“I don’t know…” Serena said. “With his reputation you’d think he wouldn’t want to eat with…with…”
“Decent people?” Evan asked.
“I was going to say that,” she admitted.
“What about Sam?” Evan asked. “Should he be allowed to eat here?”
“That’s different.”
“Why? He has a reputation.”
“But I know Sam,” Serena said. “I know he’s not like that.”
“Maybe if you knew Coffin you’d decide that he wasn’t like his reputation, either.”
“I don’t understand you,” Serena said. “Isn’t he here to kill Sam?”
“We don’t know why he’s here,” Evan said. “We do know one thing: when Sam was pinned down in that telegraph office, Coffin helped us.”
Serena looked surprised.
“Why would he do that?”
“Maybe he was just saving Sam for himself,” Evan said.
“Maybe he couldn’t see a man dying that way, at the hands of seven men, all of whom were too cowardly to face him alone.”
Serena compressed her lips and then said, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand men.”
“I reckon that makes us even, Serena,” Jubal said.
“Why don’t we eat?” Evan suggested. “I’m starved.”
Coffin recognized Jubal as Sam McCall’s brother, and the other man was Evan McCall. He hadn’t gotten a good look at either of them on the street that day, but he had seen Jubal in the saloon with Sam McCall the day they had talked, and he’d seen Evan out at Burkett’s place.
Coffin wondered idly if Sam’s ability with a gun was a family trait.
After he finished his dinner Coffin walked over to the table where Evan, Jubal, and Serena were still eating. He was holding his hat in his hand.
“Hello, boy,” he said to Jubal.
“The name’s Jubal.”
“Sure, Jubal,” Coffin said. “I didn’t mean any offense.”
“None taken, Coffin,” Evan said. “Is there some reason why you came over here?”
“As a matter of fact, there is,” Coffin said, switching his gaze to Serena. “I came to pay my respects to the lady. Ma’am, I do believe you’re the prettiest woman I’ve seen in a long time. I just wanted to tell you that.”
Serena stared at Coffin for a few moments and then said, “Thank you.”
“Are you Sam’s woman?” Coffin asked.
“Why do you want to know that?” Evan asked.
Coffin smiled, and Serena noticed that the smile touched his lips, but not his eyes. His cold gray eyes made her shiver inside.
“Just curious, that’s all.”
“Well,” Evan said, “if you have to know, she’s Jubal’s girl.”
“Jubal, eh?”
Both Jubal and Serena gave Evan quick looks and then tried to mask them.
“Lucky lad,” Coffin said, then added, “Oops, sorry.
That’s just like calling you ‘kid,—isn’t it?”
Jubal didn’t answer.
“Well,” Coffin said, “I’ll be on my way and allow you to finish your meal. Ma’am?”
He put on his hat and walked out. Serena couldn’t keep herself from staring at his gun as he went out.
“Is he very good with his gun?” she asked.
“That’s what they say,” Evan said.
“Better than Sam?”
“There’s only one way we’ll ever find that out” Jubal said, and Evan gave him a warning look.
“Is that going to happen?” Serena asked.
Neither Evan nor Jubal answered her this time.
“Of course,” she said, answering her own question, “of course it will. If you keep pursuing Lincoln Burkett, it will happen. And why shouldn’t it?”
“Serena—” Evan said, but she wasn’t listening.
“The whole town knows they’re both here, and they want to see it. If it happens, it will put this town on the map, won’t it?”
“Serena—” Jubal said, but he didn’t have any luck either.
“I’ll bet you two are curious about it, too. I’ll bet they’re curious about it themselves. I’m probably the only one who doesn’t want to see it happen.”
“Serena!” This time they tried it together and managed to get her attention.
“What?”
“Eat your dinner,” Evan said, “and stop worrying about things you have no control over.”
She looked down at her plate and pushed it away.
“I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Well, I haven’t,” Evan said. “It may not be as good as your cooking, but it’ll do.”
Evan started to eat, frowning at Jubal until he started as well.
As Coffin was approaching the hotel he stopped to light a cigarette. He knew that all of the McCall brothers had rooms in the hotel, and since the hotel only had two floors there was a fifty-fifty chance that Sam McCall’s room was on the same floor as his.
In the past Coffin had drawn his gun only for money. Now, however, he was starting to wonder if he could avoid doing it just out of curiosity. He was itching to try McCall.
He dropped the cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out deliberately. He’d give Burkett a little more time to do what he had to do, and then Coffin was just going to have to do what
Sam McCall was looking out the window. He saw Coffin pause for a cigarette, staring at the hotel. The man was probably thinking the same thing. They couldn’t be more than some feet apart when they were both in their rooms.
Sooner or later they’d have to close the distance between them, whether it was because Coffin was working for Burkett, or simply because it was inevitable.
Sam had to admit to a lingering curiosity about Coffin.
He had to admit to it, but he didn’t have to give in to it.
He turned and limped back to bed.
Evan walked Serena home while Jubal went to the saloon, where Evan would meet him later.
They walked at a leisurely pace, in silence for most of the way. As they approached the house Serena stopped.
“What is it?” Evan asked.
“Evan, why don’t you and your brothers just leave town? Forget all about this place.”
“We will,” Evan said.
“After you find out who killed your parents.”
“That’s right.”
“Couldn’t the official verdict be right?”
“You don’t believe that any more than we do, Serena.
What’s your point?”
She hesitated a moment and then blurted out, “I don’t know that finding out who killed them is worth being killed yourselves.”
“Take a moment to think about that, Serena,” Evan said. “What if it was your father?”
“I see your point.”
“We appreciate your concern, we really do…and your help. If you’d rather just back away from this whole thing we’d understand. In fact, we’d like for you to do just that—”
