“Thought it sounded pretty bad,” Virgil said.
“Loud, though,” I said.
Virgil nodded.
“Well, she ain’t singing,” I said.
“Hallelujah,” Virgil said.
Brother Percival strode gravely up the aisle.
“Isn’t she wonderful?” he said, nodding at Allie above.
“Wonderful,” Virgil said.
“She’s practicing now,” Percival said.
“Good,” Virgil said.
“Pretty little woman,” Percival said. “Been coming here every day for morning service. Last week she asked if she could try playing the organ. Now she plays every day.”
“Big trail herd being delivered here tomorrow,” Virgil said. “Town will be full of drunken cowboys.”
“Why is that my concern?”
“Might cause some trouble,” Virgil said.
“That should be your concern.”
“Is,” Virgil said. “Why I’m coming around . . . making a tactical assessment.”
“We can take care of ourselves,” Brother Percival said. “Ours is a muscular and militant Christianity.”
“Being as Choctaw is one of your deacons, made me kind of suspect that,” Virgil said.
“Deacon Brown is a fine church member,” Percival said.
“Sure,” Virgil said.
“And I can’t believe these cowboys would invade a church,” Percival said.
“Ain’t likely,” Virgil said.
“But if they should, we can and will defend ourselves.”
“Only thing is,” Virgil said, “if you got to defend yourself, I’d like to be sure that Choctaw don’t get too militant and muscular.”
“Deacon Brown, like all of us here in the congregation, will do what he must,” Percival said.
“Don’t we all,” Virgil said.
“It is God’s work,” Percival said.
Virgil nodded and looked up in the choir loft where Allie was still laboring over the organ. I didn’t recognize what she was playing.
“Hope so,” Virgil said.
20
ABE LESTER BROUGHT HIS HERD in from the south, right after sunrise. He trailed them along the river so he wouldn’t have to run them through town. At the pens they made a lot of noise and kicked up a lot of dust as the drovers herded them in. It took nearly all day to get them penned, and by midafternoon the dust was hanging over the town like smoke above a brush fire.
When Lester began to pay off the drovers, Virgil and I strolled down to observe.
“Every man taken care of his string, Spanish?” Lester said to a Mexican cowboy standing to the side.
“Sí,” the vaquero said. “All in the remuda pen, been rubbed down, got feed and water.”
We were in the tally shack at the pens. Lester was at a table with a big box in front of him. Virgil and I stood behind him. Both of us were wearing our badges. I was carrying the eight-gauge, which almost always got people’s attention.
Before the first man stepped up to be paid, Virgil spoke.
“My name’s Virgil Cole,” he said. “Fella with the eight-gauge is Everett Hitch. We want to welcome you to Brimstone. We want you to have a hell of a good time in Brimstone. And we want you to do it without hurting anybody or breaking anything.”
No one said anything.
Finally, Lester spoke.
“I pay you off,” he said, “and you don’t have no reason to do what I tell you anymore.”
From the back of the line somebody gave a soft rebel yell. A couple of the men laughed.
“On the other hand,” Lester said, “I got no obligation to help you out, you get in trouble. I assume some of you boys know who Virgil Cole is.”
Nobody spoke.
“Okay,” Lester said.
The drovers came up, one at a time, still sweating, with dust caked on their faces, and took their money. Several of them looked us over. None of them said anything. The Mexican wrangler was the last. With the money distributed and the box empty, Lester closed the lid and stood.
“Good luck with them,” he said.
Virgil nodded.
Lester put the box under his arm and walked out of the tally shed.
“Lotta cowboys,” I said to Virgil.
“Yep.”
“Don’t seem a bad lot,” I said.
“Yet,” Virgil said.
“Some of them were heeled,” I said. “Some weren’t.”
“Don’t matter if they’re heeled right now,” Virgil said.
“I know,” I said.
“Matter more tonight,” Virgil said.
“What’s your guess?” I said.
“ ’Bout tonight?” Virgil said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Think we’ll have to kill one?”
“Might,” Virgil said.
21
BY MIDNIGHT MOST OF THE drovers had settled in with a whore or passed out somewhere. Two of them were in our jail. Virgil and I walked along Arrow Street past The Church of the Brotherhood. It was dark and still.
“No cowboys,” I said.
“No deacons, either,” Virgil said.
“Guess the cowboys got other things to do,” I said.
“Don’t nobody seem much interested in the church,” Virgil said. “ ’Cept Allie.”
“She goes a lot?” I said.
“ ’Bout every day.”
“That bad?” I said.
“Hell, no,” Virgil said. “It’s good. Otherwise, she’d be home cooking and washing. She’s ruined half my shirts.”
“She’s trying,” I said.
“She is,” Virgil said.
“She’s had a rough go,” I said.
“Yep.”
“S’pose she brought most of it on herself,” I said.
“She did,” Virgil said.
“Maybe the church will help her,” I said.
“Hope so,” Virgil said.
Arrow Street was mostly dark now. The shops were closed, and the saloons that were still open were quiet. Ahead, at the corner of Fifth and Arrow, a group of drovers was standing in the street. In the quiet I heard their voices.
