Sky vs. Spies

Fiction by Frank Knebel

Chapter 2

“Your ranch certainly is an impressive sight, Sky,” said Captain Julie Atkins as Sky banked the Hummingbird to the right. “Of course I’m just a city girl from the East, but I’m sure impressed.”

     They had begun their tour of the Flying Coronet with a swing along the southern edge of the property. As they turned north the barren, rocky hills and scrub forests had then given way to more watered fields. The cattle below grazed peacefully as the plane passed overhead. Here and there a man on horseback would look up and wave.

     “Thanks,” said Sky. “My brother and I started this spread before the War, when it looked a lot wilder out here than it is now. We had some tough times. When I went into the Navy, it was all he could do to keep things together with so many of the men in the service or working in war industries. It was just beginning to pay off when he…”

     He stopped. Julie looked at him sympathetically and laid a hand on his arm. He turned to her. She smiled slightly and squeezed his arm. He nodded. After a moment he continued:

     “Do you have any idea where your balloon might have come down? It’ll save us a lot of time if we can narrow the search area a bit.”

     Julie shook her head.

     “There’s not too much to go on. The transmitter never sent out any signal at all, and we lost our key radar station for several minutes at the worst possible time. We thought it would land somewhere northwest of your ranch, but the winds aloft were strong and they shifted during the balloon’s descent.”

     She picked up the map from her lap and scanned it for a moment. She held it up so he could see as she pointed.

     “It could be anywhere in this general area,” she said sweeping her index finger in a large oval lying roughly southeast to northwest across the rectangle of the map. “Or maybe even a little farther south and east.”

     Sky whistled as she repeated the movement, widening the area slightly. He took one hand from the yoke and pointed to areas as he spoke.

     “We’re about here now. My place extends from here to… oh about here. The area off to the north is the Wellman’s ranch. This area over to the northeast is the Hammond’s. Just to the east of me are the Johnson and McCovey places. To the south and east is Summer Smithers’ ranch. Due west is county land, and pretty rough country.”

     Julie looked to the west. There was little but rocky wasteland with a few scrub trees here and there.

     “I hope it’s not out there,” she said with a wry laugh. She studied the map again. “No. I’d bet it’d be toward the southeast corner, or maybe even east of your place. The winds were from the northwest and west-northwest that day.”

     “Should we head that way then?” Sky asked. “We can continue north as far as the ranch house then head back east.”

     Julie smiled at him and gave a decisive nod.

     “Let’s try it.”

Copper Ryder writhed her hands behind her, trying to get her hands in a position so she could pick at the knots with her fingers. It was useless. Her wrists were tied so that her palms faced one another with the loops made tighter by a seize between them. Despite the fact that the seize forced her hands slightly apart she could not reach the knots, even with her fingertips. She looked at her fellow captive, Captain Atkins driver. The voluptuous, scantily clad sergeant was grunting and moaning in her exertions to free herself, but her efforts had been unsuccessful so far. Copper took a quick look at her fellow captive. The sergeant’s ankles had been crossed before they had been tied, so she would be unable to stand. Though Copper’s ankles had been tied so her feet were side by side and she could possibly stand and hop, there was no telephone extension in the room. And with her arms tied securely to her body just below her breasts and just above her waist she doubted that she could reach for anything sharp to cut the ropes, even if she could find something.

     “Maybe if I could see how the sergeant’s hands were tied I could find some way to get her loose,” the girl thought desperately.

     She shifted some weight to her feet and scooted herself closer to the other woman. Her fellow blonde looked up in surprise as Copper bumped into her. Copper made motions with her head indicating that she should try to turn around. After a brief, uncomprehending look, the sergeant nodded and twisted herself, turning her bound hands to her fellow prisoner. Copper looked closely at the ropes. The sergeant’s wrists had been crossed and tied in what appeared to be a figure eight style. Copper turned herself and scooted back, looking over her shoulder at the sergeant’s hands as long as she could and reaching back with her fingers. After some searching, Copper’s fingers found the knots securing the sergeant’s wrists and began probing. As a ranch girl, Copper’s nails were not long and the rope was rather thin, so the work was slow. But she had finally managed to find the seam between two ropes when a woman’s voice interrupted her.

     “So! Our two little blondes try to get into mischief, do they?”

