Читать книгу TY HOLT-TEXAS RANGER - Aubrey Smith - Страница 8

The sun had disappeared behind Seco Ridge as Ty eased Blaze into a slow walk. The night had not yet cooled, and sweat ran down Ty’s face. Dog approached the Thompson’s barn, stopping outside the large wooden door. The barn was old and needed repair. It looked like most old barns, with a hayloft over the main room. On the left was a cedar post corncrib. On the right side of the main building was a rock and plaster grain bin, about six feet high.

It was completely dark now. The only light came from a coal oil lamp shining through the Thompsons’ kitchen window. Dog sat panting directly in front of the main door. Ty could no longer see the tracks he had been following but he was sure they led into the barn.

Quietly and with measured patience, Ty stepped from his saddle. After he tied Blaze to a nearby tree, he gently withdrew the carbine from its scabbard. Removing his spurs, he carefully hung them around the saddle horn. Normally he didn’t carry the carbine with a cartridge in the chamber, but with all that had happened, he had the rifle cocked and ready to fire. All he had to do was pull the trigger. Careful not to step on anything or run into something in the dark that would give away his position, he crept toward the barn. He couldn’t believe the kidnapper could be so stupid that he would return to Utopia, much less to the scene of the abduction.

Ty was sure the outlaw must be in the barn, or perhaps holding the entire Thompson family hostage in the house. Dog continued to sit by the barn door. Ty decided to open it enough to let Dog inside. He would let the yellow Lab sniff out anyone hiding in the barn. Then he’d move in and save Sarah.

I can barely see my hand in front of my face, he thought. Without lighting a lantern, I can’t even see if the horses are stabled. Dog will have to do the job in there that I can’t. If anyone is in the barn, he’ll let me know.

Ty’s heart raced as he eased the barn door enough for Dog to run inside. He could hear paws slapping dirt as Dog ran through the structure. In less than a minute, he was back, scratching at the narrow crack to be let out. When Ty pulled the door open, Dog ran out and headed toward the house. Quickly, Ty snapped his finger, and the Lab stopped.

“I can’t have you running up to the back door,” Ty whispered. He slapped his hand on his pant leg and Dog returned beside him. “Good boy.” Ty patted the dog’s head. “Follow,” he commanded and moved toward the back door with Dog at his heels.

If anyone had been in the barn, Dog would have barked. The marauder has got to be in the house, Ty thought. Lord, I hope he hasn’t killed all of them. If he’s the same one who killed those Indians and Shine … then he’s probably the same scalawag who burned the school down and killed Miss Beachem. Sonofabuck like that is capable of killing a whole family. But why is he doing all this? By thunder, he’s probably the same man who shot Banker Thornberry, but why would he kidnap Sarah? None of this makes any sense. If it’s the same man, he’s the person who murdered Paul Tant, too.

Ty eased slowly toward the yellow glow that flickered from the Thompsons’ kitchen window. About ten yards away, he squatted and duck-walked until he was directly under the casement window. All he could hear was the steady pounding of his own heart and Dog’s patterned breathing. After a few minutes, Ty eased himself up and glanced through the glass. There was no one in the kitchen.

Ty moved to one side and then stood erect, peering through the windowpane. He was positive the kitchen was vacant. An oil lamp stood in the center of the sawbuck table, and there were dirty dishes piled by the dry sink. He could see a dim light coming through the door that led into the main room.

The Thompson house was a four-room frame structure, with which Ty was thoroughly familiar. The kitchen and a bedroom were to the back of the house. The front was made up of the living area and Sarah’s bedroom. Sarah’s bedroom was the only room in the house he had not visited. The house had two doors. The front door entered the main room, the back door led into the kitchen. Ty eased along the outside wall and quickly peeked into the dark back bedroom. He circled around the corner of the house and then eased his way along the wall until he was under the small window at Sarah’s bedroom.

Dog suddenly began to growl. Ty rose to look into the bedroom, but the curtains were drawn tightly. He couldn’t see a thing through the window. Ty moved as fast as he could. Feeling his way along the wall, he returned to the back of the house.

I can’t go to either door until I’m sure what’s going on in there, he thought, quickly stepping around the back steps and crawling under the kitchen window again. Ty decided to try the other side of the house. He used his hand to gently guide himself along the wall as he crept toward the side window of the main room. The curtains were also pulled. Only a tiny stream of light filtered to the outside. Ty couldn’t see a thing and decided he’d have to sneak in through the kitchen.

Walking as fast as he could and still remain silent, he returned to the back door. He sat on the rear steps and took off his boots. Don’t make a sound, he thought.

“Dog, stay,” he uttered, holding his hand in front of Dog’s nose. The yellow Labrador retriever immediately sat, waiting for his next command.

Ty tugged the latch. The door wasn’t locked and easily swung open. Thank God!

Only two steps into the kitchen, Ty stepped on a squeaky plank. The floor was a split-log puncheon floor, and one of the hand-hewn timbers had given under his weight. He froze on the spot. With the Winchester pushed in front of him, ready to fire, he held his breath. Ty heard Loss Thompson say something he couldn’t make out, and then he heard Mrs. Thompson say, “I heard it, too.”

