05 - Alcatraz - Retribution

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter five of Alcatraz by Max Brand. This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain retribution. Coles had advertised theauction sale of the mayors to take place
immediately after the race, and thoughhe gladly would have postponed it, he
had to live up to his advertisement. Naturally, the result was disastrous.

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The ranchers had seen the ragged Alcatrazwin against the imported horses, and they
felt they could only show their localpatriotism by failing to bid. There were
one or two mocking offers of ahundred dollars a head for the lot,
something pretty for my girl to ride, as one of the ranchers phrased it,

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laughing. The result was that everyone of the mayors was knocked down
to marry Anne at a ludicrously lowprice, so low that when it was
over and Coals strolled out with herto indicate the size of her bargain,
she felt that she was moving ina dream. It's easy the sea that

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you're not Western, he said inthe end. But you have a Western
horse to thank for putting this dealthrough. I mean Alcatraz. He's too
ugly for that, said Mary Anne, and yet on her way back to
the hotel, she realized that thesun faded chestnut had truly proved a gold
mine to her. It had beenshe felt the luckiest day of her business

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life, for she knew that theprice she had paid for the Mayor's was
less than half a reasonable valuation ofthem. Here was her ranch ready stalked,
so to speak, with fine horses. It only needed now to end
the tyrannical sway of lou Hervey.And in that fighting man of men read

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Paris, mary Anne felt that thesolution lay. Once in her hotel room,
she looked about her in some dismay. Of course, she was merely
an employer receiving a prospective employee toexamine his qualifications. But she also remained,
in spite of herself, a girlreceiving a man. She was glad

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that no one was there to watchwith quizzical eye as she rearranged the furniture.
She was doubly glad that he couldnot watch her. At the mirror,
she gave herself the most critical examinationsince she left the East, and
on the whole she approved of thechanges. The stirring life in the open

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had darkened the olive of her skin, she found, but also had made
it more translucent. The curve ofher cheek was pleasantly filled, her throat
round her, and her head betterpoised, and above all, excitement gave
her the vital color. She pausedat this point to ward wonder why a

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stray cowplincher should make her flush,but immediately decided that he had nothing to
do with it. It was thepurchase of the mayors that kept alive the
little thrill of happiness. But Mariannewas essentially honest, and when her heart
jumped as she heard a swift lightstep come down the hall and pause at

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her door, she admitted at oncethat horses had nothing to do with the
matter. She wished ardently that shehad made the discovery sooner, as it
was before she composed herself. Hehad knocked, been bidden in, and
stood before her. She knew,inwardly dismayed that her eyes were wide,

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her color high, and her wholeexpression one of childish expectancy. It comforted
her greatly to find that he washardly more at ease than she. He
made feudal efforts to rub some dustfrom his shirt. Wanted to get fixed
up, he said, But thenote said to come right after the race,
Miss Jordan. In fact, hemade a harem scarem figure. The

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fight with him of the mustaches hadproduced rents invisible at a distance but distinct
at close hand, and the dustin the sweat had faded the blue of
his shirt and the red of hisbandanna. But the red flame of that
hair and the keen blue of thateye, they, to be sure,
were not faded. She discovered otherthings as he crossed the room to her,

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that he was far shorter than hehad seemed when he fought in the
street. Indeed, he was middleheight and slenderly made at that. She
felt that, looking at him fromher window, and watching him ride rickety,
she had only seen the spirit ofthe man, and not the physical
fact at all. He shook hands. She was glad to see that he

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neither peered her slyly, as avain man is apt to do when he
meets a girl who has sought himout, nor met her sullenly, as
is the habit of the bashful westerner. His head was high, his glance
straight, and his smile appreciated herwith frank enjoyment. She tried to match

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her speech with his outright demeanor.I have a business offer to make.
I won't take a great deal ofyour time. Ten minutes will do?
Won't you sit down, mister Parris. She took his tattered hat and pointed
out a seat to him, noting, as she herself sat down that he

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was as he wrecked in his chairas he had been standing. There was
something so adventurously restless about Red Paristhat she thought of a thoroughbred fresh from
the stable. Just as a bloodedhunter is apt to be too much horse
under the saddle, so she wasinclined to feel that Paris was too much

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man. Something about him was alwaysmoving, either his lean fingers fretted on
the arm of the chair, wherehis foot stirred, where his glance flickered,
where his head turned proudly. Goingback to the thoroughbred comparison, she
decided that Paris badly needed to havea race or two under his belt before

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he would be worked down to normal. She noted another thing at close hand,
he was more handsome. In themeantime she had to talk. It
would be pleasanter to find some indirectapproach. One was offered by the fob
which hung outside the watch pocket ofhis trousers. It was a tarnished,

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misshapen lump of metal. I can'thelp asking about that fob, she said,
I've never seen one even remotely likeit. He fingered it with a
singular smile. Tell you about it, he said, amiably enough. I
was standing by looking at a largesized fracas one day and me doing nothing,

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just as peaceful as an old plowhorse, when a gent steps up
and drills me in the leg.His bullet had to cut through my holster,
and it jammed into my thigh bone. Put me in bed for a
couple of months, And when Igot out, I had the slug fixed
up for a fob, just so'si'd remember the man that shot me.

