Chapter 15
Jane pressed a fist against her mouth. It was not enough to suppress her whimper.
She saw Morgan set his jaw and knew he had heard her.
Gideon was either oblivious to her distress or uncaring of it because he began to describe the final minutes of Zetta Lee’s life, those minutes when she realized his intention was to kill her.
For the first time since entering the kitchen, Finn and Rabbit actually looked afraid. Jane wanted to take them by the hand. It might have reassured them, but it would not have made them happy.
“Enough.” It was Morgan, not Jane, who spoke up. He surprised Gideon into silence. “That’s enough,” he said quietly. “If you need to tell someone, tell me, but not in front—” Morgan spun around as the back door opened. A second gun was pointed at him.
Gideon holstered his Remington. “Give him some space before he takes it out of your hands.”
Marcie pulled the door shut and then kept his back to it. He looked around, nodded to Dix, and then came back to Gideon. “Everything all right?”
“As it should be,” said Gideon. “Did you check on Avery like I told you?”
Marcie nodded. “He’s fine. Those three boys sure are fit to be tied.
” The long scar running through his salt-and-pepper beard meandered a little as he chuckled.
“And I mean it exactly like I said it. Especially that one we acquainted ourselves with over at the Pennyroyal. He’s spittin’ mad.
You’d think no one ever got the drop on him before. ”
“All right,” Gideon said. “You’ve had fun.”
Morgan turned his back on the gun and faced his brother. “Where’s Max? He said three boys. What did you do with Max?”
“He’s resting. There was an altercation, I’d guess you call it. Your wife fixed him up.”
Jane said, “He was a little worse off than Jem. They put him in one of the bedrooms. I haven’t heard a sound from him since.”
Gideon smiled pleasantly. “See? He’s resting, just like I said.”
“There’re four of you?” asked Morgan. “I’m counting four. Three here and one in the bunkhouse.”
“Let’s just say you don’t know the half of it.”
“Eight men? I don’t think so, Gideon.”
“Four,” Jane said quickly. “He wanted me to think there are others, maybe two more, but there aren’t.”
Gideon screwed his mouth to one side as he shook his head. “I don’t like her much.” He pointed to Dix. “If she opens her mouth again, shoot the little fella there.” His fingerpost moved to Finn. “Yeah, you. And stop squirmin’. You got ants in your pants?”
“I gotta pee, mister.” His eyes darted to Jane. “Sorry, Mrs. Longstreet, but I gotta go real bad.”
Gideon said, “Good thing you got here when you did, Morgan. I learned a little about the advantages of patience while I was in prison, but those lessons are fading some in my mind. You understand?”
“Let Finn step out on the porch.”
“Jesus. Marcie, take the boy outside.” He drew his gun and held it on Morgan while Finn practically danced his way to the door. He jerked his chin at Rabbit. “You gotta go, too?”
Rabbit shook his head. “No sir, leastways not yet.”
Morgan asked, “What are you boys doing out here anyway?”
Before Rabbit could respond, Gideon raised his gun a fraction and drew Morgan’s attention back to him. “They brought you something. A crate. It’s pretty heavy. They’re speculating it’s gold.”
Morgan had an apologetic smile for Rabbit. “Sorry. No gold.”
“We didn’t really think there was gold in it. We had cookies and pie, too, like the last time, but they’re still out in the wagon.”
“Sure wished I had looked,” said Morgan. “I suspect we could use some pie and cookies about now.”
Gideon snorted. “And here I was thinking it was a real shame they were wrong about the gold. That would have squared us, and we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with the Cattlemen’s Trust.”
“So that’s your game here. The Cattlemen’s Trust.”
Before Gideon could confirm it, the door opened and Finn stumbled into the room. Morgan had to grab him to keep him from falling.
Marcie shut the door so hard it vibrated. “He pissed on me.” He pointed to his right trouser leg. There was indeed a wet stain below the knee.
Morgan quickly pushed Finn toward his chair to get him out of Marcie’s way. Marcie looked as if he wanted to club Finn, and that was probably only to make shooting him easier. Gideon’s reaction surprised Morgan, though. His brother was laughing.
“Damn, Marcellus. The boy said he had to go, didn’t he? Couldn’t you get out of his way?”
Marcie grunted and drew his gun. He pointed it at Finn. “Dix, don’t you concern yourself with shootin’ a kid. If Mrs. Longstreet says somethin’, I’ll shoot him.” With that, he turned the gun on Morgan.
