Tabor Evans (14 page)

"Almost, but not exactly," Susanna said. "It was in Dequeen that Lonnie began to run short of money. He'd had to buy me a horse and saddle, you see, when I said I'd go with him. I didn't have those, or any of the kind of clothes I'd need for traveling that way. So when he said he was coming up broke, I gave him what cash I had, which wasn't much. It was enough for us to travel on a ways, though. We cut over into the Indian Nation, and came to a little place called Poteau. We really did run out of money there. We had enough to buy some groceries, though, so Lonnie took me to a place he knew about from when he'd been there before, a cave out west from Poteau. He left me there and said he was going to go raise some money. I guess I knew what he meant, but I just didn't let myself think about it."

"Shit!" Floyd snorted. "Nobody could be that innocent! I think you're stringing us a pack of lies, girl! Now, you tell us exactly what happened, or you'll be in trouble!"

"I'm telling you exactly what happened!" Susanna insisted. "I don't remember things like what Lonnie said to me or I said to him, but it's all true, what I've said so far!"

"Let her tell things her own way, Floyd," Longarm told the outlaw. "We can sort it out after we've heard all of it."

"You keep out of this, Windy!" Floyd shot back. "This ain't your affair!"

"Both of you roosters keep quiet and let the girl finish!" Belle commanded.

Longarm patted Susanna's hand. "Go on, tell us what happened next. Tell it just the way it was, though."

"Ah, right, Windy, I'll do the best I can, but everything that started then was--well, it all happened so fast, I might get mixed up." She frowned, trying to remember where she'd left off, then continued, "I stayed in the cave, let's see--the first night, with Lonnie, then he rode off the next morning and said he'd be gone a day, two days at the most. He didn't come back that night, but he rode up the next morning, real early. He said we had to hurry and get out of there, that they were after him."

"Who was after him?" Floyd asked.

"y, the sheriff and his deputies," Susanna replied. "I didn't find that out until later on, though. Not until they caught up with us late that afternoon. We'd been pushing our horses real hard, riding around whatever towns we saw ahead of us. I guess that slowed us down a little bit. Anyhow, they got close to us and started shooting. They killed my horse, the one Lonnie'd just bought for me. And he took me up in front of him. But then we couldn't go as fast, of course. That's when they shot Lonnie."

Susanna stopped and pressed her hands over her face. Even Floyd stayed quiet until she was able to go on with her story. "It was lucky that Lonnie knew the country better than the posse did. He rode up a little creekbed and over a hill and doubled back and went over two or three more hills, zigzagging all the time. And I didn't see the men who were chasing us again. Lonnie'd been hurt right bad, though. But you know that. So we changed places. I got back of him in the saddle so I could hold him on, and he told me which way to go. He'd told me where we were heading for, right after we shook off the posse. And then I turned in at the place he'd said to look for, and then Windy came up just when the horse was about to give out. And that's really how it all happened."

"Where was this place that Lon went for money?" Floyd asked.

Susanna shook her head. "I don't really know, Floyd. Lonnie didn't tell me where he'd been, or what happened. Oh, I knew he'd done something that was against the law. I knew what was in his mind when he set out from the cave, even if he didn't tell me. And when he came back, I was sure. He never did say where he'd been or what he'd done, though."

"It was likely a stagecoach or a bank job," Belle said thoughtfully. "I know that cave west of Poteau. He could've gone into Poteau, but if he was smart, he'd have gone all the way back to Arkansas. It's not too far, just an hour of hard riding. There are two or three towns there he could've hit, Hartford or Greenwood or Waldon. I don't see that it makes any difference, though. Your job's north of there."

"We'll find out from Lon when he comes around," Floyd said. "He didn't know too much about what we've been figuring to do. All I said when I sent word to him was to get here to Younger's Bend as fast as he could ride. Told him who he'd be riding with, of course. He'd known Mckee and Steed from earlier. He didn't know Bobby, but that wouldn't have worried him. Lon trusts me."

"He was on his way here, of course. You'd told him how to find the place, judging from what he told Susanna," Belle said thoughtfully.

