by Tabor Evans
At ten o'clock, the time set for the holdup, the bank would have been open two hours, so the vault was sure to be open. The inside men would divide the loot among themselves; she'd see that they had sacks to put it in. The whole job shouldn't take more than four or five minutes, and then they'd all be riding out.
Their approach and escape routes would be mapped out for them by Sam, the night before. They'd be stopping at a place she and Sam knew well. At that time, they'd also work out what to do in the event they had to separate during their getaway.
"So that's the way it's going to work," Belle said firmly as she concluded her explanation. "Now, what day do you want to move, Floyd?
I'll have to send a letter to the man who's handling things for me, when I go to Eufaula tomorrow."
"No use putting it off." Floyd didn't speak with quite as much authority as he had earlier. Belle's dominance of their discussion had somehow diminished his stature. "If it's all the same to everybody, we'll give the money shipment three days to get to the bank. We'll pull the job on the fourth."
"Sounds all right to me," Steed agreed. "I guess so," Bobby said, when Floyd looked at him. "Whatever you say, Floyd."
"Windy?" Floyd asked Longarm.
Longarm nodded.
"All right," Belle said succinctly. "It's settled, then."
Longarm told Belle, "I intend to go into Eufaula with you and Sam tomorrow, if you've got no objections to my company. I need cigars, and I'd sort of like to look the place over, since I've never been there."
"If you want to," Belle said. "We could use somebody to give us a hand with the mules." She looked at the others. "You can see there's not one thing for you to worry about. When Belle Starr plans a job, it's done right. I don't leave anything to chance. You just handle things the way I've told you to, and it'll come off as smooth as silk!"
CHAPTER 15
Although the sky was clear when Longarm, Sam, and Belle started from the house shortly after daylight, a line of low, black clouds showed to the northeast when they came out of the ravine and started along the trail leading to Eufaula. Each of them led a pack mule, which clopped behind them on a lead-rope and slowed the progress of the longer-legged horses. By the time they'd covered half the distance to the little town, the clouds had crept closer and there was a smell of rain in the air.
Belle scanned the sky anxiously. She'd put on what Longarm supposed was her regular going-to-town costume; at least it was what she'd been wearing the first time he'd seen her, when she and Sam had just returned from a visit to Eufaula. For this trip, Belle wore the same long green velvet dress with a full, flowing ankle-length skirt and a white scarf tucked in and drawn high around her neck.
Her hat was the same one, a wide-brimmed white Stetson with one side of the brim caught up by a pin that held a streaming plume. Around her waist, Belle had strapped on her polished gunbelt with its twin holsters carrying pearl-handled, silver-plated Smith & Wesson.32s. She wore the belt high on her waist. Belle rode in a silver-trimmed sidesaddle, as though to underscore the fact that, while she might be the Bandit Queen, she was still a perfect lady.
"I hope you remembered to put my slicker in your saddle roll," she said to Sam as the trail widened so the three of them could ride abreast. "And brought enough tarps, too. If a rain comes up, half the sugar will be melted away by the time we get back, unless the bags are covered."
"I smelled the rain coming last night before I went to bed," Sam replied patiently. "Your slicker and all the tarps we'll need are lashed across the packsaddles.
Longarm said, "Maybe it won't rain hard. It don't look to me like those clouds are moving very fast."
"It'll rain," Sam told him. "Maybe not until late, and maybe not very hard. It's early in the season for a real downpour, but we'll get at least a drizzle before we get back."
"If we hurry, maybe we can get back before the rain starts," Belle fretted. "I just hate to think of my nice dress and all that sugar getting wet."
"Stop worrying, Belle," Sam said. "If it rains, there's not a damned thing we can do to stop it. It'll just have to rain, won't it?"
