CHAPTER 4

 

            The sun was just going down as Sherry Johnson drove back toward Kermit. Even in the gathering darkness the logo of the Flying Coronet ranch on both of the station wagon’s front doors made the vehicle too recognizable for her to keep using it for long. She knew that she had to find another car and quickly. Just ahead she spotted something.

            Barely visible through a screen of small trees, a woman was unloading an armload of books of some kind from the back seat of a medium sized blue sedan parked near a small house. The house was set fifty yards or so back from a dusty lane running at right angles from the highway. There were no lights showing in the house into which the woman went with her burden. Apparently there was one inside, as Sherry doubted that a woman who had a man at home would be doing all that lifting. The door of the car was still open, indicating there was more to unload. It was too late to turn down the lane leading directly to the house, but there was another road ahead that Sherry knew led to a road that connected with the one she had passed. She turned off the highway. If she approached from the other direction and her headlights off, she doubted that the woman would even know she was coming.

 

            Marie Sanders got out of her little red sports car and closed the door quietly. She had cut out the engine a couple hundred yards from the gate of the Flying Coronet and coasted the rest of the way in. The ranch house was dark and quiet. With Copper gone, Sherry must be hiding in the house. Marie gripped her little automatic pistol firmly. She had to find out how much Sherry knew.

            Marie smiled to herself. The thought of receiving a reward for the capture of the convicted embezzler appealed to her ironic sense of humor. Not only would Marie make a lot of money for framing Sherry, she would get even more for bringing her in.

            Slipping off her shoes to reduce the noise she would make on the wooden stairs, Marie stepped up on the porch.

 

            Copper Ryder was beginning to get bored. At first it had seemed like a great joke for her to supervise her own binding and gagging to maintain Sherry’s pose as a desperate and dangerous character, but now it was becoming merely uncomfortable. Patience was not among the girl’s virtues, and she was eager to be found and get on to the next phase of her plan.

Since Copper had been bound often enough by real criminals, she had not missed a trick. The ropes were certainly secure. She could not escape without help, or at least access to something to cut her bonds.  Besides, it was always more fun to be rescued. She always got so much attention from everyone, including Sky. When she told her harrowing tales to the girls in town, they would always seem to look at her enviously. The local boys also looked at her differently, though Copper was not at all sure what they were thinking.

Right now she just wanted Sky to hurry home. She was supposed to have given him a ride to the airport to pick up the Hummingbird that afternoon, but surely Sheriff Winchell or someone would have done it. All she had to do was wait.

The front door opened. A startled Copper told herself to concentrate. So deeply had she drifted off into her own thoughts, she must not have heard the engines of the landing plane. Now there would be no time to rehearse again the convincing story she had invented.

Copper began ‘mmmphing’ into her gag, trying to make enough noise to draw her uncle’s attention. He had not called out to her as he entered, but maybe the unlighted landing strip and house had caused him to think that there was no one there. She heard no footfalls, but suddenly there was the click of the room light switch and a female voice came from the doorway:

“Well, well, what have we got here?”

 

            Marie stepped into the room and surveyed the struggling blonde on the bed. This was certainly not what she had expected. Though she had never spoken to Copper Ryder, she certainly recognized the girl. Either Sherry had turned on her friend and left her bound and helpless after accepting or forcing Copper’s cooperation or this was some kind of clever set-up to achieve some end Marie could not yet guess. She decided to play along, for a while anyway.

            “What happened to you?” she asked, trying to sound deeply concerned, as she began peeling the tape from over the gag wadding in the girl’s mouth.

            Copper, not knowing it was Marie who had found her, went into her act as soon as her rescuer had untied the gag ends behind her head, allowing the girl to push the wad out of her mouth.

            “It was Sherry Johnson, the woman escaped from jail this morning!” gasped Copper. “I’ve been her hostage all afternoon!”

            When Marie untied the blindfold and Copper saw who it was, she could not keep the look of astonishment from her face. Despite her initial look of recognition, Copper managed to stammer:

            “W-w-who are you?”

            Marie regarded her coolly.

            “You mean to say you don’t know me, Miss Ryder?”

            Copper gulped and tried to think fast.

            “Well,…. I guess I have seen you in town before. Aren’t you Marie Sanders who works at the bank?”

