“Say that again,” he said.
That stuff was still wearing off, and he was slower than I am. I thought I wouldn’t have me any working deputies for a few more hours, and maybe not until the next day. But I sure was glad to find them alive, even if they couldn’t add two and two.
“Look, you help these fellers get themselves awake and then get out of here. Go on down to the jail and fort up. I’ve got a job to do.”
“I don’t get it,” said Rusty.
“You’ll get the whole story soon enough. I’ve got some business to do. But first tell me how you got here.”
“T-Bar men pulled us out of bed, hauled us over here, every gun pointing our way. Upward pushed some tumblers of whiskey in front of us and told us to drink up. That’s the last I knew.”
“It’s that stuff Upward’s been using,” I said. “You get back to the jail and be real careful.”
Rusty was still pretty dazed-looking, but he nodded. I hated to leave them in there unarmed, so I poked around and found Sammy’s shotgun under his bar. I didn’t see any blue bottles this time, but Sammy had a stash of that stuff somewhere. I took the shotgun back to Rusty and gave it to him. He was pretty groggy, and maybe it wasn’t the smartest move.
“This here’s some protection. It’s Sammy’s.”
Rusty nodded. “It’ll serve,” he said. “I couldn’t hit a barn with a revolver.”
“I’ve got work to do,” I said, and left them there.
Out in the alley, there wasn’t no one stirring. I wanted three men: Sammy Upward, Carter Bell, and Crayfish Ruble. Him most of all. They might still be in Doubtful. There wasn’t any reason for them to git out, what with all the deputies knocked flat and me alone. I tried to figure what Crayfish knew. He knew that Judge Nippers had stopped the execution, but he didn’t know why. Or maybe he did. If he knew someone had sung a song or two, it would have to be one of three people: Sammy, Plug Parsons, or Carter Bell, them that testified in the trial that King Bragg had shot and killed them T-Bar men. Plug was lying in the dirt at the gallows, and wouldn’t be singing any songs.
I was pretty slow to come to it, but when I did it hit me hard. If them other two witnesses got kilt, Crayfish would be home free. There’d be no one around to point the finger at him. There’d be no reason to worry about anything. I had to find them two, Sammy or Carter, and get them out of harm’s way.
I started toward Red Light Row, and sure enough, there was all them T-Bar horses tied to the hitch rails, slapping flies with their tails, yawning, and dropping green piles on the clay. At first I thought to storm into Rosie’s place, but that might not be so bright. Especially if they was all in there waiting for me to walk through the door. I thought maybe to see what I could find at Big Lulu’s house first. I eyed the windows at Rosie’s, and saw a few faces duck away, so I knew I was being watched real hard. There wasn’t going to be any surprises, and I wasn’t going to collar Crayfish unannounced. I sure wished I had some deputies handy, but that bunch was so hung over it’d be a week before they’d be back on their feet.
Lulu’s then. I eyed the windows. It was midday, not a time for much business in that trade, and most of the ladies were snoring away in there. But I pushed the door open and slid to one side. No shots met me. I got in there and took a hard look at the parlor, and all the horsehair furniture with the doilies pinned on it. It sure was quiet.
I was about to ring that bell they keep when a customer wants service, when Lulu herself showed up in her gray wrapper with the purple petunias on it.
“You got any T-Bar men in here?”
“Why, Sheriff, I wouldn’t think of violating the privacy of my patrons.”
“You got T-Bar men? You tell me right now or I’ll shut you down real quick.”
She eyed me like I had just broken all the china. “We might have one or two,” she said.
“Where are they?”
“They are pleasuring their temporary wives, Sheriff.”
“Who are they?”
“I couldn’t possibly—well, you must be discreet.”
“If you don’t tell me real quick, I’m gonna start opening doors here and having a look-see.”
“Oh, sir, don’t do that. We don’t want to violate the sacrament.”
“Sacrament?”
“Why, their sacramental union. It’s sacred. It is a private matter between a man and a woman.”
“Well, if you don’t tell me who, and where, I’m gonna start looking in on a lot of them sacraments.”
“Surely, Mr. Pickens, you wouldn’t do anything so, so, so…distasteful?”
“I sure would. You can distaste me all you want, but I’m about to go hunting if you don’t steer me fast.”
She sighed, and I thought she would tell me she had a headache or something. She wiped her eyes with her soft hand and sighed again.
“Mr. Upward is in room seven with Mrs. Cardwell. And Mr. Bell is in room five with Mrs. Boyd.”
“Mrs. who? How come they’re married?”
“We offer experience, Sheriff. What can an inexperienced temporary wife offer? A perfect sacrament requires deep experience, and then the result is sacred. So all my ladies have been married, or may say they have.”
“All right, I’m gonna bust in on them. I want both of them fellers, and if I can catch them with their pants off, all the better.”