     The two captives looked to the doorway. The tall, elegant brunette Copper had run into near the front door was regarding them with a mocking smile.

     “I thought it had become a bit too quiet in here,” she continued. “I missed the sound of you two straining at your bonds, and doubted that it could be because you had become comfortable as you were.”

     She turned back to the hallway.

     “Hammer!” she called. “Come here at once! I need you!”

     She turned again to the two bound women.

     “In just a moment I shall personally see to your increased discomfort.”

     Two men appeared in the hall behind her. One was the husky, mustachioed man Copper had seen earlier. The other was a new one, well built and a bit older with a slightly pockmarked face.

     “What happened?” asked the man with the mustache.

     “Thanks to your bungling, these two little bundles might have succeeded in freeing themselves,” she said disdainfully, not taking her eyes from the helpless women. “Fortunately I was alert.”

     “They don’t look like they’re getting away to me,” the mustachioed man said dryly.

     The woman turned to him. Though she was much smaller, the man seemed to wilt a bit at her look.

     “Get back to work!” she snapped. “These two must be fixed for good, but I need only Hammer to assist me. Keep the other men searching.”

     The husky man departed. The woman looked back at Copper and the sergeant. The look of cold amusement on the woman’s face made Copper quite uneasy.

     The woman spoke softly, enunciating very precisely.

     “I prefer to do most of this personally.”

The Hummingbird was now headed east. Julie had settled back in her seat, quietly taking in the sights of the ranch. The beauty of the landscape from the air and the drone of the Cessna’s engines had put Julie in a peaceful and reflective state. Sky would occasionally point out a landmark or place of interest below, and Julie found herself nodding and smiling warmly at his remarks. All thoughts of her mission were temporarily forgotten. She was mainly aware of the pleasant quality of his voice, how handsome he still was almost ten years after their last meeting, and how much he seemed to love and glory in his ranch. She turned to him, intending to say something about some cattle drinking from a small water hole, when she saw that he was looking intently to the southeast.

     “Is something wrong, Sky?” she asked.

     “I don’t know,” he said slowly. He reached into the map compartment and took out a pair of binoculars. After looking through them for a few seconds he turned to her. “Did anyone else know you were coming to the ranch today? Are you expecting anyone else from the Air Force to join you?”

     “I don’t think anyone knew we were coming out here,” she replied. “And I wasn’t expecting anyone else to join us. There are recovery people I can call if we need them, but they wouldn’t follow us on their own initiative.”

     Sky handed her the glasses.

     “Well somebody else is at the ranch now. Anyone you know?”

     Julie peered through the binoculars for a moment, then lowered them.

     “I don’t recognize any of those cars, Sky. I’m sure they aren’t our people. What does it mean?”

     “I’m not sure,” he said as he reached for his radio microphone. “But I don’t like surprises like this. I’m calling the Sheriff, then we’re going to head north to where my foreman and some of my men are working.”

     Sky banked the plane to the left as he put in a call to Sheriff Winchell.

Copper Ryder watched helplessly as the woman worked on the sergeant. The man who had stayed, Hammer the woman had called him, had pulled the chair out from its place at Copper’s dressing table and half-pushed, half-dragged the girl to it. He now stood beside her, a hand on her shoulder, watching disinterestedly as the woman regarded the bound blonde who sat on the edge of Copper’s bed dressed only in her uniform shirt, tie, half-slip and underthings.

     “So attractive for a sergeant,” the woman said icily, as she looked at the bound blonde. “Since American women always want to look their prettiest, let’s see how alluring we can make you.”

     She reached down and ripped open the woman’s shirt, exposing her bra and the tops of her breasts. Buttons flew off, but since there were loops of rope around the sergeant’s arms and torso the garment would part only so far. The brunette reached below the body loops and pulled on the shirt again, ripping it below the coils of cord. The sergeant squealed in alarm as the rest of her buttons were torn off and scattered on the floor.

     “Much better, eh?” the woman remarked. “Very sexy, isn’t she Hammer?”

     The man said nothing. The woman shook her head and leaned over the sergeant.

     “What a pig he is, don’t you think? He has no appreciation of beautiful women.” She arched an eyebrow. “I, on the other hand, know just what to do with beautiful women.”

