The old man nodded slowly. 'I reckon what you say is true, Mr. Long, but it just wouldn't work out for you to be married to Sally. The rest of the family would hold it again' you. Mark was wrong. He was trying to ambush you with a shotgun. He was helping that sorry Morton. I've got to thank you for killing that rattlesnake. In the end, he'd of ruined more than one of the Coltons. He's already ruined several of them, and I hate it that the last one he ruined was my own flesh and blood. I don't hold it again' you for killing him--Mark, I mean. I don't hold it again' you for nothing. He was shooting at you. In fact, he shot first. I seen it. Mr. Long, I know what happened.'
John was standing right behind his daddy. In a strained voice, he said, 'Mr. Long, what Daddy is trying to say is there never would be a way for you to be accepted into the family. Mark's wife would hold it again' you, and eventually, she'd hold it again' Sally, and so would the rest of the family. Y'all would always be on the outside. Sally's crying her eyes out right now, but there ain't no other help for it. Daddy is already having her clothes packed. He's going to send her with her aunt until you get cleared of the country. She don't want to go, and she's putting up a hell of a struggle, but if she has to go tied hand and foot, she'll be leaving within the hour. You ain't never gonna be seem' her again, Mr. Long.'
Longarm sighed. He said, 'That comes as a blow to me, John. I don't think it's fair and I don't think it's right, but if that be your daddy's decision, ain't a damned thing I can do about it.'
Old man Colton nodded. He said, 'I appreciate it kindly. By kindly, I mean I appreciate you not standing up and making a squawk about it. It's for the best, Mr. Long. I know my kinfolk, and I know it just wouldn't work.'
'Well, that's that, then. And I reckon, except for the whiskey, our business is finished.'
The old man said, 'There do be one more thing, Mr. Long. I'm a-feared I can't sell you no whiskey now.'
Longarm was truly startled this time. 'The hell you say! How come you can't sell me no whiskey? Here you take the woman I love away from me and now you say you ain't gonna sell me no whiskey?'
Asa Colton shrugged. He said, 'I thought it through and I figured it to be for your own good. You can't ever come back here in this holler and you can't ever do any more business with this family. One load would just whet your appetite for more, like Mr. Carson here. He's been buying whiskey from us for five, six, seven years. Buys four or five times a year, I don't remember exactly how many. So, you see, one little load of two thousand gallons ain't gonna set you up for much.'
Longarm said stubbornly, 'Yeah, but I've come all this way, and I ought to at least take back some. That little old two thousand gallons, at least I ought to be able to take that back. What are my partners going to think that I've been doing out here? If I come back with no whiskey, Mr. Colton, then I'm going to look mighty bad. Now, I ask you, would you like to be in the position you are putting me in?'
The old man thought for a moment. Finally he said, 'No, I reckon not.' He looked up at John. 'Son, what do you reckon? Should we let him have that two thousand gallons?'
John shrugged. He said, 'It's already loaded on the wagons and they'll be starting up any time. What difference does it make? Mr. Long has to get out of this country somehow. He might as well get out on that train.'
Longarm said, 'There. Thank you, John, I appreciate it. Lord, it's hard enough to take a man's woman but then to try to take his whiskey...'
Asa nodded. He said, 'Well, in that case, if we're going to let you have the whiskey, then I think it's only fair that you do Morton's job on the account of it was you that killed him. I was thinking about asking Mr. Carson to do it, but he's a customer that will be coming back, and you ain't ever going to be coming back, so it seems fair to ask you to do it.'
'Do what?'
'Well, the way we handles it with them two federal fellows is, we pay them off at the train as it's loaded on the siding. We pay them ten cents per gallon. We're going to be shipping twelve thousand gallons, so we'll have twelve hundred dollars to hand to them for the whole shipment. Now, I don't ever let no Colton hand them the money.'
'Hell, Morton was a Colton.'
The old man shook his head. 'No, his last name was Colton. He wasn't a Colton. If he'd been the only one that you killed, there would have been no trouble. But someone has to hand over the money, and I'd take it kindly if you'd handle that for me, Mr. Long, and we'd be quits and there'd be no hard feelings, not that there is any now.'
Longarm was calculating in his mind. It would have been better to have one of the Coltons hand over the money to the Treasury agents. It wasn't as good with him doing it. But what was important was that they took it. If they took it from his hand, then the Treasury agents were just as guilty as if they had taken it from the hand of Morton Colton or any other Colton or anybody else connected with the whiskey so far as that went.
Longarm thought about it for a good long moment. Finally, he nodded. He said, 'Yeah, I reckon I could do that.'
The old man nodded. He said to Longarm, 'For that, I'll let you have the whiskey, but I won't let you pay the money for it.'
Longarm was alarmed. He said, 'Sir, I wouldn't feel right about that. I feel the need to pay for that whiskey.'
Asa Colton studied the situation for a moment. 'You get your cash money from back home?'
Longarm nodded. 'Yes, Mr. Carson brought it to me.'
'Well, you just pay them government folks the money they got coming out of your cash, and we'll be square. That'll give you a pretty good price per gallon, and you can make a little more profit.'
It didn't matter to Longarm what the price was, so long as money changed hands. 'I'm much obliged for that, sir. Do you mind if I ask what the names of them Treasury agents are?'
John said, 'Not that it makes much difference, but their names are Colley and Small.'
'They got first names?'
Behind him, Carson laughed. He said, 'Hell, Mr. Long, do you plan on getting social with them? What the hell do you care what their first names are?'
