Posey went up to the porch and set the wood box on the floor in front of Belle.
“Open it, Jack,” Jane said.
Posey removed the fishnet and then drew his Bowie knife and pried open the lid of the crate.
Jane removed one bottle of whiskey and showed it to Belle.
“Well, dammit girl, pass that here,” Sam Starr said.
“Be quiet, you old fool,” Belle said and took the bottle. “From Tennessee. Thank you, Jane. We haven’t had any good whiskey around here in quite a spell.”
“That’s a mighty fine piece you got there, mister,” the very large man seated next to Sam Starr said, looking at Posey’s Colt.
“It is,” Posey said.
“I’ll draw you for it,” the man said.
“No thank you,” Posey said.
“Then I’ll just take it,” the man said.
“I don’t advise that,” Posey said.
“You don’t, huh?”
“Oh, be quiet,” Belle said. She looked at Posey. “That big Cherokee is Sha-con-gah, otherwise known as Blue Duck.”
Posey looked at Blue Duck. “I’ve heard of him,” he said.
“Are you the Jack Posey some call Lightning Jack?” Belle asked.
“Some call me that,” Posey said. “I never liked it, though.”
Belle looked at Blue Duck. “Still want to draw him?”
“Talk don’t mean shit,” Blue Duck said.
“Give me that bottle, Belle,” Sam said.
Blue Duck stood up and put his right hand on his gun, but before he could pull it, Posey had his Colt out, cocked, and pressed against Blue Duck’s stomach.
“I didn’t come here to kill nobody,” Posey said. “But I won’t be wronged by no man, Cherokee or otherwise.”
“Sit down, you stupid Cherokee, before you get your guts blown all over the porch,” Belle said.
Glaring at Posey, Blue Duck took his chair.
Posey holstered his Colt.
“I read in the newspaper they locked you up in Yuma a few years back,” Belle said.
“They did, but I got a pardon,” Posey said. “Seems the man who testified against me lied in court.”
“Belle, the bottle,” Sam said.
Belle gave the bottle to Sam and said, “Take Blue Duck with you and go get drunk somewhere. Me and Jane have some talking to do.”
Sam and Blue Duck left the porch and walked to the corral where the men waited.
“Sit,” Belle said as she took her chair. “Let’s talk some.”
Posey and Jane took chairs next to Belle.
“The glow on your cheeks tells me you’ve had some good pokes recently,” Belle said as she looked at Posey.
“The Texan’s been gone a year, Belle,” Jane said. “A girl gets lonely, you know.”
At the corral, the men were whooping loudly as Sam passed the bottle around.
“Men are such useless creatures except for that bean between their legs,” Belle said. “If it weren’t for that, they’d have no purpose at all.”
“Maybe so, Belle, but Jack here is the resourceful type,” Jane said.
Belle looked at Posey. “Let’s take a walk, Jack Posey,” she said.
Belle led Posey and Jane off the porch to the side of the cabin and around back. Not far from the cabins was a one-square-acre garden of vegetables. Belle led them toward the garden.
“We got potatoes, carrots, squash, and even corn growing there,” Belle said. She pointed to a coop structure on the left a hundred yards away. “Got three dozen chickens for eggs and even some cows for milk and beef down yonder.”
Belle kept walking toward the vegetable garden and stopped at the edge.
“We can stay here for years if we have to,” she said. “And we might have to. Judge Parker issued a warrant on me for crimes I didn’t commit, and he’d surly love to hang me and Sam if he got the chance.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Belle,” Jane said.
Belle nodded. She wore a dark blue skirt with a matching blouse and black boots. A brown belt circled her waist, but she wore no guns.
“So let’s find out what you want, Jack Posey,” Belle said. “Because you didn’t come all this way and risk your life just to bring me some sipping whiskey.”
Posey knelt down and touched the young cornstalks.
“If you add some horse or cow manure to the soil, it increases production,” he said. “You’ll get a lot more growth without using more land.”
