“Suits me,” Sal said, slipping the twenty-dollar gold piece into his vest pocket. “I’m tarred of listenin’ to your big mouth a-flappin’ anyways.”
“The next time I see you, Sal, you better be ready to drag iron.”
The thin bowlegged cowboy lifted his eyes and stared at the foreman. Smoke knew that look; he had worn it himself, many times: It was the look of a very dangerous and very confident man. Smoke smiled, thinking: I’ve found another deputy.
“You best think about that, John.”Sal’s words were softly spoken and ringed with tempered steel. “I’ve helped bury a lot better men than you.”
John spat through the bars and cursed him.
Smoke caught Jim’s eyes and tapped the star pinned to his shirt, pointing at Sal. Jim grinned and nodded his head in agreement.
Smoke stepped outside and faced the Lightning crew. “You boys can have your drinks at the saloon, buy your tobacco and needs, or whatever else legal you came to town to do. Make trouble, and you’ll either join your bosses in there”—he jerked his thumb toward the jail—“or join Charlie in a pine box. The choice is yours.”
“We’re peaceful, Smoke,” a hand said. “But this here is a friendly warnin’ to you, and don’t take it the wrong way. When you let Red outta there, he’s gonna be on the prod for you. And right or wrong, we ride for the brand.”
“That’s your choice to make. Now, clear the street and drag Charlie off to the undertaker.”
Jim and Sal stepped out onto the boardwalk. Smoke turned to the just-fired puncher and said, “You know anything about deputy sheriffing?”
“I’ve wore a badge a time or two.”
“You want a job?”
“Might as well. Seein’ as how I done been fired from cowboyin’.”
“I have to warn you: It’s going to get real interesting around here.”
Sal hitched at his gunbelt. “I ’spect it will. Makes the time pass faster, though.”
“Lemme out of here, you son of a bitch!” John Steele hollered.
7
“I’ve had your suit pressed,” Sally told him. “We’re going to a party tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. The ladies of the town are giving us a party. They’re all quite taken with you and want to meet you up close.”
Smoke rolled his eyes. “I can hardly wait.”
Red Malone had woken up and had joined John Steele in bellowing from their cell.
“What are you going to do about that?” Sally asked.
“I can either shoot them, hang them, or cut them loose. What do you suggest?”
“They probably deserve the former. The latter would certainly quiet the town considerably.”
“Lay out my suit. I’ll go speak with Judge Garrison.”
“Oh, let’s bond them out,” the judge said. “All that squalling is giving me a headache.” He smiled. “We’ll set the bond at a hundred dollars apiece.”
“A hundred dollars!” John Steele recoiled from the bars and screamed like a wounded puma.
“Relax, John,” Malone said. The man’s face was horribly bruised, both eyes almost swollen shut, his lips puffy, and his nose looked like a big red beet that an elephant had stepped on. He took a wad of still-damp greenbacks from his pocket and carefully counted out two hundred dollars, passing the money through the bars.
Smoke took it and infuriated the man by counting it again.
“It’s all there, you son of a ...” He choked back the oath and stood gripping the bars, shaking with anger.
“Sure is,” Smoke said cheerfully. He unlocked the door and waved the men out. “You boys take it easy now. And come back to Barlow anytime, now, you hear?”
The rancher and his foreman did not reply. They stomped out and slammed the door behind them. Smoke sat at his desk and chuckled.
Smoke suffered through the party given by the good ladies of Barlow. He answered the questions—from both men and women alike—as best he could, and ate fried chicken and potato salad until he felt that if he ate another piece, he’d start clacking and laying eggs.
Walking back to the hotel—they had now been moved to the best room in the place, the Presidential Suite, which included a private water closet—Sally said, “Max Huggins had pretty well beaten these people down, hadn’t he, honey?”
“Yes. And that first day in town, I came down hard on them—probably too hard. It’s easy for someone ruthless to cut the heart out of people. It’s ridiculously easy. Max is a smart man as well as a ruthless one. He went after the children of the townspeople. That shows me right there how low he is.”
“You’ll have to kill him, won’t you, honey?”
“Me, or somebody. Yes.”
Sal walked up, making his rounds, rattling doorknobs and looking up dark alleyways.
“Quiet, Smoke,” the small man said. “I figure it’ll be that way for three, maybe five days. Until Red gets back on his feet. And then hell come gunnin’ for you.”
