Stand-off at Copper Town Read online

  When he stopped, he looked them up and down. Then he pointed at the law office.

  ‘You’re coming with me,’ he said.

  With Sherman walking behind them, they headed on. At first they had to push people aside to make headway, but soon everyone got the idea that Sherman wanted to get through and a gap appeared ahead.

  Nathan avoided catching anyone’s eye, but most people were more interested in getting out of Sherman’s way than in noticing who had attracted his ire.

  When they reached the office, they went straight in. Marshal Lawton had a desk beside the door with a row of large cells filling most of the office.

  Nathan looked along the cells, but he couldn’t see Patrick amongst the incarcerated men. Most of the men were sleeping on the floor or were sitting with their heads in their hands looking sour and battered and so suggesting a reason why they were here.

  Sherman signified they should stand to the side while he faced Lawton.

  ‘Plot foiled, then?’ Lawton asked.

  ‘There’s been no more trouble since last night,’ Sherman said. He glanced at the cells. ‘He tell you anything useful?’

  ‘Nope.’ Lawton gestured towards the endmost cell. ‘His lips are clamped tight.’

  The end cell was the only one not seething with prisoners and was set a short distance from the nearest cell. The mingling mass of men parted for long enough to let Nathan see that Patrick was sitting there alone.

  ‘Keep working on him. I need to know the names of his accomplices.’ Sherman cast Nathan and Jeff a significant glance and raised his eyebrows inviting them to talk, but both men remained silent. ‘He rode into Copper Town yesterday with these two.’

  Lawton swung round on his chair to consider them with a steady appraising gaze.

  ‘Yet only now do you bring them to me.’

  ‘I was keeping them under watch.’ Sherman joined him in considering them. ‘Besides, they claim they came here looking for gold, not the payroll.’

  ‘We don’t know nothing about no payroll,’ Nathan said, deciding he couldn’t keep his silence. His voice emerged with a high-pitched tone, but he consoled himself with the thought that it sounded innocent. ‘We did come here prospecting, but Patrick had got it wrong, so we decided to work instead. I guess Patrick was still unconvinced and he went scouting around for gold.’

  Sherman folded his arms. ‘He wasn’t scouting around when we found him. He was trying to steal the payroll I’ve secured out on the outcrop.’

  ‘We don’t know nothing about that.’ Nathan considered Sherman’s skeptical expression and then brightened. ‘You saw the equipment we brought.’

  ‘I did. Some might think it was excellent cover for what you were really doing, and some might think it was an excellent collection of tools to steal the payroll.’

  Nathan looked at Jeff for help in explaining themselves, but he returned a sorry shake of the head that said Sherman wouldn’t believe anything they said.

  Nathan set his hands on his hips. ‘What can we say to convince you that Patrick’s innocent?’

  ‘That’s a good question, and it’s one you can discuss with the marshal from the other side of the bars.’

  Nathan opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak Marshal Lawton coughed.

  ‘Why would I arrest these men?’ he asked. ‘You have no proof.’

  Sherman narrowed his eyes and slapped both hands down on the desk to peer at the lawman, who returned his gaze with calm ease. His mouth opened and closed as he struggled for words.

  ‘What more do you want?’ he snapped. ‘A stolen payroll?’

  ‘That would be your concern, but I’d still want more proof than you’ve shown me to arrest them for taking it.’

  Sherman snorted under his breath, but then, with a slap of a fist against his thigh, he swirled round to face Nathan.

  ‘It’s lucky for you that I’m a fair man, so get back to work,’ he said. ‘I’ve put two new men on your water detail. Show them what to do and stay away from the outcrop. I’m watching you and if you go within a hundred yards of the payroll, I won’t wait for Lawton to arrest you. I’ll deal with you myself.’

  With that promise he barged between them and headed outside where he immediately stopped to glare at the gathering. With a few broad gestures, he shooed everyone away and urged them to start work.

  ‘Obliged,’ Jeff said with a sigh of relief.

