“Yes, ma’am!” Timmy replied.
“Ha!” Jaco laughed. “Saying yes ma’am to a soiled dove. Now there’s a boy that’s got hisself some manners.”
“Something you obviously never had,” Sherazade said. “Come along, boys.”
“You keep them tied up, you hear me, Sherazade?” Jaco called. “You keep ’em tied up.”
She took the two boys up the stairs, then down a hallway flanked on both sides by doors.
“Is this a hotel?” Ethan asked. “I’ve never been in a hotel before.”
Sherazade chuckled. “I suppose you could call it a kind of hotel.” She knocked on the door and Belle opened it. “Here they are. They’re all yours.”
“Jaco agreed to it?”
“Yes. But he said you have to keep them tied up.”
“All right. I will. Come on in, boys. My name is Belle, and you’re going to be my guests for a while.”
Downstairs the party was getting louder and drunker.
“I wonder when Jaco plans to divide up the money?” Crump asked.
“In due time,” Mattoon said. “In due time.”
“Yeah. Don’t get in such a hurry. What would we spend it on but liquor and ladies of the night, anyway? Right now, the liquor is free, and you have to stand in line to get a woman, so just keep your britches on.” Cyr laughed. “That is, keep your britches on until you do get one of them women.” He laughed again. “Did you get that joke, Mattoon? I said he can keep his britches on till he gets with one of them soiled doves.”
“I got it,” Mattoon said. “Speakin’ of which, they’s two of ’em comin’ downstairs now. You want to stand here jawbonin’ with these two or get your turn?”
“I’ll take my turn,” Cyr said, hitching up his trousers as he and Mattoon started toward the foot of the stairs to meet the two women.
“Let’s go now, while nobody’s payin’ any attention to us,” Crump said to Forney after the two men left.
“You mean don’t wait for any of the money?”
“We don’t want any of the money. If we take it, we’ll be as guilty as anyone else.”
“We already are. We was there, remember?”
“Yes, but what we do now is goin’ to be the thing that says whether or not we’re really guilty. I say let’s go now, without the money.”
“Damn! You’re cheatin’!” a loud voice shouted.
The exclamation was followed by a gunshot.
Looking toward the table where the charge of cheating had been made, Forney and Crump saw one of the townspeople grabbing the bullet hole in his stomach, shocked at the sudden turn of events.
The shooter, still holding the smoking gun, was Manny Dingo. “Nobody calls me a cheat.” He returned the gun to its holster.
“Let’s get out of here, now,” Forney said.
“How we goin’ to do it? If they see us both walkin’ out, they might get a little suspicious.”
“We’ll go out the back door,” Forney said. “People been goin’ out back to take a leak all night long. Nobody will even notice.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
The two men left through the back door, then slipped away from the saloon. Saddling their horses, they rode off into the night. True to Forney’s prediction, nobody noticed their absence.
“Miss Belle, what are they going to do to us?” Ethan asked. “Are they going to kill us?”
“No, honey, they aren’t going to kill you. I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you.”
“I don’t think they want to hurt us because if they do, they know that Pa will come after them,” Timmy said.
“And I think your pa would,” Belle agreed. “Your pa is a good man.”
Timmy’s eyes grew large. “You know my pa?”
“No, honey, I don’t really know him. I just know who he is, him being the sheriff and all.”
Timmy smiled. “Almost ever’body knows my pa. He’s kind of famous, isn’t he?”
“You might say that.”
“I think we should try to escape,” Ethan said.
“I wish you wouldn’t try that,” Belle said. “I think it would be too dangerous for you.”
Eagle Pass
Forney and Crump rode into town the next morning. Locating the sheriff’s office, they dismounted and stepped inside.
The man at the desk looked up. “Can I help you?”
“Are you the sheriff?” Forney asked.
“I’m Deputy Smith.”
“We need to talk to the sheriff.”
“He’s not here right now, and anyway, this isn’t a good time to be talking to him.”
“Because of his kid?”
Deputy Smith’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about Timmy?”