"You remember, though, Belle, he didn't even tell Susanna until he'd been shot, and he knew she'd need to be able to find her way here," Floyd pointed out.

"Hell, Floyd, I never have made any secret of where Younger's Bend is. There isn't any need to, as long as my treaty with the Cherokees holds good."

Starr called from inside the house, "Belle! Taylor's coming around!

He keeps calling for some girl, Sue's her name. Would that be th-"

Susanna hurried inside, followed by the others. Taylor's eyes were open and he was looking around the room. He saw Susanna and tried to sit up, but lacked the strength. She hurried to the table and took his hand.

"I guess you got me here in time," he whispered. His voice was weak and raspy in his throat. "I feel pretty good right now."

"That's fine, Lonnie. You'll be looked after. Everybody's going to help," she said.

Taylor saw Floyd, who'd come up to the table. "I'll be riding with you on that job, Floyd. Just don't plan on starting it until I feel a little stronger."

"Don't worry, Lon. I'll wait till you heal up," Floyd assured him.

Taylor smiled weakly. "That-that's good."

Floyd saw the whiskey bottle sitting in the chair. He said, "We'll just have a drink on that, by God!" and walked around the table, picked up the bottle, and selected two glasses.

"I'm sure glad you feel better, Lonnie," Susanna said.

Taylor looked at her and smiled. He started to say something, but the words that formed in his mouth failed to come out. His throat pulsed convulsively for a moment, then his eyes rolled upward, the pupils going out of sight even though the eyelids remained wide open. His head fell back and his body seemed to shrink a tiny amount as it went limp.

Susanna stared at him, realization growing in her eyes. "Oh, God!" she gasped. "I-I think he's dead!"

CHAPTER 9

"Dead?" Floyd whirled around, still holding the two shots of whiskey he'd poured. "How in hell could he be? He just said he was feeling a lot better!"

"I don't know how he could!" Susanna retorted. "He started to say something, then all of a sudden he died! That's all!"

Longarm came up, took Susanna's arms, and led her away from the table. She was trembling but not crying. He took her outside to the porch and sat her down on the bench. In the house, he heard Floyd say to Belle and Sam, "By God, he's dead, all right."

"Too bad," Belle said. "Damned if you're not having rough luck, Floyd. Maybe we'd just better call off that job we figured on. Seems to me like there's a jinx on it."

"No, by God!" Floyd replied angrily. "We're not calling off anything, Belle! I'm holding you to your word! We'll find somebody to fill in for Mckee and Lonnie, even if you and Sam have to take their places."

"Now that's something to think about," Belle said slowly. "I've dressed like a man before; I don't see why I couldn't do it again. Borrow a pair of Bobby's pants and a shirt, paste on a false horsetail mustache. I guess I could still carry it off." Sam said quietly, "I don't think you could, Belle. You've got pretty big in the ass lately."

"Well, damn you, Sam!"

There was the sound of a slap, and Sam came running out the door, clattered across the porch, and disappeared into the barn. Belle came to the door after him.

"Where'd he go?" she asked Longarm. "No husband of mine is going to make snide remarks about my figure! You think it's all right, don't you, Windy? You don't think my butt's too big?"

"You look just fine to me, Belle," Longarm said. He thought he might divert her from pursuing the luckless Sam. "Of course, I never did see you before just recently, so I don't know what you used to look like."

"Well, I haven't changed all that much," Belle snapped. She pulled her skirt tightly around her hips and swayed in front of Longarm. "See?"

"I don't know what you're all thinking about!" Susanna burst out. "Lonnie just died, and everybody's fighting and arguing! Windy, is there somewhere around here that you can take me where I can just be quiet a little while?"

"Sure, Susanna. I'll walk you down to my cabin. You're tuckered out anyhow, and you need to rest up awhile."

Belle said, "Listen, missy. You're new at this game. I'm Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen, and I've seen a lot of men die, including a husband or two. You'll find out, after you've been around awhile, that when something bad happens, you can't waste time mourning over it. You grit your teeth and laugh if you can, and you go on living!"