“You got no business treating us like that, Pike.”
As we got closer, I could see Pike standing on the boardwalk in front of the Palace.
“Ah, but I do, my friend,” Pike said.
J.D. and Kirby stood on the boardwalk with him. All three wore Colts.
“You broke Charlie’s arm,” the cowboy said.
“I did,” Pike said. “Keep yammering at me, I might break yours.”
The door to the Palace opened and a fourth man came out wearing a gun.
“Choctaw,” Virgil said to me.
He quickened his pace.
“He wasn’t doin’ anything,” the cowboy said.
“He was messing up my saloon,” Pike said. “I don’t tolerate anybody messing up my saloon.”
“Well,” the cowboy said, “we don’t tolerate nobody hurting our friend.”
The man’s voice had risen. I could hear the whiskey in it.
But we weren’t close enough.
“Well, then, my friend,” Pike said. “You best make your move.”
Virgil yelled, “Hold it.”
But it was too late. The cowboy fumbled at his gun and a couple of men beside him did the same. Pike shot three of them before they got anywhere near clearing their holsters. One bullet each. The rest of the cowboys froze. J.D. and Kirby and Choctaw had their guns out but didn’t shoot.
“Fast,” I said.
“And eager,” Virgil said.
Then he raised his voice.
“Everything stops,” he said.
We were close enough now. The men stood poised and motionless, as if posing for a photograph.
Then Pike smiled and said, “Virgil.”
I veered off across the street with the eight-gauge and stood behind the cowboys. Virgil stepped up onto the boardwalk.
“Seen you coming
up the street,” Pike said. “Glad you’re here.”
“You can put it away now,” Virgil said.
Pike smiled some more.
“Glad to,” he said.
He opened the cylinder of his Colt, ejected the three spent shells, added three fresh ones from his coat pocket, closed the cylinder, and slid the Colt softly into its holster.
“You saw him pull on me,” Pike said.
“I did,” Virgil said.
“And those other boys,” Pike said.
“Yep.”
“They pulled on me, too,” Pike said cheerfully.
“And you shot three drunks,” Virgil said.
“That made it easier,” Pike said.
The cowboys had gathered silently around the three dead men. None of them knew what to do.
“They’re dead,” Virgil said to the cowboys. “There’s an undertaker down past the livery corral on Second Street. One of you go roust him out. Tell him I want him up here.”
The cowboys stared at Virgil and looked at the dead men in the street and at one another. Then they began, as a group, as if for mutual support, to drift on down toward the livery.
“Fella with the broken arm,” Virgil said. “There’s a doctor right next to the undertaker.”
Pike grinned.
“Convenient,” Pike said.
Virgil turned back to the men on the boardwalk.
“You all seen it the same way,” he said.
“We did,” J.D. said.
Kirby nodded. Virgil looked at Choctaw. Choctaw met his gaze silently.
“ ’ Course you did,” Virgil said.
The three men went back inside the Palace, leaving Virgil and Pike on the boardwalk. I came across the street and joined them.
“Good to see you, Everett,” Pike said.
I nodded. Everything was quiet. And except for us and the three dead men bleeding in the street, the town seemed empty.
“Pretty quiet night,” Pike said. “All things considered.”
“Pretty quick with that Colt,” I said.
“I am,” Pike said. “Good you come along when you done.”
“Yeah, you mighta shot ’em all,” I said.
“Mighta had to,” Pike said.
“Four gun hands against a bunch of drunks,” I said.
“Drunks with guns,” Pike said. “A lucky shot will kill you just as dead.”
I nodded.
“I got no problem killing people. No more than you fellas. Done it before. Probably do it again. But these boys pulled on me.”
“They did,” Virgil said. “You ain’t broke no law.”
“Good,” Pike said with a wide smile. “Musta been a long night for you boys. Have a drink on me?”
“No thanks,” Virgil said.
“Offer stands,” Pike said. “Good talking with you boys.” He turned and went back into the Palace.
“Don’t seem too upset,” I said to Virgil as we walked up toward the sheriff’s office.
“Nope,” Virgil said.
“Too bad we didn’t get here a little sooner,” I said.
“Too bad,” Virgil said.
We unlocked the sheriff’s office and went in. The two drunks were still asleep in their cells. I leaned the eight-gauge in the corner. Virgil sat and put his feet up on the desk.
“Choctaw,” Virgil said. “Wonder what Choctaw was doing there.”
22
THE SUN WAS SHINING. The streets were quiet. The town was back in rhythm. Brother Percival and his followers were holding forth outside of a saloon called The Silver Bullet. Virgil and I stood across the street watching. There were eight or ten of the faithful outside the saloon, and anytime someone wanted to go in or out, they had to push through the crowd of Percivalians and listen to warnings of eternal hellfire and lifelong shame. Leaning against the wall of the saloon, just behind the group, was Choctaw Brown.
“This is hell’s mouth,” Percival bellowed. “Inside this door, women give up their womanhood for money. Inside this door, men trade their manhood for whiskey. Inside this door begins the slippery, desperate slide to hell.”
