Longarm took a few steps toward the deputy. “What the hell do you mean, she ain’t here? Where is she?”
The deputy cut his eyes back and forth. “Well, the truth of the matter is, sir, the fact of the business is … well, she got loose from me just now and just ran out of here. I’m the only one on duty and I’m not supposed to leave the office.”
Longarm almost slapped him. “Boy, don’t come out from back there licking cream off your whiskers and tell me that you’ve been branding cattle. I know exactly how she got out of here. Deputy, you’re under arrest.”
The young deputy took a step backwards. He said, “What?”
“That’s right. You’re under arrest for interference with a federal officer in pursuit of his duty. Trust me, young man, that’s a serious offense. Hand me your side arm.”
The deputy swallowed. He said, “Sir, I ain’t got one. You ain’t supposed to go back to the cells with a gun.”
“Then it’s just as well. Open that damn door behind you.” With the door open, Longarm marched the deputy back into an empty cell before he slammed the door and stood there holding the keys. He said, “You are under arrest. I don’t know how long I will be gone, a day, two days, two weeks, I don’t know. You damn well better be in this cell when I get back or else I’ll hunt you all over the world because I don’t ever let anyone get away from me. Do you understand that? Your next stop is going to be about five minutes in a federal court and then you’re going to be doing about ten years at Leavenworth if you get out of this cell. Understand?”
The deputy was white-faced. He said, “Marshal, please. it was more than I could take.”
Longarm said dryly, “Don’t tell me about her, son, I know all about her. I’m telling you once again, Deputy, that you better be in this cell when I get back.”
“What if the sheriff lets me out?”
“Then tell the sheriff that I’m liable to arrest him.”
The deputy swallowed and said, “Yes, sir.”
Longarm turned around, walked out of the cell block and through the door, pitched the keys to the cells onto a handy desk, and then left the office. He was almost, but not quite, smiling. He wondered how long the deputy would stay in the cell. Probably a couple of days at least. He sighed. You had to hand it to Lily Gail. She was a handful and just as slippery as anything he had ever gotten his hands on.
He didn’t have time to dwell on such matters. He had a train to catch. He shouldered his gear and hurried out the door and down to the depot, where he could hear the train blowing the five-minute warning.
It was three days after Longarm got back to Denver before he went into the office. He spent the time resting at his boardinghouse, drinking at his favorite saloon, playing at some cards, and paying court to a young widowed dressmaker, trying to convince her that a man and a woman didn’t necessarily have to be married to enjoy each other’s company to its fullest extent. He still hadn’t convinced her.
On the fourth morning, he went to the Federal Building, walked into Billy Vail’s office, and flopped down. His silver-haired boss tried to look astonished. He said, “Why, Longarm. What in hell are you doing back here?” He looked at a calendar. “It’s only been thirteen or fourteen days of your thirty-day leave. What are you doing here?”
He knew Billy Vail already was aware of what had happened. He said, “I couldn’t take no more leave time. It was wearing me out, so I figured that I had to come back to work so that I could get some rest.”
“Well, are you officially reporting back to duty?”
“Not today, maybe tomorrow.”
Billy Vail said, “Well, I just want to get the straight of it. You never can tell when I might be needing an extra hand. Things have been pretty quiet around here, but you never can tell when they might blow up.”
Longarm looked at him suspiciously, but there was nothing in his face to go on, so he let it pass.
Longarm said, “Well, I’m glad to hear that, Billy. I wouldn’t want anything getting you upset.”
Billy said, “I had some good news about the Gallaghers. Sounds like you did a dynamite job.”
Longarm looked at him again. He said, “A what?”
Billy said, “I meant just a real fine job. Sounds like you were a real firecracker down there tending to the Gallaghers. I know that everybody is mighty glad and grateful for the work you done. I hear that you had a little help from a gentleman named Fisher Lee. That’s an old friend of yours, ain’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Guess he’ll be claiming the reward money with you not being able to.”
“Yeah.” Longarm got up. “I just stopped by for a moment to let you know that I was back in town. I’ll probably be back to work tomorrow.” He started for the door.
Billy Vail said, “Oh, by the way. An odd situation happened.”
“What was that?”
“The Silverado Mining Company sent a really fine horse up here for you. Must have been a thousand-dollar horse, part thoroughbred, part quarter horse. Prettiest horse that I’ve ever seen.”
Longarm turned back quickly. “They did?”
“Yeah, and there was a letter that came with it from a Mister Simmons, the manager of their operations there at Taos. He said they wanted to give you that horse in gratitude for what you did for them.”
“Well, where’s the horse?”
Billy Vail attempted to look shocked. “Why, he’s in government custody, Longarm. You know that you can’t accept gifts in your official capacity as a deputy United States marshal.”
Longarm said, “But them damn Gallaghers killed my horse. I’m out a horse.”
“Was that one of your personal horses?”
“Of course it was. You know that I don’t ride those damn hides that we’re supposed to requisition from the army.”
Billy Vail shook his head. “That’s too bad, Longarm. You shouldn’t have been using your own personal horse in a dangerous situation like that.”
“Well, how come I can’t have that horse they sent me to replace the one I lost? Besides that, I gave them one of the Gallagher horses.”
Billy Vail nodded. “That was all explained in the letter from Mister Simmons, and I feel really bad about the fact that you can’t have this horse. It’s truly a fine horse, a four-year-old gelding, a wonderful-looking animal.”
Longarm gave him a disgusted look. “Aw, Billy, can’t you bend the rules a little bit? Hell, this is the worst damn vacation I’ve ever had. I wound up working the biggest part of it, lost a good horse, nearly got myself killed. Looks like you could bend the rules a little.”
Longarm did not expect compliments for what he had done to the Gallagher gang. As Billy would have said, “Hell, that’s just part of your job. That’s what you get paid for. Do you want pay and compliments both?” So Longarm knew better than to mention busting up the worst gang of cutthroats and crooks that the Southwest had ever seen, but he did think that he should have the horse to replace the one that he had lost.
Billy Vail said, “I know that you worked on your vacation and I know what you done. It was all in that letter that I received from Mister Simmons, and I hate it that you can’t have that horse because I have the most wonderful name for it. Want to hear it?”
“Hell, no. What the hell do I care what the name of the horse is if I can’t have it? Where is the horse anyway?”
“Well, I don’t know, Longarm. It’s the property of the United States Government, so I turned it over to the Quartermaster Corps.”
Longarm stared at him in amazement. “You turned over a fine animal like that to the damn Quartermaster Corps? Billy Vail, you can make me madder than anyone that I’ve ever known before in my life. I thought I was mad before I came into this office, but now I am really angry.” Longarm got to his feet and started for the door.
Behind him, Billy Vail said sweetly, “Wait a minute, Longarm. Don’t you want to know the name that I picked out for the horse?”