they’ll be a mess by the time we get there.” Pulling himself onto Kazys’s back, he added, “All we’ll need to do is say that Dutch told them to follow us and they’ll do it. Just mentioning a blood-hungry posse was enough to make a few of them twitch.”
Joseph climbed into his saddle and shook his head. “If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn you were enjoying yourself.”
The grin on Nick’s face was plain enough to see.
TWENTY-NINE
“You sure that other camp is up ahead?” Joseph asked.
“That’s what Bryce told me. I guess I should ask for that fellow Bertram. His name came up a few times.”
Joseph nodded and rode ahead into the shadows. The landscape had thinned out to more desert than trees, reminding him of the open spaces that had surrounded his own ranch. It was easier to think of his place as simply gone rather than how it was when he’d last seen it. Picturing those charred frames and trampled grounds only made it harder for him to stand patiently at Nick’s side when he did his fast-talking.
The moment they glimpsed the fires of the second camp, both men saw there was a difference between it and the other one.
“That camp’s bigger,” Joseph said. “A lot bigger.”
“Yeah,” Nick replied. “It sure is. I’d say double the size of the other one. Maybe more.”
“Two of them are headed this way.”
Nick patted the modified Schofield strapped across his belly. “I see ’em.”
“You think you can talk your way through this?”
“I can give it a try. If not, be ready.”
Joseph gave a quick nod rather than say anything out loud. The approaching pair of riders was already close enough for them to be heard over the rumble of the horses’ hooves.
The moment Nick picked up the motion of the men reaching for their guns, he whistled the signal as clearly as he could. Although the men eased up a little bit, they kept their hands near their weapons.
“Who the hell are you two?” the first man asked as he came to a stop directly in front of Nick.
“We just rode in from San Trista to pick up the girls that were brought here. They’re due back in town. We stopped at the other camp and were told to pass along a message to you fellas.”
The second rider stopped in front of Joseph and said, “Who sent the message?”
“His name’s Bryce,” Nick said. “He told us to let out those whistles so you wouldn’t gun us down.”
The first rider’s hand closed a bit tighter around his pistol. “We ain’t gunned down anyone bringing us whores yet.”
“I need to tell you about a posse headed this way,” Nick said with just the right amount of nervousness in his voice. “The men at the other camp already packed up and headed to an old fort northeast of here. They’re scouting ahead and clearing the way in case those Federals manage to find the place.”
“Federals?”
Noticing that the men were eyeing him suspiciously, Joseph spoke up. “Some of the local law around here are riding with a cavalry division on the hunt for rustlers.”
Judging by the looks on their faces, the riders bought into the story just as well as the previous men. There was a mix of suspicion and confusion on their faces, but not enough to make Nick worry. Finally, the first one told his partner, “You start getting everyone around and I’ll go check with Bertram.”
“We’ll come with you,” Nick said. “We do still need to collect them whores.”
“There’s only one here, but she may not be ready to go. You’ll tell Bertram the rest.”
Nick and Joseph followed the first rider deeper into the camp while the second rider started making his rounds at all the smaller tents. Within the space of a few seconds, preparations were being made to move out. It was plain to see that the men were ready to break camp at the first signal.
The tent where the first rider stopped was separated from the others by about twenty yards. It was larger than the rest, but still not quite big enough for anyone to stand up inside. Judging by the heavy breathing coming from it, the two people in there weren’t worried about standing up.
“Bertram,” the rider grunted as he swung down from his saddle. “Someone’s here to see you.”
The rustling inside the tent continued and was soon followed by a woman’s giggling. By this time, Nick and Joseph were also on their feet and keeping an eye on the rest of the camp. The few men there were tossing supplies onto the backs of horses and starting to wander to the west.
“I’m already seein’ someone,” Bertram replied from inside the tent. “A whole lot of someone.”
“It’s important.”
Bertram muttered a few quick words to the woman in the tent with him before crawling out and tugging his pants up over his waist. “What the hell’s the problem that it’s important enough to drag me outta that lady in there?” he asked amid the stench of his liquor-soaked breath.
“These two say we gotta pick up and head north.”
Bertram was still fidgeting with his belt and dealing with the playful hands that were trying to pull him back into the tent. When he finally took a moment to look at Nick and Joseph, he stopped and said, “Hey, I know you.”
Before Bertram could react, Nick drew his gun with a flick of his hand. The modified Schofield cleared leather and was aimed at the head of the rider who’d escorted Nick and Joseph to the tent. Meanwhile, Joseph had his own pistol in hand and pointed it at Bertram’s face.
“Get in the tent,” Nick said under his breath. Jamming the gun in their escort’s ribs, he added, “And do it real quick.”
The rider sighed and hunkered down so he could fit through the tent’s front flap. Nick removed the gun from the rider’s holster and shoved him into the tent with the heel of his boot. The rider fell face first onto a pile of blankets that were bundled up between a busty redhead’s legs. She scooted to the back of the tent and tried to take the blanket with her, but her legs were too weighed down for her to budge. With one foot snagged under the blanket, she draped one arm over her generous breasts and the other across her lower half.
Bertram kept his eyes on Joseph and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know you. You’re that rancher from California.”
Joseph’s eyes were narrowed and seething with rage.
“Van Meter? Ain’t that your name?” Bertram asked.
Nick busied himself with tying up the rider with whatever he could find. The woman’s skirts weren’t being used at the moment, so he quickly knotted them around the man’s wrists. “You,” Nick said to the woman. “Tie up his ankles. And you,” he said, looking at Bertram, “shut your mouth.”
“I’d suggest you do what he says,” Joseph said quietly.
Bertram ran the tip of his tongue along his upper lip. “I remember your wife a whole lot more than I remember you. She tasted real good. I buried this tongue of mine so far into—”
Joseph lunged forward like a rattlesnake. He kept himself more or less upright with one hand braced against the ground inside the tent as he shoved the barrel of his gun against Bertram’s chest. When he pulled his trigger, only a muffled thump could be heard.
The woman’s eyes grew wide as saucers and her mouth dropped open when she saw Bertram’s body flail under the point-blank gunshot. Nick’s free hand shot out to clamp over her mouth and he leaned forward far enough to wind up on top of her.
The man at the wrong end of Nick’s gun had been shoved halfway outside the tent and had somehow pulled up half the stakes along the way. As the dirty canvas settled on top of them, Joseph pulled his trigger again. The sound of the gunshot was absorbed by Bertram’s chest in the same way that the redhead’s scream was absorbed by the palm of Nick’s hand.
Nick kept his gun pointed at the other man. “What’s your name?” he asked.
The confused look on the man’s face only got worse as Nick thumbed back the hammer of his Schofield.