“If you’ll get the sheriff, we’ll tell him what we know.”
Deputy Smith drew his pistol and pointed at them. “Take off them gun belts.”
“What for?”
“Just take ’em off.”
Forney and Crump looked at each other for a moment, then Forney shrugged. “We may as well take ’em off,” he said as he began unbuttoning his gun belt.
Once their pistols were on the floor, Smith made a motion toward the jail cell. “Get in there.”
“What? Look here, what’s goin’ on here?” Forney demanded.
“You came here bringing news about the sheriff’s son. The only way you could have information about him is if you are involved. Now, both of you get in the cell. I’ll bring the sheriff to you.”
“This ain’t right,” Crump said. “This ain’t no way right at all.”
“Just do it,” Smith ordered with a wave of his pistol.
Grumbling, but compliant, the two men allowed Smith to put them into the cell, then close and lock the door behind them.
“Wait here,” Smith said.
“Yeah? Well, where else would we wait, Deputy?” Forney asked, his voice dripping anger.
“This ain’t right,” Crump complained after Smith left. “This ain’t no way right a-tall. We shoulda just kept on a-goin’.”
A moment later, Deputy Smith returned with another man with him. “This is them, Sheriff.”
“Is it true, what my deputy said? Do you have news about my son?”
“Is your son named Timmy?”
“Yes,” Jason said. “What has happened to him? Where is he? Is he all right?”
“A feller by the name of Jaco has him,” Forney said. “And yeah, he’s all right. Leastwise, he was all right when we left him last night. But I don’t know just how long he will be all right. Jaco is about the evilest damn man I done ever run into.”
“We ain’t like that, which is why we left,” Crump added.
“And also to tell you about your son, and Mr. Hanson about his.”
“Cal Hanson doesn’t have a son,” Jason said.
Forney frowned. “Is that true? We thought . . . that is, I thought the other kid was his.”
“No, he belongs to Mr. Hanson’s cook.”
“Maybe so, but knowin’ Mr. Hanson, I don’t doubt but that he’ll be a-worryin’ about that kid ’bout as much as he would if it was his.”
Jason paid close attention. “‘Knowing Hanson’? Are you telling me that you two actually know Cal Hanson?”
Both outlaws nodded. Crump spoke. “Yeah we know ’im. We . . . uh, done some business with him a while back. And we sure don’t want to be a party to somethin’ that might hurt him.”
“I’ll see that he gets the word,” Jason said. “You haven’t told me yet where the boys are.”
“We’d like to tell you ’n Hanson at the same time, if you don’t mind,” Forney said.
“All right. You two just wait right here, and I’ll ride out to get Mr. Hanson,” Deputy Smith said.
“We’d rather you take us out to see ’im,” Forney said. “We don’t want to be talkin’ to him from a jail cell. Besides which, neither of us actual done nothin’ to make you want to put us in jail in th
e first place.”
“Let ’em out, Smitty,” Jason said.
“But, Sheriff, don’t you think—”
“Let ’em out,” Jason repeated.
Chapter Thirty-three
Regency Ranch
“Yes, I do indeed remember you two,” Hanson said when Forney and Crump confronted him.
“They know where the boys are,” Jason said.
“Are they all right?”
“Yes, sir, they are for now. Jaco is holdin’ them back in Shumla.”
Hanson frowned and looked to Jason. “Shumla?”
“It’s a small town in Uvalde County,” Jason explained.
Hanson looked back at Forney and Crump. “Who is this man, Jaco? And what do you mean he is holding them?”
“Have you read anythin’ in the newspapers about an outfit that’s called the Kingdom Come Gang?” Forney asked.
“Yes, I believe I have.”
“Well this man, Jaco, he’s the head man of the gang.”
“Is he demanding ransom for the two boys? Because if he is, I will gladly pay it to see to their safe release.”
“No, sir, I ain’t heard him say nothin’ like that. I think he’s just holdin’ them to keep anyone from comin’ after ’im.”
Hanson looked at Jason again. “What about the sheriff in Uvalde County? Can we expect any help from him?”
