The next four days weren’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but after being locked up in a repurposed smokehouse, even a hard ride through rugged territory was a welcome change. Nate Sathow’s thoughts churned through several possibilities of what they might find in Joplin, adding new bits of information he’d learned from Frank and Pete to the mix of what he already knew regarding Casey Pescaterro and Abraham Keyes. For every path to victory he dreamt up, Nate came up with two others that led straight to doomsday. The effort of sifting through so many different outcomes put a contemplative scowl onto his face. Such an expression wasn’t unusual for him. In fact, it was so common that the lines scratched into his forehead and near his eyes had become permanent fixtures.
Little was seen of Pete during that ride. In the morning, he woke up, filled himself with chicory coffee and bacon, and rode ahead to scout the trail that lay in front of them. When the sun set, he made his way back to the spot where the others had made camp, stuffed his belly full of whatever Frank cooked for dinner, relayed whatever he’d learned that day to Nate and fell asleep. For him, that was more than just a common expression. Pete was usually so tired after he returned that he would literally fall back against a tree or rock and be snoring a few seconds later. Despite the long days, Pete was in his element. He scoured the hills for any possible dangers whether hostile Indians or bridges that had been washed away by floods. He didn’t need to be told what to do. He simply . . . was.
Deaugrey was kept busy as well. Since his particular talents didn’t lend themselves to life in the saddle, he perked up whenever he caught sight of a town, homestead or any other spot where he might be able to scrounge for supplies. While the rest of the group rode on, he would divert himself to any settlement he’d spotted and return stinking of liquor with his hair tousled by whatever woman he’d sweet-talked and his pockets filled with enough money to fund the ride for another day. Although some of Deaugrey’s offerings had surely been plucked from their unsuspecting owners, Nate knew that most had either been bartered or won. A swindle all the same, perhaps, but a legal swindle. Mostly legal, anyway.
As for Frank, he kept to himself. He stayed busy tending to the normal duties required along the way such as making and breaking camp, cooking, tending to the horses and anything else that needed doing. Nate had once heard the preacher mention something about the simple purity of putting things in order. For Frank, the notion applied to any and all things. When he set things right, he was just as happy springing an innocent man from jail as he was in making sure there was enough wood in the pile to keep a fire going. He did both tasks with the same amount of vigor and enthusiasm.
It was their fourth night of the ride, and Frank was contentedly stirring a pot that bubbled with a pungent odor. “What’s in there?” Pete asked after a quizzical sniff. “Don’t smell like squirrel.”
“We finished off the last of the squirrel for breakfast,” Frank replied. “This is rabbit.”
“Don’t smell like rabbit.”
“It had plenty of meat on its bones, so it’ll do just fine.”
Deaugrey shifted in the rut he’d dug for himself using his restless backside. “Plenty of fat is more like it. That rabbit was the slowest of the lot that we flushed out of those bushes. That means it was the fattest.”
“It’s what we have,” Frank said with an easy smile. “And it’ll be just fine.”
“Makes me nervous when he gets so quiet,” Pete said while staring at Frank. “Usually only happens right before things go from bad to worse.”
“When the bunch of us are gathered up by Nate Sathow,” Deaugrey said, “things don’t usually go any other way.”
“You can leave if you want,” Nate pointed out.
Deaugrey shrugged and dipped a spoon into the stewpot. “I’m not complaining. This beats the hell out of being trussed up and tossed into a locked room.”
It wasn’t often that Nate knew exactly where Deaugrey was coming from and it was even rarer for him to not be frightened by that prospect.
After taking his sample of the stew, Deaugrey raised his eyebrows and nodded in appreciation. “Not that I don’t enjoy all of this time beneath the majesty of the stars and enough cold air to make me pucker in places I’d rather not mention, but are we anywhere close to having a bed to sleep in for a change?”
“Joplin ain’t far from here,” Pete reported.
“Then why don’t we ride the rest of the way into town?” Deaugrey asked as he sat bolt upright. “We could make it!”
“Sure we could.”
“Excellent! Then—”
Stopping Deaugrey with a backhanded swat, Nate said, “There’s a good reason why we don’t just ride into town without breaking stride.”
“You’re all gluttons for punishment,” Deaugrey muttered. “That’s the reason.”
Speaking in a tone that was just as merry as if he were talking about a recipe for pumpkin pie, Frank said, “We’re close to whatever Dog Ear and Keyes have built up. Whatever it is, they surely want to protect it. Keeping watch on the town would be a standard precaution, so we won’t ride in like a parade. We’ll trickle into town throughout the day like normal folk. Do you think this stew needs more salt?”
“Pepper,” Deaugrey said grudgingly.
“We don’t have pepper.”
“Of course you don’t. Gluttons, I tell you.”
“The preacher’s right,” Pete said. “I been to Joplin, and there’s men keeping watch on the trails coming into town as well as at the train station and stagecoach office.”
“Were they armed?” Nate asked.
“No. They was just scouts.”
Deaugrey let out a breath. “There,” he sighed. “You see? They weren’t even armed. That’s a good thing.”
