The Lone Texan

CHAPTER 21

DRUMMOND ROAR LOWERED THE BRIM OF HIS NEW black hat until his face was in shadow, then he walked into the saloon. Because he looked every ounce a gunfighter, he found himself moving like one, slow and cautious.

On the long ride through Skull Alley, Daniel and he had decided it would be safer for Drum to be one of the gamblers than to try to hide out in a whiskey wagon. They agreed he could pull off gunfighter far easier, and the two occupations ran hand in hand. If a traveling gambler couldn't defend himself in the street, he wouldn't last long. Daniel had seen him in action. He claimed Roak was not only the fastest gun he'd ever seen but also the most accurate.

Three days ago, Drum had scrubbed in the stream while they waited at the opening of Skull Alley for the whiskey wagon and the gamblers. When he'd stepped out in his new black clothes and fine tooled vest, Daniel almost hadn't recognized him. Drum shaved his two-week-old beard with a clean razor line across his cheek, making his jaw look even squarer than it already was. The dark beard made him look older. His bullet-gray eyes looked deadly serious beneath the brim of his black hat.

Daniel looked relieved to see his pa pull up with the gamblers about nightfall that first day. He claimed he couldn't have held Drummond at the opening for another day. By dawn on the second day, Drum was ready to ride and didn't like it much when they camped for the night halfway through the canyon. He wanted to get to Sage.

He'd lost enough money the first night on the journey with the gamblers that they not only allowed but insisted he come along the rest of the way. They saw the money they won from Drum as all theirs and not money they'd have to split with the count.

Daniel held back, acting like he didn't know Roak. They'd planned it that way. Just in case Roak was caught, Daniel would still have a chance of getting Sage out.

"Don't worry what happens to me if I'm caught” Drum had said several times. "Just get Sage to safety."

Now, after talking and planning for three days, they were in the hideout, and Drum walked toward the bar as if he had no plans other than to gamble the night away. Several heads looked his way when he stepped into the smoke-filled room. He was new, untried, but from the way he wore his gun, they guessed he was fast, and none of the outlaws seemed in any hurry to try his luck.

Drum took a place along the thirty-foot bar two men down from Daniel Torry. They didn't speak, but as the customers between them refilled their mugs and moved on, Drum closed the distance until he stood next to the Ranger.

Once the music started, Daniel whispered, "The big game starts at midnight. If I were guessing, it's set that late so the locals will be drunk before they play.” He tipped his glass to Drum. "That's when you might want to have an exit plan, unless you're a lot better at cards than I think you are. The way you look, no one in the place would question you're a gunfighter, but trust me, they'll know you're not a gambler ten minutes after you sit down.”

Roak didn't know how to take Daniel's teasing, so he changed the subject. "What have you heard about Sage?"

"Not much, just that the count had an operation three days ago and is recovering. Before that, there were bets on what day he'd die:" Daniel took a long drink. "We might be able to look around in about an hour. They're having a virgin auction before the game, so every man in the camp will be in here watching.”

Drum smiled at Daniel Torry. They'd both been around these hideouts long enough to know the scheme. Some prostitute, not known in the area, would claim to be a virgin. She'd go for several times what the normal rate was. Sometimes they'd auction her again the next night as almost a virgin.

"You ever try to save one?" Drummond asked. In all his years at the camps, he'd only been fooled once by what he thought was a woman in distress.

Daniel nodded. "The first time I heard about one being sold to the highest bidder, I was delivering whiskey with my pa down by the border. I broke into her room and tried to help her escape.”

"What'd she do?"

Daniel shook his head. "I thought that woman was going to beat me to death. In fact, I blame her for being half afraid of every woman I meet. You never know when one that looks like a virgin will turn into a fire-breathing whore. She left so many knots on my head, I couldn't wear a hat for months”

Drum laughed.

"How about you, Roak? Did you ever save a girl?"

