The Loner: The Blood of Renegades (18 page)
Chapter 33
The group hadn’t descended very far into the valley when they saw riders galloping toward them. The men readied their guns, but relaxed when Kingman exclaimed, “Those are our friends, the men we left here!”
The riders came up and hauled their mounts to a stop. One of the men dismounted and threw his arms around Kingman, slapping him on the back. “We didn’t think we’d ever see you again, Dan! And you’ve got Selena and the other women!”
“I thought you boys were leaving,” Kingman said coolly. “You decided you’d had enough.”
“Well . . .” The man shook his head. “We buried the fellas Leatherwood killed and cleaned up the mess from the cabins that burned down, and the more we worked at it, the more ashamed we were of backing down like that. So we decided to stay after all. We were even talking about going back to Juniper Canyon to see if we could help you. But you’re here now!”
“You’ll still have a chance to pitch in,” Conrad said. “Hissop and Leatherwood are somewhere behind us. They’ll be here, probably tomorrow morning sometime.”
“And we’ll be ready for them,” Kingman added grimly.
One of the men on horseback asked, “What about Thomas and Todd? I don’t see them with you.”
“Todd was killed in an ambush at Navajo Wash,” Kingman answered, “and Thomas sold us out. He’s helping Hissop and Leatherwood now.”
The men from the valley looked upset about both pieces of news, but they were pragmatic. “Come on back to the settlement,” one said. “You look like you could use some hot food and some clean clothes. How’d you make it through that dust storm?”
Kingman smiled. “You might not believe us if we told you.”
By mid-afternoon, everyone had cleaned up, eaten, and rested. The avenging angels had burned down Kingman’s cabin along with a couple others, but he and Selena moved into one left empty because its former occupant had been killed in the raid. She didn’t like that very much, but he promised to build her a new home of her own as soon as they had dealt with the looming threat of Hissop and Leatherwood.
The entire population of the valley, plus Conrad and Arturo, met there for a council of war.
“Hissop and Leatherwood and the rest of the avenging angels are going to follow us here,” Kingman said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”
Murmurs and nods of agreement came from the assembled denizens of the valley.
“Browning and I think the best way to stop them for good is to lure them into the pass, then explode some charges that will cause the walls to collapse on them,” Kingman went on. “If everyone agrees, we’re going to ride up there and have a look to make sure it’s possible. We won’t proceed unless everybody thinks it’s the right thing to do.” Kingman looked around at the others. “I know I’ve sort of taken over as the leader of this bunch, but I don’t want to run roughshod over anybody the way Father Agony always has.”
“Dan, if you think that’s what we ought to do, it’s good enough for me.”
The woman called Dora spoke up. “Todd’s dead because of those men.” Her voice trembled a little in grief. “You can drop a whole mountain on Hissop and Leatherwood as far as I’m concerned.”
Kingman nodded. “I figured you’d feel that way, Dora. How about the rest of you?”
He looked around the circle of grim faces. Everyone nodded. There was no hesitation.
“All right, then,” Kingman said with a nod of his own. “Browning, you want to come with me?”
“Sure,” Conrad said. “We’ve got enough daylight left to take a look.”
The men who had stayed behind in the valley had rounded up the rest of the horses, so there were plenty of mounts available. Conrad and Kingman saddled up a couple and rode toward the pass.
“You know, you and Arturo would have time to slip out of here and get away before Hissop and the others show up,” Kingman commented. “We’re the ones they really want to wipe out. They wouldn’t come after you.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Conrad said. “Leatherwood strikes me as the sort of hombre who holds a grudge.”
Kingman laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, you could say that. He’d track a man halfway to hell if he wanted to kill him. Still, this isn’t your fight. It never has been. But you’ve pitched in and risked your life a dozen times for us anyway. We never would have made it this long without your help.” Kingman paused. “What’s in it for you, Browning?”
Conrad shook his head. “Nothing, as far as I know. The only reason we stepped in to help Selena is because I don’t like unfair odds. That and the fact that she’s a woman.”
“A mighty good-looking woman,” Kingman said with an edge of suspicion in his voice.
“A mighty good-looking woman,” Conrad agreed, “but that doesn’t have anything to do with it. You wouldn’t have any way of knowing this, Kingman, but . . . I lost my wife not all that long ago. I’m not interested in coming between you and Selena.”
“Sorry,” Kingman muttered. “I didn’t know. I don’t know why you were headed to San Francisco, either.”
Conrad hesitated, then began telling the story, sketching in the outlines without going into too many details. Kingman listened with interest, and when Conrad was finished, he said, “Good Lord. What a terrible thing, to have your children hidden away from you like that. And to not even know that you
had
children for so long. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that, Browning.”
had
children for so long. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that, Browning.”
“Everybody has their own heaven and hell,” Conrad said with a shrug. “I’ve had my share of both.”
