The Return of Wildcat Kitty and the Cyclone Kid
Page 25
“You mean to tell me you were driving around with a wagon full of worthless crap?” Red Beattie fumed. He was sitting at the kitchen table and Cyclone had tossed a tin plate of a meager breakfast of bacon and sour dough biscuits before him. Rap Brown had shoved him roughly through the front door and slammed him forcefully into the wooden chair that had been pulled out for him, next to the table.
It was mid morning before Rap had untied Red Beattie and brought him into the ranch house from the barn, where he had been kept captive with his two brothers for the night. He had been practically dragged across the barnyard as his circulation had hardly had time to return after being freed of his bonds. He could hardly stand on his feet on his own.
Cyclone quickly apprised Red of his predicament and had explained to him about his folly of pursuing a wagon full of phony silver.
“That’s about the size of it,” Cyclone chuckled, gazing down on his disheveled prisoner.
“You.... you made a fool out of me,” Red growled.
“Nah,” Cyclone shook his head. “Seems to me, you beat me to it a long time ago.”
Red pursed his lips.
“Now, don’t go gettin’ all mad there, Red,” Cyclone said. “After all, we’s the one’s who should be mad at you. You pretendin’ to be our friends and all.”
“Oh, but Cy,” Red said trying to oil his tongue. “We are your friends. But the thought of all that silver, just tempts a man. We just couldn’t help ourselves. You’d a done the same thing.” He forced a nervous smile, hoping Cyclone would buy it.
“Well, you Red, I just might just understand that, but Willis, you remember Willis, don’t you? He’s the little brother you left behind to take the blame for you.”
Red’s fake smile disappeared. Willis stepped into the room where his brother could see him. Red swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
“You see, Willis here, told us how you fellas followed us down here to collect Simon Price’s bounty on us. How you tried to bushwhack us.”
“Now Cy,” Red said. “There was nothing personal in that. That was just business. Besides, didn’t we give that up when we had the chance? Didn’t we help you against those other bounty hunters?”
“Sure,” Cyclone said. “You were so big hearted to help us against those other guys ‘cause you thought they’d beat you out of the reward money.”
“Now Cy, you know that just ain’t true. We had plenty of chances after that, and we didn’t try anything.”
“That’s because you saw bigger fish. A wagonload of silver worth ten times what we was worth.”
“That’s just not true!” Red’s shoulders were shaking violently now.
“There’s no need to lie about it, Red,” Cyclone said evenly. “I’m not a vengeful man. I don’t hold grudges.”
Red suddenly relaxed, gazing up at Cyclone. His trembling almost ceased.
“But, I do!” Arapahoe Brown growled, slapping a booted foot on the table edge close to Red Beattie’s face. He had drawn his pistol. Its long barrel pressed hard into Red’s temple. Rap’s big thumb eared the hammer back. It clicked into place with what seemed a deafening blast.
Red dropped his head to his folded arms on the table in the middle of his plate of breakfast and sobbed like a baby; his shoulders shaking vehemently.
Rap lifted his pistol, smiled broadly revealing his large teeth and released the hammer slowly. “Just playin’ with you,” he laughed and holstered his weapon.
“Nice,” he said and walked away.
Kitty and Kip were leaning on the corral fence drinking coffee and taking in the morning coolness before the sun rose too high for the day. Dew was still on the grass and the early morning sun still had that yellowy sheen emanating just above the distant mountain spires.
They watched as Rap Brown came out of the ranch house, went to the barn and returned with Kirby and Jonas Beattie.
“You think these guys will work out, Kitty?” Kip asked. There was a tone of doubt in his voice.
“Grampa thinks so,” Kitty said. “So, they probably will. The Beatties are more stupid than they are bad and Grampa will take advantage of that. As long as they think they’re going to come away with some money in this deal, they’ll cooperate. I just hope four men is all we’ll need. Didn’t you say that the original cavalry detachment is usually six men. A driver and five riders?”
“Yes. But I think we can get by. I’ll go as a fifth rider. That will make it look better. Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on the Beatties.”
“But what if someone from Price’s men recognizes you? We can’t be sure that Peso Martin isn’t in on it. Which he probably is.”
“I’ll ride at a distance from the rest as an outrider; far enough that I can’t be recognized but visible enough to be shown as a part of the force.
“It will have to work,” Kip said. “At any rate, you will already have the silver.”
“That’s something else that bothers me,” Kitty said with deep concern.
“What’s that?’
“The silver. It belongs to the government.”
“But if you didn’t take it, Price would. You’re not really stealing it from the government. You’re stealing it from Price.”
“I guess that is one way to look at it,” Kitty said.
“Of course it is,” Kip agreed.
“But,” Kitty said, “I don’t want it all. I just need enough for my mother’s care and for me and the others to get by for a while. That would be like a finder’s fee wouldn’t it?”
“I guess it would,” Kip agreed again.
“Of course, if you want the rest, you can have it,” she said.
“Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. I’m not doing this for the silver. That is, not unless it’s what you want. I’m doing this for you. If you want to give back everything, but what you need, we’ll do that. I don’t want any of it. When this is over, we’ll ship what is left to the Denver mint where it belongs.”
“Oh, Kip.” Kitty’s face brightened. “You really mean that?”
“Yes, Kitty,” he said softly. “All I want to do is to make you happy.”
“Oh, Kip, I’ve been so mean to you. So distrustful. I’m so sorry.” She turned to him.
“That was fun,” Kip smiled. “It makes the rest all the better.” He pulled her to him. Their coffee cups dropped to the ground.
Chapter Nineteen