Sunset Trail Page 10

  “We’ll try,” Matt said.

  “We’ll be here twelve hours,” Smith said. “After that the prairie will swallow us. You’ll never have a chance to track us. Just be satisfied if you’re all alive by then.”

  Matt couldn’t stand it any longer. He burst out: “What are you up to? You’ve been beating the devil around the bush threatening us until. . . .”

  “I’m ready to tell you,” Smith said. “We’re bank robbers. We know that you borrowed ten thousand dollars and it came in on the stage a day or so ago. That’s what we’re after. Our scheme is more efficient and safer than walking in and holding you up. We know you have more dinero in your vault, but we’re hoping you’ll be willing to co-operate if we don’t clean you out.”

  Matt started to sit up and fell back at once. For a few seconds he thought his head would explode. He moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.

  He said: “That ten thousand was borrowed to finish the dam. Do you know what stealing it will do to me and the town and the entire county? Do you have any idea how tough it is to raise ten thousand dollars in times as hard as these?”

  “Yes, I do have some idea,” Smith said. “That’s why we’re here. It’s why we planned this scheme out to the last little detail.”

  “Just how do you think you’ll get that dinero by moving in on us?” Matt asked.

  “By you bringing it to us,” Smith answered. “We’ll stay here in your house until a few minutes after noon tomorrow. At that time everybody will be in the park listening to the governor. That’s when you will bring the money to us. Nobody is going to pay any attention to you while you’re doing it or to us while we’re leaving town.”

  “Of all the stupid, crazy. . . .”

  “Oh no,” Smith said. “Not stupid and not crazy.

  You will put the money in a sack or satchel or whatever you have and bring it to us and we will get on our horses and ride like hell out of town. No one knows we’re here. We came at midnight when no one saw us. We will leave at noon while the crowd is listening to the governor.” He raised his hand when Matt started to say something. “Don’t tell me what you won’t do, Dugan. You don’t want your son and daughter killed, so you will rob your own bank just as I’m telling you to do.”

  Outside the gate squealed as it was opened. Jean and Jerry were coming in.

  He heard the front door open, he heard Jean laugh and say something to Jerry, and in that instant he breathed a prayer that God would help him lie so convincingly that Jean and Jerry would believe him.

  VIII

  When Jerry Corrigan left town with Jean, he drove directly to the ridge overlooking the dam site. There he pulled up and kissed Jean, and then put an arm around her and drew her to him. Amoment later she went to sleep on his shoulder. He sat motionlessly, not wanting to disturb her; he thought about his future and wondered how any man could be as lucky as he was.

  His ranch was downstream on the south side of the creek, 160 acres of land that would be irrigated when the project was finished. That would be soon, now that the money had been raised. The strange part of it was a few years ago no one had thought about building a dam on Buffalo Creek and nothing but sheer luck had caused him to select that particular quarter-section.

  Not long ago his place was considered almost worthless. The only thing it had been good for was range, and you couldn’t run many head of cattle on a quarter-section covered by sagebrush, Spanish bayonet, and a little buffalo grass.

  Now, with the completion of the project assured, his homestead was worth a small fortune. He was not going to run for sheriff in the fall, and, as soon as his term was over, he and Jean would move onto his place. There was only a soddy there now, but he could borrow any reasonable amount from the bank to improve it. The fact that the president of the bank, Matt Dugan, was to be his father-in-law didn’t make any difference. Only one thing was important. He owned a valuable piece of land.

  Jean stirred in his arms. “It must be late, Jerry. We’ve got to go home.”

  “Why?” he demanded. “In a month you’ll be Missus Jerry Corrigan. You’re a grown woman. It’s your business if you want to stay out all night with me.”

  Jean giggled. “Oh, yes, Mister Corrigan. I’m a grown woman, so I can violate all the rules I want to.”

  “Well, can’t you? If your ma and Matt don’t trust you with me at your age. . . .”

