Blue (Ben Blue Book 2) Read online

  Carver started whining about being hungry and it getting cold and missing all the fun. I didn’t like the sound of that. Tom smacked him on the back of his head and said, “G’on, take your bedroll and go.”

  Carver went to the stable and collected his rifle and bedroll and trudged off toward where he’d taken the horses. He was not a happy boy.

  I whispered to Rubio, “Can you take him without any noise, or would you rather I did it?”

  “Navajo make no noise.” Was all he said, as he picked up his bow. Then he was gone.

  It was waiting time for me, waiting for dark, so I could get closer to the cabin. I needed to get the layout, and I wanted to see who was where. Hopefully, then I could come up with a plan. It was still two hours till dark, so I kept on waiting. You’d think as much practice as I’ve had at waiting I’d be real good at it by now.

  It was almost dark when Rubio slid in beside me. I hadn’t even heard him until I felt him. He showed me his new rifle, his new pistol, and his new scalp. Sooner of later, he was going to have to give that up, but for now, I could live with it.

  Lights were coming on in the cabin casting a dull yellow glow. The walls were growing blacker and blacker. The mountainside was nothing but blackness behind and above the cabin. I was ready for a closer look.

  Chapter 18

  “Wait here.” I told Rubio. I wanted to know where he would be when and if I needed him. “I’m going up for a closer look. Don’t shoot me when I come back, and I may have to come back quick.”

  He nodded, and I moved off to my right. I wanted to come in from the mine works side. It would give me just a little bit more cover.

  Crossing the trail, I worked my way around past the mine opening and then to the far side of the stable. There were no horses but all their saddles and tack were stashed there to one side. There was a small divide between the two stalls. I had seen only three windows, one at the far end and two in front. I could get to the one on my side of the door, and then I’d try to get to the one on the far end.

  Sliding up from under the window, I eased myself to the side to get a look at this part of the room. I could see the backs of a few heads all looking toward the rear of the cabin, where it was a dugout. There was a room about ten by fifteen feet cut out of the mountain. Father Paul, the Sister and Linda were all setting on the floor. The all looked pretty shabby. Father Paul had a growth of beard started; his robes were torn and dirty, and his face was drawn and sunken. The women were no better shape.

  Milo was standing with his back to me looking at the three. “Come on, Nunny, you’re tonight’s special treat.” Looking at Linda he said, “Don’t worry Missy, we’ll get to you tomorrow night.”

  The nun just shook her head with her hands clasped in prayer against her lips. Her eyes were tightly closed and tears were rolling down her face, but she made no sound.

  Milo reached for her hands and Father Paul lunged at him without much force from his sitting position. Milo gave him a hard backhand to the face, which sent the smaller man sprawling. Then he reached to his hip and pulled out his pistol. The clicking of the cocking pistol from behind froze him.

  “Verr bad medicine to keel a priest.”

  “Ah, Paco, I wasn’t gonna shoot him. I was just lettin him know who was boss.”

  Milo holstered his gun and grabbed the nun’s hands dragging her to her feet with Linda trying to hold her back. They were both crying and begging, but Milo simply shoved Linda back to the floor.

  “How come you get to go first?” yelled Rank.

  “Because you and Peter and Injun Joe here had your fun back at that sheep camp. You didn’t even think about nobody but yourselfs… Now you get what’s left.”

  Milo was dragging the girl, and that’s all she was, toward the door when Rank asked, “Where you goin with her?”

  “To the stable. I like a little privacy.” With that said, he took a one of the candles and pushed open the door, dragging the pleading nun by her arm.

  I scooted to the other side of the stall divide and hunkered down. Feeling around in the dark, I found some horse manure and a broken pick handle. I figured to get better use out of the pick handle so I kept it and left the manure.

  He pulled her into the first stall, set the flickering candle on a protruding nail and pulled her to him, trying to kiss her. She was fighting for all she was worth but he was a big man. He finally got tired of the struggle and hit her hard enough to drop her. Lifting her skirt he stood up to get himself unbuttoned. That’s when I let the pick handle do its job. Now I’m a pretty big boy and when I swing a pick handle it gets swung with some amount of authority. In other words he went down and out.

