Lonesome Dove Part 65

"Are they just watering the stock, or have they camped?" Call wanted to know.

"They're camped," Deets said. "They killed somebody in a wagon and he had whiskey."

"More work for the gravediggers," Augustus said, checking his rifle. "We better go challenge them before they wipe out Kansas."

Pea Eye and Newt were left with the horses. Deets led Call and Augustus on foot for a mile. They crept up the crest of a ridge and saw Wilbarger's horses grazing three or four miles away on the rolling prairie. Between them and the horse herd was a steep banked creek. A small wagon was stopped on the near bank, and four men were lounging on their saddle blankets. One of the men was Jake Spoon. The corpse of the man who had been driving the wagon lay some fifty yards away. The men on the blankets were amusing themselves by shooting their pistols at the buzzards that attempted to approach the corpse. One man, annoyed at missing with his pistol, picked up a rifle and knocked over a buzzard.

"They're c.o.c.ky, I'd say," Call said. "They don't even have a guard."

"Well, they've killed the whole population of this part of the country except us, and we're just wandering through," Augustus said.

"Let's wait awhile," Call said. "When they're good and drunk we'll come along the creek bed and surprise 'em."

Augustus watched for a few minutes. "I hope Jake makes a fight," he said.

"He can't fight, and you know it," Call said.

"The point is, I'd rather shoot him than hang him," Augustus said.

"I wouldn't relish hanging him," Call said. "But there he is."

He walked back and explained the situation to Pea Eye and Newt. There was nothing they need do except bring the horses fast when they heard shooting.

"Jake with them?" Pea Eye asked.

"He's there," Call said. "It's a bad situation, but he put himself in it."

They waited until late afternoon, when the sun was angling down toward the horizon. Then, walking a wide circle to the east, they struck the creek a mile below where the men were camped and walked quietly up the creek bed. The banks were high and made a perfect shelter. They saw three horses watering at the creek, and Call feared the animals would give them away, but the horses were not alarmed.

Soon they heard the faint talk of the men-they were still lounging on their saddle blankets.

Call, in the lead, crept a little closer.

"Let's stay the night," he heard a man say. "I'm too full of liquor to be chousing horses in the dark."

"It'll sober you up," another voice said. "It's cooler traveling at night."

"Why travel?" the first man said. "Some more wagons might come along and we could rob 'em. It's easier than banks."

"Eddie, you're as lazy as Jake," the second voice said. "Neither one of you pulls your weight in this outfit."

"I'd have to be quick to beat you at killing people, Dan.' little Eddie said.

Call and Augustus looked at one another. Dan Suggs was the name Wilbarger had mentioned-he had called his killers accurately.

Jake was lying on his saddle blanket feeling drunk and depressed. Dan Suggs had shot the old man driving the wagon at a hundred yards' distance, without even speaking to him. Dan had been hiding in the trees along the creek, so the old man died without even suspecting that he was in danger. He only had about thirty dollars on him, but he had four jugs of whiskey, and they were divided equally, although Dan claimed he ought to have two for doing the shooting. Jake had been drinking steadily, hoping he would get so drunk the Suggses would just go off and leave him. But he knew they wouldn't. For one thing, he had eight hundred dollars on him, won in poker games in Fort Worth, and if Dan Suggs didn't know it, he certainly suspected it. They wouldn't leave him without robbing him, or rob him without killing him, so for the time being his hope was to ride along and not rile Dan.

He had been lying flat down, for he felt very weary, but he raised up on his elbow to take another swig from the jug, and he and little Eddie saw the three men at the same moment: three men with leveled rifles, standing on the riverbank with the sun at a blinding angle right behind them. Jake had taken off his gun belt-he couldn't rest comfortably with it on. Little Eddie had his pistol on and grabbed for it, but a rifle cracked and a bullet took him in the shoulder and kicked him back off the saddle blanket.

