the Bounty Hunters (1953) (18 page)

Where did you hear this?

From one of the men of the village. Now I'm not sure, that might have been a time ago and now they are gone.

Santana sipped his mescal; he was thinking, and it was even something physical, tightening his swarthy face. His eyes were small in his face and now they did not show as he squinted to make things plainer in his mind.

When I heard that, Bowers said, I couldn't help but be angry myself; but one man cannot do anything against all of them.

What of your companion?

That would make two of us.

No, I meant where is he?

Bowers shrugged. Probably at the house of the alcalde, or visiting others. He also cannot understand this immunity that seems to have been granted them.

Lieutenant Duro

Yes, Lieutenant Duro' who is forced to associate with them only when paying the scalp bounty. The rest of the time he is alone in his comfortable house with little to do

Not always alone.

But while you perform his work. I have heard that, Bowers said.

What?

Everyone speaks of it. You're modest. It's said about that Duro would accomplish nothing if it were not for Sergeant Santana.

That is said?

You are modest; for you know this better than I. How often does he come from his house into the sun?

Little.

Perhaps for pleasure, but never for work, eh?

Santana nodded, thoughtfully.

It seems such a waste. Yet he is the one who insists that you be courteous to the men of Lazair. Has he led you against the Apaches?

That one? That son of the great whore would sooner cut his arm off.

Bowers said, sympathetically, You can find little respect for a man like that.

None. Just the sight of him is an abuse.

Bowers said nothing, watching him.

Santana said, In the army it isn't uncommon to find men such as he. I know that for I have served. As a boy I was present at the battle of Cinco de Mayo, where at Puebla, under Zaragoza and this same Diaz we now have, we defeated the army of France.

That was a long time ago.

Fifteen years, Santana answered. But with the clearness of yesterday in my mind.

And you have served all of this time?

Most of it.

I didn't know you were a veteran of such long service.

But this is not the army, Santana said.

More a police force?

More an association of bandits. Listen' almost every one of my men has lived his entire life outside of the law. These you meet in all armies, but not in such proportion as here. To organize this, Diaz must have thrown open the jails.

Then there is a problem making them obey orders.

Listen. Santana looked at Bowers intently. There is no problem. These that were conceived in stables and have seasoned in prisons' there is not one of them I cannot handle. If it were not for that pimp of a lieutenant, much more would be accomplished here. Lieutenant Duro sometimes believes he is much man, but it is only his rank that tells him so. Inside of him live worms.

Bowers shook his head. That's too bad. Here you are, a military man, years of experience and with a force you could probably turn into a fine fighting corps' and they saddle you with an officer who has no feeling for service. I would venture that you could have taken your men even against this Soldado Viejo long before this if it were not for Duro.

With certainty, even though they are not trained properly for the fighting of Indians; that is, as a body, which is the only way to defeat them.

Taking them into the hills after Soldado would not be wise then.

No. We have not been given trackers. How would we find them? And if we did, how would we assault them? Firing, puffs of the powder smoke high up, but when you climb to the place, nothing. Then you carry down your dead. It is always thus with the Apaches.

But to get them in the open, eh? Bowers prompted. He pushed the mescal bottle toward Santana, watching the sergeant light a cigar, puff hard, hurrying to light it.

Aiii to get them in the open. Listen, when that day comes we will flood them; we will sweep through their ranks and you will see riding you thought was not possible. There are many vaqueros among us; these will sweep them, firing, stinging like a thousand ants, then roping them to be dragged behind the horses. Then, instead of scalps, we will take the entire heads and secure them to poles and place each pole a certain distance apart, all the way to Hermosillo.

If you get them in the open.

Yes. Santana's voice was lower, the word part of his breath. Then he said, again excitedly, Listen, tomorrow with the sun I am taking a patrol toward the pueblo of Alaejos. That is a good direction for Apaches. You come with us. Then, if we see Apaches down from the hills, I'll show you something, man, to tell them back home.

How long would we be gone?

We would return the following day' in time for the fiesta. D+a de los Muertos

Santana took one more drink, repeating that he had only a moment, then left the mescal shop.

Red Bowers exhaled slowly, a long sigh. Flynn had it right, Bowers thought. Santana arouses easily, and he hates Lazair's men. This could be all right. This could work, if it's handled properly. Just take it slowly. This could be like war from a general's saddle moving troops, but only hearing the gunfire in the distance. Here's some practice for you. And then there's Duro' something for his ear.

He paid the bartender and started for the door.

Boy' you goin' to wait for Frank!

Bowers glanced back at the table where Embree and the other sat. He hesitated, then went out without bothering to answer.

He crossed the square toward Duro's house, leading his mount, hoofs clopping behind a thin shadow with legs twice as long as they should be. The square was still vacant; the two rurales who had been in front of Duro's were not in sight.

He mounted the stairs heavily, slowly. If he were interrupting anything Duro would hear him and have time to clear away whatever it, or she, might be. That was the gentlemanly thing to do. But when he reached the veranda there was no sound from within. He called the lieutenant's name through the partly opened door. He waited, then pushed in when there was no answer. Calling again, he moved to the bedroom doorway

Duro was on the bed, sprawled on his back. A fly buzzed close to his face, close to his open mouth. The mescal bottle was on the floor, but Duro still clutched the glass he'd been holding when he passed out.

Officer and gentleman, Bowers said half aloud. He left then.

