Ira, in particular, was mystified.

“What kind a’ bait did you use?”

“Words.”

“What?”

“I talked ’em out of the river and told ’em to lay still on the bank while I strung ’em up.”

Gentry giggled. Mary rolled her eyes.

“No one can talk to fish,” Ira said.

“My friend Rose can speak to all species of fish,” I said, while filletin’ Shrug’s catch. “But I only speak perch and catfish.”

After breakfast we followed the stones to Limestone Pass, where the ridin’ turned slow and treacherous. The women in the middle had to alternate ridin’ and walkin’ down the steep trail that took us to the base of Skull Mountain. Along the way, I pointed out a row of caves to Phoebe.

“See them caves?” I said. “There’s more than fifteen hundred of ’em in this county, and half belong to bears. You were damn lucky to find an empty one.”

She raised an eyebrow at my curse, but let it slide.

At the base of Skull Mountain, we found a stream to water our horses and fill our canteens. With that done, I said, “Ladies, this is a good place to relieve yourselves. Pair up and find a bush if you want, but don’t go more than fifty feet in any direction.”

Ira and I pissed on the far side of our horses, so as not to offend Phoebe, but the whores shucked their drawers, squatted, and pissed right where they stood. I could tell Phoebe was workin’ hard to keep the emotions off her face. Scarlett saw it, too. After pissin’, she moved slowly toward Phoebe.

“I’ll go with you to the bushes, Ma’am, if you care to.”

Phoebe hesitated a moment, then said, “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”

Mary called out, “I shoulda known Miss Fancy Pants was too good to piss with the rest of us.”

Leah hollered, “Tell us what her drawers look like, Scarlett!”

“Probably got lace and gold dust wove into ’em,” someone said.

Emma and Hester were gigglin’ and snickerin’ about somethin’ they’d said quietly to each other, and I thought, this is gonna be a long trip.

 


 

 

 

13.

 

The hammer of a .36 caliber Colt Revolvin’ Belt Pistol makes a unique sound when cocked.

I heard that sound just before dawn, and had to force myself not to jerk up. I opened my eyes to find the shadowy outline of Ira Glass drawin’ a bead on me from point blank range. I had my derringer in my right hand under the blanket, as I always did when sleepin’, and my .44 Colt Army pistol beside my leg. But I’d have to cock it before firin’, and wouldn’t have time to do that if Ira fired first.

“You don’t seem so high ’n mighty now, do you, Emmett Love?”

“Maybe not to you,” I said. “Maybe not at this partic’lar moment.”

“I could shoot you where you lie,” he said. “Just kill you right now.”

“Why don’t you then?”

“You don’t mean that.”

“The hell I don’t. It’d save me havin’ to hear all your thoughts while you work up the courage.”

“Shootin’ you would make me the most famous gunman in this part of the country. You know that?”

“I’m much more famous out west. Why don’t you wait and shoot me there?”

He started to speak, but died before the words got past his lips.

“Mon Dieu!” Monique shrieked. “Putain qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?”

I sat up and leaned over his body and felt for a pulse.

“Ira caught a stray rock,” I said.

“He what?” Gentry said.

“A rock came flyin’ into camp and hit poor Ira in the head.”

“Is he dead?”

“Feels like it.”

“I mean, does that happen often?” she said. “Are there likely to be more rocks flying into camp?”

“Usually there’s just the one.”

The women gathered close to me.

“Do you think he would have shot you?” Emma said.

“I do for a fact.”

“Lucky that rock flew into camp, then,” Scarlett said.

“What do we do now?” Phoebe said.

I looked at the horizon. “There’s less than an hour before dawn. We should get what sleep we can.”

I laid back down and closed my eyes, but no one else made a move for their bed rolls.

“What about Ira?” Leah said.

“Least he ain’t snorin’,” Scarlett said.

“Well, I can’t sleep with a dead man in camp,” Gentry said.

“I was stuck under a dead man for more’n a hour once,” Hester said.

“You mean Mike Pike?” Mary said. “Big fat guy that died a couple years ago?”

“Uh huh.”

“I would’ve screamed,” Mary said.

“You think I didn’t?” Hester said. “I screamed bloody murder.”

“And no one came to help you?” Phoebe said.

I sat up, surprised to hear her voice among the whores. Hester said, “No one came ’cause they thought I was pretendin’ to be in the throes of rapture.”

“Helluva way to die,” I said.

“Spoken like a man,” Hester said.

Instead of sleepin’, we huddled together and talked.