Pearl River Junction: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

24

At breakfast the next morning, Thomas and James told their father what happened after he left the Wagon Wheel the night before.

“Did the sheriff come?” Shaye asked.

“He did,” Thomas said. “The bartender backed my story that Cobb gave me no choice.”

“And you still have your gun?” Shaye asked. “He’s not holding you over for a hearing?”

“No,” Thomas said. “I thought he was going to, but I think he let us go because of our names.”

Shaye thought about that for a moment.

“I guess I hadn’t realized what kind of reputation tracking the Langer gang down had given us,” Shaye said.

“Not to mention Vengeance Creek,” Thomas said.

Shaye rubbed his face with both hands.

“So our rep first got you into trouble—and then out.”

“I guess so.”

“Maybe my plan to hole up in Winchester at the ranch was the right one,” he said.

“I don’t know, Pa,” Thomas said. “Don’t that sort of sound like…hidin’ out.”

“Yep, it sounds a lot like hidin’ out,” Shaye agreed.

“Well, why should we?” Thomas asked, looking from his father to James and back. “It ain’t like we’re outlaws.”

“We got nothin’ to be ashamed of, Pa,” James said.

“No, you’re right, James,” Shaye said. “We don’t—but we’ll have to think about all this later. Today we got something else to take care of.”

“Matthew’s kid,” James said.

“If it is Matthew’s,” Thomas said. “Pa, what do we do if it is?”

“I don’t know yet, Thomas,” Shaye said. “I’m just trying to go one step at a time.”

“Well,” Thomas said, “I wanna talk to this girl. I wanna see this child.”

“So do I,” James said.

“You both will,” Shaye said, “but we’ll do it her way—for now.”

“What if it ain’t her way?” James asked. “What if she’s doin’ this because the sheriff’s tellin’ her to?”

“I’ll find out, James,” Shaye said. “I’ll know a lot more after this afternoon.”

The waiter came with their breakfast and they stopped talking and ate in silence, each man alone in his thoughts.

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Marion Cotton asked her husband that morning.

“I don’t see what else there is to do,” Cotton said. “Belinda wants to see Shaye.”

“But we’ve told her she can stay here with us.”

“If Shaye is the boy’s grandfather, he has a right to know and to see him, don’t you think?”

“I suppose so,” she said. “I’ve just come to love that little boy so much.”

Cotton reached across the table and covered her hand with his.

“I know, honey. I know.”

Dan Shaye and his sons killed the morning just sitting on chairs out in front of their hotel. Around eleven thirty-five Shaye got to his feet.

“Might as well mosey over to the sheriff’s office,” he said. “You boys going to wait right here?”

“Sure, Pa,” James said.

“And you going to stay out of trouble?”

“Yes, Pa,” Thomas said.

“Good. I’ll be back soon.”

They watched him cross the street and walk toward the sheriff’s office.

“Are we gonna sit right here?” James asked.

“You bet we are,” Thomas said. “We can’t get into trouble doin’ that…can we?”