“Go help your pa with the wagons. We want to be ready when the time comes.”
“You’re going somewhere?” Fargo asked.
“No.”
Fed up, Fargo wheeled. His gaze drifted to the rope corral and for a second he thought he was seeing things. “My horse!” he blurted.
“How’s that?” Martha said, her attention on the oatmeal.
“How did my horse get here?”
“Oh. Lester brought it in. Seems he found your animal tied to a tree somewhere and you were nowhere around.”
Fargo was halfway to the rope corral when it hit him. He had left the Ovaro in the woods near the canyon. If Lester had been there, then Lester must know where Gore was. But why hadn’t Lester said anything? He pushed down on the rope and stepped over. As he was patting the stallion’s neck someone coughed to get his attention.
It was Lester. He was holding a shotgun. And Lester was pointing the shotgun at him. Harvey and another farmer flanked Lester, both with rifles. “I’ll have to ask you to come out of there and over to my wagon.”
“What the hell is this?”
“I must insist,” Lester said. “It’s for your own good. Harvey, here, will relieve you of that six-shooter. Then if you do as we say, there won’t be any trouble.”
“Don’t,” Fargo said.
“It’s for your own good.” Lester motioned with the shotgun. “I don’t have a lot of time to argue. Victor and Mr. Rinson might be here sooner than we think, and we don’t want you to cause trouble for us.”
“Damn you.”
“I’m sorry. I truly am. But you’re too headstrong. I’m afraid Gore will come riding in and you’ll put lead into him before he can open his mouth.”
“It would be best for everyone if I did.” Fargo doubted Lester would shoot but all it would take was an involuntary twitch of Lester’s trigger finger and he would be blown in half. His arms out from his sides, he moved to the rope.
“No tricks, now,” Lester warned.
Harvey relieved Fargo of the six-gun and stepped back. The third farmer pushed on the rope so Fargo could step over it. As they crossed the circle, others gathered to watch. Not a shred of sympathy showed on a single face, except Rachel’s. She came over as Fargo was forced at shotgun-point to sit with his back to the wheel.
“Must we, Pa?”
“It’s for the best.”
“But he’s our friend.”
“You know what’s at stake, girl. It can’t be helped.”
“What can’t be helped?” Fargo asked.
No one answered him.
A couple of men came forward with rope and went to tie him to the wheel but Lester intervened. “If Gore and Rinson see him tied up, they’ll wonder why. And they can’t be the least bit suspicious or it won’t work.”
Fargo tried again. “What won’t work?”
“Tell him,” Martha said.
“Not now, dear,” Lester replied.
“Tell him. He has a right to know. You’ve used him as you used those others.”
Lester smiled down at Fargo. “She doesn’t approve of what we’re about to do. Fact is, she’s objected from the start.”
“The start of
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Lester’s voice was thick with pride. “We’ve known about the gold since Fort Bridger. My son likes to sneak around and listen to people, and he heard Gore and Rinson talking one night. This was before Gore came to me and mentioned the valley.”
Fargo was stunned. “You’ve known all along? Then why did you let them lead you here? Why did you let them use you?”
“You’ve got it backwards. They didn’t use us.
Fargo stared at the dozens of faces staring at him, and what he saw reflected on many of them made him half sick. “Dear God.”
“That’s right,” Lester crowed. “Victor Gore is in for a surprise. He came all this way and went to all that trouble for nothing. We’re helping ourselves to the gold. And anyone who tries to stop us is as good as dead.”
20
Victor Gore and Rinson and their companions rode into the valley along about ten. They were smiling and friendly and greeted the farmers with “Morning!” and nods. None of them noticed that most of the women were gathered at the opposite end of the circle with the children under their wing, or if they did notice, they thought nothing of it. And none noticed that two burly farmers with rifles stood on either side of Fargo. In fact, all the farmers had rifles and shotguns, and four of the women, besides. One of those women was Rachel.
Lester had the revolver they had taken from Fargo wedged under his belt, covered by his jacket so none of the “protectors” could see it. Spreading his arms, he beamed and said, “Victor! Where have you been? We were getting worried.”
Victor Gore tiredly leaned on his saddle horn. “We’ve been scouring the countryside for those savages. We found where they had camped and tracked them for miles but never could catch up with them.”
“That’s a shame,” Lester said. “If you had thrashed them, it would teach those heathens to leave us be.”
“My thinking exactly.” Gore straightened and gazed about the circle. His eyes fell on Fargo and he stiffened. “What’s this? Where did he come from?”
“He showed up late last night,” Lester said. “He tried to feed me some cock-and-bull story. For your sake, I had him disarmed.”
“My sake?” Gore repeated.
“He tried to convince me that you are out to harm us. Can you believe it? I refused to listen to his nonsense. But I was afraid he might shoot you, so I took his six-shooter away from him.”
“You did good,” Gore complimented him. “And don’t worry. Mr. Rinson and I know exactly how to deal with him.”
“I thought you might.”
Only Fargo seemed to be aware that the farmers and the armed women were slowly and casually drifting closer to the riders, and had them surrounded. Fargo shifted, and a rifle muzzle poked him in the side.
“Keep still,” Harvey warned. “It’s for your own good.”
“It will be a bloodbath,” Fargo said quietly. “Is that what you want?”
“We have surprise on our side,” Harvey said while grinning to give the impression they were having a friendly talk.
“You’re fools.”
“Can’t you understand how much that gold means to us?” Harvey whispered. “None of us have ever had a chance like this. To have more money than any of us have ever seen. Think of all the things we can do for our families.”
“You’re not doing it for them. You’re doing it for the same reason Gore came back here. For the same reason Gore and Rinson want all of you dead.” Fargo paused. “You’re doing it for greed.”
To his surprise, Harvey bobbed his chin. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe that’s all there is to it. But do you know what? I don’t care. Neither do most of the others. We want that gold and we will have it.”
