Double The Bounty

by Robert J. Randisi

  “Yeah,” Brent said, grunting as the doctor probed and prodded.

  “Still,” Petrie said, straightening up, “after I’ve removed it he really shouldn’t ride.”

  Brent looked at Brian and shook his head.

  “How long should he stay put?”

  “Any period of time would be helpful, but I wouldn’t want him Tomove for at least a week.”

  “Forget it,” Brent said. “Get the bullet out and patch me up, Doc. We’re leaving tonight.”

  “No,” Brian said.

  “Whataya mean, no?” Brent asked.

  “We’ll spend the night here.”

  “You can’t stay here,” Petrie said.

  Brian raised his gun and said, “This gun says I can stay anywhere I want.”

  “You have a point. I’ll need my instruments.”

  “Get them.”

  “And some hot water.”

  “Get that, too. I’ll just tag along.”

  The doctor said to Brent, “Don’t move from that table.”

  Brian followed the doctor to another room, where he filled a pot with water and set it to boil. When the water was hot, he picked up his instrument bag from a corner and looked expectantly at Brian.

  “What?”

  “I’ll need that water.”

  “You want me to carry it?”

  “You’d have to put the gun down to do that, but if you’re afraid of me—”

  “You’re not that dumb, Doc,” Brian said, holstering the gun. “If you make a move I’ll scald you with this water.”

  “I understand.”

  They went back to the examining room where Brent sat slumped on the table.

  “How you doing?” Brian asked.

  “I feel pretty weak.”

  “It’s natural that he would,” the doctor explained. “He’s lost a lot of blood. Put the water down here.” Brian obeyed. “Lie down, young man, and we’ll get that bullet out.”

  While he worked, he talked to Brent, as if trying to keep his mind off the pain.

  “I’ve never seen such a perfect set of identical twins,” he said. “Usually even the most identical ones have something to distinguish them. I can’t find anything at all that would help me tell you apart.”

  “Ahhh,” Brent said, and his head slumped to one side.

  “Doc?” Brian shouted.

  “Relax, your brother has passed out. It’s just as well.”

  “He better be all right.”

  “He’s fine,” Petrie said, and then added triumphantly, “and here’s the bullet!”

  He held it up to show Brian and then dropped it into the basin. He wet a cloth with alcohol and cleansed the wound and the area, then applied a bandage.

  “He can rest there for a while.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “There’s no need, really, I assure you,” the doctor said. “He’ll be fine, as long as he doesn’t get a fever.”

  “We’ll stay here and watch him,” Brian said. “I got nowhere else to go.”

  The doctor sighed, pulled a straight-backed chair over, sat down, and promptly went to sleep.

  Chapter XXVI

  After they’d made camp, Felicia cooked dinner—she would have refused Rebecca’s help even if the older woman had offered it—and Decker took care of the horses. When the food was ready, Rebecca accepted hers with a nod of her head and carried it away from the fire.

  “Guess she’s too good to eat with us tonight,” Felicia said, handing Decker a plate of bacon and beans.

  “She’s got a lot to deal with,” Decker said.

  “Why are you making excuses for her?”

  “She lost her brother, Felicia, and she’s out here in the middle of nowhere, totally out of her element. I think deep down inside she’s sorry she came.”

  “Why doesn’t she go back, then?”

  “She’s committed to this now. To come this far and not go through with it would be to admit she made a mistake and wasted a lot of time. Also, she’d probably feel like she was betraying her brother’s memory.”

  They sat and ate in silence for a while, and then Felicia said, “You like her, don’t you?”

  Decker didn’t answer immediately, then said, “I like some things about her. Her dedication to her brother, her spunk—”

  “The way she looks.”

  “She is beautiful.”

  “I knew it!” Felicia said, putting her plate in her lap. “If she came over and offered to sleep with you, you wouldn’t turn her away, would you?”

  Decker considered that question carefully. Maybe Felicia needed a lesson.

  “As a matter of fact, I probably wouldn’t,” he said, “but then she’s older than you are.”

  “And prettier. Go ahead, say it.”

  “Well, Felicia, when you’re her age you may very well be prettier than she is, but right now I’d have to say yes, she’s prettier.”

  “I knew it!” she said again. “I’m gonna eat over here!”

  She picked up her plate and stalked away from the fire, staying within its circle of light.

  As Felicia walked away, Rebecca decided to join Decker.

  “I came over to apologize,” she said, hunkering down opposite him.

  “About what?”

  “About this evening, the argument we had.”

  “You’re within your rights to argue.”

  “Maybe, but I also want to apologize for my attitude since we’ve met. I’ve judged you very badly and treated you badly, and you’re only trying to help.”

  “That’s all right,” he said, “There’s no need to apologize. You’ve gone through a lot.”

  “Yes, I have, but that’s no excuse. Anyway, I just wanted to get that said.”

  She fell silent and began to concentrate on her meal.

  “What did you do to Felicia?” she asked.

  “Why?”

  “She’s glaring at you.”

  He looked over his shoulder, then back at Rebecca.

  “Look again.”

  Rebecca frowned.

  “She’s glaring at you.”

