Catamount Jack slapped a big hand on his back, almost staggering him. “How ‘bout havin’ a drink with us, Custis?” he asked. “I reckon you’re the closest thing we got to a friend in this town tonight.”
Longarm started to decline the offer, then decided that it might be wise to keep an eye on the two of them for a while, just to make sure they didn’t start any more fights. Besides, if Lucy Vermilion was cleaned up a mite, he had a feeling she would be a damned nice-looking woman.
“Sure,” he said with a nod. “I’ll have a drink with you.”
“I don’t want any more trouble,” warned Burley.
“There won’t be,” Longarm promised him.
Some of the other prisoners, who had heard everything that was said, began yelling to be released from their cells since they weren’t going to be charged with anything. Burley jerked a thumb at the cellblock door and said to Longarm, “Get ‘em out of here before I let any of these other jaspers loose.”
“Good idea,” Longarm agreed. He steered Catamount Jack and Lucy toward the door.
Once they were outside, Catamount Jack took a deep breath and slapped his hands against his chest. “Air always smells better when you’re a free man,” he declared.
Longarm understood and agreed with that sentiment. He said dryly, “That’s why I try to stay out of jail.”
“That ain’t fair,” Lucy protested. “It ain’t our fault we got locked up-“
“Yes, it was, girl,” her father broke in. “Might as well be honest about it, since Custis here is our friend. We was both in a mood to howl tonight, Custis, and if them cowboys hadn’t said what they did, likely we’d’ve found some other reason to start a ruckus. Ain’t that right, Lucy?”
“Well, maybe,” she admitted, then changed the subject by saying, “I thought we were goin’ to have another drink.”
“There’s only the one saloon in town,” Longarm said, “and I’m not sure any of us would be too welcome in there again tonight. But maybe I could duck in and buy a bottle without getting the proprietor too upset. Maryland rye all right with you folks?”
“Hell of a lot better’n the panther piss we usually drink!” Catamount Jack said with a laugh. He took out his money pouch and handed Longarm one of the double eagles. “That’ll be fine, Custis. Whilst you’re doin’ that, we’ll get our mules. They’re tied up at the rack in front of the saloon.”
Quite a few bottles of liquor had gotten smashed during the brawl, but luck was with Longarm. There was an unbroken bottle of rye behind the bar, and Dave Kilroy was glad to sell it to him, especially once Longarm had informed the saloonkeeper that Marshal Burley had collected enough money from Catamount Jack to pay for the damages.
“I hope that wild man never comes in here again,” Kilroy said with a shudder. “I’ve seen my share of loco customers, but he was just about the worst.” Kilroy glared across the bar at Longarm. “And you just about broke the jaw of my best dealer, I’m told.”
“Mighty sorry about that,” Longarm said contritely. “Seemed like the best thing to do at the time, considering how he was waving that gun around. I figured if I didn’t stop him, somebody innocent might get shot.”
“Nobody innocent ever comes in a saloon,” Kilroy said, then shrugged. “But I reckon you’re right. Still, I don’t want Vermilion and his girl in here again.”
“I’ll make sure they know to steer clear of your place,” Longarm promised.
He carried the bottle of rye outside and found Catamount Jack and Lucy waiting in the middle of the street. They were leading four mules. Two of the beasts wore saddles, while the others were pack animals.
“Where did you plan to spend the night?” Longarm asked as he gave Catamount Jack the change from the twenty-dollar gold piece. “I think there are some vacant rooms at the hotel.”
The big man snorted in disgust. “Hotel?” he repeated. “I don’t mind buyin’ a bottle of booze or payin’ for the damages from a good fight, but I ain’t throwin’ away good money on no hotel room. Not as long as there’s ground for a bed and a starry sky for the ceilin’.”
“We figured we’d camp just outside of town,” Lucy said. “Got a good place picked out and everything.”
“All right,” Longarm said. “Lead the way.”
As he walked to the western outskirts of Cottonwood Springs with Catamount Jack and Lucy, he realized the evening certainly hadn’t turned out the way he’d thought it would when he returned from Thorp’s Rocking T ranch. For one thing, he still had a headache from being clouted. And he sure as hell hadn’t expected to run into two such colorful characters. But he found himself liking the Vermilions, father and daughter, and once he had shared some of the rye with them, maybe they would settle down for the night and he could return to the hotel knowing there wouldn’t be any more trouble.
A thought occurred to Longarm as they left the lights of the settlement behind. “Might not be a very good idea to camp out here after all,” he said. “There’s some sort of wild critter that may be running loose around here. Several people have been killed so far. I don’t know if it would come this close to town, but you might not want to take the chance.”
Catamount Jack laughed and patted the stock of a rifle sticking up from the saddle boot on his mule. “This here’s a Sharps Big Fifty I used to kill more’n five thousand buffalo in my time, Custis. You know how much kick this carbine’s got?”
“Plenty,” Longarm admitted.
“As long as I got this Big Fifty with me, I ain’t scared of no critter, man or beast. And if you’re talkin’ about the Brazos Devil, I hope he shows up! That’d suit me just fine.”
“You know about the Brazos Devil?” Longarm asked with a surprised frown.
“Know about him? Hell, that varmint’s the reason we’re here, ain’t it, Lucy?”
“That’s right,” Lucy said. “We’re goin’ to get us that twenty-thousand-dollar bounty when we bring in the Brazos Devil’s head!”
Mal Burley sighed wearily as he sank down in the chair behind his
