Don't Poke the Bear!

Chapter 40

I WALK DOWNSTAIRS, out through the opening in the wall, and see a kid who can't be more than eighteen.

"Go on home, son," I say, but he's got his gun half out his holster before I can finish my speech.

I can see the kid is fast, and he started before I was ready, so I don't have time to pick my shot. I make my fastest draw, put two holes in his forehead, one in the center of his chest, while yellin', "I'm not payin' to bury him!" I turn and start walkin' back to the Spur before he finishes fallin' to the dirt.

"Oh my God!" Leah squeals. "You just killed Billy the Kid!"

"Oh, shut up," I said.

I wish I had a dollar for every Billy the Kid runnin' around the west, thinkin' he's some kind of outlaw. This is the third one I've shot in the past ten years, and I know of at least two others. Someday there'll probably be a real Billy the Kid gunslinger, and everyone'll think he's been around for twenty years.

Gentry meets me inside.

"I was so worried!" she says.

"Why?"

"What if he'd shot you?"

"Hell, Gentry, he weren't no more than a child. Don't know why these kids are so stupid. It really chaps me to kill 'em. He's probably got a Ma and Pa somewhere, and a brother I'll have to kill 'cause I killed this one. It's all so stupid!"

Them that were about to slap me on the back rightly decide I ain't in the mood, and they cut a wide path so I can walk upstairs to our bedroom to be alone. All I can think of is how a boy just threw his life away.

After a few minutes, Gentry and Rose come in and announce they want to leave tomorrow after breakfast to go warn the folks of Lawrence, Kansas. I can't imagine anyone packin' up and leavin' their homes and businesses because a couple of strangers show up tellin' tales of hundreds of men sackin' a town.

"You don't have to come, Emmett," Gentry says. "It's clear you're needed here. Shrug can escort us to Lawrence, and keep an eye on us."

"Shrug won't go in the town with you," I say.

"In the town, I'll have Rose to protect me."

"I still don't like it."

"We'll be okay," Rose says. "Gentry doesn't have to come, but I have to do this. I'll never sleep again if I don't make the effort."

I nod.

Then Gentry says, "But I do want to go, Emmett. Rose has always been there for you. She saved your life at least twice I know of, and probably again earlier today when Bose came up behind you. This is something I can do to help repay her."

I say, "Rose don't need repayin'. She's our friend."

"That's right, Gentry," Rose agrees.

"My mind's made up," Gentry says. "I want to go with her."

"Gentry, it's three hundred miles. And after Rose warns 'em, she'll be wantin' to continue on to Springfield, to be with Hannah."

The women look at each other. "I'd like to go," Gentry says, "but I don't want to burden you to have to bring me back."

I think on it a minute and say, "If you can wait two days, I'll get everything settled here, and I'll go with you. Rose, you can take the wagon, Gentry and I can ride horses, and when we've warned the folks of Lawrence, you can go on to Springfield, and I'll bring Gentry back.

Gentry's face lights up. "That'll be wonderful, Emmett. But we'll save time if Rose and I leave in the morning, and you can catch up with us."

To Rose, she says, "How far can we get each day driving oxen?"

"Thirty miles."

"And you can do how many on a horse, Emmett?"

"By myself? Sixty. More, if I push."

"So if we start tomorrow, and you come two or three days later, we'll be a third of the way there by the time you catch up to us."

Rose starts gettin' excited. "We'd stick to the main trail. You wouldn't be able to miss us."

"I'll wear a yellow bonnet," Gentry says. "Every day until you find us! And Shrug'll be nearby to take care of us."

"I know you'd enjoy spendin' time with Gentry," I say to Rose.

"I would, but I don't want to come between you," she says.

"Can I go with her Emmett?" Gentry says. "Please? It'd be so much fun! And then you'd be with us in three days or so!"

They've boxed me in a corner. If I say no, I'll break their hearts.

"Okay," I say. "But get all your female chat in early, because I just might meet up with you sooner than you think."

Gentry's smile tells me I made the right decision.