The next morning the trio awoke refreshed but famished. They decided to take a chance by going on a short hunting expedition in the vicinity of the camp. Although the carbines would cause more damage to the carcasses than pistols, the long guns were more accurate. They rode along slowly, ready to fire at any game that appeared.
The effort produced no more than a half-dozen stringy jackrabbits to fill out the wrinkles in their bellies. The animals were quickly skinned and prepared for roasting over open flames.
“Pawhuska is right close,” Charlie said, nibbling on the remnants of meat on a leg bone. “A feller oughta be able to get a newspaper there.” He nudged Silsby. “How about riding in and seeing if you can find one that’s got some printing about what happened in Clarkville.”
“Yeah,” Dennis said. He wiped his greasy fingers on his pant legs. “Maybe they’ll have some news about how Tommy is.”
“I reckon I can do that,” Silsby acquiesced.
Charlie continued to feed off the skinny rabbit leg, chewing thoughtfully. “Y’know, fellers, something just popped into my mind. Ol’ Tommy might’ve managed to get back on his horse. Maybe he took off in another direction.”
“Do you think so?” Dennis asked hopefully.
“Why sure,” Charlie said, suddenly grinning. “Hell, he might be sitting around the cabin with Belle and Mildred and Ben eating his fill and wondering where the hell we are.”
“I sure hope so,” Silsby said.
“I’ll bet anything that’s where he is,” Charlie said. “You know ol’ Tommy! He could fall in a pile of cow shit and come out smelling like a daisy.”
“That’s right,” Dennis said with a chuckle.
Silsby nodded in agreement. “Sure! He’s laughing at us this very minute while ol’ Ben is cooking him a fine meal.”
“You can bet the only thing that ol’ Tommy has on his mind is getting drunk and finding a saloon gal,” Dennis added.
Silsby, still tired, slowly stood up. “Well, I think I’ll go into town and try to find a newspaper.”
“You’re the one that’s got the schooling,” Charlie pointed out. “Me and Dennis wouldn’t be no good at doing that.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Keep your eyes open,” Charlie cautioned him.
“Damn right I will!”
Silsby wearily saddled his horse, and rode out of camp toward Pawhuska. Both he and the animal still felt the effects of the long ride, and it took a bit more than a half-hour to reach town. As soon as he had ridden into the community, he suddenly pulled on the reins and came to stop. The experience in Clarkville had made him fearful about moving in the midst of conventional society. He didn’t trust people he didn’t know. Each was a potential threat who would happily turn him over to the law. It took a few moments to fight down his nervousness before he could continue along the main street.
Silsby felt that at any moment a lawman would leap from cover and stick a six-shooter in his face. But no one as much as gave him a second look. Eventually, he rode over to a hitching rack in front of a general store. He walked into the place where some men sat over by a cracker barrel, smoking and talking. One of them looked at him. “Can I help you?”
Silsby noticed they stared at him in unabashed curiosity. He wanted to turn and leave, but he managed to say, “I’m looking to buy a newspaper.”
“Our local weekly ain’t out yet,” the man said. “I got some papers from out of town though. They’re kind of old, but you can buy ’em for a penny a piece.”
Now Silsby was aware that the men could perceive him as much by smell as by sight and sound. He knew he reeked with odors of stale perspiration and smoke. “I’ll go have me a look.”
“Just drop a penny on the counter if’n you find one you want.”
“Yes, sir.”
Silsby went over to the pile of papers and found a copy of the Perry Enterprise-Times. The newspaper carried a story of the bank robbery on the first page. He didn’t have to read the entire article to learn that Tommy had been killed. The story’s head hit him like a hard slap to the face.
ATTEMPTED ROBBERY OF CLARKVILLE BANK
BANDIT SLAIN AS CITIZENS SHOOT AT FLEEING GANG
Silsby didn’t have a penny to pay for the paper, but he wanted to take it back to camp. He noticed the men were conversing among themselves, and he walked outside to his horse without paying for it.
