"He's too young," John Bilks replied as he stared up the hill at the crowd. " 'Sides, four is a nice even number for splitting, five ain't."
"Yeah, but he risked a lot, stealing that painting right off the sheriff's desk," Arnie reminded them.
"So he did us a good turn," John said. "I thanked him, didn't I?"
"This is crazy, our coming here," Snake Donally complained as he took his turn at tossing the dice. "Too many people, and half of them would probably recognize you, John."
John shrugged. "They never did prove I stole that money, and they don't know what I been up to since."
"Thanks to my cousin," Arnie grumbled.
"I doubt that painting was good enough that anyone would have recognized you from it," Snake added. "Billy said it was small."
"Billy should have brought it to me so I'd know for sure, instead of destroying it."
"He figured it would be better to make sure no one else saw it," Arnie defended his cousin.
"He recognized me from it."
"Course he would. He knows you good, and knows we pulled that train job."
"But the cowboy who brought it to the sheriff didn't have a name to go with it," Snake said. "So what are we even doing here?"
"Because Billy stuck around while the sheriff was looking for the 'misplaced' painting, and when he finally gave up looking for it, heard him say he'd have to get the Laton gal, Marian, to paint him another," Arnie said.
"How 'bout answering Snake's question," Dakota Jack said, his eyes squeezed shut, not that it was helping his headache much. He was their fast gun—when he wasn't drinking. "I've only asked three times myself. What the hell are we doing here at the Kinkaid spread?"
"If you'd get them cobwebs out of your head, you'd have figured out by now that John means to grab the painter."
"Should just wait till she goes home," Snake suggested. "Way too many people here."
"Which is why no one will notice," John said. "At her home, with only a few people around her, they'd notice she's missing sooner. Here, they'll just figure she's around somewhere."
"That don't tell me what you're grabbing her for."
"To kill her, of course."
Dakota Jack straightened up, opened his eyes. "Like hell you are."
"Have to," John insisted. "She painted me from memory good enough to make wanted posters. I'm not giving her a chance to do up another. They catch me, wont be long before they get the rest of you."
Dakota Jack said no more, but only because his head was throbbing again. Snake wanted to know, "How you gonna get her down here, anyway?"
"You are. You're looking clean enough today to join the party. The cowboys will think you're from town. The townsfolk will think you're one of the cowboys. And you've never passed through Trenton for anyone to know better. Just make sure you bring the right gal. According to Billy, she's got a twin. Bring the wrong one, and I'll shoot you instead."
Marian wasn't sure what to think as she headed toward the stable again. It looked deserted at the moment. The horse racing wouldn't start for another hour or so she'd been told. And most of the guests were eating or dancing. But a young man had stopped by to tell her that Mr. Kinkaid would like her to come to the stable for a few minutes. He mentioned something about a litter of puppies. Then he quickly slipped back into the crowd before she could question him.
She'd looked around for Chad and his father before she headed down the hill, but hadn't seen either of them. Not that she thought she was meeting Chad. She would have stayed put if she did. But it would have been nice to know for sure.
Stuart was probably going to offer her a puppy. She'd never had a pet. Her father hadn't wanted animals in their home. There had been a tomcat that had hung out behind their house for a few years that she had considered hers. She'd missed it a lot when it stopped coming around.
The thought of her very own pet was rather nice. She didn't think Kathleen would object. In fact, Stuart had probably cleared it with her aunt first. She just hoped he was going to give Amanda a puppy, too. She didn't want something else for her sister to get jealous over.
The stable was empty—of people. Both doors, front and back, were wide-open, and every stall had a horse in it. She couldn't imagine where a dog would have taken root to have a litter. Surely not in one of the stalls where it might get trampled.
"Mr. Kinkaid?"
"Back here."
She didn't recognize the voice. It was muffled because it had come from behind the stable. She headed that way, stepped back into the sunlight, and gasped as a gun was stuck in her face. It was immediately knocked away by someone else, but she had no time to feel relief because a hand covered her mouth and a thick arm circled her neck to hold her still.
