Wanted! Belle Starr! (6 page)

Spitting out a profanity seemingly at odds
with his ‘cloth’, Huckfield was the second swiftest to respond!

The other two ‘guests’ were also reacting,
but less rapidly due to carrying their handguns in positions which
did not permit a speedy withdrawal. However, like their companions,
they were devoting the majority of their attention to the only
weapon other than the ‘blowing pipe’, which they realized would
need to be recharged before it was available for further use
displayed by the ‘husband’ of their intended victim. All were
convinced the massive bowie knife also posed no threat to their
well being under the circumstances. Furthermore, the other two were
taking comfort from remembering how competently the ‘cattle buyer’
and the ‘preacher’ had coped with hostile behavior on previous
occasions.

To all the members of the gang who did not
have other things on their minds, such as the leader and his wife,
it seemed the discovery of the prepared deck was only a temporary
setback. It would not, they felt sure, prevent the acquisition of
the money brought by the beautiful ‘Brazilian’. In fact, she would
regret having made it so obvious she had detected the concealed
cards for as long as she lived.

Which, the slowest pair of
‘guests’ concluded, would only be for a short period
more!

Despite being an acknowledged master in its
use, the Ysabel Kid made no attempt to reach for and draw the
massive, ivory handled James Black bowie knife from its sheath!

Instead, the Texan’s response was that of
the Pehnane Comanche Dog Soldier he had been raised to be, combined
with a frontier trained gunfighter!

It was a most formidable combination!

Having appreciated there would be a need for
a firearm and a means of carrying it in concealment more easily
than would be possible with his enormous, four pounds, one ounce,
old Colt Second Model of 1848 Dragoon revolver, the Kid had had the
problem solved for him. Returning with Belle Starr from escorting
Andrew Bullstrode to the next town east along the railroad, he had
found that Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog had reached
Newton and was able to supply what was required.

Twisting the British-made Webley Irish
Constabulary revolver he was already grasping from its spring
retention shoulder holster, the Texan cocked its hammer with his
thumb regardless of the ‘double action’ mechanism rendering this
unnecessary. Turning it outwards, he sent the first .450 caliber
bullet into the left side of Thomas Driberg’s chest before the Colt
Peacemaker could be brought from leather and put to use.

Because Emily Chauvelin had contrived to
pass on the fallacy supplied by the lady outlaw, ‘Reverend’ Leslie
Huckfield received a shock when he discovered the ‘gaucho’ had a
gun and was proving most competent with it. Nevertheless, although
the shot which killed the ‘cattle buyer’ was fired before he could
collect the Remington Double Derringer from the outside right
pocket of his black cutaway coat, he was not particularly alarmed.
While carrying the weapon in such a fashion did not permit a really
fast withdrawal, he had never found the need to adopt a means which
did.

Three times in the past, when the need had
arisen, the pose of being a member of the clergy had offered an
element of surprise and Huckfield had not required any excessive
speed. Therefore, he saw no reason for concern at present. He was
confident that, having discounted him as a danger factor on account
of his ‘religious’ character, ‘Manuel’ would concentrate upon the
other two ‘guests’. This would allow him time to produce the twin
barreled pistol and open fire unimpeded.

On other occasions, the bogus preacher had
succeeded because his deception was not discovered until it was too
late for the victim to respond to the threat he posed!

Knowing Huckfield to be a member of the gang
and, according to the information supplied by Belle not the least
dangerous of them, the Kid was not taken unawares. Thumbing back
the hammer again while turning the short barrel of the Webley, he
directed the second .450 bullet into the center of the gaunt man’s
forehead an instant before the Remington could be brought into
alignment. Without speaking, as Huckfield was spinning around and
following Driberg in Falling lifeless to the floor, he swung the
smoking weapon to encompass and cause the remaining pair of
‘guests’ to freeze into immobility.

“
Stand still, all of you!”
Belle commanded, in echo to the second shot, still retaining the
“Spanish’ accent as an integral part of her scheme. Having dropped
the glass as soon as she had thrown the wine, she had thrust her
hand into the open mouth of her reticule. Bringing it out, grasping
a small bottle filled with a thick, dark brown liquid, she pushed
off the glass stopper with her thumb and went on, “This contains
the only antidote for curare there is to be had anywhere in Kansas.
Unless you do as I say, I will pour it on the floor and the ‘Duke’
will die in agony!”

