"Why was that your best option?"
"I had no money left. What little remained after hiring Ludek I'd spent on a hotel room last night. And it was pretty obvious there was nothing to be regained of the amount I'd paid him—that all got transferred to the cantina."
Ludek's teeth showed in a smile from the shadow of his tree. "Not every red cent," he argued. "Only about forty-six dollars of it. The rest I wasted on a hot meal and a shave."
Again the other two paid him no heed.
Kendrick said, "So you followed us. And badly, I've got to say. We weren't on the trail an hour before I knew somebody was back there."
"If you knew I was back there, why didn't you confront me sooner?"
"Decided to wait, give you some time to show your hand, find out what you were up to. Came dark tonight I got sick of waiting so I went after you."
Veronica rubbed her arm again where his viselike grip had held her. "Yes, I remember."
"Your plan all along was to eventually hook up with us?"
"When we were far enough out on the trail, yes. I'd heard you were taking your prisoner to Socorro, too. I didn't figure there was anything I could say back in El Paso that would convince you to take me along."
"You were right about that."
"But out here on the trail I hoped it would be different. Frankly, I was counting on you not being able to bring yourself to turn me away cold, leave me alone out here."
Kendrick was suddenly irritated. He didn't like the thought of being manipulated by this woman—or anybody else, for that matter.
"Why the hell not?" he growled. "You got here alone, didn't you? You're a person grown, why should anyone have to be responsible for you? Seems to me putting too much stock in others—first that fella down in Mexico, then Ludek, and hard to tell how many more—is mostly what got you in the pickle you claim to be in the first place. Now you're betting another chunk of your hide on me, and you don’t know me from Goosie Gander. I could be a rapist or a killer or a horse thief, or all three for all you know. You could get abused all night and be left for buzzard meat back in those lava rocks come morning and who'd be the wiser? All I'd have to do is give Ludek there a turn or two to buy his silence. And if he did yap, who'd pay any attention to a robber and a killer anyway? You ever think of any of those kind of possibilities when you were spinning your clever little plans, you mush-headed woman?
Has it even dawned on you yet that that was almost certainly what was in store for you if you'd started out with Ludek, just the two of you? Being a wanted man in Socorro, do you think for one minute he ever intended to take you there?"
"You're talking horseshit, Kendrick!" Ludek shouted. "I was going to fleece her out of her money, right enough—hell, I'd already done that. And it's true Socorro was never in my plans. I aimed to ride her around in circles for night or two, long enough to make a try for what’s under that skirt of hers, then dump her back on the edge of El Paso when it was played out one way or another. But I never had to force any woman, and I by-damn don't leave 'em for buzzard meat!"
"Says you," Kendrick muttered.
"Damn right, says me."
Veronica stood up. "Stop it, the both of you!" Her eyes flashed in the glow of firelight. "If you're trying to frighten me, Kendrick, you've succeeded wonderfully. I've thought about all those things you so gallantly mentioned—a hundred times I've thought about them. No woman who finds herself alone out here in this godforsaken land can help but have such thoughts. But I'm desperate, damn you. I told you that. Desperate enough to be willing to take some risks, but not desperate enough to get down on my knees and beg. If you won't help me, then to hell with you."
The bounty hunter cocked an eyebrow at her feistiness. "You'd continue on alone?"
"I don't intend to go back to El Paso if that's what you mean.
Kendrick grunted. "That Winchester in your horse's saddle scabbard—you know how to use it if you have to?"
"I know how to cock and fire it. I know which end the bullet comes out."
"Got spunk, don't she?" Ludek said, laughing.
"Shut up!" Kendrick and Veronica snapped simultaneously. The outlaw looked surprised and genuinely wounded by the sharpness of the double rejoinder.
Echoing each other's words that way and eliciting the pouty reaction from Ludek seemed to abruptly relax some of the tension between Kendrick and Veronica.
Kendrick scratched his jaw. "Sometimes I come on a mite strong-headed and loud-mouthed."
"Your intentions weren't mean," Veronica allowed. "And I am putting you on the spot by showing up here. No man likes to feel pushed into a thing."
