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“Thanks, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon get started right away,” Matt said.

“I understand. All right, I’ll just go in and get your money.”

“I appreciate that.”

As Rittenhouse walked toward the relay station, Matt watched Jimmy tack up the poster on the wall of the barn. There were several other posters there as well, so Matt walked over to have a look at them as Jimmy got the horses ready. It didn’t take him long to find the one he was looking for.

WANTED

DEAD or ALIVE

for MURDER and ROBBERY

CLETUS ODOM

Reward of $1,500

Unlike the wanted poster for Matt Jensen, this reward poster did have a picture of Odom. It was a woodcut, but evidently taken from an actual photograph, because Matt saw a striking resemblance between the picture and the man he had seen robbing the train.

Looking around to make certain he wasn’t being observed, Matt tore the dodger down from the gray, weathered plank siding of the barn, and stuck it in his pocket. He was standing at the fence with his arms folded on the top rail when Rittenhouse came back. He handed Matt a ten-dollar bill and a brown paper bag.

“I know you said you didn’t plan to eat, but there’s some fresh baked bread and ham in the sack. I thought you could gnaw on it a bit while you were on the trail.”

“Thanks, Mr. Rittenhouse. I appreciate that.”

“No problem,” Rittenhouse said. “Say, whatever happened to your pa anyway? I never heard from him again after we was all mustered out. Course, him bein’ an officer and me just a private, I didn’t expect to. But I have wondered about him from time to time.”

“My father died some years ago,” Matt said.

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Matt didn’t elaborate, though he could have said that his father hadn’t just died, he had been killed. He could also have gone on to say that he himself had personally killed, or watched the hanging of, everyone who had been involved in one way or another with the murder of his father, mother, and sister.

“It was a long time ago,” Matt said.

“Yes, and as they say, time heals all wounds,” Rittenhouse said.

At that moment, Jimmy came out, riding a saddled horse, while holding on to a line which six other horses were attached to. He swung down from the horse, then handed the reins to Matt.

“I’ll hold the string until you’re good mounted,” Jimmy offered.

“Thanks.”

Matt hopped up into the saddle, then reached down for the string. Jimmy handed it up to him.

“Don’t run ’em too hard because it may be they’ll have to take out a coach first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll take care of ’em.”

“You should arrive just before dark. Go right to the relay station. They’ll be lookin’ for them and they’ll no doubt meet you when you get there.”

Matt nodded, then reached down into the sack to pull out a sandwich. He took a bite, waved at Rittenhouse and Jimmy, then, slapping his legs against the side of his mount, rode out of the station.

When Odom, Paco, Bates, and Schuler reached the little town of Quigotoa, they stopped in front of the saloon.

“Ha!” Bates said as he dismounted. “I’m goin’ to get me a whole bottle of whiskey and a woman. No, two women. I ain’t never in my life been able to do nothin’ like that before.”

“You ain’t goin’ to do it now neither,” Odom said.

“What do you mean, I ain’t?” Bates replied. “I got my share of the money comin’ to me, don’t I?”

“Yes, and we’ll make the split here,” Odom said. “But then we are goin’ to go on our separate ways before we start spendin’ any of it. We won’t be spendin’ any of it here in this town.”

“That don’t make sense,” Bates said.” Why not spend money here? It’s our money now, ain’t it? So what’s the problem?”

“Think about it, Bates,” Odom said. “If the four of us come into a little place like this, then suddenly start spending money like it was water, don’t you think some people might get a little suspicious?”

“Hell, I don’t care whether they get suspicious or not,” Bates said. “What difference does it make?”

“It makes a difference to me,” Odom said. “Like I say, we’ll split the money here, but you ain’t goin’ to start spendin’ it till we all go our separate ways. Once we do that, you’re on your own, and you can do any damn thing you want.”

Sí, señor, I believe that is the smart thing to do,” Paco said.

“See, even Paco agrees with me,” Odom said.

“Paco’s a damn Mexican,” Bates replied. “What the hell do I care what a damn Mexican has to say about anything? What about you, Schuler?”

“I need a drink,” Schuler replied.

“Ha, I ain’t never seen you when you didn’t need a drink,” Bates teased.

The four men stepped into the saloon and looked around. It was nearly empty.

“What the hell?” Bates said. “Is this here saloon open?”

Sí, we are open,” the Mexican bartender replied.

“How come there ain’t hardly nobody here?”

“It’s nine o’clock in the morning, Señor,” the bartender said. “We don’t get busy until afternoon.”

“Whiskey,” Schuler said.

“We have tequila and beer.”

“Tequila.”

“And breakfast,” Odom added. “You serve breakfast in here?”

Sí, señor, bacon, eggs, beans, tortillas,” the bartender answered.

“That’ll do,” Odom said. “We’ll be there in the back.” He pointed to the table that was the most distant from the bar.

When the four men took their seat at the back of the room, Odom put the canvas bag on the table.

“All right,” he said. “If this bag has twenty thousand dollars, that is eight thousand for me, and four thousand for each of you.”

“Señor, how is it that you get twice as much as we get?” Paco asked.

“Because I am twice as smart,” Odom answered, glaring at Paco. “You should be glad I agreed to let you come with us in the first place.”

“Paco, we agreed going into this that Odom would get the most money,” Bates said.

“I did not agree,” Paco said.

“Then I agreed for you,” Bates replied.

Paco glared at Bates for a moment, then looked over at Schuler. “How much money is he getting?”

“He is getting four thousand, same as the rest of us,” Bates replied.

Why should he get as much money as we are getting? He did nothing. Estaba borracho todo el tiempo.

“What did you say?” Bates asked.

“I said he was drunk the whole time. We did not need him to plant explosives on the safe. He did not earn his way.”

“He gets his cut,” Odom said, ending the discussion as he counted out the money, eight thousand dollars for himself, then four thousand each for Bates, Paco, and Schuler.

“Here you go, boys,” he said. “Don’ t spend it all in the same place.” He laughed at his own joke.

Chapter Twelve

The stagecoach depot and corral of horses were on the west end of Purgatory. That was good for Matt, because it meant he could deliver the string of horses without having to ride all the way into town and take a chance on being recognized. However, being seen in town wasn’t as risky as it might appear to be, because his trial had been held within an hour of the shooting. The trial had not taken place in a courthouse, nor even a city building. Instead, the trial was held in a saloon—the Pair O Dice Saloon—and the jury was made up entirely of saloon patrons, most of whom were drunk. That meant that there were very few of the town’s citizens who had actually had the opportunity to see him. He could probably walk the streets without fear of being recognized.