“You don’t understand, Mr. Hanson,” Forney said. “Jaco ain’t just holdin’ them two boys in the town. He’s holdin’ the whole town.”
Surprised, Hanson asked, “What do you mean?”
“Shumla is what you call an outlaw town. There ain’t no law there a-tall ’ceptin’ whatever law Jaco says there is.”
“That is totally unacceptable,” Hanson said sharply. “We must do something.”
Jason has listened carefully to the conversation, keeping his thoughts to himself. Finally, he stepped in. “I agree, but there’s no sense in going off half-cocked. I have sent a telegram to Duff MacCallister. I expect him to be here soon. Once he arrives, we’ll come up with a plan.”
Eagle Pass
When Duff and the others reached Eagle Pass, they were met by Jason, who asked them to go with him out to Regency Ranch. “There are a couple men out there I would like you to meet. Actually, Mr. Hanson says you’ve met them before. They have some information that might be helpful.”
“Where is Melissa?” Megan asked immediately. “I want to go to her. Bless her heart, I know she has to be having a very difficult time with this.”
“She is. We both are,” Jason said. “She is already out at the ranch. She and Mrs. Garrison are sort of comforting each other.”
“Mrs. Garrison?”
“Jennie Garrison. Her son Ethan is Timmy’s age, and the two boys were out horseback riding when the Kingdom Come Gang came upon them.”
The name rang a bell with Duff. “The Kingdom Come Gang? I believe I read something in the paper about them. A gang of outlaws?”
“Much more than just a gang of outlaws,” Jason said. “They are cold-blooded killers . . . and there are at least twenty of them. Well, two less now, since the defection.”
“What defection?”
“The two men you’ll be meeting defected from the gang.”
Regency Ranch
A half hour had passed by the time they got their horses off-loaded and rode out to Hanson’s ranch. Everyone had gathered in the large keeping room. Melissa and another woman had obviously been crying, and Megan hurried over to embrace her sister.
Melissa wiped her eyes. “Megan, this is Jennie Garrison. Her son Ethan was with Timmy when they were taken by those evil men.”
Megan embraced Jennie. “Have you heard anything else about them? Do you know where they are?”
“Yes, they are in Shumla,” Melissa said.
“Duff, it was good of you to come,” Hanson said. “I’ve two men I would like you to meet. They are out in the bunkhouse with Mr. Taylor.”
“They would be the defectors Jason spoke of?”
“Yes. You have met them before.”
“I have?”
“Yes. Ah, here they are. I told them to come up to the house when they saw you arrive.”
Duff looked toward the two who were arriving, and remembered, at once, where he had seen them before. “Och, you would be the two men who attempted to rob Mr. Hanson now, would you?”
“Yeah, we’re awful sorry ’bout that,” one of the men said. “He’s Crump, I’m Forney.”
“You are a long way from your territory, aren’t ye now? ’Twas thinkin’, I was, that you were in Wyoming.”
“Yes sir, well, that’s where we mostly was, but we decided it would be better for us if we left Wyomin’ an’ come to Texas,” Crump said.
“Which is how we come to join up with Jaco. Only, we seen our mistake soon as we joined up,” Forney explained.
“Jaco? What is Jaco?” Duff asked.
“Jaco is a who, not a what,” Jason said. “His name is A. M. Jaco. He and an albino by the name of Blue Putt were about to be hung over in New Mexico, but they managed to escape the night before they were to hang. I’ve got paper on both of them. According to Crump and Forney here, Jaco and Putt are heading up the Kingdom Come Gang.”
“And they’re the ones who have the two boys?” Duff asked, to clarify.
“Yes.”
“Tell me about this other boy, the one who was with Timmy when they were taken. There’s nae chance he’s mixed up in it, is there?”
“No chance at all,” Hanson said. “His mother works for me, and they live here on the ranch.” He explained that Ethan’s father had been killed, most likely by the Kingdom Come Gang. “I needed help and Mrs. Garrison needed a job,” he concluded. “That’s how they wound up here.”
