Asher Nelson smiled faintly. “Nothing like dealing with a professional. A nine-inch barrel, Marshal.”
Longarm thought a second. He said, “With that caliber, a good shot—and I’ve got to figure you’re all three damned good shots—he can hit me at forty yards, and all I’ve got is a long knife that ain’t going to do me a hell of a lot of good at forty yards. Go on, what’s the rest of it.”
“He’ll have no extra ammunition. He will attempt to kill you. If he succeeds, it’s all over with. If he doesn’t, then at three o’clock in the morning, Frank will start out mounted.”
Longarm said, “Wait a minute. You’ll make up whatever distance I can cover in nothing flat.”
Asher Nelson shook his head. “No. Because Frank has a heart condition, he’ll be led on horseback for a mile or two to wherever he thinks you’ve gone. But Claude will be on foot from the very beginning and so will I. None of us will know which direction you’ve gone. We’ll have to pick up your trail from wherever you leave it around the house leading in whatever direction you take. We’re going to track you fairly and squarely.”
Longarm said, “Yeah, with a damned gun in your hand.”
Asher looked at him. He said, “Marshal, you don’t have to do this. You have a choice. But you do understand that we cannot release you under any circumstances and if we don’t release you, then we certainly cannot release young Ross Henderson.”
Longarm laughed bitterly. “I really like the chances you’re giving me, gentlemen. Some selections. Why four o’clock?”
“Because I don’t think it would be fair to put You out in the heat of the day. Plus, I don’t think it would be entirely fair to us for you to start out at night. At seven, when Claude starts, he will have perhaps an hour, an hour and a half to pick up your trail. If he doesn’t do it, that’s hard cheese. The moon is full tonight, so Frank will have a good hunting moon. When his eight hours are up at eleven tomorrow morning, then it will be my turn. If you haven’t been killed, I will hunt you through the heat of the day, on foot and with the same amount of water that you have.”
Longarm looked at Asher Nelson with loathing. He said, “You’re a hell of a sport, Asher. You better pray I don’t live through this.”
Asher Nelson smiled. “It’s our intention that you don’t.”
“So that’s the game. My question is: What do I win?”
Asher shrugged. “If you succeed in killing us or you succeed in going the twenty-four hours without being killed, then you are free to go.”
Longarm gave him a look. “Just like that? You’re going to turn me loose?”
Asher nodded. “Yes.”
Longarm laughed. “Pull my other leg. What you’ll have just done is attempted murder of a United States deputy marshal. I don’t think you can afford to turn me loose.”
“Ah, but you won’t go to the authorities because we’ll still have young Deputy Henderson.”
Longarm’s eyes flared. “Well, if you’re going to keep him, then what in the hell am I going through this for?”
Asher Nelson said, “We won’t keep him long. Only long enough to get us out of this country. We’ll release him in some foreign port—that is, if you keep your mouth shut. We’re tired of this place, we’re tired of this life. We are ready to go someplace else and seek new adventures. We have enough money, I assure you, that we can buy ourselves into anywhere. We’ll take the young deputy with us and when we are safe, then we’ll send him home to you. Can anything be fairer than that?”
Longarm looked at him. He said, biting off each word, “Yeah, for you to have never started this insane business in the first place. You’re a madman, Nelson. You’re as crazy as hell. I think what would be fair would be for you to be gut-shot, lying on your back, out in that sun, staring up at the sky, wondering why you were getting off so easy. You think you can play with folks’ lives, but it don’t work that way, Asher. Right now, you boys are holding the best hand, but we ain’t counted the money yet. Let’s see what happens when that time comes.”
Longarm leaned over to pour himself some more brandy. Claude said mildly, “Marshal, you’re going to be out in this heat for a few hours at the very least. Do you think that it’s wise to drink that much alcohol?”
Longarm nearly burst out laughing. “Oh, you want me at my best, is that it? Well, if you really want a fair game, why don’t you give me a six-gun and a Winchester and you can take any of those high-powered rifles you want to and let’s see who wins.”
Claude grinned, not a particularly pretty sight. He said, “Marshal, we ain’t under no illusions of who you are or how tough you are. We are making this game as fair as we can. You are a dangerous animal and none of us are going after you with just a whip and a chair. You’re well armed enough just with your hands and your feet and your brain. We don’t believe you need a rifle or a six-shooter. We believe a machete should be more than adequate to make a fair game.”
Longarm looked at Asher. “You’re making some big promises here. If you kill me, you’re going to leave here, take young Henderson, and turn him loose in a port somewhere—South America, I guess. I don’t know. If I get back alive by seven o’clock tomorrow evening, you’re going to release me and take young Henderson with you in the same way. What assurance do I have that you’re going to do that? I know that you’re going to say that I have your word. Well, gentlemen, you might make a wild guess about what I think of your word.”
Asher Nelson nodded. “You have every reason to think that, Marshal, since we tricked you into coming here. But I assure you that, as sportsmen and as men of adventure, we will abide by the covenant of this adventure. We will keep our word to the letter.”
Longarm yawned. “It really doesn’t seem to make much difference, does it? I’ve got a pretty fair idea that I’m not going to care much what happens. I reckon it won’t be too long before I’ll be belly up with a high-powered slug through me.”
Asher shrugged. “I’ve told you what weapons we’ll carry. You can make your own choice about whether you choose to believe us or not.”
Longarm said, “What time is it getting to be? You’ve got my watch.”
Asher Nelson said, “It’s almost three.”