Dan and Roy Suggs were sitting with their backs to the creek, each with a jug between their legs. They were caught cold, their rifles propped on their saddles well out of reach.

"Sit still, boys," Call said, as soon as the crack of the shot died. Deets, who had the best angle, had shot little Eddie.

Dan Suggs leaped to his feet and turned to see the bright sun glinting on three rifle barrels.

"Who are you?" he asked. "We're horse traders, so hold your d.a.m.n fire."

He realized it would be suicide to draw and decided a bluff was his best chance, though the shock, plus the whiskey he had just drunk, made him unsteady for a moment. It was a moment too long, for a black man with a rifle stepped behind him and lifted his pistol. Roy Suggs was sitting where he was, his mouth open, too surprised even to move. Little Eddie lay flat on his back, stunned by his shoulder wound.

Augustus took little Eddie's pistol as he stepped over him, and in a moment had Roy's. Deets got the rifles. Call kept his gun trained right on Dan Suggs, who, because of the sun, still could not see clearly whom he faced.

Deets, with a downcast look, picked up Jake's gun belt.

"Why, Deets, do you think I'd shoot you?" Jake asked, though he knew too well where he stood, and if he had moved quicker would have shot, whatever the cost. A clean bullet was better than a scratchy rope, and his old partners could shoot clean when they wanted to.

Deets, without answering, removed the rifle from Jake's saddle scabbard.

"Get your boots off, boys," Call said, coming closer.

"G.o.dd.a.m.ned if we will," Dan Suggs said, his anger rising. "Didn't you hear me? I told you we were horse traders."

"We're more persuaded by that dead fellow over there," Augustus said. "He says you're murderers. And Mr. Wilbarger's good horses says you're horsethieves to boot."

"h.e.l.l, you don't know what you're talking about," Dan Suggs said. He was genuinely furious at having been taken without a shot, and he used his anger to try and carry the bluff.

"I bought these horses from Wilbarger," he said. "I gave him thirty dollars apiece."

"You're a black liar," Augustus said calmly. "Take off your boots, like Captain Call said. It's time to collect the boot guns."

Dan Suggs stood quivering, for it galled him to be caught and galled him more to be coolly given orders, even if it was Augustus McCrae who was giving them. Besides, he had a derringer in his right boot, and knew it was his last hope. One of his brothers was shot and the other too drunk and too stunned to take in what was happening.

"I'll be d.a.m.ned if I'll go barefoot for you or any man," Dan said.

Augustus drew his big dragoon Colt and jammed the barrel into Dan's stomach.

"You can keep your socks, if you're that refined," he said.

Call quickly knelt behind Dan Suggs and got the derringer.

"Just ask Jake if we didn't buy these horses," Dan said. "Jake's a friend of yours, ain't he?"

"Did you buy that old man?" Call asked. "Did you buy them two farmers you burned? Did you buy Wilbarger and his man and that boy?"

Little Eddie sat up. When he saw that his s.h.i.+rt was drenched with blood, his face went white. "I'm bleeding, Dan," he said.

Jake looked at Call and Augustus, hoping one or the other of them would show some sign of concern, but neither would even look at him. Call covered Roy Suggs while Deets tied his hands with his own saddle strings. Augustus stood calmly, the barrel of the big Colt still stuck into Dan Suggs's stomach. Dan's face was twitching. Jake could see he longed to go for his gun-only he had no gun. Jake thought Dan might go anyway, his whole frame was quivering so. He might go, even if it meant getting shot at point-blank range.

"This gun leaves a hole the size of a tunnel, Mr. Suggs," Augustus said. "If you'd like to land in h.e.l.l with a tunnel through you, just try me."

Dan quivered, his eyes popping with hatred. When Deets came over with some rawhide strings he snarled at him, baring his teeth. "Don't you tie me, n.i.g.g.e.r boy," he said. "I'll not forget you if you do."

"You're dying to try it, ain't you?" Augustus said. "Go on. Try it. See what you look like with a tunnel through your ribs."