“You know about farming?” Belle asked.
Posey stood up. “Before the war took everything, my family had a three-hundred-acre spread. I worked it for years.”
“I didn’t know that,” Jane said. “I figured you were always a gunman.”
“The war was hard on all of us,” Belle said. “My family lost the farm in Missouri soon after, and times were hard. That’s why I married my first husband, a no-account named Jim Reed.”
“I didn’t know you was from Missouri, Belle,” Jane said.
“I’m a Missouri man myself,” Posey said. “Never had the need to cross the border into Arkansas back then.”
“But you do now,” Belle said.
“Jack is looking for Tom Spooner and his bunch,” Jane said.
Belle looked at Posey. “Why?”
“We rode together more than ten years, counting the war,” Posey said. “Before we split up we amassed a tidy sum of money. I never got my share even though we agreed to an even split. He arranged for that witness to testify against me for the reward money, then after had the witness killed. I just want what’s mine, what’s owed.”
“Why did you split up after so many years?” Belle asked.
“Tom changed,” Posey said. “Killing was necessary during the war, but after he got so that he enjoyed it. He shed blood just for the sake of doing it. I’m not that way. Never was.”
“What do you figure Tom Spooner owes you, Jack Posey?” Belle asked.
“I put the sum at twenty-two thousand dollars,” Posey said.
“Tom Spooner ain’t going to part with no twenty-two thousand dollars, Jack Posey,” Belle said. “Even if he had it, which I doubt he does.”
“Well, I need to find out,” Posey said. “One way or the other.”
“And you think I can help you?” Belle said.
“I told him you could, Belle,” Jane said.
“I see you have a pouch in your shirt pocket,” Belle said. “Fix me a cigarette if you please.”
Posey dug out pouch and papers and rolled three cigarettes. He gave one each to Belle and Jane and lit all three off a wood match.
“I met Spooner through Charles Younger in ’seventy-eight,” Belle said. “Spooner was crazy then and worse now. You can see it in his eyes, the madness. However, he ain’t stupid. You go to hunting him and he’s likely to kill you, Jack Posey.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Posey said.
“He’s come here several times in the past few years when the law was dogging him, and I gave him sanctuary,” Belle said. “Even my bunch was scared of him and his group, and that’s saying a lot.”
“Then why give him sanctuary?” Posey asked.
“Ten percent of your loot,” Belle said. “That’s my going rate for sanctuary. He didn’t want to pay it, but he had no choice. I have thirty guns to his eight and he didn’t fancy a shootout.”
“When did you see him last?” Posey asked.
“March.”
“Can you tell me how I can find him?”
“Let’s go back to the cabin,” Belle said. “The boys will want supper, and I have two birds hanging in the kitchen. We’ll talk more about Tom Spooner later.”
After supper, with the sun quickly setting, Belle, Sam, Jane, and Posey sat on the porch while most of the men hung out down by the corral.
“You can have the extra bed in my cabin for the night,” Belle said. “It’s lumpy, but better than sleeping on the ground.”
“Let’s crack ope
n another bottle,” Sam said.
“One bottle today is quite enough,” Belle said. “We’ll have coffee. Jane, will you see if it’s ready?”
Jane went inside the cabin.
“Sam, go see what the men are up to,” Belle said.
Sam stood and left the porch.
“So Jack Posey, let’s talk some,” Belle said.
Posey rolled a cigarette, lit it, and gave it to Belle.
“If I tell you how you might find Spooner, he might just show up here and try to kill me,” Belle said.
“Only if I told him you told me how to find him,” Posey said. “And only if he kills me before I kill him.”
“You’d be better off trying to waltz with the devil,” Belle said.
“Maybe so, but let me ask you this: at what point would you quit looking for your twenty-two thousand dollars?” Posey asked.
Belle looked at Posey and nodded.
Jane returned with the coffee pot and three cups. She gave a cup to Belle and Posey and poured, then sat.
