Straw Men (15 page)

Ahiga surely hadn't exaggerated his partner's love for speed. It was all Clint could do to climb into his saddle and race after the other Navajo as Ahiga dragged the translator away. In the camp, Farelli and his men seemed to be amusing themselves by laying waste to everything they could find and didn't stop until they'd blown apart each and every wagon in the area.

A few shots were fired in Clint's direction by some overly eager soldiers, but Elsu had a big head start and Eclipse wasn't rattled by any amount of gunfire. With a few quick turns and a flick of the reins, Clint had put the camp behind him and was soon well out of the soldiers' firing range.

Elsu was a slender Indian who looked to be somewhere in his late teens. His thick black hair was just past shoulder-length and the clothes he wore complemented his ability to ride like a flicker of lightning. Tanned leather britches hugged him like a second skin and the feathers tied to his arms and head fluttered in the wind as if they were still attached to a bird's wing. When he looked over his shoulder, the young Navajo smiled to find Clint so close behind him. Elsu pointed ahead and to the left.

Nodding at the younger man's signal, Clint snapped his reins and nearly closed the distance between himself and Elsu in a matter of seconds. They needed to ride for several miles, but the two horses covered the distance in a flash. Toward the end of the ride, Clint felt as if he was in a simple race instead of the web that kept getting more twisted by the moment. At least this time, Clint was the one doing the twisting.

As soon as they got within sight of the cluster of horses carrying Mingan and the rest of his tribe, Clint motioned for Elsu to slow down. Reluctantly, the young Navajo complied.

“What do you know about Tolfox?” Clint asked.

Elsu scowled and replied, “That he thinks he is the leader of our people and the only place he wants to lead us is into war.”

“Do you know about his arrangement with the colonel?”

“Everyone knows about it, but nobody dares to speak against it. Tolfox leads just enough Crow to stand beside him. His braves will kill women and children. We have seen it. We do not stand against them to protect our own women and children.”

“Why don't you just leave?” Clint asked.

“The same reason you go through all this trouble to ruin the colonel's attack when you could have simply ridden in the other direction.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Clint admitted. “What's the best way I can get Tolfox and his men away from the rest of the tribe?”

“Say the colonel wants to have a talk,” Elsu suggested with confidence. “Tolfox will step forward with all of his men and will not allow anyone else to come.”

“Is that how it's always been?”

Elsu nodded once. “Chief Mingan thought Tolfox was speaking to the colonel for the good of the tribe. This is before he knew…”

Knowing that the young Navajo didn't want to say anything to cast his elder in a bad light, Clint finished Elsu's thought with, “Before he knew there was a trickster in your midst?”

“That's right. Once he knew, it was too late.”

“It might not be too late. Tell me one thing, and I want you to be honest with me.”

“All right.”

“How many have your people killed?” Clint asked. “I'm not talking about your tribe. I mean your people.”

“Ahiga is He Who Fights,” Elsu replied. “Ahiga has always fought, but he is no murderer. He rode with Tolfox only once. After that, he was only brought along to talk with the colonel so the white men would know we had many braves in our tribe.”

“And the attacks on the wagons?”

“They were made by Tolfox and his Crow. The Crow are killers. They are the murderers.”

Clint narrowed his eyes and asked, “How many Crow have you known?”

Reluctantly, Elsu lowered his head. “I have only known Tolfox and his men.”

“That's right. Don't think too far ahead of yourself, boy. You deal with every man as he comes along. Let him show who he is and go from there. You understand?”

Elsu nodded.

“Good. I've already dealt with Ahiga and your Chief Mingan enough to know they're good men. I've heard and seen more than enough to know what kind of man Farelli is. Let's have a closer look at Tolfox.”

Separating Tolfox and his men was just as easy as Elsu had predicted it would be. In fact, Clint was surprised at how easy it was. All he needed to do was catch up to the rest of the tribe and say the magic words. Once Clint announced that Farelli wanted to have a word with someone from the tribe, Tolfox stepped forward and practically shoved Mingan aside. Since Ahiga was elsewhere keeping the translator safe, only a few Navajo braves remained and they didn't want to leave the tribe unprotected.

“It's all right,” Clint said to Mingan. “You should stay here with your people. Can you see them to safety?”

“Yes,” the old man replied. “But—”

“There's nothing else to say,” Clint cut in. “Your people need to be away from here and they need to go right now.”