  Lawton leaned back in his chair. ‘Don’t be. The only reason I’m not arresting you is to annoy Sherman.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Nathan said.

  Lawton got to his feet and went to the window to look out at the dispersing crowd.

  ‘It means I want to believe you.’ Lawton turned and flashed a smile. ‘Find out what’s going on here – and I will.’

  As Nathan narrowed his eyes, Jeff joined Lawton at the window.

  ‘If you’re making us an offer, you’d better spell it out.’

  Lawton nodded, but he didn’t reply immediately as he collected his thoughts.

  ‘Rumors are spreading about miners going missing,’ he said, speaking slowly. ‘Nobody will talk and I don’t even have names.’

  ‘That sounds mighty troubling, but we only arrived yesterday,’ Nathan said. ‘It’s got nothing to do with us.’

  ‘It has now. If you want Patrick released, find out what’s going on in Copper Town. Find out who’s gone missing. Then find out why and who did it.’

  Nathan glanced at the end cell. ‘And if we don’t find out, we’ll end up in a cell with Patrick?’

  ‘Nope. If you don’t find out, you’ll beg me to put you in a cell.’ As Nathan and Jeff furrowed their brows in confusion, Lawton waved at the window, signifying the departing crowd. ‘They gathered because they’d heard someone had tried to steal the payroll. In a town like this, such rumors can end in a lynching. So one word from me and you won’t live to see another sundown.’

  ‘We understand,’ Nathan said. Then, with Lawton offering no more explanations, they turned to the door. ‘We’ll talk later.’

  ‘You will,’ Lawton said. ‘I want names.’

  Outside they were pleased to see that nearly everyone had departed, so they walked slowly to the water wagon. They said nothing on the way.

  As promised two new men were waiting for them. They were leaning on the wagon, slouching and not looking enthused about the work they’d been allocated.

  Nathan reckoned he’d seen them before. He wasn’t sure where, and when they detected their approach both men looked up and smiled in a sly way that suggested they also recognized them.

  They also murmured to each other before peeling away to face them. Nathan waved at them to climb up on the wagon, but neither man moved.

  ‘We’re late leaving already,’ Nathan said. ‘Hurry up.’

  The nearest man smirked and licked his lips.

  ‘Are you claiming you don’t remember us?’ he snarled.

  Nathan replayed the last words through his mind and with a sudden jolt he realized where he’d heard the voice before.

  ‘You’re the gunslingers from Snake Pass,’ he said.

  ‘We sure are.’

  Both men paced up to confront him as Jeff winced with recognition. One man ruefully rubbed his jaw while the other rubbed his stomach, remembering the places where they’d been hit.

  ‘This time you won’t surprise us in the dark,’ the second man said.

  ‘What do you want with us?’ Nathan asked, still bemused that they had traveled so far to repay being bettered.

  ‘We want the gold the old-timer claimed was here. If we don’t get it, you’ll both get what you avoided back in Snake Pass.’

  Chapter Five

  The journey to the river was a slow one.

  The four men hadn’t hurried in their duties and after Tucker Jeffords and Clay Meeker, as they now knew them, had delivered their threats, none of them had spoken again. When Nathan caught his first sight of the river, their t
wo unwelcome co-workers shuffled closer to the seat in the back of the wagon.

  ‘Is this the only trip we have to make today?’ Tucker asked.

  Nathan didn’t reply immediately, wondering if this was a prelude to more threats, but he figured that despite their mutual animosity they still had a job to do.

  ‘When we return, we get a break for them to remove the barrels. Then we head back to the river again and keep on going back and forth until sundown.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to wait until dark before you get us the gold,’ Clay said.

  Nathan concentrated on steering a straight course beside the railroad tracks leaving Jeff to lean back and reply.

  ‘It’s not that simple.’ Jeff gestured around, taking in the out-of-view town, railroad, and mine. ‘Patrick got it wrong. This place is no longer the one he explored fifteen years ago. We’ve all wasted our time over a tall tale.’

  Clay sneered. ‘We’re not listening to no excuses. We will leave with the gold.’

