“Tell me,” Rance said.
“Later,” she said. “I’ll find you. Go now.”
“I got the horses behind the jail,” Tommy said.
B.W. collected his guns and tomahawk, stopped at the door and looked at Julie. “Thanks, Miss Julie.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Thanks from me too,” Tommy said.
Rance hugged her neck with his good arm.
“You’ll get a letter later to tell you where I am if you need me. May be a different name but it will be me.”
“Go,” she said and they darted out the door and ran to their horses. They mounted and spurred their horses out into the street. Two bystanders across the street were staring at them as they rode out of town.
“That’s the prisoners,” one of them said. “I’ll go get the marshal, you check on the deputy.”
10
A man wearing a straw hat, overalls and clod hoppers, with a tobacco sack string hanging out of his chest pocket ran into the saloon out of breath and stopped at a table where Marshal Preston was playing poker.
“Marshal,” he said, trying to catch his breath, “got something to tell you.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy, Floyd?”
“It’s important, the prisoners escaped. I saw them high-tailing it out of town.”
“Holy shit!” The marshal threw the cards on the table, stood up and picked up his money. “I had a winning hand.”
He charged out of the saloon and hurried to the jail. Julie was coming out the jail door.
“What you doin’ in there?” he asked Julie.
“Brought the prisoner’s supper.”
“Was that before or after they escaped?”
“Before. Charlie told me to go home.”
“Come back in with me,” he said and they walked back in the jail. Charlie and another man named Luke Sewell, was in the jail with Charlie. He had a floppy felt hat on his head a fat face and a bulging waist line. Much like Charlie.
“What happened, Charlie?” the marshal asked.
“That boy pulled a gun and they locked me in a cell and escaped. Luke here let me out.”
“You let a kid bully you in to a jail break?”
“He ain’t no ordinary kid. He would have shot me! Said to not let the other fellow out.”
“You see which way they went?” the marshal asked Luke.
“Saw ‘em heading south ‘fore I came to the jail,” Luke said.
“We better get after them, marshal,” Charlie said.
“We’re not goin’ to catch them in the dark with a head start on us. Miss Julie, you have anything to do with this?”
“You told me to keep an eye on the boy. He stole my gun and forced Charlie to let them out.”
“That’s what happened,” Charlie said.
“Looks like you didn’t keep a very good eye on him,” the marshal said.
“Afraid not,” she said.
“Allison have any kin here?”
“Not anymore. Yankees killed them all.”
“I heard one of them say somethin’ ‘bout Texas,” Charlie said. “Couldn’t make out much from where I was but he I know he said Texas.”
“That where they goin’, Julie?” the marshal asked.
“I don’t know.”
”You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Told you, I don’t know. The boy had a gun.”
“This doesn’t sound like something a kid cooked up by himself.”
“I wouldn’t know. Can I go now?”
“For now,” he said. “I may want to talk to you again.”
She nodded and walked out the door.
“Charlie, round up the other deputies and get that tracker,” the marshal said. “I intend to find them no matter how long it takes. Never had a prisoner get away and I’m not going to this time, especially one set free by a kid. Anyone don’t think they’re up to it can find another job. Get going.”
“Yes sir.” Charlie opened the door and was gone.
The marshal unlocked the cell room door and walked up to No-Neck’s cell.
“You don’t need me anymore, let me out of here,” No-Neck said.
“Was there any conversation between Allison and Miss Julie?” Preston asked.
“He just asked what she was doing here, that was it. Allison looked surprised to see her.”
”I’m goin’ to let you out but you better be where I can find you when I need you,” the marshal said and unlocked the cell.
“Yes sir, I will,” No-Neck said and ran out the door.
Preston walked back to the front office, unlocked the gun cabinet and took the rifles and shotguns out and leaned them on the desk. He loaded a double-barrel, spun the cylinder on his .44 to see if it was fully loaded, lifted his right pants leg up and checked the Arkansas tooth pick inside his right boot and put his pants leg back down over the boot.
The door opened and a Union Army colonel walked in with an arrogant strut. His blonde hair to his shoulders, his deep-set blue eyes gave the illusion he was always staring.
“Hear your prisoners got away,” he said.
“Not for long. I’m goin’ to get ‘em back.”
“Don’t think that’s a good idea. Need you here. Put out a telegram to all law enforcement, let someone else catch them.”
“Colonel Hatch, I ain’t ever had a prisoner escape and it ain’t goin’ to be now. When folks find out it was engineered by a kid I’ll be the laughing stock of the country. If I don’t bring ‘em back, I could never marshal anywhere again.”
“Not what I’ve been ordered to do,” Colonel Hatch said. “The government wants a civilian face on things here, keep the troops in the background. You keep playing the role of marshal. Of course, everyone knows who’s running things.”
“You don’t give theses people much credit for any smarts, Colonel. They’re not going to put up with you much longer.” Preston reached up to the marshal’s badge on his shirt and pulled it off and handed it to the colonel. “Get you another flunky. I’m going to defend my reputation. I’ll take this shotgun as a bonus. Luke, tell Charlie to forget the posse, they’re on their own.”
“You can’t just walk out,” Colonel Hatch said.
“Watch me,” Preston said.
“I’ll have you arrested.”
“I wouldn’t do that, colonel,
