I
‘THEY’RE Barrett’s men!’ I said, pushing Paula back into the tunnel. They can’t have seen you. I’m going out there to draw them off. The moment you think they’re out of the way, make a dash for it. Grab one of their trucks if you can. Get to a telephone and call Mifflin. Bring him out here in a hurry. Okay?’
In an emergency, Paula never argued. She squeezed my arm, nodded to show she understood, and I left her, running out into the sunlight again.
Below me, the men were coming up the zigzag path. They were moving as fast as they could, but the angle of climb was steep, and they hadn’t made much progress. They yelled at me, as I looked hastily above me, getting the line of country.
The path continued past the opening of the tunnel and led a few yards farther on, to the top of the quarry. I ran up the path, now in full sight.
I reached the head of the quarry. Before me stretched sand dunes, scrub and rising ground of the desert which lies at the back of Monte Verde Mine. To my left lay the San Diego Highway: my way of escape, but Paula’s way of escape too. If I went that way, she would come up behind the pursuing men. I had to draw them away from her. If I was to help her, I had to go to the right: into the heart of the vast track of sand and waste-ground which afforded plenty of cover.
I ran easily over the loose sand, zigzagging a little to keep the various bushes between me and the men behind.
After I had covered a couple of hundred yards or so, I paused to look back over my shoulder. They hadn’t reached the top of the quarry yet, and for a moment I wondered if they had found Paula. But I could hear them shouting, and judged they’d appear in a minute or so. I ducked behind a thick bush and waited.
Almost immediately the first head appeared above the edge of the quarry. Then four men appeared. They stopped and looked to right and left. Three other men joined them.
They were big, tough-looking birds: four of them in red-and-white striped sweat shirts, the kind worn by the fishermen who lounge along the waterfront of Coral Gables. The other three were city characters, in ill-fitting sports clothes, typical street-corner loafers.
One of them, a short, square-shouldered man, seemed to be in charge. He was giving directions. Four of the fishermen ran off to the left. The remaining men spread out in a halfcircle and began to move towards me.
Keeping behind the shelter of the bushes, I ran, bent double over the sand, to another line of scrub. Again I paused to look back. The line of men had stopped. They couldn’t make up their minds which way I had gone.
I decided if I wasn’t careful they might go back to the tunnel and catch Paula, so I moved out into the open.
A yell behind me told me I had been seen, and I broke into a run. The evening sun was setting fast now, and threw a red glow over the desert; but it was still hot, and running over the hot sand was hard work.
I kept glancing behind me. The four fishermen had joined in the chase. They were now strung out in a wide arc, driving me farther into the desert, and cutting me off from the Highway. But they weren’t making much progress. The heat seemed to be bothering them more than it did me. If I could keep the distance between us, until the sun dropped below the horizon, I stood a good chance of giving them the slip.
The idea seemed to have occurred to them, for there came a crack of a gun behind me and a slug zipped past my head.
I didn’t worry a great deal about being shot at so long as I kept moving. You had to be a pretty good shot with a revolver to hit a moving target, but I kept swerving every now and then to be on the safe side.
Again I glanced behind me. The figures were falling back now. They kept coming, but I had greatly increased the distance between them and me, and I slowed down, panting a little, and feeling as if I were in a steam-bath.
I was worrying about Paula. If someone had been left to guard the trucks, she might be caught. But there was nothing I could do but keep on. There was no hope of doubling back. The line of men was too spread out, cutting off all retreat to the Highway. They knew, so long as they could keep me penned up in this half-circle, sooner or later they would come up onme.
The set-up reminded me of the game of fox and geese. At the moment the line behind me was unbroken. In a little while I would have to turn and see if I could pierce it. But I couldn’t do that until it was dark.
I went on, no longer running, but moving at a jog-trot. The men behind me had also slowed down, and the distance between us remained the same.
Away to my right, I could see the first of the foothills. This worried me. Before long, they would make a barrier, and would allow the line of men to swing in on my left. If I didn’t look out I could be trapped.
I decided to make the attempt to break their line before I got into the foothill country.
Breaking into a run, I sprinted ahead, then began to wheel sharply to my left.
There was an immediate shout behind me.
Glancing round I saw three men pounding across the sand to cut me off. I increased my speed, but I had a lot more ground to cover. I was panting now, and every now and then I stumbled in the loose sand.
One of the fishermen, a big, powerful guy, could run. His long legs flew over the ground as he headed me off.
We raced for the gap between the first of the foothills. If I could beat him I would be out in the open country again. If he beat me, I’d be bottled up in a narrowing strip of desert where, sooner or later, I would be trapped.
I judged the distance and saw he was gaining on me. Gritting my teeth, I increased my speed. I pulled ahead. The other men, all running now, were hopelessly outpaced, but this one guy stuck to me. The gap loomed nearer. I could see him now: see the red, hard face, the sweat running down from under his cap, the fixed grin. He swerved towards me, came at me like a charging bull.
