Collection 1986 - The Trail To Crazy Man (v5.0)

by Louis L'Amour

  Kedrick shrugged again. “I’ve bucked worse. But at the moment, I’m bucking nobody. I need sleep, and by the Lord Harry, sleep is what I’ll get. Whatever Keith has on his mind can wait until daylight. I’ll be up then.”

  Shaw started to go and then hesitated, unable to restrain his curiosity. “What happened to you? We figured you were dead or taken prisoner when you didn’t come back.”

  For the first time Kedrick began to wonder. Had Shaw wanted the messenger killed for that very reason? Had he deliberately moved that way hoping the enraged settlers would kill Kedrick? It was most likely. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, passing off the remark casually. “I found a way to keep out of sight.”

  Shaw turned away, and when he had gone only a few steps, Tom Kedrick spoke up suddenly. “By the way, Dornie. Know anybody who rides a grulla mustang?”

  Shaw stopped abruptly, but he did not turn. His whole body had seemed to stiffen. Then he started on. “No,” he said gruffly, “I sure don’t.”

  Laredo Shad stared after him. “You know, pardner, you’ll either kill that hombre someday or you’ll be killed.”

  “Uh-huh,” Kedrick said quietly, “I’ve the same feeling.”

  VII

  Keith was pacing the floor in the office at the gray stone building when Kedrick walked in. He stopped and turned swiftly. “Shaw tells me you came in after midnight. Why didn’t you come to me according to my orders?”

  “Frankly, I was tired. Furthermore,” Kedrick returned Keith’s look, “I’d nothing to report that wouldn’t keep.”

  “You were hired to do a job, and you haven’t done it.” Keith stood with his hands on his hips. “Where’ve you been?”

  Briefly and clearly, Kedrick explained, omitting only the visit to Laine’s and the story of the hideout. “Frankly,” he said, “having looked the situation over, I’d say you had small chance of driving those people off. Also, you and Gunter misrepresented things to me and the government. That land is occupied not by renegades and outlaws, but by good, solid people. You can’t get away with running them off.”

  Keith smiled contemptuously. “Gettin’ scared? You were supposed to be a fighting man! As for what we can do or can’t do, let me tell you this, Kedrick! We’ve started to run those people off, and we’ll do it! With or without you! Hiring you was Gunter’s idea, anyway.”

  “That’s right, it was.” Gunter walked into the room followed by Burwick, and he glanced swiftly from Kedrick to Keith. “If you’re complainin’ about his going to look over that country, you can stop. I sent him.”

  “Did you tell him to come back scared to death? Saying we can’t swing it?”

  Burwick had been silent, but now he moved to the big chair behind the desk and dropped into it. He sighed heavily and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. Then he glanced at Kedrick keenly. “What did you find out?”

  “That they are determined to fight. I talked to Bob McLennon and to Slagle. There’s no quit in those men. They’ll fight at the drop of a hat, and to the last ditch. Right now, at this minute, they are ready for anything. Your raid killed one man, and wounded another. The dynamite blasted a door loose and blew a hole in the porch.”

  Burwick turned swiftly and glared at Keith. “You told me three men dead and a building destroyed! Hereafter you be sure reports to me are accurate.” He swung back to Kedrick. “Go on. What happened to you? You got away?”

  “I’m here.”

  Their eyes met and held for a long time, Burwick’s stone cold and hard, examining, probing.

  “What do you think of the deal?” he asked finally.

  “The fight,” Kedrick replied carefully, “will raise a stink clear to Washington. Remember the Lincoln County War? We’ll have us another general down here, and you know how much profit you’ll make out of that place then!”

  Burwick nodded his huge head. “Sensible, that’s sensible! Have to think our way around that. At least,” he glared again at Keith and Gunter, “this man can bring in some sensible ideas and make a coherent report. You two could learn from him.”

  He looked up at Kedrick. “Anything else?”

  “A couple of things. There’s a mysterious rider out on those plains. Rides a mouse-colored horse, and he’s got those folks more jittery than all your threats.”

  “Hah?” Burwick was uninterested. He shuffled papers on his desk. “What’s this I hear about you quittin’?”

