The Floating Outfit 9 Read online

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  Contents

  About the Book

  Dedciation

  Part One – The Saga of Rocket Robbins

  One – Like Finding Money in the Street

  Two – A Clear-Cut Case of Murder

  Three – Go North With A Trail Drive

  Four – A Dose of ‘Liquid Damnation’

  Five – Get Hardin, Preferably Dead

  Six – Hole Up Across the River

  Seven – Ka-Dih’s Done Forgot His Wandering Boy

  Eight – The Departure of Rocket Robbins

  Part Two – The Saga of the Hooded Riders

  Nine – I’m Going In Alone

  Ten – Mount Up and Ride Out

  Eleven – Southrons Hear Your Country Call You

  Twelve – You’re the Rebel Spy?

  Thirteen – Take the Money and Stay Alive

  Fourteen – A Mighty Strange Banking House

  Fifteen – Too Smart For A Soft-Shell Girl

  Sixteen – They’ll Blame the Hooded Riders

  Seventeen – That Drunken Swine, Grant

  Author’s Note

  Copyright

  The Floating Outfit Series So Far…

  About Piccadilly Publishing

  It all began when young Wes Hardin stepped up to a wrestling booth to try his strength against big, brawny Negro Sam. Within a few minutes a vicious gunfight had developed, and then Wes was on the run, branded a murderer—and without a single witness left alive to testify to his innocence.

  Then he met his cousin, Dusty Fog and with the Floating Outfit—Mark Counter and the Ysabel Kid—took up the fight against the evil corruption which had laid its hand on Wes Hardin!

  For Sergeant ‘Ding’ Dingley, R.A.V.C.

  in the hope that he always has a blanket handy.

  Part One – The Saga of Rocket Robbins

  One – Like Finding Money in the Street

  ‘Come on now, you fortunate Texas gents! Step right up and try your luck. All you have to do is throw Sam here off his feet and win yourself ten shining Yankee dollars.’

  Attracted by the shouting, various citizens of Bonham, Fannin County’s seat, halted, listened then moved towards the sound to see what it had to offer. The sight of the small, two-horse wagon standing before the Pronghorn Saloon and carrying the words ‘Dr. Cleek’s Voodoo Tonic’ painted on its canopy, told them roughly what to expect. Like many another small Texas town, Bonham saw little professional entertainment other than that given by sellers of spurious medicines as a means of gathering a crowd.

  ‘Come on now, gents,’ the speaker went on. ‘Do I see a challenger to wrestle Sam? I’ll make it easy for you. If you stretch him on the ground at all, I’ll hand over the money.’

  If the speaker had legal right to the title of ‘Doctor’, he certainly did not look the part. Middle-sized, wiry, with a thin, sly face, he wore a derby hat, loud check suit, fancy bow tie and city boots. Finishing his second challenging speech, he looked around in a hopefully expectant manner.

  At Cleek’s side, the big, brawny Negro’s flattened, coarse face twisted in a mocking sneer. Standing flexing his bulging biceps, clad in a sleeveless undershirt and ragged levis pants, Sam’s great muscular development showed to its best advantage. So much so that while almost every man present could have found use for ten Yankee dollars, shining or otherwise, nobody appeared willing to make a try at winning it.

  More than a chance of being defeated held back possible challengers in the watching crowd. The War Between the States had ended and the South lay under the heel of grasping carpetbaggers using official positions to line their pockets; or in the hands of Radical Republicans determined to avenge themselves on the supporters of the Confederacy who had dared to oppose their lofty ideals.

  Under the prevailing conditions a Texan knew he must walk carefully in any dealings with a Negro. On becoming a part of the United States, the then Independent Republic of Texas carried out its agreement to disband the Ranger battalions which served as army and law enforcement organizations. With the War over, the Union-appointed Governor Davis formed the State Police to replace the Rangers; using Negroes led by white men who hated Texans. Having seen examples of its brand of justice, no Texans wanted to fall foul of the corrupt, inefficient law enforcement body provided for their ‘protection’. One of the quickest ways to find trouble with the State Police was to come into conflict with a colored man for any reason.