I tried to dodge, but he was ready for that. He closed in on me, his hands grabbing my coat.
I swung at him, but he ducked, his arms encircling me in a bear-like hug. We stumbled, wrestled and went down in the sand.
I slugged him on the side of his head, but it was only a half-arm blow and didn’t carry much steam. He raised himself off me and clubbed down at my upturned face with his fist. I just managed to get my face out of the way and belted him in the chest, a good, solid punch that sent him over on his back.
I scrambled to my feet in time to stop his rush with a jab to his face. His head went back, and I sailed in, punching with both hands. I caught him on the side of his jaw and his knees buckled. A long, looping right-hand punch sent him to the sand.
The way was open now, but my breath had gone, and I could scarcely move one leg after the other.
‘Hold it!’
The menace in the voice made me turn.
The short, square-shouldered character had come pounding up. In his right fist he held a .45, pointing at me.
I stopped.
‘Reach up and clasp some cloud!’
My hands went up. It was a relief just to stand there and get my breath. With any luck at all, Paula would be well out of the way by now.
The fisherman I had knocked down got to his feet. He came across to me, a sheepish grin on his face.
‘Frisk him, Mac, ’ the broad-shouldered character said.
Mac ran his hands over me, found the .25 and tossed it to his companion.
‘That’s the lot, Joe,’ he said and stepped back.
Joe came closer; his small eyes probed my face.
‘Who are you? Ain’t seen you before,’ he said, puzzled.
‘Malloy’s the name.’
‘That’s the guy she was telling you about,’ Mac said, showing interest.
Joe scowled.
‘Yeah; that’s right. Poking your snout in Barratt’s affairs, were you?’ he demanded, pushing the gun at me.
‘Well, yes; put it that way if you like,’ I said. ‘Didn’t he tell you?’
Joe grinned.
‘You got us wrong. We ain’t Barrett’s boys. We’re a little private party all on our own.’
The five other men came pounding up, panting and gasping for breath. They closed round me threateningly, but Joe waved them back.
‘Mac, take these guys and finish the job. I’m taking him to the cabin. When you’re through, come on back.’
Mac nodded, motioned to the other five men and set off across the sand towards the mine, leaving me alone with Joe.
‘Look, pally,’ Joe said, making a stabbing movement with his gun, ‘just do what you’re told, and you’ll be all right. I don’t want to make a hole in you, but if you tempt me, I’ll do it.’
I was now calm enough to study him. He was about forty, with a round, fleshy face, small eyes, thin lips and the heaviest five o’clock shadow I’ve ever seen. Although he was short, I could tell by the build of his shoulders, by the short neck and the size of his hands, that he was as powerful as a gorilla.
‘Go ahead,’ he said, ‘and keep moving. I’ll tell you when to stop.’ He waved vaguely towards the foothills. ‘You’ve got quite a nice little walk, so stretch your legs. If you even look over your shoulder, I’ll plug you. Understand?’
I said I understood.
‘Get going, then.’
I started off, not knowing where I was heading, hearing him behind me, too far away to make a grab at him, but close enough for him to hit me if he squeezed the trigger.
I was asking myself who this mob was. Where did they spring from? What was the job they had gone back to finish? I thought with satisfaction that the chances were they’d run into Mifflin and his boys.
That’s the guy she was telling you about.
Who was s he?
We were in the foothills now, and the going was hard. We were climbing. Every now and then Joe would grunt, ‘Take the right-hand path,’ or ‘Bear to your left,’ but he didn’t close the gap between us, and there was nothing I could do but keep walking.
By now the sun had dropped below the horizon, and the light was fading. Before very long it would be dark. That might give me an opportunity, but I knew I had to be careful. Joe looked as if he had been born with a gun in his hand, and it would have to get very dark before I took any chances with him.
‘Okay, pally,’ he said suddenly. ‘Park yourself. We’re going to have a breather. Turn around and sit down.’
I faced him.
He was about four yards away from me, and sweating like a pig. The uphill climb in this heat didn’t agree with him.
He waved me to a rock while he picked one for himself, sat down stiffly, glad of the rest.
‘Have a butt, pally,’ he went on taking out a pack of Lucky Strike. He took one and tossed the pack to me. ‘What’s it like—in that mine?’ he asked, lighting his cigarette and blowing a stream of smoke down his short thick nose.
‘Not the kind of place you’d pick for a vacation,’ I said, lighting a cigarette and tossing the pack back to him. ‘It’s full of man-eating rats.’
His small eyes bugged out
‘Rats? I heard there were rats, but I didn’t believe it.’ He squinted down at his cigarette. ‘See any reefers while you were in there?’
‘About a couple of million of them. I didn’t stop to count them, but that’s a conservative guess.’
He grinned, showing small, broken teeth.
‘Jeepers! As many as that, huh? I told her that’s where he kept the stuff, but she wouldn’t have it. How are they packed?’
‘In boxes. Who is she?’
He scowled at me.
