'We've been expecting you for a week.' That was unwelcome news.
'Why would you be expecting me?' Call asked.
'Why, everybody knows you're after Joey,' Billy Williams said. 'It's the talk of the whole West.' 'I wish the whole West would shut up, then,' Call said. 'Do you know Joey Garza?' 'I know him,' Billy said. He saw no point in not admitting it.
'This is his brother and sister,' he added. 'This is the house he grew up in. His mother, she's gone.' 'Oh, are these your children?' Call asked, surprised by the news he had just been given. He had heard that Billy had a woman in Mexico.
'They ain't, no,' Billy said. 'I'm just watching them. Ain't that Deputy Plunkert, from down in Laredo?' 'Yes, that's him,' Call said.
'What are you dragging him along for, he's worthless,' Billy said. 'I wouldn't hire him to shovel out shit, if I had a livery stable full of it.' 'I needed a man,' Call replied. 'I was hoping he might turn out to be a fighter.' 'No, he's just a jailer,' Billy said.
'I've been arrested in Laredo quite a few times, but always by Sheriff Jekyll. All Plunkert does is ladle out the beans they feed you, when they feed you.' 'This town looks familiar to me,' Call said. 'I think I was here before, with Gus. We hung three horse thieves and brought them home.' 'Yes, to this house,' Billy said. 'You hung Maria's father and her brother and a brother-in-law.
It's just as well Maria's gone. She ain't forgot.' 'In that case, I suppose she's gone to warn her son. Or have you warned him already?' 'Well, I told Maria you were coming,' Billy said. 'She thought Joey might be in Crow Town, so she left. The weather turned cold, but she made it to Crow Town, I know that much.' 'Oh, did a crow tell you?' Call asked.
'No, Famous Shoes told me,' Billy said. 'He's waiting in Presidio, with your man.' 'Well, that's good news,' Call said.
'Deputy Plunkert can go home now, if he wants to. I'd far rather travel with Pea.' While the men were talking, Teresa listened.
Though she herself was not frightened, she could tell that the man frightened people. Billy's voice sounded different, when he was talking to this man. The man's voice wasn't loud, but it was rough. Teresa felt interested-- she wished the man would stay with them a little while. She liked the way the man's voice sounded, even if it was rough. From time to time, she felt the man watching her; it was her belief that the air changed, when people watched her.
She wanted to whisper to Rafael, about the man.
She wanted to lead Rafael amid the sheep, to whisper about the strange man who had just come to Ojinaga. Teresa thought the man might be a king, from the way he made the air different when he looked at her. It was very interesting to her. She was glad her mother wasn't home, because her mother always made her go in the house when strangers came.
It pleased her that Billy knew the man.
Perhaps he would visit them again, in the next days, so he could talk to Billy.
'If you care for his brother and sister, then I guess you must be a friend of Joey Garza's,' Call said. He wanted what information he could get, but he had traveled the border a long while and knew better than to try and twist loyalties.
He felt the little girl was watching him, but of course, that was wrong thinking; she was blind, she couldn't watch him. But she was an unusually pretty, appealing child. There was something in her quick expression that was unusual. He knew blind children were often very smart, and he suspected that this little girl was one of the smart ones. To be blind must be a sadness for anyone, of course. There would be little hope for the girl, in such a poor village, even though she was clearly going to be a beauty. Some man might marry her for her looks alone, Call supposed.
'I know Joey,' Billy admitted. 'I knew him when he was a youngster. He was likable then. I have not seen him much since he took up killing and train robbing. I doubt it's improved his disposition.' 'I expect not,' Call said, waiting. Perhaps Billy would let slip something useful; or perhaps not.
'Joey's smart, and he's lived with the Indians,' Billy said. 'He outran the Apaches, and they couldn't track him, neither. You won't locate Joey easy, unless he decides to come at you and present a challenge.' 'Famous Shoes can track him, if the railroad can afford his fee,' Call said. 'I imagine the old man is still expensive.' Call sat watching the sprightly girl. He wished he had a bauble to give her, a ribbon, or a locket, or some such trinket. Of course, she wouldn't be able to see it, but she could feel it.
The boy's face was puffy, and he drooled a little. He made a sound, now and then, like the sound a goat would make. It made Call wonder about the mother. What could she be, to produce a beautiful blind girl, an idiot, and a killer? He only dimly remembered the three men he and Gus had hung. The border had an abundance of horse thieves then; probably it still did. He had forgotten many of the ruffians he'd had to deal with.
It seemed an odd turn of the wheel, that he should come back after so many years to the very house where he and Gus had brought the three bodies.
It was still very cold, and Brookshire was anxious to get across the river, to see if there were telegrams from his Colonel. Call could not linger too long, just in the hope that Billy Williams would tell him something useful. It might be that old Billy didn't really know anything useful about the young killer.
He thought he might try one more question.
'I've heard there's a cave,' Call said.
'It's said the Garza boy carries everything he steals, and hides it in a cave. Has anyone you know seen it?' 'Nope,' Billy said. He knew he had to be careful in his statements. If Maria found out he had said something that gave Joey away to his pursuer, she would drive him out of Ojinaga, or else kill him.
'I don't think there's no cave,' he said, lying.
'He's taken a passel of stuff,' Call said. 'It's got to be somewhere.' Billy didn't answer. For all he knew, Joey could have ten caves. Olin Roy had seen him carry a saddle into the mountains once, but that was as close as anyone had ever come to Joey's treasure.
