Taggart (1959) (19 page)

Dawn came slowly. At first it was only a suggestion of gray, then an infiltratio
n
of pale yellow, and a fading of stars. Swante Taggart sat hunched in the saddle fo
r
the air was chill, and he watched the eastern light catch the first distant peaks.

Concealed among some trees, he waited and listened. There was little he could d
o
until the light grew, but he might hear something.

He felt edgy and strange, not liking the situation, knowing they should be runnin
g
for Globe and not waiting here. He was not concerned with Shoyer ... the man coul
d
handle his own problems. Adam Stark was something else, for he was a man too goo
d
to waste. Even now he might be a prisoner of th
e
Apaches, or lying dead in a canyon. When the light grew he would make a search.

Taggart's eyes kept turning toward Rockinstraw, now miles away, looking for the firs
t
faint hint of smoke. There was nothing. But by this time, he was sure, somethin
g
was happening over there.

Apaches were cautious, and they had been trapped the day before and would be eve
n
more wary now, so they would enter the canyon with great care. And care meant time
,
and it was time Taggart needed now.

Leaving Miriam alone worried him, although her position was as safe as could be found.

She was not only concealed from sight, but was in an unlikely place for any searche
r
to look. She was much better off than he was himself, for even at this moment h
e
might be under the eyes of an Apache. Or of Shoyer.

But if Shoyer decided to take the rest of the gold, he might well track them dow
n
and find Miriam alone, and such a man if he went lawless would be dangerous far beyon
d
most outlaws.

Red now tinged the sawtoothed edges of the far hills and bled down the sides of peak
s
like glowing lava. Taggart warmed his hands by chafing them and then, rifle in hand
,
he walked his horse out on the trail.

It was a confusion of tracks, mule and horse tracks left from the night before. Workin
g
ahead, he found the place where their own tracks and those of the pack train vanishe
d
on the rocky surface of the shelf, but he could find no others. Going back alon
g
the trail with infinite caution, he searched for any tracks that deviated from th
e
group, and from time to time he paused to search the country around him.

He was jumpy. Time was growing shorter, and he knew the Apaches would soon be o
n
their trail. He rode keyed for action and the horse sensed it. Presently he was bac
k
where they had waited the night before, where the fact that the others were missin
g
had been discovered.

He turned in his saddle and looked toward the mesa where Miriam waited. It was hig
h
against the sky, stark and bare in it
s
treeless outline, and there was no movement there, no sign of trouble or even o
f
life. It stood black against the early morning sky, catching a little of the firs
t
light before the sun's rising.

He rode on, and suddenly saw a place where there was boot-torn ground at the trail'
s
edge. There had been a struggle here, or perhaps a body had been dragged. It wa
s
difficult to tell, and nothing could be seen over the edge, for the cliff bulge
d
out to form an overhang.

Taggart stood still, taking time to look around, feeling nervous as a cat. It ha
d
been a long time since he had been so edgy, so aware of danger. He touched his dr
y
lips with his tongue and longed for a smoke, but even that was a danger.

Now he must find a way down that declivity. Unless he was very wrong, Adam Stark
,
alive or dead, lay at the bottom of it. From the height of the cliff-eighty fee
t
or more-Taggart had few hopes, for no man could have fallen down there onto the jagge
d
rocks below and lived.

He turned his horse and began the search for a trail.

On top of the mesa, Miriam moved among the mules, talking to them, touching them.

It was too cold to sit still, and it would be some time before the sun warmed thi
s
chill basin. The flat top of the mesa was mostly covered by a thin soil, but aroun
d
the pool it was only rock, a blue-black basaltic rock as cold as iron.

The mules and horses, after their march of the previous night, were content to drowse.

Leaving them, rifle in hand, Miriam climbed to the rim of the little basin unti
l
she could see over the edge of the mesa.

Nothing. Far off, the eastern sky was a pale lemon touched with scarlet.

Looking off into the morning, she knew she was in love and that she had never love
d
until now. So little had passed between them, so few words had been said, so littl
e
had been done. For such a bold man, Taggart seemed almost shy, and hesitated to s
o
much as touch her, yet she knew what ther
e
was in him, and what was within herself. And now he was down there, away from he
r
and in danger, searching the canyons.

Her own hiding place had been well chosen, for it seemed as if the flat top of th
e
mesa would offer no shelter whatsoever, as unlikely a place as one could find. Nevertheless
,
there was no safe place short of Globe, and she had little faith in anything bu
t
a temporary security here.

Sunrise came suddenly. The sky was clear, the mountains lost their shadows, and the
y
stood in pinks and reds, and the green of forest. Over her the sky stretched vas
t
and lonely, incredibly enormous, incredibly blue. From below there was no sound a
t
all. It was as though she were alone in the universe, as though no one lived bu
t
herself.