Signs of settlement increased as they drew closer to Eufaula. For the first five or six miles of the ride, the trail had curved along a northern crook of the Canadian River. Then the trace became more clearly defined and the first houses began to appear. The houses were small when the trail swung northeast and left the river, and the land had been only partly cleared. The transition from a wooded path with cottonwood and blackjack oak growing thickly along its sides had been sudden when they changed direction. The first small fields and shacks dotted the roadside for a short distance, then gave way to wider cornfields and bigger houses. The fields were stubble-dotted from the recent harvest, and the narrow trace turned quickly into a wheel-rutted road beaten in the red soil.
Eufaula appeared ahead. It was a straggling town, stretched out in a single line of stores widely spaced along the road, which curved into the settlement. Even at a distance, the false fronts that rose above most of the awnings failed to hide the fact that except for two or three of the bigger buildings, the structures had only a single story. Red was the dominant color. Barn-red paint covered all but a few of the stores, and in most cases, the painting had been confined to their fronts. The sides had only the dark patina laid on them by sun and rain to distinguish their raw wood from the shining yellow pine boards of the newer buildings.
Even Longarm's sharp eyes couldn't make out the wording on the signs above the stores until they got within pistol-shot of the community. Most of the signs were small, their lettering straggly and thin. The stores were concentrated on one side of the main street--a continuation of the road--and on the less closely built side, there was an unusually large area vacant except for the big barn and corral of a livery stable. In the bare space, a number of unhitched wagons, buggies, and sulkies stood, their tongues slanting to the ground. Eufaula's residences were scattered, without the regularity imposed by streets, in well-defined half-circles on both sides of the main road. Longarm was surprised at their number; there must have been a hundred houses.
"It sure ain't such a much of a town," he remarked as they got close enough for him to read the signs. "But I guess it's a lot better for you that it ain't."
"We Like it the way it is," Belle replied curtly. "But even if it grows, it still won't be big enough for any law to move in and bother us at the Bend for a long time to come."
They reined in at the hitch rail in front of the general store. A few doors farther on, another sign proclaimed the presence of yet another general store; it was in a newer building, still unpainted.
Belle said to Sam, "I guess you'd better take a mule and start rounding up bottles. I'll do the trading while you're taking care of that."
"If you ain't got anything you need for me to help you with, I'll just find me a nice quiet saloon and sit down with a sip of Maryland rye until you've done your business," Longarm said. "I can get my cigars before we ride out; I've got enough in my pocket to tide me over for a while."
Belle laughed mockingly. "Your memory's too short, Windy. I guess you haven't been in the Nation long enough to remember that saloons are against the law here."
Longarm frowned. "Now wait just a minute. That little town on this side of the Arkansas across from Fort Smith, the place they call Little Juarez. There's plenty of saloons there."
"And they pay plenty to stay open, too," Belle retorted. "So do the saloons you'll find in the Nation right on the Missouri border up north, and on this side of the Red River, down on the Texas line, where there's a town on the other side."
"Belle's right, Windy," Sam said. Bitterness crept into his tone as he went on, "Our Great White Father back in the East doesn't think us Indians can hold our liquor. You know, we go crazy wild when we take a drink, and start killing all you white people."
Belle added, "So the only liquor you're going to find here in Eufaula is what we make out at the place, or what comes from one of the
little whiskey ranches in the brush farther east And it's none of it as good as the whiskey Yazoo turns out."
Longarm turned to Sam. "But you're going to buy bottles. Where from?"
"Jugs," Sam told him. "We've got to save all the bottles we can get our hands on to send over into Arkansas. We deliver the whiskey here in jugs, and the customers bring their own bottles."
"I'll be damned," Longarm said, shaking his head. "I never heard of such a damn fool thing."
"Oh, we like it that way," Belle told him. "The moonshine we make at the Bend pays the freight and a lot more. The jobs we pull off are all gravy."
Longarm saw his plan to get away from Belle and Sam going up in smoke. He'd intended to work things out so that he'd have a few minutes by himself, enough time to Mail to Gower the note he'd written last night, telling him that the bank job had been set and advising him that as yet he hadn't been able to learn which bank in which town would be the target.
He said, "Well, if that's the way of it, I guess I'll just walk around and stretch my legs while you two tend to your business."