“I’d better check,” Loss said. Ty could hear Mr. Thompson getting up from his chair. “Anyway, you left the lamp burning in the kitchen. I’ll put it out when I come back from the privy.”

“We’ll clean the dishes in the morning. Let’s turn in,” Mrs. Thompson said.

About that time, Loss Thompson stepped from the main room into the kitchen and looked down the barrel of Ty’s Winchester.

Thompson’s color drained. He gasped and stood motionless, rooted to the floor.

“What’s the matter, Loss?” Mrs. Thompson asked, walking through the door behind her husband. “My word, Ty Holt, what in tarnation are you doing with that gun pointed at us?” Mrs. Thompson said matter-of-factly, pushing past Mr. Thompson to face Ty head on. “How did you get in here and why? Where are your boots?”

Ty held his finger to his mouth whispering, “Where is he?”

“Who?” Loss Thompson asked with a shaky voice.

“The kidnapper.”

Both Loss and Mrs. Thompson looked peculiarly at each other. Mrs. Thompson was the first to speak. “There ain’t no outlaws here, Ty. Why’d you think he’d be here?”

“I followed his tracks from near the big Y, straight into your barn, that’s why.”

Loss Thompson looked at his wife then said, “Why, the scoundrel must have hidden in our barn last night before he kidnapped Sarah. Do you know who the man is, Ty?”

Ty lowered the rifle, but kept it cocked and ready at his hip. Looking around the room, he asked, “Are you positive no one else is in the house?”

“Ty, you can rest assured the only people in here are the three of us,” Mrs. Thompson answered. “Now, Ty Holt, do you know, or do you not know, who kidnapped our little girl? And, for that matter, do you know where Sarah is?”

“No, Mrs. Thompson, I don’t know who kidnapped Sarah and I don’t know where she is.” Ty eased toward the door of the main room. The hair on the back of his neck stood when he heard a sound from one of the bedrooms. “What was that?”

“The cat,” Mrs. Thompson quickly answered. “Ty, we were about to go to bed. After all that has happened today, do you mind coming back tomorrow?”

“I understand,” Ty replied and took a step toward the bedroom door as he raised the rifle back to his shoulder.

“Ty Holt,” Mrs. Thompson said in a voice much too loud, “what are you doing? I told you that no one was here but Mr. Thompson and me. We’re tired and I’m asking you to go—go now.”

Ty ignored Mrs. Thompson and jerked the door into the Thompsons’ bedroom open. As the yellow cast from the lantern streamed into the bedroom, Ty saw there was no one in the room. He continued toward the connecting door that led into Sarah’s bedroom when Mr. Thompson grabbed his shoulder. Ty almost passed out as his heart skipped a beat.

“What the dickens!” Ty exclaimed. Mr. Thompson’s grasp could put Samson to his knees, Ty thought as he was turned sideways by Thompson’s pull.

“Ty, there ain’t no one else here. We already told you that several times. We don’t want you or anyone else to go into Sarah’s room. We’re leaving it as she left it until she returns—do you understand? And for God sakes, will you go in peace and leave us alone tonight? You can come back in the morning. If you still think someone’s here, then I guess we’ll have to let you prowl through the house. Now go and find our little girl.”

Ty reluctantly backed from the bedroom.

“I’d rather you leave,” Thompson said, releasing his vise-like grip on Ty’s shoulder. “You can come back and have breakfast with us in the morning. That would be a better time for you to search, and you know it. I don’t want you stirring up the animals in the barn tonight either. You go foolin’ around out there in the middle of the night, we won’t have no milk or eggs tomorrow, understand?”

“I’ll be back at first light,” Ty mumbled, stepping off the back porch. When Thompson closed the door behind him it was as dark as pitch. Ty sat on the back steps and put on his boots, still trying to figure out why the Thompsons had given him such a wire-brush treatment. He didn’t stop at the barn, although he wanted to.

Sarah’s in great danger and I reckon the Thompsons acted the way they did because they’re terribly worried, he thought. Maybe the bandit’s got her hostage in the house. If that’s the case, I won’t do anything to put her at risk. I’ll play it smart and wait. Captain Richarz always says to pick your own time and place before you attack, and he’s darn sure right to never play the other man’s game.

Ty found Blaze and pulled himself into the saddle. Dog was right beside them as he spurred the horse away from the barn. At the edge of town, Ty reigned in and thought about what had just happened. “They sure ran us around the pasture for some reason,” he said to Dog, who had already dropped to the ground, dead tired. Only two miles south of Utopia was Ty’s own modest ranch house and a soft bed. He started to ride on home for supplies and oats for Blaze, but decided against the ride.

I don’t know when I’ve ever been this tired. I’d as soon bite a bug as go back to the Thompsons’ tonight, he thought. Ty ate in the saddle. After he’d wolfed the food, he tied Blaze to Miss Althea’s garden fence and walked back to the Thompsons’. Dog groaned when he stood, but he fell in behind Ty. Both man and beast were exhausted.