Billy sat, and Ike sat on a chair across from him. Ike stared at Billy for a long time.
“Billy, why do you think I’m doing all this?” Ike finally asked.
“Why do I think you are attacking General Garrison’s wagons?”
“No, not that. Well, yes, that, but more. Much more. What I mean is, why do you think I’m working so hard to make the ranch bigger and more successful? I mean, when you think about it, I’m already the richest man in the county. I wouldn’t have to do another thing for the rest of my life if I didn’t want to, and I could live out the rest of my life like a king.”
“I don’t know, Pa. I’ll be honest with you, I have wondered about that very thing.”
“Well, it ain’t all that hard to figure out, son,” Ike said. “I’m doin’ it for you.”
“You’re doing it for me?” Billy asked in disbelief.
“Yes, for you, Ray, and Cletus.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t reckon you do understand,” Ike said. “Look, there are three of you. Right now, I do have a lot of money, but there is only one of me. After I’m gone, everything I have is goin’ to have to be divided up three ways. And if there’s not enough to go around, well, you know how Ray and Cletus are. It wouldn’t surprise me none if they didn’t start fightin’ among themselves. Only—and this here is where you come in, Billy—you bein’ the youngest, and you bein’ the, well, let’s say the meekest of the three, you’re the first one that would get hurt.”
“No, I wouldn’t get hurt,” Billy said. “I’d walk away and let them have it.”
“You would, huh? And where would that leave you and that little girl you’ve been sniffin’ around?”
“Do you mean Kathleen?”
“Yes, I mean Kathleen. You ain’t exactly keepin’ it a secret how you feel about her. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t feel the same way about you.”
“Well, she does, I think,” Billy said. “Only—”
“Only right now things ain’t goin’ too well between her pa and me,” Ike said, finishing Billy’s sentence. “I can see how that might be a problem. But after one of us is gone, either Garrison or me, it won’t be a problem no more. And then you’ll need money to make her happy.”
“I don’t think Kathleen is the kind of girl that needs money to make her happy.”
Ike chuckled. “All women is that kind,” he said. “Whether you’re talkin’ ’bout the whores that work for Maggie, or girls like Kathleen. It takes a heap of money to keep ’em happy. And if I can take over the railroad from Garrison, you won’t never have no money problems. And look at it this way,” he added. “If you wind up marryin’ his daughter, why, all the money goes back to him anyway.”
Chapter Fifteen
Saturday morning, a large banner was stretched across Higbee Avenue.
DANCE TO NIGHT!
MORNING STAR HOTEL
The musicians had come to La Junta by train from Denver; then arrangements were made for them to have a special stagecoach that would take them to Higbee. They arrived in Higbee just after noon, with their instruments securely lashed to the top of the stage.
The arrival created a great deal of excitement as children and dogs met the stage at the edge of town, then ran alongside it as the coach came the rest of the way. Occasionally, one of the children would run up very close to the stage and poke a stick into the whirling wheels, laughing as the stick was jerked from his hands and thrown back onto the road.
By the time the coach reached the Morning Star Hotel, several of the townspeople had gathered as well to watch the musicians disembark.
“Careful with that violin, my good man!” one of the musicians called up to the top of the stage when an eager onlooker took it upon himself to help.
“With the what?” the would-be helper replied.
“With the…fiddle,” the musician said.
“Oh, hell, don’t worry ’bout that. I ain’t goin’ to drop it or nothin’.”
The musician cringed as the fiddle was handed down to him. Soon, all the instruments were off-loaded and the band was met by Mayor Charles Coburn.
“Welcome, welcome, gentlemen, to Higbee,” Mayor Coburn said, extending his hands to all of them. “We have a nice lunch prepared for you, and have rooms for you here in the hotel. Which one of you is Edwin Mathias?”
“I am Edwin Mathias.”
The man who answered was a tall, very dignified-looking man, with a neatly trimmed beard and a touch of gray at the temples.
“Ah, good, good, you are the one I have been corresponding with, I believe. Do you have any questions?”
“If you don’t mind, I would like to see where we are to perform tonight,” Edwin said.
For a moment, the mayor looked confused. “Perform? Uh, Mr. Mathias, you do understand that you aren’t actually going to perform, don’t you? You have been hired to provide music for a dance.”