  Jeff and Nathan looked at each other and shrugged. Then they concentrated on steering the wagon, judging that nothing they could say would placate these men.

  When they arrived at the water, Clay and Tucker took one look at the work to be done and then drifted away, leaving Jeff and Nathan to unload the barrels, but this was fine with them. It let them talk privately for the first time since they’d joined up with the others.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Jeff asked after dragging the first barrel to the top of the planks.

  ‘Is that in finding out why people are going missing, or in dealing with Tucker and Clay?’ Nathan said, gesturing for Jeff to release the barrel so that it’d roll down to the ground.

  Jeff snorted a laugh and then kicked the barrel down.

  ‘One of those problems would be bad enough, but I guess we have to resolve them both.’

  Nathan slowed the barrel to a halt and looked at the two surly men, who were standing back and eyeing them from under lowered hats on the edge of the water.

  ‘In that case we have to sort out our hardest problem first, and as I reckon Marshal Lawton can’t expect us to solve his mystery quickly, that means getting rid of these two.’

  ‘Agreed.’

  Jeff kicked down a second barrel. This time Nathan didn’t stop it and let it roll on until it came to a halt beside Tucker and Clay.

  Tucker gave the barrel an irritated kick and then looked up at them.

  ‘What have you decided after your whispering?’ he asked.

  ‘That we should talk about our problem,’ Nathan said. He flexed his fists while Jeff jumped down from the wagon and rolled his shoulders.

  Tucker and Clay both backed away for a cautious pace towards the river. Tucker glanced down at his empty holster.

  ‘You two sound mighty brave when we’re unarmed, but remember that we will get our weapons back when we leave.’

  Nathan smiled, being relieved for the first time that Lawton strictly enforced his policy of not letting the miners pack guns. He advanced on Tucker while Jeff walked up to Clay.

  ‘You had guns last time, but it didn’t help you, so it sure won’t help you this time.’

  Tucker took another backwards pace, but on the slippery edge of the water his foot slipped. Nathan made him pay for his piece of bad luck and hurried in.

  He threw his weight behind a two-handed clubbing blow to his cheek that cracked his head to the side. Tucker stumbled backwards for a pace.

  Nathan followed through with a blow from the other direction that sent Tucker into the water. A contemptuous push made him slip. He fell, landing with a huge splash, and then floundered in the shallows with his arms and legs splayed in an undignified fashion.

  He pushed, trying to regain his footing, but he slipped again and landed on his rump. Slowly he sat up in the water and glared at Nathan standing on the riverside.

  ‘You just made a big mistake,’ he said, as he rolled on to his knees.

  ‘I don’t reckon so. Twice we’ve tussled and twice you’ve been flattened. Maybe you’ll get yourself some sense and not try for a third time.’

  While keeping an eye on Tucker, Nathan edged backwards giving him a chance to back down. Tucker didn’t make a move to reach him and Nathan soon found out why.

  ‘Stop there or this one dies,’ Clay said.

  Nathan winced. He hadn’t paid attention to how Jeff was faring with Clay, assuming his friend would best him.

  He looked over his shoulder. Clay had pressed a knife to Jeff’s neck, his hunched posture and glaring eyes suggesting he would have no compunction about digging the knife in. Jeff was standing rigidly with his hands slightly raised.

  ‘He had a hidden knife,’ Jeff said.

  ‘And he’ll lower it,’ Nathan said. ‘We don’t respond to threats.’

  Unseen by Clay, Jeff widened his eyes and gulped, clearly asking him if he was sure about his gamble. Nathan avoiding catching his eye, and to his relief Tucker clambered out of the water and waved at Clay to lower the knife.

  ‘Do what he says,’ he said.

  Clay’s biceps flexed as he appeared to consider defiance, but then, after a muttered comment to himself, he lowered the knife. As Jeff breathed a sigh of relief, Nathan gestured for Clay and Tucker to join him at the wagon, but before anyone could move a slow hand clap sounded.

