Despite having the Colt Storekeeper Model Peacemaker in its shoulder holster, the town boss had not considered that using it would offer an acceptable solution under the circumstances. If he shot down the ‘new schoolteacher’, who was clearly unarmed and whose courage and skill at fighting with bare hands against such heavy odds had won the approbation of the onlookers, he would be unable to prevent the matter becoming the subject of gossip. Once the news reached them, Samuel Williams and the other dissidents would act upon it. Even if the former had failed to produce assistance from Ole Devil Hardin, their information could cause a law enforcement agency such as the Texas Rangers or the office of the United States’ marshal—neither of whom’s jurisdiction was bounded by Grattan and Dale County—to make an investigation over which Town Marshal Hawley Grenville would not be able to exert control on behalf of Keleney.

  Accepting that he could do nothing physical, the town boss had tried to achieve his purpose of belittling the ‘new schoolteacher’ by pretending to believe the attack was not justified as Joseph ‘Lil Joey’ Cockburn was merely playing a practical joke. He had gained no support from his audience, all of whom knew the far from savory nature of the jockey. All the customers had given at least overt support to the assertion by ‘Silverstone’ that he did not regard being threatened because of his refusal to break the habit of a lifetime and take a drink, or having an attempt made to draw a gun on him, as a matter of levity. Nor did he consider being attacked by several men larger than himself as a piece of good humored and harmless fun. To the accompaniment of muttered concurrence, which Keleney had known would not have been forthcoming if he had been beaten, he had stated that the marshal should be fetched to adjudicate on the matter if ‘anybody’ thought he was wrong in having defended himself so strenuously.

  One of the things which had helped the town boss attain his standing in the community was being willing to avoid going openly against public opinion. Although the term had not yet come into usage in such a context, he was conscious of the damage which could be caused to the ‘image’ he had created as a ‘good sport’ if he should persist in trying to place the blame for the incident upon ‘Silverstone’. His suppositions on the subject had been given verification by the way in which the generally complaisant customers were now going against what he had made plain were his sentiments.

  Wanting to avoid such an eventuality, particularly with the forthcoming wrestling bout offering an opportunity for another betting coup, Keleney had stated there was no need to involve the peace officer, and he admitted that the behavior of the jockey was liable to be misinterpreted by a stranger. He had followed the declaration by claiming that the intervention by the other men was, in all probability, the result of their friendship and misguided loyalty to Cockburn. Promising to take them to task for their behavior when they had recovered, and adopting an air of admiration that he was far from feeling, he had finished by praising the ‘new schoolteacher’ for displaying such, great ability at self defense.

  That the affair was allowed to end on such a conciliatory note was not entirely the doing of the town boss. Knowing to do otherwise might push Keleney into a situation from which he could not back down and must therefore take some form of punitive action, Dusty Fog had refrained from challenging the explanations or insisting upon having Grenville brought into the affair.

  Aware that he had the sympathy of the customers and that their description of what had taken place would be favorable to him, the small Texan had asked for his victims to be given medical attention. This had conveyed the impression that he was more concerned than Keleney over their welfare. Barely able to conceal his annoyance at having been exposed in such a fashion, the town boss had given instructions for this to be done. Then he had tried to learn more about the techniques he had seen employed during the fight, but with little success. Saying they were taught to him by a friend of the family, ‘Silverstone’ had shown no inclination to go further into the matter. Stating he wished to be on his way, as he had promised to go swimming with some of his male pupils, he had asked why he had been summoned to the bar-room. Thinking fast, the town boss had invited him to be a guest at the ringside table on Saturday evening. He had accepted and left without offering an opportunity for the conversation to be prolonged.

  Being engrossed in trying to reduce the effect of the debacle where the witnesses to it were concerned, Keleney had not realized the full implications of what had taken place until long after the departure of the small Texan. When the appreciation struck him, he found it as disturbing and puzzling as the events themselves. Not only had the way in which ‘Silverstone’ acted on arrival implied he suspected he might be walking into a trap, but the comment he had made after felling his last assailant confirmed that this was the case. Taken in conjunction with his remarkable skill at fighting, such a response to a situation he believed could prove dangerous suggested he might be something other than an ordinary schoolteacher.

