His trained ear picked up the sounds of men moaning, empty shells striking the floor as some reloaded, rifle levers being worked and shotguns being broken over to reload.
He didn’t wait for the smoke to clear, but headed for the stairs. Halfway down, he was able to see again. He anxiously sought out his sons.
Thomas was standing up behind the table he’d overturned, calmly reloading.
James was crouched over the fallen deputy.
Matthew was still down on one knee, but he held his gun at the ready. Next to him, Deputy Winston was holding his hand over a wound he’d sustained to his arm.
Sheriff Holcomb was moving among the fallen outlaws. There didn’t seem to be any left standing, but from the sound they were making, quite a few of them were still alive.
“Pa,” Thomas said, still calm, “you’re hit.”
“What?” Shaye looked down at himself and saw blood on his side. He hadn’t felt it, but a bullet had plowed a furrow in his left side and kept on going. He probed it with his fingers, then looked up at Thomas.
“It’s not bad,” he said. “The bullet’s not there. You boys all right?”
“I’m, fine, Pa,” James said, “but the deputy’s dead.”
“Damn!” Holcomb said.
“Sorry about your man, Sheriff,” Shaye said. “Looks like your other one is hit but okay.”
“I’ll live,” Winston said.
Shaye moved in among the fallen men and began checking them with Holcomb. He saw two who were alive, but blood bubbles on their lips said not for long.
“We need one man to question,” he said aloud. “They’re not all here. The Langers aren’t here.”
“There’s one over here, Pa,” Thomas said.
Shaye went over and stood next to his son, and was soon joined by the sheriff. They looked down at the fallen man, who was holding his hand to his side and glaring up at them. His wound seemed similar to Shaye’s, except that the blood was deeper red and there was more of it. The bullet was still there.
“Pa,” Matthew said, coming up next to him, “we gotta get a doctor over here.”
“Your son is right,” Holcomb said.
“If you talk,” Shaye said to the man, “we’ll get you to a doctor.”
“Fuck you.”
“Where’s your boss?”
“Go to hell,” Red Hackett said. He’d started the whole fracas by going for his gun, and he was still alive. Shaye had no idea of the irony involved, though.
“The Langers left you here to get killed while they took off with the money.”
Hackett just continued to glare.
“The money’s not here, is it?”
“Get me a doctor.”
“Where’d they go?”
“I don’t know!” Hackett shouted. “They went upstairs a little before you hit us. Get me a doctor!”
“I’ll get the doc,” Holcomb said.
“Upstairs?” Shaye said, looking up. “Damn!”
He ran for the stairs, followed closely by his sons.
55
Shaye and his sons checked all the upstairs rooms. There was evidence that the Langers had been in one of them. On the floor, left behind by accident, was a twenty dollar gold piece. Shaye knew that part of the haul taken from the bank in Epitaph had included gold coins.
“The livery,” he said.
He ran back downstairs, again followed by his sons. The sheriff had not returned with the doctor, and Deputy Winston was standing guard over the fallen man still holding his arm.
“Where’s the closest livery?” Shaye asked.
“South end of town,” Winston said, pointing. “Go outside, turn left and keep going.”
“Tell the sheriff we’ll be back.”
They all went out the door.
When they reached the livery, the doors were wide open and some horses were wandering about. Apparently, the Langers, in a hurry to saddle their own mounts, had let some of the others loose.
“We gonna follow them, Pa?” Matthew asked.
“Not in the dark, Matthew,” Shaye said. “We’ll track them in the morning.”
“We don’t know how many there were,” James said.
“Ethan and Aaron for sure,” Shaye said. “If the doctor keeps that other man alive, maybe he’ll tell us.”
They went into the livery, rounded up some of the loose horses, and put them in stalls.
“A lot of horses,” Shaye said. “Most of the gang must have boarded them here.”
They left the livery and closed the doors behind them.
“We better get back,” Thomas said.
“Before we do,” Shaye said, “I want to tell you boys how proud I am of you. You stood up like men tonight, and none of you backed down.”
Matthew and James looked embarrassed.
“Pa,” Thomas said, “let’s go back to the saloon. The doc’s gotta take a look at you too.”
“All right, Thomas,” Shaye said. “Let’s go.”
Outside of town the Langers slowed their horses, then reined them in. Morales and Branch stopped as well.
“What the hell happened back there?” Aaron demanded.
“You said there were only three lawmen,” Ethan pointed out.
“Maybe they recruited some help,” Branch said.
“And maybe you were trailed here from…what town did you hit in Texas, anyway?” Aaron asked.
“A place called Epitaph,” Ethan said. “I never heard of it before, but—”
“Epitaph?” Aaron said. “You robbed the bank in Epitaph?”
“That’s right,” Ethan said. “It was a good haul.”
“Did you bother to find out who the sheriff of Epitaph was before you hit it?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Do you remember the name Shaye Daniels, Ethan?”
“Shaye…yeah, from a long time ago. He was, uh…”
“Shaye Daniels was the best man with a gun I ever rode with,” Aaron said. “I wanted him to be my partner, but he walked away.”
“And he ended up sheriff of Epitaph, Texas?” Morales asked.
“That’s right, as Dan Shaye.”
“How do you know?” Ethan asked.
“Because I kept track of him, that’s how,” Aaron said. “I’ll bet he tracked you all the way here.”
“Why would he do that?” Ethan asked.
“You killed a woman,” Aaron said. “Even fifteen or so years ago he had his own code. God, if that was Danny Shaye back there…”
They waited for Aaron to finish, but he didn’t. He just gigged his horse and they moved on their way in the dark.