  ‘Come on now, gents!’ Cleek yelled when nobody responded. ‘Here’s a real easy chance to make some money. Unless Sam’s had his daily dose of my famous Voodoo Tonic, he’s as weak as a new-born-babe. Wrestling him’s so easy, it’s like finding money in the street.’

  ‘Looks like these here peckerwoods ain’t got no fight left in ’em at all, Massa Cleek,’ Sam rumbled, looking at the all-white crowd with mocking contempt.

  A slight frown creased Cleek’s brow and he darted a warning glance which bounced off the Negro’s broad back. There were times when Cleek felt he should end this patrnership with Sam. Never a cheerful or amiable man, the Negro grew surly and truculent when drunk. Reading the signs, Cleek wondered if Sam had been drinking while riding in the back of the wagon. Perhaps it would be better to call off the show, or take it down to the Negro section of town. Yet none of the crowd seemed to be taking serious exception to hearing the Negro’s derogatory name for white Southerners. Taking heart, Cleek decided to make one more attempt to find a challenger. If he failed, he could always go to the less profitable neighborhood that housed Bonham’s colored community.

  ‘Naw, it’s not that, Sam,’ he said, dropping coins from one hand to the other. ‘The folks here’re all so rich they don’t need to try for my money. Even if it is shining silver dollars and not in paper.’ The sight and sound of the money made one member of the crowd look more intently, then move forward. Tall as the Negro, although much slimmer, he had black hair and a tanned, lean young face with a cheery grin. From the gray Stetson hat sitting at just the right jack-deuce angle over his off eye to the high-heeled, spur-decorated boots on his feet, his clothing spelled Texas cowhand. A tightly rolled bandanna trailed along ends over his shirt. His levis pants hung outside the boots, cuffs turned permanently up. Around his waist swung a gunbelt, walnut-handled 1860 Army Colts riding butt forward in contoured holsters designed to allow a real fast draw.

  ‘Reckon I’ll have a whirl at it,’ he said.

  ‘Easy there, Wes,’ warned the speaker’s companion, a stocky brown haired cowhand also in his late teens. ‘That Negro looks meaner’n a razorback hawg stropping his tusks on a fence rail and stronger’n a grizzly b’ar.’

  ‘Shucks now, Flip,’ grinned the contender. ‘It’s all for fun. Anyways, Cousin Dusty done taught me a couple of tricks to use again big fellows. Hi there, doctor, can I have a go at this finding money in the street?’

  ‘That’s Parson Hardin’s boy, John Wesley,’ a townsman breathed to his neighbor. ‘Trust him to take that feller up.’

  ‘Parson’s sons’re allus the wildest,’ replied the other man.

  In Wes Hardin’s case, the wildness stemmed less from being a parson’s son than out of the fact that he and his companion were paying their first visit to a town in over a month. Since his last visit to Bonham, Wes had worked between twelve and eighteen hours a day on a cattle ranch. So, like most of his kind, he tended to act a mite wild on the rare occasions when he reached what in Texas classed as civilization. Certainly he was no drunken, bullying trouble-causer; merely a young man who worked very hard and made the most of the little time left for his leisure.

  True, Wes had taken part in a wild horse race through town the previous evening, displayed his ski
ll by roping the bartender of the Pronghorn Saloon in passing—releasing his rope before it tightened between saddle and victim—and shot a couple of balls as they skidded across the saloon’s pool table. No real harm had been done and he paid triple the cost of the balls to replace those damaged by his bullets.

  If a rope, horse and gun often found use in a cowhand’s fun it was through necessity. Mostly he owned nothing else. Nor did the fact that a cowhand often showed considerable skill in handling his gun mean he sought to become a killer. Rather it stemmed from that most basic of human emotions, self-preservation. In frontier Texas a man could not call upon the Army or law enforcement bodies to protect his life or property, so he developed the ability to defend his own.

  So Wes’ undoubted competence in handling his guns found few critics among other Texans. Properly channeled such talents were of great use to the community; and so far nothing in Wes’ actions led people to believe he would use them for anything but good.

  Unbuckling his gunbelt, Wes hung it over the saloon’s hitching rail. He winked at Flip and walked towards Cleek, grinning amiably.

