Paradise Sky

“I have. I went over and saw the body at the saloon, and me and some of the boys carried it over to the barber’s for cleaning, and from there we have plans to bring it out to a tent I’ve put up. I’ll watch over him, and tomorrow there’ll be the burial. Me and some others have chipped in for a coffin and some funeral doings.”

“I can chip in as well,” I said.

“That is appreciated,” he said. “But let me tell you the chip you need to give.”

“All right.”

We was down the hill now, wandering along Main Street. Word had gotten out about Bill, and the air around us was buzzing with it. There was people practically swarming down the street, yakking about what had happened as they went, talking almost all at once, rushing out of alleys and stores, fluttering down from the high-perch streets thick as flies in a bowl of molasses.

“Look at those goddamn vultures,” Charlie said. “If I didn’t have him hid out in the barbershop, they’d be in Ma

Charlie paused to gaze at them with his face twisted up, and then he relaxed it and looked at me. “That shooting match. Bill told me you were a part of that, correct?”

“The desire for it has flown,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

“Cause we wanted to give Bill’s widow something lest he look like he died poor, which in fact he did.”

“I see,” I said.

“We have him a funeral now, and a coffin, and he’ll be buried tomorrow before he ripens and swells, but it would seem right for him to have had a bit of a financial gathering for Agnes, who, by the way, I had no truck with and no interest in. I don’t know how much dearness Bill had for her, either, other than telling me about how flexible she was. But she is still his wife, and we would prefer Bill not die under circumstances that might have him considered a pauper.”

“He seemed well stocked when we met at the saloon,” I said.

“He liked to make a show,” Charlie said. “The gambling mostly emptied his pockets. He had a few dollars in his pants, a few on the card table, but those have gone to the funeral, along with what the rest of us tossed in. Well, you see how it looks.”

I didn’t care how it looked, but I did care about Bill.

“So how does this tie in with the shooting match?” I asked.

“We would like you to try and win that,” he said.

“Didn’t plan on trying to lose it,” I said. “But now I’m not pla

“If you win the prize, we thought you could donate that to be sent to Agnes, like Bill had been saving it up, and we will all make side bets in a way that you’ll make some real money for yourself as well. You will get your share from the bets; Bill’s widow will get her share from the prize money.”

“Who is the ‘we’ you mentioned?”

He named some men; some of them I knew, some I didn’t.

“You may be misplacing your faith,” I said.

“Bill had faith in you, and that’s good enough for me,” he said.

“Some days are better than others,” I said. “I don’t know the kind of day I’ll have if I shoot.”

Upon Bill’s death, my confidence had taken a departure. Before that, I was stuffed full of it.

“I can take that chance, and my friends can, too,” he said.

“Very well,” I said.

Moments before I had pla

“No, they won’t,” Charlie said. “I can guarantee that. Any row comes about, I will be there, and so will some others. It would be unwise for you to be excluded.”

“Very well, then,” I said.

“One more thing. Bill told me about the one he said you called Ruggert, about him and his henchmen. My guess is he may have been behind Bill’s death. He may have wanted him out of the way, as he would have stood up with you, and in a straightforward fight he would have been a load. Damn. I can’t believe Bill sat with his back to the door. Anyway, that Ruggert was involved is only a guess, but there is more than a strong rumor that he has paid for your competition.”

I gave him a blank look.

“Bronco Bob,” Charlie said.

“Who is Bronco Bob?”

“He’s a famous trick shooter. Famous to everyone but you, apparently, and he’s not just one of them that uses devices to make things seem like they’re more than they are. Doesn’t load his revolvers with buckshot, for instance. He’s a hell of a shooter in the real world. Travels about, makes his day-to-day on it. Bill would have got around to telling you about it eventually. He heard about it from McCall, his assassin, but he didn’t know what stock to put in it. Wasn’t sure if Broken Nose was playing him or not. But I seen Bronco Bob’s wagon roll into town right before Bill got killed, saw him pulling up at the livery. He’s over at the hotel. So it’s quite a coincidence, is it not?”

“Why would McCall warn Bill about it?”

“That is a confusion, to be sure,” Charlie said. “One moment I think Jack wanted to be Bill, another he wanted to be his best pard, and another he wanted to trip him up, which in the end we have to say he did. I think Ruggert may have paid him. And there’s them other fellas. The one Bill said was called Gobbler and the little one.”

“Golem,” I said. “Not Gobbler.”

“Golem?” Charlie said. “What in hell is that?”

“Bill didn’t tell you?”

“If he had, would I be asking you as much?”

“Reckon not.” So I told him what Bill had told me, though there was little material there to make much of a story from.

“Them Jews have some queer ideas about things, sounds to me,” Charlie said, “but if I know what a golem is or don’t, I know who that big son of a bitch is that goes by the name. And I know that little son of a dog turd with him.”

“They call him Weasel,” I said.

“Weasel it is, then. Bottom line, me and Bill’s friends will be there to check your back, make sure a bullet don’t nest in it. The shooting match, how that comes out, that’s up to you. If the cards don’t land in your favor, I know you will have done your best. I trust Bill’s judgment that much. But that’s all there is in a nutshell. That is the favor I’m asking you. Money for Bill’s widow.”

“I’ve done agreed.”

“I wanted you to know the perils of it, though. I have built up good how you are protected, and how we will have your back, but I should add as a measure of honesty, nothing is certain.”

“I know that from experience,” I said. “But with you at the lead, it is certain enough.”

I stuck out my hand.

We shook. “You come and see Bill laid down tomorrow,” he said.

He crossed the street, and I started back to Win.

Before I made it there, I seen Cullen coming toward me at a goodly clip, passing the crowd that was hustling to Ma

He caught up to me. “I heard, Nat. I know he was a friend. I’m sorry.”

“Ain’t no going backwards now. The killer has been nabbed.”

“This is a bad time to ask, you and me being friends and all, but are you still pla

“I will be shooting,” I said.

“Good,” he said. “It’s how I figure to make my dowry for Wow.”

“You need one?”

“No, but we need money, so I thought I’d call it that.”

“Come with me,” I said.

He walked with me back to where Win and Madame were. Actually, they had all met, but I took the time now to properly introduce him. When the visit had reached its natural course, I kissed Win on the cheek and went away with Cullen.

I said, “Ain’t you working today?”