Blood Treachery (A White Apache Western Book 6) Read online

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  Blood Treachery

  From the Arizona Territory to the mountains of Mexico, Clay Taggart and his wild Apaches rode roughshod over the land. Settlers, soldiers and Indians alike had tried to kill the White Apache, but it would take more than brute strength to defeat the wily desperado—it would take cold cunning and a ruthless deception. And when a rival chieftain set out to betray Taggart and his fierce band, they learned that the face of a friend could sometimes hide the heart of an enemy.

  WHITE APACHE 6: BLOOD TREACHERY

  By David Robbins Writing as Jake McMasters

  First Published by Leisure Books in 1995

  Copyright © 1995, 2016 by David Robbins

  First Smashwords Edition: September 2016

  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.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  Our cover features Fearless Scout, painted by Andy Thomas, and used by permission.

  Andy Thomas Artist, Carthage Missouri

  Andy is known for his action westerns and storytelling paintings and documenting historical events through history.

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author.

  To Judy, Joshua, and Shane.

  Chapter One

  Corporal Jim Ralston was a dead man but he didn’t know it yet.

  The day had started the same as the past five. The young soldier had risen at the crack of dawn, downed several cups of scalding black coffee, chewed a few tangy pieces of beef jerky, and climbed on his mount as the blazing sun cleared the golden eastern horizon.

  Once again Ralston rode steadily deeper into the Chiricahua Mountains. Common sense told him that he should turn around and hightail it back to Fort Bowie. Simple logic made it plain that a lone trooper had a snowball’s chance in hell of tracking down the most feared renegade in all of Arizona Territory. But then he thought of the ten-thousand dollars being offered for the White Apache, dead or alive, and he shook his head to dispel his doubts.

  Ten-thousand dollars was more than Ralston could expect to make in a lifetime. Having that much money meant he could say adios to the stark military life he had lived for seven years. He could head back to the States and set himself up in a fine house. Maybe he’d even find himself a pretty woman who would be willing to settle down and spend the rest of her nights giving him back rubs and her days darning his socks.

  Of such fancies are dreams made. And Corporal Ralston’s dream explained why he had taken the two weeks’ furlough he had earned, loaded up a pack mule, and headed into the Chiricahua Apache Reservation.

  The trooper knew he had disobeyed a standing order. Headquarters, Fifth Cavalry, had sent a dispatch to all commands. Under no circumstances were soldiers to enter the Reservation without the express consent of their superiors. Anyone who violated the edict stood the risk of being court-martialed.

  It had taken a score of years and the loss of many lives before the U.S. government had been able to bring the fierce Chiricahuas to bay. The tribe had only agreed to live on a reservation after their revered leader Cochise wrangled a promise from Washington; the heart of Chiricahua country, the Dragoon and Chiricahua Mountains, was to belong to the Chiricahuas for all time.

  Since the treaty had gone into effect, there had been scattered incidents. Many of the younger warriors resented living under the white man’s yoke. A few had turned renegade and many more would if provoked, so the government bent over backwards to insure they weren’t. Whiskey traders were kept off the reservation but managed to smuggle their wares in anyway. Prospectors were barred from looking for color in the mountains but scores did so and were rarely caught. And soldiers were to fight shy of the Chiricahuas or suffer the consequences.

  But how could anyone in his right mind pass up a crack at ten-thousand dollars? Ralston asked himself as he crested a barren ridge. He certainly couldn’t, and he knew of other soldiers who felt the same way but lacked the grit to try and claim the money.

  Besides, the corporal doubted the government would raise much of a ruckus if someone rode into the fort with the body of the White Apache draped over a saddle. Washington didn’t care how the terror of the Southwest was brought down, just so someone made wolf meat of him before he stirred the Chiricahuas up enough to incite them to out-and-out war.

  No, sir, Ralston mused. The man who brought in the savage killer would be hailed as a hero, no questions asked. His story would be in all the papers. He’d be famous in no time. So what if a few rules were bent in the doing of the deed? It was the result that counted.

  The burning sun had bought beads of sweat to Corporal Ralston’s forehead. He wiped the back of his sleeve across his brow, pushed his hat back on his head, and unslung his canteen to take a sip. As he raised it to his parched lips, he caught a glimmer of light on the rocky slope to the west, no more than a pinpoint flash.

  Instantly replacing the canteen, Ralston moved behind a boulder the size of a log cabin. Twisting in the saddle, he opened his saddlebags and took out a small spyglass he had bought at the sutler’s. He unfolded the telescope and pressed it to his right eye.

  Nothing moved on the slope. Whatever had caused the flash was either gone, or so well hidden as to be invisible.

  Ralston suspected the latter. The glimmer had been caused by sunlight reflecting off metal, most likely a rifle or a knife. And odds were that the rifle or knife had an Apache attached to it.

  Wedging the spyglass under his wide leather belt, the corporal drew his carbine from the boot and fed a round into the chamber. He had to remind himself not to do anything rash. It might be a tame buck out hunting, although the odds were slim given that he was so far into the wilderness and the tame bucks liked to stay closer to the reservation proper.