     She grabbed the sergeant’s tie and pulled hard down and to the side. The sergeant screamed into the gag as she fell over onto the bed. The woman kept up the pressure as she lifted her prisoner’s crossed and bound ankles onto the surface of the bed. The sergeant’s body stiffened and she began to gasp for breath.

     Copper leaned forward and tried to stand up, protesting into her gag. The man put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to sit again. The woman turned and looked at Copper in a vaguely amused way.

     “So? The rancher’s niece is tender hearted, is she? We must remember that.”

     She turned back to the sergeant, releasing the pull on the woman’s necktie as she did. The bound woman’s body relaxed as she got air into her lungs again. The brunette watched her with a thin, evil little smile. She looked over to Hammer.

     “Rope.” She commanded.

     Still without any expression at all, the man reached into the pocket of his suitcoat and tossed her a length of cord. She caught it easily and turned back to her prisoner.

     “This will be a good reminder to you to behave yourself,” she said to the sergeant.

     She rolled the bound woman face down, took hold of the sergeant’s crossed and tied ankles and bent her legs back until her feet, still in her low-heeled black pumps, were only a few inches above her shapely behind. The brunette ran the piece of rope through the lines of the ankle bonds and pulled it taut. She grabbed the woman’s tie once again and twisted it around so that the knot was now at the back of the servicewoman’s neck, and began to tie the rope from her ankles to the hanging ends of the tie. The sergeant mewed in alarm and tried to arch her body more to relieve the pressure around her throat. The woman kept tying.

     “Yes, this will be a good reminder indeed,” she said.

     Copper watched in horror, afraid not only for the poor airwoman but also in dread of what the woman had in store for her. She mewed a protest into the packing of her gag.

     “Oh, don’t worry, Miss Ryder,” said the woman. “This shouldn’t be tight enough to strangle your friend. But it should make her think twice about any attempts to escape.”

     She finished her work and turned to the ranch girl. She cupped her chin in her hand as she regarded the petite blonde.

     “I think that I shall need more rope, Hammer. A good deal of it.”

     Copper’s eyes widened in alarm.

Fred Merrill, Sky’s tall, muscular foreman, watched the Hummingbird land in the nearby pasture. Though it was not unheard of for Sky to land so close to cattle, the big foreman knew that something fairly important was up. The other men stopped working on the fences and kept the cattle calm as the plane landed. Joe Bailey, medium height, very lean and sixtyish, came up and stood beside Merrill as the plane taxied to a stop.

     “What do you think it is, Fred?” asked the older man.

     “I don’t know, Joe,” Merrill answered. “But it’s probably something pretty important.”

     The two watched as Sky climbed out of the plane then turned to help an attractive woman in an Air Force uniform. The two headed for the ranch hands at a fast walk. Merrill and Bailey strode toward them.

     “What’s up, Sky?” called Merrill.

     “I’m not exactly sure, Fred,” replied Sky. Noting the surprise on the faces of his men, he added. “This is Captain Atkins of the Air Force. She came to the ranch to see me today, and I think that a few unwelcome visitors followed her. They’re still at the house.”

     Merrill nodded slowly. In his eight years working for Sky Ryder, the big foreman had heard similar stories from time to time.

     “What do you want us to do?” Merrill asked. “I’ve got Joe and four other men here, and there are three more between us and the ranch house.”

     Sky nodded. His face was deadly serious.

     “I know you have your rifle,” he said. “I hope some of the others have one too.”

     Merrill turned to Bailey. The older man nodded. He turned and trotted a few steps toward the other men, who had all stopped working to see what their boss wanted. Bailey waved his arm.

     “Come on, you guys,” called Bailey. “Sky needs our help.”

     The men left their work and trotted toward them.

     “Here’s what we’re going to do,” Sky began.

The cool-looking brunette pulled a rope taut and tied it off in a secure knot.

     “There, Miss Ryder,” she said. “I hope that will convince you that resistance is useless.”

     Copper was now securely bound to the low-backed chair from her vanity. The woman had applied a number of coils of rope around Copper’s body and the chair back and seat to hold her firmly in place. The girl’s bound hands were pressed between her body and the chair back but she was not too uncomfortable as it was.

     The woman regarded her with satisfaction. She strolled completely around her captive checking all the new bonds she had added. A groan and noisy, half-strangled breath from the bound sergeant on the bed distracted Copper as she watched her captor complete her circuit. The girl grew uneasy. There was something too simple about things as they were.