  ‘A challenger!’ boomed the medicine man. ‘Just remember, friend, all you have to do is throw Sam from his feet and you win ten dollars.’

  ‘He wouldn’t’ve been drinking that there Voodoo Tonic just now, would he?’ asked Wes, willing to help Cleek along if he could.

  ‘Not that I know of. But it’s so tasty and nutritious that he can’t resist sneaking a nip.’

  Sam studied the slim cowhand with cold eyes. Only rarely did a white man accept the challenge and when it happened he enjoyed himself to the full. Few men he had met could equal his strength and he always ensured himself of an edge over any challenger.

  ‘Shake, white boy,’ he offered, extending a large black hand.

  Still grinning, Wes held out his hand to comply. Instantly the Negro clamped hold of it in a crushing grip. Even as pain knifed into Wes, he saw the Negro begin a significant movement. Up came Sam’s left hand to grasp Wes’ right elbow. Then Sam pivoted round, carrying the trapped arm over his right shoulder. The right hand opened and rose to catch hold of Wes’ shoulder as Sam leant forward and bent his knees.

  Feeling his body strike Sam’s buttocks and then begin to rise, Wes knew he had fallen a victim to a flying mare throw. However he lacked the time to counter it by side-stepping and avoiding being raised from the ground. The watching crowd saw Wes pass over the Negro’s shoulder and plummet downwards.

  Always before Sam found the trick successful. Taken by surprise, the victim flew through the air, to be released and allowed to fall. Invariably he landed hard enough to jolt the wind from his body, if no worse, and lost all interest in trying to win the ten dollars. Everything appeared to be going to plan. Sam decided as he opened his hands and let Wes fall.

  Only the trick failed to achieve its full purpose. While Wes had been taken by surprise, he was a good horseman and knew how to fall when pitched off by a bad one. Instinctively he relaxed his body, breaking the force of his landing on his hands and the balls of his feet. Then he twisted over and his hands stabbed out with the speed he showed when drawing a gun. The right caught Sam’s left ankle and the palm of the left pressed against the trapped leg’s knee. Shoving back on the knee, he hauled forward at the ankle. It was Sam’s turn to receive a surprise. A howl of mingled amazement and fury broke from him as he toppled over and landed with a crash on his back.

  ‘Yahoo, Wes!’ whooped Flip. ‘It looks like you done won his feller’s ten shining ole Yankee dollars.’

  ‘Looks that way,’ agreed Wes, bouncing to his feet while the crowd hooted with laughter. ‘One each, Sam, Want to try for best of three?’

  Shaking his head in a dazed manner, the Negro rolled on to hands and knees then started to rise. Never had any man tumbled him in such a manner, or with so much ease and the laughter of the crowd increased his fury. All too well he could imagine what Cleek would say should ten dollars change hands. So Sam lurched erect and charged at Wes, big hands reaching for him.

  ‘Don’t let him get hold of you, Wes!’ yelled one of the crowd.

  It seemed that the advice fell on deaf ears. Then at the last moment Wes sidestepped the rush. Stabbing up his hands, he caught Sam’s right wrist, carried it up over his head as he pivoted and brought it down again. Thrown off balance, the Negro felt his feet leave the ground and he came down on it hard.

  ‘Looks like he hadn’t sneaked a drink of your tonic, doctor,’ Wes grinned, releasing the wrist.

  A mixture of fury and worry creased Cleek’s face, for he knew all too well the Negro’s temper. Nor did he care for the idea of parting with ten dollars, even though they had been fairly won. Before he could make any reply to Wes’ comment, he saw Sam getting up.

  Snarling with rage, the Negro made his feet. He reached into his right hip pocket and slid a cut-throat razor from its leather sheath. Out came the wicked weapon, to be flicked open with practiced ease. The sun glinted on shining steel, sending a warning to Wes. Only just in time for Sam struck fast and in a manner that showed he knew more than a little about handling a razor for such a purpose. Whipping his arm up and across, the Negro aimed a slash designed to lay Wes’ face wide open. Throwing himself backwards as fast as he could, the Texan avoided injury. Not by much, he felt the wind of the blade’s passing. Having missed his first blow, Sam brought his hand downwards in a roundhouse swing. Once again only Wes’ speed and agility saved him from serious trouble.

