CHAPTER 4
When they reached the funeral wagon, they found Jerry Halstead leaning against it, waiting for them. His father’s Anglo features and his mother’s Mexican blood made some men mistake him for an Indian at first glance. His longish black hair did nothing to dampen the impression. But when he spoke, his accent was pure Texan.
“You two old ladies finally ready to go?”
“Sentimental,” Billy observed. “Just like your old man.”
“No reason to mourn him,” young Halstead said. “From what I’ve heard, that bastard is a good chunk of the reason why Grant got so big in the first place.”
Mackey knew he had gotten that from Billy. He had not been in the mood to debate the point at the jailhouse and he was certainly not in the mood to debate it at the man’s graveside.
“We just planted the poor bastard. Let the dirt settle on him a while before you go dancing on his grave. Bring the wagon over to the jail. I want to get Grant and Brenner settled on that train before nine.”
Jerry shrugged as he climbed up into the box. “Don’t know why I’ve got to be sad. Hell, I never even knew him. Just drove his coffin is all.”
Halstead released the hand brake and jigged the big Clydesdale alert as he brought the large horse around for the slow walk down the steep hill.
Billy laughed as they walked down to the jail. “Like I said. Just like his old man.”
But Mackey did not laugh. In fact, he stopped in his tracks as soon as he spotted Mad Nellie Hancock and three of her kin walking up the hill in their direction.
Billy stopped, too.
Jerry brought the Clydesdale to a halt and threw the hand brake.
Nellie was wearing a man’s black suit and a faded Plainsman hat to match. The three Hancock men with her were dressed like they had just come in from the field, though Mackey recognized them as bouncers from the several saloons her family now controlled in town.
And all of them had pistols on their hips.
Billy pulled his Colt and kept it flat against his leg.
Mackey stood at an angle, his right foot forward as he moved his hand to his belt buckle next to the butt of the Peacemaker he wore on his belly. That way, he could draw, aim, and fire quickly if he had to.
Behind them, he heard Jerry cock his Winchester.
The big Clydesdale sensed a change in the air and fussed, sweeping at the dirt.
Mad Nellie and her men stopped walking and held their hands away from themselves.
Nellie’s smile showed teeth cracked and yellowed from years of tobacco juice and rotgut moonshine. “No need to get testy, Aaron. Me and mine are just here to pay our respects to poor ol’ Walter Underhill. That’s all.”
Mackey’s hand stayed on his buckle. “That why you came armed?”
“Dover’s a dangerous town these days, Marshal. Lots of people would like us to wind up in a box like your friend up on that hill.”
Billy said, “You and yours will wind up there soon enough if you don’t clear out of town.”
Nellie kept her hands raised as she shook her head in mock solemnity. “Now what kind of talk do you call that? Threatenin’ a lady and her kin who’ve come in peace to mourn the passin’ of a good man?”
Mackey gripped his belt buckle a little tighter to keep himself from pulling the Peacemaker. “A good man you paid to kill.”
“You’ve told a few people that,” Nellie said. “Now, I’ve never been much for book learnin’, and I sure as hell ain’t no lawyer, but I believe that’s what they call slander, Marshal. I could sue you for that unless, of course, you can prove it.” She winked at him. “But you can’t prove it, now can you?”
Mackey knew she was right, but it did not make him feel any better. “I’d do a hell of a lot worse than slander you if I could. You’d be riding that train to Helena with your friends if I could make a case against you.”
“You’ve already done enough damage, Marshal. Me and mine have had a lot of practice grieving lately on account of you.” She tilted her head toward Billy. “And that black boy you’ve got over there.”
Mackey heard the bones in Billy’s hands crack as he gripped his Colt tighter but knew he would not draw, much less shoot. Not unless it came to that.
Mackey said, “I had paper on Henry Hancock when I killed him, Nellie. The rest of your people died because you sent them after me. Their blood’s more on your hands than mine.”
“You’ve got a fine imagination on you, Marshal. Why, I’m just a simple plainswoman doing the best she can to hold her family together and make sure her young ones grow up straight and strong.”
“While running every crooked gambling parlor, saloon, and whorehouse in town,” Billy added.
