“But his reputation—”
“A reputation is like gossip,” he said. “It starts at one end of town and by the time it gets to the other end it’s grown into something entirely different.”
“Is that true of Sam?”
“Look,” Evan said, “I’ve seen Sam maybe three or four times in the last I don’t know how many years. I know as much about him as you do, because I’ve read and heard the same stories.”
“But you’re his brother,” Serena said. “You know him’the real him.”
“The real Sam McCall is what you see; Serena. Judge him on that, not on anything else.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Satisfied?”
She smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Good,” he said, smiling, “now maybe we can talk about me.”
Dude Miller insisted on coming downstairs to dinner and was assisted by Evan and Jubal. Serena had also invited Ed Collins to come by and eat with them.
“I heard what happened today,” Collins said.
“Who could help but hear?” Miller said. “It sounded like a war.”
“So what do you boys plan to do now?” Collins asked over dinner.
The McCalls exchanged glances and in that moment silently chose Evan as the spokesman.
“We plan on finding out who killed our parents.”
“You don’t believe that your father did it himself?”
“No,” Evan said.
“You boys hadn’t seen your father in a long time,” Miller said. He seemed intent on playing the devil’s advocate.
“That don’t matter,” Jubal said. He couldn’t restrain himself. “Pa wouldn’ta done that.”
“I agree,” Dude Miller said.
“Well, so do I,” Collins said. “How do you plan to go about it?”
“We don’t rightly know that, Mr. Collins,” Evan said.
“Please, call me Ed. Anybody who’s planning on making a move on Lincoln Burkett is a friend of mine.”
“We didn’t say we were moving on Burkett.”
“You don’t have to,” Collins said. “Anything dirty that’s happening in this town, Lincoln Burkett is behind it, take my word for it.”
“You fellas haven’t been able to convince the Town Council of that, have you?” Sam asked.
“Not a chance,” Miller said. “They’re blinded by what they think Burkett can do for this town.”
“They don’t realize what he’s going to do
“And what’s that?” Evan asked.
Collins sat forward and momentarily forgot about Serena’s delicious chicken and potatoes dinner.
“He wants to put this town right under his thumb,” he said, his face reddening, “and once he’s done that he’ll sethimself to grinding it under his heel. Before long, he’ll want to change the name of the town.”
“Well,” Jubal said, “hopefully not until we’ve made it live up to its old name.”
“Well,” Collins said, “take my advice and concentrate your efforts on Lincoln Burkett.”
Later, in his hotel room, Evan wished that Collins was basing his opinion on more than just a personal dislike for the man. Still, he tended to agree with the man, moreso because of the attempt on Sam’s life. Even if Burkett hadn’t sent them after Sam, Burkett’s men must have thought they’d be doing their boss some good by killing him, and since Sam and Jube and Evan himself were only in Vengeance Creek to look for their parents’ killer, there had to be a connection.
The presence of Coffin only underscored Burkett’s involvement in his parents’ death. If Burkett had nothing to do with it, there wouldn’t be any reason for him to worry, and there wouldn’t be any reason for him to import a professional gun. He certainly didn’t need Coffin to strengthen his hold on the town. His only obstacles were Miller and Collins, and he’d already demonstrated that he had the right kind of men to handle them.
He decided to go to sleep. All the thinking was giving him a headache. What he had to do tomorrow was find himself a poker game. He was always able to think clearest with a deck of cards in his hand.
In his room Sam was also thinking about Burkett’s possible involvement in the death of his parents. What he couldn’t figure out was why Burkett would need to kill his parents after he’d already taken their ranch from them. What possible harm could they have done him then?
Sam knew that Evan had already talked to Burkett but figured maybe he should take a ride out there himself tomorrow and pay his respects.
In his room Jubal McCall was just plain restless. He thought their best bet to settle this was just to ride out to Burkett’s’to his
He knew his brothers would never agree to that, but maybe he ought to surprise them and just go and do it himself.
Serena Miller couldn’t sleep. Something had happened that she had never expected. With the arrival of the McCall brothers she found herself attracted to two of them. Actually, she was attracted to Evan, but she was intrigued by Sam. After the attempt on his life today there was an aura of danger about him. She still could not believe that someone thought it would take seven men to kill him. How could one man command that much respect—or that much fear?
She wished she knew him better, but she doubted that there would be enough time.
Dude Miller was excited.
He believed that the attempt on Sam McCall’s life had set in motion a series of events that would result in the end of Lincoln Burkett. There was no way Burkett was going to come out on top of the McCall brothers—not all three of them. Sam McCall was, of course, the most dangerous of the three, as evidenced by the fact that seven men had been sent by somebody to kill him. The fact that his brothers had saved him just proved how tough the three of them would be to beat.
He didn’t know how long it would take, but Dude Miller was sure the McCalls would defeat Lincoln Burkett, andthen Vengeance Creek could get back to the task of growing on its own.
Ed Collins sat with the gun in his lap and stared down at it. Tonight he had not laid the barrel on his tongue. He had taken it out and held it, and now he was ready to put it away.
He wasn’t about to kill himself before he saw the outcome of the McCall-Burkett fight.
Part Three
Search for Vengeance
Chapter Twelve
Nothing happened for several days.
The McCalls, with Serena, continued to ask questions and keep their ears open around town. At the end of each day they had dinner at Dude Miller’s house and compared notes. They were all getting used to Serena Miller’s fine cooking.
Jubal started teasing Evan about Serena whenever he got the chance. It was obvious, he said, that Serena was sweet on Evan.
It was obvious to Evan that although he and Serena got along quite well, it was Sam who interested her the most. What he couldn’t figure out was whether or not her interest was romantic. He rarely saw her speak to Sam, unless they were all together. She also looked at Sam with a degree of interest, and awe. Sometimes, Evan wished she would look at him that way.
