Читать книгу Mountain Madness - Jimmy Dale Taylor - Страница 13

4

Gunfight

Even in late August, the nights can get bone-chilling cold in the mountains of Oregon. So cold that before morning your teeth chatter and you shiver and dream of ways to find warmth. Enough wine and beer consumed could make you feel comfortable, deceptive though the feeling might be.

A crackling fire can offer comfort although you might have to turn yourself like a rotisserie, cooking one side at a time, feeling overdone in some spots and somewhat raw in others. Even so, a fire on a mountain clearing can certainly offer one the illusion of warmth.

The driver favored the comfort promised by liquor over that of a fire. That and the heat from a young woman would be enough to satisfy his needs. The night was young enough so it was only chilly, not cold. That would come later.

Yes, Glenn True Clark had his own idea concerning the best way to stay warm. As he turned off Dead Indian Highway onto Shell Peak Road, she was sitting right next to him. Breathing the deep even breaths of one who feels secure in a peaceful sleep.

Sure her head was on John’s shoulder, not his, but what the hell? When you’re asleep, your head might go any which way. And that damned John wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to her. He acted as though Terrie was inferior to the girls in Seattle. Like maybe them broads up there were really something special.

So far as Glenn was concerned all women were the same. This one was put together plenty good enough for him. And one thing for damn sure, she was here, and they were still hundreds of miles from Seattle and John’s fantasies where he and his driving buddy might find something they could bed and they might not.

Take what you can get when you can get it was Glenn’s motto. And there was no doubt in his mind that, if he could get it, one way or another he damned sure would.

Now, he’d started to think that when he stopped for Terrie he should have kicked John out. Let the son of a bitch hitchhike to Seattle if that’s what he wanted. Yeah, John for Terrie would have been a good trade. Except he might need a man’s help before long. Terrie probably wouldn’t be worth a damn at robbing banks.

Speaking low so as not to disturb Terrie, Jimmy said, “Where are we going now?”

Glenn knew where he was and where he was going. He had lived at Central Point, near the Dead Indian Mountain, long enough to be familiar with the countryside. He’d even brought a girl or two up this same road or one similar. Not one had complained. Neither would Terrie. Once he got her warmed up, she would beg for more.

“You gotta take a leak again, don’t you?” Glenn asked, looking at Jimmy.

“Hell yes. I’m about to bust.”

“Well, dammit, hold your water a little longer. I’m taking us to a place where you can piss a stream from here to the ocean.”

Terrie stirred. Glenn felt her pressed up near him. He couldn’t hold off much longer.

As the Olds bounced over the rough road, Terrie lifted her head. Glenn peeked in her direction. In the soft glow of the car’s interior light she looked even prettier than she had before. Better than anything he’d been close to in a long time. Way she was built, he didn’t much care what she looked like. Still, a pretty face made it all that much better.

“Where are we?” Terrie asked. Trees surrounded them. She didn’t see any lights that identified a ranch. “Are we lost?”

Glenn laughed, hoping to reassure her. What he didn’t need was a panicky chick. All he had to do was get inside her and she would like it. He would make sure she did. This might be her last time ever. If so, he owed her the best she’d ever had.

“We’re a long ways from lost,” he said. “Virginia and Slim’s place is right on up Shell Peak Road. My little buddy here has to relieve himself. We all can.”

“I don’t need to yet.”

“Suit yourself.”

They had turned off on a dirt logging road and were now some hundred yards or so west of Shell Peak Road. A clearing loomed ahead.

“Man, stop this thing,” Jimmy begged. “I’m about to bust.”

Glenn pulled into the clearing and killed the motor. He turned out the lights and they were enveloped in a darkness that was near absolute and frightening.

“Give me some light,” Jimmy said as he jumped out the car door and ran towards the bushes.

He assured himself that he wasn’t afraid of the dark but he didn’t want to trip over a rock or slam his face into a tree. Glenn pulled the switch and white light slashed through the darkness.

“My little buddy is afraid of the dark,” he said to Terrie. “You wait here and I’ll be back before you hardly know I’m gone.”

For the first time since climbing into the car, Terrie looked like she was having second thoughts about accepting this ride. Jimmy wondered if like him she was even beginning to doubt there was a ranch or a Slim and Virginia who had a singing group staying with them. The clearing in front was lighted until it reached the trees, near where John had vanished.

As Jimmy stood there passing water, relief spread over him. He was zipping up when Jay joined him.

“Man,” Jimmy said, “I think we oughta take the chick back to the highway and let her out. We aren’t ever gonna get to Seattle if we keep stopping all the time.”

Glenn relieved himself and they stepped out into the open. “Seattle can wait,” he said. “We’ll get there. But first I’m gonna get me some of that.”

“Some of what?”

