The Border Empire (34 page)

“You sweep the kitchen floor and I will mop,” Tamara replied softly. “Then we each will take brooms and sweep the rest of the house.”

They saw Sandlin only once more during the day, and again were met with brooding silence. While there was water in the kitchen, they had been offered no food, and dared not look for any. They were listening eagerly for the rattle of the wagon, and when at last it approached, they left the house.

“Damn,” said Renita, “I never worked so hard in my life.”

“Nor I,” Tamara said, “but we dared not give Sandlin a reason to suspect us.”

“If that really
was
Sandlin,” said Renita.

“I am not impressed,” Tamara said. “For an outlaw, leader of the evil empire, I was expecting ... something more.”

They climbed into the wagon without looking back at the house. The old Mexican said something to the mule, and the wagon lurched into motion. They would have to wait until after dark before returning to Anna Marie's. Wes and El Lobo arrived for supper, to find that Tamara and Renita had not returned.

“Tarnation,” Wes said, “I hope nothin' went wrong.”

They all breathed sighs of relief when at last they heard the wagon coming.

“Madre de Dios,”
said Anna Marie, when at last Tamara and Renita entered. “We were fearful—”

“Nothing much happened,” Renita said, “except we worked our behinds off. That, and this damn Colt has rubbed the inside of my left thigh raw.”

“What about Sandlin?” Wes asked impatiently.

“If it
was
Sandlin,” said Tamara; “we saw him twice. Neither time did he speak.”

“No
señorita?”
El Lobo asked.

“We saw no one except the
hombre
who's supposed to be Sandlin,” said Tamara.

“Why you think this
hombre
not be Sandlin?” El Lobo asked.

“I do not know why we have our doubts,” said Tamara.

“I think I do,” Renita said. “I just remembered something that took a while to sink in. This ... this Sandlin is just too pat, too slick, and no razor's ever touched those cheeks or that chin.”

“That,” said Tamara, “and this
hombre
is terribly short. Never have I seen boots with three-inch heels.”

“Mejicanos
be short,” El Lobo observed.

“This
hombre
does not have
Mejicano
coloring or features,” said Tamara.

“Maybe Spanish or South American, then,” Wes said.

“I do not think so,” said Tamara. “We have not heard the voice. But perhaps the next time we shall.”

“Next time,” Renita said, “we'll try harder to learn something about the house. There is what might be a door to a basement, and there were several rooms with doors locked.”

“These rooms with locked doors are all on the second floor,” said Tamara. “Perhaps one of us can watch near the head of the stairs while the other investigates.”

“How old this Sandlin be?” El Lobo asked.

“I don't know,” said Renita.

“Very young,” Tamara said. “Much younger than I had expected.”

“For the first time,” said Wes, “I'm startin' to wonder if Sandlin is the leader of this gang.”

“If not,” Renita said, “then who is?”

“I don't know,” said Wes, “but why would the leader of a band of outlaws allow himself to be whip-sawed into a situation like this? We believe there is a clipper ship waiting in Tampico bay, but Sandlin—if this is Sandlin—has made no move in that direction. If we are thinkin' straight, then Sandlin has a fortune stashed somewhere. If it's not in the house, it must be, all or part, on the ship, and somebody's responsible for moving that ship. This has all the earmarks of a double-cross, if Sandlin's countin' on that ship.”

“Madre mía,”
El Lobo said, “if Sandlin does not escape to the ship, why we watch the house?”

“Tamara,” said Wes, “are you
sure
there is such a ship?”

“My grandfather was sure,” Tamara said angrily, “and I believed him.”

“Tamara,” said Renita consolingly, “we're not doubting there is a ship. I think what we're trying to discover is where the ship fits into all this. Could it be that Sandlin has purposely used these rumors about the ship, while planning to escape some other way?”

