The Devil's Roundup Part 6

Saber laid a hand on Kerry's arm. "Stay here with that rifle. I'm going down and see how many're here." He moved away quickly, letting himself down to the level of the corral in the rear of the cabin. No window showed on that side. Saber skirted the pole enclosure, coming out against the log wall.

Voices came from within. A man's cursing was a long, hard rumble. The stove lid hanged again, and Saber slid around the corner to a small window. He took off his hat, raising his head cautiously to peer in. He pulled his head back quickly as the front door opened and a tall, loosely built man rocked on the threshold. Ten feet and the building's corner separated them. Saber slipped the Colt from his shoulder holster.

Someone within yelled-"Lurch!"-and the man turned.

Saber peered around the corner again as the man named Lurch stepped clear of the cabin. He crossed to a stone watering trough, doused his head in the water, then stood sputtering and coughing as he dried his face. There was a gun tucked in the waistband of his trousers. He turned suddenly to toss the towel aside, saw Saber standing, bold and unprotected, by the building's corner.

There was enough light for Saber to see the surprise well up in Lurch's eyes, and then Lurch reached for his gun. John Saber shot him dead where he stood. The cabin came alive then, and, above him, Willie Kerry's .45-70 split the morning air. Heavy bullets thudded into the door, breaking a small window. Saber ran back of the cabin toward the corral. He kicked the pole gate out and entered, shouting at the milling horses, driving them out with rapid blasts of his gun.

The heavy rifle bang added to the pandemonium. Saber paused long enough in his flight for the safety of the rocks to fling the remaining loads in his gun at the window that blinked in the first rays of the rising sun.

He met Kerry as the boy scrambled from his concealment.

Kerry said: "By h.e.l.l.. .you like excitement, don't you?"

Saber shot the boy an irritated glance and moved out rapidly, keeping low, listening to the shouting and futile shots behind them. He thumbed fresh loads into his gun as he ran, pausing to give their back trail a sharp scrutiny. Shadows languished in the early light, the sun standing above the horizon, dead ahead of them.

"Good thing," Willie Kerry panted as he ran. "It will blind them so they can't see us good."

Saber saw the crumpled figure of the guard below him as they angled off toward the horses tethered in the rocks.

Burt Kerry sat on a deadfall, talking to Lila and Wes Cardigan as Willie Kerry and Saber crossed the fence below them. Willie Kerry's pony was lathered, and the livery bay stood quivering and blowing. Saber stamped to ease the stiffness in his legs, crossed to the fire to pour some coffee for himself. Tired lines rimmed his eyes, and there was a pinched look at the edge of his lips, not due entirely to fatigue. He sloshed the grounds around in the bottom of the cup, and drained the hot liquid without stopping.

"Well," Wes said, "what happened?"

"I've done a foolish thing, perhaps," Saber answered. "We heard a rider heading for the badlands around midnight and followed him. We found the cattle all right, but there was some shooting. 1 shot Lurch."

Lila pulled in her breath sharply, and gave her husband a quick glance. "Bad?" she asked.

"I'm afraid he's dead," Saber answered. "I'm sorry, Wes, but 1 may have started the cattle war you wanted to avoid."

"Well," Wes said finally, "1 guess it had to come sooner or later. But I'm sorry to see it." He turned from the fire, taking Lila by the arm, and they went to their horses. He mounted, then paused, saying: "What I rode out for was to tell you that Edith Bodry is at the ranch house. She wants to see you."

It was like the shock of a bullet to Saber, and he looked quickly at Lila, but her smooth face told him nothing. He dropped his eyes and said-"I'll come in right away."-and turned toward his horse.

Burt Kerry stood and motioned toward his calico. "Fresher," he said, and watched Saber mount and ride off with the Cardigans.

The silence stretched out between the three, long and thin, until Lila said: "it seems strange she would want to see you, doesn't it?"

"No," Saber said quietly. "We met and talked last night."

"Oh," Lila said.

Saber shot her a quick glance. "You think it was unwise ...well, so do I," he said defensively.

"Who can say?" Lila pulled her horse back until she rode close to Saber. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and intense. "Listen to me, John. She has lived in h.e.l.l these last six months. Whatever Bodry's reasons have been for treating her as he does are not important now, but what you intend to do about it is important."

"I've never before broken up a man's home."

Lila said: "I've seen the marks he has left on her. She would never leave him because she made a bargain, and she'll stick to it. But if a man loved her enough, he'd take her away from him, regardless."

Saber's only response was-"1'm sorry."-and he pulled his horse up beside Wes Cardigan's.