‘I’m the guy who asks the questions, pally. You answer them.’
I had a sudden idea.
‘What’s your racket?’ I asked. ‘Hi-jacking Barratt?’
‘You guessed it, pally. We’re taking that stock of reefers. We have our own little organization now.’ He stood up. ‘Okay, let’s go. Straight up the hill, and keep right. Get going.’
We went on up the hill. It was almost too dark now to see where I was going, but Joe seemed to have eyes like a cat, He kept jerking out directions, warning me away from rocks and shrubs, as if he could see as easily now as in the sunlight.
Suddenly he said, ‘Hold it.’
I stopped and waited.
He gave a shrill whistle. A moment later a light flashed on a few yards in front of us, and I could see, carefully hidden behind a screen of trees and bushes, a cleverly concealed log cabin, built into the side of the hill.
‘Neat, huh?’ Joe said. ‘We built it ourselves. You’d have to walk right on it before you knew it was there, and by that time you’d be as full of lead as a church roof. Go ahead. Walk right in.’
I went ahead.
The door stood open and I walked into a large, roughly furnished room. Standing before a log fire, her hands behind her back, a cigarette in her full red lips was Mary Jerome.
II
A white moth fluttered around the storm lantern hanging from a beam in the centre of the room, and cast an enormous shadow on the floor. It zoomed away from the light, fluttered rather helplessly round the room, and, as it passed Joe, he reached out, slapped it to the floor and put his foot on it
I didn’t pay any attention to what he was doing. I was looking at Mary Jerome; the last person I expected to find in this cabin.
She was wearing a red-and-yellow cowboy shirt, a pair of canary-coloured corduroy slacks, and her dark hair was hidden under a red silk bandana. She was paler and more fine-drawn since last I saw her, but she was still lovely to look at.
‘Hello,’ I said. ‘You may not believe it, but I’ve been hunting all over for you.’
‘Pipe down, pally,’ Joe said. ‘No one asked you for a speech. Sit over there and keep quiet.’
He poked the gun into my spine, pushed me over to an armchair facing the fire.
I sat down.
‘Where did you find him?’ Mary Jerome asked.
Joe grinned at her, obviously very pleased with himself.
‘He was in the mine. We spotted him coming out of the upper tunnel. He bolted into the desert, but we caught up with him.’
‘Was he alone?’
‘Why, sure.’
‘Then why did he run into the desert?’
Joe frowned at her, ran his fingers through his short, crinkly hair.
‘What do you mean?’
‘If he wanted to get away, he would have run towards the Highway, wouldn’t he?’ she asked patiently.
Joe’s face lost its animated expression. He turned to snarl at me.
‘What’s cooking, fella? Weren’t you alone?’
‘Why, no. I had a girl with me,’ I told him. ‘She’s gone for the Law.’
Mary lifted her shoulders in a resigned shrug.
‘I give up, Joe,’ she said in disgust. ‘You make a mess of everything you handle.’
‘For crying out aloud!’ Joe said, his face turning red, ‘How was I to know?’
‘Never mind; but you better do something about it.’
‘Yeah.’ He pulled a face, glared at me. ‘Jeepers! It means walking back to that damned mine again. Can you look after this fella?’
She nodded.
‘I’ll take care of him. You’d better hurry, Joe.’
‘Want my gun?’
She took the heavy .45 and balanced it in her hand.
‘Get going, Joe.’
He looked over at me.
‘Don’t kid yourself she can’t use that rod. She can.’
He went out of the cabin.
I listened to him crashing through the bushes on his way down the hillside. It would take him the best part of half an hour to reach the mine.
By that time Mifflin would have arrived.
Mary Jerome moved away from the fire and sat in an arm- chair facing me, but on the far side of the room. She dropped the gun into her lap and leaned back, resting her head against the padded back of the chair.
I considered the possibility of diving across the room, but decided there would be nothing in it for me except a slug through the head.
‘It seems a long time since we met,’ I said. ‘Was it you who told Paula I was in the mine?’
‘Yes. Don’t ask me why. I guess I’m going soft.’ Her voice sounded weary.
‘Who’s this guy, Joe? A pal of yours?’
‘Not exactiy.’ She raised her head and stared at me. ‘You’re bursting to ask questions, aren’t you? Well, go ahead and ask them. I’m through with being smart. I’m pulling out of here. I thought I could handle Joe, but I can’t.’
‘Let’s pull out together.’
She shook her head.
‘Nothing like that. Joe wouldn’t like it, and I can’t afford to get on his wrong side. We’ll wait a while. If he doesn’t come back, you can go.’
‘But suppose he does come back?’ I said and moved cautiously to the edge of my chair. ‘What’ll happen to me?’
She shrugged.
‘He won’t harm you. Joe’s not like that. He’ll keep you here until he’s ready to pull out himself. You don’t have to worry.’ She lifted the gun and pointed it at me. ‘Sit back and relax. You’re staying here until Joe gets back.’