  He landed on the girl, but she was out cold and didn’t notice. I rolled him off her and gave him another little love tap for good measure. I pinched out the candle and scooped her up. Taking a more direct route back to where Rubio waited. She was just starting to come around when I set her on the ground.

  As her eyes fluttered in the moonlight, I put my hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She was wide eyed and terrified. “Sister, you’re safe for now. I’m Ben Blue, a friend of Father Paul’s and Linda. And I’m also a deputy US Marshal. Now please be still when I take my hand away.”

  She took my hand and held it to her cheek and wept for a few minutes, she thanked me in a thousand ways and in at least three languages. Then she asked, “Am I… Did he… Am I still a virgin?”

  “As you were on the day you were born.” I told her. “You’re perfect.” That brought on more weeping and more thank yous and many blessings.

  “Sister, I’m going to have to leave you here with Rubio. He looks disreputable and a he’s a heathen savage, but I couldn’t leave you in better hands. They’d have to kill him to get to you, and better men than those in there have tried.”

  “I’ve got to go get Linda and Father Paul out of there. I have a plan, so I’ll leave you now.”

  Just then the cabin door opened and Peter yelled out. “Come on, Milo, what’s takin so long? Did you forgit how it’s done? Come on hurry up.”

  Tom came to the door and told him, “Shut up and leave him alone… Here, take this grub out to Carver, if he’s stupid enough to stay out there all night, at least he can eat.” He handed Peter a bundle and went back in.

  Peter went down the path toward the pasture and disappeared in the darkness. I was on my way back to the stable. I found what I wanted and checked on poor old Milo. He was still out cold. By the time I was out of the stable and scaling the mountainside behind it, the door opened again. This time it was Russell coming out to hurry things up.

  “What the hell’s taking you so long? Can’t you get it… What the hell!” He’d found sleeping beauty and there was no princess with him.

  He ran back to the cabin and got a bucket of water, with which he nearly drowned Milo. “What happened… Where’d she go… Can’t you even handle a little snip of a girl?”

  By that time, Milo was shaking head trying to clear it and finding it too painful to shake. “I donno, she musta hit me with somethin, one minute I’m getting ready for fun and the next minute my head is exploding.”

  “Get him inside, we’ll get her in the morning, she can’t get too far.”

  “Bad medicine… bad medicine… The spirit struck him down. You…”

  “Just shut up that talk, Paco.” Russell glared at him. “I don’t want any more spirit talk, and you stay away from that priest… I don’t trust you any more than I trust him… You’re gettin soft in the head.

  Just as they were nearing the door, Peter came running and stumbling down the path yelling, “Injuns! Injuns! They killed Carver…and… scalped him!”

  “No Injuns here!” Paco yelled back at him. “You’re loco, boy!”

  “You’re the loco one… Carver was layin there lookin up at the sky with a arra in his neck an his skull bone showin… you’re the loco, you crazy Injun!”

  “Get inside, both of you.” Russell sna
pped. “Douse those lamps!”

  All went dark, except for a flickering glow from the fire. The only other light was from a quarter moon, the stars, and some sparks coming up from the fireplace. I figured the moon and stars were enough, so I stopped those sparks with a horse blanket and a rock over the chimney. Then I didn’t waste any time getting to the ground.

  I counted to ten, then twenty, then thirty, then forty, and at forty-seven they came boiling out coughing and hacking. I could see Linda stumbling around coughing her head off. They were all blinded and choking, so I just walked up amongst em and put my arm around her waist and pulled her back. She stiffened in the middle of a coughing spasm and I saw a knife appear in her hand… it was headed my way. I took hold of her wrist and whispered in her ear, “Linda, it’s Ben… Ben Blue… I’m getting you out of here. I could feel her relax, and she came willingly trying to stifle her coughs. After a few faltering steps, I just picked her up and carried her to the mine opening.

