The Hide and Tallow Men (A Floating Outfit Western. Book 7)

by J. T. Edson

  Six – He’s Got Some Kind of Hold On You

  ‘If you-all don’t mind me saying so, seeing’s I admire you for it,’ Mark Counter drawled as he sat at Marlene Viridian’s side in the coach. ‘You never struck me’s being the kind of gal who’d let anybody do a meaness to her without wanting to have something done back at them.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ the woman replied, moving closer to him.

  After having collected his horse, Captain Dolman had asked Marlene for help to remove the dead outlaws. If he had been hoping for her to change her mind, he was disappointed. Showing no sign of relenting, she had ordered the two Negroes to assist him. On his instructions, they had carried the corpses behind a clump of bushes on the side of the trail. With that done, scowling bitterly, Dolman had ridden off towards the way station at which they had spent the previous night.

  Satisfied that he had confirmed his suspicions and knowing that any further attentions on his part might drive Dolman beyond the limits of endurance, Mark had kept out of the way. Once the captain had taken his departure, the youngster had helped with the preparations that were being made for the rest of the party to move on.

  While the driver had hitched up the team, the valet had removed a sheet of tarpaulin from the boot of the coach. Then he had folded up the table and chairs and returned the food, which he had been on the point of serving when the outlaws had arrived, to the picnic hamper. Placing them all in the boot, he had joined the driver and, under Mark’s guidance, they had attended to de Froissart’s body. Wrapping it in the tarp, they had placed it between, and secured it to, the spare front and rear wheels which were carried on the roof of the vehicle.

  Mark had saddled his stallion, but Marlene had suggested that he ride with her. Having fastened his reins to the lashings of the boot, he had joined her inside the coach. On boarding, he had found that she had tossed de Froissart’s wallet, cigar-case and, with the exception of one item, other property on to the opposite seat. ;

  Although Mark had not mentioned the matter, he had seen her examining the envelope. Nor had the furtive way in which she had thrust it into her jacket’s inside breast pocket escaped his notice. Thinking back to the words Dolman had used to persuade her to intervene, Mark had decided that the contents of the envelope might make interesting reading. Waiting until the coach had started moving, he was now trying to satisfy his curiosity and had selected a way which he hoped would avoid arousing her suspicions.

  ‘Dolman came within a lick and a spit of getting you killed,’ Mark reminded the woman. ‘Going by the way he dived under the coach after he’d shot that jasper, he knew what he’d touch off and didn’t give a damn you might take some of the lead that’d start flying.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Marlene conceded bitterly.

  ‘So I figured you’d want him paid back,’ Mark went on. ‘Which’s why I kept trying to make him draw down on me. That way I could’ve killed him legal.’

  Marlene had asked Mark to join her in the coach so that she could strengthen their relationship. Up to de Froissart’s death and Dolman’s departure, there had never been an opportunity for her to get on the kind of intimate terms which she had felt sure would win the big youngster over completely. Listening to his explanation, she concluded that her task was going to be far easier than she had imagined.

  ‘You’d have killed him for my sake?’ Marlene asked, pressing herself lightly against the blond giant and looking up into his tanned, handsome face.

  ‘Just say the word and he’s wolf-bait,’ Mark assured her. ‘I can catch up with him before he’s gone five miles and be back afore the coach gets in sight of the next way station.’

  Knowing that Dolman would never forgive her for what had happened, Marlene was tempted to accept Mark’s offer. Only the thought of the incriminating documents they had signed held her back. While de Froissart had been carrying his copy, she could not believe that Dolman would take such a chance.

  ‘No, Mark,’ Marlene said regretfully, after thinking for several seconds. ‘You mustn’t do it.’

  ‘Why not? Him being in the State Police don’t need to worry us. We’ll just reckon he must’ve been bushwhacked by the two owlhoots who got away, should anybody ask us.’

  ‘It’s not that—’ Marlene commenced.

  ‘Damn it all, Marlene gal!’ Mark snorted in well-simulated indignation and made as if to rise. ‘He came closer than two peas in a pod to getting you killed and I don’t aim to let him get away with it.’