They reached the pass, and Conrad took out a pair of field glasses he had brought from the settlement, using them to study the rock walls that loomed on either side of the opening. He saw some cracks and fissures where explosives could be planted and detonated to send giant slabs of rock thundering down into the pass.
“Do you have dynamite or just blasting powder?” he asked as he pointed out the places to Kingman.
“We have a crate of dynamite. That’ll make it easier, won’t it?”
Conrad nodded. “Yeah, we can direct the charges better with dynamite. There’s a problem, though. Somebody’s going to have to light the fuses, and it’ll have to be timed perfectly so the explosion and avalanche will catch Hissop, Leatherwood, and the other gunmen while they’re in the pass.”
“You’re saying that whoever does that might not have a chance to get clear before the blast?”
“It’ll be a near thing,” Conrad said.
Kingman nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Not a good idea,” Conrad replied with a shake of his head. “Selena’s counting on you staying alive, and so is everybody else. You said you didn’t want to take over this community like Hissop did with Juniper Canyon, but you
are
the leader of these folks, Kingman. There’s no getting around that. They need you alive and well, and they’re going to need you even more if the valley is closed off from the outside world.”
are
the leader of these folks, Kingman. There’s no getting around that. They need you alive and well, and they’re going to need you even more if the valley is closed off from the outside world.”
“I can’t ask one of my friends to do something I’m not willing to do myself,” Kingman argued.
“You won’t be. I’ll do it.”
“Not a chance,” Kingman said instantly. “You’ve still got those youngsters to find. Somewhere out there they are depending on you whether they know it or not.” He thought about it and grimaced. “I guess we can ask for a volunteer. Either that or draw lots. That might be more fair.”
“We’ll go back and talk it over with everyone. That’s the best thing to do.” Conrad stowed away the field glasses. “Right now we’ve determined the most important thing.”
“What’s that?”
Conrad gestured toward the towering stone walls. “If we put the dynamite in the right place and set it off at the right time, we can drop a few thousand tons of rock right on top of Hissop and Leatherwood, burying them for all time.”
“I can’t think of any two varmints who deserve it more.”
Chapter 34
Conrad didn’t think it was likely Hissop and Leatherwood would approach the valley until the next day, but since he couldn’t rule it out he set up shifts of guards, led by Ollie, who would stand watch at the other end of the pass. Kingman fetched the crate of dynamite and set the volatile stuff down carefully in front of Conrad, who lifted the lid to examine the waxed cylinders. The dynamite looked to be in decent shape. It wasn’t sweating liquid hell, the way some dynamite did when it got old and unstable.
“What about fuse and blasting caps?” Conrad asked.
“We have plenty of both. Like I told you, I thought about blasting out some of the springs to try to make them flow better, so I made several trips to the nearest settlement in Nevada to pick up supplies.”
“Paying for them with money you stole in those train robberies,” Conrad pointed out.
Kingman grimaced. “I don’t deny that we’ve been outlaws and rustlers in the past. Maybe we ought to answer to the law for the things we’ve done. But that’s all behind us now. If we can live peacefully here in the valley, we will. It’s good land, and it’ll support us.” He shrugged. “But if you feel the need to turn us in when this is over . . .”
“I didn’t say that. Maybe you’ll get that second chance Hissop was talking about. A real second chance this time.”
Kingman nodded. “Thanks, Browning. Now, do you think there’s enough light left to start rigging those charges?”
“I think we’d better, just in case Hissop shows up sooner than we’re expecting him.”
They loaded the crate of dynamite in the buggy, which was still in the barn, and hitched four horses to the vehicle.
Arturo said, “I’ll drive.”
“Are you sure?” Conrad asked. “You’ll have a box of dynamite right behind you.”
“That hardly seems more dangerous than some of the other things I’ve done since I’ve been in your employ, sir,” Arturo pointed out.
Conrad grinned. “I suppose that’s true enough. Just be careful.”
“I’ll try not to drive like a . . . how do you put it? Like a bat out of hell.”
Kingman slung coils of fuse and a bag full of blasting caps on his saddle, and he and Conrad rode on either side of the buggy as Arturo pointed the vehicle up the main trail to the pass. When they got there, they found Ollie and another man standing guard.
“Any sign of Hissop and Leatherwood?” Kingman asked them.
Ollie shook his head. “Nope, and we been watchin’ good, too, Dan.” He held up a telescope. “I brought me a spyglass.”
Kingman clapped him on the shoulder. “Keep up the good work. We’re going to plant that dynamite so it’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Conrad dismounted and looked up at the rock walls looming over him. He had brought a pack with him. He loaded sticks of dynamite into it, along with fuses and caps, and slung it on his back. It was a nerve-wracking feeling, carrying that much leashed destruction.
“I can do that,” Kingman offered.
“No, I’ve got it. I’ve handled explosives before.” Just not to any great extent, Conrad added to himself, and not while climbing up a cliff.