"You can help me, if you've a mind to," Belle suggested. "Two of those mules have to be loaded with hundred-pound sacks of sugar. It'll hurry things along if you'll give the storekeeper a hand, and we might get started back to the Bend in time to miss getting caught in the rain."
There wasn't any way Longarm could see of avoiding Belle's request. "Why, sure, Belle," he said. "I'll be glad to." Sam said, "I'll be on my way, then. It'll take me an hour or more to make the rounds. I'll meet you here at the store, and we can get some cheese and crackers and eat them before we start back." He looked questioningly at Longarm and added, "If that'll tide you over until supper, Windy. That's about the best we can do here. There isn't any restaurant."
"That'll suit me fine," Longarm replied.
Starr untied the mule from his saddle-strings and set off on foot, leading the animal. Longarm watched him until he turned between two of the buildings and was out of sight, then he followed Belle into the store.
Longarm found the general store no different from a hundred others he'd seen in towns like Eufaula. Its interior was a wild jumble of goods arranged with little logic. Calico dresses crowded farming tools such as rakes and hoes. Shoes and bolts of cloth shared the same table. Patent medicines jostled cans of peaches on shelves behind the counter. Harness straps and horse collars hung on the walls beside slabs of bacon. Hams dangled by their curing-cords from the rafters, next to heavy work shoes suspended by their knotted laces. There was the inevitable wheel of cheese standing on the counter next to the tobacco cutter.
A short, bald man in a soiled, striped apron made of mattress ticking came from somewhere in the dimness at the back of the store. He said, "Well, Belle, I was wondering when you'd be coming for that sugar you ordered. It's been here for almost a week."
"I'm ready for it now, Eleazar," Belle said. "And I've even brought somebody to help you load it on the mules."
"Good, good. Now that the boy's back in school again, I'm a little shorthanded." He looked at Longarm. "Well, I'd say you ought to be able to lift a sack of sugar without too much trouble."
Longarm grinned but made no reply. The thought flashed through his mind that he might be able to entrust his note to the storekeeper to mail, but, judging from the gossipy exchange between the man and Belle, he'd be a fool to take a chance. His note to Gower might wind up in Belle's hands if he risked giving it to the storekeeper to mail.
Belle said, "There are some other things I need besides the sugar, Eleazar. A sack of scratch-feed--the eggs haven't been very good since I ran out a few days ago--and matches, we're running low. If you've got a fresh comb of the red clover honey, put it in a bucket for me to take back. Sam might want something else, I don't know. Flour, or something like that. He'll tell you when he comes back from picking up the bottles. And I guess we'd better load the sugar on right away. It looks like it might be getting ready to rain."
"Be a shame if it spoiled the blowout for the newlyweds," the storekeeper said. "You'll be going, I guess?"
"What blowout?" Belle asked, frowning. "And who's getting married? I haven't heard anything about a wedding."
"Why, Sam's Aunt Lucy's girl, Sairey. She's marrying young Fred Mayes. Thought sure you'd heard."
"Sam's kin don't pay much attention to us out at the Bend," Belle said shortly. "But I don't guess we'll go to the wedding, since we didn't get invited."
"You'd be too late for it, anyhow," Eleazar told her. "They had that this morning early. But the shindy's just about getting started good right now, and it'll probably go on most of the night."
"Well, you and Windy go ahead and load the sugar," Belle said. "Be sure it's covered good, Windy. Sugar's too dear to let the rain get to it and melt it away."
"I'll look after it, Belle," Longarm assured her. He watched Belle go out the door, one hand holding her velvet skirt above her ankles to keep it from dragging on the dusty floor. Then he turned back to the storekeeper.
"I'll make sure the saddles on the mules are clear, then we can start toting the sugar out."
There were five one-hundred-pound sacks of sugar to be loaded, and Longarm lashed three to one mule, two to the other. He covered the sacks carefully with the tarpaulins that were tied to the packsaddles. It was easier to do the job right than to have Belle jawing at him, he thought as he tied off the last cross-hatch on the heaviest load. The other load wouldn't be lashed down until the rest of the supplies had been added to it.
