'We're going to have to match up the names of some of these people with records from the assayer's office.'
Frank nodded his head. 'We'll be lucky to match up half of them. Jerry, did you see Kid Moran do anything to aid the outlaws?'
'No. Not a thing. And he's gone. So is Big Bob Mallory.'
'Figures. How about Charles Dutton?'
'I guess he's still in town. I haven't seen him.'
'Any chance of getting Doc Bracken up here?'
'Not a chance, Frank. He's operating fast as he can, and the wounded keep piling up. He's moved his operatin' to the church buildin' on Willow Street.'
'All right. See if you can get a couple of wagons. We'll move the wounded into town.'
'How about the bodies?'
Frank sighed. 'I guess we'll leave them where they fell for the time being. Let's see to the living first.'
'Frank, I haven't seen Conrad Browning.'
'Vivian told me she gave him a sedative this morning. He slept through the attack. I'd better go check on him and get him up and moving. He might not get another chance to see his mother alive.'
'Don't give up on her, Frank. She's a strong woman with a powerful will to live.'
'She took three rounds in the chest, Jer. Looks like one went through a lung and another punched through a kidney.'
'But she's still alive.'
'Yeah. Take over here, Jer. I'll be in town.'
Frank rode into town and checked on Vivian. She was still clinging to life. He went to the Browning estate and got Conrad up and moving. He made coffee while Conrad washed his face and dressed. Then he told him what had happened.
The young man went white in the face with shock. 'Mother?'
'She's still alive.'
'Take me to her, Marshal.'
'Of course.'
Frank took Conrad to the doctor's office, where a local woman who was Bracken's nurse was sitting with Vivian. A very subdued Conrad took a chair by his mother's bed and reached out, touching her and finally taking her hand into his.
Frank slipped outside, leaving the mother and son together. He stood alone for a few moments, then carefully rolled a cigarette and smoked it, but he got no pleasure from it. The tobacco was bitter tasting on his tongue, all mixed up with the lonely feelings of sorrow and regret, for himself, for Conrad, and especially for Vivian. _And_, he thought with a sigh, forcing himself to admit it, _for all the things that might have been and now can never be. Never, ever be._
Jerry rode up and dismounted, walking over to Frank. 'How is she, Frank?'
'Doc Bracken says there is no hope, Jer. Conrad is in there with her now.'
'How is he holdin' up?'
'Being a very strong and brave young man. But I don't think that's going to last for any length of time.'
'They were real close, weren't they?'
'Yes.'
'Frank, I hate to bring this up now, but I've got to. We've got forty-two people dead and seventy wounded, some of them real serious. We can't get word out, the telegraph is down, and the road is blocked by the outlaws about three miles out of town.'
'What?'
'They want the money in the bank, Frank. All of it. We just got that word. And they know to a penny how much Jenkins had in his bank.'
'How the hell could they know that?'
'One of the tellers was involved. Young man name of Dean Hill. His girlfriend came to the office and told me about him. She's over there now. Wants to talk to you.'
'All right. Where is this Dean Hill now?'
'He rode out with the survivors of the holdup.'
'I'll make you a wager. If he isn't dead by now, he will be very shortly.'
'No bet. The young man has served his purpose. No point in keepin' him around. Those outlaws damn sure aren't goin' to share with him.'
'Let's go see this girlfriend. Not that she'll be able to tell us much. How long do the outlaws think they'll be able to keep the pass closed?'
'Forever, Frank. She told me they plan on warning anyone wanting in that there is a smallpox epidemic in
