Both men nodded.
Sam turned to the mayor and said, “Mr. Mayor, my men and I will do out best to protect the town and our prisoner until the federal marshal arrives.”
“And when will that be?” the Mayor asked.
Sam turned to Serena, who had sent a telegram to Austin, Texas, where the man was supposed to be coming from.
“The reply said that the marshal had to go to Fort Worth first on an emergency. He should be here in three days.”
“There you have it,” Sam said. “In three days’ time this will all be over.”
“Three days,” the mayor said, looking dubious and shaking his head. “Three days,” he repeated, and left in a daze.
Sam looked at Serena, Dude and Jubal, and Jubal said, “Or less.”
Sam knew what he meant.
When Lincoln Burkett heard the news of his son’s death he sat very still. The three men standing in front of him, and his foreman, all stood still and stayed very quiet. This was not the reaction they had anticipated.
“And Coffin?” Burkett asked then.
“Sam McCall took him to jail,” one of the men said.
“No gunplay?”
“McCall didn’t give Coffin no chance,” the man said, explaining how McCall had jumped Coffin without giving him a chance to go for his gun.
“All right,” Burkett said, “all right. Conners, get the men together.”
“All of them, sir?”
“All of them who are willing to fight,” Burkett said.
“And those who aren’t?” Conners asked. After all, most of the men had signed on as ranch hands.
“Fire them.”
“Yes, sir.” Conners turned to the other men and said, “Get out. Pass the word.”
“Sure, boss.”
After the men left Chuck Conners looked at Burkett and asked, “Are you all right, sir?”
“I’m fine, Conners.” Burkett looked up at his foreman.
“Are you worried that you see no grief? Well, I’ll save you the worry. This is not the time to grieve, this is the time for revenge. Grief will come later. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Conners, pick one man and have him ride into town and look things over.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We won’t move until he comes back.”
“Right.”
“Get out, now,” Burkett said. “I have to think.”
Conners nodded and left.
Burkett sat behind his desk, wondering why he felt so controlled. There was no rage, or grief, there was no feeling at all. There was just the realization that there was something that had to be done.
Later he’d worry about emotions.
Right now his concern was revenge.
Once the jail was set up for their three-day—at
“All right, Dude,” he said, “Out.”
“Hey, wait.”
“Your help is appreciated up to now, Dude,” Sam said, “but from here on in it’s up to me and Jubal”
“I want to help.”
“You have, but I don’t want you to risk your life,” Sam said. He looked at Serena, and then back at her father.
“That’s something that Jubal and I have to do, Dude, not you, and not Serena.”
“Sam—”
“Pa,” Serena said. “He’s right.”
“Dude,” he said, “go home with Serena—and for God’s sake keep her away from here.”
“He doesn’t have to keep me away,” Serena said. “I’m not a child.”
“No, you’re not,” Sam said. “Dude?”
“All right, I will.”
“And keep an eye out for that marshal.”
Dude nodded.
“All right, out with both of you. From this point on, nobody in and nobody out.”
Serena walked over to Jubal and kissed him on the cheek. His face flushed. She turned and looked at Sam.
“Take care of him, all right? And of yourself.”
“We’ll take care of each other,” Sam said. “We’re the only family we have now.”
“No,” she said, “that’s not true.”
She turned and went out the door. Miller started to follow her out. He stopped before leaving, turned, and said, “Good luck.”
“Thanks”
Dude Miller walked out, and Jubal closed the door behind him. He turned to Sam and said, “We’re gonna need it.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Sam made a pot of coffee and sat behind the sheriff’s desk with a cup. Jubal sat across from him. Sam began opening drawers and looking inside.
“What are you looking for?” Jubal asked.
“Ah, found ’em.”
Sam took his hand out of a drawer and tossed something at Jubal, who caught it with one hand. When he looked at it he saw that it was a deputy’s badge.
“Put it on,” Sam said.
“You know,” Jubal said, pinning it to his chest, “I can’t believe the way this has turned out. We’re the law in Vengeance Creek.”
“It is an ‘odd—twist, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think odd covers it.”
They ruminated over their coffee for a few moments and then Jubal said, “When Burkett comes after us, he’ll be breaking the law.”
“That’s right.”
“And then we’ll have him.”
“Right again, but not for murder—and we’ll only have him if we survive.”
“Hey!” Coffin called from his cell.
Jubal cocked his head at Sam, but Sam said nothing.
“How about some of that coffee?”
“Bring him a cup,” Sam said.
“All right.”
“Make him stand against the wall while you put it on the floor in front of the cell.”
Jubal looked at Sam and then nodded. He hadn’t thought of that. He took the coffee into the back.
“Smells good,” Coffin said.