     “You are concerned about your friend?” the woman asked with mock solicitude. “And about yourself too, I think.”

     She sidled up to the bound girl. She reached down and drew her right index finger across the girl’s bust. Back and forth it went several times. Copper looked up in alarm.

     “You have noticed that I put no ropes over your breasts, dear,” cooed the woman. “That is because I know how women here like to present their breasts attractively.”

     Copper stared at her. The woman had a fine bust measurement herself, and the V-neck of her clingy, light gray dress showed a bit of attractively presented cleavage. She also wondered what the woman meant by ‘women here.’

     The woman reached down and began unbuttoning Copper’s shirt. When some of the rope lines around the girl’s body got in the woman’s way, she patiently pulled the material either up or down so she could get at them. Copper mewed in alarm as she watched her bra and chest being exposed.

     “There! Much better don’t you think? Now you are a real western woman in distress. It is too bad that I do not have an Indian costume to wear while I do a war dance around you.”

     As best she could, Copper tried to stare daggers at the woman. The brunette simply smiled and picked up one more rope. She folded the rope in half to create a half loop and fed the free ends through it, then took a swift step behind her prisoner and dropped the loop over Copper’s head. She tightened it, though not enough to cause much pressure on the girl’s windpipe. The woman turned to the man Hammer, who had been watching the scene unemotionally.

     “Push her feet back under the chair seat,” she ordered.

     Hammer knelt and forced Copper’s bound booted feet back under the seat of the chair. The woman squatted down and ran the free ends of her noose down the back of the chair, under it and around the seize in the girl’s ankle bonds. She tied it off securely as her prisoner struggled to take gurgling breaths.

     “An admirable deterrent to escape attempts don’t you think, Miss Ryder?” the woman asked as she stood up and circled around to face her prisoner again.

     Both Copper and the sergeant mewed into their gags, their eyes wide and entreating.

     “Come, Hammer,” said the woman. “We have other work to do.”

     Leaving Copper and the sergeant struggling to keep the pressure of ropes from their throats, the woman and her henchman departed. They had no sooner reached the living room when Rowlands reported to her.

     “Nothing,” he said simply.

     “Very well,” she replied. “If there is nothing here that tells us where the balloon is, then we must have Captain Atkins herself. You will remain here and take her from the plane when she returns. I will wait for you at the house. Bring her to me.”

     “You want us to take the nooses off those two women?” asked Rowlands. “We can’t leave ‘em tied like that for too long.”

     She gave him a look of surprise mingled with contempt.

     “They have seen our faces,” she said. “We cannot leave witnesses. Bradford and Williams will plant a bomb. The young ladies will be neatly disposed of.”

     “What about Ryder?” asked Rowlands.

     “Kill him,” she said coolly. “Come, Hammer. You will drive me.”

     She walked briskly through the front door followed by the expressionless Hammer. Klee joined Rowlands watching them depart. They heard a car start outside.

     “So that’s it?” asked Klee.

     “Yeah, you heard her,” said Rowlands. “The place goes up. Including your sweet little sergeant.”

     He looked back toward Copper’s room uneasily.

     “Somethin’ wrong, Rowlands?” asked Klee.

     Rowlands gave him an irritated look.

     “Yeah, somethin’s wrong. I don’t like killing, and I like killing women even less. The cops get really serious when you start killing people.”

     Klee looked in the same direction Rowlands had.

     “It’s a shame about that little sergeant,” he said. He licked his lips. “You don’t suppose I could have a few minutes alone with her, do you?”

     Rowlands looked at him with disgust.

     “There’s no time for that. We gotta let Bradford set up the bomb and get the men posted to meet than plane.” He looked uneasily in the direction of the landing strip. “I hear that a lot of guys have tried to kill Sky Ryder, but he’s still here and they’re not. Let’s go.”

     Copper had heard most of the exchange between the woman and her henchmen.

     “I’ve got to do something to help Sky,” the girl thought desperately.

     She tried again to loosen her bonds, but with all the added ropes holding her to the chair there was little she could do. And with her bound feet connected to the slip loop around her neck any attempts the girl made to move her chair would cause her to choke herself. In fact, she wondered how long she could keep her feet tucked so far under the chair to ease the pressure around her throat. Once her muscles tired, her legs would straighten and she would be slowly strangled. It was taking some effort already. What would happen in another ten or twenty minutes?