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That's about five years back. Iain't found em yet, but I'm still
remembering, you see. He finishedthe anecdote with a chuckle, which died
out as he saw her eyes widenwith horror. Five years ago, she
was thinking he must have been hardlymore than a boy. How many other
chapters as violent as this were inhis story? And he didn't even offer

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to pay the doctor bill. I'llwager him, Paris chuckled, He'll pay
it. Some day. It's justpostponed slow collection, that's all. He
shrugged the thought of it away andstraightened a little, plainly waiting to hear
her business. But her mind wasstill only half on her own affairs as

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she began talking. I have togo into the affairs of our ranch a
little, she said, so thatyou can understand why I've asked you to
come here. My father was hurtby a fall from a horse several years
ago, and the accident made himan invalid. He can't sit a saddle,
and because of that he has lostall touch with his business. Worst

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of all, he doesn't seem thecare. The result was that everything went
into the hands of the foreman,but the foreman was not very successful.
As a matter of fact, theranch became a losing investment, and I
came out to try to run it. I suppose it sounds foolish. She

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looked sharply at him, but toherd delight, for the first time his
eyes had with a real enthusiasm.Sounds pretty fine to me, said Red
Paris. The foreman doesn't think so, she answered. He wants his old
authority, so he makes your trailall up hill by simply refusing to advise

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me. My father won't talk business. Lou Hervey won't. I'm trying to
run a dollar business with a senseworth of knowledge and no experience. I
can't discharge Hervey. His service hasbeen too long and faithful. But I
want to have someone up there whowill go into training to take Hervey's place

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eventually, someone who knows cattle andcan tell me what to do now and
then, mister Parris, do youknow the cow business? Some of his
interests faded. Most folks raising theseparts do, he answered obliquely. I
should think you could get a dozenanywhere. She explained eagerly. It's not

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so simple, you see. LouHervey is rather a rough character. In
the old days. I think hewas quite a fighter. I guess he
still is, and he's gathered alot of fighting men for cowpunchers on the
ranch. When he sees me bringin an understudy for his part, so
to speak, I'm afraid he mightmake trouble. Unless he was convinced it

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would be safer to keep his handsoff the new man. The gloom of
Paris returned. He was still politelyattentive, but his head turned and his
eager eyes found something of interest acrossthe street. She knew her grip on
him was failing, and she struggledto regain it. Here was her man,

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she knew. Here was one whowould ride the fiercest outlaw horse on
the ranch whereout the toughest cowboy,play with them to weariness when they wanted
to play, fight with them toexhaustion when they wanted to fight, and
as a right hand man, adviseher for the best. As for terms,

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the right man can make them forhimself, she concluded hopelessly. Mister
Parris, I think you could bethe man for the place. What do
you say to trying? He pauseddiffidently, and she knew that in the
pause he was hunting for polite termsof refusal. I'll tell you how it

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is. You're mighty kind to makethe offer. You haven't seen much of
me, and the little bit hasbeen pretty rough. He laughed away his
embarrassment. So I appreciate your confidencea lot, but I'm afraid i'd be
a tolerable lot like hervey, hehurried. On least she should take offense.
You see, I don't like orders. Of course, if you were

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a man who made the offer toyou, she began angrily. He raised
his hand. There were little touchesof formal courtesy in him, so contrasted
with what she had scene of himin action, so at variance with the
childish, gaudy clothes. He worethat it put mary Anne completely at sea.

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It's just that I like my ownway. I've been a rolling stone
all my life. About the onlymoss I've gathered is what you see.
He touched the dust tarnished gold braidon his sombrato, and his twinkling eyes
invited her to mirth, but mariAnne was sternly silent. She knew that
her color was gone, and thather beauty had in large part gone with

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it, a reflection that did notat all help her mood or her looks.
I get my fun out of playinga free hand, he was concluding.
I don't like partners. Not thatI'm proud of it, but so
you can see where I stand.If I don't like a bunkie, you
can figure why I don't want aboss. She nodded stiffly, and at

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the unamienable gesture she he saw himshrug his shoulders very slightly. His eyes
wandered again, as though he wereseeking for a means to end the interview.
Mary Anne rose, I see yourviewpoint, mister Parris, she said,
coldly, and I'm sorry you can'taccept my offer. He came to

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his feet at the same moment,but he lingered a moment, turning his
hat thoughtfully, so that she hopedfor an instant that he was on the
verge of reconsidering. After all,she should have used more persuasion. She
was firmly convinced that at heart,men are very close to children. Then
his head went up and he shookaway the mood which had come over him.

