Sudden--Strikes Back (A Sudden Western #1) (16 page)

Soon
after daybreak the drive started. Sudden had already given the men
instructions that the cattle were to make their own speed, and Old
Mossy, the herd leader, set out at a swinging gait along the trail
leading south towards the mountains. Green wanted the herd in good
condition for the difficult part of the drive which faced them in
the twisting canyons higher up, for he knew that although the route
was feasible, there were many dangers on an unknown trail.
Nevertheless they made good time; mile after uneventful mile
dropped behind them without incident, and they were soon skirting
the foot of the mesa.

A few
miles from the opening of the canyon, Gimpy came spurring back from
the point. Sudden called a halt for a meal and they broke out the
cold food the cook had prepared for them. The cattle milled
contentedly, not eager to face the slow uphill climb ahead of
them.

‘
She shore looks unfriendly,’ was Gimpy’s economic report about
the trail ahead. ‘Them overhangs look like a good sneeze might drop
’em right on yore head. But like yu said, Jim—she’s
feasible.’

With
this cheering news, they finished their meal and the herd was set
in motion once again. Gimpy’s report proved accurate. Above their
heads buttresses of shattered rock, deformed by old explosions set
off by silver miners in days long gone, leaned crazily towards
them. Once, the thunder of the herd sent a long, slow hissing
shower of rock and shale sliding down a slope to end in a smothered
crash and a high hanging cloud of dust. The Slash8 crew had their
work cut out to merely hold the herd together as they plunged
through dense undergrowth at the base of the cliffs. Thickets of
young trees, rocky ridges faced them. Once, they had to shepherd
the herd across a narrow, rushing mountain stream. The cowboys rode
with one eye on the herd and the other cocked at the threatening
rocks above their heads.

‘
Them rocks shore make me nervous,’ Shorty confided to Dave. ‘I
keep seein’ myself trying to dig out from under about a thousand
tons o’ rock.’

‘
Touch some wood—yore head’ll do,’ Dave told him. ‘An’ keep
yore imaginin’s to yoreself. I don’t know about the cows, but I’m
damn near to stampedin’ my ownself, an’ that’s
what-ever!’

Sudden,
riding at the rear of the herd—‘eatin’ dust’ as they called it—was
beginning to think they would negotiate the uphill part of the
canyon without incident when, without warning, two pistol shots
rang out. He raced forward to find Curt Parr staring stupidly at
the smoking six-gun in his hand.

‘
What the hell are yu tryin’ to do, Parr?’ Sudden snapped
angrily. ‘Bring the whole mountain down on us?’

‘
I’m plumb sorry, Green,’ Parr said earnestly. ‘Gun warn’t
ridin’ easy in the holster, an’ I pulled her out. Next thing I
know, she went off. I can’t Egger how it happened.’

‘
Put yore gun in yore saddlebag,’ Green told him evenly, ‘an
take care it don’t happen again, or yu’ll wish a mountain had fell
on yu!’

The foxy
cowboy’s explanation did not begin to satisfy him, but he had to be
content with it. Had Parr some reason for wanting to bring disaster
upon the Slash 8 herd? ‘More’n likely,’ Sudden told himself, and
gave the word to push the herd along. He rode within watching
distance of Parr, and sure enough, before too long, saw the cowboy
dismount. He rode up to where Parr was examining his horse’s hoof.
·

‘
Hoss has gone lame; yu’d better push on without me,’ Parr told
him. ‘I’ll catch yu up.’

‘
Mount up, an’ let’s see,’ was Sudden’s reply.’

‘
What’s the matter, don’t yu believe me?’ Parr asked in an
aggrieved tone.

‘
Mount up!’ Sudden repeated, ‘an’ this time keep yore hoss away
from these flints.’ He pointed to the sharp stones littering the
ground.

‘
Are yu hintin’ . . .?’

‘
Hintin’ nothin’!’ snapped Sudden. ‘I’m callin’ the facts. When
we get back yu can pick up yore time, but right now I need every
man I’ve got, so stay with the herd—an’ don’t give me any more
trouble.’

These
last words were spoken slowly and deliberately, and Parr’s shifty
eyes wavered and dropped before the piercing gaze of the Slash 8
ramrod.

Presently, the rocky canyon widened, and they were at the
pass summit. Before them, the slope stretched gradually downwards
through the pine-dotted hills on the south side of the mesa. A
natural arena of rock-crowned hills about a quarter of a mile
further on made an ideal place for them to bed down the herd for
the night, and the Slash 8 men dropped into their blankets, after
eating, like dead men.

The next
morning they resumed the drive. Spirits were high as they pushed
the herd on down the easy, sloping trail. Up ahead, Sudden could
hear Gimpy bawling out an unmelodious and bawdy trail song. Apart
from one sour look, Parr had had nothing to say to him or anyone
else, and they moved forward now without any incident. The frowning
canyon was behind them; soon they reached the wide, wagon
wheel-scarred trail leading to South Bend and to the Thunder Mesa
mines.

Leaving
Gimpy in charge, with an injunction to keep his eye on Parr, Sudden
rode on ahead of the oncoming herd. He found Pat Newman in a small,
but neat office near the mine shaft on the hillside. Newman’s eyes
widened when-he saw his visitor.

