Leaving Epitaph: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

56

By morning people were back on the streets and things had returned to normal for the townspeople. The tension level had eased, and they were no longer worried about catching a bullet.

Sheriff Holcomb got the undertaker and some other men to clean the bodies out of the Somerset Saloon. Sam Somerset was extremely happy at having come out of the situation alive. He was offering the Shayes anything they wanted in his place for free.

All the Shayes wanted, however, was to find out how many men had fled with Ethan and Aaron Langer.

Thomas, Matthew, and James were waiting when Shaye came out of the doctor’s office with Sheriff Holcomb.

“How is he?” Thomas asked.

“He died,” Shaye said. “That belly wound finally got him.”

“What did he say, though?” James asked.

“Nearest he can figure, the Langers got away with their segundos, Esteban Morales and a fella named Ben Branch.”

“You know them?” Holcomb asked.

“I knew Morales a long time ago,” Shaye said. “He’s been riding with Aaron Langer for years. I don’t know Branch.”

“What are you gonna do next?” Holcomb asked.

“We’ll outfit and start tracking them,” Shaye said.

“Well, I can make sure you outfit for free,” Holcomb said. “You may have saved this town’s bank.”

“I’m not sure the town owes us that,” Shaye said, “but we’ll take it. Thomas, you and James see to that. Okay?”

“Sure, Pa. What are you gonna do?”

“Check the horses, make sure they’re sound. We’ve ridden them a long way.”

“And me, Pa?” Matthew asked.

“Stay with me.”

Shaye turned to Holcomb. “I’m real sorry about your man.”

“Thanks,” Holcomb said. “I guess the only silver linin’ here is he had no kin.”

“If there’s a silver lining to having a man die,” Shaye said, “I guess that’s it.”

“Stop into my office and say good-bye before you leave, will ya?” Holcomb asked.

“We’ll do it, Sheriff,” Shaye said. As the sheriff turned and walked away, Shaye said to his sons, “Okay, let’s get it done, then.”

Thomas and James went to the general store for some simple supplies, and talked while they shopped. Luckily, there was no pretty girl working in this store to distract them.

“How do you feel about what happened last night?” James asked.

“Relieved.”

“Relieved?” James asked. “That you didn’t get killed?”

“No,” Thomas said, “relieved that I was so calm.”

“Well, I wasn’t,” James said. “I was scared out of my wits. Why were you calm?”

“Because I knew this day would come, and I prepared for it,” Thomas said. “And because I made every shot count. I did everything Pa ever taught us to do.”

“So did I,” James said. “I mean, I’m sure I missed a lot of shots, but I kept at it.”

“You did good, James,” Thomas said. “Pa said so.”

“What did you think of how I did, Thomas?”

Thomas put his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder and said, “You did great, and so did Matthew.”

“I was worried about Matthew,” James said.

“Yeah, I was too,” Thomas admitted. “He’s still not as sure about this as we are. I thought he might hesitate.”

“He didn’t, though,” James said. “He did fine.”

“Maybe this will convince him that what we’re doin’ is right,” Thomas said. “Maybe we’re all finally together on this.”

Matthew was very quiet as he and Shaye checked over the horses in the livery.

“We’re going to have to replace mine,” Shaye said. “I think he’s got some ligament damage in the left foreleg.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Matthew? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Pa.”

Shaye straightened and looked at his son. “Do you have something you want to talk about? Like what happened last night?”

“Last night…we didn’t have a choice,” Matthew said. “We did our jobs, I know that.”

“Then what’s bothering you?”

“I killed somebody,” Matthew said. “Lots of somebodies, I think. I—I just have a hard time accepting that.”

Shaye regarded his son sympathetically. Why was it that some of the biggest men—physically speaking—were also the gentlest?

“Matthew, I never expected you to follow in my footsteps,” Shaye said. “You’re not cut out to be a lawman.”

“I know that, Pa,” Matthew said. He looked down at the badge on his chest. “But I’ll wear this until we catch the men who killed Ma, and then…well, and then I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Thomas wants to be a lawman. So does James, I think. I’ll just…have to figure out what I want to do.”

Shaye clapped Matthew solidly on his broad back and said, “You’ll figure it out, Matthew. We’ll help you. Right now I need you to help me pick out a horse. All we’ve got to do is find the owner.”

Shaye and Matthew walked the four horses over to the sheriff’s office, where they met Thomas and James, who were carrying burlap sacks of supplies. Shaye had chosen a young steeldust to replace the horse with the ligament damage. They divvied up the supplies equally and hung bags from their saddlehorns, then went into the office to bid the sheriff good-bye.

“Ready to leave?” Holcomb asked.

“Moments away,” Shaye said.

Holcomb came around the desk and shook hands with all four of them.

“Again, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for the town…for me. I don’t know what I would have done—”

“You would have figured something out, Sheriff,” Shaye said.

“I wish you luck catching up to them,” the local lawman said. “I know how important this is to you…to all of you.”

“Thanks,” Shaye said. “They won’t get away from us. We’ll catch them.”

“If you catch up to them in this county,” Holcomb said to Shaye, “in my jurisdiction, you do what you have to do. Do you understand me?”

“I understand,” Shaye said. He stuck out his hand. “Thank you.”

Outside, they all mounted up, and James turned to his father. “Pa, did he mean what I think he meant?”

“He did.”

“What?” Matthew asked. “What did he mean?”

“He gave us permission to kill them,” Thomas said.

“He did?” Matthew looked at his father.

“Yes, Matthew,” Shaye said. “That’s what he was telling us.”

“But…he’s the law.”

Shaye reached out and touched his son’s shoulder. “He’s the law, but he knows what’s important, Matthew.”

“We all know what’s important, Pa,” James said.

Shaye could tell by the look on Matthew’s face that this wasn’t quite true.

“Don’t worry, Matthew,” he said. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Okay, Pa.”