“Who you calling a fool, old man?”
Sheila was right behind them, and she could hear every word passing between them.
“A fool is as a fool does.Ain’t that the old saying?”
“What do you mean?”
She could hear the note of danger in Dodger’s words, but Wendell was ignoring it.
“You answer me this,” he said sharply.“Back in Elkhorn there, why’d it take you so godawful long to bring back a horse for her?”
Dodger took a moment before he answered.When he did, the threat in his tone was gone.“Didn’t you say, don’t make no trouble?”
“Was there trouble?”
“If you’re asking if I shot somebody, I didn’t.”Dodger raised his voice a little, and Sheila sensed he was speaking for her to hear as well.“And I didn’t do no stabbing or throat cutting or head bashing, neither.”
“Well, that’s a nice change.”
Sarcasm dripped from Wendell’s words, but Sheila shuddered.She had a strong feeling he meant it.She was now more fearful of Dodger than ever.
“You got a problem with how I do my job?”His voice was again low and threatening.
Wendell was clearly unimpressed.“Your job is to follow orders.It ain’t to go off half-cocked and acting like a dang hothead.It ain’t your job to spill blood any time you imagine someone is looking cross-eyed at you.”
Dodger stared straight ahead, and she didn’t know how he was taking this.
“What is it about your gang?”he said finally, scoffing.“You have a good thing going here.You rack up loot real steady, hitting them stagecoaches.But you ain’t the cutthroats and thieves that folks think you are.All you do is take the cut you’re given without a whimper and take orders from?—”
“That’s enough.”Wendell reined in his horse sharply.His hand was on the pistol at his hip.“You keep on talking.Keep on disrespecting the boss.Cuz one more word and I’ll shoot you dead, right now.You got it?”
Sheila hadn’t seen Wendell this angry before.
Dodger’s manner changed immediately.The threat was gone from his voice, replaced by a fake, almost joking tone.“Hell, I don’t mean nothing by it.But a man can ask questions, can’t he?”
“Not about that.”
When Dodger shrugged and nodded, Wendell nudged his horse, and they all started off again.
“You’re hearing me wrong,” Dodger continued, not letting it go.“I got respect for the boss.It’s just that I’m new to your gang.I ain’t never seen a group of gunslingers so good at getting a job done.How can I not respect you all?You been doing this a dog’s age without the law catching up to you.”
“And the reason for that is cuz we don’t cause no trouble where we don’t need to,” Wendell said, still angry.“In five years, for all the stagecoaches we done robbed, we ain’t never killed a driver or a guard.Not till you come along.”
“You told me yourself you had a man killed just afore I signed on.”
“It ain’t your job to avenge nothing, if that’s what you’re saying.”
“I had no choice when we hit that stage,” Dodger muttered.“They was shooting at us.”
“Not afore you started shooting.”
“They saw my face.I ain’t having no WANTED flyer out with my face on it.”
Wendell stared at the younger man.“And what about the miner?”
“I thought that was the plan all along.”
“Itweren’t.”
