Роберт Паркер - The Bridge

I thought about us riding to Loblolly tomorrow and about finding him. I thought about who he was and what he looked like. I thought about confronting him and I wondered what to expect, if we would run into the men pretending to be soldiers there, too . Would this be it; would it go down?

I could not stop thinking about them, the pretend soldiers, the goddamn no-good murderers. The face of the bearded man who rode by Hal’s Café and lifted his hand, giving me a slight wave as he passed. Was that one of the Cotter brothers? I kept seeing his face... and his eyes, his disturbing, killer eyes. I kept seeing those eyes looking right at me.

But the men hanging in the slaughterhouse was the vision that kept me awake, kept returning in my mind, and I could not shake it. I knew those boys, Chip and Karl and Driskill. I knew them real well, they were good men, good lawmen; they were friends to one another and they were my friends. Goddamn... Goddamn... Goddamn...

In the morning I sat on my bed with a blanket wrapped around me and stared at the floor for a long time before I even considered getting out of bed and getting dressed. My Pettit and Smith heater had died out through the night and the room was cold. The wind was whistling a haunting melody through the cracks around the door.

Where is the damn light? I looked out the window; there was still no sign of sun, the weather remained cloudy and dark, and snow swirled in the bitter morning wind.

I dressed and stopped by Café Paris and drank some coffee. The Café Paris was the first place Virgil and I ever ate and drank coffee when we came to Appaloosa. The same place where we met Allie for the first time. Allison French, she’d said her name was, and Virgil asked her, that very first time he laid eyes on her, if she was a whore.

As planned, I met Virgil at the livery. We got our horses saddled and ready to ride. Salt watched us as we mounted up and rode out of the barn. I looked back. Salt closed the barn doors when we left and did not look at us as we rode away.

Before we took off for Loblolly Mills in search of Swickey, we stopped in at the mayor’s office to pay Ashley Epps a visit.

When we entered, Ashley was sitting behind his desk and a pretty young woman was sitting across from him as he dictated a note to her. He held up one finger for us to give him a moment.

We did.

When he finished with God Bless, Yours Truly, Ashley Epps , he thanked the young woman.

She nodded.

“Will that be all?” she said.

“Yes, Silvia,” Ashley said.

She curtsied a little to Ashley and offered us a smile on her way out.

Ashley stood up to greet us.

“Marshal Cole, Deputy Marshal Hitch, good to see you both. Please have a seat,” he said.

We sat opposite his desk.

“How are you?” he said.

Virgil said nothing.

“Been better,” I said.

Virgil nodded.

“I hope you are here to tell me you’ve apprehended the men responsible for the bridge?” Ashley said.

Virgil looked to me.

“What about the bridge?” I said.

Ashley looked back and forth between Virgil and me.

“Well,” Ashley said. “Curtis Whittlesey told me.”

“What’d he tell you?” I said.

“He told me about the bridge,” Ashley said. “That it had been destroyed.”

Virgil nodded a little.

“I wish you would have let me know,” Ashley said.

“Sounds like we didn’t need to let you know,” Virgil said.

“Yes, well, I am the mayor,” Ashley said, “as well as the minister, and it’s my duty to serve and console those in need.”

“Just had to keep this news from spreading the best we could,” I said.

“That’s hard to do with Curtis Whittlesey having knowledge,” Ashley said.

“Seems to be,” I said.

“Nevertheless,” Ashley said. “I’ve prayed for all those involved for God’s Peace to be with them.”

“Be with them?” Virgil said.

“Yes?” Ashley said.

“Peace be with who?” Virgil said.

“Well,” Ashley said. “Those involved, of course.”

“Don’t think God’s got much to do with this one,” Virgil said.

Ashley looked to me.

I didn’t say anything.

After Ashley continued with his concerns about his authority, we gave him the news of our Appaloosa lawmen. We didn’t provide any details, other than they had been killed in the line of duty and that a formal announcement needed to be made.

“Those fellas,” Virgil said, “you can talk with God about.”

We didn’t waste any more time and bid Ashley good day, leaving him shaken and with tears in his eyes.

Virgil and I walked out of the Rains Civic Building and mounted up. We turned our horses and started to ride when we heard Skinny Jack.

“Hold up,” he shouted.

We pulled up and looked back. Skinny Jack was coming up the boardwalk at a quick pace and Book was trying to keep up behind him.

“What is it?” I said.

“Goddamn glad we caught you,” Skinny Jack said, out of breath.

“What is it?”

“Don’t think you need to go looking for Swickey,” Skinny Jack said.

“Why?” I said.

“The sonofabitch is here,” Skinny Jack said.

“In Appaloosa?” I said.

“He is,” Skinny Jack said, trying to catch his breath.

“Where?” Virgil said.

“Scared the shit outta us,” Skinny Jack said. “Him and three men walked into the office just a while ago.”

“And?” Virgil said.

Book caught up with Skinny Jack.

“Said he was looking for you,” Skinny Jack said.

“Where you say we were?” I said.

“We didn’t,” Skinny Jack said. “We told them we didn’t know.”

Book nodded.

“We thought you’d be most likely gone already,” Book said, as he worked to catch his breath.

“We thought you’d most likely already left to go find him,” Skinny Jack said. “But we didn’t say so.”

“Glad to know you’re here,” Book said. “They’re heeled, too.”

“Where are they now?” Virgil said.

“Boston House,” Skinny Jack said.

Boston House? More of the goddamn Boston House, I thought.

“He said for us to find you,” Book said.

“What else he say?” Virgil said.

Skinny Jack looked to Book.

“That’s it,” Skinny Jack said. “Find you and let you know he’d be waiting on you.”

Virgil looked at me.

“What do you make of that?” I said.

“Don’t know,” Virgil said.

“Saves us from riding to Loblolly Mills to hunt the sonofabitch down.”

“Damn sure does,” Virgil said.

“What the hell is he doing here?” I said.

“’Spect we’ll find out,” Virgil said.

“Not friendly,” Book said.

Skinny Jack nodded.

“No,” Skinny Jack said. “Not overly.”

“Chastain at the jail?” Virgil said.

“No,” Book said. “Just the two of us in this morning.”

“He should be in directly,” Skinny Jack said.

“Book,” Virgil said. “Go back and keep house. Skinny Jack, you come with us.”

“What should I do?” Book said.

“Just be there,” Virgil said. “Let Chastain know when he comes in.”

“Okay,” Book said.

Virgil and I rode up the street in the swirling snow to the Boston House and Skinny Jack followed alongside.

When we got to the Boston House we saw the transportation belonging to Swickey and the three others. Two horses and an enclosed buggy, hitched to two sturdy horses, with their heads in muzzle feeders.

We stopped shy of the hotel and tied our horses to a hitch in front of the lumberyard.

“Skinny Jack,” Virgil said, as he pulled his Winchester from its scabbard. “Don’t really know what to expect. I don’t think they got any intentions, but just in case, you just stay out on the porch over here. Everett and me will go inside and see what is what. If for some reason they do have intentions and things get lit up in there, and we don’t come out for some reason, maybe one of them does, you hang back here with this Winchester and kill him.”