“What if I could give you what you came here for?” she asked.
“You said you couldn’t.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say it’s my nature.”
“Then why should I believe you now?”
“Because I’m tryin’ to save us both a lot of trouble,” she said.
“You should have thought of that before.”
“Wait, wait,” she said impatiently. She turned to face him. “Flagstaff.”
“What about it?”
“You’re lookin’ for a man named Sweet,” she said. “He’s in Flagstaff. Or at least that’s where Cardiff said he was goin’.”
“And why would he tell you that?”
“Men talk in bed sometimes.”
“You’re telling me that Cardiff came here to have sex with you?”
“He liked it here,” she said.
“And what about Adderly?”
“He didn’t like it here.”
“So they were both here?”
“Yes.”
“But not now?”
“No.”
Lancaster wasn’t sure he could believe her, but there was someone else he could ask.
“Okay,” he said, “let’s go.”
“Back upstairs?”
“No,” he said, “outside.”
“But…you have what you want.”
“Sorry, Hermione, but I don’t believe you,” he said. “Come on. Out.”
“B-but it’s crazy.”
“Are you trying to save yourself or your brothers?” he asked.
“I’m trying to save all of us!”
“I’m used to this kind of thing, Hermione,” he said. “I made my living for years with my gun. This’ll just be a stop for me on the way to the saloon.”
“You’re crazy,” she said, shaking her head.
“I think it’s pretty close which one of us is crazier.”
Outside, the Dickson brothers waited confidently. They’d been through this many times before. Lancaster would step through the front door, and they’d gun him down easy. After that they’d empty his pockets of all that money George had seen.
But when Lancaster stepped out, he had Hermione in front of him, and none of the brothers was prepared for that.
From the saloon, Dan watched the proceedings from the batwing doors. When he saw Lancaster appear in the doorway with Hermione in front of him, he chuckled and shook his head.
“Lancaster…” he said.
Forty-two
Lancaster stood back from Hermione, instead of standing right up on her. She might have been a woman, but he was willing to bet she had some tricks. He hadn’t searched her, and it was possible she had a gun somewhere beneath her skirts. He would be ready for her if she did.
As they stepped out the door, he saw the four brothers standing shoulder-to-shoulder rather than fanned out, the way they should have been. They were probably used to facing men who wilted beneath their superior numbers, or had no experience in a gunfight. Neither was true of Lancaster.
“Hello, boys,” he said.
“What’re you doin’?” Sam asked. “Let Hermione go.”
“I don’t think so,” Lancaster said. “Drop your guns on the ground.”
The brothers exchanged glances with each other, but none looked capable of making a decision.
“What do we do, Hermione?” George asked.
Lancaster saw her shoulders rise and she took a breath, preparing to answer. But before she could, Dan came busting out of the saloon, shouting, “What do you think you should do, you idiots? Kill him!”
Galvanized into action by someone actually making a decision, the four men went for their guns.
“No!” Hermione shouted, much too late.
Lancaster’s gun was already out, and he had a cool head. While the brothers were firing wildly, their bullets taking out windows to either side of Lancaster, he pushed Hermione down to the ground and fired off measured shots.
Sam was first. A bullet hit him in the chest, driving him back two steps before he toppled over backward.
Harry went next. A bullet in the belly folded him over, and he slumped to the ground.
A piece of hot lead struck George in the forehead and he was dead before he hit the ground.
Fred actually dropped to one knee, either from instinct or weakness in his legs. Whatever the reason, it didn’t help him. Two slugs hit him in the chest and he keeled over dead as the sound of the shots echoed and died out.
Lancaster, with one shot left, turned his attention to Hermione, but if she had a gun beneath her skirts she had no chance to reach for it. Even pushed down to the ground as she was, one of her brothers’ bullets had hit her in the face. She was on the ground, on her side, with the back of her head blown out.
Lancaster quickly ejected his spent shells and replaced them, because there was still one family member left.
He looked over at the saloon, but there was no one there. Dan had apparently gone back inside.
Lancaster stepped down into the street and crossed over to the saloon.
Forty-three
As Lancaster entered the saloon, he had his gun in his hand. Dan was standing behind the bar with a rag over his shoulder.
“Beer?”
“Come out from behind the bar, Dan,” Lancaster said.
“What for?” Dan asked. “They’re all dead, right? It’s over?”
“You got a gun back there?”
“Nope.”
“I’ve gotta ask you to come out from behind there with your hands up.”
“Okay, Lancaster, okay,” Dan said. “Take it easy.”
Dan raised his hands and walked out from behind the bar.
“What’s goin’ on?” Lancaster asked. “What was that about?”
“What? Oh, that? You mean outside?” Dan shrugged. “I just didn’t want the boys to back down.”
“You wanted me to kill them,” Lancaster said.
“Well, yeah,” Dan said. “It was my only way out.”
