The Loner: Inferno

Chapter 3

For a long moment, The Kid didn’t respond. When he spoke, he kept his voice flat and noncommittal. “I didn’t say anything about being a gunslinger.”

“You didn’t have to,” Dunlap said. “A fella I know pointed you out to me in a saloon in Santa Fe a while back. Told me you were about as fast as that other fella named Morgan. What’s his name? Frank?”

Frank Morgan, the gunfighter known as The Drifter, was The Kid’s father, but not very many people knew that. The Kid wanted to keep it that way.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“No point in denyin’ it. Lord knows I’m not lookin’ to prod you into a fight, Kid. Even when I was young I was never fast on the draw. No, I want to hire you.”

“To do what?”

“I figure we can always use another scout.” Dunlap gave The Kid a sly look. “Especially one who’s supposed to be mighty slick at handlin’ a gun.”

Before The Kid could say anything else, Harwood spoke up.

“We don’t need another scout, Horace. We’re only a few days away from the valley.”

Dunlap nodded. “I know that. And I’d plumb hate for anything bad to happen when we are this close.”

“We haven’t run into any trouble so far.”

“I know. That’s what’s makin’ me nervous. I’ve guided plenty of wagon trains, and none of ’em have ever come this far without something bad happenin’.”

“Wait a minute,” The Kid said. “I’m not looking for a job.”

As a matter of fact, because of the far-flung financial interests he had inherited from his mother, The Kid was probably one of the richest men west of the Mississippi. Teams of trusted lawyers in Boston, Denver, and San Francisco handled those lucrative enterprises for him, and he could call on them for funds anytime he needed to.

In the life he was determined to lead now, all he really needed money for was supplies. He wasn’t going to explain any of that to Horace Dunlap.

“You’re headed the same direction we are,” Dunlap said. “At least, you looked to be when you rode up.”

“That’s true,” The Kid admitted. He had no real reason to be riding west, but that was the direction he’d been going.

“Don’t call it a job, then. Just ride along with us because we all happen to be goin’ the same way.”

The Kid didn’t reply immediately. He knew what was happening. He had encountered similar situations in the past. He set out to ride alone, to stay far from people and their problems so he could forget about his own, and yet he kept running smack-dab into trouble, like back there in that nameless settlement where he had almost wound up right in the middle of a shooting war that didn’t have anything to do with him.

He had managed to ride away from that. Every instinct in his body warned him he needed to ride away from the wagon train, too. It wouldn’t be hard to leave the slow, cumbersome vehicles behind him.

He was about to refuse Dunlap’s offer to travel with them when a swift, sudden rataplan of hoofbeats coming up from behind made all three men rein in. They turned in their saddles to look at the rider who was galloping toward them.

The Kid recognized the man as one of the outriders who had challenged him earlier. The man pounded up to them and hauled his horse to a stop.

“What is it, Dave?” Dunlap asked with a worried frown creasing his forehead.

“Riders comin’ up from behind, boss,” the man reported. “Looks like a pretty big bunch.”

Dunlap looked over at Harwood. “Ride along the wagons and tell everybody to stop for now, Scott. And warn ’em to get ready for trouble.”

Harwood nodded and heeled his horse into motion. Dunlap looked at The Kid. “Are you with us or not, Morgan?”

“I’ll wait until I see what’s going on,” The Kid answered. He told himself he was just indulging his curiosity once more.

Dunlap spurred his horse toward the rear of the wagon train. The Kid kept pace with him. As they rode past the wagons, he glanced over and saw the expressions on the faces of the immigrants, expressions that ranged from nervousness to outright fear. Dunlap had probably warned them to expect some trouble along the way, and the fact that it hadn’t happened so far might have lulled some of them into an easy confidence ... but not all. Most of the travelers were still waiting for something bad to happen.

Somebody with that attitude wasn’t going to be surprised very often, The Kid knew.

Because trouble was always waiting.

And it was kicking up a cloud of dust as it closed the distance to the wagon train. It was the second time that day The Kid had seen such a thing. The first time he’d been able to avoid the resulting ruckus.

Something told him he wouldn’t be as lucky this time.

They reached the last wagon in line and rode past it. The outriders had gathered there, forming a defensive line. The men pulled their rifles from their saddle boots and waited with an air of tense anticipation.

Judging by the size of the dust cloud, the group of riders coming toward the wagon train was several times larger than the one that had ridden up to the settlement earlier in the day.

The Kid said to Dunlap, “Shouldn’t you have pulled the wagons into a circle or something?” He had no direct experience with that tactic, but he had read about it in dime novels.

“No time. That takes longer than you might think.” The wagonmaster drew his Winchester, and worked the lever, throwing a shell into the chamber. “You ain’t gonna cut and run on us, are you, Kid?”

“If I was going to do something like that, I already would have,” The Kid snapped, not bothering to conceal the irritation he felt at such a question. He pulled his Winchester from its sheath and readied it.

The riders were starting to be visible. Dunlap suddenly stood up in his stirrups and squinted toward them, muttering, “Well, I’ll be damned!”

The Kid saw the same thing that had provoked the response in the wagonmaster. The riders were dressed in blue, and the late afternoon sunlight glinted off brass buttons and fittings. A guidon flapped in the wind as it flew from a staff in the hand of one of the riders.

The men riding toward the wagon train belonged to the United States Cavalry.

The sense of relief that went through Horace Dunlap was obvious. He said to Harwood, “Scott, pass the word again, and this time tell everybody to take it easy. We don’t have anything to worry about from those soldier boys.”