  The town boss could not decide what else ‘Silverstone’ might be!

  Nor did Keleney come close to guessing the truth!

  In spite of his misgivings on the subject, or rather because of them, the town boss had told his hard-cases that no action must be taken against ‘Silverstone’ until he gave the word. He had no faith in their respective intelligence and organizing ability, so was disinclined to let any of them make an attempt upon the life of the ‘new schoolteacher’ until he was sure this would not produce repercussions upon himself.

  Putting aside thoughts of vengeance upon ‘Silverstone’ until a more propitious moment, Keleney had turned his attention to recovering the loss of face he knew he had suffered as a result of the debacle. He had concluded that the forthcoming wrestling bout would be the best way to divert attention from the incident. It was already a subject of considerable speculation among the population and he sought for ways by which the interest might be increased.

  As Terry Parry had predicted, the information divulged by the two passengers at the depot of the Overland Stage Company had soon spread around the town. The general consensus of opinion was that Maggie Bollinger was now in a far better position than when engaged in her first bout against a professional opponent. Although she had only snatched victory from ‘Countess’ Tanya Bulganin at the last moment, she had gained in experience. The mass of opinion considered, in the light of the report given by the passengers, that she would have less difficulty when opposed by a woman who had suffered an easy defeat at the hands of her victim.

  Having noticed the arrogant assumption of ‘Big’ Ann Derby that her victory over the local ‘amateur’ was assured, when they met on Friday evening, Keleney had felt sure it would not go down well with Maggie. As was proved when they met for the ‘weighing in’ ceremony, his summation was correct. However, the confrontation had not gone entirely as he required. He believed he had seen the red head and her husband, who acted as her trainer, show consternation at the sight of the catalogue being tom with such ease.

  ‘I was going to make it easy on that god-damned overstuffed whore!’ Ann asserted, after her opponent had donned attire suitable for appearing on the street and left the bar-room. ‘But now she’s got me riled and I’ll make her wish she’d never been born when I get her in the ring!’

  ‘What I know of her, she’ll have the same in mind for you,’ Keleney replied, having no doubt that the comment would be repeated to Maggie and circulated around the town. While this would increase the interest in, and attendance for, the bout, he regarded it with mixed feelings and he went on, ‘Anyways, Ann, you and Willis’d best come up to my room for a spell.’

  ‘Sure, honey,’ Willis Derby agreed. ‘I know you don’t need to, but you might’s well rest up a spell ready for tonight.’

  Waving the red head and her big, over-weight and flashily dressed husband to precede him, Keleney picked up the undamaged catalogue which Maggie had left behind. Keeping it out of sight, he accompanied them upstairs, and the spectators of the ‘weighing in’ ceremony started to leave the bar-room to spread the news of what had happened.

  ‘All right!’ the town boss said, holding out the book as soon as he and his guests were in the privacy of his living quarters. ‘Let me see you tear this like she did the other one.’

  ‘It doesn’t mean anything god-damn it!’ Ann claimed, after trying and failing to duplicate the feat without employing the technique which made it possible. ‘So she’s strong, but I’ve been wrestling longer than she has and that’ll be what counts when we lock horns.’

  ‘Sure,’ Derby supported. ‘Amos Thorne told me Tanya could have licked her easy enough and was doing so until he stopped her.’

  ‘And anything that old whore can do, so can I!’ the red head declared. ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, Bull. I’ll whip her as soon as you give me the sign.’

  ‘Come in!’ Keleney barked, in response to a knock on the door which prevented him from continuing the conversation.

  ‘Boss,’ Brick Shatterhouse said entering, followed by the wizened, disheveled and unshaven old man who acted as swamper for the saloon. ‘Rupe here’s got something he wants to tell you.’

