“Oh, Mama…,” Clever wails, balling up again.
I lean behind her back and whisper to Billy, “Seems like they’re comin’ faster now. Ya sure we shouldn’t take her to the hospital?”
“We can’t do that. The sheriff knows she’s ’bout to have a baby. The posse might be watchin’ for us. They could come down on us. Take Cooter back to jail. Or worse.”
Thoughtfully, he left out the part where they would take me away, too. Not hang me, I don’t think, but I wouldn’t put anything past the sheriff at this point. He’s already ticked off at me for breaking Cooter out of his jail and stealing back my pictures of dead Mr. Buster. And he’s probably gonna blame me for pulling that stunt on the road when he got knocked out with that limestone rock. (Getting outsmarted by an imbecile who’s dumb as anthracite coal ain’t exactly a boost to your manhood, is it now?)
Wiping off the beads of sweat that keep popping up on Billy’s forehead, I ask, “You feelin’ all right?”
“I’m fine,” he says, looking up at me, but then turnin’ his attention back to his watch. Not fast enough. I saw his lyin’ eyes. Mr. Howard Redmond in his chapter entitled Determining the Guilty Party explains that one of the things guilty people do, besideslie and fidget, is they perspire a lot. Though my man is well-muscled, he is quite sensitive, so earlier this evening I thought it might be all the sad reminiscing about his old pal Georgie that was makin’ Billy damp. Or the Brandish Boys comin’ for us, that’d make an ice cube sweat. But I was mistaken. He definitely had the means. True, I have no idea what his motive might be for murdering Mr. Buster, but he certainly had the opportunity. He’s always prowling around, sight unseen. I also understand now why he was the only one believed me right off about finding Mr. Buster dead on Browntown Beach.
Oh, my sweet, sweet Billy. What have ya gone and done?
Sunup
At first light, Billy shakes me awake. I only drifted off for a bit, worryin’ like I was about Clever, who spent the whole night groaning, moaning, wishing for her mama to magically appear with a heart full of caring. And my guilty Billy, I fretted about him, too. A whole heap. “Gib, get up,” he says, tense.
Groping for the.22, I ask, “Is it the Boys? Have they come for us?”
“It’s Clever. She’s burnin’ up with fever.”
I glance over at the two of them entwined near the back of the cave, the coolest part. Clever’s face looks like it might burst into flames. Cooter is dabbing the sheen off her with his kerchief.
“Gotta get her to the hospital,” Billy says, reaching for his boots.
“But they’ll get us. Just like you said, they’ll have the hospital staked out.”
“I know what I told ya, but I gave this all some thought through the night. The truth is,” he says, “they’re not really coming for Clever. Or me.”
Not yet anyway. But once Cooter is let off from murdering Mr. Buster, they WILL be coming after you, my honey bunch. Somebody’s bound to notice how Mr. Buster’s neck was about twisted off. Somebody will remember your Oriental neck choppers. And how your army knife could do a fine job making those four holes in his chest. Like I said, I don’t know why he murdered Mr. Buster, but knowing how Billy feels about killing people in general, he musta had a damn good reason. (And you, my dear friend, knowing me the way you do by now? You gotta know that I CANNOT let the law cart off my man. I just got him back. No. He and me will head to the border. We’ll send for Clever and Cooter and Rosie once we get settled in the rolling hills of Bolivia.)
“I want you and Cooter to stay put. I’m gonna ride Clever back to the cottage and call my daddy. He can take us to the hospital, ” Billy says, taking charge. “I’ve got the pictures of Buster dead on the beach and I’ll also make sure he gets them into the hands of Judge Larson. Once the judge sees those snapshots, he’ll know the sheriff is up to no good and he’ll call off the hunt.”
Judge Larson is older than Cumberland Mountain, but has always been fair. He’s a checkers-playing friend of Grampa’s.
“Wait a minute. Isn’t your daddy gone? Flyin’ Grampa to Texas for his operation?”
“He’ll be back by now,” Billy says, pulling on his other boot. “That don’ take that long.”
I think on it all for a minute. “So the plan is you’re gonna take Clever to the cottage and call your daddy, who’ll take her to the hospital and make sure Judge Larson sees those pictures of Buster on the beach, and ya want Cooter and me to stay here until the coast is clear?”
“That’s good rememberin’,” Billy says, admiringly.
I say thank you with a kiss on his cheek. Keeper does the same.
Billy lifts his powerful Vietnam binoculars out of his pack and hands them to me. “Once we head down the trail, get outside the cave behind the rock, and if you see the posse comin’… we sh… sh… should go while it’s still a little dddark.”
I press against his chest. “Don’t get all worked up now, ya hear? Cooter and me’ll be just fine. We’ll meet up with ya at the hospital later.”
“Butch?” Clever calls weakly.
Billy says, “I’ll leave the rifle.”
“Butch?”
“I’m comin’, Kid.” Getting to where’s she balled up in the corner, I can feel the heat roiling when I kneel down next to her. See her eyes darting, trying to flee the pain. “Hey, you.”
“Is this what birthin’s s’posed to feel like?” she asks with cracked lips.
“Ya just got a little fever, is all. Remember that time you got the Scarlett and I had to pack you in frozen peas? This is just like that,” I say, smoothing her hair off her face. “Don’t ya worry none. Billy’s gonna ride ya back to the cottage and call his daddy and he’ll come in that beautiful Cadillac a his and drive ya to the hospital. Miz Tay Lewis, you know her, you like her, she did good nursin’ of Grampa and she’ll give you some nice medicine, too. Everything’s gonna be fine. You’ll see.”
Clever, latching on to my wrist, whispers, “But sidekicks… sidekicks don’t ever leave the other one in a bad situation.”
My heart gets awfully snarled having to look at my wild child like this. Her ascared so out in the open. “I got your back. I promise.”
Cooter kisses each finger on her floury white hand, lifts her gently into his arms. “We haveta get you and the baby safe.”
“But… but…” Clever struggles, so worn and warm. “They’s comin’ for ya.”
Cooter lets loose with a laugh that echoes off the cave walls. “Ya think me and Gib can’t take care of those Brandish Boys? Lordy, ugly as they is, they’s not bulletproof,” he says, setting her softly onto the saddle.
Billy swings up behind her, gathers the reins. “Just in case, don’t ffforget the bbback way out,” he says, pressing his leg against the horse’s side. “I already tttied the animals up there for ya.”