“I know, son,” Shaye said. “I know we did. And we’ll have them again, and next time they won’t get away.”
Shaye stood up, and his sons followed, mounting their horses again.
“They’re heading west,” he said, “toward Hays. There’s no tellin’ which way they’ll end up goin’, though. They probably don’t even know. We broke up both parts of their gangs, and they’ll have to reform if they want to start again.”
“What if they don’t start again?” Thomas asked. “What if they have enough money now to just stop?”
“That won’t happen,” Shaye said.
“Why not?” James asked.
“Because there’s not enough money for these men to stop,” Shaye said. “Not for Aaron…maybe Ethan is a different story, but I know not for Aaron.”
“Do you know him that well to say that, Pa?” Thomas asked.
“I knew him,” Shaye said, “a long time ago. I know what kind of a man he was then.”
“But you changed, Pa,” James said. “You’ve changed since then. Why not him?”
“I’ve kept track of his career,” Shaye said. “Maybe I wanted to see what would have happened to me if I’d stayed on that path, if I’d ridden with him. He hasn’t shown any inclination to change.”
“But Ethan’s the one we want,” Thomas said, “he’s the one came to Epitaph, robbed the bank…killed Ma.”
“They’re brothers,” Shaye said. “If we take one, we’re going to take the other.”
“Brothers,” Matthew said, “like us?”
Shaye looked at his three sons and said, “Brothers, yes, but not like you. Nothing like you.”
58
They rode through the night and most of the day, and then camped for the second night about ten miles outside of Hays.
“Are we goin’ into Hays tomorrow?” Ethan asked.
“We can’t,” Aaron said. “They’re bound to have sent word from Salina by now.”
“Then where do we go?”
They were sitting around the fire drinking coffee. They’d finished eating, and Morales and Branch were watching the two brothers. Aaron’s anger since finding out about Dan Shaye had been growing. They could all feel it.
“I don’t know where you’re goin’, brother,” Aaron said, “but I’m gonna head north, into Nebraska.”
“Why north?”
“I like the North,” Aaron said. “I know the country. I can get lost. I can also find some men and get started all over again.”
“I like the South,” Ethan said. “I could go south, through Dodge and back into Indian Territory. I could find some more men too, and start over—”
“No, Ethan,” Aaron said, “when I said start over, I meant it—without you.”
“Wha—What are you talkin’ about?” Ethan asked. “Why? Is this about Shaye?”
“This is about stupidity,” Aaron said. “You’ve got too much of it, brother. I can’t deal with it no more. In the mornin’, you go your way and I’ll go mine. Morales will be comin’ with me.” Aaron looked at Branch. “I don’t know what you want to do, Branch, but take my word for it, go off on your own.”
“I can’t come with you?” Branch asked.
“I don’t want you.”
“What about the money?” Ethan asked.
“We’ll split it four ways,” Aaron said. “We got four sets of saddlebags, so I’ll do it tonight.”
“Four equal shares?” Branch asked.
Aaron turned and looked at him coldly. “Four shares,” he said.
Branch shrugged and subsided. After what happened in Salina, he knew he was lucky to be alive.
“Aaron,” Ethan said, “you can’t blame me—”
“I do blame you, Ethan,” Aaron said. “You got Dan Shaye on our trail. Now, I don’t know what kind of lawman he turned into, but he was a stubborn sonofabitch when he was riding with me, and that kind of thing don’t change.”
“What if I take care of him?”
“Like how?”
“What if I kill him?”
“You?” Aaron asked. “Kill Dan Shaye?”
“That’s right,” Ethan said. “Can we join up again if I do that?”
Aaron hesitated, then said, “I don’t know, Ethan. Why don’t you let me know if it happens, and then we’ll see? Right now I want to turn in. You set up three watches with Branch and Morales. In the mornin’ we’ll split the money up and go our separate ways.”
Ethan opened his mouth to protest, but Aaron wasn’t listening anymore. He decided to let his older brother sleep on it. Maybe by morning he wouldn’t be so pissed off and he’d change his mind.
“I’ll take first, if you like,” Morales said.
“Fine,” Ethan said. “Wake Branch for second, and I’ll take third.”
“As you wish.”
“What about you, Branch?” Ethan asked.
“What about me, Ethan?”
“Gonna go your separate way tomorrow, or ride with me?”
Branch thought it over only a moment. Riding alone would mean making all his own decisions—and he wasn’t so sure that all that had happened was Ethan’s fault…entirely.
“Reckon I’ll stick with you, Ethan.”
“Okay,” Ethan said. “Okay, then. Have a pot of coffee made when you wake me for my watch.”
“Sure…boss.”
59
In the morning, Aaron Langer’s anger and resolve had not waned one bit. After they’d had breakfast, broken camp, and saddled the horses, he turned and tossed a set of saddlebags to his brother, and another—somewhat less packed—to Branch.
“There’s your share,” he said.
“We’re still splittin’ up?” Ethan asked. Since his brother hadn’t mentioned it, and they’d broken camp, he thought it was forgotten.
“You thought I’d sleep on it and change my mind?’ Aaron asked.
“Well…”
“When you smarten up, Ethan,” Aaron said, “maybe things will change.”
“Or when I kill Dan Shaye.”
Aaron smiled, but there was no humor in it. “That ain’t gonna happen.”
“What if it does?”
“Then I’ll read about it in the newspaper,” Aaron said, “and maybe I’ll find you.”
“Aaron—”
“That’s it, Ethan,” Aaron said. “Morales and I are heading north. I don’t care what direction you head, but I’d advise you not to hit a town—Hays, Dodge, anyplace—until you get out of Kansas.”
“This is crazy—”
“Maybe you should go and see Vincent again,” Aaron said, mounting his horse. “Maybe he’ll hide you in his church.”
He wheeled his horse around and headed north with Morales right behind him. Ethan stood there a moment, stunned and puzzled.
“That might not be a bad idea, Ethan,” Branch said.
“What?”
“Going back to see your other brother. Who would look for us in a church?”
Ethan looked at Branch, then said, “That might not be such a bad idea at that.”
Hours later, Shaye and his sons reached the campsite, which was cold, but recently so. Thomas, James, and Matthew remained on their horses while Shaye dismounted and walked the area.
“I was afraid of this,” he said.
“What?” Thomas asked.
“They split up.”
“They’re not goin’ to Hays?” James asked.
“Two of them went north,” Shaye said, “and two of them went south.”
“Do you think Aaron and Ethan Langer stayed together?” Thomas asked.
Shaye looked up and said, “You’d think that, wouldn’t you? But no, I don’t think that. I think Aaron took his man and went north, and Ethan took his man and went south.”
“Why?” James asked. “I mean, why do you think that?”
“Aaron’s been working the North, and Ethan the South,” Shaye explained.