  ‘Get clear of him, Wes!’ yelled Flip, reaching for his Colt.

  Around swung Sam’s hand once more as he followed up his prospective victim. High-heeled cowhand boots might be ideal for holding firm in stirrup irons, or spiking into the ground when roping a-foot, but they did not make for easy movement on the uneven, wheel-rutted surface of Bonham’s main street. As Wes retreated to avoid the next attack, his boots struck an irregularity of the street’s surface. He stumbled, saw the razor licking towards him and thought it had missed. Then he felt a burning sensation across the top of his left shoulder. A slit appeared in his shirt, reddening as blood flowed through from the gashed flesh underneath.

  Staggering back, Wes collided with the hitching rail and hung there. Face twisted in hideous rage, Sam came at the Texan and drew back his arm for a further cut. Flip held his gun but dare not shoot for fear of hitting his friend. Back to the rail, Wes knew that he could not avoid the next attack. There was something frightening about an open razor, its very appearance carrying a menace far beyond that of any knife. However, Wes did not allow the thought to scare him immobile. Salvation hung close to his hand, in the shape of the gunbelt he had taken off when starting what he believed to be no more than a piece of fun.

  Once the thought came, Wes acted at his best speed. Out shot his right hand, fingers wrapping around the familiar wooden grips of the off side Army Colt and sliding it from leather. There would be time for only one shot and he did not dare take chances. While drawing the Colt, even without the need for conscious direction, he thumbed back the hammer and his forefinger entered the trigger guard. From waist high, aiming by instinctive alignment, he pressed back the trigger and released the hammer.

  The Colt crashed even as Sam completed drawing back the razor for a savage slash that would lay his victim’s throat open to the bone. Shooting to kill, Wes drove a conical .44 bullet between the Negro’s glaring eyes. The impact stopped Sam in his tracks, then sent him backwards. Stained with Wes’ blood, the razor slid from Sam’s hand, then his body measured its length on the street.

  Slowly Wes lowered the smoking Colt, his face pale under its tan as he looked at the first man he had ever killed. Everything had happened so quickly that nobody in the crowd had found time to make a move at halting the affair. Silence fell on the assembled people. None of them, with the possible exception of Cleek, could blame Wes for acting as he did. Yet all knew that the State Police would try to call the shooting murder.

  ‘What the hell else co
uld I have done?’ Wes asked, returning his Colt to its holster.

  ‘Not a thing,’ Flip answered. ‘You’d best go see the doctor and get that cut fixed, then we’ll burn dust out of here.’

  ‘Why ride out?’ demanded Wes, ‘What I did was self-defense.’

  ‘That’s not what the law’ll say,’ Flip warned.

  ‘Damn it, Flip, Sheriff Waggets is a fair jasper. He’ll know I was forced to shoot. That Negro aimed to slit my throat.’

  ‘Say now, there’s a thought!’ Flip growled and swung towards Cleek. ‘What’s in that damned stuff you peddle, hombre?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘What’s in it, whiskey or loco weed, to make him act that mean?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean!’ Cleek yelped, starting to turn away.

  ‘The hell you don’t!’ Flip spat out. ‘Just getting throwed a couple of times hadn’t ought to made him go hawg-wild like that.’

  ‘Leave him be, Flip!’ ordered Wes, feeling at his shoulder then looking at the blood on his palm. ‘Let’s go tell Bill Waggets what happened and ask him what I should do.’

  ‘I’ll tell you what you should do!’ Flip stated. ‘You should get that arm fixed, then ride like a bat out of hell away from here. Hey though! That looks bad. Let’s go see Doc James first.’

  Seeing the amount of blood on Wes’ shoulder, Flip put aside all thought of learning the cause of the Negro’s almost insane rage. Yet he felt that he had given Wes the best possible advice.

  Already the crowd showed signs of splitting up. The townsmen had no wish to be found at the scene of the shooting, when they might have to answer questions on the incident. Few wanted to lie, yet all knew the State Police would make life hard for any man who told the truth. So they took the safe course of leaving and disassociating themselves from the affair.