“No,” Nate said sternly. “If they were armed, they’d probably be posted there to meet anyone looking to intrude on Keyes’s business. If they’re scouts, their job is to take any news back to their employer and bring back however many gun hands are necessary to deal with a problem. Are you certain they were Keyes’s men, Pete?”
“I recognized a few of them as having run with Dog Ear Pescaterro,” Pete replied. “From what I hear lately, that means they’re most likely taking orders from Keyes as well. I didn’t recognize every last one of them scouts, but my gut tells me they’re all keeping watch for the likes of us.”
“And that’s good enough for me,” Frank said.
Nate nodded and helped himself to some stew. “Me too. According to that miner I spoke to, Keyes and Dog Ear were headed for a train depot outside of Joplin. Did you happen to see anything like that while you were out and about?”
Pete laughed so hard that he dribbled some of his stew into his bushy beard. Using the back of his hand to wipe it away, he said, “If you know one man who could scout ahead for the best path to ride while also visiting train stations and picking out which men lingering on the outskirts of town are vagrants and which are scouts and still have the time to look around for train depots . . . I’d like to shake his hand.”
“Just checking,” Nate said. “You and me can have a look tomorrow. Frank, see what you can do to figure out which of those men Pete found really are working for Keyes and how many of them we need to worry about.”
“What about me?” asked Deaugrey anxiously.
“You can keep your head down, your mouth shut and stay out of trouble for once.”
Deaugrey made a sour face and said, “You can’t be serious.”
“A man can hope, can’t he? If that’s too much to handle,” Nate told him, “then you can go into Joplin and put your ear to the ground. See if anyone knows much about Keyes. If he’s planning on putting those weapons he bought to use, he’ll need more men and that means recruiting. As for Pescaterro . . .”
“Right,” Deaugrey said sharply. “I know just where to go for word on Dog Ear. There’s a few stops he’ll want to make after being locked away and then spending so much time on the trail. In fact, I might wanna join him in a few of those ventures. Not join him per se, but—”
“I know what you mean, Grey,” Nate cut in. “Just get the job done. We’ll all head out after first light tomorrow. Got that?”
There were nods all around.
“Sathow is back on a schedule,” Deaugrey mused. “Once again, all is right with the world.”
With that, the conversation disbanded. Pete looked for a comfortable spot away from the glow of the fire, Deaugrey sat so close to the flames that he nearly set his sleeves alight, and Nate stepped away to stare into a southern sky colored by the distant glow of Joplin, Missouri. He rolled a cigarette using a pouch of tobacco purchased from one of the merchants that Deaugrey had swindled and by the time he was lighting it, he was no longer alone.
“You’re not planning on riding off on your own, are you?” Frank asked.
“Too dark,” Nate replied.
“I mean once you learn where Keyes is holed up. Don’t forget, the job was to track down Pescaterro.”
“I know what the damn job is.”
“You tend to take things personally sometimes. If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were sending Grey out knowing he’ll draw too much attention to himself as a way to force a fight with Keyes and the others before we’re ready.”
Nate looked over to him, only to get an unwavering stare in return. The tip of the cigarette glowed as he inhaled, casting a deep red light on the bottom portion of his face. “You don’t have to ride along if you don’t want to.”
“See? You’re high-strung at the moment. Perhaps it would be better if—”
“Grey will be fine,” Nate said. “I’ve worked with him more than you have and trust me, he’ll be much easier to handle after he’s blown off some steam. Besides, he’s good at his job.”
“All right. Then you should know I’m good at my job also.”
“Your job is to watch our backs.”
“It’s also to make certain the lot of you don’t step too far out of line,” Frank pointed out. “Considering your history with Keyes, recent and otherwise, someone might think you’re overly anxious to face him again.”
“Whether we’re just after Pescaterro or not, we’re gonna have to face Keyes.”
“Yes. Just watch yourself. He’s not only loaded for bear, he’s ready for a small war.”
Nate drew a deep, smoky breath and let it out in a stream of fragrant smoke. “Consider me warned. Thanks, Shep.”
“Tell me something,” Frank said. “You were planning on riding into whatever fortifications Keyes has, burning down his men and worrying about those weapons and fortifications later. Am I right?”
The next breath he took caused the cigarette to flare up even brighter. After holding its smoke in him for a spell, Nate let it out while savoring the acrid taste that was left behind. Eventually, he said, “Not anymore.”
“Good,” Frank said as he gave Nate’s shoulder a friendly pat. “I knew there wasn’t anything to be concerned about.”
After Frank had wandered off for some solitude, Nate made his way back to the fire. Deaugrey was still sitting there and looked over to ask, “Who’s Shep?”
“Pardon me?”
“I’ve heard you call Frank ‘Shep’ once or twice. What’s that about?”
Nate shrugged. “The Lord is his shepherd and on more than one occasion, Frank has been mine.”
“Does that make you a sheep?” Deaugrey asked.
“Shut up and get to sleep.”
“Baaaaaa!!”