Crow Bait

Forty

Lancaster stared at her for a few moments, wondering if she was serious.

“Yes,” she said.

“Yes, what?”

“You’re wonderin’ if I’m serious,” she said. “The answer is yes.”

“I’m also wonderin’ how you’re gonna enforce that threat,” he said.

She smiled, and just for a moment she became pretty. He wished he could have seen her when she was in her twenties.

“I’ve got four brothers,” she said.

“With no guns.”

“They have guns,” she said. “You just haven’t seen them yet. And they know how to use them.”

Lancaster studied her. She was dead serious. He’d been taken. Just because he hadn’t seen any guns didn’t mean there weren’t any. Don’t be fooled by the smiles.

“What about your cousin?”

“Dan? What about him? He’s a cousin.”

“He’s a good bartender.”

“That’s about all he is,” she said. “No, it’s me and my brothers you have to worry about.”

“Well,” Lancaster said, “it’s me you have to worry about. You’re in this room with me, and I don’t see a gun on you.”

“You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed woman.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I’ve known a lot of men like you,” she said. “They come here, they pay the toll, or they die.”

“Not me,” he said.

“What makes you so special?”

“I’ve got you,” he said. “You’re gonna get me out of here alive.”

She smiled. “Look out the window.”

She moved away from the window so he could walk to it. He kept one eye on her, just in case she had a gun hidden somewhere.

When he looked out the window, he saw the four brothers standing in the street in front of the hotel. They all wore guns on their hips.

“They know how to use them,” she said.

“You said that already.”

“No, I mean they really know how to use them.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“So you’re not gonna pay?”

“Not one penny.”

“You’re gonna walk out there?”

“With you,” he said, “yes. You’re gonna get me my horse and I’m gonna leave your little town. It’s up to you and your brothers who’s still alive when I do.”

She stared at him. “Lancaster? That’s your name?”

“Yes.”

“Should I know that name?”

He could see it in her eyes. She was starting to think that maybe they had made a mistake this time.

“Probably not,” he said. “Not if you’ve spent your whole life here, in this little town.”

“I guess I should stick my head out once in a while,” she admitted.

“Well,” he said, “you’re gonna stick your head out now. Come on, let’s go.”