That didn’t worry me a great deal, as I felt pretty certain Joe wouldn’t come back.
‘Just where do you fit in this set-up?’
She give a bitter little smile.
‘Can’t you guess? I’m Lee’s wife.’
I sat forward again and stared at her.
‘Dedrick’s wife?’
‘That’s what I said.’
‘But he’s married to Serena Marshland.’
‘He married me first.’ She reached for a box of cigarettes, lit one and frowned into the fire. ‘Lee can take a little thing like bigamy in his stride.’
‘You mean Serena’s marriage was a fake?’
‘Yes. Of course, she didn’t know at the time. She knows now,’ and again she smiled bitterly.
‘Did you tell her?’
‘I told her father.’
‘Was that why he went to see you at the Beach Hotel?’
She raised her eyebrows at me.
‘You found that out? Yes, that’s when I told him. I had to have money. I was cleaned right out. He gave me a thousand dollars to keep out of sight.’
‘Now don’t rush this. Suppose you begin at the beginning. When did you marry Dedrick?’
‘Oh, about four years ago, I forget the exact date. It isn’t anything I cherish. Being married to Lee isn’t a romantic dream. I met him in Paris, and fell for him. He’s the kind of heel most women would fall for. I don’t know why he married me, but he did. He always had plenty of money, and never seemed to do any work. I guess his money attracted me. Well, I got what I deserved.’ She flicked the cigarette into the fire, and reached for another. ‘I found out he was smuggling dope into Paris. Joe worked with him. He persuaded me to help him too.’ She smiled at me. ‘You don’t know how persuasive he can be. Then he met the Marshland woman. I hadn’t an idea what was cooking. He was often away for weeks at a time, and I thought he was handling a consignment. Then without warning, he disappeared. Joe and I were left holding the baby. Joe tried to carry on, but he just hadn’t what it takes. The police nearly caught us. We managed to get out of France, and came here. That was when I found out he had married Serena Marshland. I went to Barratt. You know about Barratt?’
I said I knew about Barratt.
‘He wants watching,’ she said, her face hardening. ‘He fooled me all right. He said Lee had married Serena Marshland to get her money, and as soon as he had it, he would return to me. He asked me to co-operate; to keep away from Lee and give him a free hand. Like a fool, I believed him. I was staying at the Chandos Hotel, and on my way back from seeing Barratt I was shot at. I knew then that Barratt was going to get rid of me, and I moved to the Beach Hotel.’ She glanced at me, asked, ‘Are you enjoying this?’
‘More or less,’ I said. ‘It’s not what I was hoping to but never mind. Go on.’
‘What were you hoping to hear?’
‘Finish what you’ve got to say. I’ll tell you later.’
She shrugged.
‘There’s not much more. I thought if I could only see Lee I might persuade him to come back to me. I found out he was going to Ocean End, and I went there to see him. That’s when I met you, and heard he was supposed to have been kidnapped. He hasn’t been kidnapped, has he?’
‘No. But by faking his own kidnapping he collected five hundred thousand dollars off Serena, and that ain’t hay. The last time I saw him he was staying with Barratt.’
‘I’ve read about that. It’s just the kind of thing he would get away with. Well, that’s about all. I knew Barratt kept his main supply of reefers in the mine. Joe and I hooked up together. I wanted to get even with Barratt. My idea was to burn the stock: it’s worth thousands, but Joe has other ideas. He’s planned to hi-jack the stuff and start an organization of his own. Dope smuggling’s too dirty for me. I’ve had enough of it. Joe won’t get anywhere. He hasn’t the brain for the work. I’m quitting. He’s getting ideas about me.’ Her mouth curled. ‘A woman can’t live under the same roof with a man for long. Sooner or later, he makes a pest of himself.’
‘Some women can,’ I said and grinned at her.
Then suddenly, without warning, the distant sound of gunfire brought us both to our feet.
‘What’s that?’ Mary asked sharply, running to the window.
‘Maybe the cops are chasing Joe,’ I said hopefully, ‘but just to be on the safe side, I’ll put out the light.’
As I turned down the wick of the storm lantern more shots rang out, much closer now, and I hastily lifted the lantern from its hook and blew out the flickering flame.
‘It’s Joe and Mac!’ Mary said, and threw open the door.
The flash of gunfire lit up the darkness outside. Away in the valley came answering flashes and bullets smacked into the wooden roof.
Joe and Mac, breathing heavily, charged into the room, and slammed the door.
III
For a moment or so neither of them could say anything. They leaned against the wall, panting for breath, while slugs slapped into the solid walls of the cabin and gunfire rolled in the valley.
‘Get the rifles,’ Joe gasped. It’s Barrett!’
Mary stumbled across the room. I heard her open a cup-board. She came back with two rifles and gave them to Joe and Mac.
‘Are you in this?’ she asked, as calm as if she was sitting down to a cup of tea.
‘Yeah; if it’s Barratt, I am,’ I said.
