From Hide and Horn (A Floating Outfit Book Number 5) (16 page)

Startled yells rose from the
watching trail hands, mingled with Mark’s and Ahlen’s demands that
orders were obeyed. Throwing up his hands inside the
tuivitsi’s
left arm, Dusty
crossed his wrists and interposed them between the down-driving
war-axe and his head. Caught in the upper V formed by the wrists,
Apache’s Scalp’s forearm halted without achieving its
purpose.

Before the
tuivitsi
realized the danger, Dusty
slipped free his right hand to grasp the immobile wrist. Pulling it
forward and downward, the small Texan twisted himself to the right.
Taking a rearward step with his right foot, Dusty hauled even
harder on the trapped limb and pivoted on his left leg to drag
Apache’s Scalp off balance. Giving the other no chance to recover,
Dusty propelled his right knee around to drive it into the exposed
and offered belly.

An agony-filled belch broke from
the
tuivitsi’s
lips as the knee arrived. Having withdrawn his left hand
from the X-block position when the right gripped Apache’s Scalp’s
wrist, Dusty knotted it into a fist which he drove with all his
power just below the other’s rib-cage. Dropping the axe, the
tuivitsi
blundered by Dusty
on being released and fell to his knees.

Dusty followed his victim
grimly. Although they watched with considerable interest and
commented excitedly among themselves, none of the
Yamparikuh
braves offered to
intervene. Going against another man’s declared medicine power,
Apache’s Scalp must stand or fall alone. Despite their lack of
interference, Dusty knew he must end the fight quickly.

Raising his right arm, Dusty
kept the hand open, its fingers extended and thumb bent across the
palm. Down it whipped and he slashed the heel of the hand into the
side of the
tuivitsi’s
neck above the vagus nerve. Apache’s Scalp stiffened as the
blow landed, then collapsed limply forward. Rolling him on to his
back, Dusty bent and took the knife from its scalp-decorated
sheath. Amazement showed on the
Yamparikuh
faces as the small Texan walked towards
them. Springing from their horses, two of the
tuivitsi
ran by him in the direction of
their motionless companion.

‘
Is
that one dead?’
asked
Pinedapoi
as Dusty offered him the knife hilt-first.

‘
No. He will wake soon,’ the small
Texan answered. ‘Does any other want to take the
buffalo-wohaw?’

Although he could not understand
the majority of grunted
answers, Dusty concluded that they expressed a
complete disinterest in gaining possession of his medicine animal.
Discovering that Dusty had spoken the truth about Apache’s Scalp’s
condition,
Pinedapoi
stated his complete satisfaction. Nor did Apache’s Scalp
show any inclination to resume his demands, having received what he
regarded as convincing proof of the medicine’s capabilities. So,
with a further exchange of compliments, the
Yamparikuh
departed taking their ‘good
heart’ gifts.

‘
They’
ll not trouble us anymore,’ the Kid stated. ‘Especially
with you giving
Pinedapoi
that extra hoss and three head.’

The bonus had been handed over
by Goodnight as a compliment to a wise and brave
Nemenuh
chief. It was the
kind of gesture Indians liked and would increase
Pinedapoi’s
determination to
keep his promise of peaceful passage for the herd.

Not until the herd had been
started m
oving did the Kid realize that he had failed to satisfy his
curiosity on a certain point.

‘
Say, Colonel. Who’s the dude and that
fancy gal back with the wagons?’

‘
And if she takes to Mark, which I
reckon she might, we shouldn’t have any trouble over her,’
Goodnight concluded after explaining to his segundo and scout about
the de Martins’ presence.

‘
Could be,’ Dusty agreed.
‘The only fellers big enough to make fuss for him are Swede, Sherm
Sherman or Tod Ames and they’re old enough
’n’ steady enough
not to try it.’

‘
It all depends on the gal, though,’
warned the Kid. ‘Women’re mighty peculiar critters.’