  “Jerry, be reasonable.” She straightened and drew away from him. “Of course they trust me, and the day we’re married we can come out here and sit up all night in a buggy if that’s what you want to do. Personally I’d rather go to bed.”

  “Well, yes,” he admitted, “so would I.”

  “Until then, I will live at home,” she said, “and, as long as I live at home, I will have to put up with family rules.”

  He was silent for a moment. He had learned a

  He was silent for a moment. He had learned a great deal about family rules and family loyalty and family love in the months since Jean had promised to marry him. He never had had a family, at least not one he could remember. His parents had died when he was a baby, and an aunt and uncle had taken him to raise but not to love. The beatings and the man work he’d had to do had been too much, so he had run away when he was twelve and had made his own way since.

  The Dugans had taken him in as if he really were their son. He could not ask for a better relationship with anyone than he had with Jean’s parents. He got along fine with Bud, too. Any way he looked at it, he’d be stupid to antagonize them.

  “I guess you’re right about family rules,” he said, “but I hope your folks will let us make our own rules after we’re married.”

  “They will, honey,” she said. “I’m sure they will. Now will you take me home and deliver me to my parents?”

  “Your slightest wish is a command to be obeyed,” he said as he unwrapped the lines from the brake handle.

  He spoke to the horse as he slipped an arm around her. They rode in silence for a time except for the steady clip-clop of hoofs in the dust of the road.

  “Let’s get married now,” he said suddenly. “Tomorrow. We can drive to Burlington and get married first thing in the morning. I can’t wait a whole month.”

  “You’re just trying to get out of a church wedding,” she said.

  “That’s part of it,” he admitted.

  “It won’t do you a bit of good, Mister Corrigan, ”she said. “As much as I want to get married, we’ll have to wait. It would kill Mama if we ran away to get married. We will have a church wedding, Parson Hess will marry us, and we will have a reception afterward. These coming events are unalterable, so make up your mind to live through them.”

  He sighed. “I guess I’m just a dreamer.”

  “You surely are,” she murmured. “Besides, you can’t go off and leave Amity without protection tomorrow.”

  He thought of the governor’s coming and about what Uncle Pete Fisher had said and about the Owl Creek ranchers he had jailed, and he wished he could go fishing and forget the whole thing. Then he wondered why he even let such a thought enter his mind. He never had walked away from a dangerous situation and he wasn’t starting now.

  “No,” he said, “I guess I can’t.”

  They were in town then. Main Street was dark except for the lobby of the Amity Hotel. Corrigan turned left when he reached the park block and a moment later pulled up in front of Jean’s home.

  “Your folks must be sitting up for you, with all those lamps lighted,” he said. “They usually just keep the hall lamp lighted for you, don’t they?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “I don’t know why they’d be sitting up for me tonight.” She hesitated, then added: “Unless there’s some kind of trouble.”

  “Maybe Matt’s not back from the meeting yet,” Corrigan said as he stepped down.

  He walked around the rig and gave Jean a hand, then opened the gate that squealed as loudly as ever, and stood to one side while Jean went throug
h. He held her hand as they walked up the path. When they reached the front door, he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

  “I got short-changed on the kissing tonight,” he said. “You went to sleep on me.”

  “It was just that I had such a nice shoulder to sleep on,” she said. “I’ll make it up to you right now.”

  She did. A moment later he said: “Now I’ll go to my room and see if I can get my breath back.”

  She opened the door and giggled as she patted his cheeks. “You do that, darling,” she said. “Now come in and say good night to my folks if they’re still up.”

  He followed her into the hall. She stopped when she reached the door into the front room. He heard Nora say: “We have a surprise, Jean. Your cousins, John and Sammy, got in a little while ago. They’re here for the celebration tomorrow. You know, I don’t think you ever met them.”

  Jerry stopped behind Jean. He was almost as surprised as she was because he had never heard her mention any cousins named John and Sammy. The one Nora had called John rose and came to them, his hand extended.