  Rebecca looked over, and Felicia averted her eyes.

  “She’s in love with you, you know,” Rebecca said.

  “She’s looking for a story, looking to ride my coattails.”

  “No, she’s in love with you,” Rebecca insisted, “and she’s probably afraid that I’ll steal you away.”

  “She did ask me if I’d sleep with you—providing you made the offer, that is.”

  “And?”

  “I said yes—just to teach her a lesson.”

  Rebecca looked down at the fire and said, “Of course.” Decker thought he detected the hint of a smile—the first since they’d met.

  “She’s got nothing to worry about,” he added.

  “No.”

  “She’s just a kid, anyway.”

  “No,” Rebecca said, “she’s a young woman. Maybe I should go over and talk to her. Would you mind?”

  “No, not at all. Is that the schoolteacher in you coming out?”

  Now she did smile and said, “Old habits are hard to break.”

  She put her plate down, got up, and walked over to where Felicia was sitting.

  Now Felicia and Rebecca were sitting together and it was Decker who was left alone.

  Maybe he’d go over and eat with John Henry.

  Later Felicia and Rebecca came back to the fire, laughing and talking, and proceeded to clean up. Decker was gratified to see both of them in a better mood than they had been in for some time.

  He really didn’t need the extra headache of having two grumpy women along.

  “Should we set up a watch?” Rebecca asked.

  “All right. Who wants the first one?”

  “I’ll take it,” Felicia said, “and then I’ll wake Rebecca.”

  “And I’ll wake Decker.”

  “We’ll take two-hour watches,” Decker said, reclining on the ground w
ith his head on his saddle. “Good night, ladies.”

  He tipped his hat over his eyes and proceeded to sleep as lightly as he had the previous nights.

  Chapter XXVII

  When Brent Foxx’s head moved, Brian rushed over to the doctor and shook him awake.

  “What?”

  “He’s moving!”

  “That’s because he’s alive,” the doctor said testily. He stood up, stretched, and then walked over to the man lying on the table. He put his hand on his head, then checked his eyes and held his wrist.

  “No fever. I got the bullet out clean.”

  “Is he awake?”

  “Not really. He’ll probably sleep the rest of the night, and that’s what you should do, too, especially if you plan to leave in the morning.”

  “That’ll depend on my brother, Doc.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Do you have any rope?”

  “Rope? Why would you want—oh,” Petrie said, realizing what the rope was for. “Look, there’s really no need for that.”

  “I am not in any shape to be argued with, Doc. Either I tie you up or I knock you out. The choice is yours.”

  Petrie nodded and said, “I’ll get the rope.”

  After he had tied and gagged the doctor and left him in a corner of the examining room, Brian went over and looked down at his brother as he lay on the table.

  To Brian’s eye his brother looked pale and some-how smaller and younger. This was the first time either one of them had ever been shot, and Brian didn’t mind admitting that he had been very frightened—but damn it, it was Brent’s own fault, so why did he feel such guilt over it?

  He put his hand on his brother’s forehead and was gratified to find that it still felt cool. The doctor had done a good job, and he thought that he’d leave the man some money when they left.

  If Brent didn’t kill him.

  He’d had no intention of falling asleep, and as he came awake with a start he looked around the room in a semipanic before he realized where he was.

  He stood up and rubbed his face, then checked on the doctor, who was still asleep.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Brent said from the table.

  “You’re awake.”

  “A lot longer than you. How about coming over here and helping me sit up?”

  Brian went over and gently eased his brother into a sitting position.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Fine. Just get me on my horse and we’ll be on our way.”

  “I don’t know, Brent. Maybe we should stay here a day or two.”

  “Brian, we really don’t know if there’s a posse on our tail or not. If you want me to stay here I will, but you go on ahead.”

  “Oh, no. We either stay together or we go together.”

  “In that case, we’d better get going. Let’s settle up with the doctor and move.”

  Brian frowned.

  “I mean pay him something,” Brent said. “He did a good job.”

  “All right,” Brian said. He was relieved that he wasn’t going to have to argue his brother out of killing the doctor. “Let me wake him up and untie him.”

  “He’s asleep. The man’s got a lot of guts.”

  “I know.”

  Brian went over to where the doctor was seated on the floor and shook him awake. After he untied him, the doctor stood up and moaned.

  “Stiff,” he said, stretching.

  “Sorry about that, Doc,” Brent called out, “but my brother’s the cautious type.”

  “I can see that. How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Fine. You did a great job. Pay the man, Brian, and see if you can’t buy me one of his shirts so we can get going.”

  “I’ll get you a shirt, no charge,” Petrie said, “but you really shouldn’t be moving.”

  “Just give us some extra bandages, Doc, and we’ll get out of your life,” Brent said.

  Petrie gathered some bandages and put them into a sack, then went into the other room.

  “Brian,” Brent said a moment later, buttoning the shirt the doctor had gotten for him, “why don’t you get the horses while I settle up with the doctor.”

  Brian frowned at his brother.

  “I’m fine, Brian. The doc’s not gonna try anything, are you, Doc?”

  “Not after I saved your life.”

