“Yeah, and she does use it nicely. But I can’t wait around all night for that damn cowboy to get done and, anyway, I got delicate feelings. Don’t like to kiss a gal right after she’s been … well, you likely know why they call her French Mary.”
The piano player said, “There’s a new gal at Madam Kate’s who ain’t been used all that much. They say she ain’t more than sixteen or so and still likes her new job.”
Jason laughed and said, “There you go, Longarm. What say we go over there and get her while she’s hot?”
“You go, if you’ve a mind to,” Longarm said. “I’ve got other fish to fry.”
“What’s the matter, don’t you like tail, or are you too proud to pay for it?” the scout gibed.
“Hell, everybody pays for it, one way or another. I’ve just never liked cold cash transactions,” Longarm said.
“Shit, whores are the only honest women I’ve ever met,” Jason observed. “I’d far rather give the gal the two dollars than shilly-shally about with ‘nice girls’ who wind up with your money anyway.”
“Like I said, we all pay, one damn way or another, and I’ve often said to myself it makes more sense to just slap down the cash right off. I suspicion I must be a sissy.”
Jason laughed, and before they could continue their discussion, the land agent, Chadwick, came in to join them. Or, rather, to join Longarm and the professor, for he didn’t know Jason, except by sight. The scout, as if inhibited by the other federal man, finished his drink and left in pursuit of carnal pleasure.
The professor went back to the piano to play “Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes,” for some reason, and Chadwick said, “I have a wire for you here, someplace.”
He took a folded scrap of paper from his frock coat and handed it to Longarm, who read:
WHAT’S HOLDING UP THE PARADE QUESTION STOP YOU ARE OVERDUE AND NEEDED HERE STOP REPORT TO DENVER AT ONCE STOP SIGNED VAIL
Chadwick said, “I could open up and send an answer for you.” But Longarm shook his head and answered, “He’s likely not in his office and you’re closed for the night and God knows how long, remember?”
“Won’t you get in trouble, ignoring your superior’s orders?”
“Hell, I’m already in trouble,” Longarm laughed.
“No notions about those killings last week yet?”
“Had some. They blew up in my face this evening when the Wendigo hit again.” Chadwick looked astonished and gasped, “Jesus! You must be joking!”
“Nothing funny about it. This one was really spooky. The others were almost impossible to figure, but this time the Wendigo outdid himself. Killed another Indian in what must have been broad daylight, then sashayed off at least three miles to the nearest cover, without leaving a single sign coming or going.”
“Good God, I can’t understand it!”
“That makes two of us. But I made a promise not to leave here until I caught the son of a bitch. So I’ll likely write Marshal Vail a letter in a week or so.”
“I don’t envy you. Where are you staying tonight, the agency?”
“Nope. Figured to bed down here in town after I ask around some more.”
“You’re welcome to stay at my place,” Chadwick offered. “I stay up late and I’ve got a spare room you can use.”
“That’s neighborly of you, but no thanks. It’s early, yet, and while I’m asking questions about this job I’m on, I might get lucky and meet somebody prettier than you. No offense, of course.”
Chadwick laughed and said, “Stay away from Madam Kate’s. They say a couple of her gals give more than tail. The doc’s been treating one of ‘em for the clap, and he says there ain’t no real cure.”
Longarm thanked him for the warning and left. He went to get his chestnut and mounted up, then sat there, fishing out a cheroot, as he pondered his next move.
He knew he didn’t have a next move. He was chasing himself around in circles to avoid another sparring match with Nan Durler. He rode slowly along the street toward the end of town where Roping Sally’s spread had been. The spread was still there, just outside of town, of course, but somehow he didn’t feel like it was there anymore. Had he really ever spent that wild night, just up ahead where the lights of Switchback faded into blackness? It seemed as if it had never happened, now. The poor woman was hardly cold in her grave and he remembered her as if he had known her long ago, before the War. You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about, he told himself firmly. What was done was done and the only duty he owed Sally was to find her killer. He was only feeling fretful because someone had made a fool of him. It seemed like everyone in Montana had him figured for a fool and it was getting tedious.
He rode on into the darkness toward Sally’s, running the whole thing through his head again, once more stumbling over the impossibilities of this whole infernal case. He slowed his mount, knowing he really didn’t want to pass the dark, empty cabin where he’d slept with what he now remembered as a beheaded horror. Maybe he’d just hunker down on the prairie someplace. “Damn it!” he swore. “There’s a feather bed and a warm breakfast waiting for you out there. And you’ve done nothing to be ashamed of!”
He reined in and swung his mount’s head toward the west, his mind made up to ride back to the agency and brazen it out. As he turned, something sounding like bird wings, big bird wings, fluttered past his head and snatched off his Stetson!
Longarm threw himself to one side, grabbing for his saddle gun as he heard the thing coming through the darkness again! He rolled out of the saddle and landed in the roadside ditch as it flew over him, flapping.
The chestnut had been spooked by the sound, too, and ran off a few yards, snorting nervously, as Longarm crouched in the grassy ditch with his rifle at port, ready for anything.
But nothing happened. He stayed frozen and silent as he strained his ears. He stayed that way for a very long
