Man From Boot Hill (16 page)

Four whistles cut through the air outside of the northernmost camp. The first two whistles were short, followed by one long and one more short. Hearing that combination, the camp’s lookout lowered his rifle and raised his hand in a slow wave. Before too long, he got another wave in return from one of the two riders who were approaching.

“Looks like our friend with the wet pants was good for his word,” Nick said as he waved toward the camp.

Joseph rode beside him and let out a short acknowledging grunt.

Both of the horses were breathing heavily and walking slowly after covering the ground between the camp and San Trista.

“Hold on a second,” Nick said cautiously.

Joseph looked along Nick’s line of sight and saw what had caught his attention. A single rider was thundering toward them, kicking up enough dust to make a black cloud in the early-evening shadows.

“Maybe we should have waited a bit longer before coming here,” Joseph said. “Looks like all of them aren’t settled in just yet.”

“Don’t get too riled up just yet. Let’s just wait and see what’s on his mind.” His voice was calm, but Nick still placed his hand upon the grip of his gun.

Joseph didn’t go near any of the guns he’d collected, but sat up tall in his saddle as if he could stare down whoever was approaching no matter how much distance was between them.

As the rider got closer, Nick raised his hand in a similar fashion as the wave he’d gotten from the camp. Racing by with his back hunched along his horse’s neck, the rider returned the wave and kept on riding north.

Nick shifted and watched until the only remaining trace of Bill’s horse was the echo of its steps. “All right, looks like we got someone looking out for us,” he said.

“How many men you think are in that camp?” Joseph asked grimly.

“I don’t know, which is why we’re not riding in there with guns blazing.”

Joseph snapped his head around to look at Nick. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you may not care if you get killed, but I don’t particularly fancy the idea.”

They kept their horses walking toward the camp at an easy pace. Already, the other man who’d waved to them had turned and walked out of sight.

“When we get there, just follow my lead,” Nick said. “I’ll do the talking, and if you need to say something, make it short.”

“I should only speak when spoken to?” Joseph asked sarcastically.

“That’s exactly right. And don’t draw your gun unless I do it first. Do you understand me?”

“If things go bad, I’m not about to wait and—”

“If things go bad, taking one step out of line will only make them worse.”

Joseph let out a disgruntled breath and worked a kink out of his neck. “Are you going to tell me what you have in mind or should I just wait to be surprised while you talk to me like I’m a child?”

“So glad you asked,” Nick replied with a grin.

As Nick and Joseph rode into the camp, the smells of burned coffee and cigarette smoke hung in the air and drifted among the four tents that were set up in a circle around the fire. Five horses were tethered nearby, and three men sat on the ground with their legs stretched out and their backs against a log. One of them got up, dusted himself off and ambled over to Nick. “You fellas are damn lucky if you’re here about them jobs. You’re late, but we wound up staying here a bit longer. You can call me Bryce.”

Nick put on a friendly smile and shook Bryce’s hand. “We’re not exactly here about the jobs, so does that mean we’re not lucky?”

“Uh…no. What are you here for?” Bryce asked as he nervously glanced from Nick to Joseph.

“We’re here to collect the women and bring them back to San Trista,” Nick said.

“Ain’t no women here. Hasn’t been for a day or two.”

“Other camp’s having all the fun?”

Although the man nodded, he didn’t seem at all happy about it.

“There’s something else you might want to know. Fella by the name of George asked me to pass it along.”

“Let’s hear it,” Bryce said.

Ignoring the man’s request, Nick looked over Bryce’s shoulder at the fire. “You still got some of that coffee I smell?”

Raising his voice to make sure the men behind him could hear, Bryce said, “If you can smell it, I’m surprised you want it.”

One of the men still seated by the fire flipped a rude gesture over his shoulder and grunted, “Kiss my ass, Bryce.”

“If I don’t get something in my gut soon, I’m about to fall off this horse,” Nick said as he casually surveyed the camp.

“Sure. Come on over.”

