Arizona Gold Read Online Free PDF Page B

Parrish’s woman. He told you. about his gold—gold that belongs to the Apache. Where is it?”
    “I…I don’t know,” she stammered. “I swear it. He never told me exactly…somewhere in the mountains around the San Pedro.”
    “There was a map.”
    She licked her lips nervously and tried not to swallow, because she could feel the sharp flint threatening to slice into her flesh. “I…I never saw it. I mean…I never saw all of it. Only part. Not enough to tell where they were digging.”
    She had to swallow, and winced as she felt her skin tear beneath the blade, ever so slightly. “Please…,” she begged between clenched teeth. “You’re cutting me.”
    He pulled the knife back a bit. “Where is the part of the map that your man gave to you?”
    Stunned that he knew it had been divided, she managed to say, “I don’t have it anymore. He had a niece…back East…and he told me if anything happened to him to send everything I had of his to her. And I did. There was a little money, too. I don’t have that, either.”
    “I want only the map.”
    “But I told you—I sent it to his niece. And I can’t draw it from memory, and it wouldn’t mean anything without the rest of it, anyway. He and Dan—that was his partner—they drew it tricky, so nobody could look at half and guess where the ore was. So it wouldn’t help you, even if you had it. Now, please”—tears spilled down her cheeks—“don’t hurt me. I’ve told you all I know. I swear it.”
    He disappeared so quickly that, for one crystallized moment, Opal actually wondered if he had been there at all or if it were a horrible, horrible nightmare.
    And then the moment of paralyzed astonishment passed, and she began to scream, over and over again.
    Ryder heard the sound echoing as he stealthily escaped into what was left of the night.
    Back in his hideaway he changed into trousers, shirt, and boots. Holster and gun replaced knife and case. Then, Indian garments stowed away till the next time they were needed, he washed the war paint from his face in a nearby stream. That done, he bedded down to sleep for most of the day.
    That night he returned to Tombstone and the Oriental Saloon. He bought a drink and helped himself to the free supper on the bar—boiled eggs, spiced pigs’ feet, and pieces of spit-roasted chicken.
    As he ate, he listened to excited talk about the wild savage that had sneaked into town the night before, intending to rob everyone’s favorite faro dealer. He was after her man’s gold, it was being said, only he didn’t find any. Nate Grimes was up in arms and swore if the red-skinned son of a bitch dared come back, he’d be ready.
    Ryder’s sleeves were rolled up above his elbows. He was deeply tanned, but there was little about him that looked Apache. Neither did he sound like one, having learned how to speak without a native accent—except when he did so on purpose, like when he had spoken to Opal Grimes. His father had seen to it he was educated in white ways, just as his mother had wanted him to learn those of the Chiricahua Apache.
    He kept an eye on Opal and could tell she was nervous. Her face was pale, drawn, and her hands had a slight tremor.
    He knew, without a doubt, it would take her a long time to get over her fright.
    He also knew she had been hiding something from him.
    Nate Grimes hovered nearby, casting suspicious glances about. It was as though he expected the savage Apache to appear at any second.
    Finally satisfied that everyone was busy for the night, Ryder returned, unobserved, to Opal’s shanty.
    During raids on white settlers in the old days he had learned to take a homestead apart and discover every imaginable hiding place. He had no trouble finding Opal’s. It seemed many people favored stashing things behind a stove.
    There was not much. A half-full bottle of whiskey and a gold nugget.
    He picked up the nugget for closer scrutiny. He knew very little about gold ore but thought it was good