“Little Terrie, you asshole, that’s what.”

“What if she doesn’t want to give it?”

“I didn’t say I was going to ask her for it, did I? You remember me saying that? What I said was, I’m gonna get me some of that. If she don’t want to give it, then I’ll take it. For damned sure though I’m gonna fuck her in the next five minutes.”

“Are you crazy? We don’t need that kind of trouble. You force yourself on her and she’ll go running to the cops before we’re out of sight. Besides, you told me yourself you were infected.”

“Don’t let it worry you, little buddy. Cops won’t bother us. Some chick like her is the reason I got a leaky dick. Look around. There’s plenty of room to bury her up here where she’ll never be found. She raises too much fuss, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

Jimmy felt a chill start at the back of his neck and spread over his entire being. What kind of a man had he teamed up with? First the old bastard wanted to screw anything he could find and then said something about a bank job. Now he was talking of rape and, worse yet, maybe murder. If Jay was willing to kill Terrie, wouldn’t he go even further and decide to leave no witnesses?

Jimmy’s jaw set in the characteristic way he’d had since a small boy. Why was he even thinking this? The man wasn’t going to kill anybody. Not if Jimmy Dale Taylor had anything to say about it.

“You just stay away from the car,” Glenn warned. “Don’t come around until I say I’m through. This is one time you ain’t gonna interfere. I’m telling you for sure there’s plenty of room to bury two people up here. If you get in my way, that’s exactly what’ll happen.”

Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was tempted to run down the mountain, even though the night was dark. No, he would have to ride it out. Even had his own life not been threatened, it wasn’t his nature to stand by and let something happen to a woman.

Besides, where would he go?

But there was no way he could stop this big son of a bitch from doing what he wanted to do. Not unless he had an equalizer. He had to have that gun. Just in case. For protection, that’s what Jay had said.

“Wait till I get something out of the car,” Jimmy said. “I don’t want to sit here waiting without something to drink.”

“Get what you need now. No matter what, don’t come back to the car until I say you can. When I climb on top, I don’t want no interruptions. Or no audience either. You gotta pay if you want to watch and you ain’t got that kind of money.”

Room to bury her where she’ll never be found. These words rolled over and over through Jimmy’s head as he hurried towards the car, angling to his left where he could make his approach from the passenger’s side. Room enough for two if you interfere.

Terrie’s window was rolled down. She was shivering. Jimmy bet it wasn’t from the cold.

“Why are we still here?” she asked. “Jay said we were only going to stop for a minute or two. What have you and him been talking about?”

“I’m going to get something to drink. Hand me the wine bottle, will you?”

“Where are you going?”

“I won’t be far away.”

“What is he going to do?”

“I’d better let him tell you what he’s got in mind.” Jimmy opened the car door and sat on the edge of the seat. He felt under the dash until his hand touched the pistol. “I got the gun,” he said. “Don’t tell Jay I’m taking it.”

She stared at him. “John, don’t go.” She grasped his arm, but he pulled away. “Don’t go and leave me alone with him. I’m afraid. Why did we stop here?”

Voice trembling, Jimmy said, “Ask Jay. He’s driving. I don’t know where we’re at or why we’re here. But if you get in trouble, yell out. I got this gun. I ain’t afraid to use it if I have to.”

Terrie looked startled, like a fawn. She was sobering fast, and she didn’t look like she wanted his partner, not to Jimmy anyway, but maybe he was wrong.

Glenn was moving towards the driver’s door. Terrie grasped Jimmy’s arm again. “Please don’t go.”

“Time for you to get away from here and entertain yourself,” Glenn said to Jimmy. “Gimme a swig of wine first though. And just remember what I said,” Glenn warned as he climbed in on the driver’s side, pulled a couple of swallows from the wine bottle, and passed it back. For a moment the two men stared at one another. Then, taking a beer, Jimmy headed for a tree stump at the edge of the car’s lights, some forty feet away.

The gun in his hip pocket felt uncomfortable. He didn’t like touching it. Would he use the pistol if Terrie needed help? He didn’t want to have to find out.

Terrie wasn’t any virgin. He would be willing to bet on that, he told himself. She was mature enough to know what she wanted and if that was the old man it was all right with him. After they were through, they could get back on the road or they could let her off, whatever she wanted. Still, he didn’t feel good about it.

Jay was becoming weirder all the time. He drove a stolen car, and the man wanted to rob a bank. Was he capable of cold-blooded killing?

He looked around. There was no doubt there was plenty of room up here to conceal two bodies. They were really hidden from the world. Jimmy listened but couldn’t hear the sound of a car on the road or a dog barking. They must not be anywhere near an inhabited area.

All he knew was they had parked in an isolated clearing. Tall trees grew up all around and far overhead there was a sky filled with stars.