  Deciding to play it safe, Ralston rode back over the crest of the ridge and along it to a point directly across from the spot where he had seen the flash. He drew rein, dismounted, and ground-hitched his animal. The mule he tied to a manzanita, since it had a tendency to wander off.

  The corporal stuffed extra ammunition into his pockets, then climbed to the top. He eased onto his belly behind a small boulder and scanned the vicinity. To his left a lizard scuttled across the baked earth into the shade of a cactus. It was the only sign of life to be seen.

  Arizona was a hard land and it bred hard men, white and red. Ralston wasn’t fooling himself. He realized that he was up against one of the most dangerous men alive. And it would take dumb luck, as much as anything else, for him to put an end to the White Apache’s rampage.

  According to the post commander, the White Apache had once been a respectable rancher named Clay Taggart. He had gone bad, though, in a big way. First he’d tried to rape the wife of a neighbor and killed one of the hands who came to her rescue. Then, on the run from the law, he’d hooked up with Delgadito, a genuine Apache renegade who had been the most wanted savage in the Territory until Taggart came along.

  It was hard for Ralston to imagine. He couldn’t see any white man pairing up with any red devil. In his eyes it was a crime against human nature, a perversion of all that he believed in. Apaches were little better than animals. Every
one knew that. Which made any white who would side with them a traitor to his own kind.

  The corporal shut such thoughts from his mind and concentrated on the slope. When tangling with Apaches, the rule of thumb was to shoot first and think later. He brought the telescope into play again but the result was the same as before.

  Minutes dragged by. The heat was stifling. Ralston’s uniform clung to him when he moved. He would have given anything to enjoy a nice, long cold bath and he wasn’t a big believer in baths. Once every three months or so was enough to keep him clean and in the flush of health. Take baths too often, his grandpa used to say, and a body would wind up sickly.

  Ralston frowned, certain he was wasting his time. He figured the Apache was long gone. He would be better off forking leather and riding on. Putting his hand down, he pushed to his knees and started to turn. As he did so, he saw an Apache standing less than ten feet away with an arrow notched to a sinew bowstring.

  The trooper acted on sheer instinct. Throwing himself to the right, he leveled the carbine and snapped off a shot while in midair. More by luck than design the Apache was hit squarely in the chest and staggered backward.

  Even as Ralston hit the ground he clawed at his revolver. He rolled a few feet in case the stricken warrior managed to loose the arrow while thumbing back the hammer of his Colt. Suddenly stopping, he saw the warrior sinking to the ground as if mortally wounded. But Ralston was taking no chances. He fired three times. The blast echoed off the nearby mountains, resembling a cannonade.

  At each retort the Apache jerked with the impact of the bullet. With the third shot, he pitched onto his face and lay as still as a log.

  Ralston slowly rose, keeping the warrior covered. His blood raced, his temples pounded. It had all happened so fast that only now did his brain begin to function as it should. Walking over, he nudged the dead Apache with the tip of his boot. When there was no reaction, he bent and flipped the warrior over.

  Only then did Ralston realize it was a boy, no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. The boy had no knife, no tomahawk. The bow was old. The arrow lacked a barbed tip, and it was the only shaft the boy had. Belatedly, Ralston recalled that the youngster had not held the bow ready to shoot but rather had held it low down, at his side, with the arrow angled at the ground.

  Ralston slowly holstered the pistol. It occurred to him that the boy wasn’t a renegade, that he had just slain a young tame buck out hunting.

  Some men would have felt deep remorse. Many would have regretted what they had done. The corporal merely kicked the boy in the side and muttered, “You damn redskin. That’s what you get for sneaking up on me the way you did.”

  Abruptly, Ralston had a troubling thought.

  What if the youngster had been a member of a hunting party? Crouching behind a boulder with his carbine in hand, he surveyed the length and breadth of the mountainous terrain but saw no reason for alarm. When enough time went by to convince him the youngster had been alone, he rose and hurried to where he had left the horse and the mule.

  Stepping into the stirrups, Ralston set off at a brisk pace northward. He had to get out of there. The sound of the shots had no doubt carried a long distance and might prompt other Apaches to investigate.

  For the better part of the morning the corporal forged his solitary way into the Chiricahua homeland. He marveled for the umpteenth time at the Apache ability to endure in a harsh, arid land fit only for sidewinders, gila monsters, and scorpions. It was no wonder the Apaches were noted for being as tough as the creatures with which they shared their land.

  Shortly before noon, Ralston rode over a crest into a heavily forested tract bordering a narrow, fertile valley. It was a virtual oasis. He made toward a meandering stream with a smile of anticipation on his face.

  At the water’s edge, the corporal climbed down, knelt, removed his hat, and plunged his entire head into the cool, invigorating water. Rising up, he laughed lightly and shook himself to clear his eyes. Then he drank, gulping even though he knew it was wiser to sip slowly after blistering in the intense heat for so long. He couldn’t help himself.

  Once Ralston had slaked his thirst, he walked over to a tree and sat with his back to the trunk. His horse still guzzled greedily, as he had, but the mule had moved off a few yards to graze. Mules were smarter than horses in that respect; they never drank so much that they swelled up like a water bag fit to burst and became too waterlogged to move.