     Copper looked over at the sergeant on her bed. The helpless woman seemed to be in some distress from the rope connecting her ankles and her necktie. Copper could see the woman trying to work her wrists free, but she doubted that she would be able to loosen the ropes enough to escape before they both succumbed. And now the intruders were going to plant a bomb in the house.

     “I don’t see how we’re going to get out of this!” Copper thought.

     But rather than despair, the girl redoubled her efforts to free her hands.

Sky Ryder could see the ranch house and buildings and the landing strip clearly now. The nose of the Bobcat was pointed a little to the west of the house as he maintained a southerly heading. Now sky turned the yoke the left and the plane banked gently to the east. He glanced over to a nervous looking Captain Atkins.

     “Are you ready, Captain?” he asked.

     She turned to him. She was biting her lower lip apprehensively. His use of the word ‘captain’ finally struck her. She smiled slightly.

     “Ready when you are, Commander Ryder.”

     Sky smiled in response then scanned the highway to the north.

     “I don’t see any signs of the Sheriff yet,” he said. “But I think we can give whoever’s there a pretty good surprise.”

     He looked back over his shoulder, then at Julie again. She nodded.

     Sky leaned over and opened a compartment under the plane’s control panel. A police-style .38 revolver lay inside. He drew it out and checked the cylinders, then pushed the yoke forward to begin their descent.

Rowlands entered the ranch house by the rear door. He walked quickly down the hall to the living room. Klee stood near the kitchen doorway watching two men rig the explosives.

     “How’s it goin’?” asked Rowlands.

     The men looked up from their work. Both were broad shouldered, sturdy looking men. One had a youthful, perpetually smiling face, giving him the appearance of a college boy with a naughty prank up his sleeve. The other was grave and rather handsome with a slight hook to his nose that suggested an Indian chief. It was the chief who answered.

     “A few more minutes. Is everything else set?”

     Rowlands pushed his hat back and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

     “I’ve got Carson, Semels and Buster out by the shed and Bice is near the barn. I could use Williams if you don’t need him any longer.”

     The grave man nodded.

     “Sure. I can finish this alone.”

     “Are you sure you can get along without me, Bradford?” the youthful man asked, his smile now an insolent grin. “I wouldn’t want you to blow yourself up.”

     The other man ignored the joke.

     “Go ahead. I’ll manage.”

     “Okay,” Rowlands told the grinning man. “Go out to the barn and help Bice if he needs it. Klee and I will be out in a minute.”

     “When all the shootin’s stopped?” asked the smiling man as he drew out a revolver.

     “Just keep your eyes open,” said Rowlands, glaring at the man.

     The young man lightly touched his temple with the muzzle of his pistol in salute, then ambled down the hallway. The remaining three heard the door swing shut as he left.

     “What a jerk!” said Rowlands, shaking his head.

     The sound of approaching plane motors interrupted him. He motioned to Klee.

     “Come on. Let’s get out there.”

     Bradford kept working as the two went out the back way.

     Rowlands and Klee met three men in the shaded back yard. The man with the square ugly face took a step to Rowlands.

     “We’re ready,” he said.

     Rowlands nodded.

     “Get out to the shed where you can greet our friends. Klee and I will cover you from here.”

     The man reached to his belt with his left hand and drew his revolver. He grinned at Rowlands.

     “It’ll be a pleasure.”

     “And remember, Carson,” Rowlands cautioned, “you’ve got to get the woman alive. Unhurt if you can, but get her alive.”

     “The Boss Lady wants to have some fun with her? That’d be somethin’ t’ see.”

     He grinned even wider.

     “Never mind that,” Rowlands snapped. “Just get on with it.”

     The ugly man motioned to the two others and they all trotted toward a small shed by the strip. Rowlands shook his head as he watched them go.

     “Does anybody here think outside of his pants?” he asked aloud. He turned to Klee who was looking back at the ranch house. Klee started as though surprised.

     “Did you say somethin’?” he asked.

     The plane motors were now quite loud. Rowlands pointed toward the landing strip.

     “Keep your mind on your work,” he said.

     They drew their pistols and took cover behind trees.

