Starr had been standing indecisively at one side of the room, close to Bobby, during the argument between Belle and Floyd. He took a stack of plates out of one of the KC Baking Powder boxes nailed to the wall, and distributed them around the table. Steed and Bobby moved up to sit down, Belle watched them for a moment before joining them, then chose a place next to Longarm.
“Things aren’t like this every day,” she told him.
“I guess the ruckus is mostly my fault,” Longarm said. “Sorry I stirred things up, Belle. But like you told Floyd a minute ago, you saw how it all happened.”
“I know it wasn’t your fault, Windy. Nobody’s blaming you for anything.” Belle seemed pleased that Longarm had made the gesture of apologizing. She went on, “I like my guests to get along together, but You men do disagree now and then.”
Sam began dishing up. He walked around the table, ladling out stew onto the plates. Longarm looked at his serving. There were chunks of meat and pieces of carrot, Onion, and potato in a thin gravy. Next to him, Yazoo was already eating hungrily.
Belle noticed Longarm’s hesitation. “Sam’s a better cook than you might think, Windy. Eat up. You’ll like it.” Longarm said, “I bet I will, at that.” He took a sample bite, found the stew edible, and continued to eat.
Sam brought a pan of biscuits from the stove and put it in the middle of the table. Longarm and Floyd reached at the same time, and their hands met over the biscuit pan.
“Help yourself, Floyd,” Longarm invited. “I ain’t in all that big a hurry.”
Floyd grunted and seemed about to speak, but changed his mind. He took a biscuit and went back to his food. Apparently he’d decided to leave matters as they were, at least for the moment.
Sam saw that the biscuit pan was empty, and brought a full one to replace it. Then he went back to the stove, pulled a chair up to it, and began to eat his own meal off the warming shelf. Since no one commented on this, or invited Starr to join the group at the table, Longarm got a pretty clear idea of the status Belle’s husband held at Younger’s Bend.
Supper was a generally silent meal. Yazoo and Belle were the only ones at the table who had much to say, and when their efforts to start a conversation met with no response from Floyd, Steed, or Longarm, they subsided. Sam Starr kept an eye on the table, and when a plate was emptied, he brought the stew pot from the stove to replenish it. Longarm took a second helping, as did everyone except Belle. The stew was surprisingly tasty, though privately Longarm thought that no stew would ever be a substitute for a good steak served up with a heap of fried potatoes on the platter with it.
“You’d better let the dishes go until later, Sam,” Belle said when it was apparent that everyone had finished. “I’d like to see Mckee buried before it gets too dark, and you’ve still got the grave to dig.”
Floyd spoke up, “You never mind about burying Mckee, Sam. Me and Steed will take care of that.”
“I don’t recall offering to take on the job,” Steed said.
“Shut up, Steed,” Floyd snapped. “Mckee was our partner. It’s only right to see he’s put away proper.”
Bobby had been as silent as everyone else during the meal; he’d let his eyes follow every move made by Floyd and Steed, and was obviously doing his best to follow whatever example they set. Now the young outlaw asked Floyd, “How come you didn’t say anything about me? If I’m in with you and Steed, I guess I can do my share too.”
“Of course you can, Bobby,” Steed assured him. He stood up and began preparing the dishpan. Yazoo took another drink.
Belle turned to Longarm and said, “There’s a cabin vacant, the one on the far end, past Steed and Bobby’s and the one where Mckee was staying with Floyd. I guess you can have it, provided you don’t mind sharing it with Taylor when he gets here.”
“I’d be better off there than sharing with Floyd,” Longarm said, straight-faced.
“I can fix you up a shakedown here in the house, if you’d rather,” Belle suggested. “It’d just be a pallet over against the wall there, though.”
“Be glad to have you bunk with me up at the stillhouse, Windy,” Yazoo offered. His voice was slurred and he had trouble focusing his eyes. “We could talk about old times.”
“Now, Windy doesn’t want to stay up there,” Belle told Yazoo. “The smell of that mash would keep him from sleeping.” She smiled at Longarm as she spoke.
“I’ll settle for the cabin,” Longarm said. He’d decided it was time to establish the fact that he hadn’t come looking for charity. He took out the drawstring pouch Gower had given him, and spilled some of the coins from it to the tabletop. Belle’s eyes widened, and so did Yazoo’s, at the sight of the gold pieces.
Longarm went on, “You said your going rate’s five dollars a day, Belle. I don’t know how long I’m going to be around, so suppose I just pay you for two or three days. If I stay longer, I’ll pony up with it when this has been used up.” He shoved an eagle and a half eagle along the table to Belle, and gathered the remaining coins into the pouch.
“You didn’t need to pay anything at all right now, Windy,” Belle said. She picked up the gold pieces, however. “Your credit’s good here.”
Longarm stood up. “I don’t reckon you set a night guard, do you?”
“Why should I?” Belle asked. “Oh, if we’re looking for trouble, we’ll keep watch at night. But there’s no reason to, otherwise.”
“Good,” he said. “Well, I’ll mosey on down and settle in, then, before it gets too dark to see.”
“There’s a lamp in the cabin,” Starr volunteered. “And a water bucket. You’ve seen where the well is, I guess.”
“Sure. I’ll get along fine, Sam. I’m used to looking out for myself.” Longarm started for the door. “I’ll see you at breakfast, I guess. Right now, a bed’s going to look pretty good. I rode a long ways, these last few