Mingan rode on the back of an old horse that looked strong enough to pull every last one of those wagons from the former camp. After stopping close enough for his horse and Eclipse to bump noses, Mingan whispered, “If there is talking to be done, it is time that I started doing it.”

“There'll be time for that later,” Clint assured him.

With Tolfox and the small group of Crow warriors nearby, Clint focused his eyes on Mingan and held that gaze for a few more seconds. It seemed that enough was said in that gaze to get Clint's point across. Mingan nodded solemnly and rode back to his people.

“Time's wasting,” Tolfox said.

Clint rode past the Crow and motioned for them to follow. “Absolutely right. Let's not waste any more.”

Eclipse led the way and the Crow followed. Choosing a path that separated them from both the burning camp and the straggling Navajo, Clint led Tolfox for the better part of a mile until he could feel the men behind him getting restless. Before Tolfox could ask any questions, Clint pulled back on his reins and climbed down from his saddle.

“This is the place,” Clint said.

Tolfox looked around. The spot Clint had chosen was closed off by trees on one side and rocks on another. To the north, there was open land that stretched out for miles without much of anything to show for it. Every so often, the distant crackle of gunshots could be heard coming from the southeast.

“Where is the colonel?” Tolfox demanded.

“He'll be along. I figured you might want to get here before he had a chance to get his men situated.”

Tolfox nodded and eventually climbed down from his own saddle. Since Clint had settled in to lean against a tree with his arms folded across his chest, it seemed they weren't going to be led anywhere else. The Crow warriors followed Tolfox's lead and dismounted as well.

After a few quiet seconds had passed, Clint said, “You know Farelli meant to kill you, right?”

“Why would he do that? Ahiga told us you were allowed to leave so you could learn what the soldiers were planning. Did you hear something about Farelli trying to kill me?”

“Oh, I heard plenty of things. I knew he would try to burn down this camp the moment he found out where it was. That is, he'd burn it down if he was trying to make sure something got buried along the way.”

Furrowing his brow, Tolfox said, “If you were one of Farelli's spies, you wouldn't have sent word that the soldiers would come and we would have all been killed in that attack.”

“Go on.”

“If you were protecting your own skin, you would have gone away and not come back.”

“Very true,” Clint said.

“So that means Ahiga and Mingan were right about you. They said you wanted to help our tribe and that's all that remains.”

“I do want to help the tribe. Too bad the same can't be said about you.”

Upon hearing that, all four of Tolfox's men bristled. A few were armed with pistols and a couple had rifles as well. They all carried knives and every single one of them started to reach for one of their weapons.

Tolfox extended one hand toward his men without taking his eyes away from Clint. Speaking one word in his own language, Tolfox calmed his men as if he could feel what every single one of them was about to do.

“You've been dealing with Farelli for a while now,” Clint said. “What's the deal been? Were you arranging the attacks and calling them off as Farelli saw fit? How much were you getting paid?”

“I was working to help my tribe.”

“You were attacking innocent families and travelers. Don't put on an act with me because I've seen what you've done. I've heard it from Farelli, himself! You and your men killed Army soldiers. How was that supposed to help your tribe?”

“We only killed soldiers when Farelli refused to pay!” Tolfox roared. “Did Farelli tell you that as well?”

Clint had to use every bit of bluffing skill he'd learned throughout the years just to keep from smiling. In order to prod the Crow leader a bit more, Clint said, “He told me you were getting greedy and that it was too dangerous to have a bloodthirsty killer on his payroll.”

Tolfox gnashed his teeth so hard that Clint expected to see sparks in his mouth. “That son of a bitch wanted to pay me in old blankets and boots. He wanted me to kill for blankets and boots!”

“You did kill.”

“I killed
his
men! When he tried to play me for a fool, I killed anyone wearing the uniform of his Army. And when he tried to hide from me, I killed until he had no choice but to show his cowardly face! He's shown what kind of man he is! Everyone will see!”

“I already see,” Clint replied. “Just like I've seen what kind of man you are. You're the kind of man who kills women and children just to draw one fool from hiding. You kill soldiers who are trying to protect innocent folks just so you can get your hands on one crooked colonel. Throughout this whole thing, you've shown yourself to be the kind of man who doesn't even care if you send your own people to hell while you make your deals and go on your rampages.”

