Dillinger - Jack Higgins [43]
Fallon covered it with the blanket. 'Where did you find him?'
'No more than a hundred yards from my hut, senor. The strange thing was that the horses had been hobbled.'
'They didn't bury him. They sent the body here as a message.'
Dona Clara turned from the wall. Her face was drawn and very white, but she had obviously regained control of herself. 'Senor Fallon, tell me the truth. What does this mean?'
'What has Don Jose told you?'
'He tells me nothing. Please, I must know what is going on.'
'There was a dispute at the mine. Twenty or so men were trapped by a cave-in. The new American suggested dynamite to move a huge rock that was blocking our rescue work. Don Jose refused and ordered the American turned over to the authorities. Father Tomas pleaded with Don Jose. So - I am sorry, Dona Clara - Don Jose shot Father Tomas as an example.'
'I don't believe you!' she cried.
'There were many witnesses.'
'Is that why the cattle have been slaughtered?'
Fallon shrugged.
'Is that why the people have run off?'
Fallon didn't answer her.
'Senor Fallon,' she said, 'I would like you to escort us into Hermosa.'
'Don't you think we should wait for your husband to return?'
She shook her head. 'No, we'll be safer in town. We can go in the buckboard and take Father Tomas's body with us. Felipe can drive.'
She turned without giving him time to reply and went into the house.
Fallon looked up at the mountains as the early-morning sun slanted across them and shook his head.
'Have you got a gun, Felipe?'
The vaquero shook his head. 'The patron keeps all firearms locked in the armoury in the cellar. He alone has the key, senor. We would need sledgehammers to break down the door.'
Dona Clara emerged from the house, a shawl wrapped around her head and shoulders. Behind her the maid carried little Juanita. The women sat on the rear seat with the child. Fallon climbed back on his horse. They turned through the gate and went up through the trail towards the head of the valley.
The sun moved over the top of the mountains, chasing the blue shadows from the desert, and Felipe cracked the whip over the horses' backs, urging them on.
Already the heat lifted from the land like a heavy mist and Fallon wiped sweat from his face with a sleeve.
They dropped down through a dry arroyo and moved toward the place where the trail from the mine joined the one to Hermosa. Beyond this point it wound its way between great, tapering needles of rock and entered a canyon so deep that the bottom was shaded from the sun and unexpectedly cool.
Through the silence a jay called three times and Fallon glanced up sharply. Or was it a jay? Usually they stayed close to water and there was none here. At that moment there was a spine-chilling cry from behind that re-echoed within the narrow walls of the canyon and two Apaches galloped in from the desert, blocking their retreat.
Felipe threw one terrified glance over his shoulder and curled his whip out over the horses. The canyon widened into a deep, saucer-shaped bowl with sloping sides. If they could get to the other end, they would be in the clear. Felipe whipped the horses again. He made out three specks ahead, and as they closed the distance, the specks were clearly three Apaches on horseback. Felipe tried reining in the confused horses, but now the Apaches in front were close enough so that one could raise his rifle in an almost casual gesture and fire. The shot bruised him and again Felipe tried reining the frightened horses, but a second shot rang out and found its mark. Felipe cried out sharply and went over the side.
As the women screamed, the buckboard slewed, the rear wheels bouncing over a boulder. The terrified horses reared up, snapping the lead traces, then burst through the Apaches as the buckboard turned over, spilling its occupants to the ground.
Fallon reined in as Maria rolled beneath him. He lost his seat and went backwards over the animal's rump, falling heavily to the ground. He rolled