Cape Hell Read Free Page A

Mexico looking for one Pinkerton?”
    â€œJust the Sierras; and that isn’t the mission. You’re to infiltrate Childress’ command and find out if there’s anything to the report. If it’s mistaken, or Childress is a harmless charlatan, or there’s no truth to it at all, come back and report to me in person.”
    â€œAnd if it turns out to be right?”
    â€œMust I express the obvious?”
    â€œYou must. It might spare me from a firing squad if I can tell the federales I killed him on your orders.”
    â€œVery well. He committed high treason the moment he offered his services to a foreign power. The penalty is death. Especially if any part of that report can be verified. The part that concerns me most is the arms he’s supposed to have stockpiled: Gatlings, Napoleons, and a dozen cases of carbines. A shipment of that very number was reported missing from Winchester’s warehouse in Boston. Wars have been won with less.”
    I uncorked the bottle and refilled my glass without asking permission.
    â€œIf I’m to start one all by myself, I’ll need some things up front, starting with a decent horse.”
    â€œBlack Dan Stuart is holding a bay thoroughbred for you. I made the arrangements when I heard you were back.”
    â€œA good long-distance rifle.”
    â€œDraw one from the arsenal. The deputy in charge has all the paperwork.”
    â€œTwo hundred dollars in gold.”
    â€œAbsolutely not. Your salary covers all your responsibilities.”
    â€œI can’t bribe my way across Mexico on twenty a month.”
    â€œIn lieu of receipts, I’ll need a detailed record of your expenses. It will be checked.”
    â€œAnd a case of this Scot’s courage.” I lifted my glass.
    â€œMore bribery?”
    â€œI get thirsty in the desert.”
    â€œAnything else?”
    â€œIf I think of it I’ll let you know.”
    â€œAren’t you forgetting transportation?”
    â€œYou said I had a horse coming.”
    â€œYou’ll need it when the tracks end, but until then I’m giving you a train.”
    He puffed his cigar, pleased at my uncharacteristic silence.
    â€œWe don’t know Childress’ timetable,” he said, “or even if he has one. In any case we can’t risk his plans going into effect while you’re crawling your way across the Sonoran Desert on horseback.”
    â€œWon’t he wonder how I got my hands on a train?”
    â€œYou stole it, naturally. It’s your ticket into his camp. The revolutions travel by rail down there; no self-respecting insurgent would be caught dead without one.
    â€œJust return it when you’re through playing with it,” he said. “It’s on loan from President Diaz, Juarez’s successor. He has as much riding on this mission as we do. It’s waiting for you in the railyard.”
    It was a smart plan. I wouldn’t say it to his face. “Do I get to blow the whistle?”
    â€œThat’s up to the engineer. It has a name, even if he doesn’t.” Blackthorne slid a fold of foolscap from an inside pocket and snapped it open. “ El Espanto. I’m told it means ‘The Ghost’; ‘The Terror’; something along those lines. In some remote regions it makes sense to strike fear into the savages who’d oppose progress.”
    â€œAll right,” I said.
    â€œI felt certain you’d assent eventually. I was prepared to offer to stock the saloon car with my entire cellar, had you demurred. You should have held out for more than just one case.”
    â€œI don’t mind. I want to talk to Childress. He promises better conversation than I’ve had in a spell.”
    He screwed out his cigar in a heavy brass tray. “From what I’ve heard, he’ll do all the talking.”
    â€œThat’s grand, too. I never learned anything listening to myself.”
    Which was one thing