“You were too damn quick,” Joe said. “Elmer and Jody were just horse traders. You might have asked before you shot. Now you’ve killed a fine man and ruint a family.”

Billy Bone looked disgusted—he had expected a hero’s greeting, and did not enjoy being criticized.

“Well, of course you’d take his part, you’re a Texan yourself,” he said. “What was he doing in this country if he wasn’t one of the killers?”

“I expect they were just going back to Texas for more horses,” Joe said.

Elmer Fay’s hat had fallen off his head. Joe walked over and retrieved it. Then he put it carefully over his dead friend’s face.

“You were far too quick to shoot,” he said. “Elmer Fay was a steady fellow. It’s a big pity that he’s dead.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be a regular preacher,” Billy exclaimed.

Joe Lovelady ignored him. He took the bedroll off the dead man’s mare and spread it on the grass.

“Would you help me, Sippy? Let’s wrap him up,” he said.

I took the end that Des Montaignes usually took—the feet—and helped Joe lift the corpse onto the bedroll. Joe rolled him up neatly and tied him with his own rope. Then we placed the body across the nervous mare.

Billy Bone watched us silently, but I think he was as nervous as the mare. Something had gone wrong. Luck had brought him what seemed a legitimate chance to become the killer everyone fancied him to be. But there was a dark side to the luck. He had killed his friend’s friend, and an innocent man at that.

I believe he would have welcomed a hot argument, but Joe Lovelady offered him none. Joe looked grave, and went on tying the body across the saddle his friend had been riding only a few minutes before.

“Are you planning on a church funeral?” Billy blurted, unable to stand the silence. “Why not just scratch out a hole and plant the man here?”

“Why, I know the family,” Joe said. “I’d be remiss not to take Elmer home.”

“How long since you’ve seen the man?” Billy asked. He could not stand to be thought in the wrong.

“I believe I saw Elmer last year,” Joe replied.

“Well, then you don’t know so much, after all,” Billy insisted. “He could have got tired of horse trading and gone to killing for Isinglass. I might have been the one shot down if I hadn’t fired quick.”

“No, Elmer Fay was steady,” Joe said. “Jody was the one with the wild streak. You’ll have to keep an eye on Jody from now on. I expect he’ll be wanting to revenge his brother.”

“Him? Why, he ran like a jackrabbit,” Billy said.