“That's what I was gettin' at, Tamara,” Wes said, “but my choice of words was poor. Every day we've watched Sandlin's mansion, there's been a man in Mexican garb lazing up against a cantina, watching the house. El Lobo and me believe that's the doing of Sandlin's gang, that their thinking has been runnin' neck-and-neck with ours. They're expecting Sandlin to try and slip off to Tampico, to that waiting ship. I won't be surprised if Sandlin has seen to it that they know of the ship. Trouble is, they've run headlong into the same stone wall that we have. Like us, they believe Sandlin has a pile of gold that must be taken to Tampico. But suppose there's only a small part of Sandlin's loot on that ship.”

“That does not mean it is in Sandlin's mansion,” said Tamara. “I had heard of the ship more than three years ago. Sandlin's spoils could have been taken to another port, a little at a time.”

“Sandlin could have moved only enough gold to keep the rumor alive,” Wes said. “The crew taking that ship to another port would need a reason not to just take Sandlin's loot and disappear. They've likely been expecting Sandlin to run, bringin' along the rest of the loot. At the right time, a well-placed slug could do away with Sandlin, and the body could be thrown overboard.”

“But if Sandlin avoids the ship,” said Renita, “all the gold that's been removed by the ship's crew will be taken by them. Like you said, a double-cross.”

“A double-cross Sandlin may have expected and counted on,” Wes said. “Suppose the Mexican government isn't as stupid as they sometimes appear, and that they know of this Sandlin ship in Tampico bay. All they'd have to do is board the ship, confiscate the loot, and tell the Mexican people the Sandlin gang is no more. For proof, they'd have the ship and its small store of outlaw gold. Sandlin would then be free to escape Mexico at some future time, when his gang has disbanded and ridden away, when the soldiers are satisfied the outlaw threat is no more.”

“Madre de Dios,”
cried Tamara. “If what you say is true, Sandlin could wait months or years before making a move. If indeed the Mexican government takes the ship and some of the outlaw gold, they will have no more interest in the Sandlin gang. We waste our time waiting for Sandlin to run. I will take my
pistola
and shoot the
bastardo
through the head when next I see him.”

“It might come to that,” Wes said, “but let's not be hasty. Like you and Renita have pointed out, we don't really
know
the person in the house is actually Sandlin. We'll go on watching the place until you and Renita spend one more day there. You must, if possible, learn for a certainty that it really is Sandlin in the house.”

“We shoot Sandlin, the
soldados
come after us,” said El Lobo.

“Not necessarily,” Wes said. “That's why we'll go on watching the house for a little longer. If we're right about the ship and it's seized by the Mexican government, they'll be satisfied the Sandlin outlaws are finished.”

“They not give a damn if we shoot Sandlin,” said El Lobo.

“That's how I see it,” Wes said. “They won't be in a hurry to reopen old wounds by reminding all of Mexico that they never actually went after the leader of the outlaws.”

“They can't come after us without giving us credit for exposing the Sandlin gang,” said Renita. “You and El Lobo didn't kill your soldier escort, and those two prison guards were molesting Tamara and me. We only protected our honor.”

El Lobo tried not to laugh, but it was a lost cause. Wes joined in, and they slapped their thighs with their hats. The silent José and Anna Marie were torn between the mirth of Wes and El Lobo and the angry, hurt looks on the faces of Tamara and Renita. Empty growled suddenly, loud enough for them to hear him outside. Wes and El Lobo had their hands near the butts of their Colts when Juan spoke. Anna Marie unlocked the door and the old Mexican entered. Obviously, he wondered what they had accomplished, and Tamara quickly told him, adding that they must visit the Sandlin mansion one more time. But Juan had a message, and it wasn't good news. He spoke rapidly in Spanish, and when he had finished, Tamara translated.

“Juan says the Señor Sandlin has sent word to Juan's kin that the
señoritas
are not to come to the house again.”

“Damn,” said Renita, “he saw through us. I didn't think we were all that bad.”

While Juan may not have understood the words, he sensed the indignation, and again he spoke to Tamara in rapid Spanish.

“Juan doesn't believe Sandlin was suspicious of us,” Tamara said. “Sandlin doesn't just not want us, he doesn't want
any señoritas.”

“That tells us something,” said Wes. “Sandlin's about to make some kind of move. We must get back into that house.”