  ‘Can’t it wait?’ Keleney demanded, wanting to reassure himself with regards to Arm’s ability to defeat Maggie.

  ‘It’s about “Silverstone”,’ the hard-case replied. ‘And, what he’s just told me, I reckoned you’d be wanting to hear it for yourself.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ Keleney authorized grudgingly, his manner showing he doubted whether the information would be worthwhile, but was still sufficiently interested in anything concerning the mysterious ‘new schoolteacher’ to be willing to listen. ‘And don’t take all day with it!’

  ‘I was out to the woods ’long Dale Creek hunting ’possum yesterday afternoon, boss,’ the swamper obeyed hurriedly, yet displaying worry over the admission. ‘Only, it being so warm ‘n’ all, I crawled under some bushes to cool down a mite. Must’ve dropped off to sleep—’

  ‘Get the hell on with it!’ Keleney commanded.

  ‘Sure, boss,’ the elderly man assented. ‘When I woke up, I saw Maggie Bollinger teaching the “new schoolteacher” how to wrestle.’

  ‘She was teaching him to wrestle?’ the town boss spat out, too startled at the possibilities opened by the information to comment upon his employee having been absent from work without permission.

  ‘She sure was, boss,’ the swamper confirmed. ‘When I looked out, she was letting him do a reel fancy throw on her. Then she got up and showed him how to do it right.’

  ‘Who else was there?’ Keleney wanted to know.

  ‘Cy, Sam Williams and the “new schoolma’am”,’ the man listed.

  ‘So that’s their god-damned game!’ the town boss ejaculated. ‘Why the hell didn’t you say something about it afore now?’

  ‘I—It sort of slipped my mind,’ the swamper lied, alarmed by the anger his employer was displaying, although the truth was that he had hoped nobody had missed him and had had no wish to call attention to his unauthorized absence. ‘I only remembered when Brick asked just now where I was yesterday.’

  ‘Did they know you were watching?’ Keleney demanded, guessing the real reason for the omission and being willing to overlook it in his eagerness to learn more about what the old man had seen.

  ‘No, sir!’ the swamper answered with confidence. ‘I figured’s, seeing’s they’d come out there ’stead of doing it behind the forge, they didn’t want nobody to know what was doing and kept hid until they’d gone.’

  ‘What’s up, Bull?’ Derby asked, surprised by the vehemence with which the town boss was reacting to the information.

  ‘That “mother-something schoolteacher” knows fighting tricks the like of which I’ve never seen before!’ Keleney explained and, having described the incident in the barroom, he concluded, ‘If he’s taught her just a few of them, she’ll take Ann like Grant took Richmond!’

  Fourteen – Am I Going to Have Fun With You?

  ‘We’ve got where we’re going, “schoolma’am”,’ the taller of the two gun-hung hard-cases declared, closing the door of the building into which they had escorted their blindfolded and unresisting prisoner. ‘You can haul down that bandanna from over your eyes now, seeing’s how you won’t know where you’re at. But it won’t do you the teensiest mite of good to start yelling for help. ’Cepting for Milt ’n’ me, there ain’t nobody close enough to hear you and having you caterwauling’d only rile us up.’

  ‘Which same you for certain sure wouldn’t take kind to us doing that, gentle’s we’ve been so far, lil gal,’ claimed the second of the pair, his accent also that of a North Texan. ‘So, happen you’ve got right good sense, you’ll keep on doing what Snackey ’n’ me tells you. Then, comes around noon tomorrow, you’ll be turned loose safe ’n’ sound to go back to the schoolhouse.’

  Continuing to behave in the frightened and submissive manner she had adopted on being captured in Grattan, Betty Hardin reached up to remove the blindfold. As she did so, she told herself silently that she would soon be finding out just how good a judge of human nature she might be.