  ‘But, Mark—!’ the woman gasped, catching hold of his arm.

  ‘The hell with it!’ the big blond growled. ‘He’s got to be paid back!’

  ‘I daren’t—can’t—won’t let you do it!’ Marlene insisted, clinging hold even tighter. In her anxiety, she had started to speak without thinking and revised her words in an attempt to prevent herself giving too much away. Putting across her right hand, she took hold of his left and went on, ‘Please, forget it. For my sake.’

  ‘All right, if that’s how you want it,’ Mark replied and settled back on the seat. ‘But it sounds to me like he’s got some kind of hold on you. One that means you couldn’t let me gun him down, no matter what meaness he’s done to you.’

  As he spoke, the big blond felt Marlene stiffen and a wary glint came into her eyes.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said.

  ‘Way you’re acting, he’s got a letter or something stashed away that could cause you a whole heap of grief if it fell into the wrong hands,’ Mark answered.

  ‘How did you guess?’ Marlene blurted out, before she could stop herself.

  ‘Like I told you,’ Mark replied, squeezing her hand in a gentle and reassuring fashion which also prevented her from drawing it away. ‘You’re not the kind of girl who’d forgive what he’d done. Yet you kept cutting in every time I’d try to rawhide him into drawing. And it wasn’t because you was scared I’d go under. You knew I could take him. So there had to be another reason and that seemed like the most likely one.’

  ‘That’s very shrewd of you,’ Marlene praised.

  ‘So he has got a hold over you?’ Mark asked.

  ‘Not over me personally,’ Marlene corrected. ‘You see, he did something for the Company and insisted that we, all the owners, signed a statement to say we knew and agreed with what he was going to do. As I’m one of the owners, I had to sign along with the others.’

  ‘This here “something” he did’d likely come close to being what most folks might call busting the law, huh?’

  ‘Well, yes, but—’

  ‘Bad enough to maybe ruin the Company was word to get out?’

  ‘It could,’ Marlene admitted cautiously.

  ‘Then I’m real pleased you stopped me making a blue window in his skull,’ Mark declared, wondering if the letter he had seen her put into her pocket was de Froissart’s copy of the statement. It seemed likely that each of the signatories would have insisted upon retaining one for his or her protection. ‘Because I sure’s hell wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.’

  ‘Thank you, Mark,’ Marlene said, looking at him with what she felt sure he would regard as an expression of adoring gratitude.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ the big blond went on. ‘I’ll bet that Company of yours makes a whole barrel-full of money.’

  ‘It does,’ Marlene agreed, thinking back to the impression he had given her in Fort Worth of having extravagant tastes and being eager to acquire wealth by any means. That had been one of the things which had made her decide to cultivate their acquaintance.

  ‘Thing being,’ Mark continued, ‘will it keep on coming in once folks start driving their herds to Kansas?’

  ‘There’ll be enough ranchers who won’t try for us to keep showing a profit,’ Marlene answered, pleased to have the conversation turned from the subject of the incriminating statement. She also considered that the time had come for her to give him a hint of her plans for the future and the part she hoped he would play in them. �
�Provided that it doesn’t have to be shared too many ways, of course.’

  ‘You’ve got one less way to share it already,’ Mark commented, glancing at the roof of the coach to emphasize his meaning. ‘That is unless ole Pierre’s left his piece of the Company to somebody else.’

  ‘He can’t do that,’ Marlene replied and explained why not. ‘So his share has to be split between you-all, huh?’ Mark said pensively, thinking of certain aspects during the hold up which had puzzled him. He also saw a way in which, by arousing her suspicions, he might obtain some of the information he was seeking. ‘Maybe somebody was figuring on having two less partners to cut in on the pot.’

  ‘Two less?’ Marlene repeated, looking and sounding puzzled. ‘I don’t follow you!’

