Boynton's eyes dropped to Cass, but he did not say anything.
"I'm just saying that Obie Ward don't look so tough," Cass said.
"Act like you've got some sense once in a while," Boynton said now. He had hired Cass the week before as an extra night guard--the day they brought in Obie Ward--but he was certain now he would not keep Cass. Tomorrow he would look around for somebody else. Somebody who didn't talk so much and didn't have such a proud opinion of himself.
"All I'm saying is he don't look so tough to me," Cass repeated.
Boynton ignored him. He looked at the young man, Pete Given, standing next to Hanley now with his eyes closed, and he heard his deputy say, "The boy's asleep on his feet."
"He looks familiar," Boynton said.
"We had him here about three months ago."
"Same thing?"
Hanley nodded. "Delivered his horses, then stopped off at the Continental. Remember, his wife come here looking for him. He was here five days because the judge was away and she got here court day. Pretty little thing with light-colored hair? Not more'n seventeen. Come all the way from Dos Cabezas by herself."
"Least he had sense enough to get a good woman," Boynton said. He seemed to hesitate. Then: "You and I'll take him up." He slipped his revolver from its holster and placed it on the desk. He took young Pete Given's arm then and raised it up over his shoulder, glancing at his deputy again. "Hanley, you come behind with your shotgun."
Cass watched them go through the door and down the hall to the back of the jail to the outside stairway, and he was thinking: Won't even wear his gun up there, he's so scared. That's some man to work for, won't even wear his gun when he goes in Ward's cell. He shook his head and said the name again, contemptuously. Obie Ward. He'd pull his tough act on me just once.
PETE GIVEN OPENED his eyes. Lying on his right side his face was close to the wall and for a moment, seeing the chipped and peeling adobe and smelling the stale mildewed smell of the mattress which did not have a cover on it, he did not know where he was. Then he remembered, and he closed his eyes again.
The sour taste of whiskey coated his mouth and he lay very still, waiting for the throbbing to start in his head. But it did not come. He raised his head and moved closer to the wall and felt the edge of the mattress cool and firm against his cheek. Still the throbbing did not come. There was a dull tight feeling at the base of his skull, but not the shooting sharp pain he had expected. That was good. He moved his toes and could feel his boots still on and there was no blanket covering him.
They just dumped you here, he thought. He made saliva in his mouth and kept swallowing until his mouth did not feel sticky and some of the sour taste went away. Well, what did you expect?
It's about all you deserve, buddy. No, it's more'n you deserve.
You'll learn, huh?
He thought of his wife, Mary Ellen, and his eyes closed tighter and for a moment he tried not to think of anything.
How do I do this? How do I get something good, then kick it away like it's not worth anything?
What'll you tell her this time?
"Mary Ellen, honest to gosh, we just went in to get one drink. We sold the horses and got something to eat and figured one drink before starting back. Then Art said one more. All right, just one, I told him. But, you know, we were relaxed--and laughing. That's hard work running a thirty-horse string for five days. Harry got in a blackjack game. The rest of us were just sitting relaxed. When you're sitting like that the time seems to go faster. We had a few drinks. Maybe four--five at the most. Like I said, we were laughing and Art was telling some stories. You know Art, he keeps talking--then there's a commotion over at the blackjack table and we see Harry haulin' off at this man. And--"
And Mary Ellen will say, "Just like the last time," not raising her voice or seeming mad, but she'll keep looking you right in the eye.
"Honey, those things just happen. I can't help it. And it wasn't just like last time."
"The result's the same," she'll say. "You work hard for three months to earn decent money then pay it all out in fines and damages."
"Not all of it."
"It might as well be all. We can't live on what's left."
"But I can't help it. Can't you see that? Harry got in a fight and we had to help him. It's just one of those things that happens. You can't help it."
"But it seems a little silly, doesn't it?"
"Mary Ellen, you don't understand."
"Doesn't throwing away three months' profit in one night seem silly to you?"
"You don't understand."
You can be married to a girl for almost a year and think you know her and you don't know her at all. That's it. You know how she talks, but you don't know what she's thinking. That's a big difference. But there's some things you can't explain to a woman anyway.
He felt a little better. Facing her would not be pleasant--but it still wasn't his fault.
He rolled over, momentarily studying the ceiling, then he let his head roll on the mattress and he saw the man on the other bunk watching him. He was sitting hunched over, making a cigarette.
Pete Given closed his eyes and he could still see the man. He didn't seem big, but he had a stringy hard-boned look. Sharp cheekbones and dull-black hair that was cut short and brushed forward to his forehead. No mustache, but he needed a shave and it gave the appearance of an almost full-grown mustache.
He opened his eyes again. The man was drawing on the cigarette, still watching him.
"What time you think it is?" Given asked.
"About nine." The man's voice was clear though he barely moved his mouth.
Given said, "If you were one of them over to the Continental I'd just as soon shake hands this morning."
The man did not reply.
"You weren't there, then?"
"No," he said now.
"What've they got you for?"
"They say I shot a man."
"Oh."
"Fact is, they say I shot two men, during the Grant stage holdup."
"Oh."
"When the judge comes tomorrow, he'll set a court date. Give the witnesses time to get here." He stood up, saying this. He was tall, above average, but not heavy.
"Are you"--Given hesitated--"Obie Ward?"
The man nodded, drawing on the cigarette.
"Somebody last night said you were here. I'd forgot about it." Given spoke louder, trying to make his voice sound natural, and now he raised himself on an elbow.
Obie Ward asked, "Were you drinking last night?"
"Some."
"And got in a fight."
Given sat up, swinging his legs off the bunk and resting his elbows on his knees. "One of my partners got in trouble and we had to help him."
"You don't look so good," Ward said.
"I feel okay."
"No," Ward said. "You don't look so good."
"Well, maybe I just look worse'n I am."
"How's your stomach?"
"It's all right."
"You look sick to me."
"I could eat. Outside of that I got no complaint." Given stood up. He put his hands on the small of his back and stretched, feeling the stiffness in his body. Then he raised his arms straight up, stretching again, and yawned. That felt good. He saw Obie Ward coming toward him, and he lowered his arms.
Ward reached out, extending one finger, and poked it at Pete Given's stomach. "How's it feel right there?"
"Honest to gosh, it feels okay." He smiled looking at Ward, to show that he was willing to go along with a joke, but he felt suddenly uneasy. Ward was standing too close to him and Given was thinking: What's the matter with him?--and the same moment he saw the beard-stubbled face tighten.
Ward went back a half step and came forward, driving his left fist into Given's stomach. The boy started to fold, a gasp coming from his open mouth, and Ward followed with his right hand, bringing it up solidly against the boy's jaw, sending him back, arms flung wide, over the bunk and hard against the wall. Given slumped on the mattress and did not move. For a moment Ward looked at him, then picked up his cigarette from the floor and went back to his bunk.