Part 54 (1/2)

”Up on the north slope of Dogtooth Mountain. That's what the feller told me. Where you folks heading off to?”

”Tucson,” I said.

”Well, I'll give you a steer so you stay clear of Dogtooth, then. Up yonder about a mile, you'll hit a fork in the trail. Either way you go at the fork, you'll get to Tucson by and by. You wanta take the branch that veers off to your right, though. Stick to that one, and you'll miss Dogtooth by more'n ten miles. Take the other-that's the one I rode in on-and it'll lead you through a pa.s.s at the very foot of that-there mountain.”

”So we go right at the fork,” Jesse said, nodding.

”That'd be the safe way. Not as you can count on a few miles of distance to keep you safe from that Apache. Ain't no saying where he might be. That cave's only just a place he's been at from time to time. And fairly recent. You ask me, though, he don't live there. Don't live nowhere particular. Just stays on the move. He could be a hundred miles off, right now. Or he might be near enough to hear us talk.”

”I sure hope not,” Jesse said.

”Well, I reckon he'd best watch himself, he's creeping up on us. You'd likely bite his ear off.” Barney laughed.

”I've had my fill of ears,” Jesse told him, and he laughed harder.

After that, we stayed by the fire and talked about this and that for a spell. There was no more talk, though, of such matters as Apache Sam or the posse or cave. By and by, Barney asked if we'd mind him keeping us company till morning. ”Safer all around,” he said.

”You're welcome to stay,” Jesse told him. ”Long as you behave.”

I had no objections, either. He seemed a fine, trustworthy chap. Besides, my mind was too troubled by what we'd heard about Apache Sam to be bothered by Barney's presence.

He spread his bedroll on the other side of the fire. Jesse and I stretched out beside each other. What with him right there, neither of us was eager to snuggle up in our usual manner.

”You ain't got yourselves no blankets?” he asked.

”We lost them in a flood some time ago,” I explained.

”Well, you're welcome to make use of my saddle blanket if you can stand the aroma.”

So he fetched it. We thanked him and spread it over us.

Still, we didn't snuggle up. Not for a while. When we heard Barney snoring, though, we rolled toward each other and hugged.

”You reckon it's him?” Jesse whispered.

”Who?”

”Who you think think? Whittle. You reckon he's Apache Sam?”

”It shouldn't surprise me at all, actually.”

”Same here. You wanta be in on it, don't you?”

”If he's there, I reckon the posse'll get him.”

”Not if they're looking for a redskin. We gotta go on up to Dogtooth and set 'em right. If we don't and he gets clear, it'll be our own faults.”

”I suppose that's so,” I whispered. Then I yawned and shut my eyes. ”We'll see about it in the morning,” I murmured.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE.

Off to Dogtooth Much as I wanted to join up with the posse and be in on the kill (if Whittle was holed up in the cave), I sure didn't want Jesse to be anywhere near that place.

She would wind up carved and dead, I was just sure of it.

Yet no amount of talking was likely to persuade her against heading for Dogtooth Mountain, come daybreak.

While I laid there beside her under Barney's blanket, feigning sleep and working my head over the matter, I hit upon a plan.

What I'd do is keep still for a while. Wait for Jesse to be fast asleep. Then I'd sneak away, walk General off a distance, mount up and race off. Jesse wouldn't catch on till morning that I'd lit out. By then, I'd already be at the mountain or pretty near it.

A dirty trick to run off on her that way, but it'd keep her out of Whittle's range.

What might she do, however, once she figured out that I'd dodged off without her? She'd be spitting mad, of course. But would she take off after me on foot? Or would she talk Barney into giving her a ride? They might both come after me. I'd have a great headstart on them, but they might show up at the cave too soon, anyhow. Of course, Barney might want no part of pursuing me. If that happened, would Jesse have a go at stealing his horse? Just no telling what she might do.

It crossed my mind that I could take Barney's horse, Joey, along with me. Or just chase it off. That'd be too lowdown, though, and likely to start a whole new pa.s.sel of troubles.

I would leave Barney's horse right where it was.

I no sooner settled that in my head than I took to worrying about Barney himself. How did I know that he could be trusted? With me gone, he might decide to have himself a good time with Jesse. She would likely kill or maim him if he tried such a thing, but what if he took her by surprise? She was tough, but not invincible. The German had proven that.

Well, I finally came to the conclusion that leaving Jesse behind wouldn't be a clever move.

We'll just steer clear of Dogtooth Mountain tomorrow, I decided. No matter how Jesse argues, I'll stand firm. That posse can have its go at Whittle without us.

Might not be Whittle anyhow.

Now that I'd decided the proper way to handle the matter, my mind eased off and let me relax. By and by, I fell asleep.

I woke at sunup and Jesse was gone.

At first, I figured she'd wandered off to scare up some firewood or maybe answer a call of nature.

Sitting up, I had a look at Barney. He was still busy snoring. A horse gave a snort, and I swung my eyes over to where we'd left Joey and General tied to some cactus.

Joey was still there.

Alone.

Well, I jumped to my feet, all of a sudden scared. Looking about, I saw my Remington propped against the rock where it belonged. The Henry rifle wasn't there. And one of the water tubes had gone missing too. I scanned off into the distance, all around, but didn't spot Jesse or General.

I called out anyhow.