only stopping to pick up his Colt gun and shove it in his holster. Down just past there he left the road andstarted up the slope, moving pretty quickly through the greasewood and other brush.
Dr. Favor woke up first. He yelled at Russell. Then Mendez was out on the road looking up at Russell, and Dr. Favor had run off into the brush on the other side of the coach.
I started down then, taking the grainsack our provisions were in and my blanket roll. By the time I was on the road, Dr. Favor was coming out of the brush with his little revolver and Mendez’s sawed-off shotgun. Mendez and the McLaren girl were still watching Russell.
“He’s running,” Dr. Favor said. He was not at all calm and at that moment I thought if the shotgun was loaded he would have fired it at Russell.
“We need him,” Dr. Favor said then. He knew it right then. He knew it as sure as he thought John Russell was an Apache Indian and we were afoot out in the middle of nowhere.
That’s when the rest of us came wide awake. The McLaren girl said, “I wouldn’t have any idea where to go. I don’t think I even know where we are.”
“We’re maybe half way,” I said. “Maybe more. If we were over on the main road I could tell.”
“Then how far’s the main road?”
Favor shot a look at her like he was trying to think and she had interrupted him. “Just keep quiet,” he said.
It stung her, you could see. “Standing out here in the open,” she said, “what good does keeping quiet do?”
Dr. Favor never answered her. He looked at Mendez and said, “Come on,” handing him his shotgun, and they hurried out to where Lamarr Dean’s horse was, Dr. Favor skirting around Lamarr Dean’s body which lay spread-armed like it had been staked out, but Mendez stopped there to take Lamarr Dean’s Colt. Then they were both at the dead horse, kneeling there a minute, Favor pulling loose the saddlebags while Mendez got the waterskin. They didn’t bother with the Henry rifle, or else it was under the horse and held fast.
While they were at the dead horse, the McLaren girl said, still watching them, “He’s not even thinking of his wife. Do you know that?”
“Well, sure he is,” I said, not meaning he was actually thinking about her, but at least concerned about her. What did the girl expect him to do? He couldn’t just chase after Braden. That wouldn’t get his wife back.
“He’s forgotten her,” the McLaren girl said. “All he’s thinking about is the money he stole.”
“You can’t just say something like that,” I said. I meant you couldn’t know what somebody was thinking, especially in the jackpot we were in right then. A person acted , and thought about it later.
It was getting the things from Lamarr’s horsethat took time, the reason we were not right behind Russell or had him in sight anymore by the time we got down the road past the cutbank and started up the slope.
Dr. Favor, with the saddlebags over one shoulder, kept ahead of us, following the same direction Russell had taken. The slope was not very difficult at first, a big open sweep that humped up to a bunch of pines along the top; but, as we were hurrying, it wasn’t long before our legs started aching and getting so tight you thought something would knot inside and you’d never get it loosened.
We were hurrying because of what was behind us, you can bet all your wages on that. But we were also hurrying to catch Russell, feeling like little kids running home in the dark and scared the house was going to be locked and nobody home. Do you see how we felt? We were worried he had left us to go on his own. In other words, knowing we needed Russell if we were going to find our way out of here alive.
When Dr. Favor reached the trees he hesitated, or seemed to, then he was gone. That’s when we hurried faster, all worn out by then. You could hear Mendez breathing ten feet away.
But there was no need to hurry. As we reached the top there was Dr. Favor standing
Dr. Favor woke up first. He yelled at Russell. Then Mendez was out on the road looking up at Russell, and Dr. Favor had run off into the brush on the other side of the coach.
I started down then, taking the grainsack our provisions were in and my blanket roll. By the time I was on the road, Dr. Favor was coming out of the brush with his little revolver and Mendez’s sawed-off shotgun. Mendez and the McLaren girl were still watching Russell.
“He’s running,” Dr. Favor said. He was not at all calm and at that moment I thought if the shotgun was loaded he would have fired it at Russell.
“We need him,” Dr. Favor said then. He knew it right then. He knew it as sure as he thought John Russell was an Apache Indian and we were afoot out in the middle of nowhere.
That’s when the rest of us came wide awake. The McLaren girl said, “I wouldn’t have any idea where to go. I don’t think I even know where we are.”
“We’re maybe half way,” I said. “Maybe more. If we were over on the main road I could tell.”
“Then how far’s the main road?”
Favor shot a look at her like he was trying to think and she had interrupted him. “Just keep quiet,” he said.
It stung her, you could see. “Standing out here in the open,” she said, “what good does keeping quiet do?”
Dr. Favor never answered her. He looked at Mendez and said, “Come on,” handing him his shotgun, and they hurried out to where Lamarr Dean’s horse was, Dr. Favor skirting around Lamarr Dean’s body which lay spread-armed like it had been staked out, but Mendez stopped there to take Lamarr Dean’s Colt. Then they were both at the dead horse, kneeling there a minute, Favor pulling loose the saddlebags while Mendez got the waterskin. They didn’t bother with the Henry rifle, or else it was under the horse and held fast.
While they were at the dead horse, the McLaren girl said, still watching them, “He’s not even thinking of his wife. Do you know that?”
“Well, sure he is,” I said, not meaning he was actually thinking about her, but at least concerned about her. What did the girl expect him to do? He couldn’t just chase after Braden. That wouldn’t get his wife back.
“He’s forgotten her,” the McLaren girl said. “All he’s thinking about is the money he stole.”
“You can’t just say something like that,” I said. I meant you couldn’t know what somebody was thinking, especially in the jackpot we were in right then. A person acted , and thought about it later.
It was getting the things from Lamarr’s horsethat took time, the reason we were not right behind Russell or had him in sight anymore by the time we got down the road past the cutbank and started up the slope.
Dr. Favor, with the saddlebags over one shoulder, kept ahead of us, following the same direction Russell had taken. The slope was not very difficult at first, a big open sweep that humped up to a bunch of pines along the top; but, as we were hurrying, it wasn’t long before our legs started aching and getting so tight you thought something would knot inside and you’d never get it loosened.
We were hurrying because of what was behind us, you can bet all your wages on that. But we were also hurrying to catch Russell, feeling like little kids running home in the dark and scared the house was going to be locked and nobody home. Do you see how we felt? We were worried he had left us to go on his own. In other words, knowing we needed Russell if we were going to find our way out of here alive.
When Dr. Favor reached the trees he hesitated, or seemed to, then he was gone. That’s when we hurried faster, all worn out by then. You could hear Mendez breathing ten feet away.
But there was no need to hurry. As we reached the top there was Dr. Favor standing
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