the Strong Shall Live (Ss) (1980) (13 page)

"You'll do as I tell you, Cherry, and you'll do it now. This man is neither drunken nor dirty. He is big, and tough, and, I think, dangerous. Also, he cares nothing for gambling or whiskey."

She got up. "All right, I'll go. But you'll wish you'd never sent me. I'm sick of these jobs, John! Why don't we cash in our chips and pull out? Let's go to New York, or San Francisco."

"Get started. I'll tell you when to go, and where."

The canyon of the Lonetree was warm in the spring sunshine. The cottonwoods whispered secrets to each other above the stream that chuckled humorously to the stones. There was no other sound but the trilling of birds, and on the bank above the stream the sound of Caddo working.

He wore a six-shooter, and a rifle stood nearby,and just out of sight in the tunnel mouth was a shotgun, a revolving weapon made by Colt

Standing with his feet wide apart in their heavy miner's boots, he made a colossal figure. He was freshly shaved, and his shock of rusty hair was combed. His red flannel shirt was open at the neck, and his huge forearms, bulging with raw power, showed below his rolled-up sleeves. Cherry Creslin, Impressed by few things, was awed.

At the sound of hooves splashing in the water, he looked around. Then he saw the rider was a woman, and a beautiful woman, at that He smiled.

Long before he had come to Hattan's Castle he had heard of John Daniel, and knew his every trick. Moreover, he knew this woman by name and knew she was reputed to be John Daniel's own woman. He could see, as she drew nearer, that she was genuinely beautiful and despite the hard lines that showed through her lovely skin, there was warmth there, but a restrained, carefully controlled warmth.

"Good morning, Bon Caddo." Her voice was low and lovely, and deep within him something stirred, and he tried to bring up defenses against it. She was all woman, this one, no matter what else she might be.

"Hello, Cherry."

"You know me? I don't remember you." She looked at him again. "I don't think I could forget"

"You've never seen me, Cherry, and I've never seen you, but I've been expecting you."

He gestured to a seat under a tree. "Won't you get down and stay for a while? It's quite pleasant here."

"You--you've been expecting me?" She was irritated. She was accustomed to handling men, to controlling situations. This man, she realized, was different. Not only was he a physical giant but he was intelligent, and . . . she admitted it reluctantly ... he was exciting.

"Of course." He smiled pleasantly. He had, she thought, a truly beautiful smile. "John Daniel has tried everything else, hasn't he? Everything but you ... and murder."

Her features stiffened and her eyes went hard, but she did not pretend to misunderstand. "So you think he sent me? You think I am the kind of woman a man can send on some dirty business?"

He leaned on his shovel. "Yes," he said, and she struck him across the face with her quirt.

He did not move nor change expression although the red line of the blow lay vividly across his cheek and lips. "Yes," he repeated, "but you shouldn't be. You've got heart and you have courage. You've just been riding with the tide."

"You're very clever, aren't you?"

"No. But this situation isn't very hard to understand. Nor are you, Cherry Creslin. It's a pity," he continued, "that you're tied up with such a murdering lot. There's a lot of woman in you, and you'd make some man a woman worth keep-tag."

She stared at him. The situation was out of hand. It would be difficult now to get him back in the right vein. Or was this the right one?

"You may be right," she said, "maybe I've been waiting for you."

He laughed and stuck his shovel down hard into the pile of muck. Then he walked over to her, and the black horse nuzzled his arm. "Not that way, Cherry. Be honest. I'm riot so easy, you know. Actually the only way is to be honest."

She measured him, searching herself. "Honest? I don't know whether I could be. It's been so long."

"Ah, now you are being honest! I like that, Cherry." He leaned his big shoulder against the horse's shoulder. "In fact, Cherry, I like you."

"Like me?" A strange emotion was rising within her, and she tried to fight it down. "And you know what I am?"

"What are you? A woman. Perhaps no worse and no better than any other. One cannot always measure by what a person seems to be or even has been. Anyway, it is always the future that counts."

"You believe that? But what of a woman's past?"

Bon Caddo shrugged. "If a woman loved me I'd start counting the days of her Me from the time she told me she loved me. I would judge by what happened after that, although I'd be a hard judge for the after years."

She was irritated with herself. This was not what she had come for. "How did we start talking like this? I did not intend to get into anything like this."

"Of course. You came to get me to fall in love with you or at least to lure me down to that sinkhole at Hattan's Castle. You might manage the first, but not the last."

"If you were in love with me and I asked you to come, would you?"

"Certainly not. Doing what a woman asks is not proof of love. If a man isn't his own man he isn't worthy of love. No, I'd use my own judgment, and my judgment tells me to stay away from Hattan's Castle and the Palace."

His eyes seemed to darken with seriousness. "We of Welsh or Irish blood, Cherry, sometimes have a power of prophecy or intuition, call it what you will, and mine tells me that when I come to Hattan's Castle it will mean blazing hell and death. For me, the town, or both of us."

Something cold and frightening touched her and suddenly she put her hand on his. "Then, then don't come, Bon Caddo. Don't come at all. Stay here, or better still, take your gold and go."

"You advise me that way? What would John Daniel say?"

"He wouldn't like it," she replied simply. "He would not like it at all. But it is my best advice to you."

"I shall stay until my claim is worked out. I'll not be driven off."

"May I come back again?"

"Come soon. Come often."

Caddo watched her go and then returned to his work. There would be trouble, of course. He doubted that Cherry would tell John Daniel of her failure. Not yet, at least. She would come back, and perhaps again. If she continued to fail, John Daniel would try something else.

Three times she came in the days that followed land each time they talked longer. Inevitably the day came when she returned to Hattan's Castle to find John Daniel awaiting her. When their eyes met she knew she was in trouble.

