The man looked at him and said, “Why, yes. I do very well here.”
“You’ve got money put away?”
“Quite a tidy sum, I think,” Simon said. “I’ve told Belinda that I can care for her and Little Matt—at least, financially.”
“Is that a fact?’ Thomas asked, looking at James.
“Oh, come on,” James said, opening the front door and barreling through.
Jeb Collier and his men were camped an hour outside of Pearl River Junction. He got them all situated around the fire with their beans and coffee and explained what was going to happen the next day.
“Clark, you and Dave will ride in first. Get yourselves a hotel room and then just hang around town. Don’t go near the bank. Do you understand?”
“Got it, Jeb,” Clark Wilson said and Dave Roberts nodded.
“Samms, you and Leslie will ride in next. Don’t check into a hotel. Find a rooming house and get rooms. Then get somethin’ to eat, walk around town, but stay away from the bank. Also, the four of you…stay out of the saloons. We’ll all meet in a saloon later on in the evening.”
“Which one?” Roy Leslie asked.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” He looked across the fire at his brother. “Ben, you and Tanner will ride in next. Get rooms in a small hotel somewhere, have somethin’ to eat and stay out of trouble.”
“Sure, Jeb.”
Jeb looked pointedly at Lou Tanner, a look that said:
“Vic and I will ride in last,” Jeb said. “We’re all gonna meet at dusk in the biggest saloon in town. That’s so we won’t stand out. But look…when you get to that saloon don’t talk to each other until Vic and I get there. Don’t sit or stand at the bar in a group. Two of you sit, two stand, or play some poker, whatever, but stay away from each other, stay out of trouble. Everybody understand?”
They all nodded except for Ben.
“So I ride in with Tanner, but I’m not supposed to talk to him?” he asked, looking confused.
Jeb took a breath, then said, “You can talk to the man you ride in with, but not to the others. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ben said.
“Okay, then finish eating and get some shut-eye,” Jeb instructed. “We’re gettin’ up at first light so the first two can ride in early.”
Delay leaned over and asked Jeb, “We settin’ watches tonight?”
“We don’t need to be on watch,” Jeb said. “Nobody’s after us in Texas. Get some sleep.”
“I don’t sleep much anyway,” Delay said. ”I can keep an eye out.”
“If that’s what you wanna do, be my guest,” Jeb said. “I’m goin’ to sleep. Been a long time since I slept under the stars and I been enjoyin’ it since I got out.”
“Time enough to sleep when I die,” Delay said and poured himself some more coffee.
55
Shaye had arranged to have breakfast not only with his sons the next morning, but with the sheriff and Thad as well.
Thomas and James had agreed not to tell their father about James’s supper with Belinda the night before. For this reason James was hoping Connie the waitress would not say anything about it while she was serving them. Connie gave James a knowing smile, but did not say a word about him and Belinda being there the night before.
However, they did feel a need to tell him about Alvin Simon. At least, Thomas did. He went to his father’s room that morning before breakfast…
“So this fella is in love with Belinda?”
“Right.”
“And he says she’s in love with him?”
“Yes.”
“And the sheriff and his wife don’t know anything about it?”
“No, they don’t.”
His father fixed him with a hard stare and asked, “And tell me again how you know about it?”
“I was makin’ rounds and saw this fella outside of the sheriff’s house,” Thomas said, lying with as straight a face as he could. “I braced him and he told me the whole story.”
“And he’s got money?”
“Apparently.”
“So it makes sense that Belinda would not want Jeb Collier to kill her golden goose.”
“Right.”
“So,” Shaye said thoughtfully, “she sent for us to protect him from Jeb Collier, not her and the boy.”
Thomas stared at his father. “I never thought of it that way.”
Shaye stroked his jaw and said, “This probably means that the baby is not Matthew’s—but the question remains: Why and how did Belinda pick us…how did she pick Matthew to claim as the father?”
“Maybe we should just ask her,” Thomas said.
“That might not be a bad idea.”
But the matter was not discussed at breakfast; they would bring it up with Sheriff Cotton later. After all, whatever the answer was, they were now committed to standing with the sheriff against Jeb Collier, Vic Delay, and their gang.
“You three,” Shaye said to Thomas, James, and Thad, “go back on roof duty today.”
“Yes, sir,” Thad said as Thomas and James nodded. “We lookin’ for eight men?”
“No, Thad,” Cotton said, “Dan and I figure they’ll come into town in groups of twos or threes, so be on the lookout for any strangers riding in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t brace them,” Shaye said. “Under no circumstances are you to approach these men. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Good.”
“What do we do when we’re not on the roof, Pa?” Thomas asked.
“Patrol the streets,” Shaye said. “Keep an eye on the man on the roof because we don’t want to use shots as signals. So you boys take something up there with you, something white like a towel, so you can wave it.”
“I’ll get one from my room,” Thomas said.
“Now I have a question,” Cotton said.
“What is it?”
“What do we do when Jeb Collier himself comes riding in?”
“I think we ought to make his acquaintance,” Shaye said, “and take him to see Belinda and the boy.”
“Pa,” James said, “I thought we was supposed to be protecting her from him.”
“James, I get the feeling Belinda can protect herself just fine from just about any man,” Shaye said. “Our concern is the town and the bank.”
“Why the bank?” Thomas asked. “They don’t want our protection. They’re happy with their own guards, ain’t they?”
“Well,” Shaye said, “the sheriff here has money in that bank and he refuses to take it out.”
They all looked at the man.
“It wouldn’t be fair,” he explained. “What if they rob the bank and get everybody’s money and the town finds out I took mine out?”
“You tell them you went to the bank and the town council and warned them,” Thomas said.
“I can’t do that to these people,” Cotton said. “They’re my neighbors.”
