And the Devil Makes Five

Chapter 14 – And for My Final Trick . . . . .

"Alright, it's not funny. Where is it?" Bret stood in their room and held out the empty saddle bag for Bart's inspection.

"Where's what?" his brother shot back.

"The chalice, Brother Bart."

Bart looked at him with those eyes, the ones he used when he was telling the truth but trying to get you to feel sorry for him. "How should I know?"

"Quit joking. What did you do with it?"

"I don't have it, Bret. I didn't do anything with it."

Bret turned his saddlebags upside down and shook them. "Well, it's not here and it didn't just walk away by itself."

"Maybe Beau's got it." Bart was sincere. His brother could tell that he really didn't have the missing chalice.

"Beau had the other one."

"Maybe he's got both of them," Bart suggested.

Bret took the empty saddlebags with him, down the hall to Beau's room. He pounded on the door and waited for his cousin to answer it. When the door opened the first words out of Bret's mouth were "Tell me you have the chalices."

Beau wore a startled expression. "Chalices? Only the one you gave me." He left Bret at the door and walked over to the bed. Picking up his saddlebags and searching inside, he discovered . . . . . nothing. They were completely empty.

"Could Doc have taken them?" Bret asked.

"You never know, with Doc," was Beau's reply.

They both went to Doc's room. It was almost five minutes before Doc answered; he opened the door and looked at the two of them. "Pete and Repeat! What can I do for you?"

"Please tell us you have the chalices."

Doc looked offended. "The Chalices? Me? Why would I have them? You two had them."

Bret and Beau looked at each other, and then at Doc. "They're gone," Bret intoned.

"What? Where? When? How?"

Beau looked like his dog had died. "All good questions, none with answers."

Bart joined the group at Doc's door, and all three Mavericks entered the room. "When was the last time you saw them?" Doc questioned.

Bret thought about it for a minute. He didn't want to think what he was thinking. "In Santa Pietro, at Carmenita's. The second time."

The four men looked at each other, each wondering if the other three were thinking what they were thinking.

"Do you think – "

"I don't know, could she – "

"Would she?"

Three of them turned and looked at Bart. He just shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

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"My child, these are magnificent. How did you get them?"

Carmenita blushed as she handed the second chalice to the padre. "They were a gift for the church, from the Americanos that were here in Santa Pietro, father. They wanted to be sure that you got them and they couldn't stay until you returned from Nuevo Laredo, so they left them with me. I would have brought them over yesterday, but my family just came home from Puente Del Mar and I hadn't seen everyone in so long - so I brought them today, so the church would have them."

"And who were these very generous Americans, Carmenita?"

She smiled at the memory. "They are named after stray cattle, padre. Their name is Maverick."

XXXXXXXX

Three days later, Bret, Bart and Beau Maverick sat in a saloon in Corpus Christi with Doc Holliday and drank coffee, while Doc and his beloved whiskey made sweet music together. None of the four was happy to have given almost a month of their lives to what turned out to be a waste of their time. They'd gotten out of Mexico with their lives and none was ungrateful for that – but there was no monetary reward waiting for them as they had anticipated.

Beau was leaving the next day for Silver Creek and Bret was going along. Bret thought it would be a good idea, considering what Beau was worried about most – Georgia's health. Beau didn't want to tell Bart about the potential problem unless he had a definite need to do so. Montana had not been good to or for the youngest Maverick.

Doc was headed for Arizona, and Bart was going with him. He needed some time to deal with everything that had happened in Montana and Wyoming and thought a change of traveling partner might be a good thing for a time. He didn't blame Bret for the 'breakup' with Millie Ridgeway, but being around his brother always reminded him of the loss, and he needed to forget for a while.

One of the layovers on the journey north was Dallas, and Bret intended to see Rafael's wife and child when the stage stopped for the night. He was going to keep his promise to Rafael, even though no one knew about it but his brother. It was a debt of honor, and Bret intended to pay it.

The four men talked and drank and played poker until the wee hours, finally saying good night early in the morning. Bret and Bart shared a room one more time, and Bret was glad to spend this last night with his brother. They were in the process of getting undressed when Bret started the last long conversation they would share for quite some time. "You sure everything's alright with you?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Bart hung his coat carefully over the chair by the window. Quite a change from the old days, when everything he owned was unceremoniously dumped in a pile on the floor.

"About the cross and chain, I mean."

They'd had an extended conversation about the disposition of the gold and jeweled necklace two days before. Bart naturally wanted to keep it; he'd almost paid for it with his life when he plunged down the well shaft during the earthquake. Bret wanted to give it to Rafael's family, as he'd promised. This was one argument Bart had no intention of losing until Bret explained to his brother just HOW he'd managed to get out of jail in Abilene. Once that information came to light there was no further argument, and Bart agreed that the precious gift should belong to Bret's protector's widow and son.

Bart unbuttoned his vest and sat down on the chair to pull his boots off. "I'm sure everything's alright with me about the cross and chain." He paused for a moment and waited until he knew Bret was paying attention to him. "I'm alright about everything else, too." He stopped getting undressed for a moment, wanting to make sure his brother heard everything he had to say. "I can appreciate the bind I put you in, Bret, when I told you I didn't want to know whatever I'd forgotten. That was my decision, not yours, and you weren't responsible for it. That whole thing with Millie – it just happened. Not your fault. If I could go back and change it, I don't know if I would. I just need to get away from it for a while. Does that make sense?"

Bret walked over in bare feet and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Yes it does, Brother Bart. It makes perfect sense. Maybe I'll meet you in Arizona when I leave Montana. Time apart might be beneficial to both of us."

Bart looked up at his brother and asked, "There's somethin' you're not tellin' me, isn't there? Somethin' Beau asked you not to discuss just yet?"

Bret turned his back to his brother and walked back over to the bed. That way he wasn't forced to lie to Bart's face. "Nope. Not a thing."

"Alright, then, I'll see you in a couple months? In Arizona?"

"Yes, sir, I'll see you in two months in Arizona."

Neither of them knew then it would be almost a year before they'd be together again. And that one of them would be an entirely different man by the time they reunited.

The End

What's next for the Maverick Brothers? Something totally unexpected. Coming soon, "Death Has It's Price."