The first words spoken by the lady outlaw
were superfluous where the surviving pair of ‘guests’ were
concerned. No longer did the young man who was covering them appear
in the least baby faced or innocent. Rather his dark features bore
an expression of cold and relentless savagery which reminded them
of paintings they had seen depicting Indians on the war path.
Crouching slightly behind the short barreled revolver he had drawn
so unexpectedly and already used with devastating effect upon two
of their companions, he gave the impression of being ready, willing
and even eager to kill both of them if offered the slightest
provocation.

Now was the pose entirely simulated!

At such a moment, the Ysabel Kid Cuchilo,
‘the Knife’, as he was known to his lodge brothers thought and
reacted like a Pehnane Comanche brave-heart warrior!

Which meant, where enemies were involved,
the Texan had little regard for the sanctity of human life!

Being just as alarmed by the transformation
of ‘Manuel’, the attention of the ‘Duke’ was not being given to the
smoking Webley revolver. Instead, he was staring with horrified
fascination from the sharp spike he had plucked out of his cheek to
the hollow wooden tube also held by the Indian-dark young ‘gaucho’.
There was a dark stain on the tip of the former which, he
concluded, was far too extensive to have been caused by nothing
more than blood from the tiny wound it had inflicted. The tube was
decorated by symbols in red, white, blue and green paint such as he
had seen upon Indian artifacts of various kinds which had
‘medicine’ significance.

Even as he was drawing his unpalatable and
frightening conclusions, Chauvelin heard a hiss of anger from his
wife. Turning his gaze towards her, he found she was rubbing at her
now reddened eyes and glaring furiously at the cause of her
misfortunes. Knowing that her temper when roused was liable to
produce reactions not in keeping with her pose as being a member of
the French aristocracy, he guessed she was on the point of rushing
around the table and attacking the beautiful ‘Brazilian’ woman with
tooth and nail ferocity.

“
Stay where you are,
Emily!” the ‘Duke’ howled in alarm, realizing what the consequences
of such a hostile action was almost sure to be. “Do it, damn you.
That half breed bastard shot me with this god damned poisoned dart
and she’ll throw the antidote away if you go for her!”

“
That I will, my dear
‘Duchess’,” Belle supported, starting to tilt the bottle slightly.
“And you have my promise as one with the blood of a Spanish grandee
on it!”

Regardless of having achieved the purpose
for which the masquerade was intended, at least as far as obtaining
proof of cheating, long experience warned the lady outlaw that she
must keep to the character she had established. Having convinced
the ‘Duke’ and his gang that she and the Kid were the kind of
people who could possess the lethal knowledge and means to use it,
any suggestion of the truth would prevent them from reaching their
desired goal.

As it was, everything depended upon
Emily!

“
Oh my good god!” the
‘Duchess’ shrieked, all her aggression departing along with the
‘French’ accent, as she recollected the conversation about the
deadly effect of such a device as was held by her husband. To give
her credit, she loved him enough to care what might befall him as a
result of the small wound it had inflicted. Swinging her now
thoroughly frightened gaze to the lady outlaw, her tone took on a
timbre of pleading as she resumed, “P—Please give Armond the
antidote!”

“
Certainly,” Belle
answered. “But there is a price, naturally.”

“
Take all the money on the
table!” Emily offered hastily and the ‘Duke’ nodded an immediate
concurrence.

“
I was going to take that
anyway,” the lady outlaw claimed, gesturing towards the table with
the bottle. “But I also want the twelve thousand, five hundred
dollars you took from my
bueno amigo,
Andrew Bullstrode, a few nights ago.”

“
Do you know him?” the
‘Duchness’ gasped.

“
Very well indeed,” Belle
confirmed and raised her left hand in a prohibitive fashion as
Emily was about to speak. “No, do not try to pretend the innocent
with me. Our families have done business together for many years
and he told me what had happened when we met down the railroad
track. That is why I brought ‘Manuel’ and sought you out, to get
back all he lost to you. Now make up your mind muy pronto, my dear
‘Duchess’. The longer you delay, the less chance there is of your
husband recovering from the effects of the poison.”

