“I figure that since there was trouble with the Doverville robbery they’ve decided to change the location of their operation,” Decker said.
They were riding three abreast, with Decker in the center, Rebecca on his right, and Felicia on his left.
“Colorado?” she asked. “Kansas?”
Decker shook his head.
“I’d head farther east than that. I’d want to put as much space between myself and…what happened in Arizona that there wouldn’t even be a hint of it in the air.”
“And that goes for what happened in Bell’s Crossing, too,” Felicia chimed in.
“So then they’ll just relocate and start over again,” Rebecca said.
Decker nodded.
“We’ve got to stop them, Decker,” she said. “I don’t want what happened Tomy brother and those other people to happen to anyone else.”
“We’ll catch up with them,” Decker said. “Even a small bullet has to be giving whichever one of them is hit some problems. They’ll need a doctor unless one brother wants to take the bullet out of the other brother himself.”
“That means they’ll have to stop in a town,” Rebecca said.
“Right.”
“But which one?”
“We’ll have to find out.”
“That means
“Pass through, anyway.”
“But that’ll put us farther behind!”
“We’ll only pass through the towns that aren’t out of the way. It shouldn’t hold us up that much.”
“Why don’t I go on while you stop?”
“And when you catch up to them, what will you do?”
“I—I’ll—”
“We’ll ride together, Rebecca.”
“Why don’t you go ahead while Felicia and I stop in the towns?” Rebecca suggested.
“Again,” Decker said, “what happens if you ride into a town and they’re there?”
Rebecca didn’t answer.
“I know you’re anxious, but you’ve got to be patient.”
“I’m not a bounty hunter. I haven’t learned your kind of patience.”
He wasn’t sure if that had been meant as an insult or not.
“And you never will make a bounty hunter unless you learn.”
“I have no intention of being a bounty hunter.”
“Why? Don’t you have a bounty on Foxx’s head? And aren’t you after it?”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t see how.”
“You’re after him for the money, and that’s all.”
Felicia started to speak in Decker’s defense, but he waved her to silence.
“People have to eat, Rebecca, and to do that they have to work, and most people work at what they’re good at.”
“And you’re good at hunting people down?”
“Yes.”
“And killing them?”
“What makes you think I kill them?”
“Isn’t that what bounty hunters do?”
“It’s not what this bounty hunter does,” Decker said, “and I don’t think it’s what most bounty hunters do.”
“Haven’t you ever killed a man after you caught up to him?”
“Yes.”
“Because it was easier to bring him back that way? Facedown over a saddle?”
“Because he was trying to kill me—and you should be the one to judge? You’re planning to kill Foxx when you catch up to him.”
“It’s different, I told you.”
“Revenge is a nobler cause than survival?”
She turned to look at him and said, “He killed my brother!”
“That’s fine. He killed your brother, so you kill him. See what that gets you.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“You started the conversation.”
“And now I’m ending it.”
“Have it your way.”
“I’m only riding with you—”
“Because you need me.”
“I do not! We happen to be going in the same direction. I do not care to have my motives analyzed by you.”
“Let me ask you one more question.”
“What?”
“What did you do back in Doverville—for a living, I mean.”
“I…was a schoolteacher— but I can ride and handle a gun as well as any man.”
“You were a tomboy as a child, right?”
“What’s wrong with being a tomboy?” Felicia asked. She just wanted to get into the conversation.
“I don’t care to pursue this any further,” Rebecca said. “Could we ride in silence for a while, please?”
“That’s fine with me,” Decker said. “I’m not used to all this company on the trail, and I’m getting a headache anyway.”
Chapter XXV
The next town Brian and Brent Foxx came to was called Stillwell, and Brian decided that they’d wait and ride into town after dark.
“We want to attract as little attention as possible.”
“Why don’t you let me go in myself, get patched up, and then meet you here?”
Brian gave his brother a glare and said, “Because I can’t trust you not to try and rob the bank before you leave.”
Brent didn’t have an answer to that, and a low moan escaped his lips just at that moment. Brian wondered if he was really in pain or just looking for sympathy.
After dark they rode into town at a leisurely pace, hats pulled down low over their faces.
A townsman was crossing the street and Brian stopped him.
“Can you tell me where the doctor’s office is?”
“It’s down another block on the right, friend, but the doc will be asleep right now. You got an emergency?”
The man was squinting up at Brian, trying to see his face through the shadow.
“No,” Brian said, “no emergency, friend. I’ll just see him in the morning.”
