Buckskin Run (Ss) (1981) (5 page)

They were over a hundred yards apart, but Rod wa s walking swiftly. Sights and sounds were wiped from hi s world, and all he could see was the slim, tall figure wit h the high-crowned hat standing in the middle of the street.

Vaguely, he was aware that men had come from th e stores and were lining the street, oblivious of the dange r of ricocheting bullets. Dust arose in little puffs as h e walked, and he could feel the heat of the sun on his face.

His body seemed strangely light, hut each foot seemed t o fall hard to the ground as he walked.

He was going to kill this man. Suddenly all the hatred , the trouble and c onfusion seemed to center o n the sli m man , the taunting, challenging eyes and the hatche t face who was awaiting him.

He was sixty yards away, forty yards. Bod saw Dally'
s fingers spread a little. Thirty yards. The expression o n Hart's face changed; his tongue touched his lips. Rod wa s walking fast, closing the distance.

Twenty yards, eighteen, sixteen --There were men, he knew, who, proud of their marksmanship, preferred distance for their shooting, but as th e distance grew less and less they became aware that a t short range neither m an was likely to miss. Luke Short , the Dodge City gunfighter, always crowded his foes , crowded them until they lost their poise and began to bac k u p to get distance.

Fourteen yards -Dally Hart's nerve broke and he went for his gun.

Incredibly fast, and the gun lifted in a smooth, unbroke n movement. It came level and flowered with sudde n flame, then his own gun bucked in his hand, and bucke d again.

Dally Hart wavered, then steadied. Something was wron g with his face. His gun came u p and he fired. A blow struc k Morgan. His legs went weak under him, and he fire d again. Hart's face seemed to turn dark, then crimson, an d the gunman toppled into the dust.

From somewhere behind him a gun bellowed and a s from a great distance he heard Jed Blue saying, That wa s one! who will he the next to die ?"

There was a rectangle of sunlight lying inside the cabi n door, and beyond it Rod could see the green, waving gras s of Buckskin Run. He could hear the muted sound of th e stream as it boiled over the rocks, gathering force t o charge the bottleneck.

He was home, in his own cabin. He turned his head.

Everything was as he had last seen it, except for on e thing. There was another bed across the room, a be d carefully made up. The table was scrubbed clean, th e room freshly swept. He wondered about that, wondere d vaguely how long he had been here and who had brough t him back.

In the midst of his wondering he fell asleep, and whe n he again opened his eyes it was dark beyond the door an d a lam ?
glowed on the table. He could hear vague movements, a rustling as of garments, and he felt that if he la y still he would soon see whomever was in the room.

While he was waiting he fell asleep again, and when h e awakened it was morning again and sunlight was shinin g through the doorway. Then he saw something else. Je d Blue was crouched near the window but well out of sight.

The door was barred, and someone was moving abou t outside.

Rod started to lift himself u ?
when he heard a voice h e recognized as Josh Shipton's. "Halloo, in there? Anybod y to home?"

Blue made no reply. It was grotesque to see the bi g man crouching i n silence. What was he afraid of?
Wha t could Jed Blue possibly fear from Shipton? Yet it wa s obvious Blue did not wish to be seen.

After a while Jed Blue stood u p and, standing first t o one side and then to the other, peered out the window.

After a careful look around, he unbarred the door. Ro d hastily closed his eyes, then, after a bit, stirred on the be d and simulated awakening. When he opened his eyes th e big, bearded man was standing over him.

"Coming out of it, are you?"

"What happened''

"You killed Dally Hart, but he got two bullets into you.

I was almighty busy for a few minutes, and had to pac k you out of town before I could patch you up. You lost a sight of blood, and the tri ?
back here didn't do you an y good .

"You were in it, too, weren
'
t you? I thought I heard yo u shoot."

"That Block C coyote Bob Carr tried to shoot you in th e back. After he went down I had to hold a gun on th e others whilst we rolled our tails out of town."

"How long have I been here?"

"A week or so. You were in a bad way."

"Any other trouble
?"

"Some. Jake Sarran, that Block C ramrod, rode in her e with a dozen hands. Said as soon as you could ride yo u were to get out, and they weren't warning you again."

"To Hell with that! I'm staying."

"Want a partner
?
My offer still stands."

"Why not
?
We're cut from the same leather, I think.

Rod was silent. He wanted to ask about Lorna, but wa s ashamed to. He waited, hoping Blue would offer som e hint as to what had happened to her. Was she married?

Rod sighed, trying not to think of her. After all, she ha d thrown him over for Mark Brewer. Still, he had to mak e allowances. After all, she hadn't seen him in two years , then to hear nothing but bad about him, and then to se e him kill another man --His thoughts shifted to the vanished wagons and th e gold, then to the strange actions of Jed Blue when Shipto n came around.

Why had Blue not wished to be seen by Josh Shipton ?

Or had there been others outside, and Josh simply th e bait to draw him out to be killed ?
It was possible.

Despite his curiosity he had no doubt there was a sensible explanation, and had no doubts about his ne w partner. After all, the man had saved his life, had gotte n him out of town when they would certainly have eithe r killed him or let him die. Few men would dare challeng e the power of the Block C, and from the memory of th e horses he had seen he knew the Block C had been out i n force.

Lying there through the long day he tried to find a n answer for the Block C's enmity for him; so much hatre d could not stem from his original fight with Carr, nor eve n the shooting of Reuben Hart, which had been forced o n him.

Behind it there had to be a reason, and he had a hunc h the trouble stemmed from the man he had never seen --Henry Childs himself.

Hour after hour, as he lay in bed, he tried to fin d answers to the problem of the gold and the wagons.

