A MATTER OF MURDER
Tonto the Indian was breaking a trail across Thunder Mountain where it
was said no horse could travel. In a cavern in Bryant's Gap, a Texas
Ranger tossed in the torture of fever and infection. In the Basin,
Penelope Cavendish ran to a house whose door had been chalked by Death.
Penny was slightly out of breath from running when she opened the door
of Becky's home. The place was of one room, with a cloth partition at
the far end shutting off the beds from view. Some of the children must
have been in bed, for there were only two in sight, both whimpering and
sweaty. The room was like an oven with heat from the stove and humidity
from the recent rain. Mort was scolding the uncomprehending baby in the
crib and the sobbing child who sat on the floor. Mort's presence was a
surprise. It must have been later than Penny had thought. He swung
toward his cousin.
"What do you want here?" he demanded.
"Becky invited me for dinner," lied Penny. "I hoped to get here in time
to help her." Brushing past Mort she said, "What can I do, Becky?"
The mother of many looked up with tired eyes from the stove.
"What's the use?" she said.
"For dinner!" Mort's voice was loud. "My, but ain't we gettin' to be the
class. Invitin' company for dinner." He snatched a big spoon from a
table and thrust it into a stew that was on the stove. "You call that
swill dinner? You'd come here an' eat the sort of truck she cooks?"
"Please be quiet a minute," said Penny.
Becky broke in. "'Tain't no use lyin' about it, Penny. Mort ain't no
fool, an' he knows yuh ain't come tuh eat. Yuh come thinkin' he'd whale
me again tuhnite because he catched me in yer room this mornin'. He
won't though--yuh needn't have no fear on that score."
Mort looked at Becky with a surprise that equaled Penny's. The tired
drudge returned his stare.
"I mean it," she said. The whimpering of the young ones ceased as they
became absorbed in the adult conversation. "I've been licked by you fer
the last time. Yuh beat me fer hearin' things t'other night, but that
beatin' ain't made me fergit what I heard. I know the kind of things
that's goin' on in this Basin."
"Yuh know too much," retorted Mort, advancing on his wife with clenched
fists. For an instant it looked as if the man were going to strike
Becky.
"Go ahead," cried Becky shrilly, "go on an' knock me down an' I'll see
to it that there ain't no slip-up the next time I try tuh put you an'
yer pack of wolves where yuh belong!"
Penny darted a quick look at the children. They seemed fascinated by the
argument between their parents. She felt the embarrassment the others
lacked the grace to feel. She was frightened for Rebecca, but Rebecca
was a changed personality who now seemed formidable.
"I thought the hull thing over, Mort Cavendish," went on Rebecca, her
dark eyes glowing with hatred and defiance. "I ain't nothin' tuh gain by
seein' the pack of you jailed. It don't matter tuh me if you an' Bryant
an' all the rest of yuh stay here or rot in jail." Her bosom rose and
fell quickly with the intensity of her outburst. "Or yuh c'n dangle at
the end of a rope. I wouldn't care. I've watched the lot of you
Cavendishes, with yer stuck-up 'holier-than-thou' ways. I'm sick of yuh,
but I aim tuh stay here just the same. You keep outen this house an'
leave me an' the children alone an' I'll keep my lips buttoned up as tuh
what I know about yuh! Lay hand on me again, an' this time yuh won't
have the chance tuh kill off them that comes fer yuh!"
Mort looked apoplectic, as rage made his face deep scarlet. He trembled
visibly with his effort to control himself.
"That's my bargain, Mort--as long as I c'n be rid of you by keepin'
quiet with what I know, I'm satisfied tuh go on livin' here an' doin'
the best I can tuh raise the young'uns. Take it or leave it."
Mort turned abruptly and strode from the house, banging the door closed.
"Pack of skunks," fumed Becky to no one in particular. "It makes me
sick, seein' the way they all think I ain't good enough fer 'em, while
every last one o' them is a thievin' killer, takin' orders from Bryant
himself!"
"Becky," said Penny, "you can say all you want to about Mort and Vince,
or even Wallie and Jeb--"
"Say all I want about anyone!" snapped Becky, with a fire she'd never
shown before.
"But when you call Uncle Bryant a crook, you're mistaken," continued the
girl, ignoring the interruption. "I know Uncle Bryant is stern, he's as
hard as a hickory knot, and he's unforgiving. He resents your being here
and he's been mighty mean to you, but he's not a crook!"
"If he ain't a crook, why does he let crooks hang out here? He ain't
blind, is he? And as for you, I don't want none of yore sympathy or
help, neither. Maybe I ain't no fancy education or high-falutin' clo'es,
an' my looks an' figger ain't what they was ten years ago, but I c'n
hold my head high afore anyone an' not have tuh admit that I got cousins
an' uncles that the law should o' hung some time ago."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Becky. Now calm down and get
that meal ready for the kids."
"I don't need you tuh tell me what tuh do," cried the infuriated woman.
"I done plenty of thinkin' since this mornin' when you the same as
laughed at me fer tryin' tuh warn yuh away from here. Yuh wouldn't
believe that this Basin is a hellhole, reekin' with murder plans. All
right, don't believe me. I know what I heard in the cottonwoods, an' I
heard aplenty. I was a fool tuh send word tuh Captain Blythe o' the
Texas Rangers. All it got me was a beatin' an' all the Rangers done was
tuh git themselves killed off. 'Stead o' tellin' what I know, I'll keep
it private an' make that polecat husband of mine leave me alone tuh save
his neck. I reckon he'll keep outen my sight now, all right. He knows
that I can fetch the law here any time I want."
