CHAPTER 33
From his chair in the hallway outside Grant’s bedroom, Mackey could hear the commotion his father was causing downstairs.
“I don’t care who you are or what you’ve been told, damn you,” Pappy bellowed. “I’m the marshal’s father, and I demand to see him.”
Mackey went to the top of the stairs and shouted down to the men guarding the house. “It’s fine. Let him up.”
Pappy bounded up the stairs, his old Army Colt and flap holster on his hip. The fighting was long over, but his father was known as much for his caution as he was for his bluster.
He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at his son. “You seem no worse for wear.”
Mackey suddenly felt very tired. “I’m fine.” He nodded toward the closed bedroom door. “Grant’s in there. Looks like he’s going to lose the arm.”
“That’s it?” Pappy cried. “I heard the bastard was dead.”
“I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction,” Mackey said. “He’s going to stand trial, Pappy. I’m going to watch him swing for what he’s done.”
“I’d love to see that,” Pappy admitted. “Too bad it’s in Helena.”
“Maybe you’ll see it after all.”
Pappy put his hands on his hips. “I hope you’re not talking about a lynching, boy. Because if you are, you could’ve saved us all the bother and just shot him where you found him.”
Mackey closed his eyes and breathed in deep. His father’s mind worked in such strange ways sometimes. “I’m talking about the hanging. In Helena. You might be there to see it.”
“What would I be doing in Helena? I wouldn’t go just to see that rat swing.”
“No, but you’d go to protect your daughter-in-law, wouldn’t you?”
Pappy broke into a wide smile. “Aaron, you mean you’ve finally proposed?”
Mackey felt himself smiling, too. “And she accepted. This afternoon, in fact. But everyone in town knows about us, especially the Hancock boys. She’s in danger every second she’s here.”
“I’m pretty sure Billy and Jerry cleared out the last of them this afternoon,” Pappy said. “You should’ve seen the pile of them on Front Street.”
But Mackey was in no mood for his father’s tall tales. He knew there had only been eight of them and one of them was still alive. “All it takes is one to try to hurt her. With Sandborne helping Billy and Jeremiah at the jail, she’s only got two lawmen protecting her. I don’t want her protected. I want her out of town quietly and tonight.”
Pappy thought it over. “It’s been an age since I’ve been on the trail and Helena’s many days’ ride from here, but I’ll manage it. How much food should I bring for us and the horses?”
He smiled as he touched his father’s arm. Yes, his mind certainly worked in strange ways. “You can eat on the train. There’s one leaving from the station tonight at ten. All you have to do is get her packed and ride along with her to Helena. There’ll be some of Mr. Rice’s men there to help you get settled. I telegraphed him earlier and it’s all set.”
His father was taken by his son’s faith in him. “You sure you want me to go and not Billy?”
“I need every man I’ve got here to watch Brenner and Grant. I need the only other man I trust to watch over her.”
Pappy sucked in his stomach and stood a little straighter. “Well then, consider it done. You can tell one of my clerks they’re in charge when they open up tomorrow. I won’t say a word to anyone before I leave.” He fixed his son with a stare. “I mean that, now.”
“I know you do.” Mackey got up and hugged his father. His father hugged him back. “Just don’t let anything happen. To either of you.”
Pappy clapped his son on the back and laughed. “Haven’t you heard? I’m indestructible.”
He reached up and ruffled his boy’s hair before heading downstairs to carry out his son’s request.
* * *
Mackey had dozed off for a moment, but woke when the bedroom door opened and Billy stepped into the hall, carefully closing the door behind him.
“How’s the patient?” Mackey asked his deputy.
“You didn’t leave much of that shoulder,” Billy said. “Just helped Doc Ridley take his arm.” He dropped onto the couch next to him. “Had to work fast to stop the bleeding, but he got it done.”
Billy dug out a cigarette he’d already made and offered it to Mackey, but Mackey refused. “Glad to see you’re back to your old self, Captain,” Billy said as he lit the cigarette. “I was worried you might be slipping back into your old ways.”
“I was worried we were both slipping,” Mackey said. “But today proves I was wrong.”
“Guess it does,” Billy agreed. “Glad you got Grant, though. He’s been asking for it for a long time.”
Mackey looked at the black-varnished door. He thought of the proud man lying in the bed behind it. He thought about the loss of his arm and the trial he would endure. He thought about a town suddenly without a mayor and a company without someone to run it. He wondered if he would incur Mr. Rice’s wrath for causing him so much trouble while statehood was pending. He wondered if Judge Forester would give Grant a fair trial and hang him like he should. He wondered if the Hancocks would let this go or dig themselves deeper into the soul of Dover Station. He wondered if they’d try to kill him again. He imagined they would.
He wondered if this all might blow up in his face and if he had just cost himself and Billy their jobs.
He wondered too many things at once and began to give himself a headache.
Aaron Mackey shut his eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples. He surprised himself by saying aloud, “I wonder if we finally got James Grant or if he finally caught us.”
He was glad Billy sat and smoked his cigarette in silence. Some questions could not be answered right away.