Monte chuckled and that brought Smoke back from years past in his mind.
“Slim told me that Preacher collected his money for his pelts, picked up his bacon and beans, and walked out the door; didn’t even look at Davidson. There was four or five others in the room, drinking rotgut, and they spread the story around about Davidson. Smoke, Davidson has hated Preacher and anyone connected with him for years. And one more thing: All them men in that room, they was all back-shot, one at a time over the years. Only one left alive was Slim.”
“That tells me that this Davidson is crazy as a bessie-bug.”
“Damn shore is,” Johnny agreed. “What kind of man would hate like that, and for so long? It ain’t as if Smoke was any actual kin of Preacher’s. Why wait this long to do something about it?”
“You askin’ me questions I ain’t got no answers for,” Monte replied.
Smoke stood up. “Well, you can all bet one thing. I’m damn sure going to find out!”
4
Smoke could tell that Sally was getting anxious to travel east and see her folks. She tried to hide her growing excitement, but finally she gave in and admitted she was ready to go.
Some men—perhaps many men—would have been reluctant to let their wives travel so far away from the hearth of home, especially when taking into consideration the often terrible hardships that the women of the West had to endure when compared with the lifestyle of women comfortably back east, with their orderly, structured society and policemen walking the beat.
Why, Sally had even told of indoor plumbing, complete with relief stations, not just bathing tubs. Smoke couldn’t even imagine how something like that might work. He reckoned it would take a hell of a lot of digging, but it sure would be smelly if the pipes were to clog.
“You real sure you’re up to this thing?” Smoke asked her.
“I feel fine, honey. And the doctor says I’m one hundred percent healed.”
He patted her swelling belly and grinned. “Getting a little chubby, though.”
She playfully slapped at his hand. “What are you going to do if it’s twins?”
He put a fake serious look on his face. “Well, I might just take off for the mountains!”
She put her arms around him. “Mona says all the travel arrangements are complete. She says we’ll be leaving the last part of next week.”
“She told me. The Doc and me will ride down to Denver with you and see you both off.”
“I’ll like that. And then, Smoke?…”
“You know what I have to do, Sally. And it isn’t a question of wanting to do it. It’s something I have to do.”
She lay her head on his chest. “I know. When will they ever leave us alone?”
“Maybe never, honey. Accept that. Not as long as there is some punk kid who fancies himself a gunslick and is looking to make a rep for himself. Not as long as there are bounty hunters who work for jackasses like this Rex Davidson and his kind. And not as long as there are Rex Davidsons in the world.”
“It’s all so simple for you, isn’t it, Smoke?”
He knew what she was talking about. “Yes. If we could get rid of the scum of the earth, it would be such a very nice place to live.”
With her arms still around him, feeling the awesome physical strength of the man, she said, “Didn’t you tell me that this Dagget person came from back east?”
“Yeah. That’s what Johnny told me and the sheriff. Came out here about ten years ago. Are you thinking that you know this fellow?”
“It might be the same person. Maybe. It was a long time ago, Smoke. And not an experience that I wanted to remember. I’ve tried very hard to put it out of my mind.”
“Put what out of your mind?”
She pulled away from him and walked to the open window, the curtains ruffling with the slight breeze. “It was a long time ago. I was…oh, I guess nine or ten.” She paused for a time, Smoke waiting patiently. “I finally forced myself to remember something else Dagget said that night. He said that he…had wanted to see me naked for a long time. Then he grinned. Nasty. Evil. Per-verted. Then I recalled that…experience so long ago.”
She turned to face him.
“I was…molested as a child. I was not raped, but molested. By a man whom I believe to be this Dagget person. I screamed and it frightened him away. But before he left me, he slapped me and told me that if I ever told, he would kill my parents.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I never told anyone before this.”
“And you believe this Dagget is the same man?”
“I’m sure of it now. Shortly after my…incident, the man was forced to leave town; he killed a man in a lover’s quarrel.”
“All the more reason to kill the man.”
“I was not the only little girl he molested. Some were actually raped. It’s the same man,” she said flatly. “That is not something a woman ever forgets.”
“They still have warrants out for him in New Hampshire, you reckon?”
“I’m sure they do. Why do you ask?”
“Maybe I’ll bring his head back in a bag. Give it to the police.”
