“Yeah…Yeah, I reckon it was.”
Garth asked Jeffries, “What difference does that make?”
“If Bodine and Two Wolves had taken Joshua out of the wagon where they abandoned it, they wouldn’t have taken the time to put the lock back on the door.” Jeffries shook his head. “My guess is that Joshua wasn’t in there when they left town.”
“Wasn’t in there! But that’d mean—”
“Yeah,” Jeffries agreed grimly. “They put one over on these folks.” He looked at the man on the driver’s seat. “Exactly who did you see with the wagon when it left town?”
“Why, they were all with it! That U.S. marshal and his deputy and those two gunfighters who were sidin’ ’em.”
“No, that’s not right,” another man said. “I got a pretty good look, and Bodine and Two Wolves are the only ones I actually saw.”
Garth put it together. Maggie knew that Jeffries already had.
“Blast it,” Garth said. “Bodine and Two Wolves tricked you, all right. While they went out the front, Thorpe and the deputy went out the back with Joshua. That’s got to be it.”
“Bodine and Two Wolves are probably circling around to meet up with them right now,” Jeffries said.
“They can’t make it all the way to Yuma on horseback,” Garth argued. “They have to know that we’d catch up to ’em before they got there.”
“They can still catch the train once it goes through here,” Jeffries pointed out.
“Yeah, if we let it go through,” Garth said. Without lowering his gun, he used his other hand to scratch at his jaw in thought. “Maybe that’s just what we ought to do.”
A grin appeared on Jeffries’s face. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking…that’s a good idea, Garth.”
Gonzalez spoke up. “The train won’t be through here until mornin’. What are we supposed to do until then?”
An evil leer spread across Garth’s craggy face. “I reckon we can have a little fun,” he said.
Some of the citizens of Pancake Flats realized who these men were and what Garth meant by that sinister statement. Faced with almost certain doom no matter what they did, they grabbed for their guns.
Maggie’s horror deepened, sickening her, as shots roared out. Garth and the other owlhoots opened fire, cutting down the townspeople in an almost casual manner. Maggie had to turn away from the muzzle flashes and the bits of flesh and blood flying in the air as outlaw lead tore through the crowd in the street.
But even though she clapped her hands over her ears, she couldn’t completely shut out the gunfire and the screams and the outraged, futile curses.
The massacre went on for what seemed like an eternity but was probably less than a minute. When it was over, Garth bellowed to his men, “Spread out! I want everybody in town rounded up! But don’t set fire to the buildings. Everything’s got to look normal when that train gets here in the mornin’!”
Something drew Maggie back to the window, even though she didn’t want to look. She cringed as she saw the evidence of the bloodbath that had taken place in the street. Gore-splattered bodies lay everywhere. Moans came from men who had been wounded instead of killed outright. Garth dismounted and stalked among them, dispatching them with a single shot each to the head.
Instinct must have made him glance up. Maggie saw the killer’s eyes boring into hers.
“Stay there!” Garth shouted, and then he stalked out of her sight, into the hotel.
Another shot blasted downstairs. Maggie moaned. She knew that Garth had just killed the proprietor.
A moment later, she heard Garth’s footsteps stomping up the stairs. Fear froze her, although for an instant she considered throwing herself out the window rather than letting Garth get his hands on her again.
She couldn’t do that, though, not as long as she didn’t know what had happened to Ike and Caleb. So she stood her ground, summoning up what little courage remained inside her, and faced the door of the hotel room as Garth slammed it open and stalked in.
“Did you know anything about what Bodine and Two Wolves were plannin’?” he roared at her.
“If I had known, don’t you think I would have found a way to let you know?”
The coolness in her voice surprised her. She was glad for it, because she didn’t want Garth to know what she was really feeling.
“Where are my husband and son?” she went on. “I know they’re not with you, and the rest of the gang is here.”
His eyes narrowed. “Mighty smart, ain’t you?”
“I know how to count, if that’s what you mean. What about Ike and Caleb?”
“You’re like a damn bulldog when you get your teeth in somethin’. Don’t you worry about your husband and the young’un. They’re in a safe place.”
She didn’t believe him, but yet there was just enough of a sliver of a chance he could be telling the truth that she couldn’t afford to ignore the possibility.
“Listen, I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I’ve done everything I can to help you. Why don’t you bring them to me and let us go? Or just tell me where they are and I’ll go to them.”
Ponderously, Garth shook his head. “Nope. We ain’t done with you yet, missy.”
