Deadfall (29 page)

Feather decided to take a chance. Ducking low, he ran to the double gates beneath the entry arch. No one was near him to guard the gates at that particular moment. Those doing the fighting had need of every guard they could get on top of the wall, defending the
hacienda
from the outside attackers, and they couldn't spare one man to secure the gates.

Now, Feather was there. He stood alone in front of the double gates, holding his Walker Colt in one hand and a Bowie knife in the other. He took a moment to study the locking mechanism that kept the two gates closed. Feather shrugged, raised his pistol, and fired point-blank into the little wooden box that contained the locking device. The box shattered and the gates both began to part.

Fuerte was the first to see the gates swing open wide, so it was he who gave the order to charge.

Sergeant Stone lay down a barrage of fire at the top of the front wall. That caused all the guards to dive for better cover than they were already using.

Charley joined Fuerte, and together they led those who had been trading fire with the guards on the front wall through the piled brush across the small stretch of bare land, then through the open gates, where they were met by Feather.

Behind one of the fortified guard boxes, on one side of the walkway, Andrés led Don Sebastian through a small, hinged trap door, built into the surface of the thickly constructed barrier.

Once inside, the Don found that they were in a crude tunnel of some kind—and it was dark and narrow.

Andrés lit a torch that he found laying on a small ledge.

“Hold on to my belt,” he said to Don Sebastian. “And watch your feet.”

“Where will this tunnel take us?” the Don asked his captain of the guard.

“To your
hacienda
, of course,” answered Andrés.

“Then, let's go there as quickly as possible.”

He grabbed hold of Andrés's belt as the captain of the guard stepped out, leading the way.

 

 

Don Roberto and his eight
vaqueros
had come around to the front wall where they joined Charley and his group inside the open gates. Charley had just finished thanking Feather for his bravery under fire.

Roscoe, Holliday, and the other eight
vaqueros
came around the right-hand corner of the wall. They saw Charley and the others inside the open gates and joined him and Don Roberto.

“We didn't hear no more shootin', so we figgered Feather had got lucky,” said Roscoe.

“And we were right,” added Holliday.

“Thanks to Feather,” said Charley. “Now, Roscoe, Feather, Holliday,” he called out, “go on up there on that wall and settle this thing. Get 'em to surrender, or shoot 'em if they won't. Then bring those you take prisoner down here . . . on the double.”

Fuerte called to them.

“Any sign of Don Sebastian?” he asked.

“I seriously doubt that Don Sebastian was ever this close to any of the fighting,” said Don Roberto.

“Oh, he was here,” said Fuerte. “I questioned a wounded guard who had been up on the wall, and he said that Don Sebastian was right up there with the rest of them until the gates were opened.”

“Did anyone up there happen to see where he went?” asked Charley.

“I don't know that yet, Charley,” said Fuerte. “But as soon as they are all rounded up and brought down here, I will question every single one of them.”

“Charley!” It was Roscoe's voice, coming from the wall. “Y'all better come on up here. There's somethin' you better take a look at.”

 

 

Armendariz and his gang, plus the remainder of the re-enforcement guards, were being disarmed and lined up single file by the federal soldiers. One of the ranking officers rode over to Don Roberto's brother, the general in command, and relayed a message to him in Spanish. “We have the entire Armendariz gang in custody,” he reported. “And the last of the re-enforcement guards are surrendering whenever we can dig them out of their hiding places.”

The general nodded. “Very good,” he told the officer. “Send a messenger around to the front and let Don Roberto know that we have secured the rear.”

 

 

On the top of the front wall, behind the fortified guard box, Roscoe was showing the hinged trapdoor opening to Charley, Fuerte, Don Roberto, and the rest of the men.

Fuerte said, “The guards say that their superior, the captain of the guard, led Don Sebastian down those steps into a passageway within the wall.”

“Well, find me a torch, someone,” said Charley. “I'm goin' in there after 'em.”

“Wait a minute,” said Fuerte, taking Charley by the elbow. “Why not first try to figure out where they would be going. I will ask any number of these guards and will bet you right now that that tunnel leads right back to the
hacienda
itself.”

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-ONE

A hidden, sliding panel opened up at the rear of one of the giant fireplaces, allowing Andrés to step out. He was followed by Don Sebastian. The two men walked while bent over until they were out of the fireplace, then they stood to their full height and looked around the great room.

No one was visible except for the two of them.

Don Sebastian grabbed hold of Andrés's sleeve.

