“Not my little brother, Jimmy Bonsall?” Mary said, kidding him.
“Yeah, it’s me!” James said, wallowing in her joke, seeming younger, seeming likeJimmyinstead ofJames.
Well, that was fine for him, but George was older now. He was a man.
He placed a hand soberly on his sister’s shoulder. “Mary, we’re so sorry about Cole. He was a good man.”
The light went out of Mary’s eyes then. She held onto a little of her smile and nodded. “Yes, he was. Thank you, George. And thank you both for coming. I knew I could count on you.”
“Always and forever!” James declared.
“Good,” Mary said. “Come with me, then. I made some purchases at the hardware store and the mercantile. Now that I have a cart to load them into, let’s go get everything.”
“But Mary…” George started.
“Then we’ll have to go to the gun shop,” Mary said.
“You gonna buy some guns?” James asked.
“No. I already have guns. They’re back at the hotel. I have to pick up my new dog.”
“Wait,” George said with a sinking feeling. “What are you talking about? Why are you buying all these things? You won’t need them at home.”
“Oh, Georgie,” Mary said, and smiled at him.
It was a smile he recognized from childhood, a patient smile Mary used when he was slow to understand something.
He felt a twinge of irritation and something else, something like desperation, at the sight of that smile. He was no longer a boy. He was a man. He needed her to understand that.
“I appreciate you boys coming to see me,” Mary said. “It’s been a very hard time, but I’m not coming home with you. I’m staying here. George, James, I need your help now. Will you help me?”
24
When Conn, Sheffield, and McKay rode back into Fairplay, folks came outside to gawk at the dead man on the big, white horse.
Conn scanned their faces, hoping to see Mary, but saw no sign of her.
He slowed his horses as they neared the marshal’s office, but Sheffield kept riding.
“Come on,” the bony-faced man said. “I meant what we said. Blake’s making one more visit to Beulah’s before we drop him off at the marshal’s.”
The old timer was sitting in his rocker when they rode up to the house.
To Conn, this felt like a cruel errand, but then again, this woman had lied to them, trying to help one of his brother’s murderers get away, so if Sheffield wanted to show her that he was a man of his word, Conn wouldn’t stand in his way.
The old timer rocked back and forth, grinning like he was tickled pink. “Well, he won’t be slapping nobody no more.”
Sheffield ignored the old man and handed Conn the reins to his replacement horse. Then he rode up close to the house, trailing the big white horse, and whistled sharply.
A moment later, folks came out onto the porch and murmured. A second later the door banged open, and Beulah came rushing out. She took one look at the man stretched across the back of the horse, let go with an ear-piercing wail, and dropped heavily to her knees, sobbing Blake’s name over and over.
They rode off.
Beulah’s screeching voice chased after them. “I hope you men burn in hell!”
They went straight to Marshal Andrews’s office. He was already outside, waiting on them, a half-sick look on his face.
“You got Blake, huh?” he said when they rode up.
