Thomas stared down at the man. “Until somebody comes for him.”
“And somebody will?” Gibney asked. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure, Sheriff,” Thomas said. “Somebody will come for him.”
“Okay, then,” Gibney said. “Good luck to you.”
Thomas shook the man’s hand, then gave the horse his heels and headed northeast.
54
Cardwell caught Jacks looking off into the darkness as they sat around their campfire.
“Look,” he said, “if anyone’s trackin’ us, they’re movin’ slower than we are. We’ll get where we’re goin’ before they catch up to us.”
“That may be so,” Jacks said, “but there’s no reason we can’t stay alert.”
“Oh, I agree with that,” Cardwell said. “In fact, why don’t you stay alert first for about four hours, and then wake me.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jacks said, “I got first watch.”
Cardwell nodded, then rolled himself up in his blanket and turned his back to Jacks.
“If we ride through the night we’ll catch up to them,” James said to Cory and Colon.
The two older men exchanged a glance.
“If we ride at night,” Cory said, “it’s more than likely one of our horses will step in a chuck hole and bust a leg. Then where will we be, huh?”
James had to admit he was right.
“Do not worry, my young friend,” Colon said. “We will catch up to them.”
“I know we will,” James said. “I’m just worried about what’ll happen when we do. If there’s more than two of them…”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, Deputy,” Cory said. “Right now let’s decide on the order of the watch, with your brother not bein’ here.”
James thought a moment, then said, “Ralph, you go first, then Berto, then me.”
“Fine,” Cory said. “You guys sleep tight.”
James and Colon each went to their bedrolls and burrowed in. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn’t bad. In fact, Cory liked it. It would help him keep his eyes open.
The ex-bounty hunter admitted something to himself when he was left alone with his thoughts. He actually enjoyed being back on the hunt. It made him feel alive again, and being able to read sign had come back to him quickly. The enjoyment he’d been getting from it was becoming harder and harder to hide from the others. He knew the feeling might change once they caught up to their prey, but that was later. For now, being back in the saddle was better than being behind the counter of any store. That was something he never would have guessed when he agreed to go along. He’d thought it was going to be a hell of a chore, but it wasn’t. Not by a long sight.
Thomas considered riding through the night, but even though he might have caught up to his brother and the others that way, the risk to the horse wasn’t worth it. He just didn’t know the terrain well enough to take the chance. Instead, he made a cold camp so he could just up and leave at first light, making do with water and jerky.
He thought back to the few minutes he’d spent in the cell with Sean Davis. He wasn’t particularly proud of himself for what he’d done, scaring the man half to death like that.
Davis swore up and down that he was just guessing when he told Thomas where he figured Ben Cardwell was headed. However, he was basing his guesses on things he’d heard Cardwell say over the past few months. Thomas decided to let the man keep his tongue and accept his guesses.
Now he took out his knife and stared at it. Would he have cut Davis’s tongue out, as he had threatened? Probably not, but the mere fact that he’d used the threat didn’t make him feel very good. He wondered what his pa would have thought if he’d been there to see it.
He put the knife away and took a bite of beef jerky. Not knowing the terrain would keep him from finding a shortcut and getting ahead of the others. Maybe if he could catch up to them quickly enough, though, Cory or Colon might know a quick route. Then again, rushing ahead to a place given him by Davis was putting more than a little faith in the man’s guesses. If he was lying, or if he was wrong, they might lose track of the two men completely. Then he and James would have to go back to Vengeance Creek and admit their failure to their father.
Maybe he should just wait until he caught up to the others before making any more decisions.
Dan Shaye was unsure of himself.
He was camped, having built a fire so he could have some warm food and keep up his strength. But he was not sure he had done the right thing by leaving Vengeance Creek to go after his sons so long after they had left. What if they telegraphed, what if they needed him and he wasn’t there? Instead, he was out here, wandering about aimlessly.
On top of that, his wound had started bleeding and he’d had to rewrap it. The doctor had warned him about infection, but he saw—and smelled—no evidence of any when he washed it and rebandaged it.
Shaye didn’t like being unsure. He prided himself on remaining in control. But ever since the deaths of Mary and Matthew, he felt less and less in control.
As he saw it, he had two choices. He could either go back, or he could go forward, pushing himself at a faster pace. The trail was leading northeast, so what if he simply continued in that direction and didn’t worry about reading sign? He was bound to come to a town where someone—either the hunted or the hunters—had stopped. He could even telegraph Vengeance Creek himself and see if his sons had sent him any messages.
He finished his meal and had another cup of coffee before turning in. He’d break camp at first light and get back on the trail. He’d push hard and hope that his wound would not slow him down or worsen. Finding his sons alive and well was worth any risk.
