Free Valley Of the Sun (Ss) (1995) by Louis L'amour Page B

place. I'm movin' in tomorrow." .
    There was animosity in their eyes. The animosity of men who hear their cherished superstitions derided by a stranger. "You think again," Karr replied. "We folks won't allow it. It'll bring bad luck to all of us." .
    "That's drivel!" Calou replied shortly .
    "Let me worry about it." .
    Karr's old face was ugly. "I lost two boys who tried to climb that mesa, an' many a crop lost, an' many a steer because of it. You stay away from there. There's Injun ha'nts atop it, where there was a village once, long ago. They don't like it." .
    Knauf looked around. "That goes for the Pitchfork, too, mister. Move onto that place an' we'll take steps." .
    "Such as what?" Calou asked deliberately .
    Knauf placed his glass carefully on the . b ar. "I don't like the way you talk, stranger, an' I reckon it's time you started learnin'." .
    He was stocky, with thick hands, but when he turned toward Matt Calou there was surprising swiftness in his movements. As he stepped forward he threw a roundhouse right. Matt Calou was an old hand at this. Catching the swing on his left forearm, he chopped his iron-hand left fist down to Knauf's chin, then followed it with a looping right. Knauf hit the floor and rolled over, gagging .
    "Sorry," Calou said. "I wasn't huntin' trouble." .
    Russell merely stared, then as Calou turned he said, "You'll have the Pitchfork on you now." .
    "He'll have the whole country on him!" Old Man Karr spat. "Nobody'll sell to you, nobody'll talk to you. If you ain't off this range in one week, you get a coat o' tar an' feathers." .
    The rain had slackened when Matt Calou rode down into a shallow wash. Water was running knee-high to his horse, but it was not running fast. He crossed and rode through the greasewood of the flat toward the buildings glimpsed in occasional flashes of lightning. Beyond them, dwarfing the country, loomed the towering mass of Black Mesa. When he was still a mile from the house he found the first whitened bones. He counted a dozen skeletons .
    Rain pattered on his slicker as he rode into the yard and up to the old stone house. There was a stable, smokehouse, and rock corrals, all built from the talus of the mesa .
    Leaving his horse in the stable where it was warm and dry, Matt spilled a bit of grain from a sack behind the saddle into a feed box. "You'll make out on that," he said. "See you in the mornin'." .
    Rifle under his slicker, he walked to the house. The backdoor lock was rusted, and he braced his foot against the jamb and ripped the lock loose. Once inside, there was a msty smell, but the house floors were solid and the place was in good shape. Opening a window for air, he spread his soogan on the floor and was soon asleep .
    It was still raining when he awakened, but washing off the dusty pots and pans, he prepared a hasty breakfast, then saddled up and rode toward the mesa. As he skirted the talus slope he heard water trickling, but when he reached the place where it should have been, there was none. Dismounting, he climbed the slope .
    At once he found the stream of runoff. Following it, he found a place where the little stream doubled back and poured into a dark hole at the base of the tower. Listening, he could hear it falling with a roar that seemed to indicate a big, stone-enclosed space. He walked thoughtfully back to his horse .
    "Well, what did you find?" .
    Startled at the voice, Matt looked around . t o see a girl in a rain-darkened gray hat and slicker. Moreover, she had amazingly blue eyes and lovely black hair .
    She laughed at his surprise. "I haunt the place," she said, "haven't you heard?" .
    "They said there were ghosts, but if I'd known they looked like you I'd have been here twice as fast." .
    She smiled at him. "Oh, I'm not an official gho/! In fact, nobody is even supposed to know I come here, although I suspect a few people do know." .
    "They've been trying to make the place as unattractive as possible," he said, grinning. "So if they did