“
D—Do as she says, Emily!”
the ‘Duke’ commanded, his face now gray with fear. He did not doubt
for one moment, so convincingly had Belle acted, that a person of
‘Señora Donna Maria Constanza del Santa Rosa’s’ kind would take
such extreme measures to retrieve money out of which a business
associate had been cheated. Being equally certain that the
‘Brazilian’ beauty and her part-Indian ‘husband’ were what they
claimed and believing his life was in mortal peril, he went on, “Oh
my god!”

“
What is it?” the
“Duchness’ gasped.

“
I—I feel d dizzy!”
Chauvelin croaked.

Waiting to hear no more,
Emily dashed from the room.

“
Well, I’ll be switched!”
the Ysabel Kid announced, returning the borrowed Webley Royal Irish
Constabulary revolver to its shoulder holster on catching up with
Belle Starr. He had been keeping the mansion under observation for
a few minutes after they had taken their departure. “Dusty was
right.”

“
What about?” the lady
outlaw inquired.

Having collected all the money from the
table and received the loot belonging to General Jackson Baines
‘Ole Devil’ Hardin and Andrew Bullstrode which the Chauvelins had
had in another room, as Belle had suspected would be the case, she
had ordered the ‘Duchess of Haute-Savoie’ to accompany herself and
‘Manuel’ to the front door. On crossing the threshold without
interference by the other members of the gang, or giving any
indication that she was not ‘Señora Donna Maria Constanza del Santa
Rosa,’ she had handed over the bottle of thick dark brown liquid.
Then, as Emily had fled back to the dining-room to administer the
antidote without further delay, she had closed and locked the door.
While the Kid, at his own suggestion, had remained in case there
should be any attempt at pursuit, she had set off towards the
business section of the town in which their hotel was situated. She
had been confident that, should they be followed there later, the
men who came would be deterred when learning the ‘Brazilian’ beauty
and her ‘husband’ were in the company of Captain Dustine Edward
Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog and other members of the OD Connected ranch’s
already legendary floating outfit.

“
He reckoned when he loaned me
this newfangled itty-bitty stingy gun’s how a man could kill
somebody with it like it was my ole Dragoon thumb-buster and, seems
like, you can at that,” the Indian-dark young Texan
explained.
^xii
Then, putting aside his invariable
pretense of having no faith in any kind of handgun except his
massive, yet already, obsolete revolver, he reported, “Anyways,
there ain’t nobody of ’em coming a-hunting after us for
evens.”

“
That was your sneaky
Pehnane Comanch’ idea, I never thought there would be,” the lady
outlaw answered, gesturing with the reticule which was now bulging
with the money acquired from the ‘Duke and Duchess of Haute-Savoie’
and their reduced gang. “Not even for this.”

“
Well, blast it!” the Kid
protested. “You didn’t say’s how I shouldn’t need to keep
watch!”

“
Seeing how eager you were
to do it, I didn’t want to be so mean as to spoil your fun,” Belle
claimed, with a smile, “After all, you men always know
best.”

“
I’d be the last to say,
‘no’ to that,” asserted the Texan. “Anyways, we pulled it off like
you said we would, Belle!”

“
You were so convincing,”
the lady outlaw praised. “Why you almost had me believing you’d
used a real ‘blowing pipe’ and poisoned dart, the way you looked,
instead of a sharpened twig with red cotton wool to hold it in the
tube and that boy’s bean shooter I’d painted up so fancy. I know I
wouldn’t have wanted to come into the dark, hunting for somebody
who was using a thing like that.”

“
Hell, I was close to forgetting
who you are, way you acted all the time,” the Kid responded,
delighted by the compliment he had received. He had suspected, her
acceptance of his support notwithstanding, she had had some doubts
over whether he could play his part satisfactorily. Then a thought
struck him and he went on, “Hey though, that ‘Duke’
hombre
allowed he was
starting to feel dizzy and looked one real scared and sickened
feller afore we left. Just what was on that spike you gave
me?”