"A body does what they have to. You ain't here because you wanted it that way."
For a time nothing more was said. The only sounds were from the fire and from the night.
At length, after pouring herself more coffee, Veronica said, somewhat tentatively, "My friends in Socorro have money. When we get there, I can arrange to have you paid for your time and trouble."
Kendrick stared thoughtfully at the coffee leavings in the bottom of his own cup. "Bounty on Ludek is paying for my time," he said. He tapped the cup upside down against the side of his boot, knocking loose the wet dregs. Shoving to his feet, he added, "Remains to be seen just how much trouble you end up being."
He turned his back and ambled off to check the horses where they were picketed. Veronica watched him fade into the shadows, then sat listening to his soft murmurings to the animals, the pat of his strong hand on their necks, their responsive snorts at his presence. He seemed to have a soothing effect on them.
The woman's head moved in an almost imperceptible nod, relating to that sense of comfort in knowing the big man was looking after you.
* * * * *
The camp slept.
The fire faded and the darkness deepened.
Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, away to the east, there was the single whinny of a distant horse. None of the three people in bedrolls heard it. Only Jory Ludek's gray gelding raised its head and fanned its ears at the sound. When there was nothing more, the animal lowered its head again.
Chapter 5: Death In The Arroyo
At the first gray tinges of dawn, they breakfasted on bacon and Mexican corn. By full light the camp was broken and they were saddled and on the trail. Kendrick rode in front, leading Ludek's horse with the outlaw balanced stiffly astride it, his wrists again cuffed behind him; Veronica Fairburn brought up the rear on her buckskin.
The day was going to be another cooker. The buttes and mesas to the east were already starting to take on a haze and a slight shimmer to their outlines as the heat of the sun was reflected and multiplied by the baked land. The mountains on the other side of the river to the west stood more sharply etched, cooler-looking.
They'd ridden less than an hour. The trail had grown increasingly more rugged, twisting and dipping through a series of arroyos cut jaggedly in the red- and yellow-streaked rockiness.
The three strangers appeared without warning around a sharp corner of rock wall, in a sudden widening of what had hitherto been one of the narrower arroyos. They sat their horses in a fanned out formation, effectively filling the gap. Three sets of hard eyes narrowed in anticipation, three unholstered revolvers held level and ready.
Kendrick was caught off guard. He and his group were completely exposed to the strangers and their drawn guns before he had any chance to react, any chance to go for one of his own weapons or dodge for cover.
"That's right," the middle horseman drawled, showing bad teeth in a nasty smile. "Just keep coming easy another few paces. Then rein up your animals and spread out so we can keep a real good eye on you. Make sure your hands stay in plain sight at all times, especially you, big fella."
"What the hell ... ?" Ludek said.
"Stay calm," Kendrick cautioned.
"All right, but just how in hell am I supposed to get my hands in plain sight for them, you mind telling me that?"
"We know all
about your shiny new bracelets, Jory," Bad Teeth said. "You'll do fine just the way you are."
"Jory?" Kendrick echoed, his eyes shifting back and forth between Bad Teeth and Ludek. "Friends of yours?"
"Not hardly friends," one of the other strangers answered.
Ludek squinted, studying the three horsemen through their whiskers and the heavy layer of trail dust that streaked their faces, caked their clothes. "Butch? That you?" he said. "And Tully and Mort? You boys are a hell of a ways from the Circle G, ain't you? What'd you do, turn in your time same as me?"
"Not so's you could notice it," Bad Teeth—the one addressed as Tully—said. "Matter of fact we're on the job this very minute. Getting paid a right fine bonus, even."
"Bonus for what?"
"For bringing in strays, you might say," answered the one called Mort.
"That'd be you, Jory-boy," Butch said. "Mr. Grodine wants you back at the ranch real bad."
Ludek's facial expression was suddenly drawn taut. "What the hell for? He never had no truck with me when I was there."
"No," Tully said, "but his daughter did, didn't she? You made her pregnant, you damn snake, and then you lit out on her."
