amongst ’em to help us.”
“But what can I do? I’m just a farmer!”
“You can point a gun and pull the trigger, can’t you?” Garth smiled savagely at him. “That’s what you’re gonna do, Winslow. The marshal won’t know you’re with us, so you stick close to him. And when the shootin’ starts…”
One of the outlaws brought a coiled shell belt with a holstered Colt attached to it. Garth shoved the weapon into Ike’s stunned hands.
“You take this hogleg and blow that son of a bitchin’ badge toter’s head off,” Garth said.
Chapter 20
Matt and Sam were in the Ten Grand that evening, nursing beers and talking with Archie Cochran, when Sheriff Flagg came into the saloon. The sheriff looked around, spotted the blood brothers leaning against the bar, and came over to them.
“Evenin’, Sheriff,” Matt greeted him. “I hear you’ve got one more night to guard your prisoner. Then he’s not your responsibility anymore.”
“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you fellas about,” Flagg said.
“You want us to spend the night at the jail like we’ve been doing?” Sam asked. “I’m not sure how Marshal Thorpe would feel about that.”
“Yeah, he made it pretty clear he doesn’t have much use for us,” Matt said.
“Listen,” Flagg said, lowering his voice, “I know Thorpe’s a pure-dee jackass, but I got to talk to you boys anyway. Private-like.”
Matt and Sam both drained their beer mugs. There wasn’t much beer left in them anyway.
“We’ll take a walk outside,” Sam suggested as he placed his mug on the bar. Matt’s empty glass thumped down beside it.
The three men left the saloon together and walked toward the sheriff’s office. When they were out of earshot of the Ten Grand, Flagg said, “Thorpe let it be known around town that he’s not leavin’ with Shade until tomorrow mornin’, but that ain’t true.”
“He’s sneakin’ out of town tonight, under cover of darkness,” Matt guessed.
“That’s right.”
“Maybe he’s not as foolish as we thought after all,” Sam said.
“I wouldn’t say that. He’s still bound an’ determined not to take you two with him. But I got me a hunch that you’re goin’ anyway.”
“You think so?” Matt asked.
“You been mixed up in this whole deal so far,” Flagg said. “I just can’t see you turnin’ your backs on it now.”
“Well…” Sam began, “it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for us to tell a lawman that we’re going to defy the wishes of a United States marshal.”
Flagg gave a disgusted snort. “Don’t you fellas know me better’n that by now? I don’t give a hoot in hell what Thorpe thinks. I just want Joshua Shade to make it to Yuma so’s he can dance at the end of a rope where he belongs!”
“All right,” Matt admitted. “We thought we might trail along, just to see what happens.”
“You’d better go get your horses ready to ride then, because Thorpe intends to pull out in less’n half an hour. I didn’t find out about it until just a little while ago, and I come to find you fellas as soon as I could.”
Matt and Sam both felt urgency gripping them. Thorpe’s ruse was actually fairly smart. If the outlaws were somewhere in the hills, keeping an eye on the settlement, they wouldn’t be able to see him slip out of town with his prisoner because of the darkness.
Even if the gang had spies in town, which neither of the blood brothers would have doubted for a second, it was possible they wouldn’t find out that Thorpe and Shade were gone until the next morning. That would give the federal lawman a good head start.
“How many deputies is he taking with him?” Sam asked.
“He’s got nine men lined up to ride with him. There’ll be eight outriders all the time, and a shotgun guard on the wagon box with the driver. Thorpe’s plannin’ on handlin’ the shotgun himself, I think. One of the fellas goin’ with him says he’s a good hand with a wagon team.”
“Can you vouch for all the men goin’ along on the trip?” Matt asked.
“Well…all but a couple of ’em. But the two I don’t know don’t look like any owlhoots I ever seen.”
Matt and Sam glanced at each other. They didn’t know if whoever had assumed command of the gang in Shade’s absence was smart enough to try to plant somebody among the deputies, but it was a possibility. There probably wasn’t much one man could do against nine, though.
“I hope Thorpe’s got enough sense to keep an eye on the two you don’t know,” Sam said, giving voice to the worry that he and Matt shared.
“I’ll say somethin’ to him before he leaves town. He ain’t the friendliest fella I ever met, and he’s right full of himself, no doubt about that. But I don’t think he’s dumb. He’ll keep his eyes open for tricks.”
“So will we,” Matt promised.
