said, “Marshal, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s finally getting all right, but it took its own good time about it.” Longarm took a few steps toward the desk. “As well as I recollect, you have always kept a cane or two around here for some of your older guests in case they mislaid theirs, is that right?”
The desk clerk was still looking at Richard Harding. He said, “Yes, sir. We have several. Did you need one?”
Longarm walked over. “Yeah, do you have a good india rubber style there?”
The young man said, “Yes, sir, I do.” He handed Longarm a thin handsome cane that was just about the size and the heft and the stiffness that he desired. As he was about to turn away, the desk clerk whispered to Longarm, “Isn’t that Judge Harding over there?”
Longarm said in a loud voice, “That’s ex-judge Harding. Right now, he’s a federal prisoner.” He walked over to the man and tapped him lightly with the cane. He said, “Get up to your feet, Harding, or I’ll jerk you up by your hair.”
With his hands handcuffed behind his back, the judge had a hard time struggling up. Finally, Longarm grabbed him by the left arm and pulled him to his feet. The judge gave a small scream of agony. He swore.
Longarm slapped him across the back with the cane, hard enough to feel. “What’s the matter with you, Judge? Ain’t you got no better manners than to cuss in the lobby of a public place? Now, get on over there to those stairs.” He gave the judge another shove, not quite so hard this time.
They went up the stairs, the judge stumbling and complaining about his hands being handcuffed. Longarm said, “You know, that reminds me of my own particular situation about a week ago. Some son of a bitch did me the same way you’re rigged up and then set me on a horse and rode me about four or five hours. I’ll tell you, my shoulders were sore for days afterward. Is that what you’re talking about?”
Harding didn’t say anything.
They went down the hall to Longarm’s room. He stopped Harding with his arm. As he got his key out, he said to his prisoner, “Now, Harding, we’re going in here, into my room. If you make any noise or any sound to wake anybody up, I’m going to split your skull for you. Do you understand me?”
Harding turned and looked at Longarm coldly. “You’re a bully.”
It was all Longarm could do to keep from speaking of Sarah. He said, “Bully, huh? Well, you ought to know about that.” He unlocked the door and pushed Harding into the room. As they passed the open door that connected his room to Sarah’s, he could see that her room was half lit. He listened quietly for half a moment, making sure she was asleep. He wasn’t ready for her just yet and the light from her room gave him enough visibility so that he didn’t have to bother with the lamp in his own room.
He got out the key so that he could unlock the cuff from one of Harding’s wrist. As the man’s arm swung forward, Longarm said, “You better not get any big ideas, Harding, or I’ll break that other collarbone of yours.”
He took off Harding’s coat, working it carefully over the handcuffs. Harding seemed to be under the impression that Longarm was going to do something about his broken collarbone. He said, “It’s about time.”
Longarm took off the vest the man was wearing, then undid the tie and stripped that off. The shirt followed and then the undershirt. The undershirt had to come over his head so Longarm didn’t bother. He just ripped it off.
Harding was looking both annoyed and uncertain as he stood there, bare from the waist up. He said, “Here! What are you about?”
Longarm casually slapped him bare-handed across the mouth. A trickle of blood came out of the corner of Harding’s bruised lips. Longarm said, “I told you to keep quiet. Open that yap again and I’m going to break your nose. I hear tell you pride yourself on being a treat for the ladies to see. If you make any more noise, your own mother won’t want to look at you, if you ever had one.”
Now that he had stripped Harding bare, Longarm started to pull his hands behind his back again to complete the manacling but Harding protested, whispering, afraid to make any noise. He pleaded with Longarm, “Please. Please, Marshal. Handcuff me in front. It’s killing my broken collarbone.”
Longarm thought a moment, looking at the man. He said, “All right, but if you cause any trouble, it’ll go that much worse for you.”
Harding said, “I swear, Marshal. I won’t be any trouble. Just please don’t handcuff me behind my back.”
Longarm shrugged and then handcuffed his wrists together in front of him. He stepped back. He said, “I’m going into the room next door. If you even move out of your tracks, I am going to come in here and have you for breakfast. Do you understand me? The door to the hall there is locked; you can’t get out of it. This room is on the second story, and you can’t get out of one of those windows. You can’t get away from me and you’re only going to agitate me if you try. Understand?”
Harding nodded mutely.
Longarm gave him one more look and then slipped quietly into the next room where Sarah was asleep. For a second, he looked down at her. She looked very little-girlish, relaxed with her hair arranged. A far cry from the whipped, frightened creature he had met not much more than a week previous. He leaned down and put his lips on hers, kissing her quietly until her eyes fluttered open. He was kissing her not only because he wanted to but also to keep her from yelling out. When he saw that she was awake, he pulled back and put his fingers to his lips.
He said, whispering to her, “I’ve got a surprise for you. It’s going to scare you a little bit at first, but I think you’re going to enjoy it.”
She pulled herself up on one elbow. She asked, “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Probably about four o’clock in the morning.”
“What kind of surprise can you have at four o’clock in the morning?” she asked.
“You just get up, get dressed, and turn the lamp up. You’ve got a good heavy robe, don’t you?”
She nodded. He said, “Well, put that on. I don’t want you showing too much.”
She wrinkled her brow. “What kind of a surprise is it?”
