[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
been on the dodge too many times myself to ignore such a place. If she turned
off between those buttes the sheepherders would have their view of her cut off
until they passed the buttes, and by that time she could be under cover. They
would not know which way she had gone.
On the far side of the buttes I suddenly came on several horse tracks, one of
which I recognized. Yet I had gone on half a mile farther before I found more.
She was using every bit of soft sand or hard rock she could find, and she left
practically no signs.
Now the thing to figure was where she would be going. Cimarron was closest;
if she bypassed that she could go through the mountains and turn north to
Elizabethtown, or ride on to Taos. Each mile of this would be dangerous, but
she had nerve, and evidently she had a plan. It was my hunch she would skip
Cimarron.
Well now, here was a girl out of the East who was making fools out of the lot
of us. One young girl, all alone, with four horses and three hundred pounds in
gold, cutting across wild country toward ... where?
Page 76
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Her trail was plain enough, so I lifted the dun into a canter and followed as
rapidly as possible. She was hours ahead of me when she crossed the Canadian,
but she was moving her pack horses too fast. Carrying a dead weight such as
gold was harder than carrying a rider.
We were riding in cattle country now, and sooner or later she was sure to
come up with some cowhands. Sure enough, she had, and did the smart thing. She
swapped her horses for three fresh and better ones. But before she did the
swapping she left her gold cached out in the hills.
She'd been gone less than an hour when I came into their camp. Right off, I
noticed her horses in the remuda. They were beat, for they'd been ridden hard,
and she had been smart to trade them off.
Me, I asked no questions at all. Like always, they invited me to set and eat,
and whilst eating I made a swap for my dun. I was in no mind to let the dun
go, and told them so, and they let me have a fresh horse that I could swap
back for the dun at any time, they said. And that I meant to do.
"Ridin' far?" one of them asked,
I shrugged. "Yeah. Headin' to Mora to visit kinfolk. Name of Sackett."
"Heard of them." They looked at me with interest, for Tyrel and Orrin were
known men in New Mexico.
The last thing I wanted those cowhands to know was that I was following
Penelope Hume. They'd never tell me anything if they knew, for they'd all be
on the side of a pretty girl, for which I'd not blame them.
"Seen a party of men north of here," I volunteered. "Look to be huntin'
somebody."
The horse they traded me was a short-coupled black with some Morgan blood,
and a good horse by any man's standards. Riding out of their camp, I came upon
the place where she had left the gold hidden while making her horse trade. She
had loaded up, pack saddles and gold, and lit out as if the heel-flies were
after her. Likely knowing she'd lost time, she wanted to get on with it.
Now I thought of Fort Union ... she was headed for Fort Union. There were
soldiers there, and she would be safe. The difficulty was that there would be
a lot of questions asked about a young girl traveling across the country with
all that gold.
But her tracks led right by the Fort, and by then I was actually within sight
of her from time to time. I had no idea whether she had seen me, but if she
had she knew she was headed for a showdown. I still wanted to know who had
killed Harry Mims shot in the back, at close range. Of the lone rider I had
seen nothing in all this time. Nor had I seen anything of the others.
Suddenly I knew exactly where she was going. She was headed for Loma Parda.
The little town on the Mora Biver was rough and bloody, a resort for the
soldiers at Fort Union, and for any number of drifters, male and female. They
knew me at Loma Parda, but for her to ride into Loma with gold was like a lamb
going to visit a lot of hungry wolves.
15
When she reached the town I was no more than four or five miles behind her,
Page 77
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
but there was simply nothing I could do. By the time I got to the town her
horses were turned into a corral and Penelope had disappeared. It seemed the
last person she wanted to see was me.
Avoiding the saloon, where I knew Penelope would not be, I went to a Mexican
eating place down the street from Baca's. It was an off hour, and they were
glad to see me. They knew me there, and the woman who came to wait on table
shook her head when she saw me and said, "Senor Nolan, what do you do to
yourself? You are tired!"
Glancing around, I saw myself in the mirror, a big, rough, bearded man who
needed a shave, a bath, a haircut, and new clothes. He also needed about three
nights of sleep.
"Senora," I said, "have you seen a girl a girl with several horses?"
"Ah? It is a girl now?Si , I see her. She rode in today, only a little while
ago."
"Where is she? Where did she go?"
"Go? Where did she go?"
"Go? Where can you go in Loma Parda? She did not go, she is here."
"Where?"
The senora shrugged. "Here ... somewhere. How should I know?"
From where I sat I could look down the street and see anyone who moved, so I
ordered a meal and stayed there, eating and drinking coffee and trying to stay
awake.
There was not much out there in the street at this hour. In a little while
the town would wake up, the soldiers would come in in one of the rigs that
carried them over from the Fort, or they would hike, as many preferred to do.
The town would be wide open. It was a town where killing was the order of the
day, where the idea of gold would set the place afire. And somewhere in the
town was Penelope, and three hundred pounds of gold.
