Slip Gun (27 page)

While Jeffreys had been
completing his observations, Lily had joined him. Although every
movement had been agony and she presented a
disheveled appearance due to rolling
on a dirty floor, she pressed her right shoulder against the wall
and let out a low hiss as she identified the newcomer.

‘
It’s
that soft-shell law-wrangler, Yorck,’ Lily growled. ‘He’s the
bastard who set me up for this. I was going home and he called to
mc. Like a fool, I stood with my back to the alley by the end of
the Bull. Next thing I knew, a flour sack was over my head and I
couldn’t do a blasted thing.’

‘
He
looks like something’s put a burr in his britches,’ Jeffreys
commented.

‘
Or
somebody,’ the blonde corrected.

‘
Did
you get them?’ Wymar asked, appearing from beyond the end of the
building and striding to meet the lawyer.

‘
No,’
Yorck replied. ‘Smith refused to give them to me.’

‘
You
weren’t followed here?’ the younger man demanded.

‘
Do you
think I’m a fool?’ the lawyer snorted and dismounted. ‘Hold your
voice down, damn it.’

‘
What’s
wrong?’ Wymar said, in a softer tone.

‘
Smith
says he’ll kill the Jones brothers if we don’t turn Jeffreys and
the saloon-woman loose.’

Although the speakers had
moderated their tones, the words carried to Lily
’s and Jeffreys’ ears. They
looked at each other briefly and in a startled manner. Neither of
them had expected Smith to yield to the soft-shells’ demands, but
would never have expected him to take such a line of
refusal.

Dropping their voices to a level
which did not carry to the listeners, Yorck and Wymar adopted a
conspiratorial air as they continued the conversation. Throwing
glances at the front of the cabin, but not to where their prisoners
watched them, they argued briefly. Studying the pair, Jeffreys
decided that Yorck
’s proposals did not meet with Wymar’s approval. Then the
young soft-shell seemed to give way and accept. Pointing to the
building, Wymar returned the way he had come and the lawyer
followed leading his horse.

‘
You’ve
got to hand it to Wax Smith,’ Lily said quietly. ‘He says and does
the damnedest things.’

‘
Sure,’
Jeffreys agreed. ‘Only we’d best get sat down and not let them know
we’ve been listening. They’ll be coming for us soon, unless I miss
my guess.’

Turning their backs to the wall,
Lily and Jeffreys shuffled down into a sitting position. They had
hardly done so before the door opened and the two soft-shells
entered. Taking a jack-knife from his pocket, Landers cut the bonds
holding the prisoners
’ ankles.

‘
Get
up,’ Wymar ordered.

‘
You’ll
have to help me,’ Lily replied.

‘
Do
it,’ Wymar told his companion, pulling a Smith & Wesson New
Model .32 revolver from his jacket pocket. If they try anything,
I’ll kill them.’

Putting away his knife, Landers
helped the blonde to rise. When his turn came to be assisted,
Jeffreys fought down his inclination to use his knee in the
appropriate place on his helper. While he felt sure he could
incapacitate Landers, Wymar held a revolver. Only a .32
caliber, maybe, but
lethal enough at close range. And even if he succeeded in subduing
the two young soft-shells, the sound of the disturbance would bring
Yorck and Evan Jones to investigate.

No. The time for resistance had not yet
come. So Jeffreys allowed himself to be shoved through the door
after Lily.

They entered what had been the
main living-room of the cabin. Now its only furnishings were three
open
bedrolls—on the centre of them lay Evan Jones’ Ballard
rifle—at the left of the room and two more on the right. Jones
stood with Yorck in the centre of the room and looked at the
prisoners in a calculating manner.

Tour friend, the marshal,
isn
’t such a
good friend after all,’ the lawyer announced, standing with his
right hand hidden beneath the left side of his jacket. ‘He won’t
trade your lives for Mr. Jones’ brothers.’

‘
So I’m
going to help him change his mind,’ Evan Jones went on.

