Double The Bounty

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Sheriff, and if I don’t like the answers, I’m going to pull the trigger. You’ll have the biggest asshole in the Utah region.”

Decker cocked the hammer on the gun, and the sheriff’s entire body tensed.

“Hey, wait—”

“Question number one—do you know Brian Foxx?”

“Yes, yes, I know Brian Foxx. Look, Decker, take it easy—”

“Question number two—did he go through town in the past two weeks?”

“All right, yes, yes, he did. I had my cousin give him some supplies.”

“The same cousin you had work on me earlier today?”

“Yeah—but, hey, that wasn’t nothing personal, Decker, believe me—”

“Oh, I believe you, Sheriff, I really do. Now, here comes the third and most important question—do you know where Foxx was going?”

“No, h-honest, I don’t. I only know that he was going to hole up in the region somewhere.”

“Is that the truth?” Decker asked, applying pressure to the gun.

“Yes, Jesus, yes, Decker, it’s the truth!”

Decker believed him.

He eased the hammer down on the gun and removed it. The rope he had used on the sheriff was not his best one, so he decided to leave it.

He holstered his gun and said to the woman, “What’s your name?”

“G-Gloria.”

“Gloria, after I’m gone you can untie your boyfriend, but I want you to count to fifty first, okay?”

“Y-Yes.”

“And you won’t let him talk you into untying him sooner? I can trust you?”

“Y-Yes, yes.”

Decker slapped the sheriff on his hairy rump hard enough to leave an imprint of his hand, and then leaned over to speak into the man’s ear.

“Now, Sheriff, I know this must have been very embarrassing for you, but I want you to remember something. If I hear that you’ve put out any paper on me, I’m going to come back and finish what I started. Do you understand?”

“I understand, all right,” the lawman said, “but believe me, Decker, you won’t be around long enough for me to put a poster out on you. Foxx will see to that. If I knew where he was, I’d tell you just so he could kill you.”

“Well, I appreciate that, Sheriff, I really do.” Decker turned to the woman and said, “Gloria, you take good care of our boy, all right?”

“Y-Yes, I w-will.”

“Good night.”

Decker walked through the house, out the kitchen door, and mounted up. He didn’t expect the woman to be able to count all the way to fifty In fact, he could already hear the sheriff shouting at her. Still, he didn’t think the sheriff would come after him. He would leave things to Brian Foxx.

And that was just fine with Decker.

Chapter XIII

Brian and Brent Foxx were sitting across from each other in the saloon in Fenner’s Fork. They had been sitting like that for some time now, and the bartender, Sam, was leaning on the bar, watching them both with interest.

“What are we gonna do, sit here forever?” Brent asked Brian.

“We can’t agree on a course of action, Brent,” Brian said. “That means we can’t take a course of action, can we?”

“Sure we can.”

“What?”

“I passed a town on the way here that’s got a bank that’s ripe. One of us could go back and pull the robbery off easy.”

“It’s too soon, Brent,” Brian said, shaking his head. “It’s not safe.”

“When has anything we’ve ever done been safe?” Brent said. “I don’t agree.”

“And that’s why we’re sitting here staring at each other, isn’t it?” Brian asked. “Because we can’t agree.”

“I don’t want to leave this area, Brian,” Brent said stubbornly.

“And I do,” Brian said. “I know it’s the right move Tomake, Brent, and we’re gonna stay in this town until I can convince you of that.”

“In that case,” Brent said, waving to Sam, “I need another drink.”

Brent got up to get the drink and Brian watched his brother’s retreating back. He could feel the split coming, and he didn’t want it to happen. If they separated, he knew that Brent would make a mistake and get caught or be killed.

He couldn’t let that happen—but how was he going to stop it?

Chapter XIV

Decker knew a little about the Utah region, especially the fact that it was short on water. He usually carried an extra canteen, and while he was in Utah it would come in even more handy than usual.

He knew that the early settlers of Utah were the Mormons, and that they had emigrated from New York by way of Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. They were not welcomed in those places because of the peculiarities of their religion—not the least of which was the fact that men were allowed more than one wife—and for that reason they had decided to try and settle in Utah.

He knew that when the Mormons first came to Utah it had been owned by Mexico, but that it had since passed into the hands of the United States. Statehood, however, had been denied it, again because of the religious beliefs of its prime inhabitants. Salt Lake City had been the headquarters of the Mormons since 1847, but Decker did not fore-see getting to that part of the region.

Indian problems—mostly with the Utes—had been solved as early as 1857, and the Utes were presently on a reservation.

Utah was peaceful now, but animosity still existed between the Mormons and the outside world, which would prevent Utah from becoming a state of the Union for years to come.

Two days after leaving the town of South Bend, Decker was certain that the sheriff had not gathered a posse and was not on his trail.

Seven days out of the town he suddenly became aware that somebody was on his trail, but whether or not the person was from South Bend was another story.

Ten days and he was still being trailed, although whoever it was had not chosen to close the distance between them.

Decker decided it was time to find out who was following him.

That night, instead of camping, Decker started a fire, then moved into the darkness and mounted John Henry. He started to backtrack, testing the air for signs of a campfire. Finally he caught the scent of coffee and followed it.