Free Lucky Billy by John Vernon Page B

Myself, I've known men who could make themselves stop breathing. Their will was that strong."
    "What happened to them?"
    "They died. And when Lawrence Murphy dies, Jimmy Dolan will be left the last one of the partnership. He's already in charge of the House by hisself now. So Emil Fritz dies, this was about maybe four years ago—long before Mr. Tunstall shows up, or you neither, Kid—and his family hires Alexander McSween, the only green-bag in town, to clean up the estate. Where the trouble began is Mac is supposed to collect a big policy that Fritz had taken out but the insurance company has gone belly-up by this time. And Dolan says the Fritz estate owes him a pile. They were partners in the House. But Mac claims the opposite, the House owes a lot of money to the estate, and besides there are other heirs, he points out. And this insurance money is eight thousand dollars." Fred looked at the Kiel. "Are you following this?"
    Billy nodded and shrugged.
    "Well, look. Pay attention. This is the part where the soldiers on the ramparts talk about the king's been acting queer lately."
    "What king?"
    "Never mind. So Mac has to go all the way to New York and find another lawyer there. Together, they get most of the money from the bankrupt insurance company. But he won't pay it out until he determines who gets what and who owes who. Dolan, meantime, goes to court in Mesilla and gets them to believe his side of the story, which is not a surprise given Judge Bristol's being in their pockets. He accuses McSween of embezzlement because he's holding on to money which is owed to him, Dolan. That's why Macky Sween got arrested in December and thrown in the hoosegow. And yesterday, see, Dolan gets Bristol to issue a writ of attachment for eight thousand dollars against McSween. They come racing back to Lincoln and Dolan makes the sheriff go to Mr. Tunstall's store and start seizing his goods because Tunstall's supposed to be partners with McSween. That's what Dolan says. They're in Macky's house too." Fred nodded toward McSween's house. "They're taking inventory there. And next they plan to go to Mr. Tunstall's ranch and attach all his cattle and horses."
    "It ain't fair!"
    "It's like I always say. When folks lose their heads they get dumb as sheep. You got to rile them up to get any justice."
    "I know how to get justice."
    "It's just a way to harass Mr. Tunstall through Macky Sween. He's been cutting into Dolan's business something serious. It's the back door they found to sweep Tunstall out of town. McSween they hate, too. But Tunstall has cost them."
    "I'm glad I joined up with the Englishman, then."
    "You didn't know all this?"
    "I knew it like you know about getting someplace without paying much attention."
    "And you're Irish, ain't you?"
    "That don't mean I'd muscle for a lot of rusty Irish thugs."
    "But you used to, didn't you? You ran with the Boys?"
    "The Boys weren't working for James Dolan then."
    "But you stole Tunstall's horses."
    "He forgave me for that."
    "So how come you switched sides?"
    "How come I switched sides? That's all you ever say. I switched because the Boys never sprung me from jail. Plus, they owed me money. Besides, it wasn't sides before I switched."
    "Those are pretty good reasons."
    "And Mr. Tunstall paid me a visit in jail and offered to get me out if I returned his buggy horses. He took to me, Fred. He asked me right there if I wanted a job and I said sure, doing what? Working on his ranch. Protecting his interests. Could I shoot a gun, he asked. Is the pope Catholic? He hired me on the spot, in the Lincoln county jail. He's impulsive, that man."
    "That's how I hired to him, too. I was staying at Patrón's. You want a job? he says. Why not? I answer. I'm of the same mind, I find him hasty. Or a poor judge of character. Does he strike you as capable? He looked up a tree in there."
    "He strikes me as rich. He's always writing home for money. Fred, no one ever gave me anything before. He gave me a gun,