She went back to the cupboard and produced two more rifles and a sack of ammunition.
‘What happened, Joe?’ she asked as we loaded the clips.
‘Jeepers! The boys walked right into them. There are about ten of them and Barratt. I guess he’d come to shift the stuff. They must have spotted our trucks and came down on us.’
Where do you get this us stuff from?’ Mac growled. You weren’t even there.’ He was kneeling in front of the window, and turned his head to look at Mary. ‘They were at the top of the quarry. We were at the bottom. It was like shooting rabbits. They got Harry, Lu and George with their first volley. The rest of us got behind the trucks. They kept crawling around the edge of the quarry, picking us off, until I was the only one left. I just lay there and waited. Finally, they decided they’d picked us all off and came down to investigate. Harry and George were still alive. They were badly hurt, but they were still breathing. Barratt shot them both through the head. I managed to sneak away while they were checking up on the others. I got to the top of the quarry, when Joe turned up. They spotted Joe. The chump was smoking. You could see him a mile away, and they came after us. I told Joe not to shoot, but he kept letting his rod off, and of course, they just kept coming. I was hoping to get away in the dark, but not with Joe lighting up the countryside for miles. So here we are, and right out there, they are, and it’s going to be some picnic.’
Joe said, ‘I got two of them. You don’t think I was going to let that mob shoot at me without shooting back?’
While they were talking, I was examining the-valley below the cabin. There wasn’t much cover until you started to climb the hill. Once they got a foothold on the hill, they could get up to the door of the cabin without being seen.
I edged the rifle over the window sill, sighted into the darkness and pressed the trigger. Almost immediately flashes lit up the shrubs on the far side of the valley and slugs whammed against the walls of the cabin.
‘They’re over on the far side,’ I said. ‘If they can get across the floor of the valley, we’ll be cooked.’
‘The moon will be up in a few minutes,’ Mac said. ‘It’s just below the peak of the hill as we came along. Then we’ll have plenty of light.’
I thought I saw some movement below, shifted the sights of the rifle and fired.
A tiny, shadowy form darted back under cover again. Both Joe and Mac fired at the same time. A faint yell followed the crash of gunfire. These two might not be very strong in the brain department, but they could shoot.
‘That’s another of the punks,’ Joe said with satisfaction.
I put my hand on Mary’s arm and pulled her close to me.
‘Is there any way out of here besides the door?’ I asked in a whisper.
She shook her head.
‘How about the roof?’
‘There’s a ladder that takes you up to the roof, but once up there, there’s no way to escape.’
‘Sure?’
‘You might with a rope, but it wouldn’t be easy.’
‘I guess I’ll take a look,’ I said. ‘Got a rope?’
‘There’s one in the kitchen.’
Joe suddenly fired again.
‘Look out!’ he bawled. They’re coming.’
We could make out six or seven moving figures, running across the floor of the valley. We all fired as fast as we could pull our bolts. Two of the figures fell. The others drifted back again under cover of the opposite bank.
‘Get the rope,’ I said to Mary. ‘And get that trap open. We may have to leave in a hurry.’
‘What are you two whispering about?’ Joe demanded suspiciously.
‘We’re preparing a get-away,’ I told him. ‘By way of the roof.’
‘Fat chance you have,’ he snorted. They’d pick you off like a sitting rabbit when the moon’s up.’
‘We may have to,’ I said, seeing the first rays of the moon appearing over the hill top. ‘Here it comes.’
Two or three minutes later the floor of the valley was flooded with white light.
‘Well, at least, it’s as bad for them,’ Mac said, sitting back on his heels. ‘We can’t miss them from here.’
‘What do you think they’re playing at?’ Joe said, uneasily. ‘They haven’t let off a heater for the past five minutes.’
‘Why should they?’ I said. ‘They’re waiting for the moon to pick this joint out, and it will. They’ll be able to see in through the windows.’
‘I have the rope,’ Mary called from an adjoining room. I’m going up on the roof,’ I said. ‘Keep an eye on them.’
‘You better keep an eye on yourself,’ Joe said sarcastically. ‘Don’t expect flowers for your funeral.’
I went into the inner room.
Mary held a flashlight in her hand, and as I came in she swung the beam to a short ladder that led to a trap door in the roof.
‘You’d better not go up there,’ she said. ‘They’re certain to see you.’
‘Hey, you two; give me some covering fire,’ I called into the outer room. ‘I’m going up on the roof.’
‘Hope it keeps fine for you,’ Mac said and laughed.
They began firing down into the valley. I waited, listening, but there was no answering fire.
‘I wonder what they’re playing at,’ I muttered. ‘Well, here goes. Let’s see what’s up there.’
I mounted the ladder and very cautiously lifted the trap-door. I slid it to one side and peered around the flat roof that spread out before me.
Moonlight fell directly on it, and it was nearly as light as day up there.
Above me the hill went up steeply, offering little foothold and not much cover. To try and scale the hill from the roof in this light would be asking for trouble. The only chance would be to wait until the moon moved round and the hill face was in the shadow. I didn’t know if we had the time wait.