            Marie nodded. Copper did not like the hint of a smile on her face.

            “I’m flattered that you know me, Miss Ryder. You seemed to be very interested in me in Jeb’s Café at lunchtime.”

            Marie sat on the bed next to the bound girl. Copper had to crane her neck to look back and up at her.

            “And wasn’t that your uncle sitting with you? And later on, didn’t the Sheriff come in and join you, too?”

            “Well, it was kinda hard not to notice you, Miss Sanders. I mean, Mr. Wilberforce jumped up and made a big deal about you coming in and having to talk to you and all.”

            “Oh, of course!” Marie lightly responded. “Johnny! That’s it.”

            They looked at one another for a silent moment.

            “Aren’t you going to untie me?” Copper asked with a wag of her head and a tug at her hogtie rope.

            “Why what am I thinking of?” laughed Marie. She reached for the cords around Copper’s wrists. “And your old friend Sherry made you drive her out here then turned on you, tied you up like this and stole your car?”

            “She even made me cook dinner for her,” added Copper. “Then she had me get all the spare rope we have, brought me back here, and forced me to undress. She said that she didn’t have any friends in this town anymore, including me. Then she tied me up and gagged and blindfolded me. I sure am glad you came along.”

            It was then that Copper noticed that Marie had made no progress in untying her.

            “Can you hurry up a little? My arms and legs are starting to hurt.”

            Marie gave an alarmed look.           

“Oh, of course.” She fiddled with the knots for a few seconds then put a hand to her chin as she regarded Copper thoughtfully. “You know Sherry’s taking an awful risk with all this fugitive stuff. She took that woman deputy’s gun, so the police have to consider her armed and dangerous. What’s she trying to do?”

“Well, she said that she’d been framed for the embezzlement, but I guess everybody who’s ever been arrested says that. I didn’t believe her.”

Copper hoped that she sounded convincing. Marie was looking at her thoughtfully. The woman reached over and picked up the gag wadding that Copper had ejected from her mouth. Marie re-wadded the cloth.

“And you know something, Miss Ryder…I don’t believe you!”

With a quick move, Marie jammed the cloth back into Copper’s mouth. The girl sputtered and protested to no avail. The cloth band was forced between Copper’s teeth and the ends tied behind her head. The tape that Marie had pulled from over the girl’s mouth was now hopelessly stuck together, but with the roll lying handy on the nightstand Marie was able to reseal the gag in a few seconds.

“I know a set-up when I smell one,” Marie said with a little smirk. “I don’t know exactly what you and my old friend Sherry have got planned, but whatever it is will be a lot tougher to pull if I’ve got you.”

She took the knife from the night table and sawed through the hogtie rope. After untying Copper’s ankle bonds, Marie helped the girl to stand.

“Let’s get to my car. We’ve got a little trip ahead, and we wouldn’t want your uncle to object to your being on a sleepover, would we?”

Though Copper’s legs were still bound just above the knees, Marie prodded her ahead. Able to take only tiny steps, Copper shuffled along, Marie holding her by the arm.

 

Sherry quietly pushed a branch out of the way and looked through the trees at the house only a few yards away. One of the back doors of the blue sedan was standing open, and the woman was leaning in gathering what appeared to be notebooks from the back seat. It was not yet dark enough to keep Sherry from seeing her well. She was young, dark-haired and short. Though not fat, she was certainly voluptuous. Her short waisted figure suggested roundness: large breasts, womanly hips, and well-sculpted legs. She was wearing sandals, a pair of khaki shorts, and a short sleeve, button-type blouse. Her simple clothes and minimal make-up created the impression of the demurely pretty girl next door, though Sherry noted that the blouse was unbuttoned just enough to give a hint of invitingly generous cleavage.

The woman shifted her load of notebooks to one arm and laid her chin on them to help hold things as she shut the door with the other hand. Sherry looked down at Deputy Cole’s revolver in her hand. She had removed the cartridges from the chamber on which the hammer was now resting and the next as well to be sure that it would not discharge accidentally. Another car was a necessity, and there was only one way to get it. Letting her arm hang down and slightly behind her to conceal the pistol, she stepped from the trees.

