“The man they called Cougar taunted us. He said if we were smart, we’d get out while we could, that Logan had lied and there was no herd. He said even if there was, there was no way cattle could reach us.”
“They brought in more supplies, but they would sell none of them, and every man we sent out either failed to come back or had his supplies stolen.”
“They wanted the gold for themselves, all of it, and they were trying to force us out. We put some fish traps in the river, Indian style, and that helped until they discovered what we were doing. They destroyed our traps as fast as we built them.”
“How many of you are there?”
“Eight. There are four men and three women.” She paused. “And there’s a boy. Danny is about ten.”
“And them?”
“There was just five of them. Now there are at least a dozen. Two of them were gone for quite a while, and when they came back, there were some other men with them. The two who left were George and Perry Stamper.”
“We’ve met them.”
He was listening. Several times he thought he heard faint sounds outside. He glanced at her. How far could he trust her? Was she one of them?
“Can you put names to the others?” he asked.
“Shanty’s their leader, or he seems to be. That’s Shanty Gavin. Then there’s Doug Molrone — ”
“He’s one of them?”
“Yes, he is. He was one of the first ones. He came in with Shanty and the Stampers and that man Cougar. Oh, it’s simple enough! If we leave, they will simply take over all the claims and have the gold to themselves! All they want to do is starve us out so we have to leave. Then they can say we abandoned the claims.”
“Mind sitting in the dark?”
“What? Oh? No, not really. If you mean am I afraid of you, I’m not. Not in the least. I’m not afraid of any man.”
“Put the light out, will you? There’ll be the glow from the fireplace.”
She glanced at me, then blew out the light. “Did you hear something?”
“I thought I did.”
The fire had died to red coals. I liked the glow of it on her face. Her hair was dark, as were her eyes, and her skin deeply tanned.
“Where is your father?”
“He went away. He went overland to try to find supplies. He has not returned.”
“You know who I am,” I suggested.
She hesitated, then turned her eyes to me. “I am Laurie Gavin,” she said.
Chapter XXV
“Gavin?”
“Shanty is my stepbrother,” she explained
“And Kyle?”
Surprised, she looked around at me. “What do you know of Kyle? But how could you know him? He is in Toronto!”
“He is on his way here, I believe.”
“Kyle is my brother. My real brother.”
I drew my gun. “Someone is coming, I think. Are you afraid?”
“Of course. I know them. On the surface, they are very quiet, very smooth, very soft-spoken, but do not trust them, William Tell Sackett, for they lie, and they will kill.”
“Shanty, too?”
“He is the worst of them. Remember this. He is no blood brother of mine. My father married his mother, and he took our name. He preferred it to Stamper.”
I returned the gun to its holster. There was a tap on the door. She glanced at me, and I said, “Answer it.”
She went to the door. “Yes?” she said.
“Open the door, Laurie. You’ve a man in there we want.”
She opened it, and Cougar and another, larger, more powerful man with a shock of blond hair stepped in.
“I am Tell Sackett,” I said. “Are you looking for me?”
Cougar stepped aside. “Be careful, Shanty. This one’s tough.”
“Knowing that,” I said, “might save us all some trouble.”
Shanty had a nice smile. “But we’ve got you,” he said. “There’s no way you can get away.”
I smiled back at him. “Then take me,” I said. “I’m here.”
Shanty hesitated. It worried him that I was not afraid, and he was a cautious man. I did not doubt his courage, but there is a time to be brave and a time not to be a damned fool.
“We’ve got your brother,” he said. “We can kill him whenever we wish.”
“Logan? He’s not my brother, just a sort of distant cousin, but there are a lot of Sacketts, Shanty. If you step on the toes of one, they all come running.”
“Yon came,” he admitted. “I never thought you’d make it”
“There are two more up on the mountain, and by now they’re beginning to miss me. They’re getting lonely on the mountain, Shanty, and they’ll come down.”
“We will handle them.”
“And there are more of us where we came from. Be smart, Shanty. Cash in your chips while you still can. Walk away from here now. Just lay down your hand.”
He laughed, and there was real humor in it. “You know, Sackett, I like you. I’m going to hate to kill you.”
“We’ve brought the cattle through, Shanty. In spite of all your boys could do, they are here. There’s beef enough to last the winter through, and we might get in some other supplies before the cold sets in.”
“As far as that goes, we can let them have what’s left of our supplies. You played a strong hand, but when the showdown came, you just didn’t have it”
Out on the mountain, I head a wild, clear yell in the night and I knew what it was. The boys were bringing the cattle down. They’d be here soon; no doubt some of them already were.
“He’s right” It was a voice behind me, a voice I knew. It was Logan. He appeared from behind the curtain covering the door to Laurie’s bedroom.
“Sorry, Laurie, but I had to use your window. It isn’t quite shut.”
Shanty looked from one to the other. “He’s yours, Cougar. You always thought you could take him.”
Logan was leaning on a cratch, but suddenly he dropped it and stood on his two feet. “That bar of yours,” he said, “I just poked a stick through a crack and worked it loose. I tried it a week ago and found it would work.” He smiled. “I was waitin’ for the Sacketts. I knew they’d come. They always come.”
Laurie stepped back.
Shanty’s expression had changed. The humor was gone now. His eyes were large. I knew he was ready. I knew he was a dangerous man. Cougar had eyes only for Logan, who was smiling widely.
Outside in the town, I could hear the stir of cattle, a rattle of spurs on the porch of the store.
Then I heard Orrin speak. “Up to you, George. You and Perry can take a canoe and go down river. There’s lots of new country waiting.” He paused. “All your boys can just ride out, walk out, or paddle out, but all of you are leaving.”
It was quiet in the room where we stood. We were listening.
“Not Doug!” That was Nettie. “He’s my brother! He wouldn’t — ”
“He did,” somebody else said. “He was one of the worst of them. Some men will do anything for gold.”
“Not Doug!” she protested.
“I was in it, Sis. I was in it all the way! It was a chance to get rich! To get rich all at once! To get rich without all that slavin’, standing in icy water, panning out gold! I could sell the claim! I could —!”
“And now you can’t,” Tyrel said.
“It was worth a try,” Shanty said, and went for his gun.
Only the red glow of the fire, then a moment of crashing thunder, the brief stabs of gun lightning in the half light.
Outside in the street, the sound was echoed. There was a sound of running, a scream, a pound of racing hoofs.
Tell and Logan Sackett stood alone in the red glow from the fire. Behind them, on the edge of a bench, Laurie sat, horror stricken, gripped fast in shock.
Shanty Gavin stared up at them. “Damn it! Damn it to hell! It looked so good! We had it all! They’d starve out and pull out, and we’d work and then sell! It was a cinch! We had a pat hand!”
Me, I was reloading my gun, and Logan looked down at him. “You had a pat hand, all right, Shanty. You’ve still got it. Five of a kind, right in the belly!”
Laurie stood up. “Tell — please! Take me out of here.”
“We can go out the easier way,” Logan said, “down to the Stikine River and out to Wrangell and the sea. Then a ship to Frisco.”
Cap looked over at Mary McCann. “If this was where you was comin’, you got here too late. You want to go out with me?”