An Ultimatum
Just outside the house a whistle sounded. Neither Roy nor Teddy heard it. They stood facing Mrs. Ball, their faces a sickly white beneath their tan. Slowly Teddy’s hands clenched until his nails dug into his palms. Roy took a quick breath, which sounded like a gasp in the silence of that room.
Mrs. Ball swayed slightly, and Roy took a swift step forward.
“It’s—it’s all right,” he said uncertainly. “Don’t—get excited. I think—I—”
“Gone!” The word seemed wrung from the woman’s bloodless lips. “Belle—Ethel—Nell—gone! I tell you they’re gone! Where—where—they’re gone—”
She seemed about to faint, and Teddy and Roy sprang to her side. At that moment a step sounded in the doorway and a man’s voice boomed a greeting, only to be cut off sharply as Peter Ball took in the scene with a rapid glance. When his wife saw him, she came to herself somewhat and flung herself sobbing into his arms.
“Oh, Pete!” she moaned, “something terrible has happened. The girls—our nieces—and Belle Ada—who were here—”
“Now, now, Sera, just take things easy,” Mr. Ball soothed. He looked quickly at Roy and Teddy, a frantic question in his eyes.
“You see, Mr. Ball,” Teddy stammered, “we thought Belle and the other girls were still here, and we came over to get them and Mrs. Ball told us that they had left for our place on Saturday with a man who had a note—”
“Do you mean to say he wasn’t one of your father’s men?” Mr. Ball demanded, holding his wife close and staring incredulously at the boys. “Why, he had a note from your mother! Sera—Sera—” He looked down at his wife. “Where is that note? Have you got it?”
“It’s—it’s upstairs,” Mrs. Ball murmured, her voice choked with tears. Suddenly she straightened, and, with a determined motion, drew her hands over her eyes. “Wait here—I’ll get it,” and she hurried toward the stairs.
Roy fingered his hat uncertainly.
“I don’t know what to say, Mr. Ball,” he muttered. “We haven’t heard from the girls and we thought they were still here. I can’t imagine—”
Teddy gave a short laugh, and his brother and Mr. Ball turned to him in surprise. Then they saw that he was staring fixedly at the wall, a strained look on his face. The laugh had come from between clenched teeth.
“I’ve got an idea,” Teddy said slowly. “I’ve got a hunch—and—and if it’s true, I’ll—” Suddenly he raised both hands and shouted:
“Pull a rotten trick like that, will you? The dirty thieves! Kidnappers! Girl stealers! We’ll get ours, will we? Not this time! Reltsur! I know—I know—”
“Teddy!”
Roy seized his brother’s arm in a grip of steel.
“Teddy, stop it! Teddy! Snap out of it now! You don’t know anything! You’re just guessing! Stop that yelling!”
Teddy put his hand to his head. For a moment he shook as though with the ague, then took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I—I didn’t mean to shout. Didn’t know what I was doing, I guess. Don’t mind me—”
Mr. Ball stepped forward and laid a friendly hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I know just how you feel, son,” he said kindly. “But don’t get worked up. The girls may be all right. It may be just a joke, or—or something. Take it easy, son. When my wife comes down— Did you get it, Sera?” he broke off eagerly.
Silently his wife handed him a slip of paper. Mr. Ball glanced at it and passed it to Roy. Together the two boys stared at the writing.
It was short and addressed to Mrs. Peter Ball. It ran:
“This will introduce Jack Richmond, who is driving for us now. He has come to bring Belle Ada home. Can’t Nell and Ethel visit with us for a while? We should love to have them. They can all pile in the car with Jack, and he’ll bring them over to our ranch. Please say yes.
“Barbara Havens Manley.”
For a long moment the boys gazed at the note. Then Teddy reached out and took it from his brother’s unresisting hand.
“That writing,” he murmured, still with bent head. “It looks familiar. I’ve seen it before—” He glanced swiftly up. “Roy! do you recognize it? That capital R?”
Roy peered at the note again. Then his eyes narrowed.
“Reltsur!”
“That’s who! The one who sent the note to dad! So, that’s his game, is it? Well, he won’t get far! The dog, I’ll—” Teddy stopped, breathing hard. He lowered his voice.
“I hate to say it, Mr. Ball, but I think Belle and the others have been stolen—kidnapped!”
A shocked silence came over those in the room. It seemed too incredible. It was not to be believed that anything like this could happen. Why, only last week the three girls were standing in the garden just outside the window. Belle had picked a wild rose and had twined it in her lovely black hair. She and Nell and Ethel had stood there, as the boys approached, and Ethel had said “Want some nice, fresh—”
There, in the garden, were the roses. Their sweet scent drifted in through the open window. A light breeze sprang up, moving the screen door, so that the hinges creaked. Out in the yard a horse whinnied softly.
Peter Ball gulped noisily.
“Stolen, hey?” he said in a harsh voice. “You sure of that?”
“This note is written in the same hand that wrote a warning to dad,” Roy was talking fast. “Two weeks ago, at night, a rider passed our bunk-house, where Teddy and I and some of the boys were standing, and flung us a message tied to a stick. It said if dad pressed the charge against the rustlers, who were in jail at Hawley, he’d get his. Then we heard the rustlers had escaped. And now this—” He motioned toward the paper Teddy still held in his hand.
“The man who sent the note threatened your dad?” Mr. Ball demanded, a fierce frown on his face.
“That’s what,” Teddy answered in a dull voice. “And it looks like he’d made good, too. Got us standing flat-footed,” he added bitterly.
“The man who came here was a—a rustler?” Mrs. Ball gasped.
“Now, Sera, just take it easy,” Mr. Ball boomed. He patted his wife’s shoulder awkwardly. “Suppose you have a lie-down on the couch for a while? Remember what the doctor said about your heart. Boys, you and I—”
“I won’t lie down!” Mrs. Ball exclaimed, her face flushed. “I’m going after those kidnappers, that’s what I’m going to do! Pete, you get me a gun! No man is going to steal three girls right from under my nose—not while I’m healthy! You just forget about my heart! It’s as good as it ever was! I guess I haven’t lived in the West all my life for nothing! I guess I haven’t forgotten how to shoot, either! Pete, I’m going to ride with you!” She pushed back a loose strand of hair and stood gasping for breath.
Pete Ball shook his head slowly.
“No, Sera,” he said gently. “I’m afraid not. I know how much you want to, but some one has got to stay here and take charge of things. You can do more to help in that way than any other. It’s just possible that the girls might escape and make their way back here. You see what I mean, don’t you, Sera?” He looked at her anxiously.
After a moment Mrs. Ball nodded.
“Guess you’re right, Pete,” she said heavily. “I was crazy to think you could be bothered with a woman along. But when I think of Nell, Ethel and Belle being taken by that bunch of gunmen to heaven knows where, I—I—”
Then she stopped and walked over to her husband. She rested her hands on his shoulders and looked in his eyes.
“Pete,” she said in a low voice, “listen to me! You know I love you better than anything in the world. We’ve been together now for twenty-six years. We’ve seen this old ranch grow up from a little cattle farm to a place we can be proud of. We’ve had lots of hard times, you and I, and we’ve weathered them all. I’d rather die myself than have anything happen to you. But now—” her voice rose, and took on a vibrant tone—“Pete, bring back those girls! They were our guests. They were under our very roof, under our protection, and I love every one of them like a daughter. If you have to give your own life to do it, Pete, bring—back—those—girls!”