Cobb sipped his coffee, nodded. “Struck me as strange, too. Three men showing up, looking to hire on somewhere without gear or guns or mounts? They didn’t look like shopkeepers, but they sure didn’t come prepared to take a job on the range. They didn’t give me a reason to run them out, so I pointed them in the direction of Whistler’s Saloon and figured there’d be a to-do once they had a few shots in them.”
“But they went to the Pennyroyal instead.”
“Sure did. Passed up Whistler’s and went straight to the Pennyroyal.”
“Jem was already there?”
“He says he was. I only saw him earlier when he was going into the mercantile.”
“Then you weren’t all that disturbed that Jem got himself in a tangle with them. Looks like he gave you the excuse you were looking for when you sent them to Whistler’s.”
“He did. That’s why I’m going to let him go with you and forget that he clobbered me with a broken chair leg.” He pointed to his left shoulder. “I couldn’t get out of his way fast enough.”
“I thought you got there after the fight was over.”
“Jem took it in his head to start it up again while I was herding the other fellows to the door.” He looked Morgan over. “So what’s this about rustlers out your way?”
“Nothing to say except that we’re handling it.”
“You certain? Those men came in on the train that went through here at two forty. I checked with Jeff Collins. He watched them get off. We get people coming and going all the time, Longstreet, but I’m pretty good at spotting the ones that just don’t fit.” He looked purposely at the Wanted Wall. “They’re not up there. I checked. Of course, neither are your brothers. I don’t have a notice for them anywhere. Deputy Sugar got rid of a lot of old posters after Marshal Sterling was killed. I’ve asked around the county, even sent a letter to Leavenworth, but no one’s got a picture for me. Except maybe you. Do you have a photograph?”
“I don’t have any brothers.”
Cobb leaned forward in his chair. “Look, I appreciate that you came to talk to me when you took over the old Burdick place. I know you didn’t have to, so I’ve always thought you were on the right side of this thing, trying to keep people safe by letting me know who you are. We can split hairs about whether or not Gideon and Jackson Welling are your brothers by circumstance or biology, but the fact is, you were raised with them. Raised hell with them, too. Now they’re out, served their time same as you. There’s plenty of people that think it wasn’t enough time—me included—but then, it was only the one robbery they got sentenced for, and no one died in the commission of it.”
“You sound like a lawyer.”
“Do I? Well, I’ve been studying.”
“And I thought I couldn’t dislike you more.”
Cobb just smiled. “So do you think one or two of these men might have been Gideon or Jack?”
“Didn’t you ask them?” The thinly veiled sarcasm in Morgan’s voice earned him the steely edge of the marshal’s icy blue eyes. Morgan did not flinch. He’d done it to see whether or not Bridger could be riled. It was good to know the man had blood, not ice water, in his veins.
Cobb held up his fingers again and ticked off the names. “Joe Pepper. Edward Ravenwood. Jud Wilcox. Any of those sound familiar?”
“No.”
“They didn’t to me either. Not at the time, but I was telling my wife about them, explaining how Jem got to be here, and she recognized their names.”
Morgan tasted acid again. He let it sit at the back of his throat rather than swallow.
“Characters in a Nat Church novel. One of the recent ones, that’s why she remembered. Nat Church and the Runaway Bride. She says Jud Wilcox is actually Judge Wilcox, but you get the idea.”
Morgan did. “Could be a coincidence.”
Cobb appeared to think about that for a moment. He said, “Yep. That’s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth.”
“You haven’t known me long.”
“Right. So what about it? You think it could be the Welling gang?”
“What makes you so sure there’s still a gang? Maybe they were reformed by their prison experience. I was.”
“No. Mrs. Sterling says differently. She says your ways were different before you ever saw prison. That’s what her husband knew about you and why he vouched for you going in.”
“Benton Sterling was a good man, but that doesn’t mean he was always right.”
