Ain't never gonna live to be Pappy's age because Brother Bart's gonna worry me to death first. As soon as we heard the gunshot I was ready to jump up an run outside to see who shot my brother, I was that sure that it must've been him that caught the bullet. Ginny grabbed me by the arm an talked logic to me.
"It wasn't your brother," she insisted. "The shot came from in front of us – Bart went the other way."
"You sure?" I asked tensely.
"I'm sure. You always this worried about him?"
I laughed, sort of. "You have no idea what he's been through. Last time I almost lost him it was a bullet meant for me. That'll give ya nightmares."
She looked at me with sympathy. "You really care about him, don't you?"
"Care about him? Hell, I practically raised him. Haven't you heard him call me Pappy?"
Ginny shook her head. "No. Does he really?"
"Swear to God. I don't . . . . never mind."
"Where were your parents?"
I looked at her like she should know the answer to that, forgettin' for a minute that we'd just met earlier that mornin'. Then I remembered – she had no way of knowin' anything I didn't tell her. "Lost Momma when I was seven. Bart was five. Pappy was – is – a gambler. He worked at night and slept during the day." I shrugged. It was no harder than anybody else's life. It just sounded hard.
I think she was gettin' ready to ask more questions when she was distracted by the train car door slammin'. Jake had made it back, without Sam. That was an interestin' development. Cafferty and Jake put their heads together and there was a lot of low-level muttering. Once that stopped Neal went out by himself.
"What do you suppose is going on?" Ginny asked, not really expectin' me to have an answer, but I did.
"You ain't gonna like it," I told her.
"Tell me anyway."
"It's the Blood Moon, that's what's causin' all the weird comin's and goin's."
Ginny didn't even hesitate, just laughed right out loud at me. Or the blood moon, I'm not sure which.
"Don't tell me you believe that! A superstition like that?"
"It's not a superstition, it's the truth. All sorts of strange things happen with the Blood Moon. Just watch that bunch up front and see what they do next." We sat there for maybe ten, fifteen minutes, and watched. Nobody came back, not Sam or Neal. Finally Victor and Jake left together. Cafferty looked as nervous as a cat in a room full a rockin' chairs. Another ten minutes or so passed and Malone turned back to me.
"I will admit, things are quite off. But I still don't think it's the moon. Uh-oh, Cafferty's watching us. Put your arm around me." She didn't have to ask me twice. I put my head next to hers and then leaned down an kissed her, and for just a second there was a flicker in her eyes that I hadn't seen before. "Um, that was nice," she murmured, and I gave it another shot. This time I got a response from her, a little noise of some sort that made me think she was enjoyin' our play actin' just a bit. When we broke apart she observed, "He's not watching anymore."
"That's a real shame," I told her and sat back a little. Bart picked right then to walk back in, and I was glad he hadn't come back any sooner.
"Playin' sweethearts?" he asked with a tone in his voice. I gave him some kinda smart-aleck answer and grinned, then the conversation turned to the Marshals. Ginny explained the turn of events with the gang and that led us back into her doubts about the Blood Moon. We'd almost flogged that to death when all of a sudden Jake, Victor, Neal and Sam came back. Still missin' Mitch. They all took to yammerin' at the same time and Cafferty finally got 'em to sit down and shut up, and kept 'em quiet enough that we couldn't hear 'em anymore.
"Now what?"
"Nothin', until they make a move," Ginny responded.
"Do we know for sure that they actually blew up a train car?" Bart asked.
"We felt the explosion," Ginny reminded him.
"Feelin' an explosion and blowin' somethin' up aren't the same thing," I pointed out.
"So who goes out to check?" Bart wondered.
"I will," Agent Malone answered. She unbuckled her gun belt and slipped it off, pocketing her .45.
I didn't like that idea. What if Mitch was still out there somewhere? What if there was somethin' goin' on that we didn't know about? What if . . . . . . . well, what if?
I kept my mouth shut. Ginny Malone was not the kind of woman you questioned when she'd made her mind up about somethin'. She patted my arm and raised her voice loud enough to be overheard in the front of the car. "I'll be right back, darlin'. I hafta . . . . . .well, you know." Then she bent down an gave me a kiss. An what a kiss it was. I'm sure it was done for the Jones boys' benefit, but I didn't care. That woman kissed good.
Without any warning, Cafferty's voice boomed out. "Where's she goin'?"
I acted like any indignant 'man friend' would. "What business is it of yours?"
Cafferty pulled his Colt and aimed it our way. That put a different spin on things. "Don't make me repeat myself."
I hesitated no longer. "Goin' to do what . . . . you know, we all gotta do," I answered, putting just a little reluctance in my voice. Truth was, I didn't like the show of hostility on Cafferty's part, and I especially didn't like the pointed gun. What if he went after her? Victor said somethin' to him and Cafferty snickered, and put the gun away.
"That's the first real crack in the façade," Bart observed.
He was right; that was the first indication given that they were anything other than innocent ranchers. I still didn't like the fact that Ginny was out there in the dark all alone, with Mitch still missing. With that dang moon glowin' bright red in the sky.
She'd been gone for a good fifteen minutes and I was just about to go lookin' for her when she came back to the car. She put on a good show; actin' like the confused little woman and runnin' back into my arms. "You alright?" I whispered.
"Yes," she answered in my ear as she kissed me, just a peck this time. "I got lost in the dark," she announced loud enough for everyone's benefit.
"Sit down, darlin'," I urged her as Cafferty watched us for a minute. She did and snuggled close, no doubt for his benefit.
"You were right. Whatever they blew up with the dynamite, it wasn't any of the cars. I talked to the engineer – he's just as bewildered as anyone about the train stopping."
Bart and I exchanged glances. "Blood Moon," he mouthed, and I nodded agreement. "They still gotta get in the Marshals' car to get Daggett without blowin' it up," my brother reminded her. "Bane and Francis aren't just gonna open the door for 'em."
"There's another way out of that car," Malone informed us. "It's a trap door, right underneath the safe. Bane and Francis don't even know it's there."
"Then how do you – " I started to ask.
She just smiled. "Pinkerton," she replied.
