“Yeah,” Nat lied. “Yeah, you got him, Lou.”
“You boys pass the word,” Lou said. “I kilt Walt Webster. You’ll do that for me, won’t you?”
“Yeah,” Mack said, suddenly realizing that none of them were going to kill Ol’ Walt. None of them were going to come out of this rich. None of them were going to come out of it with anything at all. Except dead. He looked down into the wide open and shuddered, seeing nothing but the eyes of Lou Kennedy.
17
Smoke raised his head and narrowed his eyes at the sound of the shots. “Close,” he muttered, setting down his coffee cup. “No more than a mile. Probably less than that. Sound doesn’t carry well in this kind of weather. Two shots.”
“Does that mean something to you?” Gilbert asked.
“Sounded like pistol shots. Pistol’s a poor choice of weapon to use in an ambush.” He shook his head and stood up. “I don’t know what it means.” He picked up his rifle and checked it. “I’m heading over there to check it out. You people stay put and keep your heads down. Arm yourselves and be ready to use those weapons. And cut that fire back to coals to keep the smoke down.” He was gone before any could say a word of protest.
Leo, Mack and Nat opened up on Walt and Angel, knowing that from their position, they weren’t going to hit a thing. The body of Lou Kennedy lay on the cold ground behind them.
Smoke slipped through the timber, silently working his way toward the firing.
Walt and Angel lay on their bellies at the forest’s edge, not returning the fire; from their angle they would have about as much success hitting anything as those below them.
“We have, I think,” Angel said, a twinkle in his eyes, “a Norte Americano stand-off, hey, Walt?”
Walt smiled at the play-off of the expression. “You called it, partner.”
Smoke slipped to within a few yards of the men. It was almost full dark now and he could not make out their features. He knelt down behind a tree and listened to them talk when the gunfire from below stopped.
“That loco German is going to kill everybody he thinks might know of his plan,” Angel said. “Right, Walt?”
“That’s right, partner,” Walt replied. “That’s the way I see it.”
“But Al Hayre surely is out of the park and talking. So what is von Hausen’s reasoning behind this madness?”
“He ain’t reasonin’, Angel. He’s crazy. And so’s them fools with him.”
“I wonder if Jensen has put all this together?” Angel spoke softly.
“I ’magine he has. I just hope he can get clear and get any visitors out of this park. We’ve seen smoke from campfires from time to time. If von Hausen and that trash with him finds any campers ...” He trailed that off.
“They will kill them.”
“Yep. They shore will. Craziest mess I ever got myself mixed up in.”
“Stand easy, boys,” Smoke called softly. “I mean you no harm.”
Walt grunted. Without turning his head, he said, “Jensen?”
“Yes.”
“You’re as good as the talk makes you out to be. Ain’t nobody ever snuck up on me ’fore now. They’s three pretty bad ol’ boys down yonder ...”
A burst of gunfire made him pause for a moment.
“Fools,” Walt said when the firing had stopped. “They can’t hit us from their position. Leo Grant, Mack Saxton, and Nat Reed. Lou Kennedy was with them. I dropped him. You got to get clear, Jensen. You got to warn any in this park to get the hell gone.”
“I know,” Smoke told him. “I’ve got a bunch of park-people about a half mile from here right now. Are you Walt Webster?”
“Alive and still kickin’.”
“Angel Cortez,” the Mexican gunfighter said.
“You’re the two who wore the white handkerchiefs on your arms.”
“That’s us.”
“Stay where you are. Don’t get out of position and don’t fire in the outlaws’ direction. You might hit me. I’m going down there.”
“Well, if anybody can Injun up on them, you’re the one to do it.” He twisted around. “I ...”
But he was talking to emptiness. Smoke was already gone, moving like a deadly ghost through the timber.
Angel had also turned around. He shook his head in the cold darkness. “That is a bad man, amigo. I thank God that I had enough sense to see through von Hausen’s crazy game.”
“You and me both, partner.”
“Walt!” Mack called from below them. “Give it up, Walt. Join us and live. Von Hausen will take you back. You and Angel think about it. If you get out and talk, you’re signin’ our death warrants. Come on, men, what’d you say?”
