Moon of Cobre (A William R. Cox Western Classic Book 1) Read online

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  Matt Buxton was a good man who built an empire out of prairie dust. And Matt was loyal to his own—even his rowdy brother Jed, who fought too often and drank too much. He was so loyal that when Jed shot a girl in the back, he was willing to wreck his own town and start a range war to save Jed's hell-bent neck from the rope.

  What he didn't count on was Marshal Hancock, the lawman who believed in law, and the girl's mother who'd just arrived from the East and she would do anything for revenge.

  MOON OF COBRE

  By William R. Cox

  First published by Bantam Books in 1969

  Copyright © 1969, 2019 by William R. Cox

  First Digital Edition: February 2019

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Our cover features a detail from Saturday Night, painted by Andy Thomas, used by permission.

  Andy Thomas Artist, Carthage Missouri. Andy is known for his action westerns and storytelling paintings and documenting historical events through history.

  Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author’s Agent.

  Book One – The Crime

  One

  Two

  Three

  Book Two – Justice on Trial

  One

  Two

  Three

  Book Three – Expiation

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  About the Author

  Book One – The Crime

  One

  Ben Hancock rose at eleven, his usual hour. The shades were drawn against the sun over the town of Cobre and it was hot in the room. Since, when at home, he slept nude, he washed carefully at the basin before donning clean cotton underwear and a linen shirt and his work clothing of dark, tailored trousers, tight-fitting in the legs, and the striped gray and black vest which was his trademark and upon which the polished star proclaimed his position as marshal. He tugged on handmade boots, grunting a little. Then he drew the curtains and surveyed the street, Buxton Street, the main stem.

  Clouds stretched above, the sun was high and the street was quiet, or at least without untoward noise. Hal Wayne’s four-span freight wagon was rumbling toward the Mogollons with supplies for the mines and kitty-corner across the street Linda Darr was watching for his morning greeting. He waved and she smiled and went back into her shop.

  Hancock put on his roll-crown Stetson and went down the stairs to the office-jailhouse-kitchen of adobe which was his personal domain. There were no prisoners today, which was Friday. He made himself a skillet of bacon and eggs and picked up the newspaper Dan Melvin left for him each day. The coffee was still warm from last night.

  The headline read: Marshal Banishes Gambler from Texas.

  Dan Melvin did not like Texans. There was another story, a dispatch from the East, captioned Treaty With Korea, which went on to say that President Arthur’s representatives had signed an agreement of peace, amity, commerce and navigation with Korea, but did not give the location of that nation. Hancock made a mental note to ask Melvin where it was and turned his bacon. He liked to keep up with things now that he was a substantial citizen, and the editor of the Copper Bulletin was a great source of information. There had been a time, a more violent time, when the young Ben Hancock had not cared about such matters. He sipped the harsh black coffee, thinking a bit of old times, of those who had died and those, of smaller number, who had survived.

  One of the survivors was overdue in Cobre right now, Luke Post, a friend. A man did not have many friends in this world, Hancock ruminated. It was good to tie to one who could be trusted. Now that times were good and there was a chance to cash in, a friend deserved a break; also Luke was always in a position to come up with ready capital.

  The eggs sat like yellow-white twins in the grease, then turned brown at the edges. Hancock ladled the fat over the yolks to set them, moved the pan to the back of the stove. At that moment there was a commotion on Buxton Street.

  Hancock sighed and went quickly through the office and to the door, pausing, blinking a little in the sunlight, a tall man, slightly stooped, clean-shaven in a day of beards, tanned and slender. People were coming out of their places of business, pedestrians were gaping. Linda Darr was in the window of her shop, looking toward Hancock, suppressing a grin even as she registered disapproval. There were three young girls, arm in arm, walking down the center of the street.

  They wore mother hubbards. The small one in the middle had belted her robe tight to her tiny waist. They were smoking cigarettes and singing an indistinguishable melody. They were drunk, or they were muddled by drugs, or both. They were escapees from Mrs. Jay’s house down on Maine Street and in the distance the pimp could be seen hurrying toward them.

  Hancock debated. The pimp would beat them when he had dragged them home, but in the meantime there would be a scene. There was only one course open to him. He walked out and blocked the path of the three maids.

  Daisy, the small one, looked up at him and sang, “Here’s old marshal, my love, my love; come to give us all a shove …”

  He said, “Now, darlin’, you know better than this.”

  She said, “You should know what I know, you are my true love, my turtledove.”

  He said, “You needn’t tell the world, Daisy, you’ll get us both in trouble.”

  The young lady on the right hooted, “She’s tellin’ the truth, you always ask for her.”

  Hancock cut her off. “Now, girls, Chompy’s right behind you. Better you should come with me for a while than have him on you, huh?”

  Daisy said, “Chompy, Chompy, the hell with Chompy.” She was extremely pretty and younger than she admitted. “I’ll cut his heart out if he touches us.”

  Hancock sniffed. “You all been smokin’ that Mex weed. Now, come on, a rest will do you good.”

  The pimp, a sullen-faced young bully, walked widdershins in the background, undecided. Hancock gave him a look and made a gesture. Chompy retreated to the boardwalk.

