Rusty disapproved, but he soon saw he was going to lose the argument. He said, “I’ll ride with you, then. I want to be close by in case you need help.”

“No. You stay here. All of you stay here. This is a job I’d best do by myself, the coyote way.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY

Andy could barely make out the house as a thin cloud stole most of the limited light from a quarter moon. Farley Brackett had told him three times, “Don’t forget, my old daddy’s bedroom is in the southwest corner. If you go into the wrong one my mother or my sister are liable to holler.”

Andy had become impatient with the advice. Farley seemed to consider him slow in the head. He suspected that Farley was not especially concerned about Andy’s safety. He wanted to get his money as quickly as possible and run.

Farley had said, “I just wisht I could shoot me one more state policeman before I leave. Clyde Oldham would be my pick. Or Buddy if I couldn’t get Clyde.”

Rusty asked, “What is it you like so much about shootin’ police?”

“I don’t rightly know. Maybe it’s the way they jump when they’re hit. Anyway, they’re all Yankees at heart. Texas could do with a lot less of them.”

Andy stopped a hundred yards out and tied the reins to a tree. He reasoned that the guards would have moved close to the house at dark. Before he put down his full weight he tested each step for twigs that might crack or gravel that might slip underfoot. Shortly he saw a flash of fire as someone lighted a cigarette. Good. He had that guard located.

The cloud drifted on, uncovering the moon, though the light remained dim. Andy moved sideways to put more distance between him and the guard he had spotted. He stopped abruptly as he caught a movement and heard a voice.

“Silas, you got any tobacco? I’m plumb out.”

The guard he had seen first moved toward the voice. “Yeah, but be careful when you light it. If the captain sees it, we’ll all catch hell.”

“Reminds me of an officer I had in the army. Mad about somethin’ all the time. He’s sure got it in for them Oldhams.”

“With good reason. We almost had Farley Brackett, ‘til Buddy charged in before we was ready and got his horse knocked out from under him. Damn, but that Farley’s a crack shot.”

“At least Buddy’s better than Clyde. Never saw a man who could disappear so quick when he hears a gun go off.”

While the two guards continued their conversation, Andy circled around them. He was almost to the back of the house. He worried over a dim patch of moonlight he had to cross before he could reach the porch. He worked along carefully in the shadow of a shed, looked hard in all directions, then passed quickly through the stretch of open ground. He stopped in the darkness of the porch, listening for any indication that someone had seen him. He could still hear faintly the guards’ conversation. The only other sound was crickets in the trees.