“Yuh say Cultus Collins lost this here note at yore ranch?”
Bad News Buker studied it thoughtfully, while Harry Kelton sat on his
horse against the edge of the sidewalk in front of Bad News’s office.
“Padre Canyon, eh?” mused Bad News. “Blaze has information for him, eh?
Wonder what in hell Blaze wants to tell him?”
Bad News lifted his eyes from the note and looked at Harry. “Might be a
chance to grab Blaze, eh?”
“That’s what I thought, when I brought it to yuh.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And Collins will be away from there before you ever get a chance to
catch Blaze, if yuh don’t hurry.”
“That’s right. Wait’ll I get my horse, and you can go with me.”
“Why not swear in a posse?”
“Nope. If I can’t get him alone, I’ll never get him. All a damn’ posse
is good for is to offer advice and kick about things.”
Harry was willing to ride with him, and they left town as soon as Bad
News could saddle his horse.
“Collins must be in cahoots with Blaze,” offered Harry as they pounded
along the road.
“I ain’t offerin’ any thoughts on the matter, Harry. Mostly always I’m
wrong. I don’t sabe Collins no more than you do. Said he was here to
find a stolen horse, but he ain’t looked for no horse; not that I’ve
seen. I figure he’s just a lazy buckaroo with some money, and he’ll
stick here as long as his money lasts. But don’t never git yore mind in
such a condition that yuh might think for a minute that he ain’t forked.
Pass all such thoughts, pardner, because that lean, hungry-lookin’ waddy
is much man.”
“I ain’t choosin’ him for trouble,” grinned Harry. “What he done to
Alden Marsh and Butch Van Deen was plenty warnin’ to me. I reckon
they’ve laid off him since then. Seems to me that Alden Marsh is kinda
layin’ off the booze lately.”
“Well, he ain’t such a familiar sight as he was for a while. Mebbe the
old man has kinda blocked his parade. We better turn off here and head
north, I reckon. Better travellin’ than it is farther on this way.”
“All right,” and they swung off the road. Then, “Who do yuh think helped
Blaze rob the bank that night?”
“Pardner,” grimly, “if thinkin’ got me anywhere I’d be right where I
started from. I reckon Buck Gillis hired me for a deputy because he felt
sorry for the cows around here; and now I’ve got hoodled into the
sheriff’s boots, which fit me jist like a sixteen collar would fit a
rattler. I can crawl right through my job and never touch sides, bottom
or top. Some of these damn’ fools around here seem to think that all
you’ve got to do is pin a star on yore vest, and yuh immediate becomes
wise as hell. Yeah, I’m wise, y’betcho; wise to the fact that I don’t
know anythin’ about my job.”
“If yuh catch Blaze Nolan, you’ll have a reputation, Bad News.”
“Sure, I will. Then they’ll hang Blaze, won’t they? Uh-huh. And all my
life I’ll think about it--think how damn’ easy I could have kept from
catching him. Legal murder.”
“That’s queer talk from a sheriff.”
“Yo’re just like the rest of ’em, Harry. I may wear a star and have
folks call me sheriff; but I’m jist Bad News Hennery Buker, the same as
I was.”
“Then what are yuh goin’ out here for?”
“Keepin’ up appearances, I s’pose.”
“Meanin’ that yuh wouldn’t arrest Blaze Nolan?”
“You take that out and bury it, will yuh? Of course I’ll arrest him--if
I catch him.”
“Buck Gillis wouldn’t hesitate to arrest him.”
“So I noticed. There’s Padre Canyon ahead. That note said for Collins to
meet him at the mouth of the canyon, eh? Mebbe we better go kinda easy
from now on.”
They angled their way silently along for the last quarter of a mile to
the entrance of the canyon. Very little stock ever ranged in Padre
Canyon, and it just happened that they struck the spot where both Cultus
and Jane had ridden in. Bad News pointed at the marks in the sand.
“Tracks of two horses,” he said. “Look kinda fresh, too; and they’re
both headin’ the same way. You keep an eye on the tracks, while I keep
my chin up, ’cause this ain’t no place to get caught.”
They trailed in slowly, following the tracks. There was not a sign of
life, not even the circling buzzards. The sun had passed the head of the
canyon now, and the pinnacles threw their long, purple shadows across
the depths.
“This damn’ place is like a tomb,” growled Bad News. “It always makes me
feel how small I am. I’d like to take some of the big men I’ve heard
about, and set ’em down in the middle of this place. I reckon God
A’mighty made places like these jist to show yuh how danged
insignificant yuh really are.”
“Whoo!” snorted Harry.
He was out of his saddle quickly, and Bad News was not far behind him.
Almost blocking their trail was the body of Jane’s brown mare, and fifty
feet away, piled on its head, was Cultus Collins’s horse.
Harry dropped on his knees beside the brown mare, while Bad News hunched
down on his heels, scanning the surroundings.
“This is Jane’s horse and saddle,” said Harry in a hoarse whisper. “Been
shot twice, Bad News. Broken hind leg and a bullet through its head. My
God, what happened around here, anyway?”
“That’s Collins’s horse,” replied Bad News, pointing a lean finger at
the animal beyond. “Neck busted square off. I reckon we got here too
late for the party.”
“But what would Jane be doing here? She was at the ranch when I left
there.”
Bad News wiped a sleeve across his sweaty face.
“Did she read that note?” he asked.
“No. Dad read it aloud, and she might have heard it. But what difference
would that make?”
“Not bein’ a woman, and never havin’ been engaged, I’d hate to try for
an answer on that one.”
“Do you think she came to see Blaze Nolan?”
“You know what I think about my own thinkin’, Harry. Let’s see what we
can find around here.”
But the signs were not plain to either of them, because the ground was
too hard to retain a footprint. They circled the horses, trying to pick
up tracks, but the ground told them nothing; so they came back to their
horses, where they stood and scanned the cliffs on both sides.
“Shore beats me,” said Bad News wearily. “I reckon we better hightail
back to yore ranch and see if yore father knows anythin’ about it. If he
don’t, we’ll get a gang of men and search the canyon. There’s somethin’
queer about this. Blaze Nolan ain’t the kind to invite a man to see him,
and then bushwhack him.”
Harry took one last circle of the place, but was unable to pick up any
tracks; so he came back to his horse and they rode out of the canyon.
Bad News looked at his watch and back at the portals of the canyon, as
he said, “We’re shore stuck for time. By the time I can get back to
Medicine Tree and organise a searchin’ party and get back here, it’ll be
dark. We’d look well, searchin’ Padre Canyon with a lantern.”
“We’ll see what dad knows, before we make it look too bad. C’mon!”