  Knowing Ezekiel Barnsley had been an active participant in more than one of the nefarious schemes of Daniel ‘Bull’ Keleney, the girl was wary of him when he had come to the schoolhouse shortly after Dusty Fog left to attend the wrestling bout at the Bull’s Head Saloon. Her suspicions were aroused when the clerk had asked if she would go to one of her female pupils who had met with an accident. Although she had not been able to leave a note informing her cousin of what had happened, she knew that to refuse to go would be out of character, and she had accompanied Barnsley to an empty house on the outskirts of the town. She had not been surprised to find there was no injured pupil in the building. Nor, despite feeling sure he did not know it was to be done, had she been persuaded that the clerk was innocent of deception when he was felled by a blow from the taller of the two men who were present.

  Thinking fast, Betty had assessed the situation and reached her conclusions. The assault upon the clerk had diverted the attention of one man. However, as the other hard-case had continued to watch her, she had decided against putting to use her extensive knowledge of ju jitsu and karate, or attempting to draw the Remington Double Derringer she had taken to carrying fastened in the top of her left riding boot. The blouse and divided skirt she had on would have permitted a greater freedom of movement than the attire she wore when acting as schoolteacher, but her study of the pair had suggested neither course was advisable. Although their clothing was that of working cowhands, she had judged them to be professional fighting men and not only with firearms. In their early forties, they had not struck her as the kind who would panic or act rashly in an emergency. Rather they had the age, intelligence and experience to respond with efficiency should the need to do so arise.

  All the conclusions drawn by the girl had warned that, good as she undoubtedly was, she could not hope to render both men hors de combat in such quick succession to rule out the chance of failure. As soon as she had launched her attack upon the first, the second hard-case who was dealing with Barnsley would intervene before she could arm herself with the Remington. Nor would merely screaming for help have offered an acceptable solution. The area around the building had been deserted as she and the clerk were passing through it. Knowing how public sentiment regarded the molestation of a ‘good’ woman, neither hard-case would be willing to risk being caught while engaged in something which might be construed as attacking her, and they would have had no hesitation before silencing her. While they might not go so far as shooting, unless she started to bring out the Double Derringer, a blow to the head from either’s Colt would achieve their purpose just as effectively.

  An awareness of the possible consequences was not the only motive Betty had had for deciding to surrender!

  Pointing out that their lives might depend upon making a correct identification, Dusty had insisted Betty and he become acquainted with the appearances of the men hired by Keleney. She had not seen the pair before that day, but believed they were in his employ. Guessing what they had been ordered to do and aware that she had no other choice at that time, she had not attempted to resist. Instead, she had conveyed the impression of being too frightened to do so, in the hope of verifying her suspicions and obtaining conditions more suitable for her escape.

  As yet, the girl had achieved neither of her purposes. She knew that she must do something without too much more delay. Despite the facts that she had been blindfolded before she was driven away in the buggy, and that there had been no opportunity to take action during the journey, her range bred senses had formed a pretty fair estimation of how far and in which direction she had been taken. Remembering all she had learned about the geography of Dale County since her arrival, she believed she knew her present location.

  All that remained to be done, Betty thought, was to acquire the information she sought with regards to the identity of the person responsible for her abduction!

  And to escape from captivity as quickly as possible!

  Unfastening and removing the blindfold, Betty found that Milt was lighting a lamp. Blinking a little in the glare, she glanced around. She was in a small and poorly furnished room of an adobe building, but there was nothing visible to suggest by whom it was owned.

  ‘Go and sit down,’ Snackey ordered, waving a hand towards the rickety table which—along with three chairs and a couple of bunks—formed the only furnishings of the room. ‘Behave yourself and, like we told you back to Grattan, you’ll not get hurt.’

  ‘Don’t worry, gentlemen,’ Betty replied in her normal voice, strolling across the room with none of her previous apparently frightened subservience. Looking at her captors in a mixture of pity and assurance as she sat down, she went on, ‘I’ve no intention of causing any more trouble for you, because you could be in more than enough already without me adding to it. In fact, I hope Bull Keleney is making what you’re doing worth your while.’

 

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