Sudden Plays a Hand (1950) Page 11

  `So you were wrong about him?' she said.

  Not any,' Nick replied. `He was grand-snandin'. Towler was givin' the game away, an' the boys were getting wise. It was a smart move, but it don't razzle-dazzle me. I'd bet a blue stack he's behind the whole dirty business.'

  His apparent ingratitude appeared unnatural, but she said no more. The news that he would remain in the valley, Ieaving her free to go to the S P, came as a relief, and produced no protest. If her evident eagerness to get away from him hurt, he did not show it.

  `You'll need a woman in the place,' he remarked. `Better take Lindy.'

  `Isn't there a cook at the ranch?'

  `Yeah, one o' Sam's riders who got too old for the saddle, but he'll be no good alone.'

  She gave in. Truth to tell, she did want the Negress, but would have died rather than ask for her; the prospect of going to the S P lacking a friendly face had been more than daunting.

  `Then there's a foreman,' Nick went on. `I can spare Quilt--for a time, anyway.'

  `No,' she said sharply, and when his eyebrows went up, `I prefer to give orders, not take them. I can find someone; if he knows his work, that's ail I require.'

  `Gilman knew that much,' he reminded. `Trouble was, he didn't do it.'

  `There was no-one in charge,' she argued. `Men are all alike--they only need the opportunity to go off the rails.'

  This bit of wisdom--a blow at himself--brought a smile.

  `Shore, it's a wicked world,' he said. The men are devils an' the women saints--mebbe. I'll trail along with you to the S P.'

  `There is no necessity,' she replied coldly. `Mister Seale will be able to explain everything.'

  `Seale knows little about the cattle business; don't trust him too much; yore appearance was a disappointment, remember.'

  Instead, she recalled what Cullin had told her, and shrugged impatiently. `Is there anyone you do not suspect?'

  `Mighty few,' he agreed. `We'll take Lindy with us--one o' the boys can drive her over; she'll see what is wanted to make the place comfortable.'

  Mary knew she was being unreasonable, that the arrangements were sensible and for her welfare, but they chafed. Unconsciously, she thought aloud :

  `Thank Heaven, I shall soon be able to do as I please.'

  The stark exultation in her voice, coupled with an utter absence of gratitude, roused within him a fierce impatience. `No matter where you are, you'll still be my wife,' he said sternly. `If ever you forget that

  `You will shoot me, of course,' she retorted hardily.

  The spirit of anger had passed, leaving a cold grimness infinitely more sinister. `You wouldn't be worth the cost of a cartridge,' he said deliberately. `But I should shorely kill the man.'

  He went out. For long she sat staring into the blazing logs, and, despite the heat, she was cold--inwardly. He would keep his word, for if she allowed him only one virtue, it was that. She was alone, save for Lindy, who almost worshipped her master, she had no friend. Her thoughts veered to Cullin, so different from her husband, kind, considerate, and more polished. No doubt he could be forceful, even ruthless--men had to be in that only semi-civilised land--but she did not believe he was responsible for the outrages in Shadow Valley. He had promised to help her. Comforted by the remembrance, she crept away to bed.

  In the morning they set out for the S P, Yorky driving Lindy in the buckboard, escorted by the girl, Nick, and Sudden, on horseback. They found the lawyer awaiting them on the veranda, in conversation with a little, old, grey-bearded man. He greeted them cordially, and when they had dismounted, swept an arm around.

  `Well, Miss Darrell, there's your domain,' he said.

  She gazed at him, big-eyed. `Do you mean that I possess all this land?' she cried.

  Seale smiled, and shook his head. `No, you actually own not much more than the buildings occupy, but you have priority grazing rights for many miles about, which is all you need.' He beckoned to the bearded man. `This is Rod Milton, the cook, one of your grandfather's old servants.'

  `Pleased to meetcha, ma'am,' Milton said, and then, as he saw her clearly, `Gosh! I could a'most believe it was Miss Mary back agin.'

  `You knew my mother?' the girl cried.

  `I gentled her first pony,' he replied. `But that was afore we come to these parts. Yo're as like her as one dollar is to another.'

  `Rod was anxious about his job, but I told him you'd probably keep him on,' Seale said.

  `But, of course. Lindy is coming as housekeeper, she'll need help in the kitchen.'

