago."

  "He'll try to lose us by going into the mountains," Ramos said. "But he won't be able to. The rain has washed out all the old tracks and we'll have fresh ones to follow. We can catch him before dark."

  "Don't forget Hawkins's rifle," Carlos said.

  "We won't make the mistake you did," Ramos said. "We'll pen them down and hold them until they starve for water and have to give up."

  "When they show themselves, we kill them," Carlos said.

  'Tattersall, you and your men will come with us," Ramos said. "Now mount up."

  FIFTY

  "We can't outrun them," Ben said to Evan as he aimed his spyglass back toward Mateo. "We've got to think of something else."

  Ben had halted them on the crest of the range of hills west of Mateo. He had to know how many Valdes men were in pursuit. His mind churned, evaluating the possibilities of how to elude his foes, as he focused the glass.

  "They're in sight," he said steadying the glass on the riders streaming like a string of black ants over a ridge top a mile back.

  "Six of them," he added as he finished his count. "They'll run us to ground in short order."

  He snapped the spyglass closed in his hand reined his horse around and sped down the far side of the hill.

  * * *

  "There they are on that next hill," Carlos shouted out above the pounding of the horses' hooves. He pointed across the valley that separated the hill they had just climbed from the one their quarry was climbing.

  "I see them," Leo called back. He wished they had not been seen, that they never were found. He didn't want Maude to be killed.

  "We'll have them cornered in an hour," Ramos said. He laughed wildly. He had wanted to see Hawkins die for many months, ever since he had stolen those first prized horses.

  He looked behind and shouted out to Tattersall, riding directly behind. "You ready to earn your gold?"

  "I'm ready," Tattersall shouted back. As he viewed the distant riders, they reached the crown of the hill and vanished from sight beyond. He was surprised at how close they were. He would have thought they had a longer lead than that. He spurred to keep up with the racing Valdes.

  * * *

  Ben felt a sense of abandonment as he watched Evan and Maude and Rachel draw swiftly away. He squashed the feeling for hadn't he ordered Evan, using the threat of a beating to enforce his order, to take the two girls and ride on without him? Ben's scarred face twisted into a savage grimace as he looked in the direction from which his enemies would come. He felt the quickening of a ferocious exhilaration as he anticipated the impending battle with six guns arrayed against his one. Evan and he had taken Maude and Rachel from the Valdes brothers. Now, under Evan's care, they would make it safely north of the Rio Grande. Ben's task was to stop the Valdes men if he could.

  He lay in the shallow channel of the dry streambed near the center of the flat valley bottom. Ramos's band of gunmen would soon be riding across the qu
arter-mile-wide section of land in pursuit of Ben and his comrades. The chase had barely begun, and Ben knew they could have stayed out in front of the men for several more miles. However, for any ambush to succeed it had to be pulled early, close enough that the foxy Ramos could see those he pursued, but not so close that he could see there were only three riders on the five horses. He hoped Carlos and Leo were not with the riders, for he had promised their mother that he wouldn't kill them.

  The depression in the land that held him was a foot deep and barely hid his body. He pressed down as low as possible for he must not be seen before his foes were within range of his rifle.

  They came swiftly on. Ben heard the growing thunder of the hooves of their steeds. Daring not to look, he cocked his ear trying to estimate their distance from him. He must launch his attack when they were within range, but not so close that they could ride over him before he could get off his rifle shots.

  Three hundred yards away? Probably. The six enemies came pounding on. Now two hundred. Yes, surely.

  Ben rose to a sitting position with his Spencer rifle at his shoulder. The men were closer than he wanted. He recognized Ramos at once, his brightly colored clothing with its silver decorations standing out like a flag. Carlos and another Mexican, a smaller man, rode with Ramos in front of the Americans. Ben thought the smaller man would most likely be Leo, whom he had never seen. He brought Ramos into the sights of his rifle and fired.

  At the sudden appearance of Ben rising up with his rifle, Ramos instantly reined his horse in. But he was far too late. Ben's bullet plowed into him and tore him from the saddle and hurled him to the ground.

  Tattersall, who had been directly behind Ramos, ran his horse directly over the corpse. He pulled his pistol and rushed straight at Ben.

  Ben fired at Tattersall, catching him dead center and slamming him to the ground. He shot one of the remaining Americans. Before the man could fall to the ground, Ben swiftly rotated the rifle the short arc to the last American. He killed that man too.

  Carlos was raking his mount with spurs and rapidly closing on Ben. He fired his pistol.

  Ben felt the wind as the bullet fanned his cheek. Carlos fired again and the top of Ben's shoulder began to sting. Carlos was now within easy pistol range and would kill him with the next shot.

  Ben shifted the rifle and brought Carlos into the sights. I'm sorry, Helena, it's either him or me. Ben fired and saw the bullet knock Carlos from his horse.

  Ben swung the rifle farther to the side and caught the third Mexican, who he thought was Leo, in the sights. He moved his point of aim slightly and fired. Leo jerked as the bullet skimmed across his ribs, tearing flesh. He reined his mount away at a steep angle. Ben let him go.

  The horses of the downed men ran on ahead passing Ben with loose reins and flapping stirrups.

  Ben climbed to his feet and surveyed the bodies of the men he had shot. They had fallen roughly in a line, with Carlos the nearest, not thirty yards from him. Though confident that his shots had gone true to their mark, Ben cautiously watched them as he approached Leo.

  The man was some seventy yards away and off to the side. He was still mounted, watching Ben and holding his ribs.

  Ben eyed Leo warily. He didn't think he had wounded him so severely that he couldn't fight, but hoped he wouldn't continue it. Even as Ben observed Leo, the man slid from his saddle and fell unconscious to the ground.

