“All right.”
“Tell him the yellow bird is on the gate.”
Conn was confused. “The yellow bird is on the gate?”
“That’s right. Tell him his pa said the yellow bird is on the gate. Can you remember it?”
“I’ll remember it.”
A short time later, McKay joined them. He had hay sticking out this way and that from his red hair.
They went back over their plans as they finished breakfast then washed up after themselves and left the place in a good state before going out and seeing to the grim job of fastening Ben Blake on the back of his big, white horse.
They headed out but soon stopped when they saw a farmer feeding his chickens.
The man waved warmly, but when they rode up and he saw their gruesome cargo, all the color went out of his face.
Conn explained what happened.
The man shook his head, looking sad. He explained the Blakes had been good neighbors. The two that stayed over there, anyway.
“This one,” he said, pointing toward Ben Blake, “had a reputation. Kind of like some of those others.”
“What others?” Conn asked.
“Oh, there’s seven or eight Blake brothers. I was you, I’d clear out of this country. They’ll be coming for you. Mark my words. Those boys are Texans. They stick together. Now, you’ve killed three of them. The others won’t quit till you’re dead or they are.”
Conn thanked the man for his warning and explained about the Blake place.
“I’ll ride over and take care of the animals until one of the other brothers comes back,” the man said. “At least that’ll keep them from getting mad at me. Farming out here’s hard enough without somebody shooting at you.”
23
Seventeen-year-old George Bonsall shook his father’s hand and looked him in the eyes. “We’ll bring Mary home, Pa.”
Pa said nothing but seemed dubious.
Which was irritating. Didn’t George work hard? Didn’t he always keep his word? And yet Pa still didn’t treat him like a man.
“See you soon, Pa,” James said, shaking their father’s hand.
Then it was time to go.
Pa had insisted they each take a carpetbag with extra clothing and such, a ridiculous precaution since they were just grabbing Mary and bringing her home, but the boys lugged their bags onto the train and sat at the front of the passenger car, both of them excited for the ride to Fairplay.
It was a rare thing to ride a train. They saw them come and go whenever they came to town and dreamed of all the different places folks were headed, but George had only been on a train a couple of times before, so this was exciting.
James said as much.
Normally, George, being two years older than James, would have downplayed his excitement, but that wasn’t possible today.He nodded and grinned at his brother, who looked out the window and got suddenly serious.
“You think Pa will be all right without us?”
“Sure,” George said. “The farm’s in good shape. Most of the harvest is in. Besides, we’ll only be gone a short bit. I don’t know what all Mary has to see to in town, but we’ll have her home in no time. I wouldn’t even be surprised if we come back on tomorrow’s train.”
James said nothing but glanced at the big carpetbag on his lap.
“Pa’s only being cautious is all. We might get delayed. You never know. Rail trouble, weather. Or like I say, maybe Mary will have things in town to see to.”
