by Len Levinson
Driving three thousand head of Cassandra Whiteside’s cattle into a town called Sundust, John Stone expected the usual gunplay with rustlers and bandits. But this time Stone collects double rations of deep trouble—and he’ll need more than a fast draw to get out of Sundust alive.
Two long-riding gunslingers, driven by a burning hatred of John Stone, share a single ambition; to bury Stone beneath the dry sod of Sundust … or die trying.
RECKLESS GUNS
THE SEARCHER 8
By Len Levinson
First Published by Charter/Diamond in 1992
Copyright © 1992, 2014 by Len Levinson
First Smashwords Edition: October 2015
Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
Cover image© 2013 by Tony Masero
This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book
Text © Piccadilly Publishing ~*~ Series Editor: Mike Stotter
Published by Arrangement with the Author.
Chapter One
It was Commencement Day at West Point, 1860. Cadets stood stiffly at attention on the parade ground, their leather and brass highly polished. Not a wrinkle showed on their tailored gray and white uniforms, and they wore high hats similar to the shakos of the Prussian Army.
Castellated walls and turreted towers of barracks could be seen in the distance. The mighty Hudson River flowed past the Palisades on its way to the sea. A moderate breeze fluttered flags over the reviewing stand.
Tall, lean John Stone stood ramrod straight in Company D, his eyes on the neck of the cadet in front of him. This was the end of Stone’s junior year. Next spring at this time he’d become a second lieutenant in the United States Army, like the seniors graduating that day.
“You are the future of America!” the commandant declared from the podium. “You bear a sacred trust! Your profession is to defend this great nation from its enemies! It is a high calling that we share! It demands our very best!”
The commandant’s speech droned on, while threats of war rumbled across America. The North and South had been at each other’s throats for twenty years, and the day was approaching when young officers would have to choose sides. The cadets standing in the ranks might soon face each other across the field of battle, with all the fearsome implements of modern war at their disposal.
“The eyes of America are upon you! Your behavior must be exemplary! The future of the nation depends on you! If we ever meet again, no matter what the circumstances, may we always be good soldiers and good comrades. I salute you!”
The band struck the march, guidons flew into the air. Orders were shouted, the first cadet company moved out in perfect unison, every nuance practiced in hundreds of daily march routines, a smooth, well-oiled machine.
John Stone had arrived at West Point a gangly youth, now was nearly a man. His sword was buckled to his side, his chin strap tight. He’d studied tactics, leadership, weaponry, and yearned for the day he’d command his own troop of cavalry. He hoped to prove worthy of the lofty principles of the United States Military Academy.
Captain Howard of Massachusetts raised his sword in the air, and Company D was off, marching to the beat of drums, stomachs in, chests out, chins down, eyes straight ahead, a man beside a man and a man behind a man, black boots pounding. They performed a flawless column right and proceeded down the runway, legs snapping, fingers straight, sharp young warriors on parade.
The music became louder, a clash of cymbals sent a shiver up Stone’s back. He thought, at that moment, nothing could ever stop him. They rounded the far turn, not a man out of position, marching from the hips down, shoulders squared, every heel touching down at the same instant.
They advanced toward the reviewing stand, while America’s most distinguished men and women watched the cadets strut their stuff. Stone’s blood was hot with pride in himself and his country. The guidons shot up. Every man, at the identical moment, jerked his head to the right.
The cadets looked into the stands, saw senators, congressmen, generals, admirals, important industrialists, pretty young girls wearing their best spring coats. Behind the podium stood the commandant at rigid attention.
“Present arms!”
The cadets whapped their outstretched fingers to a point above their right eyebrows, and the commandant saluted back. Stone marched past the grandstand, the music blared. He felt exhilarated; fabulous possibilities stretched before him, he could become a general, senator, engineer, businessman, anything he wanted. He was a member of America’s elite, at the pinnacle of his life. His future appeared magnificent, and nothing was too good for him. He raised his eyes above the reviewing stand and looked at the clear blue sky.
