Chapter 11
She felt the cold steel of a gun press against the small of her back. She didn't need to turn around; she recognized the voice. She raised her hands in the air to oblige.
"Hello, brother," she said, hoping to soften him up. It always had in the past. "Kinda wondered where you'd gotten off to."
"Don't give me that brother line," Winston said, angrily. "You know we ain't related. You've always known how I felt about you." The gun pressed deeper into her back. "Just shut your mouth and keep your hands where I can see them."
Morgan smiled a little. "Why are you doing this, Winston? What's your purpose? You already know about the mine, just the same as Maddy. You know that it's dry. You know that…" She started to put her hands down, but the gun was only pressed harder.
"Don't lie to me, Morgana. You've been tellin' that story since we moved here. Well, I don't believe it, never have. I followed you into the mine last night. I saw what you did."
Morgan's smile widened. She hoped that he wouldn't see. "I don't know what you mean?"
Winston's gun burrowed deeper into her back. "You know darn well what I'm talkin' about. It's true that the gold in that mine dried up, but now there's silver to take its place and you knew all about it, didn't you? Keepin' it all to yourself, ain't you? So you can marry that fella Heyes. You already lied about that. Told me he wasn't here. Now you're gonna tell me that it wasn't you in the mine two nights ago?"
Morgan's smile faded. "What in the world are you talking about? You know that I wouldn't lie to you. I should have told you about Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, but I had my reasons. As far as that mine goes, you've known all along that there's nothing in there worth…"
The pressure against her back was gone. Morgan sighed. He was using his hands now, the gun forgotten. That's exactly what she had counted on. She had been down this road before. She still had to be careful; she knew it was still in his hands, cocked and ready. All she had to do now was to catch him off guard.
"Not now there ain't. I took most of it. It's all in my pockets. I may have dropped some, but not enough to make any difference."
Morgan closed her eyes and shook her head. "Listen, brother, you've got to believe me. There was never a reason to hide any of this from you. I'm telling you the truth. Now, if I could just see what it is that you…"
The gun was back, pressing harder than before. "You're kiddin' me, right? You really expect me to believe all that?"
"Come on now," she said, trying a new tact. "You won't pull that trigger. I know you won't. We've played this game before. Lots and lots of times and you know that I…"
Morgan whirled around so fast that it took Winston by surprise. She always took a chance when she did this, the risk being that the gun could go off anytime. She had done it so many times that she could do it in her sleep, or so she thought. She had managed to grab it, but not the right way. Winston still held on to the trigger. It was still pointed at her when it went off.
"Morgan?" Heyes called. It was beginning to get dark, he had missed being with her at sunset. It was something they had shared all the time they were together. He knew that she wouldn't have missed it; it was ingrained in both of them. Maddy had told the Kid that much, anyway.
There were two sounds that he heard and they came from two different directions. One sounded like a gunshot and came from the back of the house and the other came from the direction of the mine. He wasn't sure where to go first until he heard her voice calling his name.
"Look out," Ben yelled, as he pushed his brother out of the way. They both fell to the ground.
"What the…." Nate said, as they both watched the beams splinter and crack. The mine collapsed upon itself, leaving no way to crawl in.
"Well," Ben said, "there goes all that silver." He turned his head in Nate's direction. They were both facing the mine.
"Uh, brother," Nate said, looking back at him. "About that silver…"