  “If I had known I had a cousin as attractive as you,” he said, “I’d have been here a long time ago.” He shook hands with Jean and turned to Jerry and offered his hand. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nora said quickly. “Jerry Corrigan, our sheriff. Jerry, this is my sister’s son, John Smith.” She motioned to the second man. “Sammy Bean, meet Sheriff Corrigan.

  Jerry shook hands with Smith, then Bean, and decided he didn’t like either man. Maybe it was because they had moved in on the Dugans without warning on a day when they didn’t have time to entertain guests.

  “I had better explain how it is,” Smith said to Jean, smiling. “You see, my mother was a sort of black sheep. She was much older than your mother and ran away from home with my father.He died, and she married Hank Bean, Sammy’s father. My mother and Nora never had much to do with each other, but I took a chance on Nora being big-hearted and putting us up for the night.” He turned to Corrigan. “I understand the hotel is full.”

  “That’s right,” Corrigan said.

  Jean’s face was pale. She glanced at Corrigan who stood beside her, then at her mother. “I never heard of any cousins with your names,” she said, turning to Smith. “Or of your black sheep mother.”

  “I never talked about them,” Nora said quickly. “It’s like John said. We never had much to do with each other.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Smith said, “we’re here on business. Sammy and I hope to buy some cattle if we can get them for the right price. We’ll be leaving after the celebration tomorrow. Next time we’ll stay long enough to get acquainted, Jean. I’m ashamed that we waited so long to visit you.”

  Corrigan turned to Matt who was lying on the couch and hadn’t said a word since the two of them had come in. He asked: “What’s the matter with you, Matt?”

  He grinned, or tried to. “I’m ashamed to admit it, Jerry, but I stumbled in front of the house. I fell down and must have hit my head on a rock.”

  “Knocked himself cold,” Smith said. “It’s a good thing we were here. I don’t know how Nora could have got him into the house by herself.”

  “We lugged him in like a sack of wool,” Sammy Bean said.

  Corrigan glanced at Bean. He kept grinning as if he wasn’t quite bright. He had a gun, but that was natural enough if the two men were cattle buyers as Smith had said.

  Smith was the one that made Corrigan wonder about them. He had city written all over him. He had absolutely no family resemblance to Bean. He was older and smoother, a very courteous man who wore a brown broadcloth suit with a gold chain across his vest. From the way he kept fumbling with an elk tooth charm that dangled from the chain, Corrigan judged he was nervous and wondered why.

  “I’d better get along,” Corrigan said. “We’ll have a lot of excitement tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Smith said. “It isn’t every day that the governor comes to Amity.”

  “That’s right,” Nora said.

  “Good night,” Corrigan said, glancing at Jean and hoping she would go with him as far as the porch so he could kiss her again before he left.

  But Jean apparently wasn’t even thinking about another kiss. She stood with her back stiff, her eyes pinned on her mother. She said: “Mama, I’d like for Jerry to spend the night here.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nora said. “You know we’d love to have him any other time, but we don’t have room for him tonight. You see, they brought a friend named Ross Hart with them. He’s going to sleep on the cot in my sewing room.”

  Corrigan looked at Jean, wondering what put a crazy notion like that into her head. He wondered, too, if there was something about these cousins that scared her, then dismissed the thought as being one of those harebrained ideas that came to her occasionally. He guessed he was a little scared himself about what might happen tomorrow.

  “No reason for me to sleep here, Jean,” Jerry said. “I’m paying for a room, so I might as well use it.”

  He nodded at no one in particular and left the house, still wondering why Jean had wanted him to stay there all night when it was plain enough the house was already overcrowded. He stepped into the buggy and drove back to Main Street and left the rig and horse in the livery stable.

  As he walked to the hotel, the name Ross Hart popped into his mind. Nora had mentioned it casually, a friend of Smith’s and Bean’s who was going to sleep in Nora’s sewing room. “Ross Hart!” He said it aloud, telling himself that the name was familiar, but he couldn’t pin anything to it.