  “I won’t be a party to murder. These people aren’t outlaws, but good, substantial folks. I’d say buy them out or leave them alone.”

  “You aren’t running this affair!” Keith replied coldly. “We will decide what is to be done.”

  “Nobody quits,” Burwick said quietly, his eyes on Kedrick’s, “unless I say so!”

  Tom Kedrick smiled suddenly. “Then you’d better say so, because I’ve quit, as of now!”

  “Tom!” Gunter protested. “Let’s talk this over!”

  “What of the money you owe the firm?” Keith demanded, unpleasantly. “You can repay that, I suppose?”

  “There’s no need.”

  _______

  THEY ALL TURNED at the voice. Connie Duane stood in the door. “You have money of mine in this project. When Uncle John got it from me he told me it was a real estate speculation. His other activities have been honest and practical, so I did not investigate. Now I have. I shall withdraw my money, and you can pay me less the sum advanced to Captain Kedrick. He may repay me when circumstances permit it.”

  All in the room were still. Gunter’s face was pale, and Keith looked startled and then angry. He started to protest, but he was too slow. Burwick turned on Gunter. “You!” he snorted angrily. “You told me that was your money! You fool! What do you mean, bringing a woman into a deal like this? Well, you brought her in. Now you manage her or I shall!”

  “Nobody,” Connie replied, “is managing me or my affairs from now on. I’ll handle them myself!” She turned to Kedrick. “I’m glad, Captain, that you’ve made this decision. I am sure you’ll not be sorry for it.”

  Kedrick turned to follow her from the room, but Burwick’s voice stopped him. “Captain!”

  He turned. Keith’s eyes were ugly, and Gunter’s face was haunted by doubt and fear. “Captain Kedrick,” Burwick said, “I believe we are all being too hasty. I like your caution in this matter. Your suggestion that cleaning out those people might make trouble and cause talk in Washington is probable. I had considered that, but not knowing McLennon, had considered the chance negligible.

  “Slagle,” he added, “I know. McLennon I do not know. Your suggestion eliminates a frontal attack. We must try some other means. Also,” he added, “I believe that your presence has some claim on that of Miss Duane. Consequently, as we can brook no failure now, I have a proposition for you. How would you like to come into the firm? As a silent partner?”

  Keith’s face flushed angrily, but Gunter looked up, his eyes suddenly hopeful. Burwick continued. “We could give you a fifteen percent interest, which believe me, will be adequate. I believe you could keep Miss Duane in line, and with you at the helm we might straighten this whole thing out—without bloodshed.”

  Kedrick hesitated. The money was a temptation, for he had no desire to be indebted to Connie, yet the money alone would mean nothing. It was that last phrase that gripped his attention and made him incautious. “Without bloodshed,” he repeated. “On those terms, I accept. However, let’s discuss this matter a bit further.”

  Keith spun on his heel. “Burwick, this doesn’t make sense! You know the only way we’ll get those people off is by driving them off! We agreed on that before. Also, this man is not reliable. I happen to know that he has friends on the other side and has actually been in communication with them.”

  “So much the better.” Burwick pursed his fat lips and mopped perspiration from his face. “He’ll have a contact he can use then to make a deal.” He chuckled. “Suppose you two run along and let me talk to Captain Kedrick?”<
br />
  Hours later, Tom Kedrick paused on the street and studied it with care. Burwick had been more than reasonable, and little as he was able to trust him, yet he thought it possible that Burwick was sincere in his agreement to buy off a few of them and to try to convince others. Certainly, if the government moved in they would have to move anyway. With McLennon and Slagle out of the picture, the chances were there would be no fight, for the others lacked leadership. No fighting meant no deaths, and the settlers would come out of it with a little money at least.

  He paced the street irritably, avoiding company. Burwick stank of deceit, but the man was a practical man, and he should realize that a sudden mess of killings preceding the sale of the land would create a furor that might cause them to lose out all around. At least, trouble had been avoided for the time, and even Connie was hopeful that something might be done. Tomorrow he was returning again to try to make some deal with McLennon and Slagle. A neutral messenger was leaving tonight.