  The little man grinned shyly as he regarded the Negress. `I don' reckon my cookin' will grade up to your'n, by all accounts, but I'm ready to larn.'

  Lindy's smile threatened to absorb her ears; praise for her cooking was a short cut to her good graces. Rod had made a friend.

  At the lawyer's suggestion, they went into the house. It was of fair size, consisting of the usual parlour, three other rooms, kitchen, and an adjoining shack where the cook slept. It was substantially furnished but everything showed signs of neglect. Milton read the faces of the women.

  `Gilman didn't care none, an' I had plenty to do,' was his excuse.

  At one room he hesitated before he opened the door. `This was Miss Mary's,' he said. `Till he passed out, the Ol' Man had it tended, but nobody never used it.'

  `I can see that later,' the girl said hurriedly. The cook nodded understandingly, turned the key, and gave it to her.

  When they emerged into the open again, Lindy chuckled. `We sho' got a passel o' work ahaid, honey,' she said. `An' yoh gotta spen' consid'able.'

  Mary's startled gaze went to the lawyer; she had not thought of the financial side of the matter. He smiled reassuringly.

  `No need to worry. The exposure of that rascal foreman saved us over a thousand dollars, and there is another thousand owed by Bardoe which we could not have had if Misner Drait had not collected it for us. It results that the ranch has now a balance of three thousand, one hundred and fifty dollars at your disposal.'

  If he wanted to impress her, he certainly succeeded; it was more money than she had ever dreamed of possessing. Another thought came; that was what happened to the gold taken from Bardoe, which she had accused the nester of stealing. Sheglanced at him, glimpsed the shadow of a smile on his hard face, and looked quickly away. Seale was speaking again: `Reminds me that you're a good prophet,' he said to the nester. `Gilman broke gaol last night; overpowered, bound and gagged the deputy who brought his supper; helped himself to the keys, and walked out. They say Camort is furious.'

  `He'd have to be,' Nick replied meaningly. `Well, that's one more coyote we gotta watch out for.'

  Five men who had been smoking and loafing near the corral now approached, removing their hats when they saw the lady. The lawyer addressed nhem :

  `Boys, this is Miss Darrell, your new owner. You will take orders from her in future.'

  Four of them were rugged, hard-bitten fellows, nearing or past forty. They muttered `Howdy,' scuffed their feet, and appeared uncomfortable. The fifth was younger, and had the sallow complexion, black eyes, and lank hair which pointed plainly to mixed parentage.

  'Ver' glad to meetcha, ma'am,' he said carefully, and to Seale, `Meestair Geelman, he no come back.'

  `He will not, Tomini,' the lawyer replied shortly. `That's all.' When they made no move, he added,* `What are you waiting for?'

  `Ordares,' the man replied, with a slinky look at the girl.

  Drait stepped forward. `If there ain't any work to do on this ranch, no outfit is needed,' he said sharply. `If there is, get busy.'

  The half-breed perceived that his malicious attempt to embarrass the new boss had failed signally: Nicholas Drait, whom he knew by repute, was clearly not a person to play jokes on. His companions were already moving away, and he followed.

  `Any o' these fellas Pavitt's men?' Nick asked.

  `No. Gilman got rid of all the old hands except Milton,' Seale informed.

  `Guessed that. What do you thin
k of 'em, Jim?'

  `Pretty ornery bunch; that Greaser is a trouble-maker.'

  `I'm agreein'; I didn't like his anxiety about the late foreman,' Nick said, and turned to Mary. `You'd better fire him.'

  This was a chance to assert herself. `I'll think about it,' she replied.

  `Worth while,' Drait returned carelessly.

  After a meal which--to Milton's great satisfaction--earned a compliment from Lindy, the lawyer, Drait, and the puncher departed; Yorky remained to escort the women back to Shadow Valley in the evening. The Negress and Milton headed for the kitchen, Yorky went to unhitch the ponies and turn them into the corral, and Mary seized the opportunity to inspect her mother's room, which she had already decided should be her own.

  It proved to be comfortably furnished, but the dust and decay had a depressing effect. The little chest of drawers had been cleared, but in a cupboard a few old dresses were hanging, mere moth-eaten rags. On a wall was the picture of a man approaching fifty, leaning against a fence, thumbs hooked in the cartridge-studded belt which supported a heavy revolver. From beneath the broad-brimmed Stetson keen eyes looked at her over a square, out-thrust jaw and close lips. Her grandfather. Violence, determination, self-will, she saw them all in the portrait, together with a dour, obstinate courage which would suffer to the utmost rather than give in.