  Jeff and Nathan swirled round to find that Sherman Clarke was standing on the back of the wagon looking down at them having arrived unheard while they’d been fighting. His presence showed why Tucker had backed down.

  Sherman continued clapping even when he had everyone’s attention. Then, with a smile on his lips, he jumped down to join them.

  ‘Now that sure was interesting,’ he said, holding out a hand for the knife. ‘I thought you’d be planning something down here, but I didn’t expect you’d be cutting each other up. Anyone want to tell me why?’

  Tucker joined Nathan, and after Clay had handed over the knife, in an apparent show of solidarity that Nathan wouldn’t have expected a few moments ago, he stood beside Jeff.

  ‘We were discussing the best way to load up the wagon,’ Tucker said, wringing water out of his jacket.

  ‘It was a lively discussion,’ Jeff added.

  Despite their previous argument, Nathan smiled and even Clay managed a nonchalant stance, leaving Sherman to cast suspicious glares at them.

  ‘Then you’ve wasted your breath. I let you leave the mine to find out what you were up to, but the answer has turned out to be a disappointing one.’ Sherman licked his lips and smirked. ‘So as this is the softest job here and there are plenty of good men in line to do it, I reckon it’s time I gave you some special duties instead.’

  Chapter Six

  The main mine workings were below the outcrop, but the steady progress onward would soon be making inroads into the huge slab of rock.

  The bulk of the work was veering towards the boulder-strewn gully they had seen the previous night from high up on the ridge. Without the boulders it would provide a convenient passage to the cauldron into which Patrick had climbed down.

  Sherman told them that a rockslide a month before had filled the gully with a jumble of boulders and so the area had been deemed too dangerous to investigate until it had been cleared. Nobody had been prepared to volunteer to do that clearing, until now.

  ‘What do you want us to do?’ Clay asked.

  Sherman merely snorted. Then, with brief gestures, he ordered Tucker and Clay to bring a large box to him.

  Despite some surly muttered comments, the two men did as ordered. On the way back to the mine nobody had discussed their situation, but Nathan had no doubt that when Sherman left them alone they would resume their unfinished business.

  When Sherman opened the box they saw what was expected of them. Nathan wasn’t surprised that Tucker led the complaints.

  ‘I’ve never used dynamite before,’ he grumbled. ‘This looks dangerous.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Sherman said.
‘Everybody back in the mine will be safe.’

  ‘You must have someone who’s better qualified to do this.’

  ‘I have, but they’ve all worked here longer than you have.’

  As Tucker snorted, acknowledging the humor, Nathan stepped forward, judging that no amount of complaining would get them out of this task.

  ‘Where do we start?’ he asked.

  Sherman pointed at the nearest boulders.

  ‘There,’ he said. ‘Then keep going until the boulders are small enough to be dragged away and we can access the area beyond.’

  Nathan reached into the box and took a stick. He hefted it on the palm of his hand.

  ‘Do we get any more instructions, or are you leaving us to blow ourselves up?’

  Sherman didn’t reply immediately, but then to everyone’s relief he deemed that he’d dragged enough entertainment out of their discomfort and took pity on them.

  For the next half-hour he explained how they should plant the sticks and light the fuses and the kind of areas they should seek to plant them in for maximum effect.

  After a last warning not to fritter away their time as there were tasks he could give them that were even more dangerous than this one, Sherman left them. When he’d disappeared from view, Tucker cast a significant glance at the box of dynamite and then turned to face Nathan and Jeff.

  ‘We have a job to do, but we can still finish what we started,’ he said.

  Jeff raised his fists, eager for a re-match after being bested the last time, but Nathan kept his own fists down.

  ‘We’ll admit that there could be gold here,’ he said, deciding that some honesty would be the best way of putting an end to what could develop into an endless series of confrontations. ‘Except we don’t know for sure as the only person who does know is Patrick, the old-timer you attacked.’

  Tucker nodded. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Marshal Lawton arrested him for trying to steal the mine payroll.’

  Tucker and Clay both narrowed their eyes with skepticism.

  ‘Patrick told a good story. You don’t.’