Nick climbed down from his saddle and nodded toward Joseph to do the same. As he walked over to the fire, Nick counted up the men he could see as well as what kind of guns they were carrying.

“Your partner don’t have much to say,” Bryce said as he squatted down next to the fire and used a dented kettle to fill two equally dented cups.

“I’m not supposed to talk,” Joseph muttered.

Two of the other men sitting at the fire laughed at that. One of them said, “We keep telling that to Bryce, but he don’t listen.”

Bryce rolled his eyes and handed Nick and Joseph each a cup of coffee. The brew tasted every bit as bad as it smelled.

“You want some food?” Bryce asked. “I think there’s still some stew around here somewheres.”

Nick sipped the coffee and shook his head as the bitter sludge went down his throat. “Thanks, but no.”

Bryce sat down and rubbed his hands together next to the fire. “So what’s the word from Georgie?”

“There’s been some law dogs poking around, asking about stolen cattle being driven across state lines. You’re supposed to head for an old fort southeast of here.”

That caught all the men’s attention. They shifted so they could each look at Nick’s face. “What?” Bryce said.

“George and the other one in town already headed over there. He was in a rush, so he made sure I knew your signal so I could tell you where to meet up with the others.”

“The law ain’t been a concern for Dutch before,” Bryce said.

Joseph lowered his coffee cup and quickly added, “There’re Federals with this bunch. A cavalry unit meant to trap rustlers trying to slip out of Texas.”

“God dammit,” one of the other men said before he was silenced by a quick wave from Bryce.

“One of Dutch’s men was just here. How come he didn’t tell us about this?”

“Because he didn’t know about it,” Nick replied. “This is the first place we stopped.”

Bryce reflexively glanced in the direction that Bill had ridden only a few minutes ago. He then looked south toward the other camp. When he shifted his eyes back to Nick, he was nodding slowly. “What’s this fort you’re talking about?”

“It’s not far from here, but it should put you well out of that posse’s way.” As he spoke, Nick could see Bryce shifting more and more. His eyes wouldn’t stay still and he hardly looked at Nick directly.

“And you’re sure them laws don’t know about it?”

Feeling Bryce’s growing nervousness, Nick kept talking until it seemed Bryce was about to bust. “If they do, you men should be able to handle them. It is a damn fort, after all. Look, we’re just the messengers. We’re going to the other camp and tell them the same thing. We can come through here on our way back to let you know what they said, but don’t expect us to waste too much time. Those whores need to get back.”

Joseph raised his eyebrows and looked over at Nick. “They could stay here if they want, but I don’t want to meet up with all them Federals. Not if these are the boys they’re after.”

“I’ll go with you to talk to Dutch,” Bryce finally
said.

Nick sipped his coffee as if he was sitting on a veranda. Keeping his cup up to his mouth, he shrugged and said, “If you want. The more I think of it, though, the more I like the idea of trading lead with that posse. Those sons of bitches killed a dozen men last time they rode through here.”

“Just a dozen?” Joseph asked. “I know more than twenty holes in the ground that were filled by them Federals.”

After listening to that, Bryce was more than anxious to leave.

Twenty minutes later, Nick and Joseph were halfway between the two camps, dragging Bryce’s unconscious body into some bushes.

“You think those men will miss our friend here?” Joseph asked.

Nick laughed and lobbed Bryce’s gun into the shadows. “Are you joking? Those men were wound so tight, they’ll be a mess by the time we get there.” Pulling himself onto Kazys’s back, he added, “All we’ll need to do is say that Dutch told them to follow us and they’ll do it. Just mentioning a blood-hungry posse was enough to make a few of them twitch.”

Joseph climbed into his saddle and shook his head. “If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn you were enjoying yourself.”

The grin on Nick’s face was plain enough to see.

“You sure that other camp is up ahead?” Joseph asked.

“That’s what Bryce told me. I guess I should ask for that fellow Bertram. His name came up a few times.”

Joseph nodded and rode ahead into the shadows. The landscape had thinned out to more desert than trees, reminding him of the open spaces that had surrounded his own ranch. It was easier to think of his place as simply gone rather than how it was when he’d last seen it. Picturing those charred frames and trampled grounds only made it harder for him to stand patiently at Nick’s side when he did his fast-talking.