‘
You
mean the Counselor hasn’t told you the truth?’ Jeffreys
inquired.

‘
What’d
that be?’ Jones asked.

‘
Waxahachie Smith’s going to shoot your brothers if we’re
not set free,’ Jeffreys explained. ‘Look at Yorck’s face if you
think I’m lying.’

Jones swung his gaze in the
lawyer
’s
direction, seeing shock and anger that he interpreted as an
admission that Jeffreys had told the truth. Realizing that he had
confirmed the young farmer’s suspicions, Yorck tried to turn aside
the storm of protests which he knew would be
forthcoming.

‘
Smith’s bluffing!’ the lawyer said, backing towards the
door.

‘
Believe me, Evan,’ Jeffreys injected. ‘Wax Smith doesn’t
bluff unless he’s ready to back his play if he gets called. Unless
we’re set free, your brothers—’

‘
Shut
up!’ Wymar screeched, leaping in front of the speaker and
brandishing his revolver. ‘I’ll kill you if you say another
word.’

Watching the soft-shell, Lily
knew that he meant what he said. Deprived of the
marijuana
on which he had come
to depend, Wymar was in a state of hysterical rage that might
easily burst. For all that, the blonde did not hesitate to draw his
attention from Wil’s brother.

‘
And
that’ll get Virgil and Morgan killed for sure, Evan,’ Lily warned.
‘Don’t forget that they were captured so you could
escape.’

‘
Quiet!’ Wymar howled, swinging the revolver from Jeffreys
to Lily. ‘I’m going to—’

Whatever path young Jeffreys
might have been following since his return to
Widow
’s
Creek, he showed that he could play the man when the need arose.
Stepping swiftly behind Wymar, he pivoted and lashed his right leg
around. In college, he had taken an interest in various forms of
self-defense and put his training to good use. The toe of his boot
took the soft-shell in the kidney region with considerable force.
With a croaking yell of agony, Wymar arched his back. Instead of
carrying out his threat against Lily, he dropped his Smith &
Wesson, stumbled by her and fell sobbing near the wall.

Landers let out a squawk of alarm and bent
to grab for the revolver. Jumping at him, Jones crashed a fist
against the back of his neck. Down went Landers, collapsing like a
rabbit with its spinal column broken, to land on top of the weapon.
Seeing that he could not gain possession of the Smith & Wesson,
Jones turned to run to where his Ballard rifle lay on his
bed-roll.

‘
Look
out!’ Lily yelled, springing so that she placed herself between
Jeffreys and the lawyer.

Giving their attention to the
soft-shells, Jeffreys and Jones had failed to keep Yorck under
observation. The lawyer brought his right hand into view, holding a
short-
barreled Merwin & Hulbert Army Pocket revolver. Even as
Lily gave her warning, he cocked, lined and fired it.

Not at Jeffreys, but making
Jones his target. Struck between
the shoulders with the .45 bullet, the
young farmer blundered into the wall and slid downwards.

‘
Get
back!’ Yorck snarled as Jeffreys lunged by Lily. Reaching behind
him, the lawyer drew open the door and backed through it. ‘This
couldn’t have worked out better for me.’

‘
How
come?’ Jeffreys asked, playing for time as he skidded to a
halt.

‘
When
they find you bunch dead, there’ll be no stopping the war that’ll
blow up between the ranchers and farmers,’ Yorck
explained.

‘
Those
two as well as Jones, Lily and me?’

‘
All of
you. If the Grange try to keep the peace, their own people will
turn against them and to us.’

‘
That’s
not why you’ll kill us,’ Jeffreys challenged. ‘You’re doing it so
there’ll be no witnesses.’

