Elmore Leonard: The Bounty Hunters

Her eyes rose to his. "If it were darker, I think I would let you." They looked at each other in silence, then she rose and moved toward the next yard with the pot of atole.

Later, after it had been dark almost an hour, a man came to him. It was Ramon who had been in Hilario's house with the others.

"We think they are approaching."

"Where?"

"Directly out from my yard"-he waved his arm in the darkness-"which is the other side of Hilario's. Before it was dark we saw this Apache who seemed to be showing himself purposely, making strange signs, as if tempting us to come out. Then for a while he was gone. Then, after the darkness came, we heard faint sounds. They have stopped now, but you'd better come."

Hilario and Bowers were there, crouched behind the low stone wall.

Ramon asked in a whisper that was nervously harsh, "Has anything occurred?"

Bowers nodded to them. Hilario looked up and said quickly, "He is close now, but out of sight. A moment ago there was a sound, it seemed a hiss, but I'm sure it was a word."

Flynn said, "Si-kisn?"

"Yes, that was it!" Hilario whispered excitedly.

"He was telling you," Flynn said, "that he's a brother, a friend."

"It is a ruse," Hilario whispered.

"Perhaps," Flynn said. "But when an Apache fights at night, it is because he has no other choice. Soldado has time. He has more of it than we have."

Bowers said, "And maybe he's planning on your thinking that way."

He's learning fast, Flynn thought, and said, "You never know them so well you don't have to take chances." He knelt close to the wall now and cupping his hands to his mouth he called in a low, drawn-out hiss, "Si-kisnnnn."

There was dead silence. Then the word came back from not far away. Again silence, and suddenly the dim shape of an Apache was standing across the wall from them. He said, "Flin?"

Flynn rose, and hesitated so there would be no surprise in his voice that would make him speak out loud. Then he said, "Three-cents." He glanced at Bowers and at Hilario. "This is Three-cents, Joe Madora's head Coyotero tracker."

Bowers said, "What!" and clamped his mouth shut because the word was sharp in the stillness.

"Come over," Flynn said to the Coyotero.

"There is another with me," Three-cents said in Spanish, and almost as he said it, he was gone.

"I thought they made army trackers wash," Bowers whispered. "He's filthy."

"The dirt's on purpose," Flynn said. "He wiped saliva on his body and then sand on top of that. That's why we didn't see him."

A moment later, Three-cents was back and behind him another figure was coming, crouched low. Then he rose, and as he spoke, even before he spoke, Flynn was smiling.

The words came as a hoarse whisper-"David, you son of a bitch, I've got to pull you out of another one."

"Joe!" Flynn whispered, and grabbed the man's arm to help him over the wall.

"Let go! You'll rip open the hole!"

"How is it?"

"I'm standing in front of you."

"I never expected to see you again, Joe."

"That's why I can't figure they sent a shortsighted bastard like you on this trip." Madora looked at Bowers then. "How you doin', Red?"

Self-consciously, Bowers said, "All right."

Madora turned from him abruptly. "David, I'm hungrier 'n a bastard. What've you got?"

Hilario said, "Nita will bring something."

But Flynn said, "We'll go in and get it. Joe, you and your boy come along and I'll fix you up."

When they were near the house, Madora said, "Those boys were dyin' for news. They won't take kindly to you rushin' me away."

Flynn ignored this, saying quickly, "Where's Deneen?"

"He's out there."

Flynn relaxed somewhat. "I had a hunch he was. With how many?"

"Counting Coyoteros?"

Flynn nodded. "Yes."

"Ten."

"Ten! How many are scouts?"

"Ten."

"No…" Flynn groaned, but there was a humor to this and it struck Flynn and he could not help but smile now. "All right. What happened?"

"About the time Deneen got back to Whipple from his tour, the genral'd found out what he'd done." They had entered the adobe and now, close to the firelight, Madora was smiling. "That was something. The genral dressed hell out of him and the first thing you know Deneen's got a Mexico assignment of his own."

"How'd you find out?"

"Hell, it's all over. Some of it was overheard firsthand…a friend of mine. Anyway, your pal was relieved of his adjutant's job and the genral kicks his tail down to Sonora to find a Lieutenant Duro of the rurales…cuz the genral says, All right, goddamn it, if we're going to do it, then we're going to do it right. Get your ass down to Mexico and get some permission and if you don't get it, don't come back." Madora added, "Now some say genrals don't talk like that, but my friend says it's gospel."

"But why only ten men?"

"We ain't a war party. The genral told him no soldiers, else it'd be considered invasion of a foreign country, but he said you can take all the trackers you want cuz for cry-sake there's enough goddamn Apaches down there now that nobody's going to notice a few goddamn more."

"I never heard the general talk like that."

"What's that, atole? That's the only thing that's almost not better than nothing."

"Where's Deneen now?"

"About a mile off."

"Apaches spot you?"

"Hell no."

"I'd better go talk to him."

"Somebody better. He like to wet his pants when Three-cents come in and told about Soldado." Madora looked at Flynn quickly, seriously. "This is the first time I've seen him in a tight spot. He can't take it, can he?"

"Why ask me?" Flynn said.

"Because you were in the war with him where there were lots of tight spots." Madora paused and half smiled. "That's what's between you two. You caught him in a jackpot cryin' for his mama."

"You don't get to be colonel that way."

"That's what everybody thinks."

"But that isn't what's bothering us here and now."

"You want to see Deneen. All right, I'll take you to him."

"Maybe he'll come in," Flynn suggested. "It would be safer for him here."

"He won't move."

"All right, then we'll go out."

"In one minute." Madora took heaping spoons of the atole, scraping the plate clean. Three-cents had been eating as they spoke and now they went outside, back to the low wall. Bowers was alone.

"Where's Hilario?" Flynn asked.

"He went to relieve the man watching Duro's house. Dave, what is it?"

"Deneen is here, but with only a few trackers. He was on his way to talk to Duro about a border campaign when they ran into the Apaches."

"He's fighting them?"

"No, holed up. I'm going out and talk to him. When I get back I'll tell you all about it."

"What if you don't get through?"

Flynn smiled. "If this old man can do it, anybody can."

Madora said mildly, "David, when they passed out proper respect you must've been scratchin' your butt with both hands."

Bowers watched them go over the wall and fade into the darkness. He asked himself: Could you do that? Sure, if you've been doing it as long as they have. What about the first couple of times? He was squinting into the darkness, expecting a sound. You either get used to it, or you don't get used to it. That's the way to look at things like that. He knew this was easy to say and he told himself: Who said anything about getting used to it being easy!

He had thought before that this was not an assignment for a soldier, but now he knew conclusively that he had been wrong. And thinking of soldiers, oddly, he thought of Santana and how Santana considered himself one and boasted that if ever his rurales got the Apaches in open country, then he'd see some soldiering; that's what Santana had intimated.

After this he thought of many things, faraway things, but slowly his thoughts came back to the present. Now…and then the morning, a few hours away. What would happen then? Flynn said Lazair's men might come back in the morning, he thought.