“A stiff upper lip?” Logan said. He chuckled and ran his finger across his mustache. “What does that mean? I’ve never heard that used before.”
“It is a British idiom,” Winnie explained. “It means to remain undaunted in the face of danger and adversity. It is best expressed in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Would you like to hear it?”
“Yeah, let me hear it.”
Winnie began to say the poem as if presenting it in a class of declamation.
“What is that about? What do you mean, the ‘valley of death’?”
“It refers to a regiment of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against the Russians during the Crimean War. There were six hundred who started the charge, and nearly half of them were killed,” Winnie said.
“I’ll be damned,” Logan said. “And you think that was good, do you?”
“I do not think it is good that so many were killed,” Winnie said. “But I think the fact that they showed honor, courage, and kept a stiff upper lip is to be admired.”
“And I think they were crazy. If I had been there, you had better believe that I wouldn’t have done anything so crazy.”
“What would you have done?”
“I would have run away,” Logan said.
“You would do so at the expense of your honor?” Winnie asked.
“Ha! Honor? Kid, I’m a rustler and a murderer. To me, the only honor is in staying alive.”
“I see.”
“The only place there is honor is in poems and stories and such,” Logan continued. “Honor ain’t nothin’ real.”
“Oh, but I believe it is, sir,” Winnie said.
“Do you know anyone with honor?”
“Oh, indeed I do, sir. Mr. Jensen is a man of honor and courage.”
Logan chuckled. “Well, we will see just how much honor and courage Jensen has, won’t we? Do you think he will try to rescue you?”
Winnie gasped. “That’s why you are holding me here, isn’t it? You are using me as bait.”
“You’re a smart kid, ain’t you? But don’t worry. Once we draw him into the trap, we’ll let you go.”
Logan left Winnie and went back to talk to the others.
“Jensen will show up at the point tomorrow at ten o’clock. Only we are going to be there by nine—no, make it eight.”
“Hell, that’s two hours early,” Poindexter said. “Why do we need to be there so early?”
“In case he gets anxious and comes early, I want us to already be there,” Logan said.
No one came to talk to Winnie for the rest of the day. He stayed over in the corner next to the fireplace and listened carefully to their conversation to see if there was anything he could learn that might be used to his advantage. He studied the layout of the shack in order to try and determine a way of escaping. There were only two windows high on the walls at each end, one over a double bunk bed, the other over the stove. The only other way out was the single door in the front of the building.
That night Winnie accepted the offer of a bowl of cold beans.
“Now, boy, let me tell you how this is going to work,” Logan said. “One of us is going to be awake all night long. We’ll be keeping an eye on you, so don’t get any idea about tryin’ to escape, because it ain’t goin’ to happen. You understand that?”
“Yes, sir,” Winnie replied.
When it got dark enough, the men lit a lantern and set it on the table so they could see to play cards. Winnie stretched out on the floor and went to sleep.
He had no idea how long he had been asleep when he woke up. It was still dark and the lantern, though still burning, had been turned down very low so that the room, though illuminated, was barely so. The air was rent with the snoring of the sleeping men, and Winnie sat up to have a look around.
Perhaps this was his opportunity to escape!
Getting on his feet as quietly as he could, he started toward the door. That was when he saw someone sitting in a chair right beside the door.
Winnie’s spirits fell when he saw that; then he remembered that Logan had told him that he was going to keep someone awake all night long so they could keep an eye on him. Winnie recognized him. It was Clayton, the cook.
But as Winnie continued to stare at him for a long moment, he saw that Clayton didn’t seem to be moving.
Winnie took a step toward him, walking as quietly as he could.
Clayton had not noticed him, and Winnie felt a surge of hope and excitement when he realized that, like the