‘
That’s
true,’ the lawyer confessed. ‘I’ll go back with the tragic news
that you’d been killed by Wymar, Jones and Landers in their drugged
rage. Then Smith will shoot the other two and the Free Land Society
will have its martyrs. By the time we’re through, the Grange will
be a thing of the—’

Chopping off his words, Yorck
tried to follow Jeffreys with the short barrel of his revolver.
Waiting until the lawyer had got into his full flow of rhetoric,
the young man flung himself away from Lily. Jeffreys heard the
Merwin & Hulbert crack and the sound of its bullet whizzing by
his head. Then he tried to reach the lawyer before the other could
re-cock the revolver. Showing surprising speed,
Yorck
’ leapt
back and slammed the door.

‘
It’s
no good, Jeffreys!’ he yelled. ‘I can get you from the
windows.’

The sound of running footsteps
caused Yorck to swing around. Carrying his
kukri,
Poona Woodstole came from the trees and,
with Zoltan Bilak at his side, made for the lawyer. Spluttering out
curses, Yorck tried to swing around his revolver. Whipping back his
right hand, Woodstole threw the
kukri
on the move. Hissing through the air, its heavy
blade passed between Yorck’s ribs and sank into the vital organs
beyond them.

Halfway to the door, Jeffreys
saw it opening slowly. Yorck staggered back into the room. Falling
face upwards, he lay with
the fancy black hilt of the
kukri
rising from his chest. Having drawn
his revolver, Woodstole hurdled the body. Also gripping a Colt,
Bilak followed the Englishman. They arrived ready for trouble, but
met none. Sprawled on his bed-roll, Jones was dead. Landers groaned
his way back to consciousness. Whimpering in fright and pain, Wymar
crouched on the floor and stared around him.

‘
Are
you all right, Lily?’ Woodstole inquired, holstering his
Colt.

‘
Sure,’
answered the pallid-faced girl.

‘
How
about you, Stan?’ the Englishman went on.

‘
He
didn’t hit me,’ Jeffreys replied. ‘But I’m near on scared to
death.’

‘
Don’t
you believe
that,’
Lily protested. ‘Wax Smith couldn’t’ve handled things any
better. Say. How’d you boys come to be here just when we needed
you?’

‘
We got
together, without telling anybody, as soon as we heard what had
happened,’ Woodstole explained. ‘Gave some thought to where they
might have taken you and came to take a look.’

‘
Where’s Charlie?’ the blonde inquired.

‘
He’s
with Mr. Cushman—’ Woodstole began.

‘
That
high-up Grange feller?’ Lily gasped.

‘
Yes,’
Bilak grinned, having leathered his revolver and stepped behind her
to free her hands. ‘It turns out that they both served in Hood’s
Brigade during the War and they’re getting on like a house on fire.
They’re checking on another deserted farm right now.’

Searching the unprotesting
soft-shells, Woodstole found the key for the handcuffs and released
Jeffreys. The young man made use of them to secure Wymar to
Landers. Waiting until Woodstole had retrieved the
kukri,
Jeffreys escorted
the soft-shells from the building and made them sit with their
backs to the wall. Lily and Bilak had already come out.

‘
Hey,
fellers,’ the blonde said. ‘These unsociable bastards didn’t know
how to treat a lady. I’m hungry. Shall we see if they’ve anything
to eat, or head for town and get a decent meal?’

‘
I’m
for going back to town,’ Woodstole stated.

‘
From
what we heard Yorck telling this feller,’ Jeffreys went on,
indicating Wymar, ‘I’d say we should get back as fast as we can. If
we don’t, the Joneses are going to wish we had.’

‘
Took
after this pair, Stan,’ Bilak suggested. ‘We’ll pick up our
horses.’

‘
If you
need a gun—’ Woodstole offered.

‘
Unless
they left it in town, my own’s here some place,’ Jeffreys answered
and glared at the soft-shells. ‘Where is it?’

‘
In my
bed-roll,’ Landers yelped. ‘This wasn’t my idea—’

‘
I hope
the judge agrees with you,’ Jeffreys sniffed and entered the cabin
to return strapping on his gunbelt. He checked the revolver’s loads
and continued, ‘I reckon I can handle things now.’