Where did I fit in, anyway? I had given her a chance to get away, given Mims
the same chance; but he was dead, murdered. And Penelope had not wasted any [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
been on the dodge too many times myself to ignore such a place. If she turned
off between those buttes the sheepherders would have their view of her cut off
until they passed the buttes, and by that time she could be under cover. They
would not know which way she had gone.
On the far side of the buttes I suddenly came on several horse tracks, one of
which I recognized. Yet I had gone on half a mile farther before I found more.
She was using every bit of soft sand or hard rock she could find, and she left
practically no signs.
Now the thing to figure was where she would be going. Cimarron was closest;
if she bypassed that she could go through the mountains and turn north to
Elizabethtown, or ride on to Taos. Each mile of this would be dangerous, but
she had nerve, and evidently she had a plan. It was my hunch she would skip
Cimarron.
Well now, here was a girl out of the East who was making fools out of the lot
of us. One young girl, all alone, with four horses and three hundred pounds in
gold, cutting across wild country toward ... where?
Page 76
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Her trail was plain enough, so I lifted the dun into a canter and followed as
rapidly as possible. She was hours ahead of me when she crossed the Canadian,
but she was moving her pack horses too fast. Carrying a dead weight such as
gold was harder than carrying a rider.
We were riding in cattle country now, and sooner or later she was sure to
come up with some cowhands. Sure enough, she had, and did the smart thing. She
swapped her horses for three fresh and better ones. But before she did the
swapping she left her gold cached out in the hills.
She'd been gone less than an hour when I came into their camp. Right off, I
noticed her horses in the remuda. They were beat, for they'd been ridden hard,
and she had been smart to trade them off.
Me, I asked no questions at all. Like always, they invited me to set and eat,
and whilst eating I made a swap for my dun. I was in no mind to let the dun
go, and told them so, and they let me have a fresh horse that I could swap
back for the dun at any time, they said. And that I meant to do.
"Ridin' far?" one of them asked,
I shrugged. "Yeah. Headin' to Mora to visit kinfolk. Name of Sackett."
"Heard of them." They looked at me with interest, for Tyrel and Orrin were
known men in New Mexico.
The last thing I wanted those cowhands to know was that I was following
Penelope Hume. They'd never tell me anything if they knew, for they'd all be
on the side of a pretty girl, for which I'd not blame them.
"Seen a party of men north of here," I volunteered. "Look to be huntin'
somebody."
The horse they traded me was a short-coupled black with some Morgan blood,
and a good horse by any man's standards. Riding out of their camp, I came upon
the place where she had left the gold hidden while making her horse trade. She
had loaded up, pack saddles and gold, and lit out as if the heel-flies were
after her. Likely knowing she'd lost time, she wanted to get on with it.
Now I thought of Fort Union ... she was headed for Fort Union. There were
soldiers there, and she would be safe. The difficulty was that there would be
a lot of questions asked about a young girl traveling across the country with
all that gold.
But her tracks led right by the Fort, and by then I was actually within sight
of her from time to time. I had no idea whether she had seen me, but if she
had she knew she was headed for a showdown. I still wanted to know who had
killed Harry Mims shot in the back, at close range. Of the lone rider I had
seen nothing in all this time. Nor had I seen anything of the others.
Suddenly I knew exactly where she was going. She was headed for Loma Parda.
The little town on the Mora Biver was rough and bloody, a resort for the
soldiers at Fort Union, and for any number of drifters, male and female. They
knew me at Loma Parda, but for her to ride into Loma with gold was like a lamb
going to visit a lot of hungry wolves.
15
When she reached the town I was no more than four or five miles behind her,
Page 77
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
but there was simply nothing I could do. By the time I got to the town her
horses were turned into a corral and Penelope had disappeared. It seemed the
last person she wanted to see was me.
Avoiding the saloon, where I knew Penelope would not be, I went to a Mexican
eating place down the street from Baca's. It was an off hour, and they were
glad to see me. They knew me there, and the woman who came to wait on table
shook her head when she saw me and said, "Senor Nolan, what do you do to
yourself? You are tired!"
Glancing around, I saw myself in the mirror, a big, rough, bearded man who
needed a shave, a bath, a haircut, and new clothes. He also needed about three
nights of sleep.
"Senora," I said, "have you seen a girl a girl with several horses?"
"Ah? It is a girl now?Si , I see her. She rode in today, only a little while
ago."
"Where is she? Where did she go?"
"Go? Where did she go?"
"Go? Where can you go in Loma Parda? She did not go, she is here."
"Where?"
The senora shrugged. "Here ... somewhere. How should I know?"
From where I sat I could look down the street and see anyone who moved, so I
ordered a meal and stayed there, eating and drinking coffee and trying to stay
awake.
There was not much out there in the street at this hour. In a little while
the town would wake up, the soldiers would come in in one of the rigs that
carried them over from the Fort, or they would hike, as many preferred to do.
The town would be wide open. It was a town where killing was the order of the
day, where the idea of gold would set the place afire. And somewhere in the
town was Penelope, and three hundred pounds of gold.
Where did I fit in, anyway? I had given her a chance to get away, given Mims
the same chance; but he was dead, murdered. And Penelope had not wasted any [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]