Vengeance Creek: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

24

When Sean Davis reached the place he’d left the horses, they were gone. That’s when he had the first inkling that he might be in trouble. He never could have explained to the other men why he had only two horses—how could he now explain he had none? Then, when he heard all the shooting, he turned and ran back toward the bank. When he got there, he saw that the others had taken the worst of the gun battle with the lawmen, and he knew he had to get out of there. He had to get out of town, and for that he needed a horse.

He stopped wondering who had taken his two horses—his and Ben Cardwell’s—and went to find himself just one.

Thomas came out of the cell block, and found his father with his pants down, lying on his desk, and the doctor leaning over him. James was leaning against the wall across the room, his arms folded across his chest, staring at nothing.

“Thomas—” Shaye said, but he was interrupted when the door opened and Mayor Timmerman walked in.

“Shaye!” the mayor shouted. “What are you doing about finding the men who robbed the bank?”

“Mayor—” James said, but stopped when the mayor looked at him.

“Mayor, have you been inside the bank?” Thomas asked.

“No,” Timmerman said, “I came right here when I heard it had been robbed.”

“Are you concerned about your daughter’s welfare?”

“Of course I am,” Timmerman said, “but I’m the mayor, I have to be concerned for the town—”

“Mayor…” Thomas said.

“What is it, Deputy?”

Thomas looked over at his father, who, with pain etched on his face, nodded for him to go ahead.

“Let’s take a walk over to the bank,” Thomas said.

“I want to talk to the sheriff.”

Thomas took the mayor’s arm. The bigger man appeared surprised by the contact.

“My father took a bullet tryin’ to save the bank from bein’ robbed,” Thomas said. “The doctor is workin’ on him. You can talk to him later, after we’ve gone over to the bank.”

“Well…all right, then,” Timmerman said. “I’ve got to find out how much was taken, anyway. Baxter can tell me that.”

“Mr. Baxter is dead,” Thomas said, leading the mayor to the door. “He was killed during the robbery. In fact, Mayor, everyone in the bank was killed.”

“What?”

Thomas opened the door and ushered the man out of the office.

“That sonofabitch!” James said. “He’s more worried about the money than he is about his daughter.”

“How is his daughter?” Doc Simpson asked without looking at James. “Are they gonna need me at the bank after I finish stitchin’ up your pa?”

“Didn’t you hear what my brother said, Doc?” James said. “They were killed. Everyone who worked in the bank was killed.”

Now the doctor did look at James. “Everyone?”

“Yes.”

“You mean….”

“Yes,” James said. “Nancy Timmerman was killed too.”

The doctor held James’s eyes for a moment, then bent back to the task at hand.

“I should go over in any case,” he said. “After all, I’m also the coroner.”

“Suit yourself, Doc,” James said. “Just finish sewing my pa up first.”

“That’s what I intend to do, Deputy.”

By the time Sean Davis had stolen a horse, he realized what had happened. Cardwell had double-crossed him. He and Jacks had taken the horses and left town with the money. Cardwell had never intended to give him a share, just like he didn’t intend to give the others any. He was just as disposable to Ben Cardwell as those other men.

Jesus, Cardwell and Jacks would probably have killed him if he’d met them with the horses, like they had planned.

As Davis rode out of town he vowed that Cardwell was not going to get away with this. And he wasn’t going to get away with all the money either.

Ben Cardwell and Simon Jacks stopped riding about a mile out of town, turned and looked back.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s comin’ after us yet,” Jacks said.

“It’s gonna take them a while to even realize we were there and gone,” Cardwell said. “There are no witnesses in the bank, and my guess is those Shaye lawmen took care of Davis and the others.”

“You better hope they did,” Jacks said, “or they’ll be after us, as well as the law.”

“Whoever comes after us,” Cardwell said, turning in his saddle, “it ain’t gonna be for a while.”

They each had two money bags slung over their saddles.

“Maybe we should split up,” Jacks said. “We got two bags each.”

“We ain’t splittin’ up,” Cardwell said. “There ain’t the same amount of money in these bags, Jacks.”

Jacks turned around in his saddle and looked at Cardwell. “You think I’d try to cheat you, Ben?”

Cardwell smiled and said, “I just don’t want no mistakes made, is all, Simon.”

“We better ride, then,” Jacks said. “Let’s put some miles between us and that bank. That town’s gonna be up in arms when they find all them dead people.”

“They weren’t exactly up in arms when we was robbin’ the bank and killin’ them people.”

“Well, there’s still Shaye and his deputies,” Jacks said. “Remember, they hunted down the Langer gang and killed most of them.”

“A gang leaves a clear trail, Simon,” Cardwell said. “We’re just two men, and we’re gonna split up after we divvy the money. Besides, the way you tell it, that was personal. Ain’t nothin’ personal about this bank robbery.”

“Considerin’ what Dan Shaye and his sons did to the Langer gang,” Simon Jacks said, “I guess we better hope you’re right.”