“Then we must wait for Sandlin to leave,” Renita said.

“Perhaps there is a secret entrance to the house,” said Tamara. “What of the
señorita
who left the house and returned there? We saw no sign of her.”

“If there is a secret entrance,” Renita said, “why did the mysterious
señorita
not use it when leaving and returning?”

“Maybe two reasons,” said Wes. “First, to anyone watching, it appears there is at least one other in the house besides Sandlin. Second, any other means of entering or leaving the house may have been devised for use just once, when Sandlin makes a run for it.”

“We waste time watching the Sandlin house,” Tamara said.

“Maybe,” said Wes, “but I don't aim to leave Mexico until I know Sandlin's dead.”

“Sí,”
El Lobo said. “We wait.”

“At least,” said Renita, “the next time someone leaves the house, I believe one or both of you should follow.”

“Sí,”
Tamara said.

For an instant, in Tamara's dark eyes, Renita observed something that Wes and El Lobo did not. Tamara had something in mind that she wasn't quite ready to share, for she had found and had taken a key from a drawer in the Sandlin mansion.

 

After days of watching the Sandlin mansion without result, Sandlin's former disciples were ready to give it up. Then a story appeared in Mexico City's weekly newspaper that changed everything. Jarvis discovered it first and immediately called together his companions.

“There was a ship anchored in Tampico bay,” Jarvis said, pointing to the front-page story in the newspaper. “The captain and the crew was gettin' ready to sail when the Mexican government moved in and seized the ship. The military's crowin' its fool head off, claimin' to have struck the Sandlin gang a death blow.”

“By God,” said Canton, “that means we get nothin'. Not three months from now, not ever. How could Sandlin have been so damn careless?”

“Maybe he wasn't,” Zouka said, looking at the newspaper Jarvis had passed among them. “You think if all Sandlin's loot was on that ship, somethin' wouldn't of been said about how much gold there was?”

“You may have somethin' there,” said Jarvis. “I figure the Mex government will play this up for all it's worth so they can get shut of this Sandlin affair once and for all. It is mighty strange they didn't say anything about the recovered loot. Makes you wonder if there wasn't all that much, and they're makin' the most of the recovery without saying how much was recovered.”

“Jarvis,” Klady said, “this just kills that order Sandlin give you about us keepin' shy of that house. He owes every man of us, and he knows damn well we're countin' on what's ours. Now, by God, we're bein' told the Mex government's took it all. If I got to go by myself, I'm shovin' this newspaper in Sandlin's face and demanding an accounting.”

“Hell, you won't be by yourself,” said Tafolla. “I'm goin', too.”

Jarvis, who normally might have tried to restrain them, did not, for their cause was his own. He had but one thing to say.

“Let's wait till sundown, when it's almost dark. Call attention to Sandlin, and we draw attention to ourselves. It's as much to our advantage as to his, havin' everybody believe the Sandlin gang is no more.”

“Yeah,” said Wittrus, “you're right. Now, if we got to gut-shoot the bastard, nobody will miss him.”

The newspaper story has been widely read, and Juan wasted no time in taking a copy of the paper to Anna Marie's.

“Por Dios,”
Tamara said, “this is much like Wes believed it might be. They take the ship, but they do not say how much gold there is.”

“Just enough for the military to boast they've taken Sandlin's ship and his gold,” said Renita.

Juan rattled off some rapid Spanish, and Tamara translated.

“Juan agrees,” Tamara said. “He believes the ship is a decoy, that there is just enough gold to allow the
soldados
to boast of having destroyed the outlaw gang
”

“Ask him to take this newspaper to the stable, to Wes and El Lobo,” said Renita. “It's important that they know, in case something happens at the Sandlin house.”

Quickly Tamara spoke to Juan, and he nodded. Taking the newspaper, he headed for the stable. Empty growled, and through a crack in the wall of the loft, Wes and El Lobo could see Juan coming. They soon descended the ladder and were waiting when the old one entered the barn. Wordlessly, he passed the newspaper to Wes, while El Lobo looked over his shoulder.