During the next three days, Barbe de Martin
seemed determined to prove false the Kid’s views on female
peculiarity. While the younger hands swarmed about her on the first
morning, trying to attract her attention with displays of roping or
riding skill, they kept their distance once Mark made his
intentions plain. No mean hand at the flirting game, and possessed
of the attributes most likely to attract women—handsome face,
magnificent physique and wealth—he found little difficulty in
drawing Barbe to him.

The situation lasted only three
days. On the evening of the third, Mark and Barbe were walking in a
small va
lley
clear of the camp. He had already found her to be a lot freer with
her favors than expected and had wondered if maybe the man back
East was the one doing the forcing. However, instead of flying into
his arms at the first opportunity, she acted hesitant. A low gasp
broke from her as he slipped an arm around her waist.

‘
What’s wrong?’ he asked as she drew
away from him and clapped a hand to her side, face showing
pain.

‘
I—I fell and banged myself in the
wagon this afternoon,’ Barbe replied.

‘
Is it hurting bad?’

‘
No. But you pressed it
and it stung. Mark
—’

‘
Yes?’

‘
Nothing can come of our friendship,
can it?’

‘
How do you mean, nothing?’ Mark asked
warily.

‘
I mean when we get to Fort Sumner,
you’ll go your way and I’ll go mine,’ Barbe explained.

‘
It’s
likely,’ Mark admitted.

‘
It’s certain,’ she smiled. ‘I’ve seen
you with your friends. You wouldn’t leave them to come East and
live. And I couldn’t stay in this wild land. So nothing can come of
our friendship, can it?’

‘
Likely not. But it’s real
pleasant.’

‘
It’s
too
pleasant,’ Barbe
said, darting a glance around her. ‘Mark, you wouldn’t marry me.
Would you?’

‘
I reckon you’re going
just a touch too fast,’ Mark answered.
‘We’ve not known each
other—’

‘
You wouldn’t,’ Barbe sniffed. ‘So I
think that it is better we end this now. You would be too easy to
fall in love with, Mark. Neither of us want that, do
we?’

‘
Maybe not.’

‘
I could too easily find myself deeply
involved, Mark. So we must stop doing this. We must.’

A slight sound reached Mark’s
ears, coming from some bushes about thirty yards away. Gently
thrusting the girl from him, the blond giant faced them and his
right hand Colt flowed from its holster in the effortless-seeming,
yet lightning fast way which separated the expert from the average
in the
pistolero
arts.

‘
Don’t shoot, Mark!’ called de Martin’s
voice and he walked into view with a shotgun tucked under his arm.
‘I was walking and heard voices, so I came over to see who it
was.’

‘
Edmond!’ Barbe said, sounding
startled. ‘I—I was just talking with Mark about the matter we
discussed this evening.’

‘
And does he agree?’

‘
We understand each other. Don’t we,
Mark?’

‘
I reckon so,’ Mark replied, holstering
his Colt.

‘
If I thought it would work and Barbe
be happy, I would be the first to say “Go ahead”, Mark,’ de Martin
stated. ‘But, as her elder brother, I was naturally concerned. I’ve
nothing against you personally, and feel that you would have been a
suitable choice. But Barbe is a city-girl. She could not settle in
this land and I doubt if you would like living in the East. Come,
Barbe. We’ll go back to the camp.’

Watching the brother and sister
fade off into the darkness, Mark felt as if a cold hand had touched
him. The way things sounded, he had been under consideration as a
matrimonial
prospect and had only narrowly avoided acceptance in that
light.

‘
Whooee!’ the blond giant breathed,
mopping his brow with a bandana. ‘Mark boy, you’ve got to stop
being a loyal hand making sacrifices happen you get asked to handle
another chore like that.’

‘
They do say the first
sign’s when t
hey start talking to themselves,’ drawled the Kid’s
voice.

Spinning around with hands
driving to his guns, Mark halted the draw uncompleted and glared
indignantly at t
he dark youngster who materialized from the darkness.
Familiarity did not lessen the surprise the Kid could hand out when
he made one of his silent appearances.