"Like I had a choice!" Ludek said. "Like the old man would've accepted it if I'd stuck around and wanted to do right by her."
Butch said, "After she found out you were gone, Jory, Adele tried to kill herself over the shame of it. She was in a pretty bad way still, last we knew. The old man ordered Darrel Brade to hand pick some of us to ride out with him and bring you back. By now, she might even be dead."
Ludek looked at the ground. His jaw muscles knotted and unknotted visibly on the sides of his face.
"That's a real unfortunate tale you've got to tell," Kendrick said into the tense lull. "Especially for the young lady in question. Far as taking your boy Ludek anywhere, though, there's another problem you need to consider. You see, he's in my custody now, being returned to the legal authorities in Socorro, New Mexico Territory. My name's Kendrick. I'm—"
"We know who you are," Tully said. "Heard about you in El Paso where Brade split us up to try and pick up your trail."
"Don't matter. You don't cut no ice with us," Mort said.
"Maybe you didn't hear me. I said my business is with the legal authorities in Socorro. I can appreciate a man wanting to carry out his boss's orders, but if you interfere with me you're interfering with the due process of—"
"I guess you didn't hear me," Mort cut him off. "I said that don't matter to us. You got it right about a man wanting to do a good job for his boss. All we're worried about is doing what Mason Grodine pays us to do. If his orders are at odds with the law somewhere, then that's his wrinkle to iron out."
"All right, let me put it another way," Kendrick said in a tight voice. "The law and your boss Grodine aside, there's a wrinkle needs to be ironed out here and now—namely that I don't much cotton to having things taken from me. Not prisoners, not anything else."
Tully smiled coldly. "You say that like a man who figures he's in some kind of position to keep it from happening."
"I think he thinks we're ascared of him," Mort said. "Mighty bold attitude for a man with three guns drawed against him."
Ludek spoke up. "If I had my hands free and my gun belt on, you three jaspers wouldn't be so bold neither—drawed hoglegs or not."
"Yeah, but that's what ain't and this is what is," Tully told him. "You're going back to the Circle G with us, Jory, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it. Only question remains is whether the big fella there is going to let it happen easy or hard."
Kendrick's eyes were dangerous slits. "Making things easy for the likes of you don't fit my musket, mister."
"Don't be a fool, Kendrick," Veronica said, speaking for the first time. "They've got the drop on you, what chance do you have?"
"That's right, bounty man," Ludek said. "If anybody blows your head off I want it to be me. You push this bunch into gunning you, that's only going to ruin things for both of us. Let 'em take me—I'll get away to finish things between you and me another day, I guarantee it."
Butch spat disdainfully. "That's mighty brave talk, Jory, but it's bull droppings. Old Man Grodine is going to nail your balls to the main gate when we get you back."
"Enough of this damn jawboning," Tully said. "Call it, Kendrick. We don't want to hurt nobody if we can help it, but we're prepared to do what we have to. Hell, the way we heard in El Paso, that's a Wanted Dead Or Alive paper you're serving on Jory-boy. If you was to cooperate with us, let us take him to Grodine, let him settle his business, then he'd probably leave you have what was left and you could still collect your reward. What'd be wrong with that?"
"Ain't the way I operate, that's what'd be wrong with it."
"So we're right back where we were." Tully sighed heavily. "You going to hand over those reins to your prisoner's horse peaceable, or you going to make us pry them from your fingers after we put you on the ground?"
"Even if I let you take him," Kendrick said, "it won't be over. I'll come after you. And I'll find you."
Tully shook his head. "You get one chance, hombre. This is it. You show up in my gun sights again, I'll kill you."
"You'd better. Because I'll be coming to kill you. Every mother's son of you."
Tully recognized this exchange, harsh as it was, as being as close to acquiescence as the big man was capable of.
"You in the rear," he said, addressing Veronica, "climb off your horse—slow—and step to the front."
Up until then, Veronica had remained partially obscured by the breadth of Kendrick's shoulders and a long shadow thrown by the arroyo wall. With her jaw set apprehensively, she swung down from her saddle, obeying Tully's command. As she moved forward, her face and hair and womanly curves became unmistakably evident to the Circle G riders.