The church members with him chanted, “Amen, brother.” And no one chanted it as loudly as Allie. Most of the men pushing in and out paid very little attention, looking at the ground as they eased through among the prayers of the vigilant. One man was jostled as he went through them, and, annoyed, shoved Brother Percival as he went past. Percival took hold of his shirt front and picked him up and threw him into the street.
“Do not put your hands on a man of God!” Brother Percival said.
It wasn’t a bellow. It was like the soft growl of a mountain lion. The man in the street gathered himself for a moment and then stood up and took a knife from his boot.
“You sonovabitch,” he said.
Virgil and I started across the street. Choctaw stepped away from the door and in front of Brother Percival. He didn’t draw his gun, but his hand hovered over it. He said nothing. The man with the knife looked at Choctaw, and past him at Percival.
“Choctaw,” Virgil said.
Choctaw nodded faintly.
“Hold the knife,” Virgil said.
The man with the knife stopped and looked back at Virgil.
“Aw,” the man with the knife said. “Fuck it.”
He turned and walked away down the street, with the knife still in his hand, dangling by his side as he went. Virgil was still looking at Choctaw. Choctaw had no expression as he looked back at Virgil.
“Virgil,” Allie said. “Everything’s fine now.”
She stepped away from the group and put her hands on Virgil’s chest and looked up at him.
“Everything’s fine,” she said. “Please.”
Virgil was looking past her at Choctaw. Then he nodded.
“Sure,” he said.
He turned away from her and walked down the street in the same direction that the man with the knife had gone.
“Keep your hands off the civilians,” I said to Brother Percival.
“I answer to God,” Percival said. “Not to you.”
“Long as you are in this town,” I said, “you answer to me and Virgil.”
Choctaw Brown grunted.
“Don’t blaspheme,” Brother Percival said.
“Please, Everett,” Allie said. “We’re only trying to help people save their souls. I’m trying to save my soul.”
I looked down at her. She had her hands flat on my chest now, looking up at me, just as she had looked up at Virgil.
“Perhaps you should consider your own soul,” Brother Percival said.
I grinned at him.
“Too late,” I said. “Right, Choctaw?”
Choctaw made a small derisive sound. No one else said anything. I patted Allie on the cheek and left. As I walked down Arrow Street I heard Allie leading her colleagues in singing a hymn I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know whether I failed to recognize it because it was not a hymn I knew or because they sang it so badly it was unrecognizable.
I walked a little faster.
23
THE DROVERS WERE GONE. The cattle had been shipped. There wasn’t all that much for me and Virgil to do except sit in a couple of chairs, tilted back against the wall, outside the office, and watch what passed before us. It was a hot morning, with a high sky and an occasional white cloud. Freight wagons moved slowly up Arrow Street. The railroad surrey shuttled between the hotel and the railroad station. Women and children went in and out of shops. A few men, starting early, went in and out of the saloons.
“What do you think ’bout Allie,” Virgil said.
“She’s looking good again,” I said. “Filled out nice.”
Virgil nodded, looking at the street.
“You see her at the house,” Virgil said. “Cooks our supper, serves it, won’t sit down herself.”
“Yep.”
“Cleans up afterwards,” Virgil said. “Don’t say nothing.”
“True,” I said.
“Does the wash, irons, cleans . . .”
“I know,” I said.
“Like last night, she’s serving supper, and I say to her, ‘Why don’t you sit down and join us, Allie?’ And she don’t.”
“I know,” I said. “I was there, too.”
“When she ain’t cleaning and sewing and fucking up my shirts, and cooking bad,” Virgil said, “she’s reading the Bible, or she’s in church, or she’s sashaying down to the saloons to save souls with Brother Percival.”
“I know.”
“She was outside the Paiute Club yesterday evening, telling everybody she had defilled herself for money.”
“Defiled,” I said.
“Defiled.”
“Virgil,” I said. “Why you telling me all this. I know all this.”
“I ain’t telling you nothing,” Virgil said. “I’m discussing it with you.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Why don’t she settle down,” Virgil said. “Be like she used to be.”
“Maybe she don’t want to be like she used to be,” I said.
“Well, no,” Virgil said. “Maybe not the bad parts. But . . .” He shook his head. “You know, she used to be a lotta fun.”
“Sometimes,” I said. “You and she doing anything in bed?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to,” Virgil said.
“Ever?”
“Don’t know ’bout ever,” Virgil said. “Don’t want to right now.”
“She mind that?” I said.
“Don’t know,” Virgil said. “She don’t say nothing ’bout it.”
“The Allie I know would mind,” I said.
Virgil shook his head slightly.
“So, what’s she trying to be now,” he said, “if she don’t want to be what she was?”
“Maybe she’s trying to be a good woman.”
“She thinks this is what a good woman’s like?” Virgil said.
“Don’t know what she thinks,” I said. “She ain’t had much experience with good women, maybe.”
“And you have?”
“Hell, no,” I said. “I don’t know no good women.”
“Me either,” Virgil said.
“How about the lady in Resolution?” I said.
“Beth Redmond,” he said. “She was really a good woman, she wouldn’t have cheated on her husband.”
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