  Due to the Negro driver’s aversion to there being a corpse close behind his back on the roof, he was urging his team along at a fast pace. Rolling at speed over the uneven surface of the trail caused the Abbot & Downing coach to rock and pitch on its thorough-braces. vii One jolt, harder than any other so far, nearly dislodged Marlene from her seat. Giving a squeak of alarm, she clung on to Mark. Swiftly he curled his left arm around her shoulders and her free hand passed behind his back. Bracing them both against the vehicle’s motions, he waited for her to make the next move. Nestling still closer, she looked at him in a quizzical manner.

  ‘What did you mean, two less, Mark?’

  ‘Just what I said. Maybe somebody was figuring on having two partners out of the deal.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Well, first off, why’d those fellers reckon you’d have money along?’

  ‘We’d hardly be likely to travel with empty pockets,’ Marlene pointed out, sufficiently interested to put aside her thoughts of taking advantage of them being alone and unobserved.

  ‘Likely not,’ Mark conceded. ‘Only they were looking for you ’specially. They even asked if you was from the Pilar Hide & Tallow Company before they threw down on you.’

  ‘They thought we were carrying the Company’s payroll,’ Marlene reminded him. Then she frowned and went on, ‘But there’s no reason why they should have. When we need money, we always have it brought from the Cattlemen’s Bank in Houston.’

  ‘And yet, from what they said, that’s why they’d come looking for you,’ the big blond drawled. ‘On top of that, they was only figuring on finding you and Pierre with the coach.’

  ‘What are you getting at?’ Marlene demanded, looking perturbed and trying to draw away from him.

  ‘Suppose somebody had gotten word to those owlhoots that you ’n’ Pierre’d be taking home the pay roll,’ Mark elaborated, gently but firmly restraining her. ‘They’d’ve been madder’n a hoot-owl boiled in dirty water when they couldn’t find it. Fact being, that skinny jasper was already hinting’s how they’d do meanness to you to get it. Anybody who knew Pierre’d count on him not just sitting by and letting that happen. And once they’d gunned him down, they’d not be likely to leave you alive.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Marlene breathed.

  ‘In which case,’ Mark said in the manner of one who had proved his point, ‘That’d make two less partners when it came time to cut the Company’s pot.’

  ‘Are you saying one of our partners sent word to those outlaws that Pierre and I would be bringing the payroll, hoping that they’d kill us both when they couldn’t find it?’

  ‘It could be,’ Mark replied. ‘Happen things’d’ve gone the way they was meant to, everybody would have figured you’d been killed in the hold up.’

  Silence fell on the couple for several seconds, disturbed only by the drumming of the horses’ hooves, the creaking of leather and rumbling of the coach’s wheels. Mark felt Marlene’s breathing grow heavier and the expression on her face told him that she was perturbed by the conversation. Clearly she did not like the implications of what he had suggested.

  ‘Thing being,’ the big blond went on, after allowing her to digest the information. ‘Which of them did it? My money’d be on it being either Schweitzer or Profaci.’

  ‘Why?’ Marlene asked.

  ‘The only other one’d be your husband,’ Mark explained, seeing that she was puzzled by his selection. ‘I know you and him don’t see eye to eye, but he’d have more to lose than either of them by you being killed.’

  ‘How would he?’

  ‘Like you said. You’re a partner. As long as you’re alive, there’re two full shares coming into your house. With you dead, one of them would have to be split three ways. Nope. I’m betting it was one of the others who rigged the deal. Do you reckon either of them could’ve sneaked into Fort Worth while the Fair was on?’

  Frowning thoughtfully as she considered the big blond’s latest comments, Marlene did not reply immediately. The discussion they were having had confirmed her belief that he was far from being a naive, easily manipulated youngster. In fact, he was proving to be disturbingly intelligent. Not only did he take notice of what he saw and heard, he was capable of drawing shrewd conclusions from them. The way the conversation was going, she did not know if she cared for his ability in that line.