  He shrugged and climbed the stairs to his room. He’d think about it tomorrow. Tonight he was too tired to think about anything.

  IX

  No one made a move for several minutes after Jerry Corrigan left the house. Matt lay on the couch, listening for the buggy to wheel on down the street. Nora and Jean remained where they had been when Corrigan left, their heads cocked as if they, too, were listening. Sammy Bean stood a few feet from Jean, his right hand on the butt of his gun, his gaze on the girl. John Smith, standing near the foot of the stairs, was the most relaxed person in the room.

  “He’s gone,” Smith said after the silence had run on until it had become unbearable to Matt. “You were stupid, young lady.” He nodded at Jean. “Next time you had better find out what the situation is before you ask the sheriff to stay overnight.”

  Jean turned to stare at Smith. “It’s time somebody told me what the situation is,” she snapped. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  “I’m John Smith,” he said. “We have come to rob the bank, with your father’s assistance, of course.”

  “That’s a bad joke,” she said. “I want to know why you’re here and telling this crazy lie about being my cousins.”

  “It’s no joke,” Smith said, nodding at Matt. “Ask your father.”

  “I’m afraid they have a plan to rob the bank, all right,” Matt said. “They think I’ll bring ten thousand dollars home at noon tomorrow and they’ll ride out of the town with the money while everybody’s excited about the governor getting here.”

  Jean’s face had turned pale. “I don’t believe this is real. I must be having a nightmare.”

  “It’s not a nightmare,” Smith said, “though if any of you, including your sheriff friend, fail to cooperate, it will turn out to be a hell of a nightmare. Believe me.” He motioned at Matt. “Stand up. I want to see if you can. Sammy may have slugged you harder than I intended. You’ve got to be feeling good tomorrow.”

  Matt rose from the couch. Again he thought his head would explode, but he stood motionlessly for a few seconds as the floor pitched and rolled in front of him. Gradually the hammering inside his skull faded to a dull headache as the floor leveled out so that it appeared normal.

  “Are you all right?” Nora asked anxiously.

  “Sure, I’m fine,” Matt answered.

  “Good.” Smith nod
ded at Nora. “Missus Dugan, you and Jean might as well sit down. You won’t be going to bed for a while.” He turned to Matt. “Dugan, where are your guns?”

  Matt motioned toward the hall door. “Yonder in a room we call my office. Bring a lamp,” Matt suggested, and walked toward the hall door.

  He moved slowly because he was still dizzy. He stopped and clenched his fists as the floor started to whirl in front of him again. When it stopped, he went on. Smith picked up a lamp from the center table and caught up with him, calling back to Nora: “Missus Dugan, you explain to Jean why it will be a nightmare if she doesn’t co-operate!”

  Smith followed Matt across the hall into the room on the other side. It was furnished with a desk, a swivel chair, a small table, and two rawhide-bottom chairs. A small safe was in one corner. Three deer heads were on the wall. A shotgun and two rifles were racked on the antlers. A Colt .45 in a holster attached to a cartridge belt hung from a nail near the door.

  Smith took the shotgun and rifles down from the antler racks and pulled the revolver from the holster. He asked: “These the only guns in the house?”

  “That’s right,” Matt answered.

  “If you’re lying and I find a hide-out gun . . .,”Smith began.

  “Let me tell you something once and for all.” Matt leaned against the wall, his knees threatening to turn to rubber. “I served a term as sheriff and I’ve ridden with a dozen posses. I’ve taken several men to the state pen, and I can honestly say I never met a man I wanted to kill as much as I do you. If I get a chance, I’ll do it with my bare hands, but not until I can do it without putting my family in danger. As long as they are in danger, I’ll do exactly what you tell me.”

  “Good,” Smith said. “I’m not concerned what you think of me or the safety of your family, but I am concerned about the success of our plan. We have worked on it too long to fail, now that we’re this close to succeeding.” He gestured toward the front room. “Wake Bud up and have him dress. Then bring him downstairs.”

  “How do you come to know so much about us?” Matt asked.