Fred eased his leg. "I'm taking off tomorrow, Gary. I'll pay you anyway. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ought'a be enough rest for this game leg of mine."
"You don't have to pay me for Friday, Mr. Platt."
"Sho! You did a good job, kid. Besides, it was nice having company. I learned a lot listening to you, Gary. Fella gets lonesome out in these places."
Gary smiled. Fred Platt had a name for being close with a buck, but Gary had always thought he kept up that pretense so people wouldn't know how really softhearted he was.
Gary glanced at the Espectros. He and Tuck would have three full days to continue their search. This time Gary was bound and determined they would come out of there with some definite conclusion about the Lost Espectro.
8
Search for the Derrotero
A lone lugubrious figure was perched on the fence in front of the Cole house when Gary drove up in the truck. Tucker C. Browne looked like a dejected stork sitting there. He brightened when he saw Gary. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Gary grinned. "Mr. Platt isn't running his route tomorrow, so he gave me the day off with pay, Tuck."
Gary got out of the truck. He looked back at Fred Platt. "Are you sure you can drive all right, Mr. Platt?"
The peddler nodded. "So long as I don't have to drive too much. I got some business in The Wells and other places I can take care of without too much driving. Say hello to your mother and father, Gary."
"They ain't here," Tuck said, inelegantly. "That's why I'm here. Your father's back started bothering him, and your mother had to drive him to the V. A. Hospital in Tucson. They left early this morning. They won't be back until Sunday evening if they don't keep your father there, Gary. Your mother asked me to come out and stay at the place until you got back. Between you and me I was hoping you'd come back today or tonight. I wasn't looking forward to staying here alone tonight."
"Afraid of Asesino?" asked Fred. He grinned.
Tuck shrugged. "I never like being around the Espectros alone, Mr. Platt. Besides, lots of people think this place is haunted too. There were so many killings around here in the old days."
"Hokey," said Gary.
Fred eased his way into the driver's seat. "Oh, I don't know," he said quietly. "Lots of things we don't know about haunts and suchlike. Once in a while I see things out in the desert at night I ain't sure about."
"Like Asesino?" asked Tuck in delight. "Hawww!"
"Like Asesino," agreed Fred. He glanced quickly at Gary. "You can tell him when I leave, Gary."
Gary nodded. "He won't be so cocky then."
Fred looked toward the house. "Well, now you've got plenty of time to search for the Lost Espectro, haven't you?"
"That's the idea," said Tuck brightly.
"Too bad that ol' derrotero vanished," said the peddler. "I always figured one of two things could have happened to it. It was either stolen when your folks wasn't around here, Gary, or it's still here some place."
"Yeh," said Gary dryly. "But where? We've looked all over the house, outbuildings, fence post holes, and even around the Springs. No luck. Not even a clue."
"Keep looking," said Fred. "Tuck, you go into the back of the truck and help yourself to a box of candy bars. You look peaked."
Tuck obeyed with a speed a little short of light. He grinned as he came to the front of the truck. "Thanks a lot, Mr. Platt."
"Forget it. I was a growing boy myself once. Keep looking for that derrotero, boys. You're bound to find it."
"I got some ideas on that myself," said Tuck.
Fred started the truck and drove off. Tuck held out the candy box to Gary. "Help yourself, amigo. On the house."
Gary took a bar and peeled it, but his eyes were on the hazy Espectros. "We've got three days," he said thoughtfully. "When do you have to be home?"
"Doesn't matter," said Tuck around the last half of his first bar. "My folks know I'm out here. I usually am weekends anyway. Worked all week long at Bennie's Barbecue, so I got some spending loot."
"I'll bet Bennie lost on the deal," said Gary.
Tuck peeled his second bar. "Well I got to admit he told me to take it easy on the french fries."
"Let's get some chow," said Gary. "I have a few things I want to tell you."
They ate in the kitchen while Gary told Tuck of his experiences and particularly of Jerry Black.
Tuck constructed his third ham sandwich. "This thing gets more confusing every time we talk it over. I always wondered why Jim Kermit never seemed to be interested in the Lost Espectro, being the man with a buck that he is. Maybe Jerry Black is right at that. Jim just might claim those markings were phonies to keep nosy people away from Cholla Canyon."
"On the other hand," said Gary, "maybe Jerry is making Jim look suspicious to keep nosy people from wondering what he's doing all the time up in the mountains."
"Yeh," said Tuck around a mouthful of bread and ham. "But somehow I want to believe in those two symbols you found in Cholla."
"They look real enough to me."
Tuck swallowed hard. "But I've always heard that Cholla is a dead end somewhere in the Espectros."
Gary finished his sandwich and leaned back in his chair. "It looked to me like there had been a landslide in there. There's something beyond that slide, Tuck."
"Yeh, like Asesino maybe. You really think Fred saw him?"
"Quien sabe? He saw somebody—somebody that liked Elberta peaches. Like the somebody who stays in that cave now and then. Tuck, I tell you, those boot prints I saw were fresh!"
"Maybe Jim Kermit was up there ahead of you."
"I was at his place before dawn, Tuck. I was with him until we entered the canyons and there wasn't any place he could have gotten ahead of me. No, those boot prints were made by someone else. Maybe by the person who has been staying in that cave."
"Like Jerry maybe?"
Gary shrugged. "He keeps pretty much to himself. No one seems to know much about him, even Fred Platt, and Fred seems to know something about everybody."
Tuck nodded. "But this Jerry keeps coming back to my mind, amigo. I remember him all right. Looks a hole right through you. Man, he's a natural suspect for my money."
"That's just it, Tuck! He's just too much of a natural! Asesino was part Apache; Jerry is full-blooded. Asesino really knew those mountains; so does Jerry. Asesino was a dead shot; Jerry was a sniper in the Marines. Asesino was a lone wolf; Jerry likes to stay by himself. Asesino didn't seem to be much concerned about the superstitions the Apaches attach to the Espectros; Jerry doesn't seem much concerned either. Asesino was bitter against the white man; Jerry is bitter as well. Asesino quite likely carried a .50/110 caliber Winchester and I found an empty .50/110 hull at Jerry's place."
"Sounds like a lot of circumstantial evidence," said Tuck wisely. He began to prepare a fourth sandwich, cutting into the ham with the skill of a surgeon. "It's just too pat. Besides, and don't ask me why, I happen to like Jerry Black."
"Me too," agreed Gary.
"You keep talking about Asesino in the past tense," said Tuck. "Why? Maybe Fred Platt really saw him."
"Fred Platt isn't a liar, Tuck. He actually knew Asesino years ago. So, Asesino swipes a box of .50/110 caliber cartridges from Fred's truck and three cans of Elbertas. Fred said Asesino loved Elbertas."