Nellie shrugged. “We fill a need. If we didn’t do it, someone else would. And it pays way better than farming ever did. Allows us to buy things. Things that help me keep my family together and strong.” Her eyes narrowed as she glared at Mackey. “Things that protect them from the likes of you.”
Mackey did not like being threatened, especially by the likes of the Hancocks. “I hope that protection involves you trying to spring Grant and Brenner between here and Helena. We haven’t killed a Hancock man in over a month. We wouldn’t want to get rusty, would we, Billy?”
“No, we would not,” Billy answered.
Nellie finally dropped her façade and pointed a gnarled finger at the marshal. “Al’s last name might be Brenner, but he’s a Hancock man as much as me and mine or any of us who bear the name. You’d do best to remember that before you kill him, Mackey. And be ready to face what’s comin’ if you do.”
“He’s on his way to getting a fair hearing in Helena,” Mackey said. “It’s up to a judge to decide if he lives or dies, not me.”
“I hope you keep your word on that, Aaron.” Nellie took a single step forward but stopped before getting close enough to cause any of the lawmen to raise their weapons. She knew exactly how far she could push them before being shot. “I truly do. Because you and I ain’t done yet. Not by a long shot. We won’t be done until you pay for what you’ve done to me and mine. And that’s a bill that’s coming due real soon. You can count on that.”
Billy thumbed back the hammer on his Colt but kept it at his side. “How about you trying to collect right now? Seems as good a time as any.”
From the wagon, Jerry said, “They won’t pull, Uncle. It’s only three against three. Everyone knows the Hancocks don’t like a fair fight.”
Mad Nellie glared up at Jerry. “This here’s a debt that can be paid a lot of different ways, half-breed. And by a lot of people, too.” She shifted her glare to Mackey. “How’s that lovely gal of yours enjoying Helena, Marshal?”
Mackey drew and aimed the Peacemaker at her head before he realized he had done it.
Billy and Jerry aimed their guns at the two Hancock men before they could pull.
Nellie kept her hands away from her side as she took another small step forward and leaned into the Peacemaker’s barrel. “Go ahead, Aaron. Shoot. Blow my damned fool head off. No one will blame you.” She inclined her head toward the mourners on the hill. “You’ll have plenty of witnesses that’ll say I had it coming. But you’d better bring them black clothes with you to Helena if you do, because you’ll be going to another funeral. Two, in fact. Your lady’s and that loudmouthed old man of yours.”
Mackey took a step forward and pressed the barrel against Nellie’s head hard enough to make her take a step back. He saw nothing else. He heard nothing else. All he saw was Nellie’s yellow, jagged grin.
All he knew was rage.
“Aaron.”
It was Billy’s voice that pierced the darkness.
“Aaron,” Billy repeated. “Now’s not the time. Not like this.”
Mackey shoved Nellie backward with the barrel and lowered the pistol. “If she’s got so much as a cold, I’ll ride back here and end you myself.”
“That part’s up to you, Aaron.” Nellie laughed before she hawked and spat on the ground between them. “Have a safe trip to Helena, boys.” She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve. “But be careful. I hear that big city can be a mighty dangerous place. Busy, too. Never know who you might meet down there.”
She beckoned her kin to follow her, and they moved wide around the three lawmen.
Mackey turned to watch them leave. “You and yours ever been to Cemetery Hill before, Nellie?”
The woman stopped but didn’t turn around. “Can’t say as we have. We always brought the men you’ve killed back to Hancock for a proper Christian burial.”
“Take a look at the graves at the left side of the cemetery when you get up there. The part they call Mackey’s Garden. Done a fair amount of planting up there myself. And I plan on doing a lot more when I’m done with Grant and Brenner.”
Nellie wheeled to him. “No Hancock will ever be buried up there. Ever!”
It was Mackey’s turn to smile. “That part’s up to you.”
Nellie’s men urged her to join them as they kept walking up the hill toward the mourners.
Billy uncocked his pistol and slid it back in its holster. “The day I plug that hag is going to be one of the best days of my life.”
Mackey glanced back at Jerry, who had already lowered his rifle. “Let’s get moving. We’ve got a train to catch.”