The Floating Outfit 56 Read online

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  They made an ill-assorted crowd. The pious citizens of Baptist’s Hollow. Major Ellwood, mayor and town marshal. Doc Thornett’s medicine show, with Madame Fiona, woman bare-knuckle boxer, her daughters, and Elwin, the boy who wanted to be a juggler. Sergeant Magoon, the wild Irish soldier who had brought his men. Chet Bronson and Harris, going to the Stockade for life. Big Em, the female fist-fighting champion of Fort Owen. The miners driven from the hills by Lobo Colorado’s Apache warriors.

  There were four Texans also. Three were tall, eye-catching men. Yet when the chips were down and a leader was needed they called on the fourth Texan—a small insignificant, soft talking man. His name was Dusty Fog.

  THE FLOATING OUTFIT 56: APACHE RAMPAGE

  By J. T. Edson

  First published by Brown Watson Publishers in 1963

  Copyright © 1963, 2021 by J. T. Edson

  First Electronic Edition: February 2021

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by means (electronic, digital, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author’s Agent.

  Publisher’s Note:

  As with other books in this series, the author uses characters’ native dialect to bring that person to life. Whether they speak French, Irish, American English or English itself, he uses vernacular language to impart this.

  Therefore when Scottish characters use words such as “richt” instead of “right”; “laird” for “lord”; “oopstairs” for “upstairs”; “haim” for “home”; “ain” for “own”; “gude sores” for “good sirs” and “wha” for who” plus many other phrases, please bear in mind that these are not spelling/OCR mistakes.

  Chapter One – Medicine Show

  THE WAGON SHOWED up like a black sheep on a snow-bank against the dull grays, browns and greens of the Dragoon Mountains. Originally it had been one of the big, four-horse, covered wagons which made the great cross-continental trails, taking travelers from the East to California. Instead of the canvas-covered top the sides were now made of wood, squarely built. The right side was made in two pieces, the outer of stout wood, serving as a stage, for this was a medicine show wagon. On the false side and the real sides, in glaring red, gold-edged letters, against the yellow of the wood, was emblazoned a message to the world.

  ‘DOCTOR ERAZMUS K. THORNETTS SUPERIOR ELIXIR PRESENTS

  MADAM FIONA . . . . World’s Strongest Woman

  THE MASKED MARKSWOMAN . . . . With Her Rifles

  MAGDALENE AND SHARON . . . . . . Acrobats

  Janice . . . . . With Songs You Love To Hear

  Rosemary . . . . Graceful, Artistic Dancing’

  With its red-spoked wheels to augment the other colors the wagon made quite a vivid splash in the foothills of the Dragoon Mountains. It was no more or less garish-looking than any other medicine show and offered a better selection of entertainment than most. The owner of the show, Doctor Erazmus K. Thornett presented an air of sober respectability to the wagon. It was an air which never really deserted him, not even while out on the trail, wearing an old, collarless shirt and trousers.

  In town, dressed in his stylish, though just a little old-fashioned, black cutaway coat, fancy vest and elegant white trousers, he oozed respectability and confidence. His rather pompous, sun-reddened face and white hair helped his appearance. Even the fact that he always carried a Merwin and Hulbert army pocket revolver in a shoulder holster, did nothing to detract from his appearance. Rather it gave him an added touch of respectability and poise, a kind of dignity. It showed him as a gentleman who must be prepared to defend his life, property and honor in a hard land.

  Taken all in all it would have come as a shock to many people that this elegant, learned-looking and educated-talking man was not a qualified doctor and never even attended any formal school of medicine. That did not make Doc Thornett a complete quack for he’d been thoroughly taught in the medicine show arts by a doctor who was struck from the rolls. Thornett could diagnose most ills which came his way and knew the best cures for all of them. He was an acknowledged expert at setting bones and removing bullets, two of the Western doctors’ most common duties. He also pulled teeth with as little pain as possible, and there were several children who came into the world aided by his skilled attention.

  So, even though his Superior Elixir was not the omnipotent cure-all he claimed it to be, he himself served a useful purpose. His medicine was harmless, did not taste bad, his show entertained and most folks thought they were getting their money’s worth out of both. In the West there were few doctors, and at times Thornett served a very useful purpose, for he travelled to small villages where regular doctors but rarely came.

  ‘We’re headed for the wrong place this time, Doc,’ said the woman who sat by Thornett’s side on the wagon box.

  ‘And why, Phyllis me dove?’

  Phyllis Lanley was anything but dove-like in appearance. She was a good-looking woman in her late thirties, middle-sized and stockily built. There was a tanned, healthy, happy air about her and her body, although plump looking, was hard and firm fleshed without any fat. Her red hair still was its own color and untouched by any aids against the graying of time, her skin was losing the youthful texture but not much. She wore an old shirtwaist which was strained by her swelling bust, her old jeans were tight at her hips, her arms and feet bare. The arms were strong looking, and hard muscles rolled under the skin, for she was Madam Fiona, the strong woman. Naturally strong, judicious fakery helped Phyllis to appear even stronger when she did her act. Her four daughters were the rest of the cast. They were in the back of the wagon and dressed in the same way as their mother.