Tolfox slapped his hand around the gun that was kept in an old holster at his side. The holster hung from braided rope looping around his waist and held a Colt that looked as if it had once belonged to a soldier. That Colt made it halfway from Tolfox's holster before Clint drew and fired a shot from his own pistol.

The modified Colt bucked once against Clint's palm and sent a round through Tolfox's ribs. It wasn't a killing shot, but it was enough to spin Tolfox around on one foot and put him into a world of pain.

The other Crow braves took aim with their own guns as well. One of them already had a rifle in hand, so Clint targeted him first. One round through the face sent that Indian flying backward off his feet as his rifle toppled through the air.

Two more Crow were bringing their gun hands up and were knocked down like bottles from a fence as Clint sent a round into each of their hearts. Before those two had the dirt, Clint had shifted his aim to the remaining Crow brave.

That Indian was obviously less experienced with firearms because he pulled his knife from the scabbard at his side instead of the pistol that was tucked into his waistband.

Clint took careful aim and gave the last Crow a warning glare before saying, “Run.”

The Indian not only backed away, but he tossed aside every one of his weapons as he bolted away from the spot where the others had fallen.

Watching the fleeing Crow until he knew the Indian wasn't about to circle back and put up a fight, Clint stepped over to the man who'd caught the first bullet. Tolfox had a nasty wound in his side that looked as if a bear had swiped across his ribs with one massive claw. Seeing that Tolfox was trying to lift his gun, Clint kicked the gun away with one well-placed boot. After that, he stood just out of the Indian's reach and watched him carefully.

“This was…the colonel's idea,” Tolfox said.

“But you and your men did the killing.”

Tolfox was too tired and in too much pain to even try to lie convincingly. Instead, he clawed at the ground and said, “It was on his orders. I didn't have…a choice.”

“Bullshit.” Clint spat. “You could have made your way like anyone else. You could have done your best like any other tribe. If there was no other way to make a living, how come Chief Mingan seems perfectly capable of making a home for his people.”

“I'm chief!” Tolfox snapped.

“Sure. You're a fine chief. Chief Proud Fox. Or was it Tall Fox? I forgot that it was such common practice for a worthy chief to go under so many different names. There are men who do what you do, Tolfox. There are men who kill and lie and scurry from place to place under all sorts of different names so they won't be recognized. They're called outlaws, and white men have them just like the Indians have them. That's all you are, Tolfox. You're just a murdering outlaw who takes orders from another outlaw.”

“That's right,” Tolfox said desperately. “I took orders. Go speak to Colonel Farelli. He's the one you should be after, not me!”

“Your English is pretty good, Tolfox. I bet that came in real handy when you were dealing with Farelli. Here, Farelli thought he needed a translator and yet you could carry on just fine in his language. Is that how you knew he was going to cheat you?”

Letting out a breath, Tolfox closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles.

“I know it took the both of you to do all this,” Clint said. “You had to pull off the attacks and Farelli had to pretend to stop them. I've stopped you. I want to stop Farelli as well. Instead of lying there and hoping to bleed out, you could take some part in redeeming yourself.”

“What good could I do?” Tolfox asked. “My braves are gone and your Army wouldn't listen to a word I had to say. They would hang me or shoot me like they would hang or shoot any Crow who spilled a white man's blood.”

Clint hunkered down so he could talk to the fallen Indian without lording over him. “I told Farelli you had something and were taking it to the Federals. It was just a bluff to see if he'd get riled up enough to show what he was capable of, but he bit on the bait pretty damn hard. He got more than riled up. He came to that old camp you just left behind, intending to blow the place to hell no matter who was inside it. That tells me two things. First of all, it tells me that Farelli is willing to kill women and children just like you've already done. Second, it tells me there must be something you've got that can do a whole lot of damage to Farelli.”

It took Tolfox a few seconds, but finally he began to nod. After that, it took him a few more second to pull enough air into his lungs to speak. “The colonel was careful not to leave a trail when he dealt with me. All of our agreements…were spoken. But to get Ahiga and his braves to help on some of the attacks…Farelli needed…something else.”

“Something that could link him to this whole mess?” Clint asked.

“Yes. But if I tell you this…I need you…to swear…you won't leave me here to bleed to death like a wounded dog.”

Clint wouldn't have let any man die that slowly, but there was no need to tell Tolfox that much. Instead, Clint extended a hand and helped the wounded Crow to his feet.