"Well?" His question was a challenge. "When is he coming in?"

"He is not coming at all." There was no use evading the issue. She had probably been spied upon. "He is not coming, but I am leaving. We're to be married."

"What!"Of all things, this was the least expected. "Do you think you can trick me that way? Marry him and get it all for yourself?"

"You'd not understand, John, but I love him. He's a real man and a fine man, so don't try to stop me."

"Try? I'll not just try, I'll do it I" His eyes were ugly. "Hereafter you will stay in town. I shall find other means of handling it."

"Sorry." She got to her feet. "I am going back to him."

He struck her across the mouth with the back of his hand and she fell to the floor, a trickle of blood running from her mashed lip. She looked up at him. "You shouldn't have done that, John. I am sorry for you, or I would be if there was a decent bone in your body."

Furious, he strode from the room and returnedto the Palace. The first person he saw was Chito. "All right. You want to kill Caddo. Go do it."

Without another word, Russ Chito left the room. From her window Cherry saw him go and divined his purpose. Filled with terror she rushed to the door but hulking Bernie Lee stood there. "You ain't goin' no place. Get back inside."

She stepped back. There would be no chance to warn Caddo. Chito would be halfway there by now, and he would kill without warning, and from ambush.

At the Palace John Daniel stared from the window, thinking. The boom was over here, anyway. He would sell out and go away. Within the past few months the population had fallen by a third. It was time to move. With the gold from Caddo's claim he could leave all this behind. He would go to San Francisco as they had planned, and he would take Cherry with him. Once away from all this the foolish notions would leave her head. She would be his woman again.

During the months they had been associated he had never won her love, and it galled him to think that Bon Caddo had, or so it seemed.

John Daniel hated all that resisted him; anything he did not or could not possess and control.

The afternoon wore on, and he paced the floor. Chito had not returned. Of course, he was a careful man. He was taking his time. Still--

In her own cabin, Cherry packed her belongings and waited. She feared, she doubted, yet inside there was a kind of stillness. Terror there was, and fear for the man she now loved, but through it all there was something else, a kind of confidence, a belief that somehow, some way, Bon Caddo would triumph.

At the Palace Saloon John Daniel was no longer patient. He lit a black cigar and muttered under his breath. He walked to the door and looked down the street. There was no sign of Chito.

Darkness came and he went to his office. Thesaloon business began but in a desultory fashion. The whole town seemed to be waiting, watching, wondering. Seven o'clock passed, then eight. John Daniel walked into the saloon and looked quickly around. Many of the familiar faces were missing. Nine came and went and suddenly there was a crash of glass. Men sprang to their feet, staring. Where the alley window had been was a gaping hole, and sprawled on the floor inside was Russ Chito. He had taken a shotgun blast through the chest.

Men rushed to him, and only John Daniel remained where he was, white-faced, his cigar clamped in his teeth.

Then the swinging doors parted and Bernie Lee tottered into the room and fell sprawling on the floor. He was alive, but brutally beaten.

John Daniel reached behind the bar and took up a spare pistol. Methodically, he checked it, then tucked it behind his belt. His own gun in his hand, he strode down the street.

Cherry was gone.

Her house was lighted, the door stood open, but Cherry was gone.

John Daniel swore, shifted the cigar in his teeth. "Pete! Dave! Ed! Cherry's gone and I want her back, and I want Bon Caddo dead!"

Suddenly, from down the street a voice shouted "Fire!" John Daniel rushed to the door. One glimpse was enough, down the street, in a direct line with his saloon, a deserted shack was ablaze.

A glance told him that with the wind there was no chance. That whole side of the street must go, and he owned every building there.

Suddenly he became aware that nobody was moving to fight the blaze. They were watching, and a few were throwing water on buildings across the street, buildings he did not own. He yelled at them, but there was no response.

Cursing, he turned on his heel and went into the Palace. Rage filled him, a bitter, futile rage.

He was whipped . . . whipped. But he still had the money.

He went to his secret drawer and took out the gold. He went to his safe for more, carefully changed into bills for easier carrying. There was more gold under the foundation but that could wait. Now, while the others watched the fire, he would go.

From his room he brought a pair of saddlebags, kept handy for the purpose, and into them he stuffed bills and gold. Straightening up he turned swiftly and started for the back door. A few steps beyond was the stable and his black horse.

He stopped abruptly. Bon Caddo stood in the door. "Going some place, John?" he asked mildly.

John Daniel stood stock-still, caught in mid-stride. For the first time he knew fear.

He was alone. Russ Chito was dead. Bernie Lee was beaten within an inch of his life. The others were scattered, hunting for Caddo. And Caddo was here.

John Daniel had always accounted himself a brave man. He was not afraid, but there was something indomitable about Caddo.

"All your life, John Daniel, you've lived by murder and robbery, and you've gotten away with it. Now your town is burning, Daniel, and you're going with it."

John Daniel's hand reached for a bottle at the end of the bar and threw it. The bottle missed, shattering against the wall. Bon Caddo started for him.

John Daniel moved to meet him, since there was no escape. He struck out viciously, and Caddo took the blow coming in without so much as a wince. Then Caddo struck in return, and the blow made Daniel's knees buckle.

Caddo moved after him, coolly, relentlessly. "Like hitting women, John? How does it feel to be hit? Do you like killing, John? How does it feel to die?"

In a wild burst' of panic-born strength, John Daniel struck out. The blow caught Caddo coming in again but the power of it staggered him and he tripped over a fallen chair, falling to the floor.

John Daniel lunged for the back door and made it. With Caddo coming after him he reached the stable.