Death Comes

by Sue Hallgarth

  “Amelia’s eggs are always special,” John Collier took another spoonful from the serving bowl and turned to Agent Dan, “but tell us more about what happened to those women who died and how they may be connected to what is going on in Red River.”

  “Well,” Agent Dan paused to wipe his mouth with his napkin, “no way to be sure at this point, but I think the women might have tried to escape from the men who abducted and enslaved them.”

  “And Maria?” Willa asked.

  “Enslaved them?” Nicolai Fechin put his fork down. “Strong language. I think I do not want to hear more just now.”

  “Of course,” Agent Dan coughed. “Later. We’ll talk more after I’ve had a chance to question that crazy Blade. Adam told Spud he actually bought Maria from Blade. That should say something about connections.”

  “So, what happens now?” Willa wanted to know.

  “Now,” Nicolai Fechin smiled at Willa, “maybe you will come with me and I will work a little more on my sketch of you.”

  “Ida and I will be going back to the pueblo for an hour or two this morning to do some sketching.” Andrew Dasburg turned to Edith. “Join us if you like.”

  “I would like that. There’s not much we can do here and with those awful men still on the loose, horseback riding is out of the question, even on pueblo land.”

  “Good thinking,” Agent Dan nodded approval.

  “Will you get the sheriff to go with you to look for those men at the hunting camp? We don’t want you to get shot again.” Willa’s voice was edged with worry.

  Agent Dan stared for a moment at the coffee in his cup. No tea leaves to read in there, Edith thought, but she imagined his reluctance to answer might have something to do with his memory of the ambush or the difficulties he expected in dealing with the sheriff.

  “My posse can help,” Tony offered.

  “The camp is out of your jurisdiction.” Agent Dan shook his head. “And I don’t want you to put yourself or your men in danger again.”

  “No danger,” Tony assured him.

  “Oh, but there is danger,” Agent Dan insisted. “And when we find those men, I want the authority to arrest them. I need the sheriff and other federal agents to do what needs to be done.”

  Tony lowered his eyes and straightened his braids. “You tell me what to do.”

  “That’s true for all of us,” Willa said.

  “Yes, of course. Tell us what we can do,” Andrew Dasburg pushed his chair back from the table.

  “And what we should not do,” Edith ended their conversation.

  “The swelling is down and nothing is broken.” Doc Martin explored Adam’s cheek with his fingertips. “Just a few bruises.” He turned to Maria, who remained sitting in the chair where she had eaten breakfast. “And you, my dear,” he touched her shoulder. She winced. “Your shoulder is back in its proper place. Don’t worry about the pain. That will pass. Just keep your arm in the sling for now.”

  “She doesn’t speak English,” Adam said to explain her worried eyes and unchanged expression.

  “Of course,” Doc Martin nodded. “Have Amelia tell her what she needs to know. I have to go. It seems that idiot the sheriff brought in last night shot himself in the foot. Just grazed his heel, the sheriff said, but they didn’t know until they took his boot off this morning. Asked me to take a look.”

  Adam began to laugh. Maria’s expression changed to surprise.

  “It’s okay, Maria,” Adam patted her uninjured arm. “Everything is okay. We’re safe now.” Maria smiled at him for the second time that morning. The earlier smile happened when she took her first bite of scrambled eggs. Now she leaned back in the chair and let her whole body relax.

  “Perfect,” Doc Martin grinned, opening the door. “Keep her that way.”

  “Keep her what way?” Spud came through the open door carrying a fresh pitcher of water.

  “Relaxed,” Adam smiled. “I will, Doc. Thanks.”

  “Geez, I don’t know how either of you could relax after what you’ve been through.” Spud filled water glasses and handed one to Maria.

  “With Blade in jail and the two of us getting such good care,” Adam nodded goodbye as Doc Martin closed the door, “I’m more than relaxed. I’m thrilled.”

  “Sure you are. We are, too, at least I am. I had no idea I was sending you into such danger. A bear or a mountain lion, maybe, but not a crazy man with a gun.” Spud returned to the chair where he spent the night. “But tell me more. What’s her story, for instance?” he indicated Maria.

