He said, “Not ‘less you yell, Jack. The walls is pretty thick.”
“Walls? You mean you’re hemmed in on two sides, three sides, by walls?”
Longarm grimaced. He would have the truth. He said, “Four sides, Jack. All you got in the door is a little eyehole for the guard to look through.”
Shaw was staring at him, his eyes looking strange. “And you’re all jammed up in there?”
Longarm nodded. “Yeah, you and the man that shares the cell with you. Unless you’re in a four-man cell. They always make the men in the cells even numbers so, say, two men can’t gang up on one.”
Shaw swallowed, hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His hand had started shaking so that he had to set his cup down on the dirt floor. He said, breathing rapidly, “I don’t think I could take that, Custis, I don’t think so at all.”
Longarm looked at him, wondering if he were going to suddenly explode. He hoped not. He would surely like to have a meal in peace and finish it with whiskey and a cigar. He said soothingly, “Hell, Jack, you’re a long ways from that. I get you to New Mexico, I’ll try and find you the dumbest sheriff I can. Then you got to be tried. That can take months. Lot of chances to escape in there, going to and from the courthouse. Get you a good lawyer. I’d imagine you got some money in a bank somewhere. Don’t go to thinking about it now. Hell, you just managed to get away from them Arizona Rangers.”
Shaw looked down at his cup, and then lifted it and drank swiftly. When it was down he said, “I ain’t so sure that was the best idea.”
Longarm gave him a look. He didn’t like the way the conversation was going. He’d pushed the skillet up closer to the fire as it had burned down, and now he could see that the beans were starting to bubble. He didn’t have but one tin plate and Shaw had none. “We didn’t plan to set up housekeepin’,” Shaw had explained when Longarm had asked him how there couldn’t be a single pan or cup or tin plate among the robbers. “If you couldn’t eat it out of your hand, it was takin’ up too much room. Besides, we was in kind of a hurry.”
So, with a big spoon, Longarm split the beans and tomatoes and beef into two parts, putting half in the tin plate and eating out of the skillet himself. He gave Shaw the only fork he had and used the spoon. It was a little hot working out of the skillet, but Longarm made himself take it slowly, even as hungry as he was. Through a mouthful of hot beans he said, “I wish we had some light bread.”
Shaw smiled with a glimmer in his eyes. “I wish I had your gun and a fast horse and you had a feather up your ass. Then we’d both be tickled.”
Longarm was glad to see him coming out of his shaky-looking mood. He said, pointing at the manacles, “Those wouldn’t be no hindrance to you?” Shaw said, “Hell, Custis, you can’t have everything. Didn’t you know that?”
“I did. But the rate at which you been robbing folks, I wasn’t sure you did.”
Shaw laughed. “That’s the trouble with easy money. It goes out just as easy as it goes in. You got to act big, set up drinks for the house. Bet big so you don’t look like no tinhorn. Bet big long enough, you lose big.” Longarm said thoughtfully, “I’m glad to hear you figured that out.”
Shaw raised his hands and jangled the chain between the cuffs. “You mean this? I didn’t feel like I was gambling this last job, Custis. You was the wild card in the deck I hadn’t counted on. Hadn’t been you was on my trail, I’d still be back there in the cabin waiting for a dark night.” He leaned back a little so he could see out the door of the cabin. “Moon is already starting to wane. Probably tomorrow night would have been ideal. Cross maybe an hour before dawn. Would have been black as the inside of a cow. You know this country, you know how dark it can get.”
Longarm nodded. “Without a campfire you can walk ten steps from your bedroll to take a leak and never find it until morning.”
“So this ain’t luck. This is Custis Long.”
“You asked me if I hated your guts. I reckon I ought to ask you the same thing.”
“You wouldn’t care either way.”
Longarm shrugged. “I don’t know. I never thought about it before. Most of the bandits I take in ain’t as good company as you are, Jack. Most of ‘em is so bone mean, and have been all their life, they ain’t had a thought for nobody but themselves in all that time. That kind of folk makes damn poor visiting company. Generally you can’t wait to drop them off at the nearest jail and wash the smell of them out of your hair.”
“Well, if there was a question in there, no, I don’t hate your guts. I hate it that you have to be so damn good at your job, but I ain’t got nothing against you personally. Back there at the other cabin I would have killed you if I’d of had the chance. And you would have killed me.”
Longarm nodded and took a sip of coffee. His cup was nearly empty. He said, “Yeah, this is kind of a rough game we have selected to play. Got some hard rules.”
Supper was long over. Shaw had washed up their utensils, with Longarm watching from the door, and now they were sitting in front of the fireplace finishing up the coffee and both smoking cigars. Shaw had put on a leather jacket Longarm had gotten him out of his bedroll.
When he’d gotten it Longarm had been glad to see that Shaw carried two blankets in addition to his canvas groundcloth. He was going to have to make his prisoner sleep outside. There was nothing in the cabin to manacle him to. The only choices were the two posts that held up the porch roof or the fence posts in the corral. Longarm wasn’t too sure about the fence posts, though, as they didn’t look as sturdy as the ones at the other cabin. He reckoned he’d just have to bed Shaw down under the porch roof with his arms around one of the posts. He knew the man would much rather be cuddling up to something other than a roof post, but then so would he. But he’d been too careless with Shaw already. When he’d let him unlock his manacles so he could put his leather jacket on, Longarm had stood too close. He’d seen Shaw measuring him, the manacles swinging from one hand as he’d adjusted the jacket. Longarm had casually, but immediately, taken a step backwards. Shaw had smiled mockingly, and then, giving Longarm the same smile, had put his free wrist back in the cuff and clicked it into place. He hadn’t said anything, but then he didn’t have to.
Now Longarm told him where he was going to have to sleep. He added, “I’ll get you a saddle blanket if you like. Put it down between you and your groundcloth.”
Shaw shook his head. Naw. It won’t be that cold. Besides, it won’t be no colder out there than it will be in here. Not unless a wind comes up, and I doubt one will.”