The moment they glimpsed the fires of the second camp, both men saw there was a difference between it and the other one.

“That camp’s bigger,” Joseph said. “A lot bigger.”

“Yeah,” Nick replied. “It sure is. I’d say double the size of the other one. Maybe more.”

“Two of them are headed this way.”

Nick patted the modified Schofield strapped across his belly. “I see ’em.”

“You think you can talk your way through this?”

“I can give it a try. If not, be ready.”

Joseph gave a quick nod rather than say anything out loud. The approaching pair of riders was already close enough for them to be heard over the rumble of the horses’ hooves.

The moment Nick picked up the motion of the men reaching for their guns, he whistled the signal as clearly as he could. Although the men eased up a little bit, they kept their hands near their weapons.

“Who the hell are you two?” the first man asked as he came to a stop directly in front of Nick.

“We just rode in from San Trista to pick up the girls that were brought here. They’re due back in town. We stopped at the other camp and were told to pass along a message to you fellas.”

The second rider stopped in front of Joseph and said, “Who sent the message?”

“His name’s Bryce,” Nick said. “He told us to let out those whistles so you wouldn’t gun us down.”

The first rider’s hand closed a bit tighter around his pistol. “We ain’t gunned down anyone bringing us whores yet.”

“I need to tell you about a posse headed this way,” Nick said with just the right amount of ner
vousness in his voice. “The men at the other camp already packed up and headed to an old fort northeast of here. They’re scouting ahead and clearing the way in case those Federals manage to find the place.”

“Federals?”

Noticing that the men were eyeing him suspiciously, Joseph spoke up. “Some of the local law around here are riding with a cavalry division on the hunt for rustlers.”

Judging by the looks on their faces, the riders bought into the story just as well as the previous men. There was a mix of suspicion and confusion on their faces, but not enough to make Nick worry. Finally, the first one told his partner, “You start getting everyone around and I’ll go check with Bertram.”

“We’ll come with you,” Nick said. “We do still need to collect them whores.”

“There’s only one here, but she may not be ready to go. You’ll tell Bertram the rest.”

Nick and Joseph followed the first rider deeper into the camp while the second rider started making his rounds at all the smaller tents. Within the space of a few seconds, preparations were being made to move out. It was plain to see that the men were ready to break camp at the first signal.

The tent where the first rider stopped was separated from the others by about twenty yards. It was larger than the rest, but still not quite big
enough for anyone to stand up inside. Judging by the heavy breathing coming from it, the two people in there weren’t worried about standing up.

“Bertram,” the rider grunted as he swung down from his saddle. “Someone’s here to see you.”

The rustling inside the tent continued and was soon followed by a woman’s giggling. By this time, Nick and Joseph were also on their feet and keeping an eye on the rest of the camp. The few men there were tossing supplies onto the backs of horses and starting to wander to the west.

“I’m already seein’ someone,” Bertram replied from inside the tent. “A whole lot of someone.”

“It’s important.”

Bertram muttered a few quick words to the woman in the tent with him before crawling out and tugging his pants up over his waist. “What the hell’s the problem that it’s important enough to drag me outta that lady in there?” he asked amid the stench of his liquor-soaked breath.

“These two say we gotta pick up and head north.”

Bertram was still fidgeting with his belt and dealing with the playful hands that were trying to pull him back into the tent. When he finally took a moment to look at Nick and Joseph, he stopped and said, “Hey, I know you.”

Before Bertram could react, Nick drew his gun with a flick of his hand. The modified Schofield cleared leather and was aimed at the head of the
rider who’d escorted Nick and Joseph to the tent. Meanwhile, Joseph had his own pistol in hand and pointed it at Bertram’s face.

“Get in the tent,” Nick said under his breath. Jamming the gun in their escort’s ribs, he added, “And do it real quick.”

