CHAPTER 25
Buckhorn didn’t have a lot of time, but he didn’t need much to make up his mind. By the time he’d walked from the sheriff’s office back to his hotel, he knew he would accept Thomas Wainwright’s invitation to dinner. What was more, if the anticipated job offer was made, he would accept that, too.
What better way to get a closer look at the Flying W operation and maybe determine what this “something big” was that so many people seemed convinced Wainwright was up to? Also, Buckhorn reminded himself, becoming part of Wainwright’s crew would surely put him in a better position for the ultimate confrontation that Haydon had hired him for.
His time in Wagon Wheel had hardly been uneventful. Suddenly, it felt like it was picking up more momentum. That’s why he had to move fast.
In the second-floor hallway of the hotel, instead of going directly to his own room, Buckhorn paused before the door to room three. No one else was in the hall, so he tapped lightly on the door. Martin Goodwin’s slightly muffled voice said the door was unlocked, to come in.
When Buckhorn entered, the scene was an ironic mirror image of what had transpired in his own room only a few hours earlier. Goodwin was sitting at the writing desk with a revolver and an open box of cartridges before him.
He looked up, his mouth twisting wryly. “You should be glad to see that your advice for me to arm myself sank in. The shooting in the street that you were part of drove home the point even more. You fellas out here in the West don’t mess around when it comes to settling your differences, do you?”
“You seem to be catching on,” Buckhorn said. “Yet, you tell me to come on in while you sit right in the line of fire with an unloaded gun in front of you. If I’d been somebody with bad intentions in mind, what would you have done? Thrown the bullets at me, one by one? Remember what I said about the only thing worse than not having a gun is having one but not knowing how to use it?”
“Yeah, I recall you telling me that.” Goodwin scowled. “I only just bought this thing a little while ago. I was hoping maybe I could get you to give me some pointers on using it. In the meantime, I was sitting here studying it and trying to get a feel for it on my own.”
“Well, getting to know your weapon is never a bad idea,” Buckhorn had to admit. “At least you had the sense to leave the bullets out of it while you were handling it and looking it over.”
“So you’ll give me some lessons, then?”
“I don’t think I’ll have much chance for that. But I know somebody who could serve that purpose, and he fits with the rest of why I ducked in to see you, anyway. You mentioned the shoot-out from a little while ago. He’s the other fella who pitched in and helped take down those two troublemakers after the deputy got shot. Name’s Carl Orndecker. He used to be a lawman himself, as a matter of fact.”
Goodwin nodded. “Sounds like a pretty good substitute.”
“I’ll introduce you to Carl and also his sister. She runs the local newspaper.”
Goodwin lifted his eyebrows. “I’ve seen her. Pretty gal. You can introduce me to pretty gals like her all you want.”
“First things first,” Buckhorn warned him. “Carl and Justine, to name just two around this county, have no love for Wainwright, either. Our meeting with them will be strictly business. Any funny business you might have in mind will have to wait until later, on your own time.”
“Sure. Understood.”
“How soon would you be ready to start your dowsing?” Buckhorn asked. “Have you got all the equipment you need?”
“Right there,” said Goodwin, pointing to a suitcase tilted against the base of a coatrack. “I can start tomorrow. I’d want to scout the land a little more closely before picking my actual starting point is all.”
“One more thing. When you do this for real—”
“I am doing it for real. The people around here are suffering. If I can find water, do something to ease their plight, I damn sure mean to do my best to accomplish that. Other motivations might have been involved in fetching me here but, now that I’ve arrived, I don’t intend any fakery when it comes to my dowsing.”
“That’s real noble of you,” Buckhorn said. “But what I was trying to get at was how it is you usually take on a dowsing job. I reckon you get paid, right? Hired by some town council or group of ranchers or the like? So what’s your cover story for who hired you to come to Whitestone County?”
“I don’t have one. Partly I didn’t think of it, partly it would have been hard for me to come up with something on my own until I had a better sense of exactly what the situation was out here.”
“That’s all right. We can come up with something when we meet with Carl and Justine to go over the gun business and some other things that have come up.”