The woman had nearly dropped the books she held with her chin and had had to grab at them. Once the books were steadied, she reached out and slammed the door, quickly returning her right hand to the pile of books. As she turned toward the house, Sherry stepped out. Her sudden appearance caused the woman to give a little jump of alarm.

“Oh!” the woman said, with visible relief at the sight of a woman. “You startled me.  I didn’t know there was anybody out here. I’m Jeanne Hall. I’m sorry I haven’t met many of my new neighbors yet.”

The shy smile on the girl’s pretty face made Sherry feel even worse about what she had to do.

“And I’m sorry too, Jeanne,” she said raising the pistol.

For a moment the woman looked dumbly at the gun, as though not comprehending its function or purpose. Then her eyes widened.

“You must be the one I heard about on the radio,” she said slowly. “The one who escaped from jail this morning.”

Sherry nodded.

“I’m the one all right. If you know that, then you know that I’m not going to shoot anyone if you do what I say. What I need is your car. Let’s go inside. I’m going to cut your telephone line and I’m afraid I’m going to have to tie you up to keep you from going to the sheriff, but that’s all. I’m not going to hurt you.”

The woman kept shifting her eyes from the revolver to Sherry’s face but said nothing. Finally she licked her lips and nodded, adding softly:

“I believe you.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Sherry waved the gun toward the house and they started walking, pausing just long enough for Sherry to pull down the clothesline from a pole in the yard and a hook on one corner of the house.

 

“Calling Flying Coronet, calling Flying Coronet; this is the Hummingbird, come in, please.  Are you there, Copper? Over.”

            Sky Ryder released the transmitting button on the handset and waited for a reply. There was no response now, as there had been none when he tried from the ground at the Kermit airport a few minutes ago. His ranch was still a few minutes away, but the veteran pilot could see that there were no lights on in the house or along the paved landing strip behind it. The headlamps of a few cars on the road could be seen, but nothing at the Flying Coronet.

            The tall rancher shook his head.  When he had learned that Copper was accompanying Sherry Johnson, he knew that his niece’s loyalty and love of adventure had won out over her good judgment, and that she was a willing accomplice of her old friend rather than a hostage. But Sky had hoped that Copper would do something obvious, such as take her home for some food and a change of clothes. He had expected to find them, or Copper at least, here. Where she was now was anyone’s guess.

            There was still a little light. Sky was less worried about landing unaided by the field lights than he was by the possibility that Copper was out somewhere looking for more danger.

            The veteran flyer began his descent to land.

 

            “Comfy back there, Miss Ryder?”

             Squeezed on the floor between the back of the driver’s seat and the tiny back seat of Marie’s car, Copper grunted into her gag. When they had reached the car, her captor had rebound her ankles and dumped her unceremoniously into the back seat, then rolled her off onto the floor. Copper had tried awkwardly to get back onto the seat, but Marie had gotten in and adjusted the front seat as far back as it would go, trapping the helpless girl. The car had shot away to an unknown destination at a high rate of speed.

            “I’m glad to hear it,” Marie shouted over the rushing air. “We’re going to a little hideaway of mine. If Sherry tries anything, I’ll be the only one who knows where you are. That ought to keep her in line.”

            Copper worked her hands uselessly. There was no way out of all these ropes, especially confined as she was by the seats. What would she do now?

 

            “Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” ordered Sherry.

            Dark-haired Jeanne Hall looked pleadingly at Sherry. She had been allowed to use the bathroom and get water. Now she stood facing her gun-wielding captor in her kitchen. On the table lay the clothesline, which Sherry had cut into several different lengths.

            “Look, you don’t have to tie me up. If you cut the phone cord, there’s no way I can call the police.”

            Sherry shook her head.

            “You’ve got neighbors only a mile or so down the road, and the highway’s not even that far in the other direction. I need time to get away and I don’t want to hit you over the head with something and possibly hurt you. There’s no other way.”

            Though she said nothing, Jeanne’s dark eyes continued to beg for a few seconds. Finally she sighed and turned around, crossing her wrists in the small of her back.

            “Good girl,” said Sherry, glad that Jeanne could not see her relief. Had the woman resisted, Sherry had no idea what she would have done. She picked up a piece of rope she had cut from the clothesline and began to tie Jeanne’s wrists. “I’ll try not to make it too tight. I just don’t want you getting free in a few minutes.”