  “Truth is, I don’t know,” Adam shrugged. “If she said, I didn’t understand. We haven’t known each other long, but she seems fearless and gentle and loyal and strong. She saved my life and I hers. It’s been quite a week.”

  Agent Dan used the phone in Spud’s office to arrange for the Bureau of Investigation to send agents from Albuquerque to raid The Watering Hole in Red River. After that he wanted some of the agents to come with him to check out the hunting camp in the woods. The Bureau was fine with his plans, but the sheriff, who wouldn’t even bother to talk to Agent Dan, wasn’t. Emilio told Agent Dan that the sheriff questioned the Bureau’s authority and had decided not to help them. In fact, Emilio told him, the sheriff was planning to release Blade.

  Agent Dan quietly returned the receiver to its cradle. His anger was obvious, but Spud was pleased to see that he chose not to take it out on the phone. Spud had been encouraging Mabel to buy one of the new desk phones, but his was still the old candlestick model where the receiver literally dangled from its holder when not in use. It could take some abuse, but not as much as Agent Dan might have given it under the circumstances.

  “You know this sheriff?” Agent Dan sputtered. “Why is he making things so difficult? It almost seems like he’s working with Blade and the others.”

  “Could be, I suppose,” Spud responded. “I don’t know this sheriff, but I am learning more every day about the people and pace of things in northern New Mexico. I love living here, but I can tell you this sheriff may just be doing what’s usual. I mean, nothing gets done early or fast in Taos. And descendants of the original Spanish settlers have little to do with Indians, Anglos, and especially Mexicans. Except for the Indians we’re all interlopers, you know? You and I are Anglos and here we are trying to help Mexican women, three of whom are dead.”

  “They don’t regard women highly?”

  “On the contrary. They hold their own women in the highest esteem. They place them on pedestals, like Our Lady of Guadalupe. They value other women less and Mexican women not at all.”

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Of course,” Spud chuckled, “all women are supposed to behave with decorum. Those who don’t are considered contemptible. Mabel is one of those, along with the women artists and writers who visit her. And Mexican women like the ones you saw in Red River, well, you can guess how they fare.”

  “Yes, but,” Agent Dan began.

  Spud raised his hand. He was not finished. “No buts, and if you still wonder why the sheriff is resisting you, think for a minute about who you are — an Anglo federal agent, a white law man from the big city who mostly wears suits and ties and tries to tell this local elected official who only wears boots and a big hat what to do. Of course, the local elected official says No in whatever way he can.”

  “Well, that does sound about right.”

  “Doesn’t mean he’s being paid off or is part of the gang he’s supposed to arrest. He could be, but that’s not the only way to understand his behavior.”

  “Yes, okay, I get it.”

  Spud felt suddenly exhausted and flushed with embarrassment. He never talked like that with anyone, certainly not with someone he didn’t know. He prided himself on observing, not on telling others how to see or think except through satire in his magazine, the Laughing Horse. But with Agent Dan he felt somehow comfortable. He trusted him. And Agent Dan needed to know what he was up against. He also needed to know that he
shouldn’t waste energy on someone like the sheriff. As far as Spud could tell, the sheriff was just being himself.

  When she came back from sketching with Ida and Andrew at the pueblo, Edith found Willa talking with Spud and Agent Dan in the hall outside Spud’s office. The three of them looked so serious, Edith chose not to interfere. Instead she nodded her greetings and leaned against the wall to listen.

  “Let me see if I understand,” Willa paused, so intent on her thoughts she didn’t even take note of Edith’s arrival.

  “I’m in a bit of a hurry, but how can I help you?” Agent Dan’s response sounded professionally polite.

  “Actually, I don’t understand.”

  Edith noticed that Willa’s stare was intense, her eyes a steel blue. She felt a little apprehensive for Agent Dan. Willa could be difficult at times. This looked like one of those times.

  “Let me get this right,” Willa began again. “You made arrangements to raid Red River and the hunting camp, but you have not really questioned Adam about his experience at the Lawrence ranch?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And you haven’t even talked with Maria?”