"What'd you do that for?" John Bilks snarled.
Marian recognized him as soon as she got a look at his eyes. The train robbers, all four of them. Were they here to rob the guests? Had she and Stuart been unfortunate enough to run into them first? Stuart could be lying hurt, even dead, behind her. The arm around her neck wasn't giving her much leeway to look around.
"You shoot her here, you'll get this whole place down on our heads," John was told.
She recognized that one, too. He was the one who'd told her she was wanted in the stable. Fear washed over her then, nearly buckling her knees. They were there for her! Because of the painting. It had to be.
"I know that," John replied testily. "I was just making sure she didn't scream."
"I don't know," another said lazily. "If I was a woman and got a gun shoved in my face, I'd still scream."
"How you gonna kill her then, if you ain't gonna shoot her?" the one holding her asked.
"I told you, no woman-shooting," still another voice said ominously. "I'd as soon shoot you."
John started to answer that, then changed his mind. He was obviously a bit leery of the last speaker, to Marian's immense relief.
"I'm inclined to agree, now that I've seen her," the one with the lazy voice remarked.
"No one said she was this pretty," the one holding her put in. "Maybe you can just cut off her hand, so she can't paint no more."
"Face it, John, you can't turn outlaw, then expect to remain a face in the crowd thereafter, not with such distinctive eyes like you got. She might have been able to paint you, but everyone you've robbed can identify you. So what's the point?"
John was obviously getting frustrated by the opposition to his plans. "The wanted posters, that's the point," he growled. "Right now there's no face on them. I plan to keep it that way."
"Get her on a horse and let's get the hell out of here. You can discuss what you're going to do with her later."
"Someone's coming."
"I'll take care of them. Just get out of here."
"Scream, and I'll have to break your neck," the man holding her whispered in her ear as he dragged her to a horse. "Won't make me happy, won't make you happy, will only make John happy."
She didn't scream when her mouth was released long enough to get her up on a horse in front of the one that had been holding her. She debated it though, frantically. He could have been bluffing just to keep her quiet. And she was facing the prospect of death or a missing hand, and Lord knew what else, if she didn't make some kind of effort to avoid being abducted by them. Which finally decided her.
She opened her mouth to scream her head off, but she'd debated too long. The hand was back over her mouth, and they were galloping away, within moments far enough away that nobody was going to hear her screams.
Chapter 40
CHAD SPUTTERED AWAKE, COUGHING, and couldn't see for a moment. When he moved pain shot through the back of his head, bringing back the memory of an explosion of pain that had knocked him out. He realized water had been thrown on him to wake him when he saw Leroy standing next to him with an empty bucket in his hand.
"That the way you settle up your debts?" Chad growled. "By sneaking up on a man and—"
"I found you here, I didn't lay you here," Leroy spit out, looking slighdy offended.
"Sorry," Chad mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
" 'Sides," Leroy added. "I was only joshing with you earlier. You could have left me out there to rot that day, but you didn't. I reckon that squared us."
"You happen to see who broke their gun over my head?"
"No, but I'd stop jabbering if I were you and saddle up. There's fresh tracks from four mounts, with one horse toting double."
"Then they'll be slowed down."
"Not really," Leroy said as he picked something out of his teeth. "I seen your lady friend walk this way not long 'fore you did, and she ain't here now. She can't weigh more'n a speck of dust."
Chad turned pale, shot to his feet, swallowed the groan as he ran for his horse in the front of the stable. He grabbed the first saddle he found. It wasn't his.
"Want some company?" Leroy called after him.
"If you can be ready by the time I let my pa know that Marian's been abducted. You see which way they went?"
"They haven't tried to cover their tracks—yet. Since they dealt right handily with you, they probably figure they'll be a couple hours ahead of anyone who might follow."
Chad grimaced at how easily he'd been taken by surprise. "Do they? How long was I out?"
"I'd say close to an hour. Figured you and the gal was having some fun, so I didn't want to intrude too soon. But I just got plain nosey when y'all took too long to make another appearance."
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