  Three of the girls leaned on the back of the wagon box, looking over Phyllis and Thornett’s shoulders. Molly, the oldest girl was at the right. She was a plump red-haired girl, pretty and talented. She was the Masked Markswoman and Magdalene of the acrobatic act, good at both and a possible successor to her mother’s crowd-drawing act. In the center was Patty, red-haired, pretty, hot-tempered and slim; she appeared as Sharon and was a skilled contortionist. Rosemary, or Rosie as she was always called by the others, stood at the left. She was a slim, good-looking blonde, pleasant, a good dancer, but by far the most naïve of the girls.

  The last of the girls, Rosie’s twin sister, Janice, was inside the wagon. She sat on the lid of a box which contained the troupe’s costumes, reading the words of a new song. Janice was blonde, plump and the best-looking of the girls. She was also the most house-proud. It was Janice who, besides her singing, took care of the affairs of the troupe. The others helped with the chores but Janice was the only one who gave any thought to the state of the food supply, or the purchasing and repair of clothing. Her voice was very good, and Thornett hoped one day to get her on the legitimate stage.

  The towns the show played were rough, raw, rugged and proud of the boast that they’d never been curried below the knees. The men were fighters, the saloon girls and poorer townswomen, proud of their ability in a hair-yanking battle. So Phyllis became a bare-knuckle boxer and later added the claim that she was Champion of the World. A strong woman’s act was an open challenge to the rough girls of the towns, and Phyllis learned to look after herself.

  Even though he would rather not have been going for the fight, Thornett was not sorry to leave Tucson behind. The town was too big and civilized these days. A town with two resident doctors and a dentist was of no use to Thornett, for people tended to go to them rather than to him. Out at Fort Owen it would be different; the soldiers were cut off from civilization and would welcome a visit from the show. It was more than likely they would want to bet on their challenger, so Thornett was planning to make a stop at Baptist’s Hollow and raise some extra cash.

  The wagon, pulled by the four big, matched black horses, was following the main stagecoach route. Route was a grandiloquent name for the scar left by the wheels of many vehicles. It followed the smoothest, easiest route, one once used by Apache war parties and there were few better natural surveyors of land than the Apache. On either side rolled off barren land, marred by stinkwood, cholla, cactus and prickly pear. Even the sparse grass looked yellowish and unpalatable to animals. All in all the landscape looked what it was, a hard, harsh, raw land. Until only a couple or so years ago it was the roaming land of the Apache nation.

  Looking around her Phyllis felt a dislike for the land. There was none of the rich, lush green of the Texas cattle country or the orderly neatness of the farm lands of the Mississippi. This country was harsh and unpleasant compared with either of them. For all that Phyllis would rather be out here than in the town of Baptist’s Hollow.

  ‘Let’s just collect supplies, Doc,’ she suggested. ‘We needn’t take the wagon in. Janice and I can walk in and bring out all we’ll need to get us to Fort Owen without taking the wagon.’

  ‘Most certainly not, me dear. Our good friends, Sergeants
Magoon and Tolitski, will have money to wager on your fistic encounter and we can always use money. Can we not?’ Thornett said pompously, beaming at Phyllis. ‘The more we wager the more we will win, without the risk of coming too close to the proverbial blanket in the inconceivable event of your losing the pending bout of fisticuffs. True, money does little or nothing to purchase happiness, yet it goes far to allowing one to be miserable in comfort.’

  Phyllis laughed as she heard Thornett once more expressing his views on the subject of money. She knew it was no use trying to dissuade him once his mind was made up. Yet Phyllis did not relish the idea of going into the hostile town, for hostile she knew it would be. There’d been other hostile towns in their travels, they’d been won over by Thornett’s eloquence or the show. This town was different, it wanted no part of them and would treat them as undesirable aliens.

  Chapter Two – Baptist’s Hollow

  THE TOWN LAY in the steep sided protection of a U-shaped draw, back from the main stage trail. Access to the town by wagon or stagecoach was only possible through the open end of the U, the sides being too steep-sloped even for a man to ride a horse down. From the main stage route the trail branched down and at the city limits became Church Street, main and only thoroughfare of the town. Along Church Street has most of the town’s business section; stores, the one saloon, the town court offices which also housed the Marshal’s office and jail, the Wells Fargo depot and the telegraph office. The Wells Fargo office was the sole reason for the town being here at all. It served as the main relay point for the stagecoaches.

  There were few people on the street as the garish-looking medicine show wagon entered the town. Phyllis watched the few who were on the street, noting the disapproval on their faces. The men all seemed to be wearing sober black suits and low crowned black hats. The women were dressed in black frocks which hid any sign of womanhood. On every face was a look of miserable piety which would have warned off a more sensitive man than Thornett.

  Looking around him, Thornett was supremely confident that the people would thaw out when they saw the show. It was all good, clean fun, but for all that he was pleased he’d remembered to warn Rosie to cut out her rather risqué can-can for this one show. He knew his persuasive tongue well and was sure he could soothe the most disapproving crowd. For all that he was startled by the scowls which greeted his warm and friendly hat-raising.

