"We didn't know you'd arranged their party," Hill said. "If we had, we wouldn't have been so nervous, waiting."
Longarm finally located Sebastian's key ring. He said, while he unlocked the cell door, "It was the only way I could figure to put most of 'em to sleep. If we're lucky, we can get away without raising a ruckus."
He led the way outside. When Webster saw Flo standing by the door with the guns, he made a leap for her and would've wrestled her down if Longarm hadn't grabbed him.
"She's with us," he said. "Flo's been a real help. I might not've been able to swing it without her."
"Where the hell did you find her?" Hill asked.
"Ramos grabbed her away from some bandits who'd kidnapped her off a train. She can tell you about it later. She's American, just like us."
"And ready to go home," Flo said.
"She's American, all right," Hill agreed. "Easterner, I'd say."
"New York, New York," Flo told him. "And if I ever get back there, nobody's going to get me west again, not even across the river to Jersey."
"We better be thinking about another river," Webster reminded them. He gestured toward the two or three couples still dancing around the embers of the fire. "If that's all of Ramos's crew that's still able to stand up, we won't have much trouble."
"Let's try to do it without no trouble at all," Longarm suggested. "Here's what I'd like to do: we go down to the corral real quiet, so's not to spook the horses. That gray of mine's the easiest to spot, so I'll pussyfoot in and lead him out while you fellows get us some saddles. We'll load the saddles on the dapple, just any which way, and I'll lead him off. Then you sneak your animals out the same way, one at a time. We'll get far enough so nobody can hear us, then we'll saddle up and be off free."
"Wait a minute," Webster said. "Miss Flo, you know how to sit a horse?"
"I guess Mexican horses are pretty much the same as the ones I ride in Central Park. I had a friend who was~" She broke off. "That's neither here nor there. Yes, I can ride enough to get away from here. I'd ride an elephant, if I had to."
Circling to stay within the increasingly wide zone of darkness, they walked slowly and steadily until they were within a few yards of the corral.
Longarm said, "All right. Everybody knows what we'll do. I'll leave Flo to hold my gray after we're far enough off, and come back to get a nag for her."
Groping along the corral's top pole, Longarm located his saddle by feel. He knew it was taking time, but he hated to part with the old McClellan and have to break in a new one. He tossed three other saddles to the ground and followed them with a heap of saddle blankets, then bridles. He whistled low, and Webster and Hill moved up to untangle the gear. Longarm located the gate pole and ducked under it. One or two of the horses shied and whinnied, but none of them cut up too badly or made a lot of noise. He found Tordo and rubbed the dapple's nose.
"Easy, boy. Come along."
Tordo followed him readily through the gate. With nose pats and low-voiced words, Longarm kept the gray standing while Webster and Hill piled the saddles loosely on his back.
"I'll head straight north," Longarm told them. That was all he needed to say. He knew both men were trail-wise and would sight on the North Star and stay on a straight course until they reached wherever he'd decided to stop. "Come on, Flo." She joined him and they moved off.
When they were out of earshot of the corral, she said with open amazement, "Those men acted like it was the most normal thing in the world for me to be here, a million miles from nowhere. Why, Custis, they didn't ask more than two or three questions."
"They're both good men. They know when it's time to talk and when it's time to do. Back at the jail, we had to do, not stand palavering all night."
"How far will we have to ride now?"
"Tonight we'll just push far enough on to get a good lead on the rurales. When we come to a good place, we'll stop and rest awhile, and move on at dawn."
"You think Ramos will come after us, then?"
"Damn right he will. He can't afford to let even one of us get away. He likely won't start, though, till it's light enough for his trackers to read trail. We got a little time. Not much, but a little bit."
They walked on in silence for a while. Finally, Longarm said, "I guess this is far enough. I'll saddle Tordo while we're waiting; as soon as I hear John or Nate coming, I'll start back."
"I'm not afraid to wait in the dark, if that's keeping you here." Flo put her arms around Longarm's waist. It wasn't a sexual gesture, but more as though she needed comforting. "But I'll admit, it's a lot nicer to have you to wait with."
"Maybe it's just this wild country bothering you." Longarm was holding her gently. "People that live in places like New York get spooked when they're out away from everything."
"It's not that. I'll tell you, Custis, New York's just a different kind of wild from this place here. And I'm used to looking out for myself."
Longarm had known theatrical women before; he had enjoyed their breeziness and the uninhibited approach to living that characterized those with stage backgrounds. He'd seen them tear through danger, as Flo had earlier, without turning a hair, and then be caught up, just as she was now, in a reaction. Her need for reassurance didn't really surprise him.
"We're going to be fine, Flo. You think about how much better off we are now than we were a few hours ago."
"Like hell we are. A few hours ago, you and I were having one of the best damned fucks I've ever enjoyed. Now, we're out here in the middle of some big black nowhere, don't know where we are, whether those murdering rurales are after us, or what."
"But there's twice as many of us now," he pointed out. "We got guns, and don't you think for a minute we're lost. You settle down, now, keep on kicking for a day or two, and before you know it, you'll be on your way back home."
She leaned back in his arms, and in the starlight he could see that she'd cried a little bit, but was smiling now. "Sorry, Custis. I don't usually act like a baby. I keep telling myself I'm a big girl and don't need anybody to pat my ass and tell me I'm going to be all right. But I guess all of us do, sometimes."
"You'll be fine now, though."
"Sure I will. As long as I can hold on to you for a minute or so, once in a while."
"Whenever you want to. I'll see you're safe."
Hoofbeats told them that either Hill or Webster was approaching. Longarm whistled softly, to help whoever it was in finding them. In a few minutes, Hill came up.
"Nate'll be right along," he said. "Everything was quiet when I left, so it looks like we've pulled it off."
"Now you're here, I'll go cut out a horse for Flo," Longarm said. "It oughtn't to take me long."
He had no trouble at the corral. In front of the barracks building, the fire had died to a few stray red coals and all the dancers had gone. Longarm thought he could see some forms still sprawled against the building's walls, but couldn't be sure. The headquarters was dark; so was the jail. He made quick work of cutting out a horse, wasting a few minutes patting necks and noses, hoping to find one that seemed gentler than most of the Mexican horses he'd seen so far. He wasn't sure whether Flo could really ride, or was just claiming she could for fear of being left behind.
Hill and Webster had the other horses saddled by the time Longarm got back. The fourth was quickly fitted, and Longarm was satisfied when he saw Flo mount easily and with confidence that she'd be able to stay on. He swung onto Tordo's back.
Hill said, "Well, gentlemen — and lady, too, of course — I don't see any reason to stay here. Since we don't have a bugler to sound commands, I'll give them myself. Route pace, ma-arch — ho!"
Chapter 16