He sat back down in the chair behind him and listened to the sounds of the commotion coming from the other room. Even as thick as the walls were, Longarm could hear the sounds of blows and of screams. In a moment, Tom Hunter and Goodman were back. Tom Hunter was flexing his right hand. His knuckles looked bruised.
Longarm said, “Mr. Barrett didn’t fall down, did he?”
Tom Hunter smiled faintly. He said, “Yeah, tripped over the sill of the room right there. Took a bad spill. I hate it when a guest in my house has that kind of misfortune.”
“Has he got water?”
Goodman said, “That’s the bad thing about it. When he fell, he knocked over the table where his pitcher and pan were. spilled every drop of water on the floor.”
“Somebody ought to take him some more one of these days,” said Longarm.
Hunter said, “I’ll get to it, right away. First, I need to go outside and see about my cattle.”
Goodman stood up. He said, “Reckon I do, too.”
“Y’all don’t get in a hurry, hear?” Longarm said. “By the way, send Rufus in here. I want to ask him about his trip into town.”
Rufus Goodman had just returned from hauling a load of water from a little nearby spring where Tom Hunter got his household water. It wasn’t a big enough supply for his cattle. They had to be driven several miles farther on to a little creek that was threatening to go dry. Of course, none of this would have been necessary had Barrett not dammed up Hunter’s main stream that ran so close to the house. They brought the water in for the horses. They were all being kept in the barn, out of sight from any curious passersby. That way, it appeared that only Tom Hunter was home alone. Longarm had cautioned that every man should keep himself well concealed.
The young man came in, and Longarm questioned him about what he had heard in town. Young Goodman shrugged his shoulders and said he hadn’t heard a word about Archie Barrett. “But then I don’t reckon I would, Marshal. They kind of keep their business close up to themselves. It’ll be a few days before it gets around town that something’s wrong.”
Longarm nodded and sent the boy back so he could finish up his chore of watering the horses. After that, he settled back to think. Barrett was going to be a tougher nut to crack than he’d imagined, but crack he would. Longarm had no doubt of it, even if it meant that he would personally have to go into the room and talk to Barrett.
That night at supper, Tom Hunter said, “Now, I understand that you want Archie Barrett to write a note to Jake Myers. How are you going to get that note to him?”
Longarm looked up. He said, “Why, the simplest way possible. Deputy Hawkins is going to take it.”
Hawkins’s mouth fell open. “Deputy Hawkins! Let me tell you what, Marshal Long. Deputy Hawkins is fixing to resign and become Mr. Hawkins again, pretty damned quick, and get on about his business of peddling various kinds of leather.”
Longarm gave him a mild look. He said, “Now, George, you know there’s nobody else that can take that note. None of us can take it. We’d have to rope and drag a Barrett man up here and convince him to take it. It’s the most natural thing in the world for Archie Barrett to send that note with you. Can’t you all see that?”
Everybody nodded but Hawkins, who said, “Now, dammit, Longarm. I ain’t got no desire to go into that armed camp. I went into one for you and got out alive. I sure as hell don’t want to press my luck.”
Longarm nodded his head and said, “George, I’ve got faith in you. I know that you’ll do the right thing when the time comes. But let’s don’t study on it right now. First we’ve got to get that note out of old Archie. He’s being damned stubborn about this matter. I may have to talk to him myself.”
Goodman said, “I’d appreciate it if you’d let Rufus here have the next conversation with him. Rufus is real fond of Archie Barrett, aren’t you, boy?”
The younger Goodman said, “Yes, sir, Pa. I’m just real fond of him. I’d take great pleasure in speaking to him, especially in a closed room.”
Rufus Goodman had been able to find smoked ham in town and they were having that and canned tomatoes and canned peaches. Robert Goodman had turned out to be a first-class biscuit maker and they were also having baking powder biscuits. Tom Hunter claimed it was the first decent meal he’d had since his wife had left.
Longarm said, “Well, it’s a good thing. I don’t know if I could have kept this crew on the job if we’d had much more of your corn bread and that crispy stuff you call bacon. Have you ever heard of taking it off the fire before it turned into charcoal?”
Tom Hunter laughed good-naturedly. He said, “Well, my wife gave me about two hours of instruction in cooking before she left. I guess she must have left out a few things.”
Longarm asked, “Did anybody see any riders today that were more than the common number?”
Robert Goodman and Tom Hunter looked at each other. Both men shook their heads. Hunter said, “I didn’t see any extra activity, Marshal, but then, it’s still a little early. I don’t think they know which way to look. They might have been looking around to the west or in town. No, you said Rufus here didn’t hear anything in town. But you can bet they’ll be coming and not in the distant future, either. I don’t figure we’ve got forever to get what you want out of Barrett.”
Longarm said, “Well, I reckon we’d better start standing watches tonight. It shouldn’t be any hardship. We’ll cut it up into about eight hours and each man can watch about two hours. I’m deliberately letting Mr. Hawkins out of that duty because I’m going to have to call on him for that extra-special job of work of carrying the note to Myers, if we ever get it. So, it’ll just be the four of us doing two hours each, and I’ll take the first one, beginning at eleven o’clock. That ought to see us through dawn. One thing that y’all have to be certain of and that is not to give anybody that’s spying up here any reason to think that there’s anything unusual going on. There’s more here than normally would be here, so let’s not bunch up. I know you’ve got to see to your cattle and I know you’ve got to herd them, but young Rufus ought to be able to handle that. I think the rest of us should try to stay out of sight as much as possible. I know I am.”
Hunter said, “What about Barrett? When are we going to give another little glimmer?”
Longarm said, “I reckon first thing in the morning. I don’t reckon he’s going to spend a very comfortable night, seeing as how he’s out of water. He ought to be getting pretty hungry by now, and he ain’t yelling anywhere near as