Buck Bodry's buckboard was parked by the barn. Edith Bodry paced the front porch in nervous agitation. She stopped as she saw Saber and the others dismount. Lila and Wes Cardigan moved on past her to enter the house. Edith's oval face was drawn as she clutched Saber's arm. She said tensely: "Ernie Stiles knows 1 met you last night. He heard me leave the ranch and followed. He was waiting for me at the far edge of the timber."

Saber drew on his self-control and asked: "What did he say?"

Edith colored as she told him: "He said to tell you to get out of the country before he told Buckley."

"You can't live with a threat hanging over your head."

"1 know Stiles," Edith said. "He can keep a secret just so long.. .and then it will be bunkhouse gossip. You'll have to leave right away, John."

"You leave, Edith. Go away somewhere and I'll come to you as soon as this is over. Bodry won't do anything because I'll have him in jail."

"You're searching for a way out, John," Edith said, "and there isn't any. I've searched before, but the answer is always the same. 1 made a bargain.. .a foolish one, perhaps.. .because 1 lacked the courage to live in discomfort. Whatever happiness I have in my life, there'll always be that to remind me. 1 can't erase it. You can't erase it for me."

Saber's face was severe as he said softly: "All right, Edith I'll leave."

"The compromise is hard for you, isn't it? You aren't accustomed to making them like 1 am."

"How would you know about me?" Saber asked.

"It isn't hard to find out about you, John... you've left a wide path." She smiled. "Men talk and women listen... that's the way it's been since time began... and then they wonder why a woman is sometimes wise."

"1 could go to Bodry...talk to him. He would listen to me."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No, I'm just talking again," Saber said. He glanced at the buckboard and asked: "How did you get away?"

"I said 1 was going to town. Ernie Stiles is with me, waiting at the fork in the road. I can go anywhere as long as Ernie is with me." She drew a deep breath and added: "I suppose this is good bye...it's the best way, believe me."

"1 don't believe you," Saber said.

Saber watched as she left the yard, the wheels churning a long column of dust behind her, then he turned and entered the house. He went to his room and sat numbly on the bed, studying the design of the rug. It was not hard for him to acknowledge the fact that he loved her. It was the disillusionment with himself that rankled. He had thought himself above the petty mistakes that complicate men's lives-he had believed himself able to control his emotions, but now he knew that he had been fooling himself.

The door opened on the heels of a soft knock, and Lila closed it behind her, leaning against it.

"Another impropriety," Saber said wryly. "Wes will probably shoot me for this."

"Don't be silly. Wes knows where my love lies," Lila said. "The point is...do you know where yours is?"

Saber's mouth pulled into a severe line, and he said sharply: "You've read me ever since I arrived. You've called the shots. What will I do next?"

"Leave," Lila said. "If you were less proud, less haughty, you'd stay and finish what you've started."

"That's easy for you to say, isn't it?"

"No," Lila said quietly. "It isn't easy. Nothing in this world is easy. Do you think Buck Bodry will stay blind? Do you think you will ever find food again that won't taste like sawdust, a blanket that will be warm enough, or a sleep that isn't filled with dreams.. .if you leave like this?" Lila opened the door. "You have lived a long time without paying, and now you're finding out what it costs to be human. Edith knows.. .she found that out when she married Bodry." She left him then, closing the door softly behind her.

He waited a moment, then went into the hall and let himself out of the house. He crossed to the corral and found Wes Cardigan watching a colt frisk around the enclosure.

"Lend me a horse, Wes?"

Cardigan said: "Take your pick."

There was a question in Cardigan's eyes, but Saber didn't answer it as he cut out a rangy piebald and threw on a saddle. He adjusted the stirrups to suit him, and mounted heavily.

Cardigan crossed to him and stuck out his hand. "Best of luck, John."

"Mine has run out," Saber said. He lifted the reins as if to move out, then added: "Look after Edith, will you?"

"Stay," Cardigan said, "and look out for her yourself. That's what she wants."

"No," Saber said. "The price is too high." He nudged the horse with his heels and trotted from the yard.

Hondo, as Saber's horse paced the dust of Comanche Street, held the same feeling for him as when he had first seen it. It seemed unchanged. Even the horses looked the same, standing before the hitch rails. He saw Bodry's buckboard before Rutherford's store, the red-headed Stiles making a tall shadow as he leaned against the wall. Saber had every intention of riding past, but something within him gave way, and he felt his anger mounting. He stopped the horse, dismounted, and crossed to the hitch rail.

Ernie Stiles came alert, pus.h.i.+ng himself away from the wall.

Saber placed his hands on the horizontal bar of the rack. "I should have killed you the other day, Stiles. I killed your pal, Lurch, this morning."