It was a beautiful moment, he felt the potential for greatness surging within him. It was hard to imagine he’d soon be plunged into the middle of the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen.
He lowered his eyes. Something moved on the prairie straight ahead. West Point vanished as he focused on a group of riders heading toward him. If they were Indians . . .
He wore two Colts in crisscrossed gunbelts with the bottoms of the holsters tied to his legs, gunfighter style. A Henry rifle rested in its scabbard, and an Apache knife with an eight-inch blade stuck out of his knee-high black boots. He was six feet two, broad-shouldered, wore an old Confederate cavalry hat. His dark blond beard and hair were long and unruly, after nearly three months on the Chisholm Trail.
The riders drew closer, Stone saw cowboy clothing. They weren’t Indians, but could be road agents. Stone wondered whether to make a run for it. Four men, well dressed and barbered, didn’t look like outlaws. Their leader raised his hand. “Howdy, stranger!”
They were armed, but soft and pale, spent their time indoors. They pulled their horses to a stop in front of him. The one in front took off his hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.
“Coming up from Texas with a herd?” the man asked.
Stone nodded, watching everybody’s hands.
“Name’s Jesse Roland. Headed for Abilene? Why don’t you come to Sundust instead? It’s closer, got better accommodations, here’s a list of cattle brokers.” Roland handed a sheet of paper to Stone. “They’re all reputable men, representing the biggest outfits in the East. I’m a member of the Sundust Businessmen’s Association, and we look for the point men of Texas herds, tell ’em about our town.”
Stone glanced at the paper. “Never heard of Sundust.”
“Less’n a year old. We’ve got a connecting trunk line to the main railroad farther north, and that makes us twenty miles closer to you than Abilene. Why go the extra distance if you don’t have to? We’ve got everything Abilene has, and more.” Roland pointed behind him. “Sundust’s thataway. You go to the Blue Devil Saloon on State Street, your first drink’s on me. That goes for your men too. Just say my name to the bartender, he’ll take good care of you.”
~*~
A squat man with a hook where his left hand should be crossed the lobby of the Drovers Cottage in Abilene. He was rumpled and bearded, covered with the dust of the trail. Most men in the room figured he was just another cowboy in town for a big blow-out.
He walked up to the room clerk, asked in a low, raspy voice: “Triangle Spur show up yet?”
The room clerk was small and wiry, and the hook e
xcited his morbid curiosity. “Never heard of the Triangle Spur.”
“Room for the night.”
The clerk placed the register in front of the man, and noticed the oiled holster, mark of the gunfighter. The man wrote his name, and the clerk told him the room number.
The man walked toward the stairs, and the clerk turned the register around. Frank Quarternight. Wasn’t there a fast gun from Texas by that name?
Quarternight opened the door of his room. The window overlooked the back alley, he glanced at sheds, privies, woodpiles, horses tied to rails. He hadn’t shaved or bathed for a week, but was anxious to hit the saloons. He pulled his Smith & Wesson out of its holster, checked the loads deftly with one hand, and reholstered the gun. He strolled toward the door, cigarette dangling from a corner of his mouth. If the Triangle Spur was in town, they’d be in the saloons.
~*~
Cassandra Whiteside rode in front of the Triangle Spur herd, atop her palomino mare. She was twenty-four years old, had blond hair, dressed like a cowboy, her hat wide-brimmed, dirty, stained. Strapped to her waist was a Colt in a holster tied to her leg, and in her boot was a knife with a six-inch blade.
She wasn’t the same person who’d left San Antone over two months ago. That was a prim lady who never spoke above a whisper, but now she hollered and swore like a man, shot injuns and rustlers, slept on the ground every night, bathed seldom, ate beef and beans at the campfire with the men, wasn’t afraid of them anymore.
Abilene was near. The ordeal was almost over. She’d pay her creditors, begin a new life. The herd spread behind her like a vast brown blanket over the prairie. They numbered twenty-seven hundred mixed longhorns, and she’d started with three thousand in South Texas. Each was worth eight dollars in Texas but twenty-two in Abilene.