“Now it’s my turn to tell you to be careful, sir,” Arturo said as Conrad got ready to climb.
“I appreciate that. If I get up there and fall, there’s one thing you have to remember.”
“What’s that, sir?”
Conrad smiled. “Try not to be where I land.”
“I assure you, I’ll be going in the other direction as fast as humanly possible.”
Conrad started the ascent. There were three cracks on that side of the pass where he wanted to wedge in bundles of dynamite, and four on the other side. He had to take it slow and careful, so he knew the job was going to require the rest of the day.
It was painstaking, nerve-tightening work. The climb itself wasn’t easy, and the knowledge of what he was carrying in the pack on his back made it even worse. He climbed to the highest spot where he wanted to put the dynamite and found a place where he could brace himself with his feet while he worked. He tried not to think about the sixty or seventy feet of empty air underneath him as he slid the pack around and reached into it for the dynamite.
The cylinders tied together in bundles of five would provide a big enough explosion to blow a huge chunk of rock off the wall. He pressed a blasting cap onto the end of one of the sticks. When it detonated, it would set off the other sticks. After attaching the fuse to it, he unrolled some of the powder-laced cord and began climbing down to the second location he had picked out.
When he had the dynamite in place there, he cut a length of fuse from a second coil, attached one end of it to the blasting cap, and twisted the other end securely around the fuse leading up to the first bundle. He continued unrolling fuse as he descended to the third blast site, where he repeated the process. The lowest of the three charges would go off first, but he thought he had the fuses cut properly so the explosions would follow each other very closely, one after the other.
By the time he finished preparing the explosives on the other wall, the light was fading fast, his muscles trembled with weariness, and he was soaked with sweat from the exertion and from the nervous strain of working with dynamite. But he had a length of fuse reaching almost to the ground on both sides of the pass. The stuff would burn fast. If the fuses were lit just as Hissop and the others entered the pass, the blasts ought to occur while they were still between the walls.
Of course, that meant not only would whoever lit the fuses be in danger from the explosions themselves, he would also be smack-dab in the gunsights of the bloodthirsty avenging angels as he did his job and then lit a shuck out of there.
“I’ve got to admit, I was sweating for you, and I wasn’t even up there,” Kingman said. “It looked like you did a fine job.”
Conrad nodded. “We’ll see. We won’t know for sure what’s going to happen until the dynamite goes off.”
“Even if it doesn’t completely block the pass, the falling rock ought to wipe out Hissop’s bunch.”
Arturo said, “The proof is in the pudding, as the old saying goes. Of course, in this case, I don’t believe there’ll actually be any pudding. Shall we go?”
Conrad chuckled. “Yeah. Ollie, keep your eyes open.”
“Will do, Mr. Browning!”
Conrad, Arturo, and Kingman returned to the settlement where Selena had supper ready for them. Conrad washed up and put on a clean shirt before he sat down to eat. His nerves had settled down, and he felt fairly good, although he was still worried about what Hissop and Leatherwood were planning. Chances were, it would be a straightforward attack, but Conrad couldn’t rule out some sort of surprise. Both men were cunning enemies.
After supper, Kingman said, “I think I’ll ride back up to the pass and make sure the guards are staying alert.”
“I’ll come with you,” Conrad offered.
Kingman waved that aside. “You’ve done plenty today. We never would have gotten away from Juniper Canyon if you hadn’t come up with the crazy idea of using a wind wagon, and then you handled the job of planting that dynamite. Get some rest, Browning. You’ve earned it.”
Conrad shrugged and nodded. “All right, you’ve convinced me.”
Kingman went to saddle a horse, and Arturo left to go back to the cabin he and Conrad were occupying for the time being. Conrad lingered on the porch of the cabin where Kingman and Selena were staying. It was a warm evening, with just a hint of coolness in the air to make it comfortable.
A soft step behind him made him look over his shoulder. Selena had come out of the cabin. She stepped up to the railing beside him and rested her hands on it.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” she murmured. “If Father Agony had gotten his way, by now I would have been his wife for more than a day. The first day in hell. It’s thanks to you that didn’t happen, Conrad.”
“And thanks to Arturo and Kingman and all your other friends as well,” Conrad pointed out. “I sure didn’t do it by myself.”
“Maybe not, but none of it would have happened without you.” She turned to him and rested her hand on his arm. “And you’ve done all this for . . . for a stranger.”
He smiled. “I’d say it was a pleasure, but that would be exaggerating a mite. Let’s just say I’m glad I could help, and leave it at that.”
“I can’t,” Selena said. “I can’t leave it at that, Conrad.”
He suddenly realized what was about to happen and would have put a stop to it, but she didn’t give him a chance. Before he could move, Selena leaned forward, came up a little on her toes—not much, because she was almost as tall as he was—and pressed her lips to his in a kiss.
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