  “They won’t come to town,” Burwick had agreed, “so why not pick some intermediate point? Meet them, say, at Largo Canyon or Chimney Rock? Have your talk there, and I’ll come with you. Just you and me, McLennon, and Slagle. We can talk there and maybe make peace. Ain’t it worth a try?”

  It was only that chance for peace that had persuaded him and helped him to persuade Connie. She had listened in silence as he explained the situation. Then she had turned to him frankly. “Captain, you don’t trust them, and neither do I. Uncle John has never been this way before, and I believe somehow he has fallen under the domination of those other men. However, I think that if Burwick is willing to talk, we should at least agree. I’ll stand by you in this, and we’ll hope something can come of it that will prevent trouble.”

  _______

  KEDRICK WAS LESS hopeful than he had let it appear, and now he was studying the situation from every angle. As things stood, it was a stalemate. He was confident that with McLennon and Slagle to lead them, the settlers could manage a stiff defense of their town and their homes. Certainly, they could prevent the survey being completed and prevent any use being made of their lands.

  Yet there were fiery elements on both sides, and Keith did not like the turn things had taken. Colonel Loren Keith had from the beginning planned on striking fast and wiping out the opposition. It would be merely another unsolved mystery of the West. Kedrick resolved to keep an eye on the man and be prepared for anything.

  He returned to the St. James and to bed. He awakened early and was surprised to see Keith mounted and riding out of town at daybreak.

  With a bound he was out of bed and dressing. Whatever Keith had in mind, he meant to know. Swiftly, he descended the stairs and went to the livery stable. Mounted, he headed out of town, found Keith’s tracks with ease, and followed them. Keith had turned off the trail and headed west and slightly north, but after a few miles, Kedrick lost the trail and took a wide swing to try and cut it again, but Keith had vanished somewhere in the vicinity of Largo Canyon.

  Returning to the hotel, he found a message from Bob McLennon. He and Slagle would meet with Burwick and Kedrick at Chimney Rock at three in the afternoon on Wednesday. It was now Monday, and a whole day lay between. Yet during the remainder of Monday he saw nothing of Dornie Shaw, although Laredo Shad appeared a couple of times and then vanished into one of the saloons.

  At midnight the door of his room opened slowly and Tom Kedrick sat up, gun in hand. It was Laredo Shad.

  “Somethin’s up,” he said, dropping on the bed, “an’ she looks mighty peculiar. Couple of hours ago Poinsett an’ Goff showed up an’ said they had quit. No fightin’ here, so they were pullin’ out for Durango. About a half hour later they mounted up an’ took out.”

  “What’s peculiar about that?” Kedrick inquired, building a smoke. “That’s in line with Burwick’s talk with me.”

  “Yeah,” Shad replied dryly, “but both of them came in here with a good deal of gear. They lost their packhorses somewheres and went out only with what they could carry on the one horse, and durned little of that.”

  “What about Fessenden?”

  “Ain’t seen him.”

  “Any of the others gone?”

  “Clauson is. At least, he ain’t around in sight. I ain’t seen him since morning.”

  That left Shaw, who had been around little himself, and Fessenden, if he was still in town. Despite himself, Kedrick was disturbed, but if Burwick was getting rid of his warriors it was a good sign. Probably he, Tom Kedrick, was getting too suspicious. Nothing, Shad said, had been said to him about quitting. “In fact,” he said dryly, “the Mixus boys pulled in this morning, an’ they went right to Burwick.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Killers. Drygulchers, mostly. Bean an’ Abe Mixus. They were in that Sandoval affair. Couple of men died awful opportune in that affair, an’ come to think of it, Burwick was around. Fact is, that was where I met him.”

  “Were you in that?”

  “Uh-uh. I was in town, though, an’ had me a run-in with Roy Gangle. Roy was a mighty tough ranny who’d been ramroddin’ a big spread down thataway, an’ when he got into the war he went bad, plumb bad. We’d had trouble over a steer, an’ he braced me. He was a mite slow.”