            She looped the woman’s wrists five or six times, then fashioned a seize at right angles to the main loops. As she tied the knot, Jeanne grunted softly.

            “That seems plenty tight to me.”

            Sherry took her prisoner by the arm and had her sit in one of the narrow-backed wooden kitchen chairs. Though Jeanne’s arms were fairly short, they were able to easily go around the chair back. Sherry picked up a long length of cord and passed it around the woman’s body, just under her sizable breasts. She wound it several times around Jeanne’s torso and the chair back. Seeing the worried look on the girl’s face Sherry searched for something innocent to say.

            “What’re all the books for?”

            Jeanne looked her, obviously surprised at the question.

            “They’re mostly notebooks we use in our work.”

            As Sherry worked, they struck up a conversation about Jeanne’s work with the local office of the Department of Agriculture. The books were records of tests done on area farms and cattle ranches, certifying the quality of feed and water given to animals and several other things that Sherry could not quite understand. Jeanne was a tear older than Sherry and a brand new Ph.D. from one of the agricultural colleges in the State. Even though Sherry had further bound her to the chair with more loops around her waist and then bound her ankles and knees together, Jeanne brightened a little when Sherry expressed admiration for anyone who could earn such an advanced degree.

            “Oh, it’s not that big a thing,” Jeanne said modestly, though pleased by Sherry’s remark. As Sherry took a short cord and connected Jeanne’s bound ankles to one of the chair legs, Jeanne looked at her with more interest.

            “My boss thinks that you’re innocent,” she said quietly. When Sherry looked up, Jeanne continued: “He says that one of the bank officers probably took the money, and that you were framed. Is that true?”

            Stunned, Sherry looked at the woman she had just made helpless. Sherry’s youthful and beautiful face briefly showed her weariness.

            “I know that all crooks probably claim they’re innocent, but yes, it is true. The problem is getting someone to believe me. And nobody’s going to believe me until I can get some proof that I was framed. I hope that’s not too tight.”

            Jeanne tested the ropes experimentally.

            “You did a real good job. My brothers used to tie me up when we were kids, so I’m kind of used to it. It is pretty tight, but I think I’ll be able to get loose. It’ll take some time though, maybe even three or four hours. By then it’ll be so late that I’ll have to wait until dawn to walk to the McCovey’s place.”

            Sherry looked at her prisoner in wonder and smiled.

            “I’m sorry I had to do this to you.”

            “And I’m sorry you had to go through what you did. If you can find something against your bosses, I think there are folks around here who’ll believe you’re innocent.”

            Sherry laid a hand on Jeanne’s knee.

            “Thanks.”

            She stood up.

            “Hadn’t you better gag me, too?” asked Jeanne.

            “You want me to?”

            Jeanne looked shyly at her.

            “Maybe it’s not very likely, but if anybody comes calling tonight I want to have a good reason for not calling for help. At least until daylight. You’ll find some dish towels in the drawer by the sink.”

            The towels were the inexpensive type made from flour sacking. Sherry tore a wide strip from one and tied a couple knots in the middle. She bent over to put the gag into Jeanne’s mouth, giving the girl a press of the hand on her shoulder before she did. When the gag ends were tied behind Jeanne’s head, Sherry checked the woman’s breathing. She also made sure there were no appliances running, open flames, or leaking gas.

            “Would you like me to leave some lights on? I don’t think anyone’s likely to see you from the road, and you might feel better if you’re not tied up in the dark.”

            Jeanne nodded.

            “Are your car keys in your purse?”

            The bound woman nodded again. Sherry fished the keys from Jeanne’s purse, removed the car keys from the ring, and returned for one last check on her captive. Aside from being thoroughly trussed up, Jeanne was fine.

            “Thanks,” was all Sherry could say before leaving. She left the house and stopped just short of Jeanne’s car before she came near to breaking down from combined weariness, strain, and relief at finding there were people in town who believed her innocence. Very possibly she had misjudged the town of Kermit. It had been a woman who had wanted to see her handcuffed and taken away in the courtroom. Now here was another woman with a very different opinion.

            But it made no difference what opinions were if there were no proofs. And she would have to provide them.

            Sherry got into Jeanne’s car and started the engine. She would start with the place most likely to get results tonight.

 

           

Chapter Five

           

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