  “See?”

  “All right. I put the horses around back last night after I tied up the doctor. I’ll wait for you out there.”

  “You’d better tie him up again before you go. Somebody’ll find him soon.”

  Brian retied and gagged the doctor, who didn’t bother resisting.

  “I’ll be right along,” Brent said, still working on the shirt buttons. “I want to ask the doctor a couple of things.”

  Brian nodded and went out the back way to get the horses ready.

  Brent finished buttoning the shirt and tucked it in, wincing as he did so.

  “You taped me up pretty good and tight, Doc. I appreciate that.”

  The doctor nodded.

  “Remember what I told you about my brother being real cautious, Doc?” Brent asked, going over to the doctor’s bag. “Well, sometimes he just ain’t cautious enough.” He took out a bottle of alcohol, looked at it, and put it back. “Sometimes,” he said, finding what he wanted, “I got to be cautious enough for the both of us.”

  He turned away from the doctor’s bag and Petrie saw the sharp instrument in his hand.

  “Sorry about this, Doc,” Brent said, leaning over the doctor, “but I got too much at stake, you know?”

  The doctor’s eyes widened as he realized what Brent was going to do, and he tried yelling to no avail. The gag was good and tight and muffled his voice, totally.

  Brent grabbed the doctor by the hair and pulled his head back so that his neck was exposed. He took the knife and cut the doctor’s throat in one swift, clean motion, then pulled his hand right away real quick and jumped back to avoid getting blood on the nice clean shirt he’d borrowed from the doctor.

  Well, actually the doctor had sort of willed him the shirt.

  “How much did you leave him?”

  “A hundred dollars,” Brent lied. “I figured that would keep him from talking.”

  “Good idea. Come on, I’ll help you get on your horse.”

  Once Brent was in the saddle, Brian mounted up.

  “Okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Brent assured him. “Hey, Brian.”

  “What?”

  “I wanna thank you for bringing me to the doctor, even though I was stubborn about it.”

  “That’s okay, Brent. That’s what I’m here for. To take care of you.”

  “Yeah,” Brent said. “You usually know best.”

  Chapter XXVIII

  As they rode into Stillwell, Decker felt his instincts acting up again. The town was calm, just coming to life for the early part of the day, but he felt as if something was very wrong.

  “It happened again,” Decker said as they rode into Stillwell.

  “What?” Felicia asked.

  “Something’s wrong.”

  Felicia and Rebecca exchanged glances and both of them shrugged. They were getting along a lot better since they’d had their talk last night, and all of a sudden they were acting like sisters. That was okay with Decker, though, because now they were talking to each other and leaving him alone.

  They rode directly to the sheriff’s office and Decker dismounted. In deference to Felicia, Rebecca volunteered to stay with the horses.

  “Why don’t you both stay with the horses?” Decker suggested, and to his surprise they agreed.

  Decker walked into the sheriff’s office and decided to play it straight. The lawman was just coming out of the back room, where Decker assumed the cells were. He was of a type that Decker had seen many times before, a type that had been in the job so long that he had grown fat and satisfied. This one’s belly hung over his gunbelt.

 
“Sheriff?”

  “That’s right.”

  “My name’s Decker.” Decker approached the man and took out the poster he had on Brian Foxx. He handed it to the sheriff.

  “I’m looking for this man.”

  “Brian Foxx,” the sheriff said, proving that he could read—or at least that he had recognized the drawing. “Everybody’s looking for him, especially since they raised the price on his head.”

  “To what?”

  “Twenty-five hundred. You a bounty hunter?”

  “That’s right.”

  The sheriff shrugged. It was no skin off his nose how somebody made his living. He handed the poster back.

  “I haven’t seen him.”

  “At all, or recently?”

  “At all.”

  “If you had, would you tell me?”

  “Sure, why not?” the man said, shrugging. “It’s nothing Tome either way.”

  Decker was folding the poster, wondering if his instincts had been off about there being something wrong. At that moment a man came rushing into the sheriff’s office. He was out of breath and looked scared out of his wits.

  “Sheriff, ya gotta come quick.”

  “What’s the matter, Nick?”

  “Ya gotta come quick!”

  “Tell me what’s happened, man!”

  “Somebody’s killed the doc.”

  “Shit,” the sheriff said. “Oh shit.” He grabbed his hat and followed the man out.

  Decker walked out behind them and Rebecca said, “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m going to find out. I’ll meet you at the saloon,” he said.

  He trailed along behind the sheriff and eventually found out where he was going. The shingle next to the door said, HOWARD PETRIE, M.D.

  Decker walked up to the door, and since no one stopped him or questioned him, he went in. He heard the sound of voices from another room and followed them.

  It appeared to be the doctor’s examining room. The sheriff was there with two other men, one of whom was the man who had run into his office. There was a fourth man there, too, but he was on the floor.

  Dead.

  The man had been tied up and gagged. Then his throat had been cut.

  “Jesus Christ,” the sheriff kept saying. “Jesus Christ…”

  “What are we gonna do?” one of the men asked.

  “Nothing like this has ever happened before,” the sheriff said. “Jesus Christ.”