them to drop their weapons and I’d take them back live, but they didn’t believe me. They thought I’d gun them down in cold blood once they were unarmed, so they forced the issue.”
“So you finally got tired of it?”
“I got tired of the killing, yeah,” the man said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, bringing wanted men to justice, but it all changed. Too much killing. I walked away.”
“And went where?”
“Wherever I could go where people didn’t know me,” he said. “I’d use a phony name, try to start a life somewhere, but sooner or later someone would come to town and recognize me.”
“Like my pa did.”
Macky nodded. “Only he’s the only man who kept quiet about it…until now.”
“He only did it because nobody in town would volunteer for the posse,” Thomas said. “Nobody came out to help us when the bank was hit.”
“I know,” Macky said, looking away. “I…I feel bad about that. I started to grab a gun, to come out and help, but I hesitated…thought about it too long…and then it was all over.”
“So that’s why you agreed to help?” Thomas asked. “Out of guilt?”
“That’s one reason.”
“What’s the other?”
“Your pa, he gave me the option of saying no, said he still wouldn’t tell anyone who I was. How could I say no to that kind of an honest plea?”
“That’s Pa,” Thomas said. “He’s real honest.”
“I understand he wasn’t always that way.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Just another example of how honest he is, now.”
“I realized that,” Macky said. “I tried to convince myself to say no anyway, but I couldn’t do it.”
“So then the stories weren’t true?”
“No,” Macky said. “Oh, I brought some men in draped over their saddles, but only when they gave me no choice. Soon, though, none of them did.”
“So that’s why you’re such a good tracker?”
“Experience,” Macky said. “I tracked so many men that soon it was my strength.”
“So you think you can track these men?”
“As long as they don’t manage to find some surface that won’t show sign.”
“Like solid rock?”
“You can track over solid rock,” Macky said. “Shod horses, anyway.”
“We gotta catch these men, Mister…what do I call you? Cory? Macky?”
“Call me Ralph,” the man said. “Ralph Cory is the name I’m hoping to go back to after this is all over.”
“All right, Ralph.”
“I expect you to tell your brother,” Cory said. “And Colon, I guess.”
“Yes, but I won’t tell anyone else, Ralph,” Thomas said, “I swear.”
“I believe you,” Cory said. “I’m sure your brother will keep quiet as well.”
“And Rigoberto?”
Cory hesitated, then said, “Go ahead and tell him. I get the feeling he’s got some secrets of his own. We all do.”
“I don’t,” Thomas said.
“You and your brother are young,” Cory said, getting to his feet. “But you will have secrets, eventually. I’m going to turn in, Thomas.”
“Good night, then…Ralph,” Thomas said. “Thanks for bein’ honest with me.”
“Seems to be what you Shayes value,” Cory said.
Cory rolled himself up in his bedroll, as it had gotten chilly during the night. Thomas poured himself another cup of coffee and dwelled on the fact that he was tracking bank robbers and killers with the famous—and infamous—Bloody Dave Macky.
38
In the morning, Thomas decided to start the day by introducing James and Rigoberto to Dave Macky. This way, at least they all knew they were riding with a professional.
“I am impressed,” Colon said, after “Ralph Cory’s” real identity was revealed.
“Don’t be,” Cory said.
“And what do we call you, now that we know who you are?” James asked.
The answer was the same one Thomas had gotten during the night.
“Just call me Ralph,” Cory said. “That’s the name I answer to.”
“Now that we’ve got that settled,” Thomas said, “let’s break camp and get movin’. Ralph, you’ll take point again. Berto, you ride drag.”
As they collected their gear and saddled their horses, James said to Thomas, “I feel odd.”
“About what?”
“Us bein’ in charge when we got Bloody Dave Macky riding with us.”
“He’s not Macky, James,” Thomas said. “He’s Ralph Cory. Let’s try to remember that.”
“But Macky, he’s a legend.”
“Remember what Pa told us about him bein’ Shay Daniels?” Thomas asked. “If we allow him to leave that in the past we got to allow Ralph Cory the same thing.”
“I can’t believe Pa knew about him and never told us.”
“Pa doesn’t tell us everything, James,” Thomas said, “and we don’t tell him everything.”
As Thomas led his horse away, James called after him, “Hey, what are we keepin’ from Pa?”
With the campfire stamped cold, the members of the four man posse mounted up and headed off single file in the direction of the tracks. They rode in silence for some time, each apparently alone with his own thoughts.
About midday Cory called a halt to their progress and once again dismounted to inspect the ground.
“Rigoberto?” he called. “You want to have a look?”
Colon handed the reins of his horse to James, dismounted and walked over to where Cory was crouched.
The two men examined the tracks left by three horses, exchanged a few words, then stood up and faced the two young deputies.
“We’re agreed that we think we’ll catch up to the third man before he catches up to the first two.”
“That’s not who we want,” James protested. “He wasn’t in the bank when the people were killed.”
“If we run him down first,” Colon said, “we will not have much choice, Deputy. We cannot just let him go.”
“Berto is right, James,” Thomas said. “We’re gonna have to take them as they come.”
“Then will one of us have to take him back to town?” James asked. “I don’t want it to be me, Thomas.”
“I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t keep him with us,” Cory said, before Thomas could reply. “He might come in handy predicting where the other two might go.”
“Why don’t we deal with that if and when it happens,” Thomas said. “Right now whataya all say we keep movin’.”
“You two are in charge,” Cory said.
He and Colon mounted up. James handed Colon back his reins, and Thomas did the same for Cory.
“We do have something to secure these men with when we catch up to them, don’t we?” Cory asked.
“Um, we can tie them up.”
“No chains? Or manacles?” Cory asked.