“Before we continue with our escape,” he said, “I will need to get my son, Chico. He is upstairs, locked securely in his room.”

Andrés nodded.

“Let me have the key, Don Sebastian. I will go and get him. Then I will bring him to you,” he said.

“Thank you, Andrés,” said the Don, “but I prefer that I go and get him.”

The key was turned in the lock on the boy's door, and just as quickly, the door was flung wide open. Andrés and Don Sebastian were quite surprised that the boy wasn't there. Andrés stepped inside and did a thorough search of the room, plus he checked the barred windows leading to the veranda outside. He discovered that one of the windows had been tampered with when he spotted a curtain caught between a window frame and a previously secured sash.

Taking a closer look, Andrés could see that the lock on the outside of the window had been picked, with several of the iron obstructions missing entirely. He turned to Don Sebastian.

“Someone, other than the boy, has been in this room, Don Sebastian. Someone else has helped him to escape from you one more time.”

He started to step out onto the upstairs landing, but he pulled back. Don Sebastian froze in his tracks behind him.

At that very moment, the front doors downstairs were thrown inward, with the outside sun adding considerable brightness to the great room's interior.

Standing in silhouette in the backlight were Charley, Roscoe, Fuerte, Feather, Holliday, Rod, and Don Roberto—all of them with pistols at the ready.

They began moving forward.

“We must get out of here now!” whispered Don Sebastian to Andrés, as he peeked out the bedroom door.

He could see all the way down the staircase to where Charley and the others were now positioned.

Andrés slowly moved past the Don and out onto the second-floor landing at the top of the stairway. He raised his sidearm, aiming it into the bright light below.

Before he could pull the trigger, seven bullets, one right after the other, bracketed Andrés's heart. The captain of the guard lost his footing and tumbled down the curving stairway, grasping at draperies and wall coverings. He pulled them down on top of himself, until his body came to rest at Charley's feet.

Rod stood beside Charley, in his hand one of the Borchardt C93 semiautomatic pistols. The weapon was proving to be a pretty accurate hand gun, especially when operated by someone with Rod Lightfoot's wartime experience.

“Where is my grandson?” Charley asked the man on the floor.

Even though Andrés's eyes stared straight ahead, his lips were able to utter, “Upstairs.”

Charley and the others shifted their look to the top of the stairway.

The landing was clear.

Rod made a move toward the stairs but was stopped by Charley.

“Wait,” said the ex-Ranger. “Let me try something.”

He put a cupped hand to the right side of his mouth, then he leaned his head back just a little and let out a coyote howl that echoed throughout the entire
hacienda
.

Several silent moments passed before a return coyote call echoed, coming from upstairs.

“Henry Ellis!” Charley yelled out. “It's me . . . Grampa Charley. You should be safe now.”

There was another moment, then Henry Ellis, followed by Mary Theresa, stepped out onto the landing, coming from another direction.

“Don't shoot the woman,” yelled Henry Ellis. “She is my friend. She helped me to escape this time.”

Down below, everyone eased up on their triggers.

Suddenly, a single shot rang out.

The bullet caught Mary Theresa in the neck. She grabbed the wound and fell to her knees.

For a brief moment, the woman and the boy made eye contact. The woman's eyes were desperately trying to tell the boy to turn around.

Finally, he understood.

He slowly turned his head to see Don Sebastian, partially hidden behind the bedroom door, with a smoking pistol now aimed down the stairs in Charley's direction.

The Don nodded to Henry Ellis. He beckoned with his eyes for the boy to join him.

“Chico,” he said. “Come along, son. Your father is waiting for you.”

There was a long moment.

“Come with me now, my son, or I will shoot your grandfather where he is standing.”

The boy's derringer fired its two small-caliber projectiles one after the other, putting two small holes in Don Sebastian's forehead. The man took two steps toward the banister, then Don Sebastian Ortega de la Vega toppled over and fell the eighteen feet to the tiled floor below. He now lay facedown, motionless and silent, as blood slowly began to pool around him.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-TWO

The battle was over.

The soldiers of the federal army were still rounding up Don Sebastian's guards and Armendariz's gang, while Don Roberto and his
vaqueros
faced Charley and the outfit in the center of the
hacienda
grounds, near the fountain.

Henry Ellis's parents had been brought into the yard, and Charley was introducing them to Don Roberto. He stood beside his brother, the commanding general of the federal troops. Everyone was shaking hands and congratulating one another on the victory.