She heard hoofbeats. Galloping toward her was Don Emilio Maldonado, the segundo. He pulled back his reins, and his wide sombrero hung down his back, suspended from a cord around his throat. He wore a thick black mustache.
“Riders headed this way!” he shouted.
The men passed the word along. Cassandra pulled her rifle out of its scabbard and made sure it was loaded. It might be another of those days.
Cowboys and vaqueros rode forward to join her and Don Emilio. “What’s wrong now?” asked Slipchuck, the toothless old ex-stagecoach driver.
Don Emilio pointed straight ahead. “Load your guns, amigos. Sister Death may visit today.”
“I’ll do the talking,” Cassandra said, holding her rifle. “No shooting unless I give the word.”
She wished Stone were there, but Don Emilio could lead a fight too. They’d brought the herd across one thousand miles of open country, and weren’t stopping now.
The riders came closer, sending up a trail of dust. Cassandra pulled her hat tightly on her head and slanted it to the side, the way Truscott, her former ramrod, wore his. If Truscott were looking down at her from cowboy heaven, he’d say holdfast and don’t take no guff.
Cassandra sat with her backbone straight and her mouth set in a grim line. The only law on the plains was the law of the fastest gun. The riders numbered fifteen and were led by a young man with silver disks on his hatband and a tin badge on his red and yellow striped shirt. He didn’t look more than twenty.
“Who’s in charge here?” he asked.
“I am,” Cassandra replied.
He looked at her, took off his hat, scratched his head. “A woman. I’ll be a son of a bitch.”
Don Emilio narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”
The young man pointed his thumb to the badge on his shirt. “I’m Marshal Buckalew. You owe one dollar fer each head of yer cattle. It’s Texas Fever Tariff.”
Cassandra heard about self-appointed authorities in Kansas swindling money for the passage of cattle. She looked Buckalew in the eye. “We’re not paying any tariff.”
Buckalew had blond sideburns and the faint wisp of a mustache on his upper lip. “In that case, turn yer herd around.”
“Like hell we will.”
He looked at her and smiled. “The little lady talks like a man. You best git out of the way, ’cause somebody’s liable to die ’fore this day is much older.”
Cassandra didn’t reply. Injuns, rustlers, lightning storms, stompedes, no water for long stretches, and this. “Out of our way,” she said.
He yanked his gun, and sunlight glinted on the barrel. “I’m a-gonna tell you one last time. The tax is one dollar a head, three thousand dollars in all. Pay up or go back.”
“You want a fight,” she said, “we’ll give you a fight. There are more of you than us, but some of you’ll die. You can bet your bottom dollar on that.”
“If yer men want to git shot up for a bunch of cows they don’t own, it’s okay with me.”
Don Emilio rode forward. “You are no marshal. Anyone can buy a badge for a few coins. You are a bandito.”
“And you’re a greaser.”
Don Emilio stiffened in his saddle. Buckalew aimed his gun at him. “Say yer prayers.”
Buckalew fired, and a hole appeared in the middle of Don Emilio’s sombrero. Don Emilio went pale, and Buckalew’s riders chortled.
“Are you gonna pay, or are you turnin’ back?” Buckalew asked.
The time for talk was over. Cassandra thought she should pay; she didn’t want any more killing.
“It’s Johnny!” hollered Slipchuck, pointing to a hill in the distance.
They saw a tall, husky cowboy on a black stallion headed toward them.
“Trail boss,” Cassandra said. “I’ll want to talk with him before we go any further.”
“Ain’t nothin’ to talk about,” Buckalew drawled. “He wants lead, we got aplenty.”
Stone approached as longhorns stared at him with wide, trusting eyes. He sized up the situation quickly, looked like trouble. The kid with silver on his hat was their leader.
“What’s that piece of tin on your pocket?” Stone asked.