“On the other side of the Rio Grande, just past Laredo, is a border town called Nuevo,” Belle said. “Spooner bragged about he practically owned the place. A bunch of dirt-poor farmers in a small village, but there is a Mexican girl there Spooner is sweet on. Says he aims to marry her one day. Find that girl, and you find Spooner.”
“What’s her name?” Posey asked.
“Spooner called her Pilar Lobos. To hear Spooner talk of her, she’s quite the stargazer in the looks department,” Belle said.
“I’m obliged to you, Belle,” Posey said.
“If you manage to live, Jack Posey, you come back and see me,” Belle said. “And bring me ten percent of your loot.”
Blue Duck came to the porch.
“I’ll be leaving now, Belle,” he said.
“It’s dark,” Belle said.
“Good moon. Night riding don’t bother me none,” Blue Duck said.
“See you next time you ride through,” Belle said.
Blue Duck glared at Posey for a moment, then turned and walked to the corral where his saddled horse waited.
“I almost married that filthy savage,” Belle said. “Although Sam ain’t much better when he’s drunk.”
“Most men aren’t worth spit anyway,” Jane said.
“Come inside, Jack Posey,” Belle said. “I’ll show you where you and Jane can sleep.”
Posey woke up alone in the middle of the night and looked at the lone candle burning on the table on the other side of the cabin.
From the bedroom, he heard Sam Starr snoring.
And soft whispering coming through the screen door.
Posey quietly got out of bed and inched his way to the screen door. The moon was bright enough for him to see that Belle sat in a chair and Jane was on her lap with her face resting against Belle’s chest.
“They killed him, Belle,” Jane sobbed. “The coward McCall killed my Bill, and I was there to see him do it. Why, Belle?”
“There are no answers, Jane,” Belle said. “Men are violent creatures by nature, even the good ones. We live with it because we have no choice but to live with it.”
“Maybe I could have done something?” Jane said. “But Bill was stubborn to a fault when it came to his cards.”
“There was nothing you could do, Jane. It was fate,” Belle said. “What about your Texan?”
“A poor second choice, Belle.”
“And Posey?”
“That’s all I need is to fall for another fool looking for an early grave, damn him,” Jane said. “I expect I’ll just wait on the Texan to show up and marry me.”
Posey turned away from the screen door and quietly returned to bed. After a while he fell asleep and when sunlight on his face opened his eyes, Jane was snuggled against his back.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
* * *
After breakfast, Posey saddled his horse and then met Jane and Belle on the porch of her cabin.
“Roll me one of those cigarettes, Jack Posey, and join us for a farewell cup of coffee,” Belle said.
Posey dug out his pouch and papers, rolled three cigarettes, and lit them with a wood match. After he gave one to Belle and Jane, he took a chair and Jane filled a cup with coffee from the pot.
“You’ll be headed down to Mexico then,” Belle said.
“I will be,” Posey said.
“Go on and get yourself killed,” Jane said. “You’ll get no sympathy here.”
“Remember what I said about Spooner, Jack Posey,” Belle said. “You’ll likely be waltzing with the devil himself.”
“I’ll remember,” Posey said.
“Oh, damn you,” Jane said, then stood up and went into the cabin.
“Some women don’t like long goodbyes,” Belle said. “Best be on your way. My men will escort you safely to lower ground.”
Posey nodded, set the cup down, and returned to his horse. He mounted the saddle and looked back at Belle.
“Tell Jane goodbye and thanks,” he said.
Belle waved. “I will,” she said. “And good luck.”
Blindfolded and led by three of Belle’s men down to lower ground, Posey felt bad about leaving Jane the way he did, but what was he to do?
He didn’t love Jane and even if he did, he was not about to be a poor substitute for Wild Bill Hickok’s affections.
After an hour or so in the saddle, Belle’s men stopped and one of them said, “Take the mask off. You’re free to go.”
Posey removed the bandanna from his eyes and nodded to the men as one of them removed the rope from his horse’s neck.
“Adiós,” Posey said.
