“All right,” Malcolm said. “Suppose we let you do the talking at the next pub.”
“Saloon,” Shaw corrected. “And that’s another thing. The saloon we was just in is too highfalutin. We need one that’s more down to earth, so to speak.” He pointed to one that had a totally different exterior. Unlike the Aces and Eights, there was no false front to this building, no cutout, or even a drawing of a mug of beer, and no beautifully lettered and brightly painted sign. This one had crudely lettered words scrawled in whitewash across the front of the unpainted building. The name of the saloon was The Black Dog.
MacCallister homestead
The house was filled with people and they were all MacCallisters, either by blood or name. Falcon’s brothers Jamie Ian, Jr., Morgan, and Matthew were there with their wives, along with his sisters, Joleen, Megan, and Kathleen, and their husbands. They were already in the house when Falcon and Duff arrived. Falcon introduced them to Duff.
“My word, I had no idea I had so many cousins in America. All of you, plus Andrew and Rosanna.”
“What you see here are just a few of us,” Joleen said. “This house isn’t big enough to hold all of us.”
“How many are there?”
“One hundred and three.”
“Soon to be one hundred and four,” Matthew said. “You forgot Mirabelle.”
“I didn’t forget her, Matthew. I know she is pregnant,” Joleen said. “But the question was how many are there, not how many will there be.”
The others laughed.
“Tell us, Cousin Duff, how are Andrew and Rosanna doing?” Megan asked. “We see them so seldom now that they are famous in the New York theater.”
“They are doing well. When I left New York they were the principal players in a play called The Highlander.”
“The Highlander? What an odd name for a play. What does it mean?”
“It refers to someone who lives in the Highlands. It is rather like calling an American who lives in the West a Westerner.”
Duff answered many more questions: how he met Andrew and Rosanna, and about his family back in Scotland, though, as he explained, he was the only one left.
“With my departure, there is not one MacCallister left in all of Scotland, or if there be, they are cousins so distant that they are not known by me.”
“What brought you to America?” Jamie Ian asked.
“Andrew and Rosanna invited him,” Falcon answered quickly, with a glance toward Duff cautioning him not to go any further with the answer. Falcon was now aware of all the details of Duff’s flight, first to New York, and then from New York to Colorado.
The rest of the family had brought food, and they had an enormous dinner that evening. Then, as the ladies cleaned up from the meal, the men gathered in the parlor for drinks and cigars.
“The drink is fine,” Duff said. “But I’ve never caught on to smoking.”
“Ahh, it’s a nasty habit anyway,” Matthew said.
“Jamie, Morgan, Matthew, it was more than a mere invitation from Andrew and Rosanna that brought Duff to America,” Falcon said.
Jamie took a puff of his cigar and nodded. “I thought it might be,” he said.
“What was it?” Morgan asked.
“I’m going to let Duff answer,” Falcon said.
“I’ve killed a few men,” Duff said.
“Haven’t we all?” Jamie Ian replied.
“What do you mean by a few?” Matthew asked.
“Five. Well, more if you count those I killed in war. But five that I killed were my own countrymen.”
“I take it they needed killin’,” Jamie Ian said. “Or else you wouldn’t be telling of it so easily.”
“One of the men I killed, the son of the sheriff, was trying to rape Skye. And because he was the son of the local sheriff I decided to go to the sheriff to tell him my side of the story. Skye would not have it any other way but that she go with me, being as she was a witness. But on the road we were met by the sheriff and three of his deputies. Before I could say a word to explain the situation, and to tell them that I was voluntarily coming to the sheriff’s office, they began shooting. They were shooting at me, but they killed Skye. I killed the two deputies.”
“Who was Skye?” Matthew asked.
“Skye was my fiancée.”
“I thought as much,” Morgan said.
“Then I was right,” Jamie Ian said. “The sons of bitches needed killin’.”
“I was still in Scotland when I killed those men, but knew that the sheriff was never going to let it go to trial. And without Skye’s testimony as to what happened, I would not have been able to prove that the killing was justified, even if it had gone to trial. I knew that I was going to have to leave the country, so I boarded ship that very night and worked my passage to America.”
“You said you had killed five men. That’s only three,” Morgan said.
“Aye, there is more to the story,” Duff said. “Once I arrived in America the sheriff sent his other two sons and his remaining deputy after me—not to arrest me, but to kill me. They caught up with me in the back of the very theater where Andrew and Rosanna were appearing. I killed the sheriff’s other two sons, but his deputy escaped.”
“If he’s got any sense, he’s on his way back to Scotland now,” Jamie Ian said. “You’ve certainly shown that you can take care of yourself.”
“I wish I could believe that,” Duff said. “But I know this fellow, Rab Malcolm. He is evil incarnate, but there is a thoroughness about him that, were he to apply it to more noble pursuits, would be admirable. There is no doubt in my mind but that he is still here, probably recruiting more men for his nefarious scheme.”
“So you think he is still here?” Matthew asked.
“Aye, more than likely he is still in New York. That’s why I left New York. I was afraid that if he tried again it might be dangerous for Andrew and Rosanna, and I have no wish to get them involved. Andrew suggested that I come here.”
“Which I think was a good idea,” Falcon said.
“What are you going to do now?” Morgan asked.
“I’m going to find some way to make a living,” Duff said. He smiled. “I’ve already made two hundred and fifty dollars, just since arriving here today.”
“You have made two hundred and fifty dollars in one day? I would say that is a good day’s wages. How did you come by it?” Morgan asked.
“It was easy. I turned over to the sheriff someone for whom a reward had been posted,” Duff said.
“Wait till you hear how it happened,” Falcon said, and he proceeded to tell the story of Duff “borrowing” a cane and using it to trip up a thief.
“And here is the best part,” Falcon said. “You know who he borrowed the cane from?”
“No idea,” Jamie Ian said.
“I’ll give you a hint. The man he borrowed the cane from doesn’t need it to walk.”
“Ha! You are talking about Toots Nelson, aren’t you?” Morgan said. “He’s always so prim and proper. I would love to have seen his face.”
“It was something to behold all right,” Falcon said. “But the expression on Stripland’s face when he went ass over elbow was even better.”
The men were still laughing when the women, their work in the kitchen completed, returned.
“What’s so funny?” Joleen asked.
A moment later, after hearing the story of Duff using a cane to trip up a purse snatcher, the women were laughing as well, and they were still laughing as they left the house and climbed into the various conveyances for the trips back to their own homes.
“Good-bye, Duff, and welcome to Colorado!” Kathleen called.
“Good-bye!” the others called, and Duff and Falcon responded in kind.
As the teams pulled the surreys and buggies away, Duff stood for a long moment at the front door watching. Noticing a contemplative look on his face, Falcon asked about it.