step nearer, boy,' he warned someone, 'and there'll be a hole in your
chest where your heart used to be.'
'Who in the blazes are you!' von Heusen thundered, losing his control.
'A friend.'
'A friend! Well, listen here, you red-faced monkey. The Smarts are dead.
They were attacked by Comanche or ' Apache?' Jon interrupted. She could
hear something cold and dangerous in his voice.
'Tell me, which Apache?
Which Apache do you think did it? Or don't you know? I'll tell you, I'm
damned sure it wasn't any Apache. Apache, any Apache, make war, or they
go raiding. They make war to 'take death from their enemies.' They raid
to fill their bellies. I haven't met an Apache yet who would leave dead
cattle scattered with the corpses of men.'
'Who the hell knows or cares what Apache!' von Heusen thundered.
'It doesn't matter. Maybe it was Comanche' -- 'Running River denies it.'
'There are more tribes of Comanche!' 'Yes, there are,' Jon said softly.
'But the Comanche know what doin too.
it to man.
'Of course, the whites have been scalping for a long time now. I read
somewhere that they started scalping way back in the east in the sixteen
hundreds. But still. White men in a hurry do a sloppy job. Neither a
Comanche nor an Apache would do a sloppy job. No matter what his hurry.'
'Takes an Inj un to know I' someone muttered.
'Maybe we ought to string him up. Who knows? Maybe he's some renegade in
charge of the party that did it himself!' von Heusen said.
'Let's hang him!'
'Let's see you try!' Jon said very softly. 'Hold it! Hold it!' von
Heusen said.
'Now listen, Joe Smart and his family are dead. And this property is'
going to go up for public auction. Now I have' -- Tess had taken his
statement as her cue. She threw open the door and stepped onto the porch
behind Jon.
'Correction, von Heusen. I am not dead.'
Even in the dusky light that sifted down from the moon and the stars,
Tess could see the startled look that flashed briefly across yon
Heusen's features.
He was a lean man, tall, spare. His features were almost cadaverous, his
cheekbones sucked in, his chin very long and pointed. His eyes were coal
black, and they seemed to burn from his skull. He sat atop his horse
well, though. Jon had his repeating rifle aimed right at his heart, and
von Heusen still sat casually, his hands draped over the pommel.
Around him were four of his men. He had about twenty hired guns on his
place. Only four of them were with him.
Tess didn't like it. He usually paid his visits with an escort of at
least eight to ten.
It made her wonder where the rest of his men might be. Von Heusen found
his voice at last.
'Why, Miss. Smart.
I am delighted to see you alive and well.'