Mort let go a low whistle. "Well looky, looky here now. I'll be damned! That Jory-boy knows how to put hisself in the company of some kind of woman even when he's a trussed turkey on his way to jail."
"Some kind of woman is right," Butch said admiringly.
"Never mind that," Tully said, his voice sharp even though his own gaze had lingered hungrily on Veronica for a long moment. "We got a job to do, no time for distractions. Brade'd have our hides if he caught wind of us getting side-tracked by anything."
"I'd like a piece of her hide," insisted Butch.
"Might even be worth crossing Brade," Mort mused.
"You know damn well you don't mean that. Just put it out of your heads."
Tully re-focused his attention on Veronica. "All right, lady, keep everything in slow motion and do exactly as I say and you'll be fine. You can start by lifting that rifle out of your own saddle scabbard, easy like, and tossing it to the ground. Then I want you to edge over next to Kendrick and strip him of his weapons ... Kendrick, you go ahead and get your hands higher up in the air, you won't be needing them for anything. You decide to try something funny and bullets start flying and that lady gets hit, it ain't nobody's responsibility but yours, you hear? ... Reach up there now, blondie, and un-buckle his gun belt, let the Colt and Bowie drop to the ground."
Veronica moved to the side of Kendrick's chestnut and proceeded to do as instructed. She and the bounty hunter made eye contact. He could see confusion and fright in hers, she could see anger and frustration in his. For the moment, neither had any hope to convey.
Veronica tugged the heavy gun belt from Kendrick's waist, let it drop in a puff of dust at her feet.
"Now the Winchester from his saddle scabbard," Tully told her. "Easy."
The Winchester joined the handgun and knife on the ground.
"You going to leave us out here weaponless?" Kendrick wanted to know.
Tully said, "You can make Las Cruces by sundown. You'll manage that far okay."
"Besides," Mort said, "we saw a column of soldier boys parading on the other side of the river around daybreak, while we were setting up our little ambush here after we'
d circled ahead of your camp. Maybe you can catch up with them and get yourselves an escort."
"In the meantime," Tully said, "let's not forget the little matter of that Greener still lashed behind your cantle. Untie it and get it down from there, lady."
Veronica's fingers fumbled with the tightly knotted leather thongs that held the sawed-off shotgun in place. A sheen of perspiration stood out on her face.
"Hurry it up," Tully said impatiently.
Kendrick said, "I got those leathers pulled tight as blazes. If you'd let me give her a hand—"
"The only thing I'm going to let you do with your hands is keep them right the hell where they are," Tully barked.
In that sliver's worth of distraction, Veronica saw the only opening she was likely to get. With desperate suddenness, she yanked the Greener free. Whirling, thumbing back the hammers as she dropped into a slight crouch, she braced the stock solidly against her right hip and pulled both triggers at once. The barrels roared a ground-shaking report and the twin ten-gauge loads hit Tully square in the chest, nearly tearing him in half, lifting him two feet out of his saddle and depositing him like a shredded, leaking bundle of rags on the ground three full yards away.
The kick of the sawed-off knocked Veronica to the ground also, dumping her unceremoniously on her rump, legs splayed wide in front of her, her head and shoulders threatened by the nervously shifting legs of the chestnut Kendrick was suddenly fighting to keep under control.
Stung by stray buckshot, Tully's now rider less horse was screaming in alarm and rearing high on its back legs. Mort's and Butch's horses were reacting wildly as well, bucking and wheeling away even as the two men tried to aim shots at Kendrick and the woman. Guns cracked, bullets whined harmlessly wide and high. Mort and Butch cursed.
From where she sat in the dirt, Veronica frantically reached to draw Kendrick's Colt from the holster of the gun belt she’d stripped away only moments ago. Twisting at the waist, shouting "Kendrick!,” she tossed the revolver up and back in a flat arc. The bounty hunter's big hand flashed out and closed solidly around it.
Hard Trail to Socorro (Bodie Kendrick - Bounty Hunter Book 1) Page 4
