They all nodded except for Ben.
“So I ride in with Tanner, but I’m not supposed to talk to him?” he asked, looking confused.
Jeb took a breath, then said, “You can talk to the man you ride in with, but not to the others. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ben said.
“Okay, then finish eating and get some shut-eye,” Jeb instructed. “We’re gettin’ up at first light so the first two can ride in early.”
Delay leaned over and asked Jeb, “We settin’ watches tonight?”
“We don’t need to be on watch,” Jeb said. “Nobody’s after us in Texas. Get some sleep.”
“I don’t sleep much anyway,” Delay said. ”I can keep an eye out.”
“If that’s what you wanna do, be my guest,” Jeb said. “I’m goin’ to sleep. Been a long time since I slept under the stars and I been enjoyin’ it since I got out.”
“Time enough to sleep when I die,” Delay said and poured himself some more coffee.
55
Shaye had arranged to have breakfast not only with his sons the next morning, but with the sheriff and Thad as well.
Thomas and James had agreed not to tell their father about James’s supper with Belinda the night before. For this reason James was hoping Connie the waitress would not say anything about it while she was serving them. Connie gave James a knowing smile, but did not say a word about him and Belinda being there the night before.
However, they did feel a need to tell him about Alvin Simon. At least, Thomas did. He went to his father’s room that morning before breakfast…
“So this fella is in love with Belinda?”
“Right.”
“And he says she’s in love with him?”
“Yes.”
“And the sheriff and his wife don’t know anything about it?”
“No, they don’t.”
His father fixed him with a hard stare and asked, “And tell me again how you know about it?”
“I was makin’ rounds and saw this fella outside of the sheriff’s house,” Thomas said, lying with as straight a face as he could. “I braced him and he told me the whole story.”
“And he’s got money?”
“Apparently.”
“So it makes sense that Belinda would not want Jeb Collier to kill her golden goose.”
“Right.”
“So,” Shaye said thoughtfully, “she sent for us to protect him from Jeb Collier, not her and the boy.”
Thomas stared at his father. “I never thought of it that way.”
Shaye stroked his jaw and said, “This probably means that the baby is not Matthew’s—but the question remains: Why and how did Belinda pick us…how did she pick Matthew to claim as the father?”
“Maybe we should just ask her,” Thomas said.
“That might not be a bad idea.”
But the matter was not discussed at breakfast; they would bring it up with Sheriff Cotton later. After all, whatever the answer was, they were now committed to standing with the sheriff against Jeb Collier, Vic Delay, and their gang.
“You three,” Shaye said to Thomas, James, and Thad, “go back on roof duty today.”
“Yes, sir,” Thad said as Thomas and James nodded. “We lookin’ for eight men?”
“No, Thad,” Cotton said, “Dan and I figure they’ll come into town in groups of twos or threes, so be on the lookout for any strangers riding in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t brace them,” Shaye said. “Under no circumstances are you to approach these men. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Good.”
“What do we do when we’re not on the roof, Pa?” Thomas asked.
“Patrol the streets,” Shaye said. “Keep an eye on the man on the roof because we don’t want to use shots as signals. So you boys take something up there with you, something white like a towel, so you can wave it.”
“I’ll get one from my room,” Thomas said.
“Now I have a question,” Cotton said.
“What is it?”
“What do we do when Jeb Collier himself comes riding in?”
“I think we ought to make his acquaintance,” Shaye said, “and take him to see Belinda and the boy.”
“Pa,” James said, “I thought we was supposed to be protecting her from him.”
“James, I get the feeling Belinda can protect herself just fine from just about any man,” Shaye said. “Our concern is the town and the bank.”
“Why the bank?” Thomas asked. “They don’t want our protection. They’re happy with their own guards, ain’t they?”
“Well,” Shaye said, “the sheriff here has money in that bank and he refuses to take it out.”
They all looked at the man.
“It wouldn’t be fair,” he explained. “What if they rob the bank and get everybody’s money and the town finds out I took mine out?”
“You tell them you went to the bank and the town council and warned them,” Thomas said.
“I can’t do that to these people,” Cotton said. “They’re my neighbors.”
“Well, then, get some of your neighbors to strap on a gun and help out,” Thomas suggested.
“Thomas,” Cotton said, “I just might approach some of them, but they’re storekeepers, not lawmen and not gunmen.”
“Okay,” Shaye said, “are we clear on what we’re going to do?”
“What are you gonna do, Pa?” James asked.
“I’ll be on the street, James,” Shaye said, “where you can all see me.”
“And I’ll be in front of my office,” Cotton said.
Connie brought their breakfasts and they all started to eat, but Thad seemed to be real deep in thought and suddenly said, “I got fifty dollars in the bank…should I take it out?”
56
Jeb Collier had his brother Ben prepare breakfast for six of the eight men in camp.
“Not for you two,” he told Wilson and Roberts.
“Why not?” Dave Roberts asked. “I’m hungry.”
“You can get yourselves some breakfast after you get to town,” Jeb said. “Have your horses taken care of, get a room, and then go find a place to have breakfast—and do it in that order.”
“Why that order?” Roberts asked.
“Because I want you to follow my orders the way I give them to you,” Jeb said. “Is that easy to understand?”
“I guess,” Roberts said.
“Well, get mounted and study on it while you ride to town,” Jeb said.
“Let’s go,” Clark said to Roberts.
While the others ate, Clark Wilson and Dave Roberts saddled their horses, mounted up and left camp.
“Clark’s your segundo?” Delay asked.
“He was my second for a long time before I went inside,” Jeb said, “but since I’ve been out I’ve been thinkin’ about changin’ that. I need somebody more like Tanner.”
“Tanner and me have ridden together a long time,” Delay said. “I never had somebody watch my back as good as him.”
“I’m gonna have to give it some thought when we’re done with all this,” Jeb said. “That’s for sure.”
“I been noticin’ somethin’,” Dave Roberts said to Clark as they rode toward town.
“What’s that?”
“Jeb’s been leanin’ a lot on Delay and Tanner,” Roberts said. “You’re supposed to be his right hand.”
Clark frowned.
“Yeah,” he said, “I noticed that too.”
“So what are you gonna do about it?”
“I’m gonna think about it,” Clark said. “Maybe I’ll take my cut from this bank job and go my own way.”
“You could get your own gang together.”
“Yeah, I could.”
“And if you do, you’ll need a second.”
Clark looked at Roberts.
“You volunteerin’?”