thank you for helping me out, why don’t I feed you supper instead?” He looked at his daughter. “That is, if Hannah doesn’t mind me volunteering her to cook for you.”
“Not at all,” Hannah said quickly. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
“So do I,” Sam said without hesitation, which didn’t surprise Matt. “Thank you for the generous invitation. We accept.”
Matt didn’t mind Sam speaking on his behalf this time. After being on the trail for several weeks, a home- cooked meal sounded mighty fine.
“We live on Third Street,” Hannah told them. “Just go up one block and then turn left. It’s the fourth house.”
Sam nodded. “We’re much obliged, Miss Coleman.”
“Yeah,” Matt added. “Thanks. Now we’d better see about finding a stable for our horses and a place to stay.”
“Cottonwood Hotel’s across the street in the next block,” Coleman said. “Nice, clean place. And I’d recommend Loomis’s Stable, at the eastern end of the street. Ike Loomis will take good care of your animals.”
Matt and Sam nodded their thanks, then went to gather up their mounts while Coleman and Hannah went into the marshal’s office. The horses were well trained and hadn’t gone far. As the blood brothers led them toward the stable Coleman had recommended, Matt grinned and said, “You’ve got it bad.”
“What?” Sam said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t! I saw the way you were makin’ calf eyes at Miss Hannah.”
“You’re loco!” Sam protested. “She’s a pretty girl, I suppose, but I wasn’t…I didn’t…” His voice trailed off and he blew out an exasperated breath.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that you started talkin’ about stayin’ around these parts for a while.”
“The horses need a rest,” Sam insisted.
“I need a drink, too, but it looks like I’m not gonna get one here.”
“You can live without a drink for a few days.” Sam paused, then went on. “Did you hear what Hannah said about someone trying to bushwhack her father?”
“Of course I heard her. I was standin’ right there.” Matt frowned a little. “But that is a mite interestin’. Could be the marshal has more trouble on his hands than he realizes.”
“And the prospect of trouble always intrigues you, doesn’t it?” Sam asked.
Matt grinned in response but didn’t say anything.
They reached the livery stable. According to the sign painted on the front wall over its big double doors, it was LOOMIS’S LIVERY—ISAAC LOOMIS, PROP. When they led their horses inside, a short, barrel-shaped man in overalls and with a plug hat met them. He had a short, rusty beard, and a crooked black stogie was clenched between his teeth.
“Howdy, gents,” he said without removing the stogie. “He’p you?”
“We need a place to put up our horses,” Sam said.
“And a place that’ll sell us a drink,” Matt added jokingly.
The fat man leaned out to look both ways along the street, then slowly straightened and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone as he said, “Just could be I might can he’p you with both of them things.”
Chapter 5
The blood brothers looked at him in surprise. Matt said, “I was just funnin’ with you, old-timer. We know about the new law in Kansas.”
“Yeah, well, just ’cause somethin’s a law don’t mean that everybody follows it.” The liveryman frowned suddenly. “You boys ain’t some o’ them special marshals, are you?”
“Us? Not hardly,” Matt said.
“We’re just passing through Cottonwood,” Sam added. “And we’re really not interested in having a drink.”
“Speak for yourself,” Matt said. He turned to the liveryman. “Just what were you gettin’ at, amigo?”
“There’s an old barn at the other end o’ town. It used to be Cottonwood’s other livery stable, but there weren’t enough business to support two of ’em. Fella who owned it closed up shop and went back wherever he came from. Barn’s been sittin’ there empty for nigh on to a year.”
“So what happened?” Sam asked. “Someone came along and converted it into a secret saloon once that new law went into effect?”
The liveryman looked around nervously again, then said, “You didn’t hear it from me.”
“Wait a minute. You’re serious? There really is a saloon down there?”
“Now you’re talkin’,” Matt said.
“Just go ’round back and tell ’em that Ike sent you. That’s me, Ike Loomis.”
Matt grinned. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Loomis. Under the circumstances, mighty pleased.”
“I suppose you get a little payment for sending customers down there,” Sam said with a note of disapproval in his voice.
