Страница 59 из 78
Ty tried to speak and found he had no voice. Ja
"You can't stay," Ty said hoarsely.
It was as though he hadn't spoken. Ja
"He's speakin' God's truth," Mad Jack said. "You can't stay here, gal. Not no more. I been thinkin' about that, too. Spent a lot of time on it. A lot of my gold belongs to you."
"Don't be ridic-" began Ja
"No, young'un," Mad Jack said, cutting across her objections. "You jest button up and listen to an old man what's seen more of this here world's good an' bad than you have. Your pappy gave me money more times than either of us counted."
"And you've given us gold as long as I can remember," Ja
Mad Jack grunted. "What about the time you found me all broke up at the bottom of a gulch and you set my bones and patched me up and you were no more than a kid in men's britches? You saved my life, you keep my stomach from eatin' a hole in itself, and you listen to my stories no matter how often I tell 'em. Half my gold is yours and that's flat. Should of give it to you years ago so you could get out and get a life for yourself, but I liked knowin' there was one soul in this godforsaken land that wouldn't kill me for my gold."
"Thank you, but I enjoyed your company as much as you enjoyed mine," Ja
"You ain't been listening, gal. It ain't safe for you here no more." Mad Jack turned to Ty. "Beggars can't be choosers, son. I got a proposition. You be willin' to listen?"
"I'm willing."
"This here gal is game, but game ain't go
Ty's whole body changed subtly, as though Cascabel himself had just appeared at the slot entrance to the valley. Mad Jack measured the change and smiled beneath his ragged beard; Ty might not be Ja
"Well, she was right about the honor," Mad Jack said. "An' I'll take her word about the rest of you bein' man enough. Here's the deal, son. You get her out of here and to a safe place, and my gold with her, and a quarter of my gold is yours."
"Keep your money, old man," Ty said savagely. "I'll get Ja
Mad Jack chewed for a few moments, turned aside and spat a brown stream into the grass. Turning back, he wiped his beard on his frayed shirtsleeves.
"Suit yerself. Just so's you get her shuck of this place, and my gold with her. She'll need her quarter so's she won't have to marry no mean lard-butt town widower nor sell her company to strangers just to put beans on the table."
"I'm not going to leave just because you-" Ja
"Shut yer mouth, gal," Mad Jack said, giving her a fierce glare. "You ain't dumb so don't get to actin' like it. Only reason Cascabel ain't caught you is he ain't took a hard notion before now. Well, he done been took somethin' fierce. Long as that evil son of a rattlesnake is alive, this country ain't safe for chick nor child."
Ja
"Dead sure. Sound carries right good in some of these canyons. He bragged on his intentions to Ned."
"The saloon keeper?" Ty asked. "What was he doing with Cascabel?"
"Sellin' rifles, same as always. But don't worry, son. He won't be doin' it no more. He upped the ante once too often. Cascabel took Ned's rifles, then he took his liver, lights and hair."
Ja
Mad Jack turned aside, spat and straightened, pi
"No."
"Better get to it, son. Man on foot carryin' gold ain't go
Chapter Thirty-Five
"My God." Ty knelt in the dirt and gritty dust of the ruins and looked up at Ja
Ty lifted the bags and stood with a grunt of effort. Ja
Man on foot carryin' gold ain't go
"You can't take it all," Ja
"Doesn't weigh much more than you," Ty said, "but dead weight is the hardest kind to carry." He shook his head in continuing disbelief. "When I get back to camp and get my hands on that crazy old man, I'm going to ask him how the hell he got these saddlebags into the valley."
"Maybe he's been bringing the gold in a poke at a time."
Ty grunted. "If so, he didn't leave any more tracks between here and the slot than the wind. Anyhow, it doesn't matter. I'm not taking a quarter of his gold and he's not staying behind to get spitted and roasted by Cascabel. Like it or not, that old man's coming out with us."
Ja
Finally Ja
Unhappily Ja
"We could rig a surcingle for Zebra," Ja
Ty gave her a sideways look that was little more than a flash of green.
"Zebra can't carry both of us and the gold, too," Ja
"She can carry you and the gold if it comes to that. All you have to do is get her used to a hackamore and a surcingle."
"But what about you?"
"That's my problem."
White teeth sank into Ja
"Be as gentle with Lucifer as you can," she said in a low voice, "but don't hurt yourself in the process, Ty. Promise me that you'll be careful. He's so strong and so quick." She looked at the stallion standing poised in the meadow, his big body rippling with strength, his ears erect, his head up, sniffing the wind. "And he's so wild. Much wilder than Zebra."