  Daisy said, “I don’t mind, really. I don’t mind.” She turned to the others. “Do you girls mind?”

  They considered. They were country girls, from some bleak ranch run down by misuse or from the mines where the living was worse. Daisy, the stranger not long from some place east of Cobre, was their leader in mischief. They giggled.

  Hancock said, “You’ve already spoiled my breakfast. Now go ahead there.”

  He shepherded them into the building. The first two went resignedly, stolidly, easily stupefied by any display of authority. He detained the third for a moment, looking into her round, fringed eyes.

  He said, “You go in the kitchen, Daisy.”

  “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

  “Daisy!” He stared hard at her.

  She returned his gaze without flinching, then shrugged and went obediently into the kitchen. He opened a great oaken door with iron hinges which led into the jail. There were three single cells for serious offenders and a tank for Saturday night drunks. He put the two whores
in the tank and they sat on the floor and mooned at him, smiling silly grins, trusting him.

  The one called Cora said without guile, “You goin’ to give Daisy a bounce, Marshal?”

  “Just behave yourself, both of you.” It was like admonishing schoolchildren. He went back into the office, to find Chompy lingering uncertainly in the doorway. Hancock told him, “Tell Mrs. Jay I won’t fine them this time. And you keep your hands off them, understand?”

  Chompy was a breed, with a low brow and greasy hair. “They need beatin’, you know that.”

  “I don’t know any such thing. Furthermore, I don’t want to hear any of it.”

  “I got to keep ’em in line. Mrs. Jay depends on me to keep ’em in line.”

  “I said no beatings. Now get the hell out of here. You want to do something, stop them getting that Mexican weed.”

  “I can’t find it. I dunno where they get it. You right, Marshal, a couple of them things and they start climbin’ the walls. It’s no good for Mrs. Jay’s business.”

  “The town is getting down on you all. You tell her I’ll be down to see her.”

  “She’s got the only house in town,” said Chompy reasonably. “We do what we can. You got to have a house.”

  “You’ve got to keep it quiet and decent.”

  “That damn railroad,” Chompy complained. “Everybody’s scared crapless about whether Cobre gets the damn railroad.”

  “True,” said Hancock. “Includin’ me. You savvy?”

  Chompy swallowed. “I savvy.” He departed, going north on Buxton Street. Hancock watched him turn down Pass Avenue toward Mrs. Jay’s, then went into the kitchen.

  The bacon was crisp but the eggs were congealed. Daisy had put it all on a platter and sat at the table, legs crossed, arms folded, staring into space. Hancock cut into a loaf of sourdough bread.

  “You want something to eat?” he asked.

  “No, thank you.” The voice was distant, cool, without feeling but well placed.

  He sat down and looked at her. “You’re not high on that peyote or marijuana or whatever it’s called. You’re just having a ball, raisin’ hell as usual.”

  “Is that so?”

  “You tell me.” He picked at the unappetizing breakfast, nibbling bits of bacon, dipping the bread into the eggs. She looked at him, half smiling without mirth. She was on the edge of beauty but there was something awry with her. He said again, “Tell me.”

  “Ha!”

  “I’ll never understand,” Hancock complained. “You come from some place back East, I been there, I recognize things like your voice, the way you talk. When you do talk.”

  “Ho!”

  “Oh, you talk, all right.” He lowered his voice. “When the door is closed and it’s dark upstairs in that room you say things. And you laugh. And you carry on some.”

  Now she stirred. “I’m a whore. All whores are actresses.”

  “You don’t know a damn thing about whores. You’re new at this. You enjoy it.”

  “That’s a lie!”

  “I’ve known whores all my life,” he told her.

  “And you’re going to marry Linda Darr? Ha!”

  “Contrary, that’s you. Just plain ornery. But there’s some reason for it. I want to know.” She was so young and so tough she seemed invulnerable, but he knew better since he had lain with her so often. It was a problem that battered at him. He did not like mysteries, he was a forthright man. He had come to the time of life where reason was preponderant.

  “I don’t want you to know,” she said calmly. “I’m Daisy, you see. Daisies don’t tell.”

  “You keep sayin’ that. Look, I know I can’t change you, do anything for you, we been through all that. I just want to know what makes you tick, so I can look out for you.”

  “Just put me in the cell with the others. I’ve been up all night. I’m quite weary, Marshal.”

  He said helplessly, “Oh, sure. Put you in with the others. Like you belong with them. Why, you even got Mrs. Jay worried. I misdoubt that ever happened before. The way you carry on, knockin’ things about, stirrin’ up the others, you’d think she would get rid of you. But she only worries.”

  “She needs me.” One rounded shoulder lifted the mother hubbard, she recrossed her legs. She obviously was naked beneath the thin covering. “If you want me in your bed, Marshal, why don’t you say so?”

  “Crazy. You’re plumb crazy sometimes.”

  “Ha! You must like crazy, you always ask for me, never for any of the others.” Now she laughed on a low, somehow dangerous note. “Why, Marshal, the world is insane. You and the law and this little town and the railroad and the Buxtons and the preacher who comes sneaking into my room when his wife won’t have him and the mine owner with his funny ideas about what to do in bed, you think this isn’t craziness?”