  It made no sense—gunmen leaving, but others arriving. Of course, the Mixus boys could have been spoken to before the change of plans. That must be it. He suggested as much to Laredo, and the Texan nodded dubiously. “Maybe. I don’t trust that hombre none. Your man Gunter is in over his head, Keith, well, he’s all around bad when it comes to that, but neither of them can hold a candle to that Burwick.”

  _______

  STUDY THE SITUATION as he would, Tom Kedrick could see no answer to it, and the fact remained that they were to meet Slagle and McLennon for a peace conference. Out of that, anything might come, and he had no real cause to distrust Burwick.

  Morning was bright and clear, with the sun promising a hot day. Yet it was still cool when Kedrick appeared on the street and crossed to the little restaurant where he ate in silence. He was on his second cup of coffee when Connie came in.

  Her face brightened with a smile as she saw him, and she came over to his table. “You know, you’re the one bright spot in this place! I’m so tired of that old stone house and seeing that dirty old man around that I can scarcely stand it. I’ll be glad when this is all over.”

  He studied her. “What will you do then?”

  “You know, I’ve not really thought of that. What I want to do is to get a ranch somewhere, a place with trees, grass, and some running water. It doesn’t have to be a big place.”

  “Cattle?”

  “A few, but horses are what I want. Horses like that one of yours, I think.”

  “Good idea. It takes less land for horses, and there’s always a market for good stock.” He studied the beauty of her mouth, the quietness and humor of her eyes. “Somehow I’m glad to think you’re staying. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Not now.”

  She looked at him quickly, her eyes dancing with laughter, but with the hint of a question in their depths. “Why, Tom! That sounds almost like gallantry! Like you were trying to make love to me, like all the cowboys!”

  “No, Connie,” he said quietly, “when I make love to you there won’t be any doubt about it. You’ll know, and I won’t be fooling.”

  “Somehow I think you’re right. You wouldn’t be fooling.”

  “Over west of here,” he said, “west and south, there’s a great rim that stretches for miles across the country, and a splendid pine forest atop it. There’s trees, water, game, and some of the finest mountain meadows a man ever saw. I know a place over there where I camped once, a good spring, some tall trees, graceful in the wind, and a long sweep of land clear to the rim’s edge, and beyond it miles upon miles of rolling, sweeping range and forest.”

  “It sounds fascinating, like what I’ve been wanting ever since I came west.”

  He pushed back his chair. “May
be when this is over, you’d ride over that way with me? I’d like to show it to you.”

  She looked up at him. “All right, Tom. We’ll look at it together.”

  He paused, hat in hand, staring out the door. “Together,” he mused. Then he glanced down at her. “You know, Connie, that’s the most beautiful word in the language—together.”

  He walked away then, pausing to pay his check and hers and then stepping outside into the warmth of the street. A buckboard had stopped and a man was getting out of it, a man who moved warily and looked half frightened. He glanced around swiftly and then ducked through the door into the store.

  VIII

  Two men crossed the street suddenly. One of them was a man Kedrick had never seen before; the other was the sly-looking loafer he had seen hanging around the back door in the saloon at Yellow Butte. The loafer, a sour-faced man called Singer, was talking. They stopped, and he indicated the buckboard to the man with him. “That’s him, Abe,” Singer was saying. “He’s one of that crowd from across the way. He’s brother-in-law to McLennon.”

  “This is a good place to start,” Abe replied shortly, low voiced. “Let’s go!”

  Tom Kedrick turned on his heel and followed them. As they stepped into the door, he stepped after and caught it before it slammed shut. Neither man seemed to be aware of his presence, for they were intent on the man at the counter.

  “Hello, Sloan!” Singer said softly. “Meet Abe Mixus!”

  The name must have meant something to Sloan, for he turned, his face gray. He held a baby’s bottle, which he was in the act of buying, in his right hand. His eyes, quick and terror stricken, went from one to the other. He was frightened, but puzzled, and he seemed to be fighting for self-control. “You in this squabble, Singer? I figured you to be outside of it.”

  Singer chuckled. “That’s what I aim for folks to think.”

  Mixus, a lean, stooped man with yellow eyeballs and a thin-cheeked face drew a paper from his pocket. “That’s a quitclaim deed, Sloan,” he said. “You can sign it an’ save yourself trouble.”