Gideon holstered his weapon again and knuckled away a tear at the corner of his eye. “I don’t know what you think, Morgan, but I’m kinda wishin’ Jack was here to see this. He never did cotton to taking things too seriously. I liked that about him. It skewed his judgment some, but that was Jack.”
Morgan did not respond.
“Right,” said Gideon. “Have a seat. Time for plain talk.”
Morgan sat at the head of the table. He had a reassuring smile for Jane that encompassed the boys, and a dark, narrow look for Dix standing at Jane’s back.
Gideon stepped to the side until he had Morgan’s face in view.
He leaned a shoulder against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “Here’s what I’m proposing, Morgan.
There is a Barkley and Benjamin in the manager’s office at the Cattlemen’s Trust. I’ve seen it.
I even had a chat with the manager after the marshal left, just to get the feel of things. Made a little deposit, too.”
Morgan recalled that Gideon had said something to Jane about seeing them coming out of the bank. Bridger might have still been inside when Gideon went in. Morgan recognized the opportunity that he and the marshal had not been able to see at the time. Under the table, his hands curled into fists.
“You know about Barkley and Benjamin safes,” said Gideon. “I remember that you’re particularly good with them.”
“I hope you brought dynamite. It has been a long time since I’ve touched one.”
“Oh, I don’t think that will matter. As for dynamite, I figure I’ve got three sticks sittin’ right here at the table, another in a bedroom, and three more hog-tied in the bunkhouse.
That should be enough to blow up Morning Star and pretty much make a ruin of your life. You understand what I’m sayin’?”
Morgan nodded.
“Good. We’ll stick to what we know and to what we know works.
My men have done some scouting. They had a look around Bitter Springs before they checked in with the marshal.
Most folks will be in bed soon. The ones who aren’t will be at the Pennyroyal or Whistler’s Saloon.
That’ll make the alley behind the bank a quiet place.
We go in through the back, get you settled at the safe, you perform your magic, and we leave. ”
“We? I’m leaving the bank with you?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t be right to leave you behind. Anyway, if I kill you there it won’t exactly look like you did it on your own, and I think preserving the illusion for a little while makes sense.”
“All right, but why do you think anyone will suspect me? People around here don’t know about me, what I’ve done.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But they’ll come to it because I’ll be leaving somethin’ of yours behind. That’ll bring the marshal and his men out this way first, and we’ll be long gone.”
“Well, I can tell you’ve thought a lot about it. Do you know what you’re going to leave behind? It should probably be my hat.”
Gideon looked it over. “I suppose that might work. There’s nothing special about it, though.”
Morgan removed his hat and placed it on the table. “What’s special is this.” He pointed to his hair. “There are probably one or two threads of it in the crown. Besides, if anyone does see me slinking through town, they’re likely to catch sight of my hair first. I’m known by that.”
“It is like a struck match. Sure, we’ll leave your hat.”
Morgan nodded. “So how do we do this? I figure everyone’s not going into Bitter Springs.”
“Marcie and Avery stay. Dix comes with you and me.”
“Then we are all coming back here?”
Gideon shook his head. “No, Morgan. You do your best work under pressure. Like I said, we will stick to what we know. You will want to pay attention to the time. Once we leave, Avery and Marcie will also take notice of the time. You will do the same. I’m figuring about eight, maybe nine miles as the crow flies to town.
We can be at the Cattlemen’s Trust in forty minutes.
Of course, how long it takes you to open the safe will determine the outcome for these folks at the table and the ones you can’t see.
I figure you’ll have an hour left once we to get to the bank.
The less time you use fiddlin’ with the safe, the more time you have to get back here.
If Marcie and Avery don’t see you one hundred minutes after we leave, there will be nothing for you to come back to. That’s clear, isn’t it?”
“I have not opened a safe in nine years, Gideon. I’ve never touched an 1884 Barkley and Benjamin.”
“See? You know it’s a Model 1884. That’s what I’m talking about here.
” He pointed to himself. “I didn’t know that.
Marcie? Dix? Either of you know that?” When they both shook their heads, he went on.
“I guess you did something to keep up. You always set store by book learnin’.
” He dropped his hands to his sides and pushed away from the wall.
“Now, who do you want to take with us? Never hurts to have extra insurance.”
“No,” Morgan said. “They stay here. I will come back for them. All of them. They stay here.”
“I’m thinking along different lines. It seemed polite to give you a choice, but I can see how that could be a hardship for you. I don’t mind making the pick, although I do wish I had better pickings.”
“No,” Morgan said again.