Shaw got up from the table, walked over to speak to Pogue, then brought him back.
“Pogue, this here is Deputy Sheriff Malcolm,” Shaw said.
Pogue was startled by the introduction. “Deputy Sheriff? You didn’t tell me nothin’ ’bout him bein’ a deputy sheriff.” Pogue looked directly at Malcolm. “Look here, you got nothin’ on me. A policeman has already been here.”
“Oh, I’m not a local deputy, I have no jurisdiction here,” Malcolm said. “Pogue, is that your Christian name, or your surname?”
“It’s my name,” Pogue answered without being more specific. He wheezed when he talked.
“I watched your—shall we call it performance? You seem to be quite accomplished with a pistol.”
Two men were, at that moment, picking up Gentry’s body and putting it on a litter.
“Put him in the wagon, I’ll drive him down to the undertaker,” someone said. There was considerably more attention being paid to the disposition of the body than to the conversation going on between Malcolm and Pogue.
“I’m good enough,” Pogue replied.
“Have you ever heard of a man named MacCallister?” Malcolm asked.
Pogue’s eyes squinted. “Yeah, I’ve heard of Falcon MacCallister. What about it?”
“Do you think you are as good as he is?”
“I may be. Why are you askin’?”
“Mr. Malcolm has a bone to pick with MacCallister,” Shaw said.
“Yeah, don’t ever’one?” Pogue replied.
“In fact, my particular grievance is not with Falcon MacCallister, but with his kinsman, Duff MacCallister.”
“Duff MacCallister? I’ve never heard of ’im.”
“It is my understanding that Duff and Falcon will be together, so I cannot hunt for one without hunting for the other.”
“You goin’ after them, are you?” Pogue asked.
“Yes.”
Pogue grunted what might have been a laugh. “Just the two of you?”
“And you, if we can come to some arrangement,” Malcolm said. “I think three of us might be enough.”
“Malcolm, let me ask you somethin’,” Shaw said. “Didn’t you tell me that they was three of you tried to take on Duff MacCallister?”
“Yes.”
“And what happened?”
“He killed the other two,” Malcolm said. “But that was an unusual circumstance. That’s not likely to happen again.”
“Wait a minute,” Pogue said. “You’re tellin’ me that three of you wasn’t enough to take on this here Duff feller, but you think three of us would be enough for Duff and Falcon? Mister, I ain’t sure three is enough for Falcon alone, let alone iffen he has someone with him. And this here Duff feller you are talkin’ about don’t seem like he’s goin’ to be too easy his ownself.”
“I thought you said you said you were as good as Falcon MacCallister.”
“I said I might be,” Pogue said. “But you done brought up someone else, and that changes it a bit. You said somethin’ about comin’ to an arrangement with me,” Pogue said. “Does that mean you’d be willin’ to pay me?”
“Aye.”
“That’s good. But I’m not goin’ to get myself kilt by goin’ up against Falcon MacCallister and this other feller you’re talkin’ about. You can’t spend money if you’re dead. We’re goin’ to need some more people.”
“I don’t have enough money to pay for any more people,” Malcolm said.
“Mister, there’s lots of folks that want Falcon dead. Onliest thing is there ain’t none of ’em got the sand to go up ag’in him alone. But if there was to be a bunch of us all gathered together, they wouldn’t be scared and more’n likely we would get the job done. And it wouldn’t cost you nothin’ ’cept what you are goin’ to pay me.”
“The only problem is, Falcon is not the one I am interested in,” Malcolm said.
“That don’t matter none. Iffen they are together like you say, you ain’t likely to get one of ’em, without you get the other,” Pogue said.
“Do you think you could find such men?” Malcolm asked.
“I can find ’em. I know lots of people that would like to see Falcon MacCallister dead. Hell, the problem ain’t goin’ to be in findin’ ’em, it’s goin’ to be in decidin’ which ones to take and which ones to leave.”
Malcolm thought about it for a moment, then he nodded. “All right. Round up the men.”
“We ain’t talked about gettin’ paid yet.”
“Suppose I pay you twenty-five dollars?” Malcolm suggested.
“Fifty,” Pogue countered.
