“You want me to congratulate you for going into Jake Myers’s camp, don’t you?”
Hawkins’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Hell, yes. I not only went in and got Barrett, but I went in and got Myers, too. Say, do you know how close some of them bullets you were firing came to me?”
Longarm said, “They never came within ten yards of you. Are you going to start that again?”
Hawkins was almost chortling. He said, “That was something. You know, the way you were burning them horses so they’d go to jumping and pitching and then popping them old boys when they were scrambling around on the ground and then the clean way you knocked them other two off.”
Longarm looked pained, especially from the expression on Rufus Goodman’s face. He said, “By the way, George, you were carrying that .38 caliber pistol of yours. Why the hell didn’t you shoot those guys on either side of you? It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”
Hawkins looked shocked. He said, “Me? Shoot somebody? I ain’t supposed to be shooting anyone. Hell, I’m a leather salesman.”
Longarm said, “You’re a United States deputy marshal, which gives you the right to shoot anybody I’m shooting at.”
Hawkins took off his hat and scratched his head. “You know, I never thought about it that way. I reckon I could have, couldn’t I?”
Longarm gave him a flicker of a smile. He said, “You ever shot anybody, George?”
Hawkins thought a moment, then said, “No, I don’t reckon I have.”
“Then I don’t recommend you go to trying it in the future.”
Hawkins said, “You know it ain’t going to be safe around here for me unless you get Barrett and Myers put plumb away. Of course, they’re still going to have kin around here. I guess you know you’ve ruined this area for me.”
Longarm shook his head. “Nope. I’ve told Jake Myers that you were a United States deputy marshal and you had full right to be doing what you were doing and when I get through with this plan of mine, I don’t think Mr. Barrett or Mr. Myers are going to be bothering anybody. Now, why don’t you go and get yourself a drink of buttermilk or whiskey and quit bothering me? I’ve got this here letter to write.”
“A letter?”
“Well, it ain’t exactly a letter. Let me get on it.”
For the next thirty minutes, Longarm laboriously wrote out two documents. It took him so long because he wasn’t sure of some of the spelling and he never did write a neat hand, and also, he wanted to get the wording just exactly right. The others stood around watching him somberly, curious but not wanting to break into his mood. The only noise was the yelling and screaming from the back room where Jake Myers and Archie Barrett were confined.
When he was finishing the second document, he said, “Does anybody know what Mrs. Thompson’s first name is?”
They looked one to the other. Finally, Hawkins said, “I believe it’s Judith. As a matter of fact, I’m certain it’s Judith. Why don’t you just make it Mrs. Milton Thompson?”
Longarm said, “Yeah, that’s probably the best idea.” Longarm sat back, finally satisfied. He looked the two documents over and then he glanced at the four eager faces staring at him. He said, “Do y’all want to hear what these say?”
Tom Hunter said, “Well, I reckon.”
Hawkins said, “You’re worse than a cat with a mouse. You know we want to know what they say. Lives are at stake here, maybe even my own.”
Longarm said, “All right, I’ll read the first one. It’s a confession. Here’s what it says:
“We, the undersigned, Archie Barrett and Jake Myers, freely and willingly confess to causing the murder of Milton Thompson of Grit, Texas. We also confess to the murder and manslaughter of several homesteaders in the Grit area. We further confess and admit to cattle theft, horse theft, and the burning of homes and barns of homesteaders in the same area. We make this confession of our own free will and we give it in the hope that it will cause peace to come to this area. We understand that this confession, given to United States Deputy Marshal Custis Long, stands as a parole for our insuring that no such further incidents will happen in the Grit area. We further pledge ourselves to the fair and open use of water and grazing rights by all parties concerned in this area. No longer will we dam up streams or run cattle off of government free ranges. This parole, we understand, will become a full-fledged confession of our misdeeds should any of the homesteaders in this area suffer any further damages or mischief, either at our hands or the hands of the men who work for us.
“Agreed to and signed by us on this 16th day of May.”
Longarm looked up. The four men stared back at him dumbfounded. Finally, Tom Hunter found his voice and said, “They’ll never sign it.”
Robert Goodman said, “That’s a death warrant, Marshal. They’re not going to sign that confession. Why should they?”
“For a lot of reasons. The main one being that I’m not going to take them straight to prison. Let me read this other document to you and maybe you’ll understand how we’re going to enforce this first one.”
Hawkins said, “I’d damned sure like to see how you’re going to enforce that first one. The minute you’re gone, they’ll be back up to their mischief.”
Longarm said, “Just let me read you this.” He picked up the second piece of paper.
“We the undersigned, Jake Myers and Archie Barrett, willingly and freely, agree to contribute $50,000 each to the Grit Settlement Association. This money will be held in a bank account in a bank in Junction, Texas, and will be administered by a committee of three, comprised of Tom Hunter, Robert Goodman, and Mrs. Milton Thompson. We understand that this money is to be used in several ways. First, it is to be used to make retribution to those who have suffered losses of property and life by our actions and at our hands. Secondly, this money will be used to make loans to those homesteaders who are having a hard time making a living because of our mischief, interference, and skullduggery. We further understand that if we commit any single act against any of the homesteaders that is to their harm, the confession we signed will immediately come into use and warrants will be issued for our arrest and we will be hunted down and brought to justice. We further understand that in one year from this date, we will each make an additional payment of $25,000 to the Grit Settlement Association. We each understand that the failure to do so will result in the publication of our confession and the issuance of warrants for our arrests. We understand that the confession we have given is not immediately being executed solely in order to repair the damage we have done to the settlement of Grit and to the innocent homesteaders who have tried to make a living here. We pledge ourselves to try our best to repair the damage we have done in the past, and we understand that is the sole reason we are not being taken into custody at the time we execute this document.
“Signed by our hand on May 16.”
Longarm looked up. He said, “Well?”
Hawkins found his voice first. He said, “By damned, Marshal, that’s slick. No question about it. In other words, you’re holding out the carrot. If they behave themselves and don’t cause no more trouble, you won’t stick them in prison right away. But if they don’t, they’re going to prison right now.”
Longarm said, “That’s about the size of it, Mr. Hawkins. Or Deputy Hawkins as I should call you.”
Tom Hunter had an anxious look on his face. He said, “Marshal, that’s slick as bear grease, there’s no question about it. But I just can’t see them signing it. Why would they want to sign a confession?”
Robert Goodman said, “Are you serious about this Grit Settlement Association? That’s a wonderful idea. It’s what Milton Thompson was trying to do. Lord knows, having money in the bank that we could borrow against would help a lot of families through these hard times.”
Longarm said, “The way I look at it, Barrett and Myers did the damage, and I’m going to let them pay to repair it. Now, this ain’t strictly going by the law, but then I never was much of one to go by the book. I ain’t really got no way of proving anything against the two of them. They can get them a smart lawyer and they could play this thing out over several years and nothing would ever come of it. I figure if I could force them to sign these documents, some good would come out of it. Some people who have been hurt can start getting well. That’s the way I see it.”