“That’s part of it,” Felicia said.
Hudson looked at Felicia as if she had committed some great transgression.
“Please,” Sara said to her, “we must remain silent while themen talk.”
“Like hell—”
“Felicia!” Decker said.
She flashed him a defiant look, but stayed quiet.
“What does she mean?”
“Nothing. I’m after Foxx to bring him in for crimes he’s committed. That’s all you need to know.”
“I see,” Hudson said. Decker felt that he had probably insulted the man and would get no help at all now.
“Of course, you are correct,” Hudson said. “It is then left Tome to decide whether I want to help you or not. I disapprove of your profession, but I realize that Brian Foxx must be brought to justice.”
“Well, I haven’t met many people from Utah who agree with that.”
“That is because he has not practiced his profession in this region, but the time will come when he will. He must be stopped before then.”
“He did pass this way, then?” Decker continued.
“Yes.”
“Did you give him a horse?”
“In exchange for his. We also gave him some food. He did not offer to pay, but we would not have taken it even if he had.”
The man’s tone clearly stated that Foxx should have offered and given them the opportunity to refuse.
“Did you see which way he went when he left?”
“He was traveling south when he came here, and continued in that direction.”
“What’s in that direction?”
Hudson shrugged. “Wide open spaces, mountains—”
“Where would Foxx hide out, John?”
“Are you asking me to think like a thief?”
“I’m asking you to try. I’m assuming you know this area.”
“Very well. I chose to build my home here because it was isolated.”
“Then pick a place.”
Hudson thought a moment.
“There’s a rock formation not far from here. I seem to remember a couple of towns at its base, one on the east side, one on the west. They’d be perfect…hideouts.”
“And they’re south of here?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll head that way, then,” Decker said, standing up.
“Are you leaving now?” Esther asked.
“I want to cover more ground before it gets dark. We’ve really appreciated your hospitality.”
“We’ve enjoyed the company,” Sara said. She obviously meant Felicia. She was three years older than the other girl, but they seemed to have gotten on well, and Felicia was the closest person in the room to Sara’s age.
As Felicia stood up, Sara put her hand on her arm.
“Why don’t you stay with us?”
Esther looked at Decker and said, “The child would be welcome.”
“I’m not a child!”
Esther smiled and said to Decker, “She would be welcome anyway.”
Esther and Sara looked at their husband for his approval, and he nodded.
“That leaves it up to you,” Esther said to Decker.
“Not me,” he said. “It’s up to Felicia.”
“And I’m not staying,” she said, moving to Decker’s side. “I mean, I appreciate the offer, but I have to go with Decker.”
“As you wish,” John Hudson said.
“Let me pack you some food,” Esther said, and Sara helped her fill a sack.
Hudson went to the barn with Decker and helped him saddle the horses. When they returned to the porch, each of Hudson’s wives hugged Felicia and wished her well.
Decker and Felicia mounted up, waved, and rode south.
When they were out of sight of the ranch, Felicia said, “They were nice people.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t understand their ways, though. I asked Sara how she could marry a man so much…older than she is.”
“And?”
“She said she considered it an honor that he wanted her.” Shaking her head, Felicia said, “I don’t ever think I could be a Mormon. Imagine, not being able to talk while your husband is talking.”
“Yes,” Decker said, “having to be that obedient would be a strain, wouldn’t it?”
Chapter XVIII
“All right,” Brent Foxx finally said, “I’m tired of sitting here doing nothing. We’ve been here a week and nothing’s been accomplished.”
“Which means?’” Brian asked.
“Which means we can either split up, or I can go your way. Those seem to be my only two choices.”
“Brent—”
“Then again, you only have two choices. We could split up, or you could go my way.”
“Brent—”
“I know, I know, you’re the older brother, the big brain. You’ve made all the decisions up to now, and we’ve done all right.”
Brian decided to keep quiet and let his brother work it out. He poured himself another drink and waited.
“Well, I guess if I go with you we can at least keep this scam going. It’s worked too well up to now to let it just die. Of course, poor Sam here will be out of business if we leave.”
“We’ll pay him enough to keep him going until he can get himself another setup. There are always men on the run looking for a place to hide out.”
“And the girls?”
“We’ll give them some money, too.”
“I was kind of hoping to take the cute one along.”
“That kind of trouble we don’t need.”
“You’re right. I guess one more night with her will have to do it. Will you be ready to leave tomorrow?”
“In the morning,” Brian said.
“Fine. I’ll go and give the ladies the bad news. Will you be over later?”
Brian nodded.
“See you later, brother.” Brent started for the door and then stopped and turned. “I’m glad we got this all worked out.”
“So am I, Brent.”
As Brent left the saloon, Brian poured himself another drink. He was genuinely glad that it had been worked out amiably—but he was concerned that it had come too easily. His brother had something up his sleeve, and it made Brian nervous as hell.
On his way to see the two girls, Brent was glad he had finally figured out a way to break the stalemate that had existed between his brother and himself. Brian had always been the boss, and that had been fine when they were younger, but Brent was older now and he thought that it was time he started thinking for himself.
Chapter XIX
As darkness started to fall, they came to a fork in the road. Ahead of them Decker could see the rock formation Hudson had told him about. It was several hundred feet high, coming to a peak at the top and then widening out as it came down.
They stopped at the fork and looked at the two crudely made signs. One said: fenner’s fork and pointed to the left fork, or the east one, and the other said: eaton’s fork and pointed right, or west.
“What do we do now?” Felicia asked.
“We’ll camp off the road a ways and in the morning we’ll pick a fork.”
They rode about fifty yards off the road and camped in a dry gully.
“Why here?”
“I don’t want to take a chance on being seen from the road, just in case someone is traveling at night.”
They took care of the horses, then Decker told her there’d be no cooking that night.
“We’ll build a small fire, but I don’t want the scent of coffee or bacon giving us away.”
“Well, let’s see what the Hudsons gave us in the sack.”
She began pulling out food.
“Cold chicken, some cans of fruit, some biscuits. With this, who needs hot food?”