Free Texas Iron by Robert J. Randisi Page A

she was still pretty.”
    “Look at the gleam in the kid’s eye, Evan.”
    “I said, don’t call me—”
    “Well what the hell do you want us to call you?” Evan asked.
    “Jubal,” the younger brother said. “My name’s Jubal, ain’t it?”
    “It sure is, kid,” Sam said.
    “Jesus…” Jubal said.
    Walking through town they found themselves the center of attention. Men and woman stopped on the street to stare, or to point.
     There go the McCall boys, they were saying, or, There goes Sam McCall.
    “You recognize any of these people?” Sam asked.
    “Not many,” Evan said.
    “Some were children when I left,” Sam said, “and are hard to recognize now.”
    “Some were not so elderly,” Evan said, “and are also hard to recognize.”
    “I know some of them,” Jubal said, “but it ain’t me they’re pointing at.”
    “Oh?” Evan said.
    “It’s him,” Jubal said, jerking his thumb at his older brother. “Big Sam McCall. They’re afraid of him.”
    “Are they?” Evan asked.
    “Well, sure they are,” Jubal said. “They know how many men he’s killed, just as I do.”
    “Do you?” Sam asked. “How do you know how many men I’ve killed?”
    “Well…I heard, and I read the papers—”
    “And you believe all of that?”
    “Well, ain’t it true?”
    “Some of it, yes.”
    “What do you mean, some of it?”
    “I mean just that,” Sam said. “It ain’t all true. I’ve killed men, yes, but only if they were tryin’ to kill me.”
    “You mean you ain’t killed all those men they say you killed?” Jubal sounded betrayed.
    “Jubal,” Sam said, “grow up.”
    Jubal looked at Evan.
    “What’s he mean by that?”
    “He means you shouldn’t always believe what you hear, or what you read.”
    “What are you supposed to believe, then?”
    “You believe what you see, Jube,” Sam said. “That’s the best rule to follow.”
    Jubal was thinking that over when they reached the Miller house.
    “He’s kept it up well,” Sam said, as they opened the gate and entered the yard.
    They mounted the steps and knocked on the door. After a moment Jubal reached to knock again.
    “Easy,” Evan said, intercepting his hand. “Give them a chance to answer.”
    They waited a few minutes and then the door swung inward. The woman who was standing there was so much more than just pretty
     that they were all struck momentarily dumb.
    “Yes?” she said, and then suddenly recognition dawned in her eyes. It wasn’t so much that she recognized them as that she knew that the three of them could only be the McCall brothers.
    “I knew you’d come.”
    Sam was the first to speak.
    “Tell me, ma’am, how you knew that?”
    “I just knew,” she said. “I felt it. You’re Sam, aren’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “And Evan? And, of course, Jubal. I recognize you now. You’ve grown.”
    Jubal looked annoyed at the comment, but said nothing.
    “Well, come in,” she said, stepping back from the door. “Did you only just arrive?”
    “Yes,” Sam said, “only a couple of hours ago.”
    She closed the door and turned to face them. They had all removed their hats and were holding them in their hands.
    “Do you want to take off your coats?”
    “We’ll keep them if you don’t mind, ma’am,” Sam said.
    “Oh God, don’t call me that,” Serena said. “You boys know my name.”
    “I reckon we do, Serena,” Sam said.
    “Who have you spoken to so far?”
    “The Swede,” Jubal said, “the sheriff and Doc Leader.”
    “So you’ve heard the verdict, then.”
    “It’s all lies,” Jubal said.
    “That’s what we think, too.”
    Jubal gave his brothers a triumphant look.
    “We heard about your father,” Sam said. “How is he?”
    “Sore, but he wants to get out of bed.”
    “Can we see him?”
    “Of course,” she said. “I’ll take you to him.”
    They followed Serena Miller through the living room and up the stairs to the second floor.
    “Let me see if he’s awake.”
    “I’m