The Deputy - Edge Series 2 (11 page)

There was a brief outburst of obscenity laced insults that Alvarez curtailed with another commanding hand gesture.

‘But recently the situation has become far too dangerous for us in our own country. Because of the men who work for Eduardo Martinez and because of the Federales. So we 62

crossed the border. To lay low for a time: to fool Martinez and his henchmen and the Federales into thinking we have stopped our lawless ways. That maybe we have gone for good.’

The other three men were pensive now and did a great deal more nodding in agreement. While Alvarez glanced around and nodded himself as he expressed satisfaction with the tacit responses he had drawn.

Edge, peering down through the small crack, saw that North’s time lined and weather burnished features showed open minded expectancy.

‘Then we heard of the murder of the unfortunate young girl in your town, sheriff. And how Martinez’s son is accused of committing the crime. But there is doubt he will be brought to account for this because his family is rich and powerful and Bishopsburg is a small town where the law . . . ‘

He shrugged. ‘I wish no disrespect,
senor.
But you did feel it was necessary to smuggle your witness away to a safer place. And now the judge meant to try the boy has been murdered . . . ‘

‘I’m not taking any offence, Alvarez,’ North said, his tone taut with the controlled impatience that showed on his face. ‘But I’d like to know if you’re getting somewhere close to the point you plan to make?’

‘My point, sheriff, is that we took
Senorita
Gomez from you and your deputy to keep her out of the clutches of Eduardo Martinez.’

‘You’re not kidding, are you?’ North said with a head shaking gesture of incredulity. Alvarez rasped an embittered response between compressed lips. ‘The kind of life we have been forced to live because of Eduardo Martinez’s greed for land and the power it brings him means that my
compadres
and I are seldom in the mood for jokes,
gringo!’

North maintained his side of the suddenly ill-tempered exchange when he snarled:

‘Last night you killed my horse, Alvarez! And you could have killed me! Or Edge! Of even this woman! There sure as hell wasn’t anything funny about that! I don’t like the way – ‘

‘I do not care what you do not like, sheriff!’ the equally furious Mexican broke in.

‘We have succeeded in ensuring that the
senorita
is safer here with us than she would have been in the Bishopsburg jailhouse!’

‘But this hovel in the middle of nowhere has not got the comforts of those in – ‘ the scowling woman attempted to complain bitterly.

Alvarez ignored her and moderated his tone as he continued to address North. ‘The cost of this has been the life of one horse. Which is regrettable but hardly tragic. But would you have handed her over to us . . .’

63

He spread his arms to encompass the other men in the room. ‘ . . . if we had simply stopped you and asked that you do this?’

‘I reckon you know the answer to that!’

‘
Si,
I am sure I do. So we planned and carried out the ambush. Which has served two purposes. We have the
senorita
in safe keeping. And you need to concern yourself only with ensuring the Martinez boy remains in jail until a new trial can be arranged. Then we will bring Isabella Gomez to the court so she will be able to give her evidence against the murderer.’

North shook his head adamantly. ‘No, I can’t allow that.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’m the law in this county, damnit! And you and your men are self-confessed criminals. It’s my responsibility as the sheriff to see she’s protected against – ‘

‘She is being very well protected, is she not? She is much safer kept secretly with us than she would be with you in Bishopsburg. I have said this. And I have admitted what I am. What we all are. I can think of no other cards I can lay on the table to persuade you to trust us in this matter, Except, perhaps . . .’

He made a gesture to the other men and gave a low voiced order in Spanish. They made no move for a stretched second, then slid their pistols reluctantly into holsters while they kept suspicious eyed watch on the lawman.

Then Alvarez said: ‘And I am also prepared to allow you to have your weapon back, sheriff.’

Isabella sucked in a deep breath.

North said: ‘I’d still be way out-gunned.’

‘
Si.
And if you made any attempt to take the
senorita
by force – or endangered our lives – any one of us would certainly kill you. But I hope I have convinced you that we are on the same side?’

North was impassive in response to the query.