Dan held back, though he shook and snarled, while Deets tied him securely.

"Tie Jake," Call said, when Dan was secure. Augustus grinned and put the Colt back in its holster.

"I guess you ain't as hard as you talk, Mr. Suggs," he said.

"You sneaking son of a b.i.t.c.h, who do you think you are?" Dan said.

"Deets don't need to tie me," Jake said. For a moment his spirits rose, just from the sound of Gus's voice. It was Call and Gus, his old companeros companeros. It was just a matter of making them realize what an accident it had been, him riding with the Suggs. It was just that they had happened by the saloon just as he was deciding to leave. If he could just get his head clear of the whiskey he could soon explain it all.

Little Eddie could not believe that he was shot and his brother Dan tied up. He was white and trembling. He looked at Dan in disbelief.

"You said there wasn't a man in Kansas that could take you, Dan," Eddie said. "Why didn't you fight?"

Augustus went over and knelt by little Eddie, tearing his s.h.i.+rt so he could look at the wound.

"You oughtn't to listened to your big brother, son," he said. "He was plumb easy to catch. This is just a flesh wound-the bullet went right through."

Call went over to Jake. Deets seemed hesitant to tie him, but Call nodded and covered Jake with his rifle while Deets tied his hands. As he was doing it Pea Eye and Newt came over the hill with the horses.

"Call, he don't need to tie me," Jake said. "I ain't done nothing. I just fell in with these boys to get through the Territory. I was aiming to leave them first chance I got."

Call saw that Jake was so drunk he could barely sit up.

"You should have made a chance a little sooner, Jake," Augustus said. "A man that will go along with six killings is making his escape a little slow."

"I had to wait for a chance, Gus," Jake said. "You can't just trot off from Dan Suggs."

"You shut your d.a.m.n mouth, Spoon," Dan Suggs said. "These friends of yours are no more than rank outlaws. I don't see no badges on them. They got their d.a.m.n gall, taking us to jail."

Pea Eye and Newt stopped and dismounted. Newt saw that Jake was tied like the rest.

"Saddle these men's horses," Call said to the boy. Then he walked off toward the nearest trees.

"Where's he going?" Roy Suggs asked, finding his voice at last.

"Gone to pick a tree to hang you from, son," Augustus said mildly. He turned to Dan Suggs, who looked at him with his teeth bared in a snarl. "I don't know what makes you think we'd tote you all the way to a jail," Gus said.

"I tell you we bought them horses!" Dan said.

"Oh, drop your bluff," Augustus said. "I buried Wilbarger myself, not to mention his two cowboys. We buried them farmers and we'll bury that body over there. I imagine it's all your doings, too. Your brothers don't look so rough, and Jake ain't normally a killer."

Augustus looked at Jake, who was still sitting down. "What's the story on that one, Jake?" he asked.

"Why, I merely said h.e.l.lo to a girl," Jake said. "I didn't know she was anybody's wife, and the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d knocked me down with a shotgun. He was gonna do worse, too. It was only self-defense. No jury will hang you for self-defense."

Augustus was silent. Jake got to his feet awkwardly, for his hands were tied behind him. He looked at Pea Eye, who was standing quietly with Deets.

"Pea, you know me," Jake said. "You know I ain't no killer. Old Deets knows it too. You boys wouldn't want to hang a friend, I hope."

"I've done a many a thing I didn't want to do, Jake," Pea Eye said.

Jake walked over to Augustus. "I ain't no criminal, Gus," he said. "Dan's the only one that done anything. He shot that old man over there, and he killed them farmers. He shot Wilbarger and his men. Me and the other boys have killed n.o.body."

"We'll hang him for the killings and the rest of you for the horse theft, then," Augustus said. "Out in these parts the punishment's the same, as you well know.

"Ride with an outlaw, die with him," he added. "I admit it's a harsh code. But you rode on the other side long enough to know how it works. I'm sorry you crossed the line, though."