~*~
When Silsby returned to camp, he sadly dropped the newspaper in Charlie’s lap and sat down. Dennis gave him a worried, quizzical look. Silsby had to take a deep breath before he could speak. “They kilt him.”
“Shit!” Dennis snorted.
Charlie angrily threw the paper back at Silsby. “What’d you give me this for? You know I cain’t read.”
“Don’t give it to me neither,” Dennis said.
“All right!” Silsby snapped. “I don’t feel no better about it than you two.”
He read the entire article aloud. The whole write-up openly insulted and ridiculed the poor attempt to rob the bank. But it was the last two paragraphs that caused the most bitterness among the three cowboys.
~*~
The corpse was identified by U.S. Marshal Nolan Sinclair from the Medicine Bundle Federal attorney’s office. He announced the dead man was Thomas Chatsworth, a cowboy from the Oklahoma Territory.
The dead bungler’s corpse was photographed with various citizens. Later he was put on display in the window of Wright’s Feed and Grain Store until the sheriff ordered him removed for burial. The grave is unmarked as befits its wretched occupant.
~*~
“Damn!” Charlie said.
“We gonna have to get Tommy a tombstone,” Silsby said, folding up the newspaper.
“They ain’t much chance of that,” Charlie said through clenched teeth.
Dennis began to weep. “I liked ol’ Tommy. Me and him rode together for a long time.”
“Easy,” Silsby said, although he was close to tears himself.
“It’s them godamn homesteaders,” Charlie said bitterly. “Ever’thing was fine and dandy ‘til they showed up. We was all happy and working for Mr. Harknell, minding our own business and riding herd like good cowboys is supposed to. Then —” He stopped speaking for a few moments. “We should’ve kilt that son of a bitch in the bank when he started shooting.”
“Hell, Charlie!” Silsby said. “We didn’t know what we was doing. If we’d been experienced like the Daltons or Bill Doolin we’d’ve took care of him right quick.”
“Yeah,” Dennis agreed, wiping at his eyes. “I was so surprised, I couldn’t even think.”
Charlie said, “Bill Doolin would’ve put so much lead in that son of a bitch they’d’ve had to use a team of mules for pallbearers at his funeral.”
“When it comes to that sort of thing, we’re just tenderfoots,” Silsby said.
“You’re right,” Charlie agreed. “We should have started smaller somewheres else. Maybe a store or something like ‘at. Robbing banks is harder’n rustling.”
“What’re we gonna do now?” Dennis asked.
Silsby was in agony with worry about Mildred. “We got to go back to Ben’s cabin.”
“Hell, no!” Charlie snapped. “It’s too dangerous for us in the west. We got to bide our time for a few weeks first. The best thing is to head south. They’s lots of places around there where fellers on the dodge can hole up.”
“I want to see Mildred,” Silsby insisted.
“Looky now,” Charlie said. “I know you miss Mildred. I got a strong hankering to see Belle too.”
“That ain’t the same a’tall,” Silsby said. “I don’t want to stay away from her no longer. I got to go back.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Charlie growled.
“I ain’t being stupid, godamn it!” Silsby exclaimed. “She’s gonna have a baby.”
Charlie calmed down. “Listen to me,” he counseled Silsby. “What good will it do to go see her if the law catches you?
Then you wouldn’t see her again ‘til you spent about twenty years in jail. How’d you like ‘at, huh?”
“Twenty years in jail!” Dennis wailed. “We didn’t even get no money!”
“You can get in about as much trouble trying a hold-up as you can for actual doing it,” Charlie said. “Either way, it means getting locked up.”
“I reckon you’re right,” Silsby allowed. “It’d be best in the long run to stay hid for a bit.”
“First thing in the morning, we skirt Pawhuska and go south,” Charlie said.
“You want us to stay here another night?” Dennis asked.
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “The horses is still tired and so are we. We got some rabbit left, and it’s safe enough if we lay low.”
“Good,” Silsby said. “I’m too damned bushed to take another ride today anyhow.”
