“We need to talk.”
“All right. Buy me a drink, Mr. West,” she said. “That way I can sit and talk with you for a spell without anyone wondering what’s going on.”
“I’d be glad to. And I’ll have a beer,” Smoke said. He took a dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to her.
Minnie started to the bar to get the drinks, but on her way she stopped at one of the other tables and spoke to the two men who were there. Smoke saw her nod toward him then, and as she continued on toward the bar, the two men got up and, bringing their mugs with them, came over to Smoke’s table.
“You would be Mr. West?” one of them asked.
Smoke nodded, but did not speak.
“May we join you?”
“Yes, please do.” He would have said that he wanted no company, had he not seen Minnie talking to them. But he was certain that if she had spoken to them, then she had probably invited them to join in the conversation. And conversation was good, because he needed as much information as he could gather before he made his move. Whatever that move might turn out to be.
The two men sat down as Minnie got a couple of beers at the bar.
“I’m Doc Baker, this is Nate Nabors. He owns this saloon,” the older of the two men said.
“Pleased to meet the both of you,” Smoke said. He wasn’t sure where this was going, so he was keeping his own comments to a minimum.
“I hope you don’t mind, Mr. West. I told these two gentlemen that you were here,” Minnie said as she returned with the two beers and sat down as well. “They know all about the telegram I sent to you, and they know that you are one of Bobby Lee’s friends. They want to help you if they can.”
“Help me with what?”
“Whatever it is you plan to do, Mr. West,” Nabors said.
“What makes you think I’m going to do anything?”
Minnie had a confused and rather disappointed look on her face.
“I don’t know, maybe I misunderstood,” she said. “I thought that being one of Bobby Lee’s friends you might— uh, well, that is, you did come in response to my telegram, didn’t you? The telegram I sent you?”
“I did.”
“And you are a friend of Bobby Lee’s?”
“I am.”
“Here is the thing, Mr. West. You are here, and we don’t believe you would have come if you didn’t plan to do something,” Doc Baker said.
“And if you do have something planned, we want to help, because we don’t believe Bobby Lee is guilty,” Nabors added.
“Are there many in town like you? By that I mean, people who don’t believe Bobby Lee is guilty,” Smoke asked. He thought of the old white-haired man he had spoken to in front of the drug store.
The others exchanged glances for a moment. Then Doc Baker answered for all three of them.
“A few more maybe, but I’m afraid there aren’t too many of us who feel this way,” he said. “The problem is, Bobby Lee was brought in by passengers who were on the train when it was held up and the express man murdered. That means he was obviously there.”
“Did anyone testify that he saw Bobby Lee shoot the messenger?” Smoke asked.
“No. Nobody testified to that, because nobody saw him do it,” Nabors answered. “And the reason nobody saw him shoot the messenger is because he didn’t do it.”
“But Bobby Lee was there?”
“Oh, yes, he was there.”
Smoke nodded. “Yeah, I was afraid of that. If he was there, then he bears some of the guilt.”
“Whose side are you on, Mr. West?” Minnie asked, surprised by the way the conversation was going.
“I’m just trying to find out as much as I can about what happened,” Smoke replied.
“What happened is Frank Dodd and the others got away. Someone has to hang, so it’s going to be Bobby Lee,” Doc Baker said.
“No!” Minnie said, biting her fist as tears sprung to her eyes. “He can’t hang.”
“He sure as hell can,” Doc Baker said. “And if Mr. West here isn’t able to do anything about it, Bobby Lee damn well will hang.”
“No!” Minnie said again. “No!”
Minnie spoke so loudly that several others in the saloon looked over toward the table she was sharing with the three men, to see what was going on.
“Shh, Minnie, there’s no need for everyone in town to know our business,” Doc Baker said.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Minnie responded quietly and contritely.