I slid down the ladder again.
‘Not much good. A rope won’t help. It’s too light. In another hour it might be done, but not now.’
‘In another hour we’ll be pushing up the daisies,’ Joe said cheerfully from the other room.
‘How about some coffee?’ I suggested to Mary. ‘We might be stuck here for some time. I’ll go back and keep watch while you get it’
I returned to the outer room.
Mac was chewing an unlit cigarette, staring down into the valley. Joe sat on the edge of a chair, and peered around the window-frame.
‘You didn’t see a girl in the quarry, did you?’ I asked Mac.
‘No-why?’
‘I had a girl with me when you spotted me. I sent her for the cops.’
‘That’s not going to help us. You’d never hear gunfire out of the valley. I don’t know how it is, but it’s a fact. Unless they come here to look for us, they won’t know a battle’s going on,’ Joe said. ‘Besides, it would hurt my pride to be rescued by a cop.’
‘I reckon I could sink my pride,’ Mac said and laughed. I’d sooner be pinched by a cop then fall into Barratt’s hands.’
‘Think it’s safe to smoke?’ Joe asked.
‘Go and sit on the floor if you must smoke,’ I said. ‘I’ll take your place.’
‘You’re a pal, pally. I’m glad I didn’t shoot you.’
‘So am I.’
He lit a cigarette while he sat on the floor.
‘These punks don’t show much initiative, do they?’ Mac said. ‘Maybe they’ve scrammed.’
‘Go out there and find out,’ Joe said. ‘I bet they’re cooking up something.’
I had an idea they were, too. So long as the floor of the valley lay in the moonlight, I could understand them not showing themselves, but, once the light had shifted, they would probably make a rush.
Mary came in with cups of coffee. Joe laced his from a pint flask he hauled out of his pocket
‘Anyone want rum?’ he asked, waving the flask.
Mac helped himself, handed the flask to me, but I shook my head.
‘Just coffee for me.’
‘Fancy your chances getting out of here?’ Joe asked as he sucked up the rum and coffee noisily.
‘I don’t see why not.’
‘Shut up, Joe,’ Mac said curtly. ‘You’re creating despair and depression. No one would miss you if you were shot.’
‘That’s a lie!’ Joe said hotly. ‘My old mother would.’ He got to his feet to cross the room for another cup of coffee. ‘I’ve a flock of judies too. They’d all miss me.’
There was a sudden, steady rattle of gunfire. One of the distant bushes seemed to burst into flame as a Thompson-gun chattered its song of death.
‘Down!’ I bawled, and flung myself flat.
Joe took two lurching steps to the door, turned slowly on his heels and dropped.
No one moved. The Thompson continued to rattle. Slugs whined through the windows, cut across the door, hammered into the opposite wall. Then the Thompson stopped as suddenly as it began.
‘Watch out,’ I said to Mac, and crawled over to Joe. The burst of gunfire had caught him across the chest. It had ripped him open the way you rip open a can with a can opener.
‘Is he dead?’ Mary asked, and by the shake in her voice I knew she was badly shocked.
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, I hope I’ll get out of this so I can tell his Ma,’ Mac said. ‘I bet she’ll hang out flags. She always hated the punk.’
‘Don’t show yourselves in front of the windows and keep down,’ I said, crawling over to where
Mary knelt by one of the windows.
‘You bet,’ Mac said. ‘I thought that son of a bitch was up to something.’
Then the Thompson started grinding again. Slugs zipped through the room.
‘Look out! They’re coming!’ Mac bawled.
I could see figures running into the moonlight. They swerved to right and left, making it impossible to hold the rifle sights on them. Mac brought one down, but the other five got across the floor of the valley and disappeared into the bushes.
‘Not so good,’ I said, ducking down as slugs sent splinters from the window frame. ‘They’re over now. They can get right up to the door without us seeing them.’
‘They can’t get in,’ Mac said, ‘without getting shot up. Where’s Joe’s rum? I feel like another swig.’
He crawled over to Joe, turned him over and fetched out the flask from Joe’s hip pocket. As the Thompson stopped grinding, I raised my rifle and fired three quick shots into the bushes where the gun flashes had been.
There was a sudden movement. A man sprang out, holding the Thompson and went crashing down on his face.
‘Nice shooting,’ Mac said, who had returned to the window ‘Now if any of those rats want that
Tommy they’ll have to come out into the open for it’
Gunfire banged right by us, making us start back Slugs smashed through the door.
‘They’re right outside,’ I whispered to Mary. ‘Go into th e other room.’
‘Why?’ She peered at me, her eyes large in her white face.
‘Get in there and don’t ask questions.’
She went, crawling on hands and knees.
‘Got an automatic on you?’ I asked Mac, my lips close to his ear.
He nodded.
‘So’s Joe.’
I crawled over to Joe, found the .38 automatic, pushed down the front of his trousers, and crawled back to Mac.