  We hid there for a few minutes while she got her breath, and then we moved off into the brush. Meanwhile the smoke had cleared and the coughing had subsided. Russell told someone to douse that fire, and he told someone else to get up on the roof and see what was blocking the chimney. That Russell sure could give orders. Carver had been right, Russell was surely the man in charge.

  He started calling the roll and when all were accounted for he said, “Where’s the priest?” Tom called back and said he had him. “Who’s got the woman?” there was no answer. “I said, who the hell’s go that woman?” Still no answer.

  The cussin came from every one. It was glorious; I’d never heard such outrageousness. I kinda made me think of that dance hall gal in Texas, when I hauled Andy out of her bed at dawn. I saw the bulk of Milo silhouetted in the open door, he was back lighted by the faint glow from the embers of the doused fire and the steam they had produced. I asked Rubio if he could hit him with an arrow in the dark or get real close. He said he could and did. He put one in Milo’s right shoulder.

  He yelled, spun around and fell back into the cabin. They cleared the yard in about a second. This wasn’t turning out to be one of Milo’s better evenings.

  The two young women were huddled together clinging to each other pale faced and wide eyed. Both were shaking, and I had an idea that it wasn’t from the chill of the evening. I crouched down in front of them and said, “Linda, Sister, I’m going to take you both down to where the horses are and get you settled and out of harm’s way.” Neither said anything, but both nodded.

  Then I turned to Rubio and said, “I’m going to get these ladies fixed up and set up a camp for em. Can you hold things down here?” He grunted that he could, and I told him to give the window a shot every now and them. “You may as well use your new rifle on em. But shoot high; we don’t want to hit the padre.”

  Rubio was enjoying himself and I was damned happy to have that old blister on my side. I took Linda by the hand and she took the other’s hand, then I led them down the trail very slowly. It was darker in the trees than it had been on the shelf, but we made out without too many stumbles.

  I found the horses where I had hoped they would be. Dusty gave me a sniff and a snort and a nudge. I think that meant he was happy to see me, but it could have meant that he was scolding me for taking so long. I wouldn’t be able to make a proper camp, but at least I could get a small fire going. After getting a fire started with twigs, sticks, and bark I was able to see better and find some deadfall branches and brought them in close enough for the women to keep it going.

  There was a little meat in my pack so I rigged up a spit to get it heated, more for the comfort of having something cooking than their need to eat. Then I put the horses on some grass. I could hear Rubio shooting into the cabin, which was answered by a return volley each time.

  “Linda, I know you’ve got a knife to cut this meat with you, and here’s a canteen with almost fresh water… where’d you have that knife hidden?” She flushed and smiled and wouldn’t tell me.

  “Well it doesn’t matter, I’m proud of you for having it…. Take this shotgun… you ranch girls know how to use one, but hold it with both hands if you have to use it. Anybody come down that trail, you make sure it’s me or Rubio.”

  I was on the verge of handing it to her when I heard noises from below. I quickly moved them into the brush and took my position behind a pine. The express gun was cocked and ready.

  “Haloo the camp.” Came a soft call. “Can we come in?”

  “Depends on who you are.”

  “Deputy Marshal Ethan Claybrook and four others.”

  “Come in slow and easy… let me see your faces and your hands.”

  They came in with the grinning Claybrook in the lead. There were two of Linda’s pa’s punchers, a Sheriff’s Deputy, and one of the Esses hands with him.

  “I’m so happy to see you fellas I could, I could hug the snot out of each one. You got any coffee… One of you get it started, and stay here with these two delightful young women, and the rest of you pull your artillery and come with me. I got no time to hug any of you now.”

  “Linda, if Jesse here makes a weak pot of coffee, you use that knife on him.” Neither she the sister nor Jesse heard me because Jesse was being squeezed to death by two weeping women.

  The rest of us took off up that trail as fast as the terrain and light would let us. Ethan told me that they had met Filipe and Arturo two days ago on the trail and had pressed hard since then. He also said they had just made camp about a mile below where they found us, and when they heard the shooting, they came a runnin.

