Iron Shirt. John Collins

of the war with all the men gone and all,” the sheriff said. “You two will need to settle a couple of days till I can send the wire and do the paperwork.”

      Bill looked over to Isaac and said, “Now ain’t that a kick in the ass. We killed the lowdown varmints, and they’re going to pay us.”

      Jeb and his people all thanked them, and one of the older girls ran up and kissed Isaac on the cheek. Isaac’s mouth flew open, and Bill was sure he was going to bolt. But he just stood there, red-faced.

      The sheriff said, “Take the bodies to the barber. He serves as undertaker too.”

      At the barbershop, the barber said, “That’s the James Coleman Gang. Laws been after them for years for bank robbery, murder, and rape. Just two weeks ago, they raped a widow and her daughter and killed them. After leaving the bodies, they went to the livery stable to board their horses now totaling nine.”

      The livery boy told Isaac it cost twenty-five cents per horse, and that included grain. Isaac remembered what his Pa had told him and pulled out a ten-dollar Confederate bill.

      Isaac and Bill walked to the hotel and asked for two rooms and a bath. The clerk said it would be fifty cents per day each. The bath was included. Isaac pulled out a five-dollar Confederate note.

      The clerk smiled and said, “In Confederate, it will be double.”

      Isaac said okay and asked where they could get a good meal. He was told of Sue’s café around the corner. Isaac said, “With luck, we’ll get rid of all this Confederate money.”

      They ate a good supper of steak, potatoes, collard greens, and buttermilk. Bill smacked his lips and said, “Now I need a drink.” They walked into the saloon across the street. Bill ordered rye whiskey and Isaac a beer.

      “You know, I was raised on moonshine but never liked it,” Isaac said.

      One man at the end of the bar was talking about the outlaws who were brought in dead and said that they were friends of his and that he would bet they were shot in the back. The bar got quiet as a mouse’s fart. The bartender said, “Those two at the end of the bar brought them in.”

      Isaac stepped away from the bar, his hand hovering over his gun butt. He said, “Friends of yours, you say? Do you have a bounty on your head too?”

      The man said, “Wait a minute, boy, I didn’t mean anything.”

      “I’m not your boy. My ma would not fool with trash like you.”

      “I’m sorry, mister. I apologize.”

      Isaac started back to the bar when the man’s hand slid down toward his gun, but Bill’s was already out. The man raised both hands and said, “Don’t kill me.”

      Bill said, “You were going to back shoot my friend. Why should I not kill you? Bill told the man next to him to take his gun out and throw it in the horse trough.

      Isaac looked at the man with the coldest eyes anyone had ever seen and said, “If I ever see you again, I will kill you.”

      The man ran for the door, and they heard his horse galloping out of town.

      Bill said in a low voice, “Isaac, now for the second lesson, never buck a man then turn your back to him.”

      They finished their drinks. The bartender said, “I wish you would have killed that troublemaking son of a bitch so I won’t have to put up with him.”

      Bill said, “He’ll get it soon enough. They always do.”

      Bill and Isaac walked out.

      Isaac said, “Bill, we need some new duds. Let’s go to the general store and spend this Confederate money before they find out it’s worthless.”

      Bill picked out a pair of whipcord pants and a shirt and new Western boots and a high crown hat. Isaac got boots, a hat, a shirt, black pants, a razor, and a mug. They paid the clerk fifty then went next door to the barbershop for a shave.

      *****

      The next morning, the sheriff was waiting in the lobby of the hotel. The sheriff said, “I’ve got a voucher for you two. James Coleman had $2,500 on his head. The other five had $1,000 each. This voucher is for $7,500. But for this amount, you will have to take it to Fort Smith and have Judge Hayes sign on it before the bank will pay off on it. The outlaws had some money on them, but you will have to cover the rest of the funeral cost. But their horses are yours. Don’t skip town on the stable bill.”

      Isaac and Bill walked to the barbershop. He had all six propped up in front of his place of business and was charging twenty-five cents for locks of hair. Isaac asked, “How much do we owe you?”

      He said they had thirty dollars on them and that the balance was fifty dollars. Isaac pulled out a one-hundred-dollar Confederate bill. The barber said he did not have change. Isaac said, “Keep it.”

      At the stable, the owner told them he would give them fifty dollars each for the six horses and saddles. Bill said that if he would throw in a packsaddle, he had a deal. They took it and left town.

      *****

      A mile and a half out of town, the man from the bar and two of his friends stood in the middle of the road. The man said, “You made me dance yesterday. Now it’s time to pay the band.” He went for his gun. So did his friends.

      Isaac’s hands moved like lightning, firing two shots before they cleared the leather. Bill’s shot was fast but hit the man in the shoulder. He came up with his gun when Isaac’s bullet hit him between the eyes.

      Bill looked at him and said, “Son, I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not you taking care of me. Where’d you learn to draw like that?”

      Isaac said, “It just comes naturally, I guess.”

      “I’m tired of hauling all the bodies. Leave them for the buzzards.”

      With the horses tied to a lead rope, they left.