The Long Ride Out | Page 4

The woman came back out of the kitchen with a basket of cornbread
and set them on the kid's table. He winked at her as she ruffled up his
hair. "This here gentleman," said the kid, "was wanting to talk to you,
Eva."
*
"John Nash," said the boy, and held out his hand. Marlin took it, half
rising as Eva sat at his table. "Me and Eva are going to get married."
Eva didn't seem to have heard him. Her gaze was level and penetrating.
"What did my father tell you about me?"
"Said you'd been kidnapped by Britton."
She leaned back and smiled. "Well, I wasn't."
"I guess things around here are a bit complicated for me. Your father
wants me to find you, and here you are right under his nose. He says
Britton's his enemy, and they're the next thing to business partners."
"It's true Daddy doesn't know where I am. But that's because he doesn't
ever come to town, except to the general store. I'm afraid you've come
all the way from Dodge for nothing. I'll take care of him myself."
"Well, that's fine. But I'd still like to know a couple of things before I
go. If you're daddy's not afraid of Britton, why's he so concerned about
you?"
"He needs my signature so he can sell off my claim."
"Your claim?"
"I claimed a quarter section next to Daddy's five years ago. It's legal, all
right. Daddy put me up to filing the claim and now he thinks he can just
sell it to Britton. Only I don't want to sell. That's why I left, came to

town where he can't get at me. If I'd of stayed out there he would of
made me give it up...whether I wanted to or not."
"Your daddy hits you?" Marlin said.
"Only when he's drunk."
Marlin pushed back his plate and wiped his mouth. "I don't much care
for a man beating up on a woman, family or no. But that ain't here nor
there. If Britton's got no quarrel with your daddy, what's that gunslinger
from Dodge doing here?"
"Wallace?" She was suddenly nervous. "There's...some kind of bad
blood between Mr. Britton and Daddy. I don't know what it's about."
She wouldn't look at Marlin.
"Why don't you tell me the truth?" he asked gently.
She stood up and brushed at her apron. "People got limits, mister. Ain't
it about time for you to move on?"
*
At the bank next door, Marlin rapped on the teller's window. The
building was as empty as the diner, with room enough for a big city's
business. The one teller had his feet up on the counter and a green
eyeshade pulled low. Marlin was becoming impatient for things to
make sense.
"'Scuse me," Marlin said. "Who do I talk to about a loan?"
The teller, a thin man with a thin mustache, opened one eye and
pointed toward a door.
The man in the back room had a well-fed look, garters on his sleeves,
and a short haircut. He had a land map spread out on his desk, with law
books holding down the corners. A stove in the corner gave off a
cheerful heat.

