newspaper in Texas. As it is, word is bound to spread. But I’ll be long gone, my trail so cold, not even the Rangers could track me down.”
“I suppose you know best,” Gertrude said, but she did not sound as if she believed I did. “Is there anything you need?”
“Just half of the money.”
“Wait here.”
I sat on the rail and pondered. Something about the job didn’t sit right with me, but I could not put my finger on what. Sure, Gertrude was pushy, but it was not unusual for those who hired me to want the job done quickly. Some even tried to tell me when and where I should do the killing. No, this was something else. I chalked it up to the fact I didn’t much like the Tanners. The husband was a lump of clay, the son thought he walked on water, and as for Gerty, she was tougher than most men. Maybe that was it. I generally like females more on the dainty side.
As if that were a stage cue, out the door came Calista Modine. She wrapped her shawl about her slim shoulders and stood beside me, smiling. “I hope you don’t mind my joining you.”
I was thinking of the five hundred. “Not at all,” I lied.
“It’s the cigar smoke. I could do with fresh air.” Calista inhaled, her bosom swelling under the shawl. “It’s pretty here, isn’t it? The setting sun makes the Fair Sister look like a volcano.”
The top of the mountain was bright with color. “Seen a lot of volcanoes, have you?” I joked.
“Nary a one, Reverend Storm,” Calista replied. “But I have an imagination. Don’t you?”
I couldn’t quite savvy why she was so testy with me. “Not much of one, no, I’m afraid. I like pretty things, but half the time I can’t say why I think they’re pretty. They just are.” Now what made me say that?
“Did you enjoy the meal?”
“If I ate that much every night, I’d be fit company for pigs,” I said, patting my gut.
Calista had a nice laugh. “I wouldn’t want that to happen. But perhaps tomorrow night you will do me the honor of dining with me?”
It never fails. Put on a parson’s rig and you become as popular as gold. I should have told her no. I had a job to do. “I would like nothing better.”
We were grinning at each other like idiots when out stepped Gertrude Tanner. She had a poke in her hand, which she quickly slipped behind her back before Calista noticed. “Calista, my dear. When did you come out?”
“A few minutes ago. The sunset is spectacular. I envy you so, living amid such beauty.”
Gertrude followed Calista’s gaze. “To tell you the truth, I hardly ever notice. If you have seen one sunset, you have seen them all.”
“A sunset doesn’t stir you?”
“Not as much as a new dress. Or fine china. Or a gold necklace. Things I can touch and admire to my heart’s content. Things of lasting value.”
“If that’s the case, I feel sorry for you, Gerty,” Calista said. “Man-made wonders can’t begin to compare to natural ones.”
“That’s a matter of opinion, is it not? Some people regard, say, the Grand Canyon as a marvel. But to me it’s just a hole in the ground.”
“You’re joshing.”
“No, my dear, I am not. I do not fawn over waterfalls. I am not impressed by rainbows. The stars in the night sky do not make me feel romantic because they are, after all, just stars.”
“I had no idea,” Calista said rather sadly.
“Oh, please. You make it sound as if I should be pitied. But I assure you that I would rather be as I am than compose sonnets to the moon.” Gertrude shook with silent mirth.
For some reason I resented her smug treatment of Calista. I wouldn’t know a sonnet from a horseshoe, but I butted in with, “If everyone thought like you did, this world would be a poorer place.”
Gertrude was surprised, and I can’t say I blame her. I was a bit surprised myself. “Don’t tell me that you, of all people, admire sunsets and the like?”
“Why do you say that?” Calista came to my defense. “Why can’t a parson appreciate beauty?”
Gertrude had blundered. When she said “of all people,” she was referring to my true profession. But she recovered nicely. “He’s a man first, a parson second, and the only beauty men care about is the kind they find under a woman’s petticoats.”
“Gerty!” Calista exclaimed, scandalized.
“Well, it’s true, and I’ll warrant our parson, here, will agree.” Gertrude looked at me as if daring me to dispute her.
“You both made good points,” I said.
Calista used that as a footstool to say, “I have another point to bring up. But it has nothing to do with what we have been talking about, and everything to do with averting bloodshed.”
“Not this again,” Gertrude said. “It’s the Butchers, I take it?”
“Yes. I have had an excellent idea.” Calista bobbed her chin at me. “Why not have Reverend Storm intervene? He could sit down with both parties and work things out.”
“Are you suggesting I am incapable of working it out on my own?” Gertrude demanded.
“Don’t put words in my mouth. After what happened in my restaurant today, I am worried that sooner or later one side or the other will pull a gun and go on pulling until one side or the other is six feet under.”
“And what would be wrong with that?”
Calista was shocked. “You can’t mean that, Gerty. The Butchers are not bad people. A little wild, yes. But not bad.”
“A little wild?” Gertrude repeated scornfully. “Have you forgotten the last time the three older boys came to town? They got drunk and started a fight with several of our hands.”
“Ty, Clell, and Jordy were only having a good time. They had a few drinks and got a little rowdy.”
“You know them so well, you are on a first-name basis, is that it?” Gertrude carped. “Reckless is one thing, disregard for the law another. How you can stand there and side with them when you know as well as I do that they are rustling LT stock, is beyond me.”
“I don’t know anything of the sort.”
“Who else could it be? Have any strangers been seen? By anyone? I tell you in all honesty, Calista, that the tracks of the rustled cattle always lead to the Dark Sister, but our trackers lose them in the canyons. Those Butchers know all kinds of tricks, I would imagine.”
“I still refuse to believe they are to blame.”
“Only because you are too kindhearted,” Gertrude said. “But I do not have your tender nature. Even so, you must admit I have been patient with them. I have warned Hannah on several occasions to control her wild brood or suffer the consequences.”
Again she had blundered. I wanted to kick her.
“What consequences?” Calista asked.
“The next time LT cattle are stolen or slaughtered, I will send for a federal marshal or the Rangers and formally charge the Butchers. Nothing would please me more than to see each and every one of them swing at the end of a rope.”
Calista said softly, “Oh, Gerty.” Shaking her head, she made for the door. “If you will excuse me.”
We were alone. I stared at Gertrude without saying anything.
“What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that?” She brought her hand from behind her back and held out the poke. “Here you go. Half in advance, exactly as you require.”
“I’ll count it later,” I said, slipping the poke under my black jacket.
Gertrude snickered in amusement. “You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“Ordinarily I would be insulted. But we will let it pass.” Gertrude put her hand on my arm again and I almost slapped it off. “I expect you to start earning that money, Mr. Stark. And remember. All nine of them, or I won’t pay you another dollar.” Gertrude patted my cheek and went in.
She would never know how close she came. I had my hand on the butt of the Remington, but I did not draw. Instead, I admired the fading glory of the setting sun, and wished to hell I made my living some other way.
