“You askin’ me questions I ain’t got no answers for,” Monte replied.
Smoke stood up. “Well, you can all bet one thing. I’m damn sure going to find out!”
4
Smoke could tell that Sally was getting anxious to travel east and see her folks. She tried to hide her growing excitement, but finally she gave in and admitted she was ready to go.
Some men—perhaps many men—would have been reluctant to let their wives travel so far away from the hearth of home, especially when taking into consideration the often terrible hardships that the women of the West had to endure when compared with the lifestyle of women comfortably back east, with their orderly, structured society and policemen walking the beat.
Why, Sally had even told of indoor plumbing, complete with relief stations, not just bathing tubs. Smoke couldn’t even imagine how something like that might work. He reckoned it would take a hell of a lot of digging, but it sure would be smelly if the pipes were to clog.
“You real sure you’re up to this thing?” Smoke asked her.
“I feel fine, honey. And the doctor says I’m one hundred percent healed.”
He patted her swelling belly and grinned. “Getting a little chubby, though.”
She playfully slapped at his hand. “What are you going to do if it’s twins?”
He put a fake serious look on his face. “Well, I might just take off for the mountains!”
She put her arms around him. “Mona says all the travel arrangements are complete. She says we’ll be leaving the last part of next week.”
“She told me. The Doc and me will ride down to Denver with you and see you both off.”
“I’ll like that. And then, Smoke?…”
“You know what I have to do, Sally. And it isn’t a question of wanting to do it. It’s something I have to do.”
She lay her head on his chest. “I know. When will they ever leave us alone?”
“Maybe never, honey. Accept that. Not as long as there is some punk kid who fancies himself a gunslick and is looking to make a rep for himself. Not as long as there are bounty hunters who work for jackasses like this Rex Davidson and his kind. And not as long as there are Rex Davidsons in the world.”
“It’s all so simple for you, isn’t it, Smoke?”
He knew what she was talking about. “Yes. If we could get rid of the scum of the earth, it would be such a very nice place to live.”
With her arms still around him, feeling the awesome physical strength of the man, she said, “Didn’t you tell me that this Dagget person came from back east?”
“Yeah. That’s what Johnny told me and the sheriff. Came out here about ten years ago. Are you thinking that you know this fellow?”
“It might be the same person. Maybe. It was a long time ago, Smoke. And not an experience that I wanted to remember. I’ve tried very hard to put it out of my mind.”
“Put what out of your mind?”
She pulled away from him and walked to the open window, the curtains ruffling with the slight breeze. “It was a long time ago. I was…oh, I guess nine or ten.” She paused for a time, Smoke waiting patiently. “I finally forced myself to remember something else Dagget said that night. He said that he…had wanted to see me naked for a long time. Then he grinned. Nasty. Evil. Per-verted. Then I recalled that…experience so long ago.”
She turned to face him.
“I was…molested as a child. I was not raped, but molested. By a man whom I believe to be this Dagget person. I screamed and it frightened him away. But before he left me, he slapped me and told me that if I ever told, he would kill my parents.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I never told anyone before this.”
“And you believe this Dagget is the same man?”
“I’m sure of it now. Shortly after my…incident, the man was forced to leave town; he killed a man in a lover’s quarrel.”
“All the more reason to kill the man.”
“I was not the only little girl he molested. Some were actually raped. It’s the same man,” she said flatly. “That is not something a woman ever forgets.”
“They still have warrants out for him in New Hampshire, you reckon?”
“I’m sure they do. Why do you ask?”
“Maybe I’ll bring his head back in a bag. Give it to the police.”
She shuddered. “Smoke, you don’t do things like that in New Hampshire.”
“Why? He’s worse than a rabid beast. What’s the matter with the people back east?”
“It’s called civilization, honey.”
“Is that right? Sounds to me like they got a yellow streak running up their backs.”
She shook her head and fought to hide a smile.
“If I take him alive, you want me to wrap him up in a fresh deer hide and stake him out in the sun?”
Sally sighed and looked at her man. “Smoke…no! How gruesome! What would that accomplish?”
“Pay back, Sally. Sun dries the hide around them; kills them slow. Helps to tie a fresh cut strip of green rawhide around their heads. That really lets them know they’ve done wrong; that someone is right displeased with them.”
She shuddered. “I think they would get that message, all right.”
“Almost always, Sally. Your folks back east, Sally, they’ve got this notion about treating bad men humanely. That’s what I’ve been reading. But the bad men don’t treat their victims humanely. Seems like to me, your folks got things all screwed up in their heads. You won’t have crime, Sally, if you don’t have criminals.”
She sighed, knowing there was really no argument against what he was saying. It was a hard land, this frontier, and it took a hard breed to survive. They were good to good people. Terribly brutal to those who sought the evil way.
And who was to say that the hard way was not the right way?
She smiled at her man. “I guess that’s why I love you so much, Smoke. You are so direct and straightforward in your thinking. I think you are going to be a most refreshing cool breeze to my family and friends back in New Hampshire.”
“Maybe.”
“Smoke, I am going to say this once, and I will not bring it up again. I married you, knowing full well what kind of man you are. And you are a good man, but hard. I have never tried to change you. I don’t believe that is what marriage is all about.”
“And I thank you for that, Sally.”
“I know you are going man-hunting, Smoke. And I know, like you, that it is something you have to do. I don’t always understand; but in this case, I do. My parents and brothers and sisters will not. Nor will my friends. But I do.”
“And you’re going to tell them what I’m doing?”
“Certainly. And you’ll probably be written up in the local newspaper.”
“Seems to me they ought to have more important things to write about than that.”
Sally laughed at his expression. How could she explain to him that the people back in Keene didn’t carry guns; that most had never seen a fast draw; that many of them didn’t believe high noon shoot-outs ever occurred?
He probably wouldn’t believe her. He’d have to see for himself.
“Smoke, I know that you take chances that many other men would not take. You’re a special breed. I learned early on why many people call you the last mountain man. Perhaps that is yet another of the many reasons I love you like I do. So do this for me: When you put me on that train and see me off, put me out of your mind. Concentrate solely on the job facing you. I know you have that quality about you; you do it. I will leave messages at the wire offices for you, telling you how I am and where I can be reached at all times. You try to do the same for me, whenever you can.”
“I will, Sally. And that’s a promise. But I’m going to be out-of-pocket for a couple of months, maybe longer.”
“I know. That’s all I ask, Smoke. We’ll say no more about it.” She came to him and pulled his head down, kissing him.