“When is this meeting going to take place?” Goodwin wanted to know.
“Pretty quick. I haven’t arranged anything with Carl or his sister yet, but I’m sure they’ll make time for us.”
“You’re being rather mysterious.”
“Just bear with me. I’ll give you the rest of the details, at least as many as I know, in just a little while. Give me about fifteen minutes. Then I want you to go over to the newspaper office, walk in like you want to conduct some business. I’ll be there by the time you arrive, but I’ll have used the back way to make sure no one notices we’re there at the same time. I’ll fill you in, along with Carl and Justine, the rest of the way.”
“Got it. It’ll be good to get out and do something instead of waiting here and staring at these four walls. Fifteen minutes it is.”
* * *
“Going out there amounts to almost certain suicide. You’ve got to be crazy to even consider it.”
Buckhorn smiled wryly. “There are those who’d say that’s already been established, many times over.”
“Then all the more reason not to have to prove it yet again,” Justine said.
“Stop and think a minute,” her brother suggested. “It’s far more likely Wainwright wants to hire him onto his crew of gunmen. If all he wanted was to kill Joe, he’d send hired killers to do the job away from his ranch.”
“That’s the way I see it,” Buckhorn agreed. “Not to say he eventually won’t want me dead, but for the time being I get the sense he wants to save face and take me out of the picture, only not do it with more violence. What better way to do that than to bring me into the fold where he can keep a close eye on me—maybe even get some use out of me and my gun—and then deal with me when it’s a more suitable time.”
“That seems awfully elaborate,” Justine said stubbornly. “What would make one time more suitable than another if he intends to get around to killing you anyway?”
“Earlier, at lunch, you mentioned the recent surge in violence around here,” Buckhorn reminded her. “You also said how it might signal Wainwright getting ready to spring the next phase of his big plan, whatever that is. Sheriff Banning said something similar just a little while ago about how Wainwright and the army of gunmen he’s gathered feel like something big is ready to bust open. So more fringe violence, like the shooting this afternoon and the other stuff I’ve ended up in the thick of, could be the last thing Wainwright wants in order to keep folks from getting edgy and being on the lookout for signs of more trouble. Since I’ve managed to draw a fair amount of attention to myself already, him simply sending more killers after me would only attract added attention, sharpen the lookout of folks in exactly the way he wants to avoid.”
The stubborn scowl on Justine’s face appeared to lessen somewhat, but she still didn’t look wholly convinced.
The discussion was taking place in the storeroom of the Sun Ledger, the rear area Buckhorn and Justine had passed through when they’d assisted a drunken Carl back to his room and then where Buckhorn had brought the bales of paper stock when he finished unloading the wagon. The four people present, including Martin Goodwin, who’d shown up as instructed, were perched on crates and bales of paper. Once the dowser had arrived and introductions had been made all around, Buckhorn had set the current exchange in motion by revealing his recent invitation to dine at the Flying W.
“So are you saying,” Goodwin asked, “that if Wainwright does make you an offer to hire onto his crew of gunmen, you’re going to accept?”
Buckhorn nodded. “That’s the way I’m leaning, yeah.”
“The crazy talk keeps piling up deeper and deeper,” Justine said, shaking her head as if in disbelief.
“No, it may not be so crazy at all. Not if it’s used as a means to infiltrate Wainwright’s operation.” Carl’s eyes narrowed as he pinned a hard gaze on Buckhorn. “That is what you mean, right?”
“Exactly,” Buckhorn said. “A lot of people seem convinced that Wainwright is on the verge of something big, but nobody knows what. From the inside, I’ll have a better chance of not only finding out what it is but, when the time is right, maybe I’ll also have a chance to foul it up at the source.”
“I don’t know about crazy,” said Goodwin, “but it sure sounds awfully daring.”
“All the same thing,” Justine muttered.
“Since you’ve obviously got your mind made up,” Carl said, “what’s the rest of it? You didn’t pull us all together just to tell us what you’re going to do. Unless I miss my guess, you’ve got some parts for us to play, too.”