  “Yes. Well, you know they were both injured,” Agent Dan placed his hand over his own wound. “I didn’t want to bother them and, well, Maria may not know anything important. She’s just a woman and doesn’t speak English. And I’m not really that fluent in Spanish. I want someone to translate, one of the other agents, perhaps.”

  “Those agents won’t be here until tomorrow morning at the earliest, right?”

  “Tomorrow, yes. I do plan to talk more with Adam before then, but Spud said even Adam doesn’t know much. In fact, he knows very little about what happened to Maria before he got to the ranch.”

  “So she is the one who should be able to tell you what you most need to know. Right? And what do you mean, Maria is ‘just a woman.’ She should know more than anyone about all this because she IS a woman.”

  “Willa’s right, you know.” Edith could hold her tongue no longer. Her face felt as flushed as Willa’s and she could feel blood pounding through her temples.

  “Ladies, ladies,” Spud interrupted. “Agent Dan didn’t mean to be rude. I’m sure he was just trying to be considerate of Maria’s situation.” Spud’s expression turned hopeful.

  “Yes,” Agent Dan repeated, “considerate.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Willa sputtered. “There’s still time before lunch. I propose we ask Amelia to come with us to translate so we can talk with Maria and Adam right now.”

  Adam walked around the room for the third time in ten minutes. Even the walls seemed closer than they had last night. He almost asked Maria what she thought about the walls. Did it seem to her that they had closed in? But of course she wouldn’t understand his question. He contented himself with a fourth stroll between the beds and into and out of the bathroom. Finally, he gave up and sat in the chair Spud used through the night. It felt firm, too firm. How could Spud have managed to spend a whole night there?

  Maria sighed and tried a bright smile. Adam smiled back. She was propped up on the pillows on her bed. She looked comfortable and sleepy. Adam was neither. He felt he would burst if he didn’t do something soon, something to help catch those monsters. They were still out there somewhere. Blade was behind bars. That much was done. But Adam knew there were at least two more, the two who came for Blade at the ranch. And he was certain they planned to come back to the ranch. And. He paused. And what? Without knowing why they were there in the first place, or, for that matter, why Blade was shooting at Maria yesterday, he really had no idea what was happening. If only Maria could tell him what she knew.

  Adam tried smiling at Maria. She smiled back. He looked down at his hands. Artist’s hands. Well-shaped fingers, a little blue paint under the nails. Otherwise clean, his nails trim. If only he had a canvas and brush now, he knew how to relieve the agitation that was about to make his head explode. He placed the tips of his fingers against his temples and tried to focus, to clear his mind. It didn’t work.

  “Hello.”

  Adam reached the door in less than a second. Spud entered first, followed by Amelia, the federal agent, and the two ladies Adam remembered sitting between in the car. Once they introduced themselves to Maria, the two ladies and Amelia sat on the edge of his bed, while Spud and the agent took the two chairs. Adam perched on Maria’s bed and patted her hand. He wanted her to feel safe, though with Amelia and the other ladies in the room he thought Maria would be all right. Amelia had helped the doctor tend to Maria’s wounds, assisted her in getting dressed, and fed them. Twice. And Amelia spoke fluent Spanish. Maria would be fine. And she could tell them what she knew. Adam felt his smile widen.

  XVIII

  “YOU WILL NOT leave us behind. So figure out how to include us.” Willa stood tall, her voice forceful.

  “It could be dangerous, too dangerous for the two of you. We don’t know what to expect.” Agent Dan shrugged his shoulders and held his hands palm up.

  Edith thought Agent Dan was trying to be conciliatory. That would make Willa become even more forceful, Edith almost laughed, though she knew in fact the ranch could extremely dangerous, dangerous for all of them. The men they were looking for were barbaric. According to Maria, they not only cut the heads off two women who tried to escape, they used those bloody heads to frighten the women who were still alive. No wonder Maria and the others were compliant. They were terrified.

  “We need to take Adam with us, and we’ll need as many men as the car will hold.” Agent Dan waved his hands. “There may be a fight.”

