Free Devil's Canyon by Ralph Compton Page A

shot at five wagon loads of grub and goods, and I’m gamblin’ they won’t pass it up.”
    Hindes laughed. “You shouldn’t never gamble, Slade. I’ve seen you raise on a pair of deuces.”
    â€œI’m ridin’ on,” Slade gritted. “Any of you that ain’tgot the sand to follow, now’s the time to split the blanket.”
    Slade kicked his horse into a lope, and one by one, his three companions followed.
    *   *   *
    Faro found where the four horsemen had veered off into the brush and made camp for the night. From there, instead of returning to the Rio Chama and following the five wagons, the four riders kept to the brush, seeking a higher elevation.
    â€œFrom here,” Faro said aloud, “they might have seen the McCutcheon sisters ride by, and suspected their tracks had been noticed. For that matter, they likely saw me followin’ the back trail.”
    Faro followed the faint trail only a little farther, until the strides of all four horses lengthened into a fast gallop. Were they—aware they were about to be discovered—trying to get ahead of the wagons and ambush them before Faro returned with a warning? Down the slope he galloped his horse, and free of brush and low-hanging limbs, rode hard to catch up to the wagons. Durham was the first to see him coming, and he did nothing. But on the box of the fifth wagon, Odessa McCutcheon heard the urgency in the hoofbeats of the approaching horse.
    â€œRein up,” Odessa shouted, reining up her own teams.
    The other four wagons halted, and men came off the high boxes, Winchesters in their hands. Faro dismounted, holding the reins of his lathered horse as it tried to reach the river.
    â€œYou found ’em,” Odessa said.
    â€œYes,” said Faro, “and after leaving our trail, they spent the night in the brush. From there—sometime this morning—they rode to a higher elevation. They had to see me as I rode the back trail, and now they’re somewhere ahead of us.”
    â€œSo we got an ambush to look forward to,” Shanghai said.
    â€œEventually,” said Faro, “but not yet. I thought they might be planning to cut down on you before I could ride back and warn you. Since they didn’t, they’re going to keep us spooked, if they can, by always bein’ somewhere ahead.”
    â€œWhen bush-whackin’ bastards are stalkin’ me,” Shanghai said, “I don’t get spooked. I get mad as hell. Let’s leave these wagons where they are, saddle our horses, and ride the varmints down.”
    â€œI’m ready,” Tarno shouted.
    â€œSo am I,” said Dallas.
    â€œNo,” Faro said, “they may be expecting that. Many a man, mad as hell, has been shot dead as hell, because he walked or rode into a trap. Besides, as long as they’re ahead of us, they can blunt the attack of any hostile Utes looking for a fight.”
    â€œSound thinking, my friend,” said Levi Collins.
    â€œIf they’re anything like Comanches,” Mamie McCutcheon said, “they might pass up this other bunch, and come after the wagons. Quanah Parker and his Comanches dearly love to loot wagons. Especially when there’s weapons and ammunition to be had.”
    â€œFrom what I’ve seen of Utes,” said Collins, “they’ll come after whoever is the first to show up. To theirway of thinking, they can scalp these four renegades, and
still
waylay these wagons.”
    â€œWhich gets us back to the possibility the Utes may take care of these
hombres
that appear to be stalking us,” Faro said.
    â€œI believe these men following us are not all that concerned with the freight aboard the wagons,” said Collins. “If they were, why not attempt to take the wagons
now
, before we’re hundreds of miles into the mountains?”
    â€œThey suspect that where you’re going, there’s something more