“We’re fine, Pa,” James said. “Thomas?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve probably already figured this out,” Shaye said, “but I knew Vincent Shaye—Father Vincent—years ago, which means I also knew Ethan and Aaron.”
“During your outlaw days?” Matthew asked.
“Yes, Matthew,” Shaye said. “We crossed paths during my outlaw days.”
“So you knew why Langer was headin’ for Oklahoma City,” Thomas said.
“Not really, but I figured while he was here he might stop to see his brother.”
“What did the father mean about Langer seein’ Ma in his dreams, Pa?” Matthew asked.
“Your mother is haunting Ethan Langer, Matthew,” Shaye said. “He’s dreaming about her at night.”
“Good for Ma!” James said.
“Father Vincent seems to think this is the way Ethan is dealing with his guilt.”
“The important thing,” Thomas said, “is that we’re only a day behind the gang.”
“Yes, Thomas,” Shaye said, “that is important, but we also need rest, and so do the horses, so we’ll be staying overnight.”
“But we’ll lose some of the ground we’ve made up,” James said.
“We’re going to catch up to them, James,” Shaye said. “That’s a foregone conclusion. They can’t get away from us. A half a day this way or that isn’t going to make much difference.”
“So what do we do now?” Matthew asked.
“We go back to our hotel, we board the horses, and we get something to eat,” Shaye said.
“Good,” Matthew said, “because I’m starvin’.”
“You’re always starvin’,” James said as they mounted their horses. “If you ever weren’t starvin’, I’d think you weren’t my brother anymore.”
Inside the church, Father Vincent rose from the pew he was sitting in, went to the altar and knelt before it. He had to pray, but he wasn’t really sure who or what to pray for. His brothers were evil men. Should he pray for their souls? Daniel Shaye and his sons were after vengeance, but they weren’t bad men. Pray for them?
He made the sign of the cross and pressed his hands together. Maybe he’d just play it safe and pray for all of them—and while he was at it, toss in a prayer for himself as well.
37
They all had steak dinners that night, and there wasn’t much conversation during the meal. Shaye had the feeling they were all having thoughts about faith and religion. He was starting to wonder if accompanying him on his vendetta was going to adversely effect them as men. Or should he simply stop thinking about this as something he had to do and start thinking of it as something they all had to do—their vendetta? After all, they had as much right to it as he did.
During dessert, however, it was Matthew who finally brought the question of religion up.
“Pa?
“Yes, Matthew?”
“Do you not believe in God anymore?”
Thomas stole a quick look at his father and James looked away. He was hoping Matthew wouldn’t tell their father what he had said about that subject earlier in the day.
“Matthew,” Shaye said, “I don’t think we can give God much thought until we’ve accomplished what we’ve set out to do.”
“How can we do that?” Matthew asked.
“It won’t be easy, but we have to try,” Shaye said. “If any one of us can’t put aside the question of God while we’re doing this, he’s going to have to turn back.”
Matthew looked confused.
“Can you do that, Matthew?”
“I don’t know, Pa,” Matthew said, “but I know I don’t wanna turn back.”
“Just give it some thought tonight, then,” Shaye said. “God would not approve of what we’re doing, and your mother certainly would not approve. But we can’t dwell on that. We have to be committed to this, or even when we catch up to them and there’s the slightest doubt about what we’re doing, we could end up dead.”
“I’m committed, Pa,” Thomas said. “We have to do this, no matter what anyone thinks.”
“Me too,” James said.
Matthew looked panic stricken and confused. He wasn’t sure he agreed with the rest of his family, he wasn’t sure he even knew what the word “committed” meant, but he knew that he could not turn back on his own.
“Matthew,” Shaye said, “no one wants to force you into anything. You could stay here and wait for us to come back—”
“I ain’t never been on my own, Pa,” Matthew said. “I wouldn’t know what to do. I gotta come along.”
“Well then, you and I will have to keep talking about it along the way, Matthew,” Shaye said. “You’ve got to be absolutely convinced you’re doing the right thing, or I don’t want you to do it.”
“The right thing is for me to come with you.”
“Son,” Shaye said, “that’s just not a good enough reason to kill someone, and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Thomas reached over and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll all talk about it, Matthew.”
“We’re not gonna leave you behind,” James assured him.
“Damn right you’re not,” Matthew said. “You guys would get in too much trouble without me.”
“And we know it!” James agreed.
“Like that time…” Matthew went on, and Shaye was happy to see the conversation take a new course.
He had to make sure that by the time they caught up to the gang, they were all ready to do what had to be done. The slightest hesitation on any of their parts could end up being a disaster for all of them.
Matthew’s face was still a little pale even as he started to banter with his brothers.
“How about some pie?” Shaye asked.
Matthew smiled and said, “Now you’re talkin’!”
38
With Petry dead, Ethan Langer actually started to miss having someone to talk to, even if it was just to tell him to shut up. For that reason he decided to start talking to Ben Branch.
As they crossed into Kansas he said, “Ben, I’m actually thinkin’ of making you my segundo.”
Branch was surprised. “But you said none of us was good enough.”
“Well, maybe I was wrong,” Ethan said. “Maybe you’re good enough. What do you think?”
“I been real happy just following you along these past few years, Ethan,” Branch said. “I ain’t really got no hankerin’ to give any orders, myself.”
“You wouldn’t have to give no orders, Ben,” Ethan said. “That’s still my job.”
Branch remembered what happened to the last segundo when Ethan left him in charge for just a little while. Terry Petry earned himself a real shallow grave. Branch was sure that a bunch of critters had already taken care of Petry’s remains.
“Whataya say, Ben?” Ethan asked. “Want the job or not?”
“Well, Ethan—”
“There’s an extra share in it for you,” Ethan said. “Petry’s share.”
Well, if there was extra money in it for him, that was a whole different story.
“Sure, Ethan,” Branch said, “I’d be happy to be your segundo.”
“Good,” Ethan said. “Then you ride back and tell the rest of the men about it, and then come back up here.”
“Right, boss.”
“He made you segundo?” Hackett asked.
“That’s right.”
“Did you ask for the job?” Ted Fitzgerald asked suspiciously.
“Hell, no,” Branch said. “I saw what happened to Petry.”
“So why’d you say yes?”
“How could I say no?” Branch asked. He didn’t want to tell them about the extra share. “I didn’t want to get blown out of my saddle.”