As the Cessna Bobcat taxied to a stop, three men appeared from behind the little toolshed and walked toward the plane. Sky opened the door and climbed out, then assisted Julie in stepping onto the wing. Putting both hands around her waist, he was about to help her down when the man with the square, ugly face called to them.

     “Are you Sky Ryder?”

     Sky lifted Julie and swung her easily to the ground.

     “I’m Sky Ryder,” he answered, turning to face them. “What can I do for you?”

     “We’d like a word or two with the Captain here, if you don’t mind,” the man said.

     “We’re a little busy right now,” Sky replied cordially. “But I’m sure she’d be glad to see you back at the Air Force base in a few days. You’re welcome to make an appointment.”

     “I’m afraid we’ll have to insist then,” the man said.

     He and both of the other men behind him went for their guns, but the two were too fast. Julie ducked under the plane to take cover on the other side while Sky reached behind his back to draw his own pistol from his belt. The square-faced, left-handed man was raising his pistol when Sky fired. The man dropped his own gun and grabbed for his left side with his right hand. Another of the men fired at Sky but missed. Before he could shoot again a shot was fired from the plane. The man dropped instantly. Joe Bailey, his Winchester rifle poised, slid from the open plane door out onto the wing. Another man with a rifle appeared behind him.

     The third man fired wildly in Sky’s direction and began running toward the house. As Sky was about to take aim, two more shots rang out. One bullet hit the ground to his left and another struck the Hummingbird. The tall rancher quickly took cover behind the tail of the plane. Two men were firing from the open barn door on the other side of the landing strip. He fired back. One of the men ducked back as his bullet struck the wooden door.

     “Joe! Wes!” called Sky. “Look out for the men in the barn!”

     In reply, Joe and his companion both began firing toward the barn. The two men inside took cover then tried to return fire. One of them, a stocky man with hair turning gray, was hit and fell. The other, younger man continued shooting.

     “I don’t like the way this is going,” Klee said to Rowlands as they attempted to give the man in barn covering fire. The third man, who had fled from the confrontation at the plane, had now reached the cover of the shed and was shooting at Sky’s party.

     “Yeah,” replied Rowlands. “They’ve got Williams trapped in the barn now. I just hope the fool doesn’t try to run for it.”

     As if on cue, Williams dived for the pistol of his fallen companion. After taking cover for a moment, he reappeared at the doorway firing both guns. He began running in the direction of the house.

     Sky Ryder took aim and fired. The man grabbed his leg then fell and lay writhing in pain.

     The man at the shed fired at the plane, breaking one side of the windshield. He was about to fire again when he suddenly looked to his right. He was swinging his arm to fire in that direction when he too was felled. The shot had come from a small stand of trees to Rowlands’ and Klee’s right. In the confusion, five men on horseback had come up and were taking cover behind trees and the corral fence nearby. A tall, husky man had already begun firing his rifle.

     Klee turned to Rowlands. Klee’s narrow, ferret-like face plainly showed his fear.

     “We’re the ones in the trap now!” he cried.

     Rowlands squeezed off a shot at their new enemies.

     “Let’s get out of here,” he said without panic, but with obvious urgency. “Back through the house.”

     They both fired a couple more times to delay the pursuit then ran to the back door.

     Bradford looked up from his work on the bomb as the pair ran down the hall toward him.

     “What’s going on out there?” he asked.

     “It was a trap,” Rowlands replied. “Start the timer and get to the car. We’re getting out.”

     “It’s not ready yet,” the man said.

     Rowlands had little time for thought.

     “Get to the car,” he repeated. “I’ll be with you in a second.”

     Klee and Bradford left by the front door. Rowlands went to the door of the room where the two women were tied. He could hear the words of his woman boss.

     “They have seen our faces. We cannot leave witnesses.”

     Copper Ryder struggled to keep her bound feet under the chair. The pull of the ropes connecting her feet to the loops around her throat was becoming difficult to avoid. She had heard the shooting and the flight of some of the gang through the house, and hoped that help might be at hand. Both she and the poor sergeant on her bed needed help soon to avoid being strangled.

     Then she saw the man in the doorway. It was the husky man with the mustache who seemed to be the leader. He reached into his right hand pocket and took out something, then brought his other hand over to it. Copper squealed into her gag when she saw what he was doing.

     He was unfolding the blade of a knife!