Rusty did not know what to say. He would have bet all he owned that Dawkins had been here.

The sheriff said, “He ain’t normally much of a card-playin’ man. Ain’t got the time or the patience. He did it to make sure plenty of people saw him and could vouch for his whereabouts.”

“Just the same, he arranged for the raid. You know he did.”

“I’d bet my best horse on it. But unless somebody tells off on him, no court will convict him. Not now, the times and politics bein’ what they are. And nobody who really knows anything is goin’ to talk. Dawkins will pay them off or scare them off. He can be a scary son of a bitch.”

“Scares me, sure enough. A man who’d have a house burned down around women and kids, there’s no limit to what he’d do.”

“And not much way to stop him, short of murder. James Monahan tried that.” The lawman walked to the shed where Clemmie sat with her children. “Mrs. Monahan, I think you folks ought to get away from here for a while.”

Clemmie nodded woodenly. “We’ve talked about it. Ain’t likely we can go to any neighbors. Been a couple come to see about us, then left real quick. They’re afraid of Dawkins.”

Rusty said, “I’ve offered them the use of my farm down on the Colorado.”

The sheriff stared hard at Clemmie. “You goin’?”

“Don’t look like we’ve got much choice. The cattle can take care of themselves if we leave them here. We’d need to take the horses along because there’s some people’d steal them soon as they found out we’re gone.”

“I know a couple of boys who’ll help you make the move.”

Rusty asked the sheriff, “Would you get word to the captain at Belknap that I’m takin’ leave of absence while I show the Monahans to my place?”

The minutemen organization was so loose and perpetually in need of help that even a private had considerable latitude in setting his own terms.

The sheriff said, “They won’t pay you for the time you’re gone.”

“They haven’t paid me half the time as it is. I didn’t join for the money.”

“I figured you joined to stay out of the Confederate Army.”

“Not at first. But it’s a good reason to stay in.”

The Monahans had two wagons, one strong and heavy, the other old and broken down so that it was used only for light work around the farm. Most of the household furnishings had been lost in the fire. The two wagons should be enough to haul whatever remained, provided the oldest did not collapse.

True to his word, the sheriff sent two schoolboys to help gather and drive the loose horses. Rusty guessed them to be fourteen or fifteen. They were too young to be conscripted into the army, though he had seen some of that age volunteer or lie about their birth dates to get in.

He felt that the boys should be warned of the possible consequences. “Caleb Dawkins may not like it, you-all helpin’ the Monahan family. He might take it out on your fathers.”