Alvarez went on apologetically: ‘It is regrettable that force and subterfuge were necessary for us to reach this position. Force because I could see no other way. Subterfuge because if we had spoken of this last night you would have had no proof of our good intentions and abilities to carry them out. Now it is time for trust, I think?’

North looked at every one of the grim faced Mexicans in turn and each one of them gave an emphatic nod of agreement with Alvarez.

Isabella muttered a mild Spanish curse.

‘The ambush took some planning, I reckon?’ North muttered eventually. 64

Alvarez nodded. ‘
Si,
more than a little, sheriff.’

‘Mind telling me how did it happen to be the same night Judge Miller was murdered at the Bellamy farm? Which meant the trial had to be postponed?’

Alvarez sighed in face of North’s continued suspicion of his motives. ‘I assure you,
senor,
we had no knowledge of just what was to happen to the judge and his unfortunate hosts.’

There was a soft spoken chorus of rueful confirmation from the other men.

‘Our information was only that Eduardo Martinez had hired professional gunmen to prevent the trial from taking place. We assumed this would involve . . . removing
Senorita
Gomez.’

The woman shuddered and grimaced.

Alvarez shrugged. ‘And we thought we would need to protect her from the hired killers for no more than a few hours. For the trial was to have started this morning, was it not?’

North accepted the truth of what had been said. He shook his head for another reason as he muttered grimly: ‘I’d be crazy to . . . Hell, I can’t take on a bunch of bandits to do the work of the law!’

‘Sheriff North,’ Alvarez encouraged earnestly. ‘Jose Martinez is to us no better nor worse than his father and those men who are paid money to do the underhand work of the family. But he is accused of a crime for which he must be hanged.’

North put in pointedly: ‘If a jury find him guilty.’

‘
Si,’
Alvarez allowed curtly. ‘And for us to assist in seeing that justice is achieved will contribute to putting right some of the wrong done to us.’

‘But it’s not right for me to – ‘

‘We are bandits, I have admitted so,’ Alvarez broke in. ‘But not in this country. Not in the state of Texas. Not within your jurisdiction.’

Isabella challenged: ‘Is kidnapping not a crime in any country of the world?’

Alvarez scowled at her then returned his attention to North. ‘The only crime we have committed to your certain knowledge is the taking by force of this woman from you. And I have explained why that was necessary in the circumstances. Here in Texas we wish to see justice done. For Jose Martinez to be tried in a court of law. And then hanged – if he is found guilty. It will be an honour – and most satisfying – for us to be a part of that.’

‘Justice doesn’t have a damn thing to do with any kind of personal vengeance, Alvarez!’ North said. ‘Not for men sworn to uphold the law.’

65

‘
Si, si!’
The most emphatic nod yet accompanied the forcefully spoken affirmatives.

‘We are all, in our own way, honourable men. If we were sworn in as your deputies to assist you in protecting Isabella Gomez from Eduardo Martinez and his hired guns until the trial is over, we would not do anything to make you regret agreeing to have us help you.’

‘Sheriff, I do not think – ‘ Isabella tried to interject.

‘While you will need only to devote your attention to ensuring the prisoner remains securely locked in jail until the trial is held.’

‘It’s one hell of a crazy way for me to taken on deputies,’ North muttered, obviously speaking aloud the thought rather than putting up what he said for discussion. Alvarez instructed the short, slightly built, bad complexioned man holding North’s gunbelt: ‘Tell him what you heard, Paco.’

The man was disconcerted to be suddenly at the centre of attention. But then he straightened his narrow shoulders, expressed determination and did what was asked of him. Spoke in more thickly accented English than the obviously better educated Alvarez.

‘My name, it is Paco Diego, Sheriff North. Awhile ago I was working on the Martinez ranch here in Texas. And when I was there I heard about the murder of the young girl at the
fiesta
in Red Rocks Canyon outside of Bishopsburg. How you arrested the Martinez boy for the terrible crime and then took the only witness to Railton City for safe keeping.’

‘We try always to have a man working for Martinez,’ Alvarez explained. ‘It is dangerous, but sometimes we get information that is useful to us.’