"Well, it seems real heartless to me!" Susanna said. Her eyes were still dry, but her mouth was drawn down at the corners and her chin was trembling.

"You'll think differently after you've lived a little bit longer," Belle said. Then, turning to Longarm, "Go ahead, Windy. Take her down to your place and let her sleep a while; that's what she needs. You come back when you get hungry. Sam's going to have breakfast ready pretty soon."

As they walked across the rough, rock-strewn soil of Younger's Bend to the cabin Longarm was supposed to be occupying, the lawman realized that Susanna was suffering from exhaustion as well as from a delayed reaction to Taylor's death. She stumbled several times on pebbles during the short walk from the house, and, halfway there, her legs began to tremble and her body to wobble.

"Help me, Windy!" she pleaded. "I don't think I can walk the rest of the way by myself."

Longarm put an arm around Susanna and supported her until they got into the cabin. He led her to one of the bunks. She slumped down on it, and he lifted her legs onto the tattered mattress. "Thank you, Windy," she said. "All of a sudden, I'm so... soo... sleepy..."

Her words trailed off with a sigh. Her breathing, which had been ragged, almost spasmodic, settled down into the easy regularity of sleep. Longarm stood for a moment, looking down at her.

Now, in real light, he could see that she must be past her mid-twenties. At the corners of her eyes, fine lines promised crow's-feet soon to show. Delicate lines were also faintly visible running from her nostrils to the corners of her mouth. The mouth itself was almost perfectly circular, with lip-peaks and corners almost imperceptible; her lips were virtually the same width all the way around the small, slightly protruding teeth that showed when her lips were parted with her breathing. Her chin was round, like that of a child whose face is just settling into adulthood. Under her thin dress, the twin globes of firm, round breasts jutted high. Her long ashen hair lay tumbled around her head and shoulders.

Longarm left Susanna sleeping and walked back to the house, where the argument had shifted from the job planned by Floyd to a dispute over who was going to dig Taylor's grave.

"Damned if I'm going to push that shovel into this hard dirt ever again!" Floyd proclaimed. "Mckee was my partner a long time. Taylor I don't hardly know."

"You'll have to bury him then, Sam," Belle told Starr, who had apparently returned from the barn. "But if you can get Floyd to help you carry him up to the grove, you can put off digging his grave until Yazoo shows up to help you."

Longarm waited outside until Starr and Floyd came out, carrying Taylor's body between them. He'd learned the army lesson that began somewhere in the dim past, with Attila's hordes or Caesar's legions, never to volunteer. When Floyd and Starr rounded the corner of the house on their way to the grove, he went inside.

Belle sat in a chair at the table, staring at the bloodstained tabletop. "You'll have to wait until Sam gets back and scrubs the table before we can have breakfast," she said. "Unless you want to wash it yourself."

"I'll wait," Longarm told her curtly. "I want a drink before I eat, anyhow."

"There's coffee on the stove and some whiskey left in the bottle," she informed him. "Take your choice."

"Meaning no offense toward your whiskey, Belle, but I've got what's left of a bottle of Maryland rye out in the barn. I'll just step out and get it."

"What's wrong with Younger's Bend whiskey?" she demanded. "Yazoo is as good a whiskey-maker as any you'll find in a regular distillery."

"Oh, there ain't a thing wrong with your liquor, if a man relishes corn whiskey. Just happens I've got a taste for rye."

"Have what you choose," she said curtly. "I don't give a damn."

Not wanting to offend her further by bringing his bottle of rye into the house, Longarm had a sip in the barn, lighted a fresh cheroot, and had a second sip before going back. Yazoo was there, and relatively sober. His eyes were rheumy, but his speech was plain and unslurred by liquor.

The old man nodded. "Morning, Windy. I hear things got sorta roiled up again down here last night."

"A little bit," Longarm agreed. "Maybe that'll be the last of it, though."

"It better be the last of it!" Belle said. Her voice was sharp with anger. "I don't want Younger's Bend getting a reputation as a place where people go to die!" She stamped into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.