Posey rode down the mountain for several hours and was lost in thought. He needed to resupply in Fort Smith before . . .
The attack came from the rocks above his head as he rode through a narrow pass. That the pass was narrow probably saved Posey’s life as, when Blue Duck knocked him out of the saddle, Blue Duck hit the rocks hard and the knife in his hand fell from his grasp.
Both men were stunned for a few seconds from the hard fall. Posey recovered first and stood up. Blue Duck slowly stood up a few seconds later. He looked around for his knife, but it was out of arm’s reach.
“I’ve done you no harm. What is it you want?” Posey asked.
“I told you, I want that Colt,” Blue Duck said.
“You just take what you want?” Posey said.
“Doesn’t everybody?”
“Well, I’ll give you what you want,” Posey said.
Blue Duck realized he had no chance in a draw with Posey and made a sudden charge at him; Posey drew the Colt, flipped it around, and smacked Blue Duck in the jaw with it.
The big Cherokee went down, but he wasn’t out. Posey clubbed him two more times and Blue Duck fell unconscious.
Posey holstered the Colt and mounted his horse. He backtracked for a bit and found Blue Duck’s horse tied to a tree off the path. He took the reins of Blue Duck’s horse, led him down the mountain, and didn’t release him until they reached flat ground hours later.
“Well, look who’s returned,” Madam Poule said when Posey rode to the porch of her boarding house.
Posey dismounted, stretched his back, looped the reins around the hitching post, and went up to the porch.
“Got a vacant room for the night?” Posey asked.
“I have,” Madam Poule said. “Do you want a bath and a woman?”
“Just a bath and something decent to eat,” Posey said.
“Bring in your gear, and I’ll have the girls draw a bath,” Madam Poule said. “Want your clothes washed?”
“I do.”
“Second door on the right on the second floor,” Madam Poule said.
One of Madam Poule’s whores shaved Posey’s face while he soaked in a tub of hot, soapy water.
“I ain’t allowed to give you a free one although I’d like to,” the whore said. “The shave is an extra four bits.”
“I don�
��t want a free one,” Posey said. “All I want is some decent food and about ten hours’ sleep.”
“Your face is clean. Dunk under,” the whore said.
Madam Poule invited Posey to dine with her in her private quarters. Her two girls served steak with all the fixings.
“What become of Jane?” Madam Poule asked.
“She decided to stay and visit a while with Belle Starr,” Posey said.
“Belle hasn’t been seen in Fort Smith in a year since Judge Parker issued a hanging warrant on her,” Madam Poule said.
“She told us,” Posey said.
“Where are you headed next?” Madam Poule asked.
“South.”
“Want to stay put a spell?”
“Here?”
“Things have been kind of rough lately,” Madam Poule said. “A lot of cowboys off the trail and such. Been some trouble, and Judge Parker said he’d close me down if things don’t quiet down. I’ll give you a room, three squares a day, twenty-five dollars a week, and one free poke a night to keep the peace.”
“It’s a kind offer, but I have to move on tomorrow. I have pressing business,” Posey said.
Madam Poule sighed. “If you change your mind, you let me know in the morning,” she said.
Posey didn’t change his mind. At ten o’clock the next morning, he was on a train west to Santa Fe in New Mexico.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
* * *
Sarah and Erin were cracking beans on the front porch when Posey rode up to the house and dismounted.
“Ma, it’s Uncle Jack,” Erin said.
“I see him, honey,” Sarah said. “Go inside and fetch your father.”
Erin set aside her bowl and went into the house.
“Can I come up?” Posey asked.
“Come on,” Sarah said.
Posey went up to the porch and removed his hat.
“I was mad enough to shoot you myself, Jack,” Sarah said. “But when Dale told me what you did, that you saved his life, I promised myself I would do this instead the next time I saw you.”
Sarah set her bowl aside, stood, and engulfed Posey in a big hug.
The screen door opened and Dale limped out with the aid of a cane.
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