The next day passed without incident. Cash and Monkey rode out with Slocum, and they did their share of the work. Slocum was uneasy with them, however. Trying not to be too obvious about it, he kept his eye on them. He kept them in front of him. Now and then, one or both of them got behind him, but as quickly as was possible without giving himself away, he changed his position. They made small talk, the way men will do when they work together.
Slocum had dismounted to untangle his rope following a bout with an ornery cow, and he was not paying too much attention to the other two. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Monkey pull out his six-gun. Quickly, he went for his own, but he had it only halfway up when the blast from Monkey’s revolver made his ears ring. The shot had come close to him, but it did not hit him. Slocum sensed that something was wrong. He held his own gun, not quite up and pointed at Monkey, while Monkey reholstered his. Slocum looked down to see a dead rattler not far from his feet. He put away his own gun.
“Thanks, Monkey,” he said.
“If you were any faster,” said Monkey, “you might’ve killed me.”
“Yeah,” said Slocum. “Sorry about that. It was just a reflex action.”
Slocum went back to his work, and Monkey rode over to Cash, out of earshot of Slocum. “Good shooting, kid,” said Cash.
“Not bad, I guess.”
“You could’ve taken him, you know.”
“I beat him all right,” Monkey said, “but I drawed first.”
“Even so, he wouldn’t have come close. You can take him, kid. You can take him.”
“You want me to do it?”
“Not now, and not here. We’ll wait a bit.”
It was Friday evening, and Slocum volunteered to take the place of the lookout who was watching the front entrance. Most of the boys would be going into town, and Slocum figured that if he went, he would just sit and drink with Cash and Monkey. He was not in the mood for that. The man he freed from duty was very appreciative, and Slocum was content. He waved at the boys as they rode past him on their way to town. Among them were Shotgun Stone, Cash, and Monkey.
“We’ll drink a few for you,” said Cash as he rode by.
Slocum leaned back on the stack of hay bales after the riders had all gone their way. He thought about Cash and Monkey. He wondered if he should have left well enough alone when he first set eyes on Joe Cash. He wondered if he should have let him hang. He’d seemed all right for a time, but then he had gotten a hold on young Monkey, and Slocum did not like what he was seeing happen to the kid.
While he was thus musing, he heard the sound of another horse approaching from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Julie riding toward him. He stood up, took off his hat, and waited for her approach. She stopped her horse beside his Appaloosa and dismounted.
“Howdy, Julie,” he said. “What brings you out this way? Not headed for town, are you?”
“I came out to see you,” she said. “Brought some sandwiches and coffee. You interested?”
“I sure am, and thanks.”
She settled down beside him against the hay bales, and took out the stuff she had in a basket. Slocum ate a sandwich. Then he sat back to sip a cup of coffee. He could still watch the road from his position. “That was mighty good, Julie. I appreciate it. Do you do that for all the boys on watch?”
“You’re my first,” she said.
“How come me?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I just like you.”
“That’s a dangerous thing for a lady to say.”
“Because you’ll just take what you can and then ride away?” asked Julie.
“Something like that.”
“That’s no big surprise. It shows in you. A woman would be a damn fool to expect to hold you for long.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“No. It doesn’t.”
She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to give him a kiss. He responded, gently at first. Then he put both his arms around her and kissed her hard and passionately. Finally, they broke apart. Julie was panting for breath.
“I am on duty here, you know,” Slocum said.
“You won’t always be on duty,” she said. “There’ll be another time. Other times.”
“Yeah. There will be. You don’t have to go yet, though, do you?”
“Not just yet.”
Slocum took her hand in his. “I’d like for you to stay. You’re pleasant company for a lonely man.”
In town, Monkey and Cash were getting drunk. Shotgun Stone was at the bar with a couple of other hands from Townsend’s ranch. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. As far as anyone knew, there were no White Hat hands in the place.
“I reckon they’re scared to come in,” Shotgun said to the men with him. “We’ve whipped them too many times.”
“Hell, Shotgun,” said one of the boys with him, “there may not be any left over there to come into town at all.”
Shotgun laughed. “You might be right about that. This fight was damn near over before it begun.”
“And I suppose it was all your doing, Shotgun,” said Cash in a loud voice, intruding himself into the conversation.
Shotgun and the others got quiet. Shotgun turned to face Cash. “I never said that, Cash. ’Course, I done my part all right.”
“I don’t recall seeing you in the fight,” Cash said. “You was back in the bunkhouse waiting for us to get the job done, wasn’t you?”
“I was in it all right. I was right there.”
“Bullshit.”
“What the hell are you doing, Cash? You trying to provoke me into a fight? I don’t want to fight you. Ain’t no reason for it. We’re all on the same side here.”
“I don’t see that it makes much difference what side you’re on.”
“Well,” said Shotgun, turning his back on Cash, “I ain’t gonna fight you. That’s all.”
“You’re a chicken shit,” said Cash.
“No, I ain’t.”
“I say you’re a chicken shit, and you either agree with me or go for your gun.”
“Let’s get out of here, Shotgun,” said the cowhand next to him.
“No, by God,” Shotgun said, whirling and pulling out his revolver at the same time. Cash’s was out before Shotgun could get his level, and it barked death. The slug tore into Shotgun’s chest. He sagged against the bar, and then he sat down heavily on the floor. He was dead. The cowhands who had been with him picked up the body and left the saloon. Cash put away his gun and sat back down.
“That’s one less, kid,” he said.
“You’ve give us away, though,” Monkey said. “We can’t go back to Townsend’s tonight after that.”