‘
Come to tell me the deal’s off?’ he asked Sudden.

‘
Nope. Come to tell yu to look out o’ the window,’ was the
Smiling reply. Newman crossed quickly to the window which looked
out along the trail; not far away he could see the dusty cloud
raised by the Slash 8 herd. He turned to Sudden with his hand
outstretched.

‘
Yu win your bet,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and watch them being
loaded into the pens.’

The two
men walked out to the corrals set alongside the barrack-like
buildings where the ore was washed, and Sudden told the mine
manager about his choice of route. Newman spoke to one of his
foremen, and they watched while the herd was corralled and counted.
When the hot dusty work was finished, Newman invited Sudden back to
his office, having detailed a couple of miners to see that the
Slash 8 crew was fed and given something to drink. Before they
trooped off, Sudden drew Dave Haynes to one side.

‘
When yo’re through eatin’, come an’ see me. Tell the others to
head back for the Slash 8 when they’re through eatin’, an’ spread
the word I’m goin' back through Thunder Ravine.’

Dave’s
expression betrayed his burning curiosity at these orders, but
Sudden gave him no time to frame a question. The Slash 8 foreman
turned on his heel and joined Newman in the office, where the two
men were brought a good meal by a resident mine cook.

‘
Yu shore do yoreselves proud up here,’ Sudden
remarked.

‘
That’s near as good cookin’ as we get on the Slash
8.’

‘
If yu get better food than this, I’m anglin’ for an invitation
right now,’ smiled Newman.

‘
Yu got it,’ Sudden told him.

The
dishes were pushed to one side, and the two men settled down to
business. Newman totaled some figures on a sheet of paper and
showed the final amount to his guest.

‘
You agree the figure, Mr. Green?

‘
Looks line to me, seh,’ Sudden told him. ‘Five hundred head at
five dollars a head: that’s twenty-five hundred
dollars.’

‘
You don’t seem interested in whether I’m cheating
you,’

Newman
pointed out. ‘You haven’t asked me what I was paying Marty
Black.’

‘
Shucks,’ smiled Sudden. ‘If yu was cheatin’ me, I’d find out.
An’ I’d probably get a little impatient with yu.’

Newman
surveyed the two guns strapped low on his guest’s hips.

‘
I thought that,’ he murmured. ‘That’s what I figured. You’re
getting the same price Black gets.’

‘
Never imagined it would be anything else,’ Sudden
said.

‘
What I can’t understand is how you got the herd through the
mountains in such prime condition,’ Newman posed.

‘
She was a good deal easier than I’d hoped,’ Sudden admitted.
‘If yo’re interested, I’m guessin’ we could make a regular deal on
this.’

‘
Could you give me a keener price?’ Newman asked. ‘I’m always
interested in cutting my overheads.’

‘
In the Spring, shore,’ Sudden told him. ‘This ain’t the best
time to be sellin’ beef.’

‘
We’ll talk about it,’ Newman said. ‘If you can deliver in this
condition and give me a good price, I’ll continue to buy your
beef.’

The two
men shook hands on their bargain, and Newman counted out payment
for the herd from a safe. Sudden was expressing his thanks when
Dave returned to say that the crew was about to start
back.

‘
Yu serious about ridin’ back through Thunder
Ravine?’ Dave asked, and when Sudden nodded, the cowboy cried,
‘Yo’re off yore rocker, ridin’ that road with all this
dinero
in yore pocket.’
He gestured at the stack of notes on the table.

‘
I ain’t,’ grinned Sudden, and when Dave looked his puzzlement,
explained, ‘Yo’re takin’ the money, my cliff-hangin’ friend. An’
yo’re goin’ back with the others. By the way, what time did Parr
leave?’

‘
How d’yu know that?’ Dave asked in surprise. ‘Well, never
mind, yo’re right. He slid out about twenty minnits back. Said he
warn’t hungry.’

‘
I’ll bet,’ said Sudden, non-committally. ‘Here—take good care
o’ this, it’s about ten years wages to ordinary folks like yu an’
me.’

Dave
looked at the thick roll of bills as if they might suddenly bite
him, then stowed them hastily into a pocket.

‘
Yo’re takin’ a long chance on me, come to that,’ he said
soberly.

‘
What—yu rob Her Majesty? That’ll be the day,’ the foreman told
him. ‘Hit the trail, little man, an’ don’t stop to pick no
daisies.’

Newman
smiled at the exchange between the two men. It was obvious that
their respect for each other permitted such trading of insults, but
he wondered idly how either would react if the same words were
spoken to them by a stranger.

‘
You mind telling me what that was all about?’ he asked
Sudden.

‘
Well, seh,’ the Slash 8 man replied, ‘them
Shadow
hombres
have been havin’ all the fun up to now. They been callin’ all
the tunes. I just figger it’s about time the Slash 8 joined the
dance.’

He shook
hands again with the mine manager, and Newman watched the tall
horseman’s broad back reflectively as Sudden rode down the hill and
took the trail leading towards South Bend. He nodded to himself, as
if confirming an opinion, and returned to his office looking like a
man who had heard his first good news in months.