Three men had died and been buried, three wagons ha d vanished along with much gold and gear. It was not until the last day he was in bed that the idea came to him, a n idea so fantastic that at first he could not believe it coul d be possible; yet the more he considered it, the more i t 'seemed the only possible solution.

He was recovering rapidly, and when he could sit outside in the sun, even walk a little by favoring his bad leg , he could see many evidences of Jed Blue's work. Certainl y the big man did not intend just to come along for the ride.

A comfortable bench had been built, encircling a larg e tree close to the house, a shady, comfortable place i n which to sit. A new workbench stood near the log barn , and a parapet of stones had been built, fastened with som e home-made mortar. This parapet faced the canyon entrance , and had loopholes for firing. It had been built, however , so it could not be used by anyone attacking the house, fo r a rifleman from the house could command both sides of it , because of the angle at which it was built.

A water-barrel had been moved into the house and kep t full. Several steers had been slaughtered, and the mea t jerked. It was hung u ?
inside the house. Every precautio n had been taken for a full-scale siege, if it came to that.

On a shelf near the door were several boxes of pisto l and rifle ammunition. Obviously, Blue had been to town , so he must know what had become of Lorna.

On the fourth day on which Rod could be outside h e saddled the gray and, getting a steel hook from the odd s and ends on the workbench in the blacksmith shop, h e took an extra length of rope and rode u ?
the canyo n toward the basin. Blue had left early and Rod had' talke d with him but a few minutes. He supposed the other ma n had ridden to town, but Jed had said nothing about hi s destination.

Rod was quite sure he knew now what had become o f the vanished' wagons. Come what may, in the next fe w hours he would know for sure.

He understood something else. Both Weisl and Tolber t had been killed in the canyon, and both apparently afte r arriving at a solution or coming close to it. He would hav e to be very, very careful!

Rod Morgan's sudden appearance at Em Shipton's ha d startled and upset Lorna. Try as she might, she could no t get his face from her mind, nor the hurt expression on hi s face when Mark told him she was to marry him, Mar k Brewer.

She had been standing in the boarding house when sh e heard the shots, and she had rushed to the door, panic -
stricken that Bod might have been killed or hurt. Mar k Brewer caught her arm and stopped her.

"Better not go out! You might be killed! It is always th e innocent ones who are hurt, and it is probably just Ro d Morgan killing somebody else."

He had drawn her to him and kissed her lightly befor e turning to the door. She learned two things in that instant.

She did not like to be kissed by Mark Brewer, and he ha d lied. He was carrying a gun. He was carrying it in a shoulder holster, for it pressed against her when she wa s in his arms.

She knew all about shoulder holsters because her uncl e had been a plainclothes detective at a time when the y were first beginning to be used in the East. She had no t seen one since coming west.

Why had he lied' Was he afraid of Rod ?
Or did h e merely wish to avoid trouble'? Yet the lie worried her.

There seemed to be something underhanded about tha t gun, for she had heard several times that Mark Brewe r never wore a gun. Apparently no one believed he wore a gun, yet certainly he did.

The thought rankled as the days went by. She hear d that Rod had killed Dally Hart and Jed Blue had kille d Bob Carr. It was not until the third day that she hear d that Rod Morgan had been seriously wounded and tha t Jed Blue had carried him out of town.

He might be dead! Horrified, she for the 6rst tim e considered her own situation. She knew none of thes e people. Rod she had known for a long time. He ha d always been a gentleman and a fine man. Could he chang e so quickly? Or was something else happening here o f which she knew nothing'?

Coming downstairs from her room at Em Shipton's, sh e heard Rod's name mentioned in the dining room an d stopped on the steps.

The voice was that of Jeff Cordell, whom she knew a s one of the four men who had faced Rod that day besid e the stage.

"Got to hand it to him," Cordell was saying. "Morga n has plenty of nerve, and I've never seen a faster hand wit h a gun. Why, that day on the trail he could have got m e sure as shootin' if I'd moved a hand. I "d lay odds he'd hav e gotten three or maybe all of us."

"Speaking of fast hands," said another voice, "what abou t that Jed Blue?"

"He's good, all right. Bob Carr never knew what hi t him. You know, that Blue puzzles me. Where did h e come from? Why did he tie in with Morgan? He claims h e was in here with Kit Carson, but I know the name o f every one who ever rode with Kit, and none of them wa s named Blue."

Somebody laughed. "You always use the same name , Jeff. I doubt if Childs has a single rider who uses his rea l name. Hell, we've all had our ups and downs."

"What will come of it, Jeff
?"
asked the other voice.

"Morgan will be killed. You can't beat Childs. If h e doesn't want a man in the country, he doesn't stay. Je d Blue will get it, too."

"Why? What s his idea
?

"Don't try. Don't even think about it. You're getting twice a regular cowhand's wages, so just do what you're told and keep your trap shut. Childs knows why, an d Brewer knows. Personally, I think the two of them ar e land-hungry. This is good country, and they want to control it. Can't blame 'em for that."

Aloma had gone on to her room, and after she undresse d and got into bed she could not sleep. What she had over -
heard disturbed her. There was a plot against Rod Morgan , just as Bod had implied. Childs did want him killed.

Why, Henry Childs was the wealthiest rancher any -
where around! Why would he be involved in such things?

Mark Brewer and Em Shipton both spoke so highly o f him, but on the other hand, who was it who gave her th e first doubts about Rod ?
It had been Em Shipton and Mar g Brewer.

Lorna Day decided she must talk to Jed Blue. Sh e recalled that he had defended Rod that day on the stage.

Had he known him then? No... he had not. She remembered his comments at the time she recognized Rod.

It was the next day she saw Henry Childs for the firs t time.

She was talking to Jeff Cordell, for after overhearing th e conversation in the dining room she had decided she mus t cultivate him and learn what he knew.