‘Listen: I’m going up on the roof. The moment I start firing, open the door. With any luck, they won’t see you until it’s too late. You’ve got to shoot quick and you’ve got to hit them. There’re five, remember.’
‘They’ll get you the moment you show on the roof.’
‘I’ll chance it.’
A voice bawled from out of the darkness, ‘Come on out, or we’ll come and get you.’ I crawled across the floor into the inner room. Mary was waiting for me. ‘I’m going up,’ I said. They’re right outside, and we might surprise them. Stick around down here and keep your eyes open. There may be trouble.’
And as I climbed up the ladder, I thought that last utterance was a nice example of the understatement.
Gently I pushed back the trap, waited, listening. Then slowly I raised myself so that my bead and shoulders appeared above the opening of the trap. Nothing happened. I wondered if those left on the far side of the valley were watching the roof. I hoped they weren’t. Moving out into the brilliant moonlight gave me a sinking feeling, but I moved out.
Lying flat, I edged across the roof, taking my time, careful not to make a sound, expecting any moment to be shot at from the other side of the valley.
It seemed a long way across the roof. As I drew near the edge, I moved more slowly, edging forward inch by inch.
More shots crashed out, startling me, but they were shooting at the door and not at me. Under cover of the noise, I pulled myself forward until I could see over the edge of the roof. I looked down on the shrubs and bushes that sloped away steeply into the valley. For a moment or so I couldn’t see any movement. Then I spotted a man, crouched behind a rock, about twenty yards from the cabin. Keep as still as death, I searched the ground before me. I spotted the others, spread out in a half-circle before the cabin. None of them were taking any chances. All of them were partly protected by rocks or shrubs. I reckoned I would pick of two, but the other three would get me unless Mac got them first. I decided it would be safer and wiser to tell Mac where they were hiding before trying to pick them off.
As I began to edge backwards, one of the men glanced up and saw me. He gave a y ell and fired at the same time. The slug fanned past my face. I took a snap-shot at him, saw him fall, swung around and fired at the second man in the half-circle, saw him start to his feet, and then I wriggled back as crash of gunfire broke out below me and bullets struck splinters from the guttering where my head had been.
Bent double, I made a bolt for the trap-door, as gunfire broke out from the other side of the valley. I heard slugs zip past me as I half fell, half scrambled down the ladder.
‘Are you hurt?’ Mary asked breathlessly.
‘No.’
I didn’t pause, but ran into the outer room in time to see Mac standing in the open doorway, blazing away into the darkness like General Custer in his last stand.
As I joined him, he stopped firing and stepped back into the shelter of the doorway. ‘We got ’em pal!’ he exclaimed. ‘The whole damn five of them. How about a quick rush into the bushes before the rest of them get over here?’
Mary joined us.
‘Come on,’ I said. This is our chance. Mac’ll go first. Then you. I’ll be behind you. Jump for the bushes.
‘Ready?’
She nodded.
‘Go ahead.’
Mac took a flying leap through the doorway into the thick undergrowth below.
IV
We lay in the darkness and thick scrub, well away from the cabin and stared across the floor of the valley. There was no movement on the opposite hillside, no gunfire, no voices. Mac rubbed his face with his hand and hunched his shoulders. The desert was cold now, and the wind, coming of the hills, had a nip in it.
‘They’re keeping quiet, aren’t they?’ he said in an under tone.
‘Yeah.’ I took the half-empty flask of rum from him end offered it to Mary. ‘Have some before this guy drinks the lot.’
She shook her head.
‘I’m all right’
I tilted the flask and let some of the raw spirit trickle down my throat. It wasn’t my idea of a drink, but it was the right stuff to keep out the cold.
‘I think we can go on,’ I said. ‘No point in lying here if they’re not coming over.’ ‘Do you think they’ve gone back to the mine?’ she asked.
‘Maybe. Let’s go and see. He may have decided to go back there and shift the reefers rather than lose any more men. With any luck, the cops will be there to meet him.’
‘Unless he spotted your girl,’ Mac said, getting to his feet.
‘Come on. Let’s get over there.’
I led the way, moving fast, but keeping under cover, taking no risks. The way was downhill. Ahead of us the bushes and shrubs began to thin out, and the face of the bill gradated slowly to the floor of the valley. We had only another fifty yards ahead of us before we reached the flat, open plain of the desert.
We paused and examined the ground before us. The moonlight reflected on the sand. You could have seen any movement a half a mile away.
‘If they’re still in the hills, this is where we get shot in the back,’ Mac muttered. ‘Going to chance it?’
‘Yeah. You two stay here. If nothing happens to me, come on after me.’
‘You’re a sucker for trouble, aren’t you?’ Mac said and gave me a slap on the back.
Mary said in her calm, matter-of-fact voice, ‘I don’t think they’re up there. I think they’ve gone on to the mine.’