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Some time, I'll come to it, he admitted, but not yet.
Awhile, I take it mighty kindof you to have thought that I
could fill the bill, and I'mwishing you all sorts of luck, Miss
Jordan. Thank you, said MaryAnne, and hated herself for her unbending
stiffness. At the door. Heturned again. I sure hope it's easy

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for you to forget songs, hesaid, songs, echoed Marianne, and
then turned Crimson with the memory yousee explained read Jim Parris. It's a
bad habit I've picked up of doingthe first fool thing that comes into my
head. Goodbye, Miss Jordan.He was gone. She felt confusedly that

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there were many things she should havesaid, and at the same time there
was a strange surety that sometimes shewould see him again and say them.
She walked absently to the window whichopened on the vacant lot to the rear
of the hotel. Red Paris vanishedfrom her mind, for below she saw

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Cordova in the act of tethering Alcatrazto the rack which stood in the middle
of the lot. Saddle and bridlehad been removed. The stallion wore only
a stout halter. The Mexican kepton the far side of the rack and
whipped his knot together hastily. Itwas not till he sprang back from his

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work that she saw the snaky lengthof an eight foot black snake uncoil from
his hand. He passed the lashslowly through his fingers, while surveying the
stallion with great complaisance. The earsof Alcatraz flattened back, a sufficient proof
that he knew what was coming.He maintained his weary attitude, but it

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now seemed one of despair. Asfor mary Anne, she refused to admit
the ugly suspicion which began to occurto her. But Cordova left her only
a moment for doubt. The blackstreak curled around his head, and through
the open window she heard the crackof the lash end. Alcatraz did not

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stir under the blow. Once more, the black snake whirled, and Cordova
leaned back to give the stroke thefull stretch of arm and body. Yet
Alcatraz did not so much as liftan ear. Only when the lash hung
in mid air did he stir.The rope which tethered him hung slack,

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and this enabled the stallion to giveimpetus to his backward leap. All the
weight of his body, all thestrain of his leg muscles, snapped the
rope taut. It vibrated to invisibilityfor an instant, then parted with a
sound as loud as the fall ofthe whip. The straining body of Alcatraz
so released toppled sideways. He rolledlike a dog in the dust, and

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when with the agility of a dog, he gained his feet, Cordova was
fleeing toward the hotel with a horrorstricken face. Even then she could not
understand his terror, not until shesaw that Alcatraz had wheeled and was bolting
in hot pursuit. He came likethe devil horse that the Mexican called him,

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with his ears flattened and his mouthgapping. He came with such velocity
that Cordova, running has only consummateterror can make a man run seemed to
be racing on a treadmill, literallystanding still. The picket fence which set
off the back yard of the hotelgave the man an instant of delay,

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a terribly vital instant, indeed,that seemed to Marry Anne to contain long,
long minutes. But here he wasover and running again. In her
dread, she wondered why he wasnot shrieking for aid. But the face
of Cordova was rigid, a nightmaremask. Twenty steps now to the hotel,

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and surely there was still hope.No, for Alcatraz sailed across the
pickets with a bound that cut intwo the distance still dev from his master.
It all happened perhaps within the spaceof three breaths. Now Marianne leaned
out of the window and screamed herwarning, for the faded chestnut was on

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the very heels of the Mexican.He raised his contorted face at her cry,
then threw up both his arms toher in a gesture she could never
forget. Shoot, yelled Cordova,Amigo, Amigo, shoot quick. Then
Alcatraz struck him. Half the bonesin his body must have been broken by

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the impact. It spun him overand over in the dust. Yet has
the impetus of the chestnut carried himfar past. Cordova struggled to his feet
and attempted to flee again, alasit was only a step his left leg
crumpled under him. He toppled sideways, still wriggling and twisting onward through the

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dirt, and then Alcatraz struck himagain. This time it was no blind
rush back and forth, up anddown. He crossed and recrossed, wheeled
and reared and stamped until his onewhite stocking was crimsoned, and the spurts
of red flew out and turned blackin the dust. The horror which had

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choked or relaxed and Marianne shrieked again. It was the second cry which saved
this faint spark of life for Cordova, for at that sound the stallion leaped
sideways from the body of his victim, lifted his head towards the half fainting
girl in the window, and trumpeteda great neigh of defiance. Still neighing,

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he swerved away in a gallop,cleared the fence a second time,
and fled from view. End ofchapter five.