Stiles's eyes widened with disbelief.

Saber grinned wickedly. "You're not going to live to tell Buck Bodry anything."

"The h.e.l.l you say!" Stiles yelled. He glanced around him to see what attention his voice had attracted. Three men, lounging in front of Keno Charlie's, were looking, and Edith Bodry appeared in the door of the store.

"You played around with a man's wife, then tried to deny it when I faced you with it."

Edith covered her face with her hands and wheeled back into the store.

Stiles grinned and said: "All right, Saber. I got something to settle with you. You'll stay and face Bodry now because you got pride... and the whole town'll know about you and Edith inside an hour."

Stiles's hand rose to the lapel of his brush jacket, and paused.

Saber said-"I've never killed a man for pleasure before."-and reached for his gun. He drew smoothly but rapidly, c.o.c.king as the gun swung in front of him. He had Stiles beat and knew it. His bullet slammed carelessly into the man's chest. Stiles's gun went off at his feet, sending up a long splinter of wood, and he fell back, clawing at himself.

Boots pounded on the walk as people charged from open doorways. A man shoved his way through the gathering ring and asked: "What's goin' on here? I'm the sheriff of this county!"

Saber slid his badge into view. "1'm a federal officer, and this man was in my custody. He resisted arrest." He felt a momentary shame for hiding behind his badge, and then announced: "This man, in the company of Buckley Bodry, has been engaged in a large-scale rustling activity. I want a warrant issued for Bodry's arrest."

"You got proof?" the sheriff asked bluntly.

"Myself and Willie Kerry uncovered their hide-out on Bodry's property this morning. Jules Lurch was killed. That's all the proof 1 need."

A man detached himself from the gathering crowd, touched the sheriff, and they drew aside, the man whispering and pointing to the dead Stiles. The sheriff gave Saber a narrowed glance and said: "1 don't think I'll issue any warrant."

Saber felt the blood mount in his face. He nodded curtly, and turned to shoulder his way into Rutherford's store. Edith Bodry stood by the dry goods counter, and Saber crossed to her. "1'm sorry," he said, "but it's out now."

"1 heard him yelling," Edith said softly.

"Would it help if I told you that 1 love you too much ever to leave you?"

"That makes anything endurable," Edith said, and turned as Saber took her arm.

He pushed through the crowd roughly, leading her to the buckboard. He crossed to get Cardigan's horse, tied the reins to the rear, and mounted the seat beside her. He clucked to the team, and they wheeled out of town.

They let the silence build up between them, and then she asked: "Where are you taking me?"

"To Cardigan's," Saber said. "Then I'm going to Bodry."

"No!" Edith cried. "He'll be wild. Someone will be sure to ride out from town and tell him. He has Bill Dent by his side always. You won't have a chance with them."

"The man is a rustler.. .a thief. My primary concern is to effect his arrest."

"Of course," Edith said, remembering. She understood suddenly what a sacrifice this was to his pride, what a blow to his self-sufficiency that had always held him above other men, and she smiled sadly.

The Cardigan Ranch loomed in the distance. Edith said: "Before ...1 always hated the silence, but now it pleases me."

Saber nodded. "1 hope always to please you."

He turned into the yard as Lila stepped onto the porch. She stared at them in amazement, then gave him a broad smile.

Saber helped Edith step down, and Lila said to Saber: "I think l like you better."

"For myself," Saber asked, "or my weaknesses?"

"Both," Lila said, and led the way into the house.

Wes frowned slightly as he saw them, and motioned to Saber with his hand. "What made you change your mind?"

"1 don't even know myself," Saber said. "1 killed Stiles in town. Now, I'm going to Bodry's."

"Not alone," Cardigan said grimly. He stepped into the bedroom for his gun.

They rode to the fence line, waved to the Kerry boys, and waited until they came out of the rocks. "I want to make an arrest," Saber said. "Remember that, and we'll try to do it without shooting."

Burt and Willie nodded.

Cardigan brushed his mustache with a forefinger. "That," he said, "might take some doing."

Saber didn't reply, but lifted his reins and led the way across the Leaning Seven range.

They pa.s.sed the grove of trees, and Saber gave it a long study, as if he should find something there that he had missed before. The sun had swung and was now on a downward arc, but still high enough to be hot. Sweat stained Saber's s.h.i.+rt, and he removed his coat, rolling it carefully. Willie Kerry glanced at the upside-down holster, but said nothing. No one spoke until Bodry's ranch house loomed, large and unpainted, before them.

Willie Kerry looked at Saber and asked: "You still mean to do this without shootin'?"