“Are you talking about that tall man?” Allie said.
Allie was on my right. I hitched my chair a little away from her, so that my right hand was free. Virgil stood and turned so he was in front of Allie, between her and the tall cowboy. The cowboy came toward us.
“You the marshal?” he said.
“Virgil Cole.”
“Name’s Whitfield,” he said. “I need to talk.”
“That’ll be fine,” Virgil said, “but I need to take that iron you got in your pocket.”
“You want my gun?”
“Just while you’re in town,” Virgil said. “ ’Gainst the law in town.”
Whitfield reached to his right-hand pocket.
“Very slow,” I said.
“This your deputy?” Whitfield said.
“Everett Hitch,” Cole said. “Hold it by the barrel.”
Whitfield handed it butt-first to Cole. It was a pocket gun, hammerless and nickel-plated. It looked like a .32.
“What’s this for?” Cole said, “shooting women?”
“It’ll keep somebody off ya,” Whitfield said. “If they’re close.”
Cole put the gun on the table next to me. Allie sat very still, watching everything that happened. She seemed to like it.
“Have a seat,” Cole said. “Maybe some coffee?”
“Coffee be good,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield took his hat off and put it on the table. He looked at Allie.
“This the missus?” he said.
Cole’s face colored a little.
“No,” Cole said. “This is Mrs. French.”
The cowboy said, “Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Allie said. “I’m sure.”
Tilda brought some more coffee. Nobody said anything. Allie waited, interested. Whitfield was silent. Finally, Cole said, “Allie, I got to talk to this fella alone.”
“Oh? Well, certainly, Virgil. I’ve got to do my piano exercises anyway.”
She stood.
“Nice meeting you,” she said to Whitfield.
“My pleasure, ma’am,” Whitfield said.
Allie walked off toward the piano beyond the bar, and sat at it. She opened the cover and began to play some sort of musical exercises that didn’t sound much different than when she really played.
“I used to be a deputy here,” Whitfield said.
Cole was quiet.
“Worked with Jack Bell.”
Cole nodded.
“I knew Jack,” Cole said.
“Went up to Bragg’s place with him one day to arrest coupl’a Bragg’s men.”
Cole nodded.
“Bragg wouldn’t give ’em up,” Whitfield said. “They was too many, but Jack, he…”
“I know what happened,” Cole said.
“Was me,” Whitfield said. “And Dave Long, and Jack.”
Cole nodded.
“They was too many,” Whitfield said.
“I know,” Cole said. “And they shot Bell and the other deputy and you skedaddled.”
Whitfield nodded.
“You know it happened,” he said.
“Know it, can’t prove it,” Cole said.
“No witnesses,” Whitfield said.
“Un-huh.”
“I run off like a yellow dog,” Whitfield said.
“No reason to die for nothing,” Cole said.
“But I come back.”
Cole nodded.
“And I’ll be your witness.”
“Good,” Cole said. “Care to go with us?”
“Go with you?”
“When we go to apprehend Mr. Bragg,” Cole said.
Whitfield shook his head.
“Can’t,” he said. “I… I dunno, it busted me up inside when Jack got killed and I run. I… can’t do gun work no more.”
“But you’ll testify,” Cole said.
“I will.”
“With Bragg looking right at you,” Cole said.
“I will.”
“I don’t want to go up there,” Cole said, “and shoot up a lotta people, and get Bragg into court, and have you dry up and blow away.”
“I won’t.”
“You won’t relinquish on your testimony.”
“I’ll say what I seen,” Whitfield said.
Cole was silent. He looked at me. I nodded. Whitfield saw the nod.
“That’s right,” he said. “I’ll stand. I can’t do gun work no more, but I can say what I seen, and I’ll stand and say it.”
“I got your word on that?” Cole said.
“You do.”
“All right,” Cole said. “Everett and me will go up and apprehend him.”
' A lone?” Raines said.
“Me and Everett,” Cole said.
“But that’s all?” Raines said. “You two alone?”
“Me and Everett,” Cole said again.
“Bragg’s got forty gun hands up there.”
“Twenty-five,” Cole said.
“You say that like it made a difference.”
“Makes a difference of, ah, how much, Everett?”
“Fifteen,” I said.
“It’s still so many,” Raines said.
“Specimens I’ve seen so far don’t enliven me much,” Cole said.
“We could get a posse up, deputize a bunch of us.”
“Coulda done that ’fore you hired us, Abner,” Cole said.
“You don’t want help?”
“No. I got help, I gotta worry about them. They get in trouble, I got to get them out. Better just me and
