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“I hate for you to think that’s the only reason I’d come,” Reginald said, again wiping sweat from his brow. “We’re friends. I appreciate your friendship. And I know friends shouldn’t take advantage of each other. But, damn it, Bulldog, I’m in a lot of trouble. And because of it, I’m not able to sleep. I’m tired. So damn tired.”
“What on earth could get in the way of your sleep?” Bulldog Jones wondered. “Spit it out, Preach. Tell me everything. If there’s something I can do to help you, you know I’ll do it.”
“Well, it’s this way,” Reginald said, then told him all about how he had come to be cursed by the Sioux. Up until now he had not told anyone where he had found the silver.
But now it was different.
And if Bulldog Jones wanted to go and take silver from that damnable cave, let him. He was welcome to it, if he wanted to start having the same nightmares that Reginald was now having.
That made him smile.
“And are you saying that your cousin Jessie is at the Indian village?” Bulldog Jones said, leaning forward, his eyes squinting. “And you want me to do away with the Injuns and make sure the offspring of my old rival is dead?”
“Exactly,” Reginald said, suddenly overwhelmed by an attack of wheezing. He tried to suck in a deep breath, only to wheeze even more violently.
“I think you need that whiskey,” Bulldog Jones said, rising quickly and pouring a shot into a small glass, then handing it to Reginald.
Reginald swallowed it in fast gulps, and sighed with relief when the whiskey momentarily checked his wheezing and coughing.
“Thanks,” he said, handing the empty glass back to Bulldog Jones. “Well, what’s your answer? Will you help me? I’ll part with many of my coins if you’ll do this job for me.”
“Yep, it’d be my pleasure,” Bulldog Jones said, his eyes gleaming. “I’ve gotten blisters on my butt from sitting too long in this rocking chair. It’ll be good to be back on my horse wreaking havoc.”
“Thank you, oh, thank you,” Reginald said, his heart pounding at the thought that this outlaw was actually going to help him in his time of crisis. “When can you do it?”
“Soon,” Bulldog Jones said, going to stare from a window. “I’m eager to get my hands on my ol’ buddy’s daughter. And I hate Injuns; all sorts. They don’t have a place among us civil folk.”
“That’s true,” Reginald said, rising from his chair. “In a few days I’ll bring you a bag of money for what you’re going to do to help me. Name your price. It’ll be in the bag.”
“You know me well enough to know the price I need for this job,” Bulldog Jones said, turning on a heel and smiling greedily at Reginald. “Preach, I’ll send word when I want you to come with the money.”
Then he stared from the window again. “And a cave is where you got it, huh?” he said, drumming his fingers on the windowsill. “I’ll wait awhile and then give that cave a visit.”
“You’d best leave no Sioux behind if you plan on going to that damnable cave,” Reginald said, walking toward the door. “If you had the sort of nightmares they’ve cursed me with, you’d think twice before going to that cave. I’ll give you enough coins so that you may change your mind about going there.”
“There’s never enough coins for my pockets,” Bulldog Jones said, walking out of the cabin with Reginald. “Seems my pockets have holes in them.”
Reginald laughed, then boarded his wagon and nodded a farewell to the outlaw. He was escorted from the property by several men, glad when they finally stopped and rode back toward the hideout.
Feeling smug now, and anxious for Bulldog Jones to do his work, Reginald hurried home.
He gazed down at the damnable coffee stain. “Jade,” he whispered. “I’ve got to find Jade.”
He hurried into the house, only to find silence there.
He went to the kitchen, expecting Jade to be standing over the stove preparing food for the evening meal. He frowned when he found no signs of her there, or of food being prepared.
He turned on a heel and stomped from the kitchen, shrieking Jade’s name. But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find her.
He stormed into her bedroom. His face blanched when he saw that all of her belongings were missing, as were the blankets from her bed.
“She’s gone,” he said, a sick feeling gripping him in the pit of his stomach. “That damnable wench has left me!”
He ran out to the stable and saw that the wagon she used to travel into town was also gone.
“Lee-Lee,” he said, his eyes widening. “Lord, Lee-Lee!”
Realizing that Jade had done far more than go into town to visit her daughter and take her the usual basket of provisions, Reginald was afraid to go and check on Lee-Lee. He suspected that Jade had finally worked up the courage to help her daughter escape. Surely both were long gone from the area by now.