They settled down to pass a mournful day of dozing and snacking on jackrabbit. The only conversation was guarded, short comments as each eventually sank back into his own thoughts.
That night, just before rolling up in his blankets, Silsby said, “As soon as it’s safe to go get Mildred, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I don’t know about you fellers, but I’m heading for Texas and get me a job on a ranch down there.”
“The best you could hope for is to be a foreman someday,” Charlie said. “Take it from me, the pay ain’t that good for a single man. It won’t do nothing for a feller trying to take care of a family.”
“At least I’ll be with my wife and baby,” Silsby said as he settled down under his blankets. “Maybe we can save enough for our own place.”
“Out of wages?” Charlie asked. “Don’t be dumb, Silsby!”
“Then we’ll go to Californy,” Silsby said. “I hear they’s all kinds of opportunities out that-a-way.”
“Life has sure got complicated,” Dennis moaned.
That night was marked by restless tossing and turning for the three young men. Unpleasant thoughts of their dead friend and the failed robbery brought disturbing images in the disjointed dreams that invaded their fitful slumbering.
~*~
Charlie led the way as the trio moved southward. They kept the pace down to maintain the horses’ energy for any possible gallops from posses. They continued moving until mid-afternoon when they reached a small settlement on the Arkansas River. They reined up and studied the scene for a few minutes. “You know something?” Charlie remarked. “That place reminds me of the way Kensaw used to be.”
The town consisted of no more than four buildings. These were crude cabins of mud-chinked logs with earthen roofs. A corral held several horses while some saddled animals were tied up in front of the largest structure. Silsby said, “I think we found one of them places where a feller with a troubled past can take it easy.”
“I’d be inclined to agree,” Charlie said. “They sure ain’t no law down there. Let’s go take us a look and see if we might have stumbled across some understanding folks.”
They rode slowly into the place, forming up single file to go between a couple of the buildings. When they reached the front of the largest, they dismounted. “Dennis,” Charlie said, “wait here and keep a look-out. Me and Silsby will step inside and see what’s what.”
Dennis pulled his carbine from the scabbard. “I ain’t taking no chances.”
“That’s the boy,” Charlie said. “C’mon, Silsby.”
They walked up to the doorway and stepped into an interior dimly lit by sunlight filtered through flour sacks tacked over the windows. A half dozen men occupied the place. Three were seated in chairs alongside the wall while two stood at a crude bar. The sixth man was obviously the bartender. “What can we do for you fellers?” the bartender asked.
“We’re looking for a quiet place to drink,” Charlie said. “A place where ever’body likes to mind their own business.”
The bartender grinned at the other men, then looked back at Charlie. “You ain’t looking to make friends, huh?”
“Me and my pards like to stick to ourselfs,” Charlie said. His hand dangled over his pistol grip.
“You come to the right place, kid,” one of the drinkers at the bar said. “Being nosy is considered real bad manners around here.”
“Now ain’t that nice?” Charlie said. “We’ll just set up a camp nearby.”
“Don’t you want them drinks?” the bartender asked.
“I just remembered we ain’t got no money.”
Charlie and Silsby went outside and joined Dennis. Charlie took his horse and led it a few yards away from the buildings to a spot by the river. “I think we can stay here a while,” he said. “Do you have that fishing line and hooks, Dennis?”
“I always carry some with me,” Dennis said. “I even got some big ol’ corks for floats.”
“Good,” Charlie remarked. “Let’s see what we can pull out of the river.”
They cut three saplings and trimmed them down for poles. After digging up some worms, they fixed up lines, corks, and hooks. In two hours of quiet fishing they pulled enough crappie from the river to ease their hunger.
They fried the fish and ate it. When nothing but bones and guts were left of the meal, Charlie announced he had a surprise. “I been holding something back for a special occasion,” he said. He went to his saddlebags and produced a near empty pint bottle of whiskey. “There’s enough here for one perty good swaller a piece.”
The bottle was passed around as each enjoyed the sensation of the burning liquor slipping down his gullet. Charlie tossed the empty into the river, and they settled down to relax.
