Free the Burning Hills (1956) by Louis L'amour Page B

them. I am good girl."
    Ben Hindeman looked up. "I believe you," he said and was surprised not to have thought of it before. "Yes," he was thinking of all he had seen and heard, "I'm sure of it. But you know how women are. You look," he flushed a little, "you look sort of sexy."
    "So? I am woman."
    "Well, how's about the sheep? Is it a deal?"
    "No."
    "Because of my wife?" He hesitated. "I can handle that."
    "Because of what you wish me to tell."
    "Tell us where he is. I'll pull my men out of here and you can have the sheep."
    "Ido not know where he is."
    "He say anything about comin' back?"
    She hesitated and instantly knew her mistake. Quick knowledge came to Hindeman's eyes. "No," she said. "Why, come back?"
    But she had hesitated too long. Hindeman got to his feet, feeling better. He would come back, all right. He would be worried about this girl. "You send for me when you want to talk. We'll get him, anyway. But you tell me where he is and I'll take care of the town. If I say you're all right, they'll treat you nice."
    That was true. Hindeman's was the voice of authority. They might not like it but nobody would go against him. And Trace Jordan might try to come back and be killed. Yet she did not think of Hindeman's offer; she worried only that Jordan might come back and ride into a trap.
    She made coffee and left it at the edge of the fire and then went to the door and told them of it. Then she went to her room but she did not undress. They would drink that coffee. They would drink it to keep themselves awake. But suppose they drank it and never wakened?
    There were desert plants that held poison. Many of them she had known since she was a child, Rosa had told her of others. Rosa's mother had been a famous medicine woman among the Navajo.
    But she was no murderess. But suppose they only slept? She did not immediately sleep but lay thinking. Somewhere out there in the desert. Stillness ... a pinnacle of rock pointed a beckoning finger at the sky ... a quail called into the stillness . .. and there Trace Jordan waited for her.
    Angrily she pushed her head into the pillow and after a while, she slept.
    The problems Trace Jordan presented were the sort Jacob Lantz relished. Not since he had trailed renegade Apaches had he enjoyed his work so much. There were dozens of good hideaways in the Animas or Guadalupe Mountains but Jordan would push south into the wilderness of the San Luis. Jordan could live in that country because he could live like an Apache. But he would not go far until the girl was with him. So he told Hindeman.
    "Nonetheless," Hindeman said, "well ride after those sheep and have a look. We'll take Joe with us."
    Lantz looked thoughtfully at the house but said nothing. Leaving Jack behind was asking for trouble and Lantz wanted nothing to happen to that girl. She was his best chance to catch Jordan. An hour after daybreak the three rode away. Jack Sutton rolled a cigarette and watched them go.
    Wes Parker sat down, looking expectant. Buck Bayless rubbed his jaw nervously. Maria Cristina saw them and she had seen Hindeman go. She took the butcher knife and placed it under a cloth on the sideboard.
    Boots grated on gravel and Jack Sutton stepped in. He was smiling a thin smile but there was no smile in his eyes. "Ben's gone," he said.
    " Si." Maria Cristina's eyes were watchful "I know."
    "I been waitin' for a chance like this."
    "You are coward. You afraid of him."
    Sutton stepped into the room. "No, not afraid of him. Just smart. Ben gets the work done. He keeps trouble off my shoulders, so I let him have his way."
    "You get out. You no business here."
    Jack Sutton smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I've plenty of business here. I'm going to teach you a lesson."
    He walked around the table and stopped in front of her. She made no move to escape. Her eyes watchful, she merely waited, showing no expression.
    He lifted his hand, palm open, and then he struck her. Maria Cristina's eyes widened but she merely stared