before the bullet took his head off was the hatred in my eyes.
Jenkins decided to make his play, too. He must have figured I was too distracted, or that my left hand would be slower with a rifle, but he was wrong. As soon as he cleared leather, I let loose the Spencer right into his chest. He toppled off the horse and fell to the ground, flat on his back. He didn’t die right off, though, and, as I stood over him, I could see he was trying to tell me something. I leaned closer.
“It were Reynold’s idea,” he gasped. “But Pierce and I was with him. Felt bad about the boy even if he were an Injun, but we was drunk. When the kid hit Reynolds, the other two kinda went loco. Couldn’t stop ’em.” He coughed.
“Pierce who?” I asked.
“Pierce held him while Reynolds knifed him clean through.” Jenkins was dripping blood from his nose and his breathing was much heavier.
“What about the other one…Evans?” I asked.
“Pete? Talks too much. Weren’t even there, just us three. We met Evans a year later.” He was breathing so bad I was barely able to understand what he was saying.
“Where can I find this Pierce now? And what about later on? Tell me about the EH brand on Reynold’s horse, and about the herd you rustled,” I asked, but it was no use. I was talking to a dead man.
Chapter Thirteen
When Pete Evans finally came to, he found himself flat on his back with both arms and legs bound firmly to the stakes I’d driven into the ground while he was unconscious. I’d found some pigging strings in the saddlebags, the rawhide straps that cowboys use to tie cattle. It was a sure bet that, if a steer can’t break free from them, Pete sure as hell wouldn’t.
About ten feet off to his right and facing him lay the bodies of Reynolds and Jenkins. Evans awoke to find ants crawling on his face and chest.
After only a second or two, he started yapping.
“What’s going on? Get me outta here. Untie me.” He wasn’t screaming yet, that came later. For now he was just jittery.
As for me, I couldn’t have been more relaxed. The hour I’d spent whittling in the shade of that tree had a nice calming effect, until Evans woke up, that is. After that he never shut up, whining the whole time. I let him go on for a while. Before I really went to work on him, I thought I’d give him a chance to confess on his own.
“Well, Pete,” I said quietly. “Seems like you three were involved in a little rustling a short time back. Why don’t you tell me all about it. Start with where the herd is now, who’s behind it, and finish with who ambushed that scout just before the raid.”
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” he said. “Any horses got stole warn’t by me. Maybe it was those two.” He nodded toward the bodies. “Hell, I just met them, don’t even know ’em that good.”
“Then how’d you know I was talking about horses? I didn’t mention it. Most folks around here would have thought I meant a herd of cattle.”
“Uh, I just guessed,” he answered unconvincingly.
I decided to speed things up a little. Taking out my Bowie knife, I bent over quickly and slashed his forearm.
“Damn, what’s that for?” he screamed.
“Ants love fresh blood. Ever see them after they finish with a body, Pete? Isn’t a pretty sight. And in case you’re wondering why you’re itching so much, you happen to be lying over an ant hill. It’s a well-known Apache cure for lyin’ and thievin’.”
“Get me outta here. I swear I didn’t rob those Mexes.” More ants began crawling around on his face, and he was struggling hard against his straps.
“Whoa, wrong answer, hoss. I didn’t say anything about who the herd belonged to. But now that you mention it, Pete, there is a whole pack of angry Mexican
I took a small piece of wood and measured it against his eyelids.
“What the hell you doing now? Are you loco? I can’t help you, honest.” Sweat poured down his forehead, stinging his eyes.
“I’m gonna prop your eyelids open with these here pieces of wood, like the Apaches do. I’m sure you can figure it out. With the sun as hot as it is, shouldn’t take more than an hour or two for you to go blind. You know, Pete, you might prefer to talk. Otherwise, I get to find out which drives a man crazy first, having his eyes burned out by the sun or being slowly eaten alive by ants. You mentioned a name during our card game. Davies, I think it was. Why don’t you start there.” I snapped a piece of wood for effect and he immediately began screaming.
“You’re right…Davies hired us, he hired the three of us. God, get these ants off of me.”
“Go on,” I said quietly.
“Comes from California, but he already knew all about that herd. Wants to take some fellow’s ranch away from him back home, and figured, if those horses ever got through to be sold, it would spoil things for him. So Davies had the herd rustled. His men are driving it west so he can sell the horses himself. Changed the brand, too. The three of us dropped out after the first part of the job was done ’cause Reynolds didn’t want to ride all the way back to California.”
“What did they change the brand to?” I asked.
“Four Box. Used a runnin’ wire to close off the old brand.”
That would be simple enough. With a hot wire you could close the top and bottom of the H and the side of the E to make two double boxes. Hence, the 4 Box brand.
“How’d he know when the herd was coming?”
“Someone tipped him…telegraph, I think…but I swear I don’t know who. Now untie me!”
I ignored his pleas. “Another thing. There was a man bushwhacked just before your gang hit the herd. Who did it?”
“It must have been Pierce. Luke Pierce. Reynold’s knew him from sometime back, they rode together I think. He’s Davies’s right-hand man now. All I knows is Pierce rode out ahead, and then came back later riding a different horse.”
“A Morgan bay?”
“Think so. Yeah, that’s right.”
“How do I recognize this Pierce fellow?” I asked.
“Sandy hair and moustache. Tall…about your height and size. Always wears two pistols butt forward. You know, crossdraw style.”
No wonder the Hernandez outfit thought me guilty! After convincing them to change directions, I’d disappeared, leaving them to face an ambush led by someone riding my horse. On top of that, with a hat and bandanna mask to hide his face, Pierce apparently could have easily been mistaken for me.
I got up and walked over to my horse, having already tied the others together.
“Hey, what about me?” Evans screamed.
“What about you?” I said as I saddled up.
“God, don’t leave me here. I can’t stand it.”
He was shaking his head frantically back and forth.
I laughed to myself a little before slowly answering. If he had only shut up and thought about it a while he’d have figured out something was wrong. Not enough ants for one thing.
“See, Pete, that ant hill you’ve been lying on’s been dead for quite some time. I just brought a few ants from over yonder to keep you company.”
“But you’re goin’ to leave me staked out here! I’ll die anyway.”
“You worry too much. Just keep on struggling and those pegs ought to work loose in a couple of hours. It’ll be
