“I’ll take care of it,” Longarm repeated. “Miranda?”
Miranda took the young man aside, and Longarm went back into the funeral parlor to see the undertaker. He was in no mood to haggle, and came right to the point. “What’s the problem?”
“The young man wants to buy a first-class funeral on a pauper’s purse,” Palmer answered. “I can’t even buy the kind of casket he wants for eighteen dollars!”
“How much then?”
“For what?”
“For everything it takes to give that girl a first-class funeral?”
“Thirty-five dollars to me, but then the flowers will cost extra and
…”
“Here,” Longarm said, reaching into his pocket and dragging out some bills. “Fifty dollars. Do it up right. The best of everything.”
“Yes, sir!” Palmer replied, brightening up considerably. “And I must tell you that it will be a pleasure. She was a lovely girl and died much too …”
But Longarm wasn’t listening. Instead, he was heading outside to rejoin Trent and Miranda. In a very few words, he told them about his trouble with Palladin, and ended by saying, “Trent, why don’t you go get a hotel room. You need some rest.”
“What about you and Miranda?”
“We’re leaving for Cortez.”
“Can’t you even stay for the funeral?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Longarm said. “I wish I could, but I just cannot. Orders are orders.”
“Sure,” Trent said. “Did you make Mr. Palmer understand what I want for Esther?”
“Yes. Don’t worry about it. All the arrangements are taken care of and she’ll have a fine funeral.”
“Thank you,” Trent said. “And good-bye.”
“Good-bye,” Longarm replied. “And good luck with your new job. If you have any trouble, you can reach me in Cortez.”
“I’ll be fine. It will just take time to heal. A lot of time.”
“That’s the spirit,” Miranda said, her eyes damp with tears. “And we’ll be sure and stop by to visit you when we come back through town.”
“Thanks.”
Longarm hated to leave the young man, but he was anxious to be on their way to Cortez. The sooner he got there and completed his assignment, the sooner he could return and look in to make sure that Trent was adjusting to his new life.
“I wish we could at least stay over long enough to attend Esther’s funeral,” Miranda said as he led her toward the livery, where he intended to rent them horses or a buggy.
“Can you ride a horse?”
“Sure. I’m an excellent rider.”
“Then let’s rent horses instead of a buggy,” Longarm decided out loud.
“But I’ll need a riding skirt.”
“Go buy one and meet me back here in an hour,” Longarm told her. “The sooner we get out of Durango, the better.”
Miranda gave him a funny look, but Longarm had neither the will nor the inclination to go into a lengthy explanation. So she went off to buy a riding skirt, and he went into the livery to rent them a couple of decent horses.
“Howdy,” the liveryman called in greeting. “What can I do for you today?”
“I need to rent a couple of good saddle horses.”
“Why, then, you came to the right place! How long do you need them for?”
“Hard to say,” Longarm answered. “My wife and I want to see the old cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and then just ride around and enjoy ourselves for a while.”
“Then I’ll give you my weekly rate,” the liveryman said, rubbing his hands together. “Be a dollar per animal per day. And that includes saddles, bridles, blankets, and even a halter and lead rope for each animal.”
“Fair enough,” Longarm said. “As long as they are quality horses. We don’t want something that could go lame on us out on the trail.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that! I have a couple of good rental horses and both have recently been shod.”
“Let’s have a look,” Longarm told the man.
They were bay geldings, and Longarm examined them closely. They were smooth-mouthed, so they weren’t young, but then Longarm preferred mature animals because they were less spooky and more sensible. For a few extra dollars, the liveryman threw in tarps and some clean blankets.
“I’m afraid that I don’t have any cooking utensils to rent,” he told Longarm. “But I do have a pack burro that you might want to rent.”
“No, thanks.” Longarm paid the man for one week in advance, and then he helped saddle the animals.