Glass from the window crashed in before the sound of the shot reached
Penny's ears. She instinctively knew it was a forty-five slug that tore
through the window. Her startled half cry of alarm and surprise choked
in her throat as she saw Rebecca spin halfway around from the impact of
the lead and stagger giddily for several seconds. Then Penny clutched
her about the waist and tried to guide her to a chair. Becky's mouth
dropped open, her hand clutched her breast, and she stared unbelievingly
at the red that seeped between her fingers.
"Easy now," said Penny, "take it easy, Becky." The slim girl found the
woman surprisingly heavy to support. She was compelled to ease her to
the floor. She was only vaguely aware of the cries that came from the
older children, who raced from beyond the curtains.
"It--it don't hurt much," faltered Becky. "I--I should o' knowed better.
Mort ... Mort's the one ... mebbe now you'll believe...." Her voice was
weak, so weak that Penny could barely understand what she was saying.
Rebecca's body trembled convulsively. Her eyelids fluttered, then
opened wide, and her dark eyes looked at Penny with a glaze over them.
"Now," she began slowly, "now you'll believe this Basin is a nest o'
killers." The tired eyes closed. Penny lowered the woman's head and felt
for a pulse she knew was gone. The children crowded around, wide-eyed
and unbelieving. The oldest boy said:
"Now Maw won't have tuh be hurt by Pa no more."
At the brave look in the pinched, small face, Penny choked up. She
gathered the lad to her. "No, Billy, Maw won't have any more pain of any
sort, and don't you worry. I'm going to take care of you little
fellows."
She would have said more, but another crash from outside interrupted.
She raced for the window through which the previous bullet had come, and
saw a startling sight. Mort Cavendish was clawing at his throat and
staggering like a drunken man. But only for an instant. Then his legs
caved as he crumpled to the ground.
Penny ran from the house and splashed through the puddles on the ground
to where Mort lay. Yuma, running from another direction, reached the
fallen man at about the same time.
"Stand back," he said. "I'll tend tuh things." He rolled Mort over. The
wound in the neck, just beneath the jawbone, was still clasped by the
hand of the unconscious man. Red moisture seeped between his fingers.
Yuma drew a bandanna from his pocket, then paused as he looked again at
Penny. "I told yuh tuh stand back," he said. "I got tuh have a look at
this wound."
"Go on and have a look," snapped the girl. "Feel his pulse and see if
he's still alive."
"He's livin', all right, but you vamoose--this mayn't be a pleasant
sight tuh see."
"What do you take me for, a sissy? Pull his hand away, and let's see how
badly he's hurt."
Yuma nodded, muttering beneath his breath. Penny noticed that the big
cowboy was now fully composed and at ease. He seemed competent and
direct in manner. His flustered embarrassment of the corral was gone. He
examined the wound with a skill that showed familiarity with such
things. Though it bled profusely, Yuma said, "Just grazed him. I reckon
he'll live without no trouble."
"If he lives, he'll hang! He's murdered Becky," said Penny flatly. "And
I hope he lives."
Yuma, holding the bandanna against the wound, looked at the girl and
spoke with an exasperating drawl.
"Maybe you ain't heard straight, Miss Penny, but I tried tuh tell you a
little while ago that they don't hang killers in this Basin. What they
do is tuh hire 'em an' sleep 'em an' eat 'em an' keep 'em hid so's the
law cain't git at 'em."
Penny chose to let the speech pass for the time being. There were other
things that needed attention. Yuma looked at the wound and commented,
"Maybe I better put a tourniquet around his neck tuh stop the bleedin'."
"A tourniquet would strangle him," advised Penelope.
Yuma nodded. "I know it."
Vince came running to investigate the shots, with Jeb ambling behind.
"Who done it, who shot him?" demanded Vince in a loud voice. He elbowed
Yuma to one side and bent to examine the wound. "Better git him tuh the
house; there's more room there than here in the shack." Yuma nodded
silently. "Well, go on," snapped Vince. "Pick him up an' carry him to
Bryant's house."
Penny watched the blond Yuma lift Mort off the ground as if he had been
a baby. He tossed him over one shoulder as he might have done with a
sack of flour and walked toward the house, followed by Vince. Penny
turned abruptly and bumped into Jeb, who stood close behind her.
"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry. I've got to get back to Becky's and take
care of the children."
Jeb nodded. "What o' Becky?" he asked.
"Mort killed her. I don't know who shot Mort."
Jeb said, "Bryant himself done it. He's standin' on the porch with a
rifle right now, watchin' what goes on."
Penny looked and found this to be true.
"His shootin' Mort gives me cause fer a heap more thinkin'," went on the
leanest of the Cavendish men. "I figgered I had it all thought out, but
this comes up an' throws me off. Men with eyes that ain't no good can't
shoot a rifle."
"I've got to go to the poor children."
"Wait, Penelope." Jeb gripped the girl's arm, and lowered his voice.
"This is the start," he said mysteriously. "But it ain't the finish.
Bryant is fixin' tuh wear a shroud, too."