Skeleton Lode by Ralph Compton

Paulette Davis was gone, and sowere the bloody blankets. There was no sign of Kelly and Kelsey Logan.
     
    “Kelly! Kelsey!” Davis shouted.
     
    Only an echo answered, and then there was silence.
     
    “Damn it,” said Davis, “I ain’t believin’ this. I can understand somethin’ or somebody makin’ off with the girls, but where’s Paulette?”
     
    “The mountain take them,” Sanchez said.
     
    “Like hell it did,” Davis scoffed. “They’re in that passage somewhere, and they’ve dragged Paulette with them, just to get back at me. Them Logan girls are my only legal claim to the mine. Come on, let’s fire us up some torches and go lookin’ for them.”
     
    “No, Señor,” said Sanchez. “We do not go into the mountain. We leave this place last night because the mountain swallow two men, and the others are afraid to remain.”
     
    “So the both of you are afraid,” Davis sneered.
     
    “Only of the mountain,” said Yavapai. “Not of you.”
     
    “Gary,” said Rust, “seven men left for town, and there are six dead in the canyon, so that’s only thirteen. Yesterday, when they came in here, there were fifteen men.”
     
    “Ah,” said Yavapai, turning to Rust, “it is well not all
gringos
are fools.”
     
    “Your woman’s dead, Gary,” Bollinger said, “and them Logan girls hate your guts. Back in Missouri, you never cared a damn about what was legal and what wasn’t. I say we find the gold if we can, and kill anybody gettin’ in the way.”
     
    “He’s right,” said Rust. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law. With those Logan girls alive, you wouldn’t get enough gold for a poker stake. They’ll see you dead and in hell first.”
     
    “Suppose I admit to all that,” Davis said. “Legally or illegally, how do we find the gold? Where do we start?”
     
    “You have a map,” Yavapai said, “but we do not see it.”
     
    “Half a map,” corrected Davis.
     
    “Ah,” Sanchez said, “how do you know it is but half a map?”
     
    “Because Hoss Logan
said
it’s half a map,” Davis growled, “and it
looks
like half a map. There’s nothin’ to it.”
     
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Gary,” said Rust in an exasperated tone, “show them the map. It’s not as though we have anything to lose.”
     
    Davis took the well-creased sheet of paper from his shirt pocket and passed it to Sanchez. Yavapai moved up beside him, and together, they studied the symbols on the paper.
     

Chapter 5
     
    “There be a story of long ago,” Sanchez said, “of Apache warriors who be pursued by Spanish seekers of gold. There be no escape for the
Indios
, so they leap off the mountain and die.”
    “That be mountain called Skull Peak,” Yavapai added.
     
    “By God,” said Davis excitedly, “maybe that’s it! But what does the rest of the map mean?”
     
    “Why, hell,” said Bollinger, “it’s a sunrise or a sunset. Take your pick.”
     
    “Maybe,” Davis said, “but what does it
mean
?”
     
    “It could designate the east or west rim of the mountain,” said Rust, “depending on whether the sun is rising or setting.”
     
    “Maybe the mine’s on the side where them Injuns jumped off,” Bollinger said. “That could explain the skull on the map.”
     
    “No,” said Davis, “that would make the rising or setting sun unnecessary. I think the skull refers to Skull Peak and the rising or setting sun means either the east or the west side of the mountain.”
     
    “Is simple,” Yavapai said. “We search both these sides of the mountain.”
     
    “We ain’t ready for the mountain,” said Bollinger. “We got no pack mules and no horses.”
     
    “Good point,” Davis said. “I want you and Barry to head for town. Get us a pack mule and some horses. Be as quiet about it as you can, and get back here fast. We got to move our saddles, packs, and bedrolls out of thiscanyon before the sheriff comes lookin’ for these hombres the Apaches scalped.”
     
    Rust and