Mark Colton kicked his chair back and stood up. He was not wearing a side arm, but there was a rifle leaning against the wall, very near at hand. He said, 'Listen here, you son of a bitch, maybe some of these folks around here can stand the smell of you, but I ain't one of them. You come in here, big-timing your way around. I don't see where we need the likes of you around, whiskey buyer or not.'
Asa Colton simply lifted his hand in the air. He said quietly, 'Mark, this man has come here as a guest. He's a- visitin' us. You'll damned well hold that rooster temper of yours in check or I'll know the reason why. Now, you just heard me say that I was going to sell this gent some whiskey. All you've got to do is get it ready. We don't need no more of your hard mouth, do you understand me, boy?'
Before his very eyes, Longarm was amused to see the big, two-hundred-pound man wilt under the gaze of the dried-up old man who was his father. Obviously, Asa Colton didn't have to raise his voice to make his wishes understood and obeyed.
Mark Colton sank back down into his chair. He didn't say anything else, but he shot several murderous glances in Longarm's direction. Longarm could feel Sally's eyes burning into him. It gave him a warm, lustful glow inside. He doubted that he would ever forget the picture of her lying on her back with her dress up and her legs open in that cornfield. It was as clear as a tintype photograph. He said, 'Mr. Colton, I'm sorry if your sons don't like me. I never done nothing that was against them. I am obliged to you for selling me this whiskey. I think I can make a profit.'
Asa Colton looked at him with washed-out blue eyes. 'Young man, you take this whiskey on back to wherever it is you say you're from-'
Sally suddenly cut in. She said, 'He's from Arizona, Daddy.'
Asa turned a wondering face to her. He said, 'How do you know that, girl?'
She blushed and looked back down at her plate. She mumbled something and Asa Colton said, 'What?'
Sally said, 'I don't know, Daddy. I think I heard Frank Carson say something about it.'
Asa Colton's eyes lingered suspiciously on his prized daughter for a moment or two. He switched back to Longarm. He said, 'She's sometimes just a little too nosy for her own sake, but I have to tell you that her mother was my second wife. She was the prettiest thing I've ever seen. It was a sore loss to me when she was taken from the bosom of her family, Having Sally here was like starting all over again, like when I was a young man, even though I wasn't young. I was married to her mother for many good years, and I don't think I'll ever see a prettier face, except for Sally, of course.'
Sally suddenly said, 'Daddy, ain't you ever going to let me get married?'
The old man frowned at her. He said, 'That ain't fittin' talk for the breakfast table. I'll let you get married when I think a man is worth you.'
Longarm was uncomfortably aware that Sally was staring at him. She said, 'Well, Daddy, I'm beginning to wonder if you're ever going to think anybody's good enough for me.'
Longarm cleared his throat loudly, trying to get the subject headed into another direction. He said, 'Am I to understand, Mr. Colton, that I'll be taking delivery of the whiskey in three days?'
The old man nodded. He said, 'That's when it's due at the siding. I can only say that if we do our part, you'll be takin' delivery of it. I do have to tell you something bad, though. Something you ain't gonna like.'
'What's that?'
The old man hesitated. Finally he said, 'Most likely Morton Colton will be there at the train when we bring the whiskey in to load it up.'
Longarm flinched slightly. All he needed to do was to have a feud with a member of the clan deep into their territory. He said, 'How come he's going to be there? I thought his job was to keep the lawmen happy.'
'It is, and that's why he'll be there. Sometimes, there is railroad detectives. Sometimes, the local law comes along. But always the Treasury boys out of Little Rock comes along. It's just another way to get themselves a little more long sweetenin'. Now, we never mess with any of that. It's dirty work that we leave to Morton, so he's generally there.
Longarm said, 'Will he cause trouble for me?'
The old man shrugged. 'I don't see why he should. If you're smart, you'll stay out of sight until the whiskey's loaded, and then get aboard as the train's pulling out. There ain't none of us'--he gave Mark and John a look down the table--'gonna tell him. We think he's trash.'
Longarm shrugged again. He said, 'Well, I won't give him no trouble if he don't give me none. I've got to ask this. If it comes to trouble between me and him, how will Y'all stand on it?'
From down the table, Mark said in a hard voice, 'Is your last name Colton? His is. That ought to answer your question.'
Asa Colton gave Mark a look. He said, 'Shush, Mark, and stay shushed. This ain't none of your affair. If I have to speak to you again, you're going to be in trouble. You ain't too old to take out and tie to a tree for a few days until you can get your thinking straight.'
Longarm said, 'Look, I don't want to cause trouble here in your family. That's the last thing I want; but I would like to have that whiskey. I'll do it however you say.'
The old man nodded. He said, 'We'll see how it goes.'
Longarm had little to do with his time except think. He tried to stay out of the way of the other men on the place, especially Mark. This would be no time to get into a fight. He had a feeling that a fight with Mark would have to end in a killing. Mark didn't seem like the type who could take a good fist whipping and live with it. Longarm was pretty sure that if he did fistfight Mark and whip him, which he had no doubt that he could do, he'd spend the rest of his time wondering if there was a rifle trained between his shoulder blades.
Along toward noon, he wandered around to the back of the main house. There he saw Sally, radiant in a bright lemon-colored dress that revealed a great deal of her shoulders and her throat and neck and bodice. She and a colored woman were hanging clothes. She stopped as soon as she spotted him, standing there with her hands by her sides. He walked toward her, but stopped about ten feet short, making certain that no one could misread his intentions. Something had been bothering him, and he thought he would get it settled. She stood there, staring at him gravely.