  ‘Doc! Hey, Doc Thornett!’

  The voice brought them to a halt outside the town court-house. At a barred window of the jail Thornett saw two familiar faces. One was a cheery, sun—or whisky—reddened face with twinkling brown eyes. The other was a thinner set of features, rather vacant and dreamy-looking. He recognized them both, and although it did not surprise him to see them framed by a set of bars, he was surprised to find them jailed in so small a town.

  Always polite, Thornett raised his hat in a friendly greeting. ‘Good morning to you, Scully old friend. How are you today, and you, Willy?’

  ‘Howdy, Doc, Miz Phyllis,’ replied the simple-looking, tow-headed, younger face, beaming delightedly. ‘Ain’t seed you all in a coon’s age.’

  Thornett was curious, though not unduly worried at seeing Scully and Willy in jail. They were a pair of confidence tricksters who made their living selling gold bricks, fortune telling and otherwise extracting money from the gullible. Scully was a brash, jovial, fast-talking man who always dressed well, and ran the team. Willy was a gangling, raw-boned young man who looked like a half-wit and talked with a slow southern drawl. His talk and appearance acted as a blind, for Willy was far from being the fool he looked. When needed he was far from slow, could swing a punch like a Missouri mule’s kick and fight like a tiger. His big, awkward-looking hands were capable of delicate manipulations with a deck of cards. Not only could he deal the second or bottom card with ease, but he was a master of the most difficult move in the cheater’s repertoire. He could remove a desired card from the center of the deck without being detected. It was his general slow appearance which acted as a cover when his talents were being put to use.

  ‘How do you come to be incarcerated in this small and undeveloped town?’ Thornett asked, although he could guess.

  Scully sounded more indignant than distressed at his plight. ‘Like this, Doc. I thought the rubes here would go for the Old John Conquer Root and was just starting to tell them how it cures all ills, makes child-birth easy and restored vitality to men, when the great seizer arrived. You know I abhor violence, especially when there’s a ten-gauge lined on me. So we came along quietly. We’re in jail for offending public morals and for vagrancy. What’s more, that sick marshal won’t take a bribe.’ From Scully’s tone this was the supreme indignity of all. ‘Imagine that, a hick town marshal who can’t be making more than thirty dollars a month clear, tossing me in the hoosegow and refusing to accept a bribe. Why, I’ve bribed such exponents of the badge as Wyatt Earp, Wild William Hickok and Jim Courtright in my time, always doing it in such a way as to give no offence. And this hick refuses to accept one. More, he says he’ll hold me for attempting to bribe an official if I try it again.’

  ‘Hard luck, Scully,’ said Phyllis, smiling now she knew the jailing was not on a serious charge.

  Scully nodded his thanks to Phyllis. He’d known Thornett’s show for several years and early on made an attempt on Phyllis’s virtue. Her refusal and his failure made him respect her all the more. He gave a warning to his friends:

  ‘I wouldn’t show here, was I you, Doc. Not unless you and the girls want to join me here. And I warn you the food’s terrible. This town’s no good.’

  ‘Thanks for the warning, old friend,’ replied Thornett. ‘Do you have sufficiency of the wherewithal to purchase your release, to wit, by payment of your fine?’

  ‘Sure, we’ll get by, thanks,’ answered Scully. He knew Thornett would make the offer and was grateful, but he would never take money from a good friend when he did not need it. ‘You get out of here while you can.’

  Thornett started the wagon forward again, seeing the ‘I told you so’ look on Phyllis’s face. He was not unduly worried by Scully’s warning, even though the conversation did not go unnoticed by the watching people. Scully was a confidence trickster. His entire way of business was different from Thornett’s. The medicine show gave folks a good entertainment for their money and made no attempt to cheat them.

  There was no way the wagon could turn in the street. Even the stagecoaches were compelled to enter the plaza to make a turn. So Thornett drove on, sublimely unconscious of the angry looks and morose mutterings of the gathering people. He knew they were following the wagon and thought they were coming to see his show. Phyllis and the girls saw the crowd following and did not feel so happy about it. The girls stood at the rear of the wagon, looking through the window in the door. Molly turned and loaded both her rifles. She’d seen too many hostile crowds not to see the signs. There was no enthusiasm or interest in those miserable-looking faces, only cold dislike and disapproval.

  Bringing his wagon into the plaza, Thornett beamed in delight. The place was almost made for his show. He brought the team around and halted them on the far side in front of the church. Jumping down, he expected the girls to come and help him get ready. Usually Phyllis and Molly lowered the stage while Patty fixed on the supports for it and the younger girls started to ready the equipment for the show. Not one of the women moved. Phyllis sat on the wagon box and watched the people who were now crossing the plaza, standing well clear of the wagon, to watch every move the show people made.

  ‘Janice, me dear,’ said Thornett, looking in some surprise at Phyllis and the girls. This was a team job, and they did not hang back from it at other times. ‘Get your guitar and entertain the good people whilst the rest of us make ready. We’ve an audience and nothing to show them.’

  ‘That’s no audience, Doc,’ warned Phyllis. ‘It looks more like a lynch mob to me. Let’s forget it and move on.’