“He was here,” Doc said. “At least his words were. Mr. Murchison, thanks for reading them. You read the words beautifully, and he would have been very proud.”
“Mrs. York,” Mary Lou said.
“Mary Lou, dear, please, call me Kathleen.”
“Kathleen, if you don’t mind, I think I would like to go over to the kitchen and make an apple pie. We can have it later in celebration.”
“Can you bake an apple pie?” Lenny asked. “That’s my favorite.”
Mary Lou smiled. “Mine, too,” she said. “It’s a recipe my mama taught me.”
“Well, of course you can, dear,” Kathleen said. “Do you need my help?”
For the next several minutes, Smoke, Sally, Pearlie, and the others engaged the townspeople in conversation. Many in the town had heard of Smoke, and they were taking this opportunity to get close to someone who was already famous.
“Mr. Jensen?” someone said.
Looking up, Smoke saw a big bearded man with a wandering eye.
“Yes?”
“I’m Cole Mathers,” the man said.
“What do you want, Mathers?” Doc asked in a tone of voice that wasn’t too friendly. “Mathers is Quentin’s foreman,” he said to the others.
“I ain’t his foreman anymore,” Cole said.
“Did he fire you?” Doc asked.
“No, sir, he didn’t fire me. I quit. I couldn’t go along with what he’s plannin’ now.”
“What is he planning now?”
“Well, for one thing, he’s got the whore,” Cole said.
“What?” Lenny asked.
“The whore,” Cole said. “He’s got her and he says he’s goin’ to kill her if Pearlie don’t come out and face his man, Snake Cates.”
“I need a gun,” Pearlie said.
“No, wait,” Smoke said. “We’ve just got you through one trial. There’s no sense in getting you mixed up in another one. I’ll go out.”
Mathers nodded. “That’s what Quentin figured you would do,” he said. “Truth is, I think he wants you dead as much or more than he wants Pearlie.”
“Where is Mary Lou?” Lenny asked.
“Deputy Wilson and a couple others are holdin’ her down at the Quentin’s Freight Warehouse.”
“Pearlie, you and Cal go down to the depot and get Mary Lou.”
“I’m going, too,” Lenny said.
“All right, you can go as well.”
“My pistol is down at the jailhouse,” Pearlie said.
“I’ve got one behind the bar you can use, Pearlie,” Evans said.
“Mr. Evans, I’ll borrow the shotgun if you don’t mind,” Lenny said.
“Hold on a minute,” another voice called and looking around, Smoke saw that Judge McCabe had been listening in on the conversation. “You men can’t go out there like this.”
“Judge, they have the girl,” Smoke said.
McCabe lifted his hand. “You can’t go out like this until I deputize you,” he said. “Raise your hands, all of you.”
Smoke, Pearlie, Cal, and Lennie lifted their hands.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, I hereby vacate the law-enforcement responsibilities of Dawson and Wilson, and grant temporary deputy status to each of you.”
Smoke smiled. “Thanks, Judge,” he said. “And here, I thought you were called the Hanging Judge.”
“I will hang them if they are guilty and need hanging,” McCabe said.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Smoke said.
“Mr. Jensen,” Mathers called as they were starting toward the door. Smoke turned back toward him. “I just thought you ought to know. If Cates doesn’t kill you, Quentin and Dawson plan to do it themselves.”
“Thanks,” Smoke said.
The street was empty when Smoke stepped out onto the boardwalk in front of the New York Saloon. The street was empty, but it wasn’t unobserved, because word had already spread throughout the town that there was going to be a showdown between two of the fastest guns in the West.
Smoke eased his pistol from his holster, turned the cylinder to check the loads, then slipped his pistol back into