The rider sighed and hunkered down so he could fit through the tent’s front flap. Nick removed the gun from the rider’s holster and shoved him into the tent with the heel of his boot. The rider fell face first onto a pile of blankets that were bundled up between a busty redhead’s legs. She scooted to the back of the tent and tried to take the blanket with her, but her legs were too weighed down for her to budge. With one foot snagged under the blanket, she draped one arm over her generous breasts and the other across her lower half.

Bertram kept his eyes on Joseph and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know you. You’re that rancher from California.”

Joseph’s eyes were narrowed and seething with rage.

“Van Meter? Ain’t that your name?” Bertram asked.

Nick busied himself with tying up the rider with whatever he could find. The woman’s skirts weren’t being used at the moment, so he quickly knotted them around the man’s wrists. “You,” Nick said to the woman. “Tie up his ankles. And you,” he said, looking at Bertram, “shut your mouth.”

“I’d suggest you do what he says,” Joseph said quietly.

Bertram ran the tip of his tongue along his upper lip. “I remember your wife a whole lot more than I remember you. She tasted real good. I buried this tongue of mine so far into—”

Joseph lunged forward like a rattlesnake. He kept himself more or less upright with one hand braced against the ground inside the tent as he shoved the barrel of his gun against Bertram’s chest. When he pulled his trigger, only a muffled thump could be heard.

The woman’s eyes grew wide as saucers and her mouth dropped open when she saw Bertram’s body flail under the point-blank gunshot. Nick’s free hand shot out to clamp over her mouth and he leaned forward far enough to wind up on top of her.

The man at the wrong end of Nick’s gun had been shoved halfway outside the tent and had somehow pulled up half the stakes along the way. As the dirty canvas settled on top of them, Joseph pulled his trigger again. The sound of the gunshot was absorbed by Bertram’s chest in the same way that the redhead’s scream was absorbed by the palm of Nick’s hand.

Nick kept his gun pointed at the other man. “What’s your name?” he asked.

The confused look on the man’s face only got worse as Nick thumbed back the hammer of his Schofield.

“Your name,” Nick repeated.

That metallic click did its job and the man spat out, “Eddie.”

“Stay real quiet, Eddie, or my partner will put you to sleep just like he did your friend.”

Eddie glanced over at Bertram’s unmoving body, but didn’t have the courage to meet Joseph’s eyes. It was plain to see he couldn’t make much of a sound even if he wanted to.

Nick pulled the body in under the partially collapsed tent. Looking at the redhead, he said, “Come along with me and I’ll get you out of here. Be sure to look happy about it, or this won’t work.”

She nodded quickly and was all too anxious to get out from under the canvas.

When Nick stood up, he put a big smile on his face. Dropping his gun into its holster, he met the eyes of a few other men who were staring at the tent from their horses’ backs. “If you boys are gonna sleep with guns under your pillows, we might not bring our girls out here anymore.”

The men had begun to work their way over to the tent, and their faces brightened unanimously when they saw the naked redhead behind him. She brushed the dirt off her plump backside and legs. Remembering what Nick had told her, she put on a smile and did her best to cover herself with her hands.

Nick took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Good job, honey,” he whispered. “Just
keep it up and we’ll all be out of here. Where are the other girls?”

“These boys must not’ve touched a woman in a good long while, because they finished quicker than you please. I’m the only one that needed to stay.” Nodding in response to the whistles and hoots that had started coming her way, the redhead added, “I haven’t gotten my fee yet, you know.”

“Earn it by smiling to these men and keeping your mouth shut.”

The other rider who’d met Nick and Joseph outside the camp rode toward them. Although he also took a long look at the redhead, he wasn’t as amused as the other men behind him. “Where’s Bertram?” he asked.

“He heard my message and left. He said the rest of you should do the same,” Nick replied. “Eddie headed out and told me to take this lady into town. He also paid me to show you men to that fort. I’ll gather up this tent and all for free.”

“I didn’t see Eddie ride away.”

“Weren’t you getting the rest of these boys moving?”

“Yes.”

“There you go,” Nick said confidently.

“What was going on in Bertram’s tent?”

