Rivera stood in front of a boulder, his arms crossed. The others squatted in a semicircle before Nachita and Dillinger, who explained the situation.
“It would seem that we haven’t a hope in hell of surprising them,” Chavasse said.
Nachita nodded and rose to his feet. “We must make them come to us. It is the only way.”
“And how do we do that?” Rivera demanded.
“I will show you.”
They followed him out into the desert toward a ridge with a narrow gully through its center that made a natural entrance. The spine of rock petered out perhaps a hundred yards further on.
“Two riders must go out into the desert. Once beyond the point they will be seen.”
“And Ortiz will give chase?” Chavasse asked.
The old man nodded. “The rest of the party will be hidden behind the ridge. Once Ortiz and his men follow their quarry through that gully, the rest will be simple.”
“Why two riders?” Dillinger asked.
Nachita shrugged. “One man alone might look suspicious, but two might indicate that we also have split our party.”
“And my daughter?” Rivera demanded.
“She will undoubtedly be left with a guard. I will work my way across the mountainside on foot and enter the camp from behind while you occupy them here.”
“It’s a good plan,” Rivera said slowly.
“It only remains to decide who is to act as decoy,” Villa put in softly. “An unenviable task.”
Dillinger sighed. “I think the bait would look a whole lot stronger if I drove out there in the convertible with the top down as if I didn’t have a care in the world.”
There was silence, then Nachita said, “I agree, but there should still be someone with you. If you are alone, it would be suspicious.”
Rose said, “He is not alone.”
Chavasse tried to object. “I’ll go, not Rose.”
“Wrong,” Rose said. “If we’ve been observed before this…”
“I’m certain we have,” Nachita said.
“Then we should seem the same. I will be the passenger.”
Nachita said, “Good, it is settled. Give me fifteen minutes, then move out.”
He turned and ran lightly across the broken ground, disappearing into the jumbled mass of boulders that littered the hillside. The rest of the party started to make ready.
Dillinger took the magazine drum out of the Thompson, checked that everything was working, and fitted it carefully back into place. Then he took the clip from the butt of the Colt, emptied it, and reloaded again with care, as if his life might depend on it. He put the Thompson on the floor to the right of the accelerator, next to Rose’s rifle.
Rose leaned over and kissed his cheek. “For luck,” she said.
“I told you we’d come out of this thing, didn’t I?” He grinned. “Besides, I’ve been chased before.” He replaced the Colt in its shoulder holster and put the top of the convertible down. Getting behind the wheel, he said, “Let’s go.”
He turned on the ignition and drove away slowly, waving to Chavasse behind a boulder. Rivera and Villa had taken up positions directly opposite.
Far out in the desert the parched earth faded into the sky, and the mesquite glowed with a strange incandescence as if at any moment it might burst into flame.
They rounded the point and moved across a wide plain. A high ridge swelled from the ground between them and the ruined rancheria. Dillinger glanced casually toward it, but no sound disturbed the heavy stillness.
“Now you know what it is like to be a fox,” he told her.
“This could get on my nerves very easily,” Rose said.
At that moment they heard baying. Rose turned to see six Apaches sweep over the hill and plunge down toward them, in full cry.
Dillinger slammed on his brakes, throwing up a cloud of dust, momentarily concealing them, as he turned the Chevy, backed up, and then turned back the way they had come, straight at the Apaches pursuing them.
As the bone-dry dust boiled beneath the hooves of the Apaches’ horses, the Indians suddenly saw their quarry in the white automobile disappear in a cloud of dust and a moment later emerge heading toward them. They reined in the frightened horses, but the car kept coming right at them, and as the Apaches turned their horses’ heads to retreat, they were met by Villa and Chavasse and Rivera firing directly at them.