He wondered where, exactly, they were. Somewhere far up in northern California, he supposed. The last he remembered they had left Yreka and headed north. Yeah, they must be close to Oregon.

Or somewhere on the back side of the moon, for all Jimmy knew. Exactly where wasn’t important. Survival was taking center stage in his troubled mind. As he took a swig of wine, he wondered if Terrie and the old man were getting it on while he froze out there alone.

Hell, they would never get to Seattle. By now he would have been willing to bet on that.

The chilly night air was filled with the scent of pines. Jimmy heard the call of an owl and not far from where he sat some large animal ran through the brush, spooking him.

Out of habit, Glenn had taken the keys when he’d left. Now he poked them back into the ignition slot.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Nothing that you should worry about.”

“You’re not going to drive off, are you? You wouldn’t put me out and leave me alone up here, would you?”

“You know I wouldn’t,” he said. “You’re much too important to me.”

“What do you mean? I thought we were going to see Slim and Virginia.”

“They can wait. We’re not in a hurry. You be a good friend to old Jay and I’ll take you to see Virginia and Slim and the singing group, too. But first we gotta have us a little fun.”

Not that far from them, Jimmy was sitting on the stump lifting the wine bottle to his lips. Though he could make them out, he felt far away.

Glenn scooted across the seat. Nothing could stop him now. He had waited too long. He’d picked the bitch up, spent money on her, and let her drink as much as she wanted to get herself ready for the celebration. Now it was payback time.

Whether or not he would have to bury her up here was hardly significant at the moment. What was important was that he have his way with her while she was still breathing. It was more fun if the girl cooperated but he was determined to plunge into her no matter what.

“Stay away from me,” Terrie warned. Her voice was rising fast. Jimmy caught only its echo. “What are you doing? Don’t come any closer.”

Glenn didn’t answer. One hand gripped her shoulder as the other slipped under her dress, determined to pull her panties down. His cool hand against her bare belly caused her to gasp. She pushed him with all her strength, and he fell back. “Bitch!” he growled. “You might as well like it. Makes it better for both of us.”

Glenn fell on her, his mouth a whisper from her lips while one hand stroked her neck and the other shot back up under her dress.

Terrie screamed.

“Shut up, bitch! You’re asking for trouble.”

He grasped a handful of hair and pulled her mouth to his.

Jimmy had just taken another swallow of wine when he heard Terrie scream. He hesitated momentarily, wondering. Was it a scream or a squeal? He knew that sometimes girls squealed out when they were aroused. Maybe old Jay was having that kind of an effect on her. Might be she was only crying out for more.

There was banging and thumping coming from the car. He set the bottle on the ground and got to his feet. The car seemed far away. Dammit, he shouldn’t mix beer and wine. He was feeling a little tipsy.

“Help!” Terrie shouted. Her scream rose until it became one of desperation. “Help me!”

There could have been some doubt as to whether the original sound had been a scream or a squeal but there was no doubt as to her call for help.

He vacillated for a moment, wanting to get away from the scene, tempted to head down the mountain on foot. Take a chance on what might be out there. Bigfoot, or whatever. Since Terrie was resisting, Jay sure as hell would kill her. And the old man wasn’t about to leave a witness. He would kill them both!

But Jimmy couldn’t run. Neither could he stand idly by and listen to Terrie’s cries for help.

He stumbled towards the car, pulling the small gun out of his pocket. Why, he wondered, was he so protective towards women? There was a girl in trouble and he was rushing to the rescue. Stupid! He was no Clint Eastwood.

The car lights were still on. Inside, the dash lights provided a dim illumination. His only hope now was to try and get the upper hand. Standing outside the door, Jimmy eventually found his voice that wasn’t all that firm and was able to say, “Get off of her.”

Glenn lifted his head and Jimmy saw a look of pure hatred on the man’s face.

Jimmy lifted the gun and pointed it at Clark. “Just leave her alone,” he said, his voice trembling.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” With an astonished look on his face, Glenn glared at him as if he couldn’t believe this little man could be threatening him. Not if he expected to live. “Put that damned gun down and get away!” Glenn shouted. “Don’t you remember what I told you? You or nobody else is stopping me this time. You’d better run while you still can.”

“Get off her. Leave her alone. Get out of the car!”

As Glenn raised up uncertainly, Jimmy grabbed the passenger side door. Terrie was crying and trembling uncontrollably. She climbed out. “You get out the other door,” Jimmy said to Glenn.

“You ignorant son of a bitch, let me tell you something,” Glenn growled. “There’s room enough to bury the two of you up here. Hell, I already told you that. You’ll lay there and rot in the ground. Don’t think I won’t do it. Put that gun away or you’re a dead man!”

