“No,” Nathan said.
But the kid climbed down from his horse and went over to rob the bodies. “They got at least seventy dollars each on ‘em,” he said, pulling cash out of their pockets. “And better guns than mine. I can’t leave so much behind.”
“Suit yourself,” Nathan said, watching as the kid even removed the rings and cheap pocket watches from the bodies.
“Let’s go,” the kid said after trading boots with the thin man and then remounting his horse.
The kid jammed his gun into his holster and smiled. “You want to get over the mountains, you’d best not kill me, mister.”
“All right,” Nathan said, deciding he liked the simple kid. “I won’t kill you.”
“Not even after we get through the passes?”
“No,” Nathan said, meaning it. “Not even then. Iactually could use you as insurance in case I run into more thieves, rustlers, and cutthroats.”
“I won’t run out on you, mister.”
“You have a real name?”
“Rolf,” the kid said. “Rolf Swensen. My parents were Swedish.”
“All right, Rolf Swensen. Let’s put some miles between us and those dead men.”
“Can we take their horses?”
“No. They might be recognized and get us into more trouble than they’re worth.”
“I’d be willing to take that chance,” Rolf said.
Nathan’s hand patted his holstered gun. “Well,” he said, “I wouldn’t. And since I’m going to be the one making the decisions, we leave the horses? Any problem with that, Rolf?”
“No sir,” the kid said. “Just don’t shoot me in the back after I get you over these mountains.”
“I won’t,” Nathan said. “Just point us to the pass and let’s go.”
Rolf looked glad to do just that. Neither man so much as bothered to look back at the two corpses staring up at the cool blue sky.
Chapter 7
On their second day in the mountains, a cold rain began to fall and Nathan was smiling because their tracks would all be washed away clean.
“What the devil are you so happy actin’ about?” Rolf wanted to know. “This could turn to snow up in the passes and we could get stuck and freeze to death.”
“If it begins to snow, we’ll backtrack and head due south toward New Mexico,” Nathan decided. “We’ll ride all the way down to the Colorado River and then cut west.”
“Where are we going?”
Nathan was a man who did not believe in telling anyone his future plans, especially this kid. “We’re going southwest,” he said vaguely.
“To Arizona?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d like that,” Rolf said, looking a little happier. “It will be warm and dry down there in the desert. What are you going to do with these fine horses?”
“I don’t exactly know,” Nathan admitted. “Maybe sell ‘em, maybe see if a few of them can run fast enough to win me some money.”
“I’d like one of them horses,” Rolf said, nodding. “My own horse ain’t much, as you can plainly see. Could I have one of your horses when we get where we’re goin’?”
“I expect you can,” Nathan said, wondering what the kid would say if he knew that there were tens of thousands of dollars in the packs and everything necessary to counterfeit upward of a million dollars.
“Boy!” Rolf said, a wide grin splitting his hatchet-shaped face. “I’d sure be happy about that! If I had any one of them horses to ride—especially that dapple-gray gelding—I could get a real cowboyin’ job. Or, maybe at least one doin’ fence ridin’.”
“Fence riding sounds pretty boring.”
“Oh, no, it ain’t! I’d like nothin’ better than to ride fence all day on a fine horse like that dapple gray. Take my thirty dollars a month. Not have a care in the world. No sir! Just ride fence all day and watch the clouds blow around in the sky.”
Nathan had never known anyone quite as simple as Rolf. He was childlike, and unless you knew better, it was easy to assume that he was mentally deficient. But Rolf knew a lot about farming and the country. He could tell you many things about the birds and animals they often saw in the distance. No, he wasn’t stupid, just simple, and Nathan knew that there was a big difference.
“Wouldn’t you like to own a ranch?” Nathan asked, having to grit his teeth to keep them from chattering.
“Nope.”
“But why?”