‘Sure,’ North said with an impatient gesture toward the squint eyed, bearded man. He did not look away from the smaller Mexican who clearly resented Alvarez’s interruption.

‘There was much talk about it at
Hacienda El Blanco,’
Diego went on more confidently. ‘About how the old man wouldn’t ever allow his son to be tried and hung. And about how the judge who was coming down here to try the case wouldn’t live long enough to do it. And how the woman who witnessed the killing wouldn’t get back to town alive. I made sure to tell Raul everything that I heard a soon as I could, sheriff.’

North asked grimly: ‘How come you heard so much?’

Diego replied eagerly: ‘There’s a bunkhouse on the Martinez ranch. Where the Mexican worker spend much time when they are not working. Cooks and house servants. Ditch diggers and stable hands. But I am not going to name names, sheriff. Tell you who said what, you understand?’

North responded with a scowl and a shrug.

Isabella looked about to snarl a demand, but held her peace when Diego went on: 66

‘I saw two
Americano
strangers who showed up at the
hacienda
a week ago. Hard looking
hombres.
It was that same night, while we had supper, that talk of killing and the rest of it began.’

Alvarez said: ‘I realise why you are anxious to know the source of Paco’s information, sheriff. Judge Miller and the Bellamy family were shot down in cold blood. Even the two young boys were not spared. And you would like to have witnesses to the talk at
Hacienda
El Blanco
that preceded such a terrible crime.’

‘Damn right,’ North growled.

Up on the roof, Edge carefully and silently shifted his prone position a little, a grimace that accompanied the move partly in response to the cramps in his muscles and partly triggered by irritation with North for delaying the end of the talk rather than trying to speed it up.

‘But that is not possible for the moment,’ Alvarez insisted. ‘There is more important business to attend to. Perhaps when the Martinez boy has paid the price for his crime and the
peons
who work for the family have seen Eduardo is not so all-powerful as he seems to be, some of those that Paco overheard will agree to give evidence?’

There were nods and grunts of agreement then looks that pleaded for North to accept what had been said.

The lawman muttered a reluctant acceptance of this and looked around at the men then said to Alvarez: ‘This isn’t your whole group. There were at least seven men at the ambush. Now there are just four in here and your farrier in the barn. That means two – ‘

Alvarez nodded. ‘
Si.
Francisco Gonzales and Filipe Rodriges – who is the brother of Rubio – are at our usual hide out. A much safer place than this. But several miles further away from Bishopsburg.’

‘Where’s that?’

Alvarez shook his head. ‘It is better you do not know this. In the event you only pretend to trust us. Until such times as you can bring the famous cavalry and outgun us, eh?’ He showed a wry smile.

North growled: ‘So I have to trust you, but you’re not going to trust me?’

‘What have you got to lose, sheriff? We will follow events concerning the new trial of Jose Martinez. And we promise to deliver Isabella Gomez safely to Bishopsburg in time to give her evidence.’

The woman demanded defensively: ‘Am I allowed an opinion on this matter?’

67

‘Of course,
senorita,’
Alvarez replied evenly. ‘But as I recall, shortly after we first met last night you said you preferred to be under the protection of more than two men. And better they be from your own country. Is that not so?’

‘
Si!’
She shrugged, jangling her silver jewellery. ‘But I am a woman. We are allowed to change our minds. And after so many hours spent with you and your rabble – not knowing my intended fate until I heard you tell the sheriff just now – I wish to change my mind.’

The bearded man shrugged. ‘You have stated your opinion.’

Isabella snarled a familiar Spanish oath, then launched into a violent outburst in her native tongue.

‘That is enough of that!’ Alvarez ordered.

Up on the roof the impatiently scowling Edge mouthed silently: ‘Damn right, feller.’

‘What did she say?’ North demanded.

‘That nobody has to take care of her,’ Alvarez translated in an indifferent tone. ‘That she is able to take care of herself. And if we let her walk out of the door, she promises she will be in Bishopsburg on the day of the new trial. That we can trust her.’