I hoped she was right as I slid down the little slope on to the sand. I began to run, zigzagging a little my shoulders hunched, and covering the ground rapidly. Nothing happened. I ran on for a couple of hundred yards, then stopped and turned. Mac and Mary were running after me. I waited for them to catch me up.
* * *
‘They’re at the mine,’ I said. ‘Spread out and keep moving. Drop fiat if there’s any shooting.’ We began to run over the undulating sand towards the mine. Every now and then we paused to get our breath, but I kept them at it. I was worried, thinking of Paula, wondering if she had got through. The silence worried me. If Mifflin had arrived, there should have been shooting. After a while, the sloping edge of the quarry came into sight.
I signaled to the other two to stop, waved them to me.
‘We crawl the rest of the way,’ I said. ‘Barrett may have left a look-out and we don’t want to run into him. You keep in the rear,’ I went on to Mary. ‘Leave this to Mac and me.’
We set off again, moving slowly now, using every scrap of cover, making no noise. Mac suddenly pointed, and I followed the direction of his finger. I could just make out a man’s head, outlined against the horizon, as he knelt in the scrub, looking our way.
Mac put his mouth close to my ear. ‘I’ll take him’ he said. ‘I was a Ranger once. This is right up my alley.’
I nodded and watched him crawl in a circling movement towards the watcher.
Mary slid over the sand and lay by me. She too had seen the head against the horizon.
We waited. Nothing happened, and I began to wonder what Mac was playing at. The watcher suddenly half stood up, looking our way. He made a beautiful target against the sand and the moonlight. Then he gave a sharp cough and dropped face downwards in the sand. Mac waved and disappeared once more behind the sand ridge. I crawled, on, motioning Mary to keep in the rear.
‘He didn’t know anything about it,’ Mac whispered when I joined him. ‘I’m beginning to enjoy this.’ We crawled to the edge of the quarry and looked down. The blazing headlights of the two trucks lit up a scene of tremendous activity. Men were loading the wooden boxes on to the trucks, while others came staggering down the steep path from the tunnel, carrying more boxes. One of the trucks was already loaded and the other was half filled.
Standing in the entrance of the tunnel, waving his men on, and shouting at them to hurry was Barratt.
Mac’s hand lifted and the sight of the .38 grew steady on Barrett’s chest, but I grabbed his wrist.
‘No! My girl must be down there. She couldn’t have got through. I’m going to look for her. If they spot me, start shooting, and get Barratt first.’
He nodded, and I began the slow, dangerous climb down into the quarry. Every now and then I dislodged a shower of stones, and I ducked behind a bush, holding my breath. But the men working below me were far too busy getting the boxes into the truck to be on their guard.
Keeping in the shadow, I reached the bottom of the quarry. There was plenty of cover, and I worked my way silently over the ground towards the trucks.
I could hear Barrett’s voice as be cursed the sweating men, telling them to hurry. I kept on until I reached the loaded truck. On its blind side, I stood up and looked inside the cabin.
Paula was in there, tied hand and foot and gagged. She turned her head and we looked at each other. I opened the cabin door and swung myself up inside.
She looked pale and a little scared, but as soon as I got the gag off she smiled at me.
‘Am I glad to see you,’ she said huskily.
‘That makes two of us,’ I said, cutting the cord that tied her wrists. What happened? Did you walk right into them?’
She nodded, rubbing her wrists while I freed her ankles.
‘He still thinks you’re in the mine,’ she told me. ‘He hasn’t an idea that I’ve been in there. He thought I was trying to find a way in. As soon as they have finished loading, he intends to take me in there and leave me there.’
‘That’s what he thinks. Come on; let’s get up to the top of the quarry. We have friends up there.’
Keeping on the blind side of the truck, we began to edge silently back the way I had come. When we were half-way up the side of the quarry there came a sudden yell behind us that froze us to a standstill. We looked back. Barrett was staring into the tunnel. The three men working by the truck also stared towards the tunnel. The frantic, blood-curdling yell came again. Barrett suddenly fired into the tunnel, shouted and began to run frantically down the path towards the trucks.
‘The rats!’ I said and grabbed Paula’s arm. ‘Up as fast as you can.’
Both Mary and Mac began firing into the quarry as we scrambled up the steep slope. We heard shots and yells below us, but we didn’t look back nor pause until we flung ourselves, sobbing for breath, into the scrub overhanging the edge of the quarry.
Mac came charging round to join us.
‘Rats!’ He was pointing, his fleshy, red face tight with horror. ‘Look at them! Those guys down there haven’t a chance.’
I looked down into the quarry. It was alive with rats. They swarmed round the five men, who bad come together an were shooting at them. I could see Barratt waving his arms and screaming. Three enormous brutes sprang at him and he disappeared beneath a heaving sea of sleek, brown bodies. The other men were dragged down as more rats came rushing down the path from the tunnel, squealing and fighting to get at them.
I caught hold of Paula. ’Let’s get out of here.’ The four of us ran across the sand towards the Highway.