Jake's momentary optimism had pa.s.sed, and he felt tired and despairing. He would have liked a good bed in a wh.o.r.ehouse and a nice night's sleep.

"I never seen no line, Gus," he said. "I was just trying to get to Kansas without getting scalped."

Newt had saddled the men's horses. Call came back and took the ropes off the four saddles.

"We're lucky to have caught 'em by the trees," he said. Newt felt numb from all that he had seen.

"Have we got to hang Jake too?" he asked. "He was my ma's friend."

Call was surprised by the remark. Newt was surprised too-it had just popped out. He remembered how jolly Jake had been, then-it was mainly on Jake's visits that he had heard his mother laugh. It puzzled him how the years could have moved so, to bring them from such happy times to the moment at hand.

"Yes, he's guilty with the rest of them," Call said. "Any judge would hang him."

He walked on, and Newt put his cheek for a moment against the warm neck of the horse he had just saddled. The warmth made him want to cry. His mother had been warm too, in the years when they first knew Jake. But he couldn't bring any of it back, and Jake was standing not twenty yards away, weaving from drink, his hands tied, sad-looking. Newt choked back his feelings and led the horses over.

The men had to be helped onto the horses because of the way their hands were tied. Little Eddie had lost a lot of blood and was so weak he could barely keep his seat.

"I'll lead yours, Jake," Newt said, hoping Jake would realize he meant it as a friendly gesture. Jake had several days' stubble on his face and looked dirty and tired; his eyes had a dull look in them, as if he merely wanted to go to sleep.

Call took the rein of Dan Suggs's horse, just in case Dan tried something-though there was little he could try. Augustus walked behind and Pea Eye led the other two horses. Deets went ahead to fix the nooses-he was good with knots.

"Dan, ain't you gonna fight?" little Eddie kept asking. He had never seen his brother tied up and could not quite believe it. That Dan had been outsmarted and taken without a battle shocked him more than the fact that he himself was about to be hung.

"Shut up, you d.a.m.n whining pup," Dan said. "If you'd been standing guard this wouldn't have happened."

"You never told him to," Roy Suggs said. He too was in a daze, the result of shock and whiskey, but it annoyed him that Dan would try to put the blame on little Eddie.

"Well, do I have to do everything?" Dan said. He was watching, hoping to get Call to relax a minute-he meant to kick the horse and try to run over him. It might startle everyone long enough that he could jump the horse down into the creek bed, where he would be hard to hit. He had said what he had merely to distract the crowd, but it didn't work. Call kept the horse under tight control and in no time they came to the tree with the four dangling nooses.

It took a while for Deets to fix the knots to his satisfaction. The twilight began to deepen into dusk.

Jake tried to get his mind to work, but it wouldn't snap to. He had the feeling that there ought to be something he could say that would move Call or Gus on his behalf. It made him proud that the two of them had caught Dan Suggs so easily, although it had brought him to a hard fix. Still, it cut Dan Suggs down to size. Jake tried to think back over his years of rangering-to try and think of a debt he could call in, or a memory that might move the boys-but his brain seemed to be asleep. He could think of nothing. The only one who seemed to care was the boy Newt-Maggie's boy, Jake remembered. She had fat legs, but she was always friendly, Maggie. Of all the wh.o.r.es he had known, she was the easiest to get along with. The thought crossed his mind that he ought to have married her and not gone rambling. If he had, he wouldn't be in such a fix. But he felt little fear; just an overpowering fatigue. Life had slipped out of line. It was unfair, it was too bad, but he couldn't find the energy to fight it any longer.

Deets finally got the nooses done. He mounted and rode behind each man, to carefully set the knots. Little Eddie submitted quietly, but Dan Suggs shook his head and struggled like a wildcat when Deets came to him.

"n.i.g.g.e.r boy, don't you get near me," he said. "I won't be hung by no black n.i.g.g.e.r."