55
James decided on a cold breakfast, had Colon saddle all three horses quickly. They rode hard for most of the morning, but at one point, as the sun approached its zenith, James looked behind him and knew he saw something.
“Wait!” he said.
He reined in his horse and turned. The other two went on ahead a few yards, then came back.
“What is it?” Cory asked.
“This time I did see something.”
Cory and Colon looked off into the distance but saw nothing.
“James,” Cory said, “you’re just seein’—”
“No,” James said, “this time I’m right.”
The terrain behind them was uneven, could have been hiding a rider from them. All three men continued to stare, and then James cried out, “There! See?”
“Berto?” Cory asked.
“I see it,” Colon said. “A rider.”
“It’s Thomas!”
They continued to watch, and finally the rider came into full view. He was on a different horse, but it was Thomas.
“Yes,” Cory said, slapping James on the back, “it’s Thomas.”
The three of them were dismounted by the time Thomas caught up to them. He swung down from his mount, approached his brother and stopped just short of hugging him.
“James.”
“Thomas. It’s about time you caught up.”
“Actually,” Cory said, “I think you made pretty good time.”
“Fresh mount,” Thomas said. “Back in Blue Mesa.”
“Jesus,” James said, “did you have to deal with that Scotsman? McShane?”
“Yeah,” Thomas said, “but the sheriff helped me a bit.”
“What happened with the Double W rancher?” Colon asked.
“Yeah,” James said, “I forgot about that.”
“Let’s mount up and keep movin’,” Thomas said. “I’ll tell you about that, and about what I found out in Blue Mesa.”
“From Davis?” James asked.
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t talkin’ when we left,” Colon said.
“I knew Thomas would get somethin’ out of him,” James said. “I knew it.”
“Come on, little brother,” Thomas said. “Let’s keep movin’.”
James, Colon, and Cory listened intently while Thomas told them of his conversations with Wendy Williams and Sean Davis.
“Well, too bad about the rancher,” Cory said, “but did you believe Davis?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Thomas hesitated, then said, “Let’s just say he wasn’t in a position to lie to me.”
“So if Cardwell and Jacks are going where Davis thinks they are, what should we do?” James asked.
“I don’t know this area,” Thomas said. He looked at Cory and Colon. “What about you two? Is there some way we could get there ahead of them?”
Cory and Colon exchanged a look, and then Colon shrugged and said, “I do not know.”
“Ralph?”
“There might be,” Cory said, “but if we do that and Davis is wrong, we’ll lose them.”
“I know that.”
“So whose call is it gonna be?” Cory asked. “It’s got to be one of you two.”
“Let’s give it some thought,” Thomas said. “We can talk about it again when we make camp.”
“Sounds good to me,” James said.
Thomas looked at Cory and Colon.
“Fine by me.”
“Muy bien,” Colon said. “I also agree.”
“Okay then,” Thomas said, “why don’t you fellas tell me what you’ve been up to, then….”
They brought Thomas up to date on what had happened since they split up. Among the things they mentioned was Sheriff Gibney thinking he had recognized “Ralph Cory.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that to me too,” Thomas said.
“Doesn’t matter, really,” Cory said. “I mean, it’s not like I’m wanted or anything like that.”
“Maybe not,” James said, “but you don’t really want people to know who you are either.”
“No,” Cory said, “but hey…there are other names, other places.”
“No reason you can’t go back to Vengeance Creek when this is all over,” Thomas said.
“Maybe not,” Cory said. “What about you fellas?”
“What about us?” James asked.
“You goin’ back?”
“Sure,” James said, “why not?”
Cory looked at Thomas, who looked away.
“Just a thought,” Cory said. “I thought maybe you were havin’ second thoughts.”
“About what?”
“The law.”
James laughed. “What else would we do?” He looked at Thomas for support, but found none there. “Thomas?”
“There are other things, James.”
“What?” James said. “You’re thinkin’ about…givin’ up the law?”
“Right now,” Thomas said, “I’m thinkin’ about gettin’ this job done. Anything else can wait until we get back.”
James looked as if wanted to say more, but in the end he simply fell silent.
Rigoberto Colon had observed the conversation between the other three but had stayed out of it. He had his own demons to deal with, which none of these men would understand. Dan Shaye had given him a reason to crawl out of the bottle. Now he had to decide whether he would crawl back in when this was all over. He had to admit that giving up the whiskey had not been as hard as he’d thought it would. Perhaps there had never really been a need for it at all.
They all rode in silence, alone with their own thoughts, until night began to fall and they made camp.