  “Could be,” he said. “But I’m wondering. How come you to know so much about craziness? Where are you from? Who is your mother and father?”

  Now she froze. “Ha!”

  “You know what happens to whores? You know? Course you don’t know. Damn it, I’ve seen old whores die in jail, right here in Cobre.”

  “Ha! I’ll never make an old whore.” She got up and moved toward the door, swaying her hips. “Marshal, can’t I please go to jail?”

  “I could send you home,” he said. “I’d be glad to see you got fixed up and pay your fare and all.”

  She turned and stared at him. “Home?”

  “To your folks. Or to any place where you’d be all right.”

  For a moment she hesitated, her eyes widening like a child who has been proffered a sweet. Then she said, “Marshal, I’ll go to hell my own way. In a basket or a hearse. But don’t say ‘home’ to me. Not ever. Not ever again.”

  There was no mistaking the vehement finality of her tone, nor the hatred and lost innocence of her, nor the fire burning in her. He got up, feeling old and inadequate, and led her through the big door and into the cell area. The other two whores were sound asleep. Cora was sucking her thumb. He unlocked the door and allowed Daisy to join them. She lay down on a bunk and seemed to be immediately slumberous.

  He went back and locked the big door and hung up the key and went into the kitchen and scoured the dish, the pan, the other utensils—the insects of southwestern New Mexico were infamous—and tried to dismiss the pretty little whore from his mind. He should be satisfied with the world today but he was not, she had spoiled the edges of things.

  He went into his office and sat behind the scarred heavy table with two drawers which served as his desk. There were dodgers on the walls and a calendar with a snow scene and a gun rack holding rifles and shotguns. There were three bucket chairs and a small potbellied stove polished and somnolent for summertime. His revolver and belt hung on a wooden peg and each hour gathered a bit of dust from the street and he knew he should cleanse it. Instead, he went out and walked north on Buxton Street.

  Across from his office at Jersey Street and Buxton was Abe Getz’s Dry Goods Emporium, then two dwellings, then the Wells Fargo office. He walked across to speak with Speedy Jackson, who handled the telegraph wire and ran the freight and passenger business and knew all that happened, sometimes even before it took place. Speedy was small and thin and very sporty, bow string tie, striped shirt, green eyeshade as badge of office.

  “Some folks burnin’ up the wires, believe me.” He spoke out of the corner of his mouth, confidentially. “The railroad, the railroad. I say damn the smelly, noisy damn railroad.”

  “Why, they’ll have you running the telegraph office at the station,” Hancock said. “It’ll be right nice for you.”

  “Like hell. I come here to get away from trains. Hate ’em, they stink.” Jackson altered his tone, became reproachful. “I seen you pickin’ up the gals. Too bad.”

  “They’re asleep and happy as beavers.”

  “Not Daisy. Don’t tell me Daisy’s happy.”

  “I wouldn’t know about her.” He evad
ed the subject. “Anything new from Santa Fe?”

  “Just the same damn thing, railroad, railroad, railroad.”

  “Got a pal coming in on the stage. Luke Post,” Hancock said. “Look after him, huh? I’m ridin’ out a spell.”

  He went past Mueller’s General Store and crossed Alamo Avenue and waved at Smokey Moriarty, the aged fire chief. Cobre had really grown up since he had come here to act as marshal five years ago. He came to the Chinaman’s laundry, went down the alley to the rear, next door to Lawyer Finnegan’s office.

  He went through a door, parted a hanging bamboo portiere. The odor of tobacco and opium was overpowering. He yelled, “Hey, Ching Hoo,” and retreated to the alley.

  There was a furious fantan game going on in the back room and Hancock knew it but no one took any interest, since it was a foreigny business and had nothing to do with local affairs excepting when violence broke out, in which case Hancock knew what to do. Ching Hoo was an old man with a long, skinny mustache, a great hand-rubber and diplomat.

  “You got any of the old stuff left?” Hancock asked.

  “For my friend.” Ching Hoo bowed low.

  “Send six pints over to my place pronto. Neddy will be there.”

  Ching Hoo said, “Mebbe I no got six, though.”

  “Six of the best. I’ve got a pardner coming in,” said Hancock. “Don’t disappoint me, now.”

  “You velly good to me. I am humble servant. Six.”

  “That’s what I said. A half dozen. Six.” It was a small enough graft, he thought, going back onto Buxton Street. The still was in the yard, between the law offices and Smokey Moriarty’s house on School Street, which ran parallel to Buxton. Everyone knew it was there but they also knew that Ching Hoo aged his whiskey in some peculiar manner of his own, and that it was better than anything that could be supplied by Madison’s or the Mex places or the general store’s brand of eastern stuff. Cobre was willing to wink at federal law under any circumstances and Ching Hoo made a nice dollar selling to the more prosperous citizens.

  On Buxton Street two drunken soldiers from Fort Bayard were arguing in loud tones. Hancock went close and listened.