  “Nonsense. We’re not afraid. We can handle ourselves,” Willa made it clear the “we” included Edith. “And, I dare say, we can deal with whatever happens. After all, we are the ones pushing you to do this now, before anyone can escape. And we are the ones who found the first body, discovered the hunting camp, and went with you to Red River. We’ll be fine.”

  Her mind racing, Edith put her hand on Willa’s arm. “What if they’re not at the ranch?”

  “Adam thought by now they would be,” Willa reminded her. “And that idiot Blade told Agent Dan they were planning to go back to get Maria. They were furious with Blade for selling her. No surprise there. She knows too much to have her on the loose.”

  “At the very least,” Agent Dan agreed, “Maria knows what those men look like. If she felt a little stronger, I’d say we should take her with us to identify them. But that can wait. We’ll at least have Adam with us. He knows what their voices sound like.”

  “Willa’s right, you know,” Mabel interrupted. “You don’t need to leave any of us behind, except for Maria. What you need is a second car. If those men are there, they don’t have to know we’re women. We can stay in the car and wear men’s hats so we’ll appear intimidating just by our presence. They’ll think you have that many more men with you. Tony can drive us in our car, and if John Dunn is free, he can take you with Spud and Adam.”

  “Long John Dunn? Brilliant idea.” Willa nodded vigorously. “And from what you’ve said about him, he can easily handle men like those.”

  “But we don’t have time to organize a raid,” Agent Dan objected. “We barely have enough time to get to the ranch and back before dark. And as I said, we’re talking about something extremely dangerous here. Not something for ladies to be part of.”

  “Ah, but we’re not your usual ladies.” Mabel’s voice was edged with excitement. “I’ll call John Dunn. The rest of you get ready.”

  Adam could only stare at this tall, skinny man with the droopy mustache and well-chewed cigar. Long John Dunn, Spud mentioned his name. Long John Dunn, who was in the midst of saying he would be happy to introduce them to his friends at the ranch. His friends at the ranch! Adam almost choked. Then he realized the man meant to be funny, funny with the sort of tongue-in-cheek humor Spud printed in the Laughing Horse. Still, John Dunn was making it clear he knew first-hand these terrifying outlaws, these horrible m
en who cared so little about human life they beheaded two women and shook those heads in front of the other women to frighten them into doing whatever the men wanted.

  The women had been frightened, too, Adam was well aware of that. All of the women, including Maria. They had been at the ranch for at least a week, according to the scratches Maria showed Adam behind the door in the little cabin. Seven scratches, one of the women made with the little silver cross she wore around her neck. One scratch each day. On the seventh day the woman with the cross escaped with one of the other women. Managed to run only a hundred yards or so through the woods before two of the men caught them, bound their hands behind them, and carried them off on horseback.

  The men locked the rest of the women in the barn and left Blade to guard them. The next day the men returned and showed the rest of the women the two severed heads. Then they put all of the women, except Maria, in a car and took them away. Only Maria remained. They told her she must do whatever Blade told her to do, but of course Adam stopped that. Adam patted his empty pocket. Thank goodness he had shown up with ten dollars in his jeans the same day.

  “Good idea,” Agent Dan interrupted Adam’s train of thought. “Good idea,” he said again to John Dunn. “You drive us in your car. They’ll recognize your car, won’t they?”

  John Dunn grinned and nodded.

  “Tony can drive the women. You take me and the boys with you.”

  The boys. Adam swallowed hard to keep from objecting. If he objected, what would he say? That he hadn’t been afraid? But he had. And now he supposed he would seem like a boy to this federal agent and the weathered, older man about to drive them back up the mountain. But Agent Dan was wrong. After all Adam had been through in the last few days, he was no longer a boy.

  Neither was Spud, who was definitely older than Adam in years and experience. Though Adam had to admit, neither he nor Spud exhibited the rough-and-tumble kind of manliness Agent Dan would find helpful under the circumstances. Spud was a poet, Adam a painter. What did they know about guns or justice? They preferred being with gentle men and women.