  After her experience with Dolman, Marlene felt disinclined to put too much trust in any other potential partner. Particularly one who showed signs of being just as smart and ruthless as the captain. While Mark could be of considerable use in her plans to gain control of the Company, she wanted him in a subordinate capacity. Until all of the incriminating documents had been destroyed, she had no intention of giving him information which he could use to gain a hold over her.

  There was one consolation, the woman told herself. While intelligent and shrewd, Mark was not infallible. If he had been, he would never have discounted her husband as a factor; especially on such flimsy grounds. The question was, should she disillusion the youngster on that side of the affair?

  After a moment’s thought, Marlene decided against doing so. She felt that it would be unwise to mention that Viridian had been at Fort Worth. If the big blond learned of the visit, he might connect it with Dolman’s comments about the murder of Paul Dover and her reference to how the captain had performed an illegal service for the Company. Under the circumstances, it would be most undesirable for Mark to possess such knowledge.

  ‘Not without me getting to hear of it,’ Marlene finally replied and saw a way in which she would prevent him from considering her husband as a suspect. ‘We’re all so well known in Fort Worth that somebody would have recognized them and mentioned that they were in town to me.’

  ‘Why sure,’ Mark answered, sounding as if he was convinced by her explanation. ‘Anyways, they wouldn’t’ve needed to come.’

  ‘Why not?’ Marlene asked, puzzled despite her reservations on the matter.

  ‘Who ever it was’d know what day you’d be starting out for home and there’s only one way you’d be likely to travel in this coach. That’d be enough for them to tell the owlhoots where to start looking for you.’

  ‘Then it might not have been—!’ Marlene began.

  ‘Who?’ Mark prompted, when she chopped off her incautious words.

  Once again Marlene found herself faced with a quandary. She had been trapped into saying more than she intended and could not think of a way out.

  At that moment, the coach gave another violent lurch and offered her a solution to the dilemma. She took it swiftly. Letting out a well-simulated yelp of alarm, she clutched with added fervor at the big blond. Her mouth crushed against his, thrusting her tongue between his lips. Nor did she rely upon the kiss alone to distract his attention. Drawing free her left hand, she transferred it to another portion of his anatomy. From what her fingers encountered, she decided that he would prove an even more satisfactory bed-partner than either de Froissart or Dolman.

  ‘Oh Mark!’ Marlene sighed as their lips parted. ‘Do we have to talk right now?’

  Although the big blond guessed what had brought on the display of passion, he controlled his first inclination to draw away. He rea
lized that to continue with his questioning right then would do more harm than good, for she clearly wished to avoid supplying further information.

  ‘Why Mrs. Viridian, ma’am,’ Mark lied. ‘I can sure enough think of things I’d rather be doing than just talking to you.’

  While anything but averse to a flirtation under the right conditions, Mark did not relish the role he was being compelled to play. However, he realized that Marlene’s behavior was more mercenary than romantic. She was merely using her voluptuous body as a means of ending a conversation that had grown embarrassing and dangerous. Nor would he be responsible for ruining a satisfactory and happy marriage by yielding to her wishes. From what she had told him, there was no longer any love between herself and her husband. In fact, he had every reason to believe that she had already had affairs with Dolman and de Froissart.

  More than ever Mark was convinced that Viridian was responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Paul Dover and, knowing he had done so, Marlene was shielding him. Not out of love or even loyalty, however, but because she was implicated. On top of that, she and her partners had attempted to prevent Goodnight’s scheme from gaining acceptance. The fact that it might, probably would, be the economic salvation of Texas had meant nothing to them. Their sole concern had been the Company’s best profits would be reduced once the herds started to flow north to Kansas.

  Taking all those points into consideration, Mark laid aside his scruples and started to demonstrate how, despite his youth, he possessed a very satisfactory technique for making love.

  The big blond learned one thing in the course of their second embrace. Slipping his right hand under Marlene’s jacket, he found that the envelope was no longer in its pocket. Obviously she had removed and hidden it while he was busy with the preparations for resuming the journey. Being aware that any comment on the matter was sure to arouse her suspicions, he kept silent and employed the hand in a way which she found to be most enjoyable.