CHAPTER 55
Sally was too strong to fall apart in times of trouble, even when the stress was as terrible as it was. After Smoke told her that Brad was gone, apparently kidnapped, she cried for a minute or so as he held her, then stopped, pulled herself together, and looked up at him as she said, “Go get them. Kill them and bring him back.”
“That’s just what I figure on doing,” he told her. “I’ve sent Ed Magruder and Jerry Walker to round up the rest of the men who are out on the range today, and when they get back, they’ll be starting after us. Pearlie, Monte, and I are going to pick up the trail right now.”
Inez said, “Not until I pack some supplies for you, Señor Smoke. It won’t take long.”
“That’s all right,” he replied with a grim smile. “I’ve got to gather up some ammunition, anyway.”
Within half an hour, the three men were ready to ride. Smoke said his good-byes to Sally in front of the house as he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her.
“Bring him back, Smoke,” she murmured as she tightly hugged his neck. “He’s too young. It’s too soon for him to die. He has his whole life still in front of him.”
“I know,” he told her. “Try not to worry.”
“You know better than that.”
“Yeah, I reckon. But have I ever let you down before?”
“No,” she admitted. “No, you haven’t. But I’ve never had a grandson before, either.”
She was right about that, thought Smoke. He was about to brush a final kiss across her forehead when he heard something that made him look around.
Horses.
“Dadgum!” Pearlie exclaimed from nearby where he and Monte stood holding the saddle mounts the three men would use. “Look who’s in that buggy.”
Smoke recognized his son and daughter-in-law on the front seat of the approaching buggy. Louis was handling the reins, and fairly skillfully, too. Smoke could see the bags piled behind the seat.
“The train was coming in just as I rode out of town,” said Monte. “They must have been on it.”
“Oh, dear,” Sally said. “What terrible news they’re coming home to. I hoped . . . I hoped Brad would be back here safe and sound by the time they got here . . .”
“So did I,” Smoke said. “It’s not going to be easy breaking the news to them.”
It wasn’t. Louis and Melanie were all smiles when they climbed down from the buggy, glad to be home and eager to see everyone, especially Brad. That happiness vanished in an instant as Smoke explained what had happened. Melanie almost collapsed as she looked like she had just been punched.
Louis caught hold of her and drew her against him as he tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry, We’re going to get him back. He’ll be fine.”
“Pearlie and Monte and I are about to start out after them right now,” Smoke said. “And more of the men will be coming along after us.”
Louis looked over Melanie’s shoulder as he held her. “I’m coming with you,” he said to his father.
“No!” That exclamation came from Melanie and Sally in unison. Melanie drew back in Louis’s embrace and stared up at him. “You can’t do that, Louis.”
“I can’t stay here and wait. Brad is my son now. If it was me who had been taken . . . the way those outlaws first planned . . . you would have gone after me, wouldn’t you, Father?”
“That’s different,” Smoke said gruffly.
“Why? Because Brad is my stepson and not my son by blood? Uncle Matt’s not your brother by blood, but does that mean he’s less important to you than Uncle Luke?”
“You know better than that, blast it. That’s not what I meant—”
“No, what you meant is that I’m too sickly to come with you.” There was no mistaking the bitterness in Louis’s voice. “The same way I’ve been too sickly to do so many other things in my life. Well, I’m tired of it, do you understand? I can’t live with myself if I don’t do everything in my power to save Brad, no matter what happens to me!”
Melanie whispered, “I can’t lose you both.”
“You won’t,” he said, turning to her again. “You won’t lose either of us. You’ll see. We’re going to get him back, and I’ll be fine.”
Smoke couldn’t help but be proud of his son as he heard the determination and courage in Louis’s voice and saw those qualities on his face. He understood why Louis felt that way, too. Despite his health problems, the blood of the Jensens flowed in Louis’s veins. And it wasn’t just a matter of blood, either, as Louis had pointed out about Matt. Matt had the fighting heart of a Jensen, and evidently, so did Louis.
“All right,” Smoke said. “You’re coming with us, son. Better put on some good clothes for riding and get a rifle and handgun while we saddle a horse for you.”
“Smoke . . .” Sally began.
“Sometimes a man doesn’t have any choice,” he told her. “The trail’s right there in front of him, and he has to follow it.”
“Thanks, Pa,” Louis said. “I’ll be ready to ride in a few minutes.”
Melanie lifted a hand toward him as if she were about to take hold of his sleeve, but then she stopped the gesture. She swallowed hard and said, “Be careful, Louis . . . but bring back my son. Our son.”
“Count on it,” he said with a nod.
* * *
Smoke’s father Emmett had taught him some about how to follow a trail, and then the years he’d spent with the old mountain man Preacher had made him an even better tracker. Pearlie and Monte had considerable experience at such things, too, so it wasn’t difficult for them to pick up the trail of the men who had taken Brad. It led toward the high, rugged country west of the valley where the Sugarloaf was located, just as Smoke expected. There were plenty of places up there where even a good-sized group of men could hide.
As the four men rode, Louis asked, “Are we absolutely certain these men we’re following took Brad?”
“We searched all around the ranch headquarters,” Smoke said. “He wasn’t anywhere to be found. There’s no other explanation for his disappearance. Besides, we know they were planning to kidnap you, and since you weren’t there I reckon they decided to hold Brad for ransom instead.”
“They can’t be too smart,” said Monte, “if they figured you’d pay ransom for anybody, Smoke. That’s just not your way.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve got a hunch they weren’t expecting me to be here. Since Markham was working with them, he could have passed word to the gang that I was taking that horse herd to Montana. Then, when Sally got sick at the last minute and Denny went in my place, Markham never had a chance to tip off his partners.”
Pearlie nodded. “That makes a heap of sense. From what Miss Denny said in her wire, they went after the horse herd, too. Most likely figured on killin’ you when they stole those horses, Smoke. That way Miss Sally would be left on her own, and they believed she’d be soft and easy to buffalo into handin’ over a pile of money.” He laughed. “They don’t know Miss Sally! I reckon she’d have strapped on a gun, climbed on a horse, and gone after the no-good varmints her own self.”
“More than likely,” Smoke said with a smile.
He had been studying the tracks as they rode, and he estimated that they were following between a dozen and two dozen men. Those weren’t very good odds, or at least they wouldn’t have been under normal circumstances. Pearlie and Monte Carson were seasoned fighting men, though, worth three or four hardcases apiece, in Smoke’s estimation. He had no false modesty about his own abilities, either. He knew he could kill plenty of the bastards before they brought him down . . . if they got lucky enough to even do that.
The weak link . . . no, that wasn’t fair, Smoke told himself... the unknown quantity was Louis, and not just his health, either. He had very little experience in dealing with trouble. Would he panic at the wrong moment and endanger not only his own life but that of his son and everyone else?
There was only one way to find out.
The tracks led them to the slopes and started up. They had been able to move fairly quickly, since the kidnappers apparently had made no effort to cover up their trail. Once they began climbing, though, they couldn’t push the horses as hard. They hadn’t brought extra mounts with them, since Smoke didn’t expect it to be a long chase. The kidnappers didn’t want to elude pursuit; they couldn’t collect any ransom if they did that. They just wanted to have everything happen on their terms.
Because of that, Smoke wasn’t surprised when he and his companions reached the top of a long rise, came out onto a narrow bench, and found a man on horseback waiting for them.