“Sure we can. I didn’t give nothing away about our new situation with Amos. My fight with Shotgun was over the way he acted during our gun battles. It was a personal fight. That’s all. We’ll go back to Townsend’s all right. Don’t worry about that.”
“Well, hell,” said Monkey with a shrug, “whatever you say.”
“I say let’s have another drink.”
“That’s all right, pard,” said Monkey, “but I’m thinking about going upstairs with Honey Pot here in just a little bit.”
Slocum was still on guard when the two boys came back to the ranch with the body of Shotgun Stone. He heard them approaching and stood up with his rifle. It was way too early for any of the boys to be coming back, but as they drew closer, he recognized them. Then he saw what they were bringing along, slung across a third horse. Slocum thought that he recognized the horse as the one Shotgun had ridden to town, but he wasn’t sure, or he did not want to be sure.
“Who’ve you got there?” he said.
“It’s Shotgun, Slocum. Cash shot him dead in the saloon.”
“Cash?”
“Picked a fight with him on purpose, he did. Shotgun said he didn’t want to fight, but Cash finally egged him into it.”
“Who drew first?”
“Shotgun did.”
“Damn,” said Slocum.
“We best get him up to the ranch house and let the boss know what happened.”
“Yeah. Go on ahead. Damn it.”
Slocum watched them ride on until they were out of his sight. Then he sat back down. He was still holding his rifle in his left hand. With his right, he shoved back the hat on his head. What the hell was Cash up to? Was he just bored with a few days of peace? Did he need a fight that bad? Why the hell did he have to kill Shotgun? He would say, of course, that it had been a fair fight, that Shotgun had pulled first and he had only defended himself. It was his pattern, and it would work, of course, with the law.
Slocum wondered, though, what Townsend would do. If Cash had the gall to come back out to Townsend’s, would Townsend buy his story, just like the sheriff would, and let him stay on? And what was Monkey doing all the time Cash was starting a fight and killing Shotgun? Suddenly, Slocum wished that he would be relieved. He felt as if there were things he needed to be checking on. He needed to see Townsend, and he wanted to confront Cash.
There was nothing he could do, though. He was on duty. And he would likely still be on duty until everyone else was asleep. He guessed it would all have to wait till morning. He wondered, though, if he would be able to sleep. He wondered if anyone would. Anyone other than Cash and Monkey. They would sleep just fine, wherever they chose to bed down for the night.
Slocum stood up and paced for a few minutes. Then he mounted the Appaloosa and rode the trail from his post to the main gate and back again. At last, he settled down again at his post. There was nothing he could do anyhow. Not till he was relieved from this duty.
It was late, near time for the relief man, when two riders came from town. Slocum made himself ready for just about anything. It was dark, so they were nearly on him before he recognized Cash and Monkey.
“What the hell are you doing back here?” he asked.
“This is where we work,” said Cash. “Where we live.”
“You think that’s still true after what you done?”
“You mean killing that fella?”
“You know that’s what I mean.”
“Hell, Slocum, it was a personal argument that led to a fight. He went for his gun. What could I do?”
“That ain’t the way I heard it.”
“Anyone who says Shotgun didn’t go for his gun first is a damn liar,” said Monkey.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Slocum. “He provoked it.” Slocum pointed an accusing finger at Cash as he spoke those words. “He started that fight deliberately.”
“All I need to say is that he drew first. You wanta make something out of it, Slocum?”
“I ain’t the boss here,” said Slocum. “We’ll see what Townsend has to say.”
Cash smirked and rode on. Monkey followed him. Soon Slocum’s relief showed up, and Slocum mounted his horse and rode toward the ranch house. Under the circumstances, he was not surprised to find Townsend awake. There was no sign of Cash and Monkey. Slocum went up to the house and knocked on the door. Julie let him in.
“Have you seen Cash?” Slocum asked Townsend.
“I saw him,” said the old man.
“Well?”
“Well, what? The sheriff wrote it down as self-defense. What else can I do but accept it?”
“You mean you let him stay on?”
“I got no other choice, Slocum. Damn it. Besides, we don’t know what the hell Amos is up to. He might be bringing in more gunfighters for all we know. I might need Cash and his little buddy. Let it go.”
“I guess if you don’t give a damn, there’s no reason I should. Hell,” said Slocum. He turned and stomped out of the house. He was about to go down off the porch when Julie stepped out and stopped him.
“Wait,” she said.
Slocum stood with his back to her. “What?”
“Don’t be too hard on Uncle. He’s had a rough time here lately. You and Cash helped him through it. He feels obligated. And he’s afraid.”
“I can understand that, but—”
“No buts. Just understand it. That’s all.”
“Yeah.”
Julie walked around Slocum so she could face him. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers for a lingering kiss.
“You know,” he said, “you could talk a man into most anything.”
“That’s not why I kissed you.”
“I reckon I’m glad of that.”
She kissed him again.
“I’m still looking forward to the right time,” she said.
“Me too.”
“John, sit down.” They each took a chair. “I just don’t want you going off in a foul mood. Sit here and talk with me for a while.”
“You came out to talk with me,” he said. “I guess I owe you that much.”
“Don’t stay because you owe me.”
He took a deep breath and expelled it. “I won’t,” he said. “I’ll stay on account of I enjoy your company. After what’s happened this evening, I need some relaxation.”
“Good. John?”
“What?”
“There’s only one thing I’d like to add to what Uncle told you.”
“What’s that?”
“Watch Cash like a hawk. He’s a cold-blooded son of a bitch.”