  Yet there must have been some underlying sense of justice in the old man, for though he would not forgive while he lived, his will showed a desire that what he had fought to create should not go to strangers. Impulsively, Mary made a mental promise to the picture, and fled from the room in a turmoil of doubt and despair.

  Buried in one of the big chairs in the parlour, she strove to concentrate on possible changes there. Her mind fully occupied, she did not hear the long glass door to the veranda open.

  `Well, if it ain't the Cattle Queen her own self,' said a jesting voice. `Honey, I shore am glad to see you.' She started to her feet. Beau Lamond, his hat pushed back, stood grinning at her. For a moment, surprise stilled her tongue, and then, as she realised the risk the man was taking, she cried : `You must be mad to come here. If Mister Drait sees you ...' `I seen him first, an' his bodyguard, Green,' he replied. `I scarcely think he needs protection,' something impelled her

  to say.

  `No fella around here wants it as bad,' he asserted. `I shouldn't tell you that, but I know you won't warn him.' `You know so much, don't you?' she said ironically.

  `I know you don't care two cents about him, an' that's why I'm here,' he said, with an impudent leer. `I know now that this place is yourn, an' with Gilman on the run, you'll be needin' a foreman. How about it?'

  Mary regarded him steadily, and had he been acquainted with Sam Pavitt, he would have remembered him at that moment. `There is no place for you here, and never will be,' she said coldly. `Please go.'

  For an instant he did not comprehend; then the grin faded from his face and stark anger took possession. Puttin' on frills, huh?' he sneered. `I ain't good enough for you--now. Well, I'llgo when I damn please, but first, I'm takin' . .' He advanced into the room, arms outstretched, lawless desire in his savage eyes.

  `I guess you'd better go, Beau,' a familiar voice chimed in.

  The cowboy switched his gaze from the girl to a door leading into the house; Yorky was standing there. "Lo, kid,' he said carelessly, and with sudden venom, `Git, yoreself, or--' His hand streaked back to his gun but his fingers had no more found the butt when he saw that the boy's weapon was out and pointed at his midriff. Beau shook his head in bewilderment; he was reckoned fast, but ...

  `You stopped just in time, hombre--another move an' you'd be travellin' up or down, 'cordin' to yore past life. Now march !' Lamond marched, painfully conscious of a gun-barrel nudging his ribs. On the edge of the veranda he halted, and Yorky, placing his right heel in the small of Beau's back, suddenly straightened his leg. The resulting violent thrust sent the unsuspecting victim sprawling into a patch of sand and gravel, several feet of which he ploughed up with his face. When he rose, blood trickling from his abraded features, he was, as Yorky later put it to an amused audience in Shadow Valley, `mad enough to bite hisself.' Instinctively, as he glared at the grinning youth on the veranda, his hand went towards his hip, only to halt when he recalled the swift draw which had brought about his defeat. With a volley of lurid imprecations, he flung himself on his horse and vanished in a cloud of dust.

  Mary, pale and somewhat shaky, was sitting down. `Thank you, Yorky,' she said. `Did you hear why he came?'

  `No, ma'am, I busted in right away.'

  She believed him, which was not surprising, for Yorky was an artist. Early in his short but chequered career he had discovered that a lie, to be of use, must be accepted as truth, and he had snudied the subject.

  `Fetched his nerve along,' he said. `D'you know why he's still hangin' around?'

  Mary thought she could make a good guess, but shook her head.

  Waitin' for a break to bump off th' boss,' was the blunt reply. `As foreman o' this ranch he'd shore get it.'

  It was not the reason she had in mind, but remembering the cowboy's remark about `a bonny widow,' and Drait's manhandling of him, it appeared likely enough. The peace she had hoped to find at the S P was becoming only a doubtful possibility. She made an abrupt decision.

  `Mister Drait said I could have one of the Shadow Valley outfit. Would you ride for me, Yorky?'

  `Why, ma'am, I'd be proud,' the boy said. `But I gotta get back to the Circle Dot--I promised.'