Belle came up just as he was finishing. She inspected the completed load carefully before nodding her satisfaction.
Longarm said, "Think I'll walk around and stretch my legs. I'll be back before you're ready to leave."
"If you run into Sam, don't tell him about his cousin's wedding," Belle cautioned. "We don't get along with that side of Sam's family, but if he hears about the shindy, Sam's going to want to look in on it."
"I'll keep quiet about it," Longarm promised.
He walked quickly down to the post office and mailed his note to Gower. A barbershop across the street caught his eye as he came out. He crossed over after fingering his stubbled chin, deciding that a good shave would improve his spirits. He didn't think Belle and Sam would have any trouble locating him if Sam showed up and they got ready to start back.
While the barber was rubbing in the last drops of bay rum on Longarm's now-smooth face, he saw Sam leading the third mule, loaded now with bulging tow sacks, in the direction of the store. He got out of the barbershop as fast as possible, and walked into the store just in time to hear Belle exclaim, "Get some sense into your head, Sam Starr! We'd be just about as welcome at Aunt Lucy Suratt's as a case of smallpox!"
"Not when there's a party going on to celebrate a wedding," Sam retorted. "They'd get madder if they found out we was in town and didn't come to it than they would if we was to show up."
Longarm left them to argue it out, and walked over to the counter where cigars were displayed. To his surprise, a partly emptied box of his favorite cheroots stood among three or four other kinds on the shelf. Pointing to the cigars, he told the storekeeper, "If you got a full box of that kind, I'll buy it off you. Or if you ain't, I'll take what's left in this box."
"Take what's there and welcome," Elezear said. "I've only got two customers buys that kind, I just keep 'em on hand to oblige."
"I'll leave a few, if it's going to put your customers out," Longarm offered.
"If you want all of 'em, take 'em. I can't sell something but once."
Eleazar counted the number of cheroots left in the box and handed it over to Longarm. "Does this go on Belle's bill?"
"No." Longarm tossed a half eagle on the counter. "Take the price out of that." He saw that Belle and Sam were winding up their argument. "Well?" he asked. "We going to the shindy or back to the Bend?"
"We'll go say our hellos to Aunt Lucy and the rest," Belle replied. She made no effort to keep the anger from her voice. "I ca
n't make Sam see he's just poking his head into a hornet's nest. You don't have to come unless you want to."
"I've got nothing better to do. And I'll be right there handy when you get set to go back."
"All right. We'll load the rest of the order and go stay at the shindy a half-hour or so, then head for home. We'll get wet before we get home, but Sam's got his head set."
"If we get wet, we get wet," Sam said curtly. "Come on. If we're going, we might as well finish up here and get to Aunt Lucy's before the food runs out."
They could hear the music a quarter of a mile before they got to the festivities. The twanging of a guitar, the scratchy high notes of a violin or two, and the thumping of a drum accompanied them as they wound along a dirt road well past the town itself to a house that stood isolated in a grove of mixed sycamore and sweet gum.
When the road straightened out enough for them to look down it, they saw that a board platform, only inches above ground level, had been raised for the dancers who stamped and spun to the music. At one side, long tables were heaped with food. Longarm judged that there must be thirty or more people there, counting those at the tables and on the dance floor and the few who sat on the porch of the house where it was shady.
Off the road, there were wagons, buggies, and saddle horses, as well as a few saddle mules, tethered in a glade far enough from the house to keep the flies from swarming over the entertainment area. Sam had been leading the way, with Belle riding just behind him and Longarm bringing up the rear. Sam reined in and surveyed the crowd.
"Looks like the whole damn family's here," he told Belle over his shoulder.
"Not including your cousin Henry, I hope," she snapped. "If that renegade shows his face at one of your family parties, and I'm there too, I intend to shoot his head off."
"Now, Belle," Sam said. "You just leave it to me to settle with Henry."