  Ben hastened forward and disarmed Leo. Then he prodded him with the toe of his boot until he came to his senses.

  Leo rose to a sitting position. Fighting his pain, he watched the scarred Norte Americano.

  Ben saw the expectation in the young Mexican's face that he was going to die. However, he showed little fear and that pleased Ben. After half a minute with neither man uttering a word Leo looked about at the dead men. Tears came into his eyes.

  "You killed my father and brother, so what are you waiting for? Kill the last Valdes."

  "I can't, but you deserve to die for what you did."

  "What's stopping you?"

  "Because of a promise, a promise I made to your mother. She loved her sons and because of that helped free Maude and Rachel so I wouldn't kill you. Do you hear me plain? It's because of your mother that you're not laying there dead with the others."

  "She betrayed us, and now my father and Carlos are dead" There was a sob in Leo's voice.

  "Far from it. She risked your and Carlos's hate to save you. I would've spared Carlos too if there had been a way to do it."

  Again the men fell silent, with Leo staring at the body of his father and brother.

  Finally Ben said "Can you ride?"

  "Yes."

  "All right. I'll tie Ramos and Carlos on their horses and you can take them back with you."

  Ben put the open end of the rifle barrel against Leo's forehead. Leo flinched back at the touch of the hard metal.

  "If you ever come north of the Rio Grande, I'll kill you for sure," Ben said in a flat, dead voice. "That's regardless of my promise to your mother. Now go home and thank her for saving your life."

  FIFTY ONE

  Ben, with Maude, Evan, and Rachel, crossed the Rio Grande on the twenty-second day after the battle with the Valdes men near Mateo. Ben had caught one of the slain American's horses and overtaken Evan and the women the evening of the same day. They had traveled leisurely, enjoying their new relationships. Two days after crossing the river, they reached El Paso. Evan and Rachel turned west to Evan's parents' rancho, while Ben and Maude went north to Canutillo.

  * * *

  "Lester's been mad as a hatter ever since Maude disappeared," Tom Hawkins told his brother Ben and Maude.

  The three of them, with Tom's wife Sally, holding her child, were seated on the porch of Tom's home. Ben and Maude had come to the house on a route that skirted the town to avoid being seen until they had the latest news about Lester Ivorsen.

  "Lester didn't believe Silas's story about a Mexican carrying Maude off," Sally said.

  "Silas told the truth for that's what happened to me," Maude said.

  "I believed old Silas for I've never heard of him telling a lie," Tom said. "And Ben came looking for you, which he wouldn't do if the two of you had gone off together. But anyway, Lester is so damn jealous of his younger wives that he can't think straight. He's stomped half a dozen men in town because he thought they were flirting with them."

  "They'd have a right to flirt with them," Ben said. "There's a new federal law that says a man can have only one wife at a time. So Lester is really married to just his first one."

  "You sure about this?" Tom said.

  "I was told so by someone who was back East when the law was passed and knows it's a fact."

  "Sally, do you hear that?" Tom said.

  "Sounds like a fine law to me," Sally replied.

  "I thought you'd like it," Tom said with a chuckle. He was evaluating Ben and Maude. "Neither of you seem the worse for the trip to Mexico. You'll have to tell Sally and me about it."

  "We've got a visitor coming and he seems in a hurry," Sally said as she looked down the short lane to the street.

  "It's Wade Tidwell," Tom said. He raised his voice and called out. "Wade, what's the big hurry?"

  "It's Lester Ivorsen," Wade said as he came to a halt in the yard. "He's set off to kill your brother Eddy." He looked more closely at the people on the porch. "Well, I'll be damned," he said. "Hi there, Ben. Didn't know you were back in town."

  "Just got here. What's this about Eddy?" Eddy was Tom's full brother and Ben's half brother.

  "Lester came up on Eddy talking with Alice on the street in town. He roughed Eddy up something mean. But that wasn't enough for Lester, and he told Eddy to go get a pistol for he was going to get his and come shoot him."

  "Eddy's not good with a gun," Tom said. "He can't hit anything. Lester will kill him."

  "That's exactly what I thought and so I came to tell you fast as I could. Just in case you wanted to do something to stop
Lester."

  "Where is Eddy?" Tom asked.

  "Like I said before, Lester walloped him good. He got a bad cut over one eye and a smashed mouth. So he headed for Doc Shelton's office."

  "I'd better go and see about Eddy," Tom said, looking at Sally. "There's no time to ride to El Paso to get the sheriff to stop Lester."

  "Lester's mean, Tom, so be careful," Sally said with a worried expression.

  Ben came to his feet beside Tom. "I'll just walk along with you."

  "Glad to have your company."

  Ben spoke to Maude. "Will you wait here for me?"

  "I want to come too."

  "Best that you stay here and let me and Tom handle this alone. Lester might go plumb crazy if he saw you and somehow hurt you before I could stop him."

  "All right, Ben. You're coming back, aren't you?" Maude's face was strained with concern.

  "I won't be long." All the forces of heaven and hell couldn't prevent him from returning to Maude.

  * * *

  "Lester, you have this all wrong and you've got no reason to be mad at me," Eddy said, his voice thin. Damnation, he hated the big man. The ease with which Lester had beaten him was hellishly humiliating. Adding to the feeling was the damage done to him. The cut over his eye had required four stitches and the stub of a broken tooth had had to be pulled. The taste of blood was heavy in his mouth.

  Eddy had just left the doctor, and his lean body was backed up to the fence that ran in front of the office. Lester had come upon him there, and now stood in the street with his hand resting on the butt of a pistol belted to his waist. His face was grim with his intent to shoot Eddy.

  "All I did was to pass the time of day with Alice," Eddy said, trying to strengthen his voice. "Just like I would with any other woman in town."