Booth watched Bodine pour another shot in the four glasses before answering. “Don’t know for sure, a couple of days, I reckon, till we decide where we wanna go. I reckon we’d rather take one of the cabins.”

Almost drooling after seeing the roll of money that came out of Booth’s pocket, Bodine was eager to persuade the four outlaws to stay longer. “The big cabin’s in pretty good shape and there’s a good-sized stack of firewood ready for the fireplace, good grass for your horses, and room in the back room for your saddles and such. I’ve got me a gal workin’ here since you’ve been here—name’s Josie Johnson. She’s a lot younger’n she looks.” When Tater and Trip looked around the room to see her, Bodine said, “She ain’t here right now. And you ain’t likely to get no better vittles than comes outta my kitchen. My wife, Dinah Belle, is still doin’ the cookin’.”

Booth remembered Dinah Belle’s cooking. It was fit to eat. That was about the most you could say for it. With a name like that, it was only natural that all the boys called her Dinner Bell. “Well, you talked me into it,” Booth joked. “We’ll move in the big cabin for a while, give you a little business.”

“You’ll get your money’s worth,” Bodine boasted. “I’ll tell Dinah Belle she’s gonna need to fix enough supper for four hungry fellers. She’ll be tickled to do it.”

“Good,” Booth said. “Is that cabin locked?” When told that the door was open, he said, “All right, we’ll move in and take care of our horses, then I expect we’ll be back pretty quick for supper.” He grabbed the bottle off the bar and the four walked out.

Bodine stood there, grinning to himself with anticipation at the thought of separating Booth and his gang from their money, then he turned and went into the kitchen. Before he could speak, Dinah Belle blurted, “I heard. It’s gonna take me a little time to fix enough for that bunch. It’s a good thing I’ve got a helluva lot of cornmeal. I’ll fill ’em up on corn bread.”

“Do the best you can, honeypot, those jaspers are carryin’ a lot of money. They musta hit a bank or somethin’, if they’re all totin’ money like ol’ Booth flashed. And that’s just what he was totin’ in his pocket. We need to get Josie on her feet again to keep those ol’ boys buyin’ whiskey.”

“She’s been huggin’ that bed long enough,” Dinah Belle said. “She claimed she was havin’ female problems, but I know she ain’t had any of them problems in years. She just don’t wanna help out in the kitchen. I’ll get her up.”