  When we got close enough to where Rubio was doing his sniping, I called out and told him in as low voice, “Rubio, I’m coming, and I brought some friends.”

  “Bout time.”

  He was a little to the right of where he had been, but we found him without much trouble. He said that he had been moving around to make them think there was more than one man. Now why hadn’t I thought of that?

  I suggested we spread out and wait for morning. “But don’t go to sleep because if they think we’ve pulled out, they’re gonna make a break for it. And be careful they still have a good friend of mine as a hostage.”

  After every one was in position, Rubio took another shot through the window. It was answered by a volley of sixgun and rifle fire, which was answered by five rifle shots from our side. I didn’t shoot because I had put myself in the mine entrance, and I didn’t have an angle to any of the windows. I could see the stable, the fireplace wall and the front door. I could see one of the windows, but only from an extreme angle. I couldn’t see much of the door, if it was opened, anyone coming out would be my target.

  Every half hour or so Rubio would send a bullet through one of the two front windows, just to let them know that the Injuns were still out there. I assumed that they would figure on an attack at daybreak, so they’d be getting pretty jittery as the time drew near.

  The sky was starting to lighten in the east, but dawn was still more than a half hour away. I’d been running on nerve juices for days now and it was starting to take its toll. My eyelids were heavy with fatigue and I’d swap the ranch for a cup of Rafe’s coffee. I was doing all I could to keep my mind on the business at hand. That’s when I heard a hammer being pulled back somewhere behind me. I’d been leaning against a slab of rock just inside the opening. Turning to my left, I was quick enough to see the flash and feel the impact.

  Chapter 19

  Damn that hurt! Something had hit me low on the left side. I slammed back into that slab of rock and bounced to the mine floor momentarily stunned. Somewhere down the tunnel, I heard Russell’s voice ask whoever had shot me if he had got him. Then there was someone running at me. I was struggling to get the express gun out from under me.

  “Yeah, I got him!” Peter yelled back. “I got me a Inju…” That’s when a match flared and he said, “Hey! That ain’t no Injun, That’s…” That was when my express gun tore open his middle. Peter, or
what was left of him, staggered back for two stumbling steps on nerveless legs before he landed face up in the dirt. I sent the second barrel after Russell’s retreating footsteps.

  Peter took a full load at four of five feet, so I wasn’t worried about him. Getting to my feet, I steadied myself, knowing that I was either gonna die or I was gonna live. Since I could still stand, the chances were that my wound wasn’t immediately serious, but it hurt like hell.

  Cautiously and with some difficulty, I made my way down the tunnel with two new ten gauge shells in the scattergun. My side was on fire and I could feel the wetness, but all I could do right that moment was hope it hadn’t taken out anything vital. I wasn’t too sure what was there and what was vital.

  As I worked my way along the left wall of the tunnel… tunnel, that was it… there was a tunnel coming from the cabin to the mine… that must be it. How else could they have gotten behind me like that? Guiding myself with my left hand on the wall I came to a point that the tunnel turned left. I fumbled with my foot until I found a cluster of stones. I didn’t trust myself to bend or stoop to pick them up, so I kicked them down the tunnel. Two pistol shots filled the air with almost deafening noise. The whine of those two slugs ricocheting in that confined space was even scarier.

  “Russell, it’s Ben Blue. We’ve got a posse out there and the place is surrounded. There’s no place to go. Anyone who walks out with their hands up and empty will live long enough to stand trial.”

  “That’s not good enough, Blue. I still got the priest, and he should be worth gettin me and Milo out of here.”

  “No deal. Not with all the crimes you have to answer for. Send the padre out and come out behind him. That’s the only way you’ll get out of there alive.”

  “I’ll kill that preacher before you can take us.”

  “He knows that, and he’s prepared for it. He’ll just be thankful that the women are safe. He may be wearin what looks like a dress, but he’s a bigger man than any of you.”