Devils Unto Dust(27)

Sam reaches us first, though he keeps his distance. Micah stands a little behind him, shielding himself.

“Hey, Sis,” Micah says, and he has the temerity to smile at me.

“Don’t you hey, Sis me, Micah. What the hell are you doing here? Where are the twins? I swear, if you left them alone—”

“I would never! They’re with Old Bess; she promised to look after them.”

“Old Bess?” I repeat, my voice going high. “We’ll be lucky to ever find them again! You addle-headed, half-witted—”

“Listen, Willie,” Sam says gently, and I round on him.

“And you,” I say, jabbing my finger at him. “You’re supposed to be smart. Turn around. Both of you, turn around and go home right now.”

“No,” Micah says, scowling.

“Micah, so help me, you will do as I say.”

“I’m not goin’ back. You can’t make me.” Micah crosses his arms stubbornly.

I ball my hands into fists to keep from smacking him across the face. “Watch me. You’re lucky you stayed alive this long, I will not have you out here.”

“I can’t just sit at home, watching the twins fight and wondering if you’re comin’ back,” Micah says, his cheeks going red. I feel a lurch of guilt; it must be costing him a lot to say all this in front of strangers.

“I can handle myself, you know I can,” I say, calming down some. “And the Garretts are good at what they do.”

Curtis holds a hand out. “Hi there,” he says, like he hasn’t heard us hollering at one another. “Curtis Garrett.”

“Micah Wilcox,” my brother says, shaking his hand.

“Samuel Kincaid,” Sam adds.

Benjamin doesn’t offer a hand, watching the exchange with narrowed eyes. At least I know now he’s rude to everyone, not just me.

“No offense to you, Mr. Garrett,” Micah says, “but I don’t know you. And I don’t trust anyone I don’t know to look after my sister. And I especially don’t trust two men alone with her.”

This is the longest speech I’ve ever heard Micah give to anyone outside our family; I would be proud if I weren’t so mortified.

“I don’t blame you, son,” Curtis says evenly. “I wouldn’t want two strangers on the road with my sister, if we had one.”

“Then you understand why I won’t go back,” Micah says.

“Micah, two extra people will slow us down and make us an easier target. Curtis, tell him he can’t come,” I say.

Curtis rubs the back of his neck and mutters something under his breath.

“Oh, for pity’s sake!” I should’ve known Curtis would be no help. Benjamin had it right; his brother is too tenderhearted. “Sam, your father is going to be worried sick.”

“By the time he realizes I’m gone we’ll be halfway back,” Sam says. “And I already tried to talk Micah out of it. He was set to go himself if I didn’t come along.”

In desperation I turn to Ben. “You,” I say. “You can’t want them along.”

Benjamin clears his throat and does his glaring thing. “We don’t take in strays, boys,” he says. “And we ain’t free.”

Sam squares his shoulders and digs in his pocket. “I didn’t reckon you were,” he says, holding out a fistful of bills. “I got the money, for both of us.”

I should’ve known a doctor’s son would have money.

“This is ridiculous. Sam doesn’t even know how to shoot.”

“I do too!” Sam says, affronted.

“You know how to aim?” Benjamin asks skeptically.

“You have plenty of gun hands,” Sam counters. “What you don’t have is a doctor.”

“You’re a doctor?”

“Closest thing there is to one out here.” Sam shrugs off the pack he’s carrying and flips it open. “Bandages, alcohol, needles, laudanum. I can patch wounds and keep ’em clean. That’s worth more than any gun.”

Benjamin and Curtis exchange a glance. It reminds me of the twins, how they can read what the other is thinking without words. I’m losing this fight, is what that look means.

“Willie,” Micah says quietly to me. “We can walk with you or behind you, but we’re not going back.”

“I hope you brought your own water,” is all I say.





23.


We pass the third marker while I am not speaking to anyone. I don’t think any of them notice my silence, or if they do they don’t consider it punishment, but it’s a small kind of satisfaction. I keep my head down, watching my feet and reciting the names of cacti; shin-dagger agave, prickly pear, devil cholla, twisted rib. Half are named for what they’ll do to you, and I’ve been on the receiving end of their tender mercies before.

Micah and Sam are walking behind Curtis, occasionally asking questions. They’re not laughing anymore, not after they got a chance to see the well. I reckon it was a game until then, but a dead body makes for a rude realization. I hoped it would make Micah rethink coming with, but if anything he looks more determined. He and Sam are different out here. I never would have thought Micah would prove to be so strong-willed or that Sam would be prideful. Am I different, too, I wonder? All I feel is angry, and scared. And that’s nothing new to me.