“You owe three thousand dollars for the Texas Fever Tariff. Don’t pay, go back to Texas. It don’t make a shit to me either way.”
The grin on Buckalew’s face became more pronounced. He’d gotten away with it every time before. Suddenly Stone jumped to the ground and walked toward Buckalew, his scarred leather leggins flapping with every step. Buckalew saw him coming, and made his move.
Stone drew so fast his hand was a blur. A loud booming shot reverberated across the plains. The gun flew out of Buckalew’s hand, a cloud of smoke filled the air. Blood oozed but of the hole in Buckalew’s hand, an expression of amazement on his face. Stone continued walking toward him, reached up, dragged him out of his saddle, threw him to the ground, pinned him with one hand, pointed his gun between Buckalew’s eyes.
“We’re not greenhorns,” Stone said. “Get the hell out of here.”
Buckalew was in shock, teeth chattering with pain. Bleeding and humiliated by a filthy waddie out of nowhere who’d taken him by surprise. The barrel of Stone’s gun pressed against Buckalew’s nose, bending it around. Buckalew thought his time had come.
“Get on your horse and ride on out of here,” Stone said in a deadly voice. “I ever see you again, I’ll blow your head off.”
Buckalew lay on the ground, stung by the pain in his right hand. The bullet had gone all the way through, and the bleeding wouldn’t stop. He pressed his palms to stanch the flow, tried to get up, but Stone kicked him in the butt. Buckalew hit the ground, rolled onto his back. The wound became clogged with dirt and bits of vegetation.
The Triangle Spur cowboys laughed. Buckalew sputtered, his face red with rage. He arose and looked at Stone. “Someday I’ll kill you.”
“Get on your horse.”
Stone aimed his gun at Buckalew, fired a shot. The bullet struck a silver disk on Buckalew’s hatband, the hat blew off his head. Buckalew bent to pick it up, and Stone fired again. The hat danced away. Buckalew made another motion, Stone pulled his trigger. The hat flew into the air.
&
nbsp; The chortles grew louder, and Buckalew felt hurt far worse than his wounded hand. “I’d like to remember yer name.”
Stone fired, and lead parted Buckalew’s hair. “I said get the hell out of here.”
Buckalew engraved every feature of the waddie onto his mind. He picked up his hat and placed it on his head, but it looked ridiculous, full of holes, with the brim misshapen. He climbed into his saddle with one hand, looked at Stone one more time, put his spurs to his horse’s flanks, and the animal walked away. The assembly of fraudulent lawmen muttered among themselves as they receded into the endless rolling plains.
Slipchuck looked at Stone: “You just made an enemy for life, pard. You ever see that son of a bitch again, grab iron.”
Stone turned to Cassandra. “Abilene is two or three days thataway,” he told her, pointing to the northwest, “but Sundust is over there, and it’s twenty miles closer.” He handed her a slip of paper. “List of cattle brokers.”
“Never heard of Sundust,” she replied, and looked at Slipchuck, old historian of the West. “Ever hear of Sundust?”
“Towns come and go,” he replied, “accordin’ to where railroad bosses in New York want to lay the next length of track. Never heard of Sundust, but that don’t mean it ain’t there.”
Stone said, “The man told me Sundust was closer and better than Abilene, and he’d buy us all a free drink at the Blue Devil Saloon.”
“Somehow,” Cassandra replied, “I think our decision should be based on something more than that.”
“Did they say any thin’ ’bout the whorehouses?” Slipchuck asked.
“I’m sure they’d have anything an old billygoat like you would want,” Stone replied.
“What the hell we waitin’ fer?”
Cassandra looked at the list of cattle brokers, and recognized big firms from the East. Sundust was two days closer, tomorrow she could take a bath. “Trail boss—point the herd to Sundust!”
~*~
Frank Quarternight entered the Alamo Saloon, and old-timers recognized him immediately. There was only one gunfighter who had a hook where his left hand should be. They watched him closely. If he grabbed iron, they’d be first on the floor.