“Get around to where I can see you in the headlights,” Jimmy said. In spite of his fury, Glenn wasn’t ready to argue with a loaded gun. With his shirttail hanging, he backed out the driver’s door. Jimmy could see the leather pouch on the floor, the pouch that had housed Glenn’s pistol.

Terrie, crying, didn’t seem to understand what either man was saying. She had run around to the driver’s side and was too busy dragging her two suitcases out from the back seat.

Jimmy was quite certain Glenn had the gun somewhere on him, but where? Most likely in a hip pocket. First he would have to find it and then he would—he didn’t know what he would do next. Jay was big. To Jimmy he seemed so large that without his own gun he would not stand a chance against the man. Unless he could get the other gun off Jay what came next was immaterial. There would be two new graves on the mountain. If the man even bothered to bury them. More than likely he would leave them for the wild animals to feast upon.

“Get your shirt off,” Jimmy said. The gun had to be on Glenn somewhere. Had to be!

“Damn you! You stupid bastard! You’ve really had it now. Your ass is dead! Don’t think it ain’t. You hear me, asshole?”

For Terrie, there was only one frightening reality. She was a long way from where she was supposed to be, alone on a mountaintop with two lunatics and one of them had a gun. What had John said? Was it, “I’ll protect you” or “I’ll kill him?”

She dragged her suitcases away from the car. It was too late now.

“Dammit, get your shirt off !” Jimmy shouted. “I’ll kill you if you don’t.”

“I’ll take my shirt off, you son of a bitch. It’s you who’s gonna get killed though. You ain’t man enough to kill old Jay. I was shootin’ guns before you was born.”

Jimmy knew what he must do. If he could find the other gun, he would first take it away. Then he would force Jay to crawl inside the car’s trunk. Close the lid and lock him in. He and Terrie could drive to the nearest town and leave the car. Then they could hitchhike out, her one way and him the other. Or maybe they could just leave Jay there without his shoes and take the car. Jay wouldn’t have too many miles to walk for help. Whatever they did it was important that Terrie stay.

Now that he’d stuck his neck out for her, he didn’t want her wandering off down the mountain. He’d take her where she wanted to go. Sacramento or wherever. As for Seattle, there was no longer any hope of going there now.

Jay’s shirt was off. There was no gun to be seen. Where was Terrie? Where was the gun? When Jimmy could hear anything other than Jay ranting and raving, he heard Terrie crying and screaming. Jimmy’s sense of direction was confused. “Where are you, Terrie?” he called.

“Don’t go. Please don’t go. I’ll shoot him if I have to. Don’t think I won’t kill him.”

Jimmy didn’t know how long he would be able to hold the gun on Jay. His hand was trembling. Would it even shoot? If he had to pull the trigger, would anything happen?

Although the gun was heavy, it seemed awfully small. Was it powerful enough to stop a wild man like Jay? Hopefully, he would never have to find out.

Terrie was screaming as she moved away from the car. She was making such a lot of noise that Jimmy wondered if she had been shot or cut or something. What had Jay done?

Jimmy turned away for only an instant, searching for a sign of the girl and at the same time trying to keep one eye on the old man.

When he turned his full attention back to Jay, his worse nightmare was taking shape. Jay’s right hand was whipping around from behind his back. Jimmy caught sight of the gun as it was coming up.

Oh, God! There was no time to consider his next move, no opportunity to make a rational decision. Jimmy quickly raised his gun and silently prayed it would fire. As he squeezed the trigger, Glenn snapped off a shot.

Terrie was moving across the clearing, dragging her suitcases down the logging trail, trying to reach the road they’d come in on. She heard what she thought was one shot. She let out a loud cry and walked even faster. Her screams intensified.

Jimmy felt a sharp pain as Glenn’s bullet tore flesh from his right forearm. The small gun threatened to slip from his hand. His bullet had hit Jay high on the chest. Jay’s mouth flew open and his left hand clutched his breast as he bumped the car, stepped to his right and dropped to one knee. Terrie glanced back only long enough to see the old man kneeling down. Tears filled Jimmy’s eyes. Supporting his right hand with his left, he brought his gun to bear on his nemesis.

Jay’s gun lay within reach. Jimmy started moving to his right so the old man wouldn’t have a clear shot. Don’t do it, Jimmy silently pleaded. “It’s over, man, it’s over,” he said aloud. “Get your hand back. I’ll get you to a doctor. You’ll be all right.”

“You rotten son of a bitch, you’ve shot me. Damn you to hell, you’ve shot me. I’ll kill you! Kill you!”

Nothing short of death could prevent Glenn from trying. No little guy was going to get the best of him. The gun was within reach. From one knee he twisted around. His hand touched the cold steel.

Terrie cried out when she heard a second shot.