“What’s that got to do with us? What do we want with a bunch of Injun jewelry anyway?”
“You don’t never think, do you, Cantrell?” Meechum said. “We can sell it.”
“We ain’t got nothing to trade for it.”
“We ain’t goin’ to trade. We’re just goin’ to go down there and get it,” Meechum said.
“Go get it?” Cantrell replied. “Meechum, it ain’t very damn likely they are goin’ to just give it to us.”
Meechum chuckled. “Hell, I didn’t say we was goin’ to go down there an’ ask for it. I said we was goin’ to take it. Their men are gone. How much trouble can a couple of squaws and a few snot-nosed kids be?”
“Yeah,” Cantrell said. “Yeah, I reckon I see what you are talkin’ about now. We can sell it, you say?”
“Yeah, we can sell it. We need to go someplace away from here like, say, Phoenix or some such place, but we’re headed that way anyway. Once we get there, we can sell the jewelry for fifty, maybe as much as a hundred dollars. I’d kind of like to have a little money in my pocket when we talk to Willis, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, I would,” Cantrell agreed.
“Come on, boys,” Meechum said, mounting his horse. “This is goin’ to be the easiest money we ever made.”
“Sagozhuni, white men are coming to trade,” Chandeisi’s wife, Natanh, said. “I do not understand why they would come before our husbands return.”
Sagozhuni looked toward the four men who were riding in single file down the slope of the hill.
“Natanh, hide the jewelry,” Sagozhuni said quickly. “I do not think they are traders.”
Natanh laid a blanket over the turquoise and silver.
“Hello, ladies,” the man who rode in front said. He touched the brim of his hat. “Have you got something to trade?”
“These baskets,” Sagozhuni said, holding up one of the baskets that had the most intricate design.
“Baskets? Is that all? I was thinking more along the lines of turquoise and silver.”
“We have baskets,” Sagozhuni said. “They are very beautiful. Your wife will like them.”
“My wife?” the rider said. He laughed. “Did you hear that, boys?” he said to the others. “Our wives will like the baskets.”
The other riders laughed as well, but rather than easing her fears, their laughter frightened Sagozhuni even more.
The rider in front quit laughing and a snarl crossed his face. “Don’t lie to me now, you redskin bitch. Give us all your jewelry and we’ll just ride away and leave you alone. Otherwise, we’ll have a little fun with you two women, then take the jewelry anyway.”
“Aiyeee!” Natanh yelled, rushing toward one of the men, brandishing a knife.
“Natanh, no!” Sagozhuni shouted.
Sagozhuni’s shouted warning was too late. Natanh slashed out with her knife and brought blood from the leg of one of the riders.
“You crazy bitch!” the wounded rider shouted. Jerking on the reins of his horse, he managed to pull away from her before she could make a second swipe at him.
Natanh’s attack was answered with a flurry of gunshots, and Natanh went down. With a shout of anger, Sagozhuni grabbed Natanh’s knife, but before she could get to any of the men, she was shot down by a second volley.
“Son of a bitch!” Meechum said angrily. “What the hell did they do that for?”
The children began crying.
“What about the damn brats?” Philbin asked.
Meechum shook his head. “We got no choice,” he said. “Shoot the little bastards.” He shot one of the children and the others, following his lead, began shooting as well. For several seconds, the valley echoed and reechoed with the sound of gunshots. Finally, with the air stinking of spent gunpowder and the last echo dying away, the four men, who had not even dismounted, sat their saddles, looking on, shocked at their own actions.
“Son of a bitch, Meechum, did we have to do this?” Oliver asked.
“Didn’t look to me like we had all that much choice,” Meechum said as he dismounted. “Let’s find the silver and turquoise and get the hell out of here.”
“You sure there’s any here?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Meechum said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t of put up such a fight.”
Meechum turned back one of the blankets, and was rewarded with the sight of a pile of silver and turquoise trinkets. He smiled and looked up at the others.
“Well, now, lookie here, boys, lookie here what I just found.”
The other three riders dismounted and began gathering up the jewelry.
“Damn,” Meechum said. “This is fine stuff, and there’s a lot of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t get two hundred dollars for it.”
“Two hundred dollars?” Cantrell said. “That’s fifty dollars apiece.”
Meechum chuckled. “Ahh, you are all for it now, I see. Maybe you think ole Meechum is pretty smart after all.”
“Well, this don’t quite make up for sendin’ us to rob a bank that didn’t have no money,” Cantrell said. “But it makes up for a little of it.”
“It wasn’t that the bank didn’t have no money,” Philbin said. “It had lots of money.”
“Which we couldn’t get to because of the time lock,” Cantrell said. “So, as far as I’m concerned, that was the same as having no money.”
“Let’s quit the palaverin’ and get out of here before the men come back,” Meechum said. He ran his hand over the top of his head. “I’ve grown just real partial to my scalp.”
Delshay was feeling good as he returned to the campsite. He and Chandeisi had found at least ten people who agreed to come out and trade with them. He thought of the smile he would get from his squaw when he traded for some bright red silk.
Even as he was riding back, Delshay began planning the display for them. He knew that if the silver was highly polished so that it shined brightly in the sun, the white men would be willing to give more than they would if the silver was tarnished. He didn’t know why that was so. It was the same silver, whether tarnished or shining, and it was very easy to make the silver shine, yet the whites would sometimes pay twice as much for a shiny piece as they would for a piece that was tarnished.
As the two men continued the ride back toward the camp, however, Delshay began to feel a sense of apprehension. He didn’t mention it to Chandeisi, because he had no reason to be perturbed and he had no wish to cause Chandeisi worry. But even before the camp came in sight, he began to feel anxious.
Why was he so uneasy?
“Delshay, there is no smoke,” Chadeisi said. “We should see smoke.”
“Perhaps our dinner has already been cooked,” Delshay said.
“Yes, I think that is it,” Chandeisi agreed.
Despite Delshay’s reassurance, the restlessness continued. Then, the disquiet grew to a strong fear when he saw the large, circling black birds.
Delshay didn’t have to speak to Chandeisi. He saw the circling turkey vultures as well. Delshay slapped his legs against the side of his horse, urging it into a gallop.
They were all dead, both women and every child. All had been shot, even Delshay’s infant child. The silver and turquoise was gone; only the colorful and intricately woven baskets remained.
Chapter Thirteen
St. Louis
Matt didn’t really want to go to Phoenix, but he had made a promise to Lee to find his brother and give him the money, so, checking out of the hotel, he returned to the depot and bought a ticket.
“You will be aboard the Western Flyer, sir,” the ticket clerk said as he began stamping on the long folded train ticket. “The train will depart from track five at two o’clock this afternoon.”
“There isn’t one earlier?”
“I’m afraid not, sir.”
“All right, thanks,” Matt said, taking the ticket and putting it in his pocket. Looking up at the big clock on the wall, he saw that it was just after eleven, which meant that he had three hours to kill. He walked down to the newsstand and bought a copy of the St. Louis Democrat, then found a bench in a remote and quiet part of the waiting room. With another glance at the clock, he sat down to read. He found an article that made him chuckle.