A Horse Called Mogollon (Floating Outfit Book 3) (27 page)

‘
Is she
still alive?’

‘
Was
when I left. They’ve kept her locked in the storeroom at the back
of the barn. She’s drugged with Buck-Eye’s sleeping-potion most of
the time.’

‘
Could
be she’ll give us some more answers to get even with them,’ Dusty
told Breda, for there had been details upon which Peet could not
supply information. ‘How many men’ll you need?’

‘
You OD
Connected boys, Dusty,’ Breda decided after a moment’s thought.
‘The inspector’ll be with us. I’ll take Felix and Bernardo if I
can, Libby.’

‘
They’re yours,’ Libby affirmed. ‘Will that be
enough?’

‘
I
reckon so,’ Breda replied.

‘
You
didn’t include me,’ Colin pointed out.

‘
Somebody has to stay here and tend to things, laddie,’
Breda answered. ‘And with Libby ’n’ me along, the Clan
Farquharson’ll be well-enough represented.’

‘
With
you and old Mogollon catching this
pelado,
they’ll not know we’re coming,’ the Kid
went on. ‘Happen they don’t have any more men come in since he
left, we’ll be more than enough.’

‘
To
hell with orders!’ Aarhorte suddenly growled, then directed a cold
scowl at his subordinate. ‘You didn’t hear me say that, did you,
mister?’

‘
No, sir,’
Lebel answered.
‘Shall I tell the men to saddle up?’

‘
Yes,’
the major confirmed. ‘We’ll be about half a mile behind you, Tam,
And if we hear shooting, we’ll join you fast.’

~*~

A gentle tapping at the side
door of the Renfrew house brought an indignant Beatrice
Argile
—alias
the
Vicomtesse
de Brioude—from her bedroom. Closing and fastening a robe
over the black tights which were her only garment, she stalked to
the door.

‘
Who is
it?’

‘
Buck-Eye. Open up. I’ve got something to tell
Hubie.’

‘
What
makes you think he’s—?’ Beatrice began.

‘
Don’t
you fuss me none!’ Buck-Eye’s voice growled back. ‘He ain’t at the
card game, to the barn nor backhouse. Where the hell else would he
be?’

‘
Who’s
there, Bea?’ demanded Stagge from inside the room she had
left.

‘
That
Buck-Eye creat—’ Beatrice spat back. Since assuming the
Vicomtesse’s
identity, she had
been accorded a respect which she had found vastly satisfying and
come to expect. So she took exception to being addressed in such a
manner by one of the hired help.

‘
Let
him in!’ Stagge snapped.

‘
Thanks,’ grunted the lean man when Beatrice opened the
door. Slouching into the room, he sat down. ‘Could use a drink,
gal. Walking allus gets me thirsted-up.’

‘
A
dri—?’ Beatrice spluttered. ‘How dare you come—’

‘
Get
him one!’ ordered Stagge, coming from the bedroom still tucking his
shirt’s flap into his trousers and bare-footed. ‘What happened,
Buck-Eye?’

‘
My
hoss put his foot in a gopher hole ’bout five miles back,’ the man
answered and looked pointedly at Beatrice. ‘I’m too thirsted to
talk.’

‘
Bring
him that drink, damn it!’ Stagge snarled. ‘Don’t argue. This could
be all our necks.’

Startled by the vehemence and
urgency in the killer
’s voice, Beatrice scuttled into the bedroom. She returned
with a half-f bottle of brandy and a glass. Pouring a quantity
of the amber liquid into the glass, she handed it to Buck-Eye and
watched him swallow it at a gulp.

‘
Not
bad,’ Buck-Eye commented. ‘Least-wise, it’ll do ’stead of a real
drink.’ Then, seeing Stagge’s frown, he went on, ‘First off, Hubie,
them soldiers ain’t arrested nor shot Mark Counter.’

‘
They
haven’t?’ the killer growled.

‘
Nope.
When I saw ’em, they was all sitting around Libby Schell’s camp as
sociable as borrowing neighbors at a wedding feeding. Tam Breda’s
there along of some dude and a blue-belly officer. Way the luff of
your’n was bowing ’n’ bobbing to him, he’s a captain at least.
Which ain’t all. Abe Peet’s there with ’em.’

‘
That
dirty, double-dealing—!’ Stagge snarled.

‘
You’re
doing him a wrongful, Hubie,’ interrupted the lanky man. ‘Way
things looked, I’d say he’d been took prisoner. Soon’s I saw how
things was going, I pulled out and headed back here.’

‘
Is
that all?’ Beatrice snapped. ‘Why didn’t you creep nearer and learn
more?’

‘’
Cause
they’ve got a young feller knowed as the Ysabel Kid with ’em,’
Buck-Eye explained with insolent patience as if addressing a
foolish child. ‘Mrs. Count, you don’t creep closer ’n’ learn things
when he’s around—’cepting maybe how it feels to get killed quick
and painful.’

‘
Are
they coming here?’ Stagge asked.

‘
Warn’t
when I left,’ Buck-Eye replied and looked at the bottle. ‘I was
knocked silly for a spell when my hoss fell, Mrs. Count, ’n’ need
something to help clear my head.’

‘
Give
him another drink, Bea,’ Stagge instructed. ‘And when you’ve had
it, Buck-Eye, get Roarke’s horse and ride out about a mile. Stay
there until you hear them coming, then come back and warn
us.’

‘
I’ll
get ole Seth’s hoss right enough,’ Buck-Eye muttered after
he had left the house. ‘But I sure’s hell don’t conclude to do the
rest. If they come,
Cabrito’ll
be scouting ahead and I wants to live to see sun-up
tomorrow.’

‘
What
was all that about?’ Beatrice demanded.

