Book Cover  •  Table of Contents  •  < PREV Chapter  •  NEXT Chapter >

CHAPTER 27

      THEY WALKED down the hill, keeping their distance from one another just in case there was somebody down there that might take a shot at them.

      Purdy looked back and saw the fire had spread, and it appeared the whole house was burning. In a few minutes they heard bullets going off in the heat, a random muffled sound like corn popping in a covered skillet.

      "Chinks have quit lootin' now, I'll betcha," Beeme said.

      They walked down further, and then Purdy knelt in the darkness and studied the road. "Somebody came down here just a little while ago." he said. "Couple of horses, going fast."

      The others looked. "Couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes ago, or they'd already be covered up with snow," Beeme said.

      Pike said, "Maybe it was Amhearst and Hopper, coming up the hill to see what's going on, then riding back down again.They could be drawing a bead on us right now."

      "Well, I hope not," Purdy said, and began walking downhill again.

      There was nobody on the roadway, and there wasn't a light on in Tres Marias. It was a time when nobody wanted to call attention to themselves. There was somebody waiting with a gun behind almost every closed door, in case the trouble on the hill drifted down to their place.

      The three men walked through the town and across the footbridge and then they started up the slope towards Hopper's house.

      "What are we going to do when we get there?" Beeme asked. "If we go knock on the door and say, 'You boys are under arrest,' they just might argue with us."

      "I'm thinking," Purdy said. He was tired and the cold was seeping into his bones and his teeth were starting to chatter. The last thing he wanted to do was walk up to Hopper's front door and get shot, which suddenly seemed likely to happen.

      They were walking close to the shadowy ironwork of the crushing mill when they heard somebody say, "Pssst," and they whipped out their guns. A voice they recognized as Travis' said, "It's just me."

      "I thought you were on your way to kill Amhearst by now — or have you already done it?" Purdy asked.

      "I'm working on it."

      "Where are you?"

      "Up here."

      They looked up and could see him sitting on a beam about ten feet above the ground. "I've got a great view, C'mon up."

      "We thought we'd go over to Hopper's place and see what you did with Amhearst and his friend," Purdy said.

      "Sanity prevailed," Travis said.

      Purdy climbed up the ladder. The others followed, and they sat beside Travis like crows on a fence. They had an good view of Hopper's house, which was dark.

      Travis held his rifle on his lap. "They're in there, you know. They're sittin' in the dark, but I saw a light one time."

      "They're afraid somebody will come and get them," Purdy suggested.

      "They don't know we got whipped," Travis said.

      Purdy stared at the house and thought he did see a flare of light, like a man lighting a cigarette. The house was only about 200 yards away, and the windows were an easy shot with a rifle, even in weather like this.

      Purdy said, "You didn't get whipped. Nugent's dead."

      Travis brightened. "Dead! Who done it?"

      "I don't know," Purdy said, "but they did a job on him. Blew his head right off with a shotgun and then anointed him with coal oil and lit him like a candle. There were a couple of Chinese in there somebody killed. Nugent had a kid living with him, a youngster named Clay, and he could have done it. Or his wife could have done it. Anyhow, both Clay and Nugent's wife were gone."

      "I could have done it!" Travis said thoughtfully. "Amhearst and Hopper don't know what went on up there. If I went up to the house, I could tell him I kilt him and then when they were jumping around cheering, as I'm sure they would, I could shoot those lying sonsabitches." He paused. "Unfortunately, they would want some proof."

      "I've got proof for you." Purdy dug into his pocket and found the Roman coin and passed it to Travis. "Nugent wouldn't have willingly parted with this."

      "It ain't even round," Travis said, running his fingers over it.

      "Its two thousand years old. I guess you'd be bent out of shape if you were that old, Travis."

      "I feel that old," Travis said. "I hate to trouble you, but I can't get down off a here without jumping because you boys are between me and the ladder."

      They all scrooched their way along the girder until they got to the ladder, and they went down. On the ground Purdy saw that under where they were sitting was a pile of sharp iron braces that could have impaled them if they'd fallen or jumped down on them.

      Up on the hill, Nugent's entire house was afire now. They watched it burn for a moment, and then Travis said, "Well, I guess I'll just go." He started walking uneasily toward Hopper's place.

      "We'll follow you. If we hear shooting or you call for help, we'll bust right in," Purdy said.

      "I appreciate it," Travis said in a voice that sounded a little forlorn.

      They followed Travis from a distance until he reached the house, then they held back and waited.

      Pike said, "Look back, at the fire," and when Purdy and Beeme turned they saw flames suddenly leap high as the roof burst into flame and then collapsed in a shower of sparks.

      The house had seemed a good place to see the gunfight until it got too dark, but the darkness had closed them in, and the very thing that gave Amhearst and Hopper such a good view now caused them worry.

      "Somebody could come up here and shoot us right through the window," Hopper said.

      Amhearst said, "I'm sure somebody would like to."

      So they put out the lamps and sat by the window, peering out at the blackness. Amhearst was restless, and Ellie, knitting in the darkness in her rocking chair, grew very quiet — fearful of the men inside as well as whoever was outside.

      After awhile, Amhearst put on his coat and opened the door and stood there for a time, looking out. He saw Nugent's house burning, and called the others to look. "Damn, I think they may have done it! Those miserable asses and that coward Travis may actually have done it!" Then he and Hopper began laughing.

      "If Travis' men did it, they'll head on over here to get some sleep, and maybe a note from me sayin' they did a good job. And if somebody else done it, that means they're probably wiped out.