“This is right shitty,” Silsby said.
“Just remember none of it’s our fault,” Charlie said. “It’s them homesteaders and all that.” He looked at Silsby. “Say now, pard, I hope you don’t think I mean anything personal when I say that.”
“Are you thinking on my pa?” Silsby asked. He shrugged. “I don’t take offense, Charlie. I know what you mean.”
Dennis started to say something but was interrupted by the approach of a man coming down to the riverbank from the saloon. He was a slim fellow in dirty clothes who was in bad need of a wash and a shave. Charlie watched him approach. “Howdy.”
“Howdy,” the man said. “I heard you in the saloon say you boys ain’t got no money.”
“We ain’t,” Silsby said.
“Well, I’m looking for some fellers that’d like to get their hands on some,” the man said.
“What kind of work are you offering, mister?” Dennis asked.
“It ain’t legal, I’ll tell you that straight off.”
“What makes you think we’d be interested in breaking the law?” Charlie asked.
“I ain’t blind,” the man said. “You boys is not only on the owlhoot trail, y’all’re on the dodge too. So am I. And I got me some information about a army payroll on a train that’ll be coming in for water at a little stop between Vinita and Muskogee. The boys that was going with me couldn’t make it because of a tangle with U.S. marshals.”
“How much money are you talking about?” Charlie asked.
“Fifty thousand dollars,” the man said. “It’s the payroll for Fort Gibson. I’ll cut ya’ll in for even shares. I already worked out the plan.”
“You got a plan, huh?” Charlie asked. “Do you know much about robbing trains, mister?”
“I sure as hell do,” he said. “I’ve made more’n one or two dollars off’n the Santa Fe in my time.”
“What about them fellers inside there?” Silsby asked. “How’s come you didn’t ask any of them?”
“They’re too well knowed around here,” the man said. “Anyhow, a couple just ain’t in the mood for traveling, if’n you know what I mean. You boys won’t have no troubles in this neck of the woods ’cause you’re strangers.”
“How do you know we ain’t been around here before?” Charlie asked.
The man chuckled. “This here is my stomping grounds, kid. If’n y’all’d been here before
, I’d know about you.”
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “We just rode in.”
Silsby wanted to know more about the robbery. “What about guards or detectives on the train?”
“They’ll be a couple prob’ly,” the man said. “Inside the baggage car.”
“How’re you gonna get ’em to open the doors?” Charlie asked.
“By telling them that if’n they don’t we’ll dynamite the car and blow ’em to hell.”
Silsby asked, “What if they still won’t open up?”
“Well, kid, then we’ll just take two or three sticks of dynamite and keep our promise,” the man said. He studied them for a moment. “You fellers talk it over. I’ll be back in a half-hour. If y’all’re game, we go. If not, then it’s an opportunity lost.” He abruptly left them to go back up to the saloon.
Charlie looked at Silsby. “That’d be four of us. How much would each get on a fifty-thousand dollar split?”
Silsby scratched some numbers in the ground. “She comes out to twelve thousand, five hunnerd dollars each.”
“Good God above!” Dennis exclaimed.
“Let’s do her,” Charlie said.
Silsby nodded his head. “What’s one more job anyhow?” He grinned. “Godamn! Think on it! Twelve and a half thousand damn dollars. Yeah!”
Charlie stood up. “Let’s go see that feller.”
They followed him away from the river up to the saloon. The man was standing at the bar. “Count us in, mister,” Charlie said.
The man nodded. “I knowed y’all were smart fellers. My name is O’Reilly. Jack O’Reilly.”
The three introduced themselves.
Chapter Forty-One
Mildred walked between Grant and Rebecca as they went through the front gate and up the short stone walkway to the couple’s house in Medicine Bundle. The rail trip from Woodward had been pleasant for the three as they took advantage of the time to become acquainted. They were at ease among themselves from the start, and a familial rapport was firmly established as the young people sat close together in the passenger car. Rebecca and Mildred quickly bonded with instant affection for each other.
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