"Nope," Drum lied. He had stepped in once and gotten a girl out. She couldn't have been more than sixteen. She'd run off with an outlaw, thinking she'd reform him. He put her up for auction for drinking money after they'd been together for about a month. Drum had stepped in, gotten her away, and took her back to within a few miles of her home.

He'd patted himself on the back for the fine job he'd done until he heard later that her father beat her so badly for running away that she'd be crippled up for the rest of her life. Folks said he treated her worse than a slave around the place, knowing that no man would ever take her off again.

Drum downed his whiskey, washing away the memory. Why did life always have to be so hard? Even telling right from wrong was hard to keep straight. The only marker he had was Teagen McMurray. Sometimes, when he couldn't tell which way to go, he'd think about what the head of the McMurrays would do. Teagen, Sage's oldest brother, was one man who saw the world in black and white. For Drum, the world was gray. He knew killing was wrong, but like Captain Harmon said, there were a few who needed to be hurried to meet their maker.

Tonight, however, he knew what was right. He had to find Sage, and if he had to tear every board of this town apart, he would. He couldn't stand the thought of her in a place like this. He knew towns like this. A good day was when the smell of a rotting body didn't pollute the air.

As it turned out, Drum didn't have to search all that far for Sage, because she stepped into the bar just as he ordered another drink.

She was angry and kicking at the guard who tried to pull her forward with the ropes that bound her. Her clothes were worn and dirty, her hair wild, her mouth gagged, but she was still all fight and fire.

Drum lowered his black hat, guessing that even if she had the time to glance in his direction, she wouldn't recognize him. The last thing he wanted in a saloon with fifty outlaws watching was for her to shout out his name. His gut tightened at the sight of her, and rage boiled through his blood.

Daniel Torry's glass hit the bar, but he recovered quickly and turned his back to the procession leading Sage to the center of the room. He let out a string of swear words in a low breath and then said simply, "They're going to auction off the doctor. Hellfire. She's the virgin for tonight.”

Drummond never took his eyes off her. "And she doesn't look too happy about it”

Men all around were hooting and calling out what they planned to do with the little lady when they won the bid. The big guard lifted her up on a table in the center of the room and looped the rope around her neck to a rafter. If she struggled now, she'd choke herself.

One of the bartenders stood on a chair and shoved her hair out of her face.

Drummond saw the bruises on her forehead and cheek and almost lost control. If he drew his gun, six men would be dead before anyone could return fire. The only thing that stopped him was that he might not kill the one who had hurt her.

"These are the rules, men!" the bartender yelled. "Anyone can bid, but the man who wins gets the little lady for the night. There's a room upstairs that's included in the price. He can keep her there all night or sell her if he wants to get some of his money back. If he opens the door wide, the line forms on the right of the stairs for seconds. If he doesn't offer the invitation, no one goes in that room, no matter what we hear. Come morning, assuming she's still alive, she becomes an employee of the saloon. Is that clear to everyone?"

Several shouted for him to get on with the auction. Drummond leaned close to Daniel. "I'll get her. You have horses ready and waiting.”

Daniel nodded so slightly no one near would have noticed.

The bidding started. Several men leaned across, trying to touch her, but the guard wasn't allowing any free samples. In an odd way, he seemed to be protecting her.

When the bidding slowed at fifty dollars, the bartender ordered the guard to release a foot of the rope. The bartender pulled her to him and ripped the front of her blouse open almost to the waist. Now her cleavage clearly revealed a young woman. Cheers rounded the room, and the bidding continued.

When it slowed again at near a hundred, the guard reached for her again, but Drunimond's sudden bid stopped hint

"What was that bid from the back?" the bartender shouted.

"Two hundred dollars, and I unwrap her myself.” Drummond kept his voice sharp, angry.

The bartender smiled. "Two hundred going once, twice, sold to the man in black. The little lady's all yours, and you get to unwrap her yourself.”