“And you two”—Duff wagged a finger at Forney and Crump—“how did you two wind up here?”
“Look, Mr. MacCallister, me ’n Forney ain’t goin’ to lie to you. We ain’t exactly led what you would call decent, law a-fearin’ lives. Only we ain’t never done nothin’ like what Jaco ’n his men are doin’. We ain’t neither one of us ever actual kilt anyone, ’n soon as we seen what this here gang was like, we know’d we’d made us a big mistake.”
Forney told about the bank robbery in New Fountain. “Only, it warn’t like no bank robbery I ever heard o’ before. You’d think that all you would want to do is take the money ’n git, ’n if you can do it without no shootin’, the better it be. But not these men. When we first rode into New Fountain, well Jaco, he told us to commence a-shootin’. It was real crazy.”
“Not so crazy. I can see that. By discharging your weapons into the air, it would generate a degree of shock, enough to divert people’s attention,” Duff said.
“No, it warn’t nothin’ like that a-tall,” Crump said. “What Jaco told us to do was to start shootin’ people. Men, women, even little children. If they was out on the street, we was s’posed to shoot ’em. ’Cept me ’n Forney, we didn’t do none of that.”
“How did you avoid it?” Jason asked.
“We just commenced to shootin’, but we wasn’t shootin’ at nobody in particular,” Forney said.
“Then, what we done,” Crump continued, “is we made up our mind that soon as we got our share of the money, we was goin’ to quit the gang ’n ride back up to Wyomin’. I mean, me ’n Forney, we’d done a little robbin’, but we ain’t never kilt no one a-fore.’
“When we brung in them two kids, we didn’t want no part of that, so we decided we wasn’t goin’ to even wait around for our cut,” Forney said. “We was goin’ to go right back to Wyomin’.”
“Only you came to my office,” Jason said.
“Yeah, we come there.”
“Why?
“We come there when we larn’t that one o’ them two kids belonged to Mr. Hanson,” Crump said.
“He was real good to us, if you remember,” Forney said. “I mean, here, we tried to rob ’im, ’n what d
oes he do? He gave us money.”
“So we decided to tell the sheriff what we knew,” Crump said.
“You did the right thing,” Duff said.
“Yeah, well, truth is, even if it hadn’t been for the kid belongin’ to Mr. Hanson ’n all, we woulda prob’ly done the same thing, anyway. There wouldn’t nobody in their right mind want to be around Jaco,” Forney said.
“That’s how it is. I mean, nobody around him is in their right mind. ’Cause Jaco ’n near ’bout ever’one with ’im is crazy,” Crump added.
“Who are some of the people with him, do you know?” Duff asked.
“Well, sir, there’s Jaco and Putt. They’re the two leaders of the gang,” Crump said. “Jaco, he’s some kind of a breed, half Mex or half Injun, I don’t know which. And Putt, he’s one of them people that ain’t got no color. All white, you know.”
“An albino,” Duff suggested.
“And Manny Dingo. You ever a-heered o’ him?” Forney asked.
“He’s a young gunslinger,” Jason said, interrupting the conversation. “He’s fast with a gun. I mean he is really fast, and he likes to use it.”
“Then there’s a feller by the name of Johnny Dane. He’s kinda funny,” Crump said.
“Funny? How is he funny?” Hanson asked.
“I don’t mean funny so’s he does things to make you laugh. I mean he’s funny ’cause he’s odd. He likes little girls.”
“And when Crump says little girls, that means real little girls, like maybe thirteen or fourteen years old,” Forney added.
“What you are saying is, he is a pedophile,” Hanson suggested.
Crump frowned. “I don’t know what that word means. I just know that he likes real young girls.”
“Then there’s a couple men that I think are brothers. Can’t recall their names though. Do you, Crump?”
“I think one of ’em is Larry or Lenny. Somethin’ like that. Oh, and there’s Mattoon. He’s sort of an odd duck, too.”
“Mattoon? Wyatt Mattoon?” Jason asked.
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