She was hungry, but she dared not build a fire, even if fuel had been available
,
and there was nothing here, not a stick nor a cow chip. Near the lip of the roc
k
basin some grass grew, and Miriam pulled some of it for the mules. When she had a
n
armful she dropped it before them. She went back for more without venturing beyon
d
the basin itself and this kept her occupied until the sun was well over the horizon.

She succeeded in finding grass and sage enough to give all the stock a few mouthfuls.

For a long time she watched over the rim of the basin but saw nothing. No smoke
,
no dust of riders, simply nothing at all. She still had the feeling that she migh
t
be alone in the world.

And then, just short of noon, she saw a thin column of dust, which appeared abov
e
the trail in the direction from which they had come. Engrossed, she did not hea
r
the slow movement behind her until too late. When she turned she looked into Pet
e
Shoyer's gun muzzle.

"I never killed a woman," he said, "but the gold on those mules would make it might
y
easy. Now you make trouble and I'll do just that."

He looked about. "Where's Taggart?"

"He's around." Miriam looked past Shoyer at Consuelo. "I didn't think it of you
,
Connie."

Consuelo's face was sullen. "I want to go away. I want to live. He will take me away."

"But not fast enough, I think." Then to Shoyer, "Why didn't you take what you ha
d
and keep going? Why must you come back for the rest of it?"

Shoyer was gathering up the tie-ropes of the mules. "Might as well go the whole hog,"
h
e said calmly. "If a man goes this route it should pay off."

"Now they'll be hunting you for the reward," Miriam replied. He paused an instant
,
as if the idea had not occurred to him before. "They'll never know," he said then.

"They don't know you folks are out here. They wouldn't believe you had this muc
h
gold. There's nobody to know."

"I'm here."

He looked at her. "I've been thinking of that."

"And there's Taggart as well as Adam. And there's Connie." "Adam is out of it, an
d
Taggart will be. As for Connie, she's with me."

Miriam looked at Consuelo. "Did you let him kill Adam? Did you?"

"He did not kill him. Adam fall. He backed up when Pete came for him, and he fel
l
off the edge of the cliff."

"However it happened," Miriam replied coolly, "you and Shoyer are responsible. Yo
u
are not only thieves, you are murderers."

Pete Shoyer chuckled, but it was without humor. "Names don't hurt me. We'll be sittin
g
in the Palace Hotel in 'Frisco living off the fat of the land. You call us what yo
u
will."

"He was good to you, Connie. Adam never hurt anyone who didn't ask for it. Like you
r
friend Tom Sanifer."

Consuelo's head came up. "What you mean? Adam was 'fraid of Tom Sanifer."

"He was not, and it's time you knew it. Adam never liked men who bragged in fron
t
of women, or quarreled before them. He went down to the saloon in Bowie and calle
d
Sanifer, and Tom Sanifer was yellow. He would not fight."

"That's a lie!" Consuelo was staring at her. "It is not true!"

"It is, though. And then Tom Sanifer waited outside behind some barrels to kill Adam.

Only he missed and Adam didn't. Tom Sanifer did not come back because he could not.

He was dead."

"I do not believe that."

"Taggart knew it. He knew it all the time. He told me." "It is a lie," Consuelo insiste
d
stubbornly.

Miriam turned on Shoyer. "Tell her," she said. "You've heard of that fight."

"Sanifer was a loud-mouth," Shoyer agreed. "He had no sand. Nothing to him but flas
h
... anybody could have killed him."

Consuelo was shaken but still stubborn. "I do not believe it," she said again.

Miriam searched her mind for something she could do to keep them here. "Taggart wil
l
come," she said, "and wherever you go he will follow."

"We ain't going any place," Shoyer said, "until we're sure. I've an idea your Taggar
t
is going to be mighty glad he's free. He'll get out of the country while the gettin
g
is good. Him and me, we had an understanding to that effect."

Miriam turned away sharply. Not for a minute did she believe in that understanding
,
yet if Shoyer was going to remain, then she must try to warn Swante Taggart befor
e
he returned.

How long had he been gone? It was only when she realized the hour that she was reall
y
worried. He had left well before daylight ... it must have been about three or
a
little later. And it was now past noon. Where could he be?

And then she 'remembered the dust cloud, forgotten in the sudden arrival of Shoye
r
and Consuelo. There was no dust cloud now.

"What about the Apaches?" she asked Shoyer.

He considered the question and then said, "Taggart picked a good place, and I don'
t
believe they'll find us here. We'll stay out the day and take off from here jus
t
after nightfall. At daybreak we'll be in Globe."

There was time then ... time for Swante to return. Mayb
e
he had found Adam. She could not believe Adam was dead, and would not believe i
t
until she had seen his body.

Shoyer had taken her rifle, and there was nothing she could do but wait until Taggar
t
returned and hope to find some way to warn him. It must be some way that Shoyer woul
d
not expect ... but what?