  Ralston toyed with the notion of going over and dragging his mount out of the stream, but he couldn’t motivate himself to make the effort. Sitting in the shade with a faint breeze chilling his damp skin felt so glorious, he had no desire to budge. Besides which, he had decided on the spur of the moment to spend the night there. Sources of water were few and far between. He intended to make the most of this one while he had the chance.

  Accordingly, after briefly dozing, Ralston stripped off his cartridge belt and his uniform, then waded into the stream in his birthday suit. A convenient pool, about knee-deep, gave him the perfect spot to plop down. The water rose to just under his chin, and for the first time in more days than he could remember, he wasn’t sweating from head to toe. It felt wonderful.

  “Almost makes a man wish he was a fish,” Ralston said aloud to himself. He moved closer to the bank to be within quick reach of the carbine and the revolver, which he had placed at the water’s edge.

  Both the horse and mule were cropping grass. Neither betrayed any skittishness, as they would if they had caught the scent of an Indian or a beast.

  Ralston allowed himself to relax fully for the first time that day. He leaned his head back onto the bank and closed his eyes, relying on the animals to warn him if a threat loomed. Off to the northeast a bird shrieked, prompting him to crack his lids and look. A red hawk soared high on the currents, wheeling in search of prey.

  They had a lot in common, Ralston thought. They were both alone. They were both hunters. They both relied on their wits to survive. He watched the big bird soar for a while, then dozed off. A dream came to him in which he grew great wings and flew into the air like an avenging human hawk. Soon the White Apache appeared below. He swooped down and grasped the renegade in razor-sharp talons. Ripping and rending, he tore the White Apache to ribbons. The renegade died screaming.

  Ralston came awake slowly, savoring a feeling of lassitude. Something pricked him ever so lightly on the left shoulder. It felt like the bite of a small insect. He idly reached up and ran his hand over the spot but felt nothing.

  Once more the corporal was pricked, this time on the forearm. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and stared at his wrist. He was surprised to see a tiny drop of blood.

  A sharper prick lanced the side of Ralston neck. Immediately he slapped at himself, thinking that maybe a bee or a hornet was responsible. But then his hand was seared by a strange burning pain and when he lowered his arm, he discovered that two of his fingers were gone. Blood squirted into the stream, turning the water a murky rust color.

  Startled, Corporal Ralston twisted to see what was behind him and nearly passed out from shock. He tried to jump to his feet but his legs refused to cooperate. So stunned was he that for the moment he forgot about his missing fingers.

  A man stood there, holding a Bowie knife. He was tall, well proportioned, and superbly muscled. His body had been bronzed by the sun until it was the same hue as an Apache’s. His long black hair was also typical of an Apache’s, as were the breechcloth and style of moccasins he wore. Slanted across his chest, Indian fashion, was a bandoleer brimming with cartridges. Slung over his left shoulder was a Winchester. On his right hip, in a Mexican holster decorated with silver studs, rode a fancy nickel-plated pistol.

  Unlike Apaches, the man wore a wide-brimmed brown hat such as prospectors favored, the front brim curled up so he could see clearly. And in marked contrast to any Apache who had ever lived, the man’s eyes were a striking lake-blue.

  Ralston knew who it was. Recognition shattered his shoc
k and he turned to grab his Colt, which had been inches away. But the revolver and the carbine were gone.

  “Are you looking for those, soldier boy?” the apparition asked in a deep voice, and pointed at the weapons that had been placed a dozen feet off, well out of his reach. “I moved them while you slept.”

  The corporal couldn’t conceive of anyone being so light on his feet. He glanced at the horse and mule, which grazed on as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.

  The man noticed and smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. Calvary horses usually act up when they smell Apaches. But I’m not an Apache.”

  “I know who you are,” Ralston blurted more harshly than he would have liked. It was then that sheer agony coursed through him as he belatedly felt the full effect of having his fingers sliced off. He pressed the stubs against his side and shuffled awkwardly to his feet, heedless of his nakedness. “What do you want?” he stupidly asked, well aware of the answer before he posed the question.

  “Why the boy?”

  “I don’t know what you’re” Ralston began, and yipped like a gut-shot coyote when the Bowie leaped out and ripped a four-inch gash in his left shoulder.

  “Why did you kill the boy?”

  Ralston, grimacing, back-pedaled. Desperate for salvation, he looked to right and left for something he could use to defend himself.

  “I heard the shots, blue-belly,” the renegade had gone on casually. “I found the body and read the sign. You had no call to gun him down.”

  “I did!” the corporal responded, his voice strident with fear he could scarcely hide. “He was trying to kill me!”

  “Liar. His name was Eskaminzin. His cousin, Ponce, rides with me and every so often Eskaminzin would pay us a visit. We tried to get him to join our band, but he always refused. He said that he didn’t hate the whites as much as we do.”

  Ralston had gone the width of the stream. He halted, shut the torment from his mind, and willed his nerves to steady. “I tell you that he left me no choice!” he lied. “You have to believe me. I’m not one of those who go around making wolf meat of Apaches for the hell of it.”