Looking over his shoulder, Nick laughed and said, “Just a little argument over who got the last kiss. It’s all in good fun, though. You got a problem, take it up with Bertram once we get to where
we’re going. Otherwise, you’ll be arguing with a posse riding up your asses.”

The man nodded. “I sure as hell will take this up with him.”

Just then, the redhead stepped up to the rider so she could reach up and run her hand along his chest. She went all the way down to his crotch and let her hand linger there for a few seconds. “Don’t worry. Have I ever let you boys down?”

“No,” the man said honestly. “You sure everything’s all right?”

“It’s just like he said. Eddie told him to show you men the way, and I’ll make certain he does that. In fact, I can ride back to town on my own.”

Eventually the man nodded and shot a quick glance at Nick. He turned in his saddle and shouted, “Everyone stop gawking and get moving. We’re meeting up with the others, and I don’t want to take all night getting there!”

The redhead strutted over to a light brown mare and pulled a set of britches from the saddlebag. She slipped them on, pulled off Nick’s jacket and tossed it back to him. “If I don’t get my money right now, I’ll catch up to those assholes and set them straight,” she said, taking a dress from the saddlebag and pulling it over her head.

Nick reached into his pocket, took out a chunk of the money he was carrying for Joseph and handed it over. “There’s just under a hundred dollars here. For that, I expect you to keep quiet and back up our story if anyone asks.”

She took the money, counted it and smiled. “I didn’t intend on seeing these cowboys again, anyway.”

“Good.”

“You mind telling me who you are?”

“It’s best that I don’t.”

“Don’t worry about what your friend done,” she said. “I’ve seen worse, and that Bertram fellow was the worst kind of pig. He had me brought out here the last three nights and always tried to cheat me.” When she reached out to straighten Nick’s collar, it was plain to see that she hadn’t buttoned her dress all the way up just yet. “I was just hoping to earn the rest of this money.”

Nick’s hand closed around her wrist. Her skin was warm and smooth. She pulled in a quick, expectant breath that made her breasts strain against the fabric of her dress. Before long, Nick eased his hands away.

“You’ve earned it,” Nick told her. “And then some. Just ride home and forget this whole night ever happened.”

Shrugging, the redhead let her eyes move up and down Nick’s body. She then turned her back to him, climbed onto her horse and flicked the reins. True to her word, she pointed the animal’s nose to the west and never looked back.

When Nick walked back to the camp, he found the collapsed tent was the only one that remained. All the other men were either busy stuffing their saddlebags or had already ridden away. Joseph
squatted next to Bertram’s tent, cleaning the barrel of his gun against the canvas.

“What’d you do with the whore?” Joseph asked.

“I let her go. By the way, I had to give her some money.”

“You think she’ll tell those others about what we did?”

Nick shook his head. “She’s got no reason to. If she gave a damn about anyone here, she wouldn’t have cooperated so easily.” Nodding toward the tent, he asked, “What about them?”

“That rapist cocksucker is dead.”

“And I took care of the other one.”

Eddie was covered by the canvas. Peeling back the tent, Nick tied Eddie more securely and shoved a wad of material into his mouth. Making a few unhappy grunts, Eddie strained to look up at Nick.

Even though the makeshift gag muffled most of what Eddie said, Joseph heard enough to make him point his gun down at the man’s head. “This son of a bitch was there, too,” he said as he tightened his grip on his gun until his hand started to shake.

“Are you sure about that?” Nick asked.

Joseph pulled in a breath and let it out through clenched teeth. “Even if he wasn’t, he’s riding with these killers now!”

“We don’t have time for this,” Nick snarled, looking around. “We’re damn lucky those men are
riding away from here. Do you want to draw them all back by firing a shot that’ll be heard for a mile in every direction?”

Joseph hesitated.

Nick stepped forward, dropped the heel of his boot against the side of Eddie’s head, and then covered him and Bertram with the tent. “There,” he said as Eddie let out a groan and slumped into unconsciousness. “Now holster that gun and let’s get the hell out of here.”