      They went back outside and paced around on the frozen ground, watching the house burn. "Damn, I was planning on living in that place," Amhearst said.

      "I thought I would," Hopper answered.

      Then Amhearst's voice grew somber. "I wonder if Luna made it out of the fire all right? By God, if that weasel Travis harmed her, I'll kill the little rat."

      At that point the roof of Nugent's house fell in and both men stood mesmerized, watching the sparks flowering into the sky.

      Amhearst said, "We may never know what happened to Nugent."

      A voice in the darkness said, "He's dead, I can tell you that. I killed him myself. And I'm no weasel, Amhearst."

      "Travis? Is that Travis?" Amhearst's gun was in his hand. "Where the hell are you?"

      "In the dark. Where the hell are you?"

      "I'm going over by the door. You sure Nugent is dead?"

      Travis came sauntering over to them and when he got close enough they could see that he looked gaunt and tired. "I tole you — it's all over. My men all went down fightin'. Then the Chinks and I got inside and shot Nugent. It was a terrible battle in there before I got him, and we knocked over a lamp and that started the fire."

      "What happened to Luna? Where is she?" Amhearst demanded.

      "Who's that?"

      "His woman, damnit."

      Travis shook his head. "I didn't see no woman. Nor did I see that half-wit you spoke about. Say, it's cold out here, can we go inside? I can't even see you."

      They went in and lit a lamp. The house felt hot after standing around outside. Hopper said to Ellie, "It's all right, Nugent is dead."

      She clutched his arm and held it tightly, looking up into his eyes. "I hate this place, Euclid. Let's go away from here, please."

      Travis doffed his hat to Ellie and sank into a chair. Every bone in his body ached. He thought about the Chinese he had stabbed and that sent a shudder through him. He had never used a knife to kill a man before, not even during the war. He was hungry and tired, and somehow he would have to kill these two men. He didn't want to leave that fine woman a widow, but she might find somebody better than Hopper.

      Amhearst was pacing around, holding his carbine but not pointing it at anybody. "How do we know you aren't lying about Nugent? There isn't any proof he's dead."

      "I guess I could have cut off his head and brung it to you, but there wasn't time, what with the fire and all." Travis said it ironically, and was a little surprised that Amhearst seem to think he was serious. He reached into his pocket and threw the coin down on the table. "But I brought you this. Is it proof enough?"

      Amhearst and Hopper walked over to look at it. "That's Frank's lucky coin," Hopper said. "He'd never give that up if he was alive."

      "Well, my job is done here." Travis got up and walked toward the door. "I come back to get a little note or something saying I fulfilled my contract, otherwise I don't get paid. Colonel Fraser's a tough businessman. Will you write it out for me?"

      Hopper found a pen and some paper in a cabinet and brought it over to Amhearst, who wrote a single sentence on it in a nice handwriting: "This is to state that Mr. Travis has satisfactorily fulfilled the mission to which he was assigned." He then signed it with a flourish and gave it to Travis, who looked at it and carefully folded it and put it in his pocket.

      "I do have one little complaint to register with you boys." Travis said.

      "What's that?" Amhearst asked.

      "Why didn't you tell me about the Chinamen? I think I'm the only one of us left. I admit some of those men weren't worth much, but they were mine and I led 'em to their deaths because of you."

      "Small loss," Amhearst said.

      "Your loss!" Travis yelled suddenly — and then, almost blind with rage, he swung his rifle toward Amhearst and fired so fast Amhearst couldn't move. The bullet ripped through his shirt, kept on going and hit Hopper who fell at Ellie's feet. Travis snapped back the bolt on the rifle, slammed it shut, and started to fire again, but Amhearst was faster.

      Travis went down with a bullet in his chest, and Amhearst squeezed off three more rounds into him.

      Ellie was screaming, kneeling over Hopper. Amhearst, his ears ringing from the sound of the shots and her screams, looked down at him. "He'll be all right."

      She screamed at him. "All right! My God, he's dead! You say he'll be all right, and he's dead!" Hopper was indeed dead. The bullet had hit him in the heart.

      "I'm sorry, Ellie," Amhearst said. "I did my best."

      He really was sorry for Hopper. Sorry for Ellie. But there was nothing he could do. Shaken, he left the house and walked to the corral and saddled his horse. As he mounted up and rode out, he thought there was only one man left now to share the wealth with.

      He would go to Denver and meet with Weitnaur. Then Weitnaur would be gone like the rest, and he could devote some time to finding Luna.

      Purdy, Beeme, and Pike had heard the shots, and heard Ellie screaming. Beeme said, "I guess Travis has gone and done it."

      "Appears so," Purdy said. "Let's go see."

      As they walked warily to the house, a rider came down close to them in the darkness. Beeme whispered, "That you Travis?"

      "Yeah," Amhearst said.

      "Everything all right?"

      There was no answer, only the sound of horseshoes on the rocks and a receding creak of leather.

      But when they got to the house they found Travis dead, and Ellie wailing and holding the dead Hopper.

      Pike tried to take Hopper's body out of her arms but she wouldn't let go. "Give her some whiskey," Beeme said, handing Pike the bottle Amhearst and Hopper had been drinking from. He looked around. "Where's Purdy?"

      Pike hardly glanced up. "In the shed, maybe."

      A little later, when the still-sobbing Ellie had let them lay Hopper's body on the bed, they went out into the shed to look, but Purdy was gone.

Cover  •  Contents  •  < PREV Chapter  •  NEXT Chapter >  •  Page Top