  `It would only be for a time, while I'm settling down,' she explained. `You see, I know nothing about running a ranch, and you could keep me from appearing too ignorant. I would like to make you foreman, but ...'

  `That wouldn't do nohow--I'm too young to be givin' orders.' He saw her smile. `Shore, I gave some to Beau, an' he took 'em, but you can't be pullin' a gun on yore men allatime. I don't claim to know everythin' about cattle, but Jim'll help me; he's the fella you oughta get.'

  `He'd be too good--I'd have nothing to do or say,' she smiled. `I'll arrange it this evening. Now, should I tell Mister Drait of--Lamond?' She read the reply in his blank stare of surprise. `Of course I must.'

  When he had gone she stepped out and walked clear of the building, so obtaining a wider view of the surrounding counnry. Plain, forest, desert, slashed with deep gorges, amidst which wound pathways of silver. And on the far horizon, amethystine purple mountains cutting off the rest of the world.

  `Yeah, it shorely is wornh lookin' at.'

  Someone had spoken her own thought. She turned to find Cullin, hat in hand, standing a few yards away. Uneasily aware of her reddened cheeks, she murmured a welcome.

  `Just rode over in the hope o' seein' you,' he said. `Ain't settled in yet, o' course.'

  `Not until the place has been made more habitable,' she explained. `It is in a dreadful state; I would not care for anyone to see it.'

  He laughed. `Which means I don't get an invite. Well, I'm beginnin' to understand a woman's attitude thataway, an' I'm havin' a sort o' domestic revolution at the Big C. That Greaser o' mine thinks I've gone loco, an' maybe he's right.'

  She gathered he was paying her a compliment--that the reformation of his household was her doing. `Cleanliness and comfort surely go together,' she said.

  `Not to a Mexican. His motno is "manana"--never do today what you can put off till tomorrow, or later. But I didn't come to talk o' myself. Is Gilman's place filled yet?'

  `No. Mister Drait offered me Quilt, but I told him I wanted to be boss of my own ranch.'

  `Shorely,' he agreed. `I've the very man for you; middle-aged, sober, level-headed, an' knows cattle. He also knows his place an' will keep it. His name is Sturm. I'll send him along in the mornin', but remember, you don't have to hire him because he comes from me; use yore judgment.'

  He waved aside her thanks. 'Anythin' I can do for you is a pleasure.'

  She had nothing to say to this, and he swung into his saddle and rode
away. His receding figure was still in sight when Yorky came up.

  `That was Mister Cullin,' she said. `You don't like him, do you?'

  The boy's face took on a whimsical expression. `If I had to choose between him an' a rattler to cross th' plains with, I'd take th' rattler,' was how he put it.

  Mary went indoors, trying to convince herself that he would naturally share the view of his employer. She failed; Yorky was eminently capable of forming his own opinion.

  Dusk found them back at Shadow Valley. The presence of Sudden at the evening meal came as a relief to the girl, who had been awaiting it with some apprehension. She liked the puncher, and had confidence in him, though she knew that he too possessed dynamic possibilities for violence, and could be adamant when occasion demanded. The nester himself provided the opening she needed.

  `I don't like you an' Lindy bein' up there alone,' he said. `No doubt Milton's awright, but he's past his prime, an' the rest o' the outfit is just guess-work.'

  `Perhaps you could spare Yorky?' Mary suggested.

  `Shore could, but he's kind o' young,' Drait objected. `What you think, Jim?'

  `Yorky's head is a lot older than his body,' Sudden smiled. `He'd be as pleased as a pup with two tails, an' he's useful in a tight corner.'

  `As I've reason to know,' Mary said seriously. `First, Bardoe, and today--Lamond.'

  They listened gravely to her account, Drait's expression one of gloomy anger, Sudden's, of pride in his pupil.

  `Well done, Yorky,' the former growled. `Pity he couldn't finish the job.'

  `If a fella won't draw, what can yu do?' the puncher queried. `So he booted him off the veranda, huh? Wonder who learned him that trick?'

  `I believe I could guess,' Mary said demurely.

  `Yu'd likely be wrong, ma'am,' Sudden returned. `I started his education, but I ain't takin' the blame for all of it; them rapscallions at Rainbow took over when I left.'

  `I had another visitor too--Mister Cullin; he came to offer me one of his riders as foreman.'