The Kid hoped that was the case. He felt a touch of foreboding, even as he watched the cavalry troopers approach. When Dunlap rode out to meet them, The Kid went along, too. Dunlap cast a slightly puzzled glance at him, but didn’t tell him to go back.

The officer leading the patrol held up a gauntleted hand, and the sergeant right behind him bellowed the order to halt. The Kid wasn’t that familiar with military insignia, but he thought the officer was a lieutenant.

That hunch was confirmed a moment later when the men faced each other and the officer introduced himself.

“Lieutenant Blake Nicholson, sir. Is one of you in charge of this wagon train?”

“I am. Horace Dunlap, wagonmaster. What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”

“For me, nothing, but for those people with you, the best thing you can do for them is to turn around and go back where you came from.”

That blunt, unexpected statement made Dunlap stiffen with surprise. “Turn around?” he repeated. “Beggin’ your pardon, Lieutenant, but what in blue blazes are you talkin’ about?”

“We’ve received reports of a band of renegade Apaches in this area,” Nicholson said. “They came across the border from their stronghold in Mexico and raided some ranches north of here, burning and killing. They even attacked a small settlement, and now the thinking is they’re working their way back south, headed below the border once more.”

“The army sent you to look for these savages?”

“That’s right. Numerous patrols were sent out to search for and engage the hostiles.”

Dunlap took off his hat and ran the fingers of his other hand through his thinning gray hair. He looked over his shoulder at the wagons. Quietly, he said, “I just told those folks they didn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Well, it appears that you were wrong,” Nicholson said.

The Kid had taken an instant, instinctive dislike to the lieutenant, and Nicholson’s callous attitude as he spoke to Dunlap supported that feeling.

“That’s why I said you should turn around and go back where you came from,” Nicholson went on. “It’s reasonably certain the hostiles aren’t east of here, or else we would have encountered them already.”

The Kid wasn’t so sure about that. He hadn’t had any direct dealings with the Apaches, but he knew from listening to his father that the only time you saw hostile Indians was when they wanted you to see them.

The lieutenant continued, “You should be safe enough if you turn back. If you continue west, though, it’s quite possible you’ll run right into them.”

“We’re headed for Raincrow Valley,” Dunlap said.

“I’m not familiar with it,” Nicholson replied with a shake of his head.

“It’s only three days west of here.”

“A great deal can happen in three days, especially where savages are concerned. I’ve given you my best advice, Mr. Dunlap. Whether or not you take it is up to you.”

Dunlap clapped his hat back on and muttered under his breath. After a moment, he looked up. “You’re headed west, Lieutenant, and so are we. You and your men could escort us the rest of the way to Raincrow Valley.”

“Impossible,” Nicholson snapped without a second’s hesitation. “My orders are to carry out the search for the hostiles with all due speed and efficiency. Accompanying your wagon train would slow us down greatly and cause an intolerable delay in the carrying out of our mission.”

The lieutenant was a prig, The Kid thought, the sort of stuffed shirt who figured he knew best about everything. It was easy to recognize the type ... because there had been a time in The Kid’s life when he had been exactly the same way.

“It’s gonna be dark before too much longer,” Dunlap said. “We were fixin’ to make camp anyway. We’ll stop right here for the night, Lieutenant. And you can camp here, too, can’t you?”

“And provide protection for the night?” Nicholson thought about it for a second and then shrugged. “I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in that. But tomorrow morning we’ll be riding out, Dunlap. Don’t waste your time trying to convince me otherwise.”

“Fine,” the wagonmaster said. “I’ll take what I can get, to be honest with you, Lieutenant. I’ll tell my people to circle up the wagons, and then you and your men are more than welcome to join us for supper.”

Nicholson gave him a curt nod, but didn’t actually respond to the invitation. He turned to his noncom. “Sergeant Brennan, we’ll be making camp here adjacent to the wagons.”

“Yes, sir.” The sergeant turned his horse toward the rest of the troop and started calling out the appropriate orders.

Nicholson turned away, too, obviously through with his conversation with Dunlap.

Dunlap watched him go and said quietly, “I don’t much cotton to that fella.”

“He’s an ass,” The Kid said.

Dunlap looked over at him.

“You know anything about Apaches, Kid?”

“Not much.”

“I’ve swapped lead with ’em more’n once. They’re crafty varmints, and mean as snakes. If there’s a bunch of ’em on the loose, lookin’ for blood, we could be in real trouble.” Dunlap paused. “A man ridin’ alone might be in even more danger, though.”

A faint smile touched The Kid’s mouth. “You’re still trying to get me to ride with you, aren’t you?”

“With what we know now about them renegades, seems like it’d be a good idea for both sides.”

Dunlap had a point, The Kid supposed. A lone rider would be too tempting a target for the Apache war party to pass up, and although the dun was a lot faster and stronger than it looked, The Kid doubted if he would be able to outrun the raiders.

On the other hand, the Apaches might think twice about attacking a large, well-armed wagon train. Although Nicholson had said they had raided a town north of there.

But The Kid didn’t have anywhere he had to be at any certain time, so it made sense to throw in with the immigrants for now. Maybe by the time they reached Raincrow Valley, the threat of the Apaches would be over.

“You win,” he told Dunlap. “I’ll ride with you.”

The wagonmaster grinned. “I’m glad to hear it. I feel a mite better now, knowin’ that we’ll have a top-notch fightin’ man like Kid Morgan around. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the folks.”