Longarm thought, unless you have a Mr. Carl Lowe handy. But he said, “How can the stage handle that kind of weight?”
“They built for it. Extra stout with extra wide-rimmed wheels.”
“Don’t the ones bearing the gold cut a deeper track?”
Higgins laughed. “Ever’ one of them stages is carrying a safe. And ever’ safe has got something in it. Some of ‘em got gold inside and some of ‘em got a load of lead.” He gave Longarm a wink. “Ain’t no flies on them folks pays me a salary. That’s why we use such big teams and have the relay stations so close together. Regular stage might use just four mules, maybe six, and put the stations forty miles apart before they changed teams. Nosir, this here is a first-class outfit.”
“You ever been held up?”
Higgins said, “Well, I can’t speak about that, Marshal, because I don’t know. But I do know that the company let it be advertised far and wide what kind of safes they were using and just what a tough nut they were. Newspapers carried articles about how the safes had to be loaded and unloaded with a block and tackle. What’s the good of holding up one of our stages if you can’t make off with the goods?”
Not, Longarm thought to himself, unless you’ve got a man who can open the safe on the spot and then all you got to transport is the gold. It made sense to him. The only problem was that he didn’t have the slightest idea where Carl Lowe was or when he and his gang, and Longarm had no doubt a gang of some kind had been formed, intended to strike.
“Who knows there is gold being loaded down at the south end?”
“Well, I don’t exactly know the who.”
“Do you know when a shipment is coming through? I’m just asking.”
“Good heavens, no! My stars and garters. Ain’t but damn few knows that. None of the drivers or guards knows. I guess the men who load it up know, but they don’t know till the last minute, and I’ve heard they get locked up for the next twenty-four hours after they’ve built a load. Course that may just be talk.”
“Then who does know?”
“Well, I reckon they is two or three fellers down in the south knows. And then they is a couple up in Buckeye on the lookout fer it. Least that is what I heered.”
“How do they know?”
Higgins sipped at his coffee and picked at bread and biscuit crumbs on the table. “They say they wire up from the south to the folks in Buckeye. But that’s just talk.”
“But wouldn’t that put the word out? Telegraphing like that? Everybody on the line would know.”
“Aw, they supposed to use some kind of code. They is messages goin’ back and forth all the time so you never know which one is about the gold. They might wire up to Buckeye and say they is runnin’ short on pickaxes and that might be the signal the gold is going the next run.”
Longarm drained his cup and stood up. He said, “Herman, I got a bad feeling that the stage coming in tomorrow is not carrying lead bars.”
Higgins looked instantly distressed. “Aw, no. I shore hope it is. Seein’ as you and Miss Rita Ann gonna be on that stage. You shore?”
Longarm shook his head. “A hunch. Just a hunch. But it is a strong one.”
“What had we better get to doing?”
Longarm smiled. “Nothing I know of, Herman. It’s just a hunch. I’m not recommending you wire down to the border and tell them to hold off. Frankly, it’s mainly about that fellow I had you telegraph about. The one broke out of prison. He’s got me jumpy. Likely I am fighting my head. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Higgins stared at him for a second. “Man says they is a rattlesnake likely loose in the house, an’ then says not to worry. My stars and garters, Marshal, robbin’ means guns and guns means killin’. I got my old woman to worry about.”
Longarm shook his head. “If there is any robbery planned, it won’t be done at a relay station. It’ll take place out yonder, out in the big middle of nowhere, so there aren’t any witnesses. But get it out of your mind, Herman. Besides, I’m here.”
Herman nodded his head slowly. “Yep. That you are, Marshal. For which I thank my lucky stars.”
The morning passed slowly. Longarm saw very little of Rita Ann. She seemed occupied in the back with Mrs. Higgins, sewing or something. Higgins said they were working on the clothes the Spanish lady had left to make them a better fit. “You know them women. Get a needle in their hand and a piece of cloth and nothin’ won’t do till they’ve changed it all about.”
Mid-morning Longarm walked outside for a look around. He walked to the back and saw the two Mexicans working with the mules, sorting them out. He figured it was a considerable job adjusting harness for that many mules. Not that they were of a much different size. As a bunch they were pretty uniform, but there was no harness made that would fit all the mules in a team. Longarm figured the Mexicans tried to keep them bunched as to size, but that also was not such an easy task because he knew that a team, even horses, had to be temperamentally suited, and if they weren’t, they would never pull together.
He walked over to the corral fence and watched the Mexicans working. It was clear they knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it with an economy of motion and as little excitement to the animals as possible. Up close the mules looked bigger. Longarm knew that most people thought of Spanish mules as small up against, say, a saddle horse. But they weren’t that much smaller. A big horse might weigh eleven or twelve hundred pounds, with the majority being closer to a thousand. But he calculated that the mules, the majority of them, were not much more than a hundred pounds less than that. And mules, for some reason, were stronger than horses. They weren’t as fast, but they could outlast and outwork nearly any horse you put one up against.
Longarm looked down the fence line to the shack. He didn’t see Doctor Peabody. Likely he was inside either nursing a hangover or nursing the bottle of mescal. Maybe both. He wondered what kind of arrangements the little man had made with the Mexicans to take him in. According to Higgins, he was broke. Maybe he wasn’t as broke as he let on. Longarm thought about looking in on the good doctor, but decided against it. Doctor Peabody was a mystery, and he might turn out to be the wrong kind of mystery, but Longarm was content to wait and see how the cards fell out.
They had ham steaks and mashed potatoes and redeye gravy and canned string beans for lunch. There were also corn dodgers and fresh butter. When Longarm commented on the pleasure of the butter, Mrs. Higgins said, “Laws, that reminds me. I got a churn full of milk clabbering. I don’t get to churning, it will go sour just sure as shooting.”
Rita Ann said, “I’ll be glad to do it, Mrs. Higgins.”
Mrs. Higgins patted her arm with her plump hand. “Bless you, girl, you are going to spoil me rotten.”
Longarm gave her a look just as he was about to take a bite of cornbread. “Yeah, Rita Ann, you are just so sweet sugar wouldn’t melt in your mouth.”
She cocked her head and gave him a crooked little smile. “You should know, Mister Long, being my employer.”
“I wish you’d keep reminding both of us about that. One of us seems to have a tendency to forget.”
“Good vittles, Mrs. Higgins,” Higgins said.
Longarm watched the thin man shovel down the food, and said, “Herman, I don’t know where it all goes. I’ve seen you put away them groceries now for three meals, but I ain’t seen none of it show.”