The palomino stood quietly. Geezer hee-hawed, looking forlorn and worried.
“Let’s go,” Longarm said, putting his heels to the palomino’s ribs.
Target shot out through the livery’s wide barn doors, and would have stampeded up the street except that he had to drag poor Geezer. The mule, slower, wiser, and very powerful in its own right, did not appreciate the severe pressure on its halter and began braying up the street, causing everyone to turn their heads, then grin at Longarm’s discomfort.
“Dammit, anyway,” Longarm swore, finally managing to rein in the headstrong palomino, “this sure as hell is starting off all wrong.”
Chapter 5
Longarm made a quick stop at Judge Getty’s mansion to say good-bye to Lavinia. There being no hitching post in front of the mansion, Longarm tied Target up to the white picket fence and kept the mule dallied to his saddlehorn. He could see that Lavinia had plenty of company, no doubt friends coming to extend their condolences. There were three or four carriages outside and a number of people milling around on the front veranda. Longarm could not see Lavinia and considered just leaving without a good-bye, but rejected that idea, knowing that it would be callous and break his promise.
When Longarm stepped onto the veranda, he was aware of how out of place he appeared among those who had come to pay the judge their final respects. To begin with, all of them were much older and more financially successful than he was. They were the cream of Denver society. Feeling entirely out of place, Longarm spied a maid carrying a tray of food and drinks. He snagged a glass of champagne.
“Custis!”
He turned to see Lavinia detach herself from a cluster of dignified men and come hurrying over to join him. She slipped her arm through his and steered him to the edge of the veranda. Tilting her head back, she said, “You know, you are by far the handsomest man here today.”
“And by far the youngest,” he replied, sipping his champagne. “I’m on my way out of town. I wanted to say good-bye.”
Lavinia’s smile faded. “Where are you going to start looking for that horrible murderer, or am I allowed to ask such a question?”
“Of course you can ask,” Longarm replied. “Actually, now that James Smith has lost his family, we really don’t have a clue as to where he can be found or know much of anything else about him. About the only thing that we can be sure of is that, now that he has murdered Judge Getty, he will direct his need for revenge against the Marble Gang. So, I’m going after them and I’ll play the cards I’m dealt from that point on.”
“Will he know your face?” Lavinia asked. “Will he know who you are and then try to kill you too?”
“Again,” Longarm repeated, “I just don’t have any answers. My job is to track the gang down, if necessary one by one. I can’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure that my path and that of our secret assassin will eventually cross.”
“If he knows who you are and can recognize you, he’ll have a great advantage.”
“Yes, and I’ve thought of that. But Smith really was burned in the fire that took his family, and he’s going to be pretty easily remembered. I shouldn’t have much difficulty picking him out of a crowd.”
Lavinia nodded in agreement. “I don’t suppose you have any idea when you’ll return.”
“No.”
“Will you come back to visit me?”
“Of course. Will you be all right?”
“Judge Getty and my sister never had any children, and he left this mansion and everything else to me, including a very substantial bank account. I’ve nothing in respect to finances to ever worry about. In fact …”
She couldn’t seem to finish so Longarm said, “What?”
Lavinia took a deep breath. “I know that I’m older than you and that we have very, very different backgrounds. But if you ever get tired of your hard and dangerous line of work, or get hurt, or …”
Longarm knew what she was trying to say, and he was touched. “Thank you, Lavinia. You’re a beautiful and passionate woman and you still will be forty years from now. But …”
“Is there someone else?”
“No,” he said, “it’s not that at all. It’s just that I don’t think it would work between us and-“
“Shhh!” she whispered, placing her fingers to his lips. “Custis, please don’t say anything more. You may change your mind some day. Let’s just keep alive the possibility that I could give you sanctuary, love, and companionship—if you ever need me. All right?”
“All right,” he said, leaning down to kiss the dear woman on the cheek. “I’ll be back and when I do, we won’t have to make love on the parlor couch.”
Lavinia hurried away with blushing cheeks, and Longarm had started to finish his champagne when he heard a shout and then a scream. Suddenly, he turned to see his new horse, Target, tearing out fifteen feet of picket fence as the gelding tried to go after a yellow cat that had made the mistake of parading past the mansion.
“Target!” Longarm shouted as the cat disappeared under a hedge and the very distressed pack mule started to hee-haw.
Longarm vaulted over the veranda’s railing, then sprinted across the judge’s beautifully manicured front yard. Fortunately, Target was too encumbered to go very far since he was dragging the fence and a very upset-looking Geezer.
“Damn you!” Longarm swore, grabbing the palomino’s reins and finally managing to untie them from the uprooted length of picket fence. “I’m not sure that you and I are going to get very far before I put a damned bullet in your stupid head!”
Target rolled his eyes, still looking for the yellow cat. People were crowded against the veranda railing staring at Longarm, the mule, and the handsome palomino. Longarm swung into his saddle and spotted Lavinia among the spectators. He wanted to tell her he was terribly sorry and embarrassed for tearing down what was now her nice picket fence. But instead, he just decided to wave good-bye. To his relief, she blew him a kiss, and he guessed it meant she really wasn’t all that upset about the ruined picket fence.
He was angry at Target, and pushed the horse hard into the mountains. As promised, the palomino didn’t even break out in a sweat. Target was in superb condition and showed no sign of fatigue, even after many hours of climbing. Geezer, on the other hand, was very unhappy. And although the mule was lightly burdened carrying just Longarm’s food, extra clothes, ammunition, and supplies, he was not nearly so youthful or energetic as Target and resented the difficult climb up into the Rocky Mountains.
Longarm rode until well after dark, and stopped at a little way station called Pine Flats where he’d gotten a room and meals on a number of occasions. He paid the owner extra to put Target and Geezer in a stall instead of out in the corral with a bunch of other animals.
“You got any cats, pigs, or chickens on the place?” Longarm asked the man.
“Why, sure!”
“Well, this palomino doesn’t like them,” Longarm told the proprietor, Doug Paulson. “That’s why he’s much better off in a high-sided stall.”
“What kind of horse is that?”
“He’s got his peculiarities,” Longarm said, “but he’s a travelin’ sonofabitch. I’ve never rode a horse that possessed such extraordinary stamina.”
“Must have gotten it chasing other animals,” Paulson opinioned. “Don’t worry about him tonight. Come on inside and get a good feed and rest your bones.”
“Thanks,” Longarm said. “And remember that I prefer not to have folks know that I’m a federal marshal.”
“Why is that?”
“it just gives me a little advantage, and you never know who might carry a murderous grudge against a lawman.”
“Yeah,” Paulson said, “I can see your point. Used to be people respected the law and those who enforced it. But these days, what with all the riffraff we’ve gotten coming into these mountains looking to strike it rich, no one knows who to trust anymore. Damn shame what things are coming to.”