‘
Just
me being cautious and looking out for
your
interests,’ the killer replied. ‘As soon
as Buck-Eye came out of hiding with the others, I sent him after
Lebel. I figured it would be safer if we knew should anything go
wrong.’

‘
And
something has gone wrong,’ Beatrice said bitterly.

‘
Just
as far wrong as it could go,’ Stagge admitted. ‘With what Peet’ll
tell them, Breda, rot his guts, and Dusty Fog’re smart enough to
figure plenty out. They may even get around to figuring that you
and Arnaud aren’t what you claim to be.’

‘
How
did
you
know that?’ Beatrice hissed, eyes flashing
dangerously.

‘
Up to
now, I only guessed it. There were little things pointed the way
for me. Arnaud always acted more like a servant than a feller used
to being served. And you sure took good care of your clothes and
packed them tidy, for a gal who’d had a maid to wait on her all her
life. Then there was how a real, genuine French
Vicomte
on his first visit to the United
States knew the right folks to hire somebody like me.’

‘
Go
on!’

‘
I
played along with you, watching and listening,’ Stagge continued.
‘Which I speak French pretty good—’

‘
You
never told us about that!’ Beatrice accused.

‘
I
never put
all
my cards on the table,’ Stagge declared. ‘Not that you pair
ever let out anything I could’ve used, I’ll give you that. This
Mogollon foolery gave me the chance I’d been looking
for.’

‘
How?’
Beatrice asked.

‘
There
wasn’t much real hope of that notion about taking over Kerry County
coming off,’ Stagge replied, satisfied that he was impressing her
with his brilliance and intelligence. ‘And it got less when Arnaud
would send Lebel to take Counter. That way, no matter how it came
out, it wouldn’t’ve ended there. Neither the Army nor Ole Devil
Hardin would have let it.’

‘
You
didn’t say anything like this to Arnaud,’ Beatrice said
pensively.

‘
Why
should I?’ Stagge grinned. ‘Now
you
need
me
more than him.’

‘
You
seem sure of that.’

‘
I am.
Arnaud might be one slick he-coon around a big city, but he’s lost
out here. I can get you and all your money away and even fix it so
that nobody from this country or France’ll bother you
again.’

‘
Our
enemies will never stop looking for me, even if they get Arnaud,’
Beatrice objected.

‘
They
will,’ Stagge promised. ‘Because you and Arnaud will both be
dead.’

Backing in
fright towards the bedroom’s
door, Beatrice opened her mouth to scream. Before she could make a
sound, Stagge sprang to her. Scooping her into his arms, he kissed
her hard.

‘
That’s
only what folks’ll think,’ the killer said as he loosened his hold.
‘They’re going to find things looking like Arnaud died trying to
save you from a fire down at the barn.’

‘
A
fire—?’

‘
At the
barn. I’ll need your wedding ring and some of that jewelry you had
on at the reception in Kerrville. Stuff folks’ll
recognize.’

‘
I
don’t—’ Beatrice began, then nodded vigorously. ‘The
trinkets won’t burn, but Laura’s body will.’

‘
That’s
using your head, Bea gal,’ Stagge praised. ‘I knew she’d be useful
if we kept her alive. I’ll fix it so that she’s burned to a cinder,
but leave Arnaud so that he won’t be so bad marked up. That way
everybody’ll think how we want.’

‘
And
then what?’ Beatrice inquired, nestling closer to
Stagge.

‘
We’ll
head for the border with your wealth, you and me,’ the killer
replied. ‘With that much money down there, we can live like a king
and queen.’

‘
And
what of the men?’

‘
They’ll be too busy fighting the fire to see us slip away.
If we set loose all the horses, they can’t follow us. It’ll be dawn
before anybody can find our trail and by then we’ll be miles on our
way.’

‘
How do
we get Arnaud to the barn?’ Beatrice wanted to know.

‘
Easy,’
Stagge answered. ‘First off, we get everything ready; horses
saddled, money and stuff on them. Then I’ll go to the barn and fix
Laura up. You fetch Arnaud from the game, make up some tale to get
him to the barn.’

‘
I
could say that Abe Peet has come back and wants to speak to him in
private—about you. That should do it. There’s only one thing
wrong.’

‘
What?’

‘
If I
go to Arnaud dressed for riding, he will be suspicious.’

‘
Then
have your clothes ready and go like you are,’ Stagge told her.
‘You’ve been to the bunk-house dressed that ways before now. Once
you’ve got him headed for the barn, come here and put your
travelling clothes on.’

‘
I must
admit that you seem to think of everything, Hubie,’ Beatrice
complimented and thrust her face to his. ‘If only we had time to
finish—’

‘
We’ll
have all the time in the world after tonight,’ Stagge assured
her.

‘
I can
hardly wait,’ Beatrice purred and they started to make their
preparations.

~*~

‘
I just
don’t figure it at all,’ said the Ysabel Kid in a puzzled, almost
aggrieved tone. ‘Don’t those jaspers know
I’m
in Kerr County?’

‘
What’s
up, Lon?’ Tam Breda inquired.

‘
There’s not a single one solitary son-of-a-bitch out on
guard,’ explained the Kid, having just rejoined his companions
after making a thorough scout of the Renfrew property.

‘
You’d’ve expected them to have at least one out,’ Dusty
commented. ‘Even without knowing
you
was in Kerr County.’

‘
Maybe
they don’t know their little game’s gone sour on them,’ Mark
suggested. ‘Lebel allowed that he’d told them he’d take me straight
to the Kerrville jail after he’d arrested me.’

‘
They’d’ve expected Peet to come in and tell them about it,’
Dusty objected. ‘Is anybody at the ranch, Lon?’

‘
I
didn’t look too close,’ admitted the Kid. ‘But there’s some hard
drinking ’n’ a poker game in the bunk-house.’