‘
Blast you, you
danged
Pehnane
!’ Mark spat out, letting the revolvers return to leather.
‘I near on killed you, jumpy as I am over that narrow escape I’ve
just had.’

‘
It was narrower than you think,’ the
Kid replied. ‘Her brother was hid up behind that bush, listening to
every word you said.’

‘
The hell you say!’ Mark
growled.

‘
Left camp just after you did, toting
his shotgun. I thought he might be fixing to do some hunting and
tagged along. When I saw his game, I waited unknown to him. Figured
maybe you’d like to have a witness on hand.’

‘
Thanks, Lon. I reckon they’d fixed
together to have Barbe break off with me and Edmond come along in
case I’d got notions to the contrary. Let’s get back to camp and
tell Dusty what’s happened.’

On hearing of the incident, Dusty agreed with
Mark’s ideas about de Martin’s motives and that there would be no
point in the blond giant continuing his efforts. If he attempted to
carry the matter further, the other hands might consider that he
was trying to force unwanted attentions on the girl. Figuring that
and wanting to raise his standing in Barbe’s eyes, one of the
impressionable young men might intervene. Which would spark off
just what Goodnight was seeking to avoid.

So, although Barbe threw
yearning or even inviting glances his way, Mark made no further
attempt to resume their close acquaintance. Seeing his attitude,
the younger hands swarmed in like hounds around a coon on a
tree-stump. In the main, the competition was shared between Vern
Sutherland, Austin Hoffman and Burle Willock, with Jacko Lefors
trailing along out of deference for the latter. By careful
manipulation of
their duties, Dusty made sure that the trio only rarely
found themselves in camp at the same time. Barbe also showed
interest in Red Blaze, but achieved nothing. Being aware of Mark’s
narrow escape, Red figured the girl might consider him a
matrimonial prospect. There were two things scared Red: being left
afoot and the risk of being tricked into marriage. So he steered
clear of Barbe.

If his sister mingled with the
younger hands, although ignoring Dawn, de Martin gained the
confidence and friendship of the older, staider members of the
travelling community. He had knowledge, was willing to listen and
learn, so got on well with the senior trail hands. As the drive
continued, he used his photographic equipment to gather material
for Vindfallet’s book and his own use. Various members of the crew
posed self
-consciously before the camera, including a blushing Dawn,
and he took long-range pictures of the herd. Goodnight vetoed a
suggestion that de Martin should go closer to the cattle as he did
not want them disturbed by the blazing flare of magnesium which
supplied the necessary light to process the photographic
plate.

On went the drive, gathering
unbranded—therefore ownerless—cattle which came their way to
replace those given to the
Yamparikuh,
used for food, or lost in traveling. Goodnight
wanted to keep the size of the herd at around three thousand five
hundred head. That would leave him a margin of safety against the
crossing of the Staked Plains.

With each passing day, the rancher grew
increasingly aware that he must soon tell the crew of his plans. He
had noticed that Ahlen, Sherman and Ames in particular had begun to
spend time studying the stars at night, or paying extra attention
to the route they followed in the daytime. Soon they would start
suspecting the continued western course. So he wished to explain
his motives before they discovered for themselves which way they
were to go.

Black clouds filled the sky as Goodnight left
Dusty to handle the bedding-down of the herd. He wanted to make a
large circle and check if there was any danger from the approaching
storm. On his return to camp, he intended to break the news to the
crew.

Satisfied that even a heavy
rainfall would cause him no inconvenience, the rancher left his
horse with the remuda and walked towards the camp. Immediately he
knew something was wrong. Normally the crew, less the herd’s guard
and night
hawk, would be gathered about the fire, eating, making
insulting comments about the food or discussing the events of the
day. Instead they appeared to be split into three groups. The
Swinging G hands and men from the OD Connected’s contingent were
around Dusty. To the rear of the others, the de Martins and Heenan
stood together. With the exception of the D4S trio who had the
night herd with Billy Jack, all the Minerals Wells men formed the
third party.