David Robbins: Nevada Run

Hickok, Geronimo, Helen, and Mindy followed him.

“Say, pard,” Hickok said, catching up with Blade. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to my missus about me spendin’ a week gambling. She might not cotton to the idea.”

“I won’t lie for you,” Blade remarked.

“Who’s askin’ you to lie?” Hickok queried. “I just don’t want to get in trouble.”

“You don’t need to worry about Blade telling your wife,” Geronimo spoke up.

Hickok looked back. “I don’t?”

“Nope,” Geronimo said, grinning. “Because I will.”

“What did I ever do to you?” Hickok demanded.

“Do you want me to list everything?” Geronimo inquired. “There was the time when we were six years old, and you convinced me to take a bath in a mud puddle with my clothes on. Remember that? You claimed everyone did it, and my mother wouldn’t mind. She did.”

Hickok chuckled. “I’d plumb forgotten all about that.”

“And there was the time when we were ten,” Geronimo went on. “You persuaded me to stick a frog down Emily’s dress. You claimed she loved frogs. She didn’t.”

Hickok snickered.

“And how about the time when we were fifteen?” Geronimo continued.

“We went on a double date, remember? You suggested we should all go skinny-dipping in the moat. We were supposed to each get undressed separately, behind the bushes, then come out and go swimming. But when I stepped out in the open, I was the only one naked.”

“I thought the girls would bust a gut laughing,” Hickok recalled, and laughed.

“And you have the gall to ask about my reason for telling your wife?” Geronimo asked in amazement.

Hickok sighed and glanced at Blade. “It’s pitiful.”

“What is?” Blade responded.

“This mangy Injun is one of my best friends,” Hickok muttered.

“I know. So?” Blade said.

“So with friends like him, is it any wonder I’m always in hot water?” Hickok lamented his fate.

Blade smiled. “Look at it from our perspective.”

“What do you mean?” Hickok inquired.

“With a friend like you around,” Blade said, “there’s never a dull moment.”