Don Sebastian's covered body was being carried out of the
casa grande
by two of his servants. The body was put into the back of a wagon and driven off toward the rear of the property.

“What about him?” said Henry Ellis.

“Don Sebastian will be buried right here on the
hacienda
grounds, beside his real son, Chico. Armendariz and his gang will be turned over to the local authorities, when they arrive—with the exception of the body of the woman who rescued you, Henry Ellis. She will be taken down to the workers' village and buried with honors in the graveyard beside the church.”

One of the federal soldiers walked up to the general holding Henry Ellis's horse by the reins. The cart containing the treasure box was still hitched to the animal.

“My men discovered this box of gold inside the
hacienda
,” said the general. “It is filled with sacred objects and gold coins stolen by Spanish soldiers during their conquest of the north. I will make sure the gold gets to the Mexican government. And even if there are those who might dispute this, I am sure the courts in Mexico City will find that the Mexican government is the rightful owner, one way or the other.”

Slight grumbling could be heard coming from Feather, Roscoe, and Holliday, as they all exchanged unhappy glances.

“Could ya just make sure the kid gets his horse back?” said Roscoe.

“
Si
, señor,” said the general. “If the horse belongs to the boy, I will make sure it is returned to him.”

“Riders coming in,” shouted Fuerte, who stood on top of the front wall above the open gates. Fuerte moved back down the steps behind them and rejoined the group.

A small cloud of dust and the sounds of galloping ponies swirled through the
hacienda
's entrance gates. The riders reined up in front of Charley and the others.

It was Billy July, with three other Black-Seminole braves riding along with him.

“It appears that we didn't make it here in time,” said Billy July. “It just took the four of us a little longer than we expected to make up our minds.”

Mitch Pennell and Elisabeth, followed by Kelly, Rod, and some of the others, moved over to welcome the late arrivals.

“Well,” said Elisabeth, putting her hand on Billy July's hand, “it's the thought that counts, Billy. At least you did decide to help us.”

Someone had found the original team of horses and the carriage the Pritchard family had been riding in when they were first attacked. Charley took one of the horses by its harness and led the carriage over to Henry Ellis's parents.

“Go ahead,” he said. “Get in. It's a long way back to Don Roberto's
hacienda
.”

Sergeant Stone, along with Rod, Kelly, and Holliday, stepped forward.

“We're gonna ride straight on back to Juanita,” said Sergeant Tobias Stone. “Probably cross the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass. I have ta get these weapons back to Fort Clark before someone reports 'em missin'.”

“And we need to get back to our ranch as soon as we can to do some horse breeding,” said Kelly.

“Plus she's got a book to write,” added Rod.

“And me,” said Holliday, “I don't got much a' nothin' ta get back fer except maybe a few a' my students are probably wonderin' where I run off to.”

“What about you, Elisabeth?” asked Charley. “Any ideas of where you might be headed?”

“I'll be going back to my ranch, Mr. Sunday. I know I'll do all right once I'm back there.”

“Now, Elisabeth,” said Charley, “you know that taking care of a ranch is a full-time job. You can't do it alone. Why, you're going to need—”

“A man?” she said, cutting him off.

“That's right,” said Charley, “a man.”

“Then I figure that'll be all up to you, Mr. Sunday.”

“Me?” said Charley.

“Yes, you,” she said. “Mister Pennell has offered his services to come back to my ranch with me and help me get a new start.”

Pennell moved in beside Elisabeth and she wrapped her arm around his waist. “All he needs is a new start, too.”

Pennell raised his head and both men made eye contact.

“Well,” said Charley, “I usually can spot it when two friends of mine take a special shine to one another . . . but I sure missed this one.”

Charley hesitated for a long moment.

“I'll send a telegram to the governor when we get back to Juanita . . . and since I was the arresting officer in the first place . . . I don't think that getting you a permanent release will be that difficult.”

Pennell took Elisabeth in his arms and swung her around while everyone else applauded.

Now Don Roberto spoke.

“I will be taking Henry Ellis and his parents back to my
rancho
so we can share the time together we were all supposed to have before this all happened.

“And I want to invite you, too, Charley Sunday . . . along with Roscoe, Feather, and our mutual friend, Roca Fuerte. All of you come along and spend a few days, too . . . will you? I have a very large lake on my property, where you men can talk to your hearts' content about the good old days while you sit on the grassy bank of that lake fishing, eating, napping, and drinking tequila by the bottle, until your bellies are full and your bodies are rested.”