Skeleton Lode by Ralph Compton Page B

you away and then took your mother’s body.”
     
    “Like Kelly told you,” said Kelsey, “our mother wasn’t true to our daddy, and we hated her for it. Still, she deserved better than Gary Davis. Please, if we never find Uncle Henry’s gold, keep us hidden until we’re old enough to be on our own.”
     
    “There may or may not be a mine,” Arlo said. “I believe there is, and I can’t escape the feeling that Hoss—your Uncle Henry—is using it to lure Davis to these mountains. Hoss knew or suspected what Davis had done, and somehow Hoss aimed for him to pay. I don’t think Gary Davis will leave the Superstitions alive.”
     
    “The Superstitions,” Kelly shuddered. “Lord, how well the name suits them.”
     
    “They have a long and sometimes bloody history,” said Arlo. “There’s always been an air of mystery surrounding them, and the Apaches have added to it by denying any knowledge of strange deaths and disappearances. To them, the mountains are sacred, the home of their Thunder God.”
     
    “It’s hard not to believe in the Thunder God,” Kelly said. “Uncle Henry told us the legends, and when we first entered the cavern, I felt something I can’t really explain. It was like there was some presence we couldn’t see, but it made itself felt.”
     
    “It touched me the same way,” said Kelsey, “but that Indian attack was real, and so was the shot that killed Mother. The Thunder God may get credit, but he had some help.”
     
    “With scalped dead men for evidence,” Dallas said, “I don’t see how the Apaches can lay this on the Thunder God. Those hombres bound for town will have a story to tell.”
     
    “He’s right,” said Arlo, “and that’s something wehaven’t told you. We spent some time on the rim this morning looking for survivors. First we saw seven men afoot, heading for town, and not too far behind them, two more. We judged the seven to be all that was left of the bunch who followed us from town, while the last two were probably Rust and the gunslinger, Bollinger. We think that means those men who trailed us have given up. We know Davis is still alive and still here, so that tells us he aims to stay. He’s sent to town for horses.”
     
    “There’s Yavapai and Sanchez,” Kelsey said. “Davis had a falling-out with them, and they joined the men from town.”
     
    “Thieves fall out,” said Arlo, “but necessity can unite them again. I won’t be too surprised to find Davis trailing with those Mex owl-hoots again. The Apache threat bein’ what it is, they’ll need one another. Even then, five of them against God knows how many Apaches is poor odds.”
     
    “They’ll likely hole up in that cavern,” Dallas offered.
     
    “I doubt it,” said Arlo. “Not after Kelly and Kelsey and their mother’s body vanished from there without a trace.”
     
    “You don’t know Gary Davis,” Kelly said. “He’s a conceited fool who has no belief in anything or anybody stronger than himself.”
     
    “Maybe,” replied Arlo, “but he’ll have to reckon with Yavapai and Sanchez. They’re a pair of no-account owl-hoots, but they’ll be superstitious. I don’t think they’ll be comfortable in a cavern where three people disappeared in a matter of minutes.”
     
    “Now that you mention it,” Dallas said, “that’s all it’ll take to drive Davis away from that canyon. Like it or not, when Sheriff Wheaton learns seven people are dead, he’ll have to ride out here. I wouldn’t want to have to answer the questions the sheriff will be askin’ Davis if he’s around. Those men on their way to town can verify the Apache killings, but who’s going to believe Kelly and Kelsey just vanished into thin air? And what about Mrs. Davis? By God, old Paiute’s sharper than any of us.”
     
    “He takes some getting used to,” said Kelly. “After all his years in these mountains, do you think he has some … understanding with the Apaches?”
     
    “We’ve