“Your guess is right on target,” Buckhorn told him. “For starters, you and Justine need to know that Goodwin and I are here to call Wainwright to account for past deeds totally separate from the land-grabbing and whatever else he’s got going here in your area. We can’t give you exact details on who sent us or why, and we’ll be asking that you carry on like we don’t know each other. What you get out of working with us is that we’d all be pulling together against Wainwright. And, just incidentally, Goodwin might also find your area a brand-new water source.”
“You said he was a dowser. You really believe in that kind of witchery?” asked Justine.
“I do,” Goodwin was quick to answer. “I don’t consider it witchery nor can I guarantee positive results. But if there’s underground water at some reachable point around here, I have a good chance of finding it. If you care to see, I have documented evidence from many cases where I’ve succeeded.”
“It clearly would be great for the area if water can be found,” Buckhorn said. “Initially, we figure the dowsing is sure to catch the attention of Wainwright. If he believes there’s even a small chance Goodwin might succeed, no telling how he’ll react.”
“He’ll blow his stack,” Carl said. “If another water source emerges, it throws everything out of kilter for him. Never mind all the rangeland he already controls and however much more he has his sights set on, another season of drought would also put the town itself at his mercy. I don’t know if that’s part of his big plan or not, but he’s sure not likely to sit back and watch that part of it get washed away.”
“One way or another, he’s bound to see a reputable dowser as a threat,” Buckhorn said.
“So where does that leave Mr. Goodwin?” Justine asked. “If Wainwright does see him as a serious threat, you realize the danger that would put him in, don’t you?”
Buckhorn nodded. “Yeah, I do. That’s where I was hoping we could count on some help from you and Carl. For starters, I’m asking Carl to take his offer to stand guard over me and shift it to looking out for Goodwin when he commences his dowsing.”
Carl didn’t waste a lot of time pondering the idea. “Comes to tying a knot in Wainwright’s tail or any troublemakers he sends around, I’d be happy to pitch in.”
Justine was quick to show her own spunk. “What about me? What part would I play?”
“You can take the lead in spreading word about Goodwin and his dowsing. Print up and distribute some flyers. Word of mouth. Whatever you can think of.”
“Right up my alley. I wish to heck you’d have told me about this sooner. I already revised my special edition once, to fit in coverage of that latest shoot-out. I’m not sure where I could have fit it. The layout’s done now and we just finished running—”
“Don’t worry about it. All you gotta do is mention of the dowsing in a few places and I’m betting it will take off from there like a prairie fire.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“One more thing. To make it look convincing, Goodwin ought to have some kind of group behind him, some kind of financing that hired him to come here and do his dowsing. Could be four or five ranchers still holding their land, or a handful of town businessmen, or even a mix of the two. They don’t have to pay anything or do anything, just be agreeable to letting their names leak out if push comes to shove.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Carl said. “There are enough hard feelings against Wainwright by enough people to find plenty to fill that bill.”
“I know ones I can get. I’m sure of it,” Justine agreed.
“Not to throw too big a rock into the wagon spokes,” said Goodwin, “but what if we’re wrong with all of this speculation? What if Wainwright’s invitation to Buckhorn doesn’t include a job offer? What if it’s just a trap aimed at trying to kill him after all?”
“It’s not like I haven’t dodged clear of more than one trap in my time,” Buckhorn pointed out.
“But what if this time is the one where your luck doesn’t hold?”
Buckhorn smiled wryly. “Well, in that case you’ll have to forgive me for taking a little less interest in what happens next.”
Carl said, “If Wainwright’s dinner invitation turns out to be something different altogether, meaning Buckhorn ends up neither hired on to the Flying W nor shot full of holes . . . well, I guess we take a step back and decide what to do from there.”
“Wouldn’t have much choice.” Buckhorn’s expression hardened. “Be sure to keep in mind from this point on that anybody who sides against Wainwright in any way—us, a pack of phony dowsing backers, whoever—is going up against a dangerous, ruthless bastard. You folks know what he’s done around here, me and Goodwin know about some additional nastiness from his past. He may have a small army of hired guns, but the most dangerous part of his outfit remains Thomas Wainwright himself.”