Arkansas Assault

“You’re serious about going?”

“Absolutely. In fact, I’m so serious about going, if you try and stop me, I’ll tell everybody I know what you’re up to. And word’ll get back to Noah and he’ll stop you one way or the other.”

“But that’s blackmail.”

“I never claimed to be virtuous, Sheriff. Just hard-working.”

It was clear that both of them thought that this could be a pretty good time to slide into each other’s arms. You could feel that kind of tension in the air. But it was also clear from the way they were restraining themselves that they weren’t about to give in to their impulse. This was business and a damned serious business at that.

“I’ll meet you at Simpson’s Ridge at nine o’clock tonight,” he said.

He tried to keep his voice free of the fear he felt. He just kept thinking of what those dogs could do to a man. Or worse, to a woman.

17

The settlement, such as it was, consisted of two large log cabins made from the wood of the dense forest that comprised ninety-five percent of the island. Additionally, there was a long dog run made of heavy timber, one half of it roofed and sided with wood so the animals could avoid getting soaked when it rained. A tall, rugged post stood in the middle of the clearing. The blood that soaked it indelibly made it obvious that this was the sort of whipping post plantation owners used for their disobedient slaves.

A tall, sinewy man with a bullwhip dangling from his right hand, stood near the whipping post watching as Fargo and Aaron were led, still shackled wrist and ankle, out of the forest and into the clearing.

Burgade said to Ekert, “Couple real fine specimens. Should make Noah pretty happy.”

“You know Noah,” Ekert said in a sour tone. “Nothing makes him happy.”

Burgade laughed. “Old Noah gnawing on that bony ass of yours again?”

“You damned right.” Then, looking at the cabin to his left: “Them gals in there?”

“Yeah. Sleepin’. I made ’em run all night. Make sure they were all ready for Noah when he gets here.”

“He isn’t gonna keep ’em anymore, huh?”

A sly grin on Burgade’s face. “Nope. They’re almost twenty-two. You don’t want ‘old ladies’ like that hangin’ around, do ya?”

“They can hang around me all they want.”

“Me, too.”

Ekert said, “Well, I’ll be pushin’ off.”

“You hate it here, don’t you?”

“Place spooks me. I’m always afraid old Noah’s gonna put me on here someday.” He nodded goodbye and started walking away.

Fargo had listened to this with his usual curiosity, trying to figure out what exactly took place on the island. He didn’t know for sure. But he was starting to have a hunch and it was a terrifying thought. A man could get jaded when he had as much as Noah Tillman did. It got harder and harder to buy a thrill. Even big game hunting started to pall after a time.

That left only one kind of animal that could make a hunt truly worthwhile.

Fargo had drifted into his own thoughts when the lash of the whip trenched a line of fiery pain across his chest. The tip of the whip held a metal head.

Aaron got the same kind of lash.

“I thought I’d introduce myself,” Burgade said. “Deke Burgade. I run this little place for Noah Tillman.” He smiled with rotten teeth at Fargo. “I believe you’ve met him a few times in your travels.” He snapped the whip with lurid, dangerous grace. He was obviously impressed with himself and now he meant to impress them, too.

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Noah comes here to hunt. There’s a lot of wildlife in the forest. But he got tired of the same old thing. You know how rich people are, right, Aaron? They always need something new. And that’s how he came up with the idea of hunting humans. They present the greatest challenge. So every Fourth of July, Noah comes out here and has himself a real good time.”

Aaron said, “He’s crazy. This is the most inhumane thing I’ve ever heard of.”

“It may be,” Burgade said, “but at least it’s fun. There’s nothing like hunting people. Noah’s let me join the festivities from time to time. And this year, he’s throwing the two gals into the mix.”

“What gals?” Fargo said.

“Two of the most beautiful sisters you’ve ever seen. And not just their faces—their bodies, too. They look like something a fella’d dream about.”

“Where’d they come from?”

“They was visiting town a couple of years ago and I thought they’d be perfect as a surprise for old Noah. I grabbed ’em myself. Brought them here.”

“I’ll bet that made them happy.”

“You’ve got a tongue on you, Fargo.” He paused. “I take extra special care of them. Noah wants me to. They’ve got good food, they keep themselves clean in the lake about a quarter mile from here, and they sure get plenty of exercise. Even here they’ve got their vanity. They know they’re beautiful and they want to stay that way. Even if they don’t have the freedom they once did.”

Fargo nodded to the empty dog run. “Where’re the animals?”

Burgade shrugged. “I let ’em roam most of the day. They make sure that nobody comes ashore who isn’t supposed to be here.”

“I don’t suppose anybody’s ever escaped from this place,” Fargo said.

“Oh, they’ve tried, Mr. Fargo. In fact, I believe you knew Daisy. Well, the poor girl’s brother was here for less than half a day. He tried to escape. Almost made it to the water before Demon and Devil got hold of him.”

“Them being two of the dogs, of course.”

“Of course, Mr. Fargo.”

“This can’t go on much longer,” Aaron said. “Tom Tillman’s already curious about this island. He’ll start to investigate.”

Burgade smiled. “I don’t think old Noah is real worried about anything young Tom might do. Tom’s a good local lawman. But there’s no way he could ever outsmart Noah and get on this island. And until he does that, everything he hears falls into the category of rumor and gossip.”

Then he led them to their prison, the one disguised as a friendly-looking log cabin.

Noah Tillman said, “I’ll be leaving in a couple of hours, Manuel.”

“Yessir.”

“I want all my hunting gear laid out. I’ll take care of the guns myself.”

“Yessir.”

Noah laughed. “Maybe I can do better than last year.”

“Three men in six hours. I don’t know how much better you can get than that. They’d gotten to know the island pretty well.”

Last year, Noah had given Burgade permission to set the three men loose in the island for a week in advance. It wasn’t difficult to shoot somebody who’d never seen the terrain before. And the more difficult, the better. The prisoners had taken advantage of Noah’s largesse. They’d led him a hell of a merry chase. They’d found every cave, every gulley, every tall, lush tree on the island. And then he’d made it even more difficult for himself by limiting his hunting time to six hours. And yet he’d managed to locate and kill every one of them.

This year, given the late arrival time of Fargo and Aaron, he’d instructed Burgade to give them several extra considerations. They probably wouldn’t appreciate what Noah was doing for them—making the thing as sportsmanlike as possible—but Burgade thought they were being coddled and treated far too well. But then, when it came right down to it, Burgade was one sadistic sonofabitch.