Lazair counted the scalps again as they returned to camp. He knew there were eight, but there was no harm in a recount. His hunch had paid off. With the rain the streams had filled. He had located his men at three watering places on the chance Soldado's people would come to one of them. And they had.

The second evening they came seven women and two old men to protect them. And now they had eight scalps. One woman had gotten away. It was almost dark, but best to return to camp now than wait for a war party to come storming back for revenge. You could always pick off a few if you found the right water holes, that was the way to do it; but God, don't try and hit the whole bunch!

He'd sent a man to gather the ones at the other two places, and some men were bringing up the rear to cover sign as best they could in the fast-falling dark. Well, it was a worthwhile two days. He'd get a good rest, maybe have a little talk with Nita, and take the scalps in in the morning. A good day to go to town' there was supposed to be some kind of fiesta.

Chapter
15

We are all afraid of death, Lamas Duro thought, but one admits it only to himself. He was standing on the veranda of his headquarters, watching the straggle of villagers coming now and then from the side streets, crossing the square in the direction of the cemetery.

In company we can be brave. We proclaim this festival, D+a de Los Muertos, to celebrate on the grave stones and joke at death and tell him we aren't afraid' but these are only outward signs. With some of the people it takes a full bottle of mescal before they are at ease in his presence. And with others it takes even more. And he thought: Like yourself' it takes a bottle every day. Did you know that? For you, every day is D+a de Los Muertos.

Looking across the square, he watched one group pass into the midmorning shadow of the church. They moved along the west wall, carrying their homemade wine and mescal, and lunches of bread small loaves baked in the shapes of death's heads for the occasion.

Take a bite of death on the grave of your father.

Death and the devil are one. Show him you aren't afraid and he'll stay in hell where he belongs. But take another drink before it wears off and he comes leaping out.

Lamas Duro smiled. Children of the ignorant whore Superstition. But he thought: You believe in nothing, now; yet you conduct yourself in this manner every day. What does it mean?

He looked out over the square, at the shadow of the obelisk which was the only thing about the square that ever changed, and made the scene seem more monotonous because the change itself was a dull, inching thing that wasn't worth thinking about.

It means you're sick of life' but afraid of death, so you take the in-between, and that's mescal. You didn't begin that way. Even a year ago there was no fear, but that was before Diaz' and his rurales' his bandits, which is what they are.

It came suddenly, and he wasn't aware of the reason though it must have been the picture of himself as he had once been, for that flashed in his mind, differently than it had the many times before, for consciously now he saw himself as he had been and, at the same time, as he was now and he knew then that he would leave.

And the plan of what he would do fell into place quickly' remembering the bounty money in his possession and Lazair away from the pueblo and Santana due in from patrol that morning but being weary should be in the mescal shop or at camp and the entire population of Soyopa celebrating D+a de Los Muertos' . No one, no one would notice alone rider leaving Soyopa!

He would ride north' across the border. That was it. Living among the Americans would be something to get used to, but at least the bounty money would make the getting used to it less unbearable. And it now seemed so simple, so elementary, that he wondered why it had not occurred to him before this. He inhaled deeply, feeling his shirt tighten against his chest, then moved away from the veranda railing and went into the office.

A half-full mescal bottle that he had started only that morning was on the desk. He picked it up by the neck and was smiling as his arm swung wide and let it go. The bottle smashed against the far wall shattering, flying glass and the liquid burst of it beginning to run down to the floor.

Entering the square, Bowers glanced at Santana. What was that?

Santana smiled through the sweat-streaked dust on his face. This is a feast day. Many bottles are opened, some of them are dropped.

They were passing Duro's house, less than a hundred feet away, and nodding toward it Bowers said, Sounded like it came from there.

Santana answered, Lieutenant Duro has never dropped a bottle in the entirety of his life.

They stopped in front of Las Quince Letras, Bowers and Santana, with a few of the rurales pulling even with them now. Most of the rurales had swerved from the square down the street leading to their camp.

Bowers came off the saddle stiff-legged. It seemed a long time since dawn; riding steadily for hours with nothing happening made it seem like days. There were no Apaches, not even a pony sign all day yesterday or that morning. But the thought was in Bowers' mind all during the patrol that probably it was just as well. Santana wouldn't have been ready for Apaches had they appeared. He allowed his patrol to stretch thin. There was more than just talking in ranks loud laughter, even drinking. Almost, it seemed to Bowers, as if their purpose was to ride through the brush to flush out game for a hunting party ahead. Santana failed to send out flankers. He kept two men riding advance, but each time the twenty-man patrol caught up with them they were dismounted, lying in the shade, if there was shade, or else with sombreros tilted over their faces. When they reached Alaejos, two men were missing. The two straggled in almost an hour later, and Santana said nothing to them. In more than a dozen places along the way, three Apaches could have annihilated a good half of the patrol. Bowers kept his thoughts to himself. By the time they had reached Alaejos, that afternoon, he realized it wasn't a lack of discipline; Santana didn't know what he was doing' in spite of his years in the army. He thinks he's a soldier, Bowers had thought, but he isn't even close to being one.

When they left Alaejos, a man in white peon clothes was with them. He rode between two rurales and his hands were tied to the saddle horn. A middle-aged man with tired eyes that looked at nothing. Santana said he was a thief and one purpose of the patrol was to bring him back to Soyopa to be tried by Duro. What did he steal? I don't know. What difference does it make? I have the name and this is the man who answers to it.