“I’ll try,” Pearlie said. Pearlie looked up at Lenny. “Lenny, I’m goin’ to ask you do to a favor for me. A big favor.”
“All right. Whatever you say.”
“I want you to go up to the town of Big Rock. When you get there, ask directions for Sugarloaf Ranch. At Sugarloaf, you’ll find a fella by the name of Smoke Jensen. Tell him where I am, and what kind of a fix I’m in. Also, tell him how much money it cost you to go there. He’ll pay you back.”
“I will if I can get off,” Lenny said.
“If you can get off? Get off what?”
“You don’t know, because I wasn’t working when you were there, but I play piano for Mr. Gibson.”
“Gibson?”
“He’s the man that owns the saloon. He wasn’t there when you were there. In fact, he’s not even in town now. I’ll have to wait until he comes back so I can ask him.”
“There may not be enough time to wait,” Pearlie said. “From the way the marshal was talking, they’re going to try to get this done very fast.”
“You’re right,” Lenny said. He sighed. “All right, I’ll go. It may cost me my job, but I’ll go.”
“It’s not going to cost you your job, Lenny,” Dr. Urban said. “I’m sure you know that Rodney Gibson is a very good friend of mine. I’ll make things right with him.”
“I appreciate that,” Lenny said.
Pearlie reached over to pick up his hat. The silver band flashed once in the sun. “When you get to Sugarloaf, give this hat to a young fella there named Calvin Woods. Tell him I said, ‘Thanks for the loan.’”
“Thanks for the loan?”
“Yeah, he’ll know what that means. And it will prove that you didn’t steal it, that you’re actually carrying a message from me.”
“All right,” Lenny said, taking the hat. “I’ll do that.”
“Don’t let me down, Lenny,” Pearlie said. “And hurry, or my friends might get here just in time to visit my grave.”
“I don’t know, Lenny,” Lloyd Evans said as he stood behind the bar, polishing glasses. “I ain’t your boss. Rodney is. And he’s up in Denver for a few days, you know that.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lenny replied. “But Dr. Urban is a real good friend of Mr. Gibson’s. He said he would take it up with him and make it right.”
“If Dr. Urban offered to do that, you’ll probably be all right then,” Evans said. “They are good friends. Why, you’ve seen yourself how many times they’ve sat at that table back in the corner, playing chess.”
“How soon are you leaving?” Mary Lou asked.
“Pearlie is right. If I don’t go as soon as I can, it may be too late. That’s why I’m takin’ the next train north.”
“Lenny, are you sure you are doing the right thing?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Pogue Quentin is a very powerful man,” she replied. “He may not like it if he thinks you are helping the man who killed his son.”
“Come on, Mary Lou, you saw it just like I did. You know Pearlie didn’t have any choice but to shoot Billy Ray.”
“I know. It was self-defense.”
“I might not get up there and back in time—and even if I do, I don’t know that his friends will be able to do anything. But I have to try.”
“Who are his friends?” Evans asked. “Did Pearlie tell you their names?”
“Well, one of them owns a ranch and Pearlie used to work for him. His name is Smoke Jensen.”
Evans stopped polishing the glasses and looked up in sharp surprise. “Did you say Smoke Jensen?”
“Yes. Why? Do you know him?”
“I can’t exactly say that I know him,” Evans said. “But I’ve seen him in action.”
“Seen him in action? What kind of action?”
“He’s the fella that single-handed cleaned out the town of Bury, Idaho. I’ll tell you this—if there is a man alive who can help this boy, it would be someone like Smoke Jensen.”
“In that case, I have to get back in time,” Lenny said.
“Lenny, if you’d like, I’ll come down to the depot with you and see you off,” Mary Lou offered.
A broad smile spread across Lenny’s face. “Mary Lou, I can’t think of anything I would like more,” he said.
Kathleen York also went down to the depot to see her son off. Lenny was the only passenger leaving at this hour, so the waiting room was empty except for the single ticket clerk, who sat behind the ticket counter reading the newspaper, and the telegrapher, who was at his incessantly clacking key, nosily listening to the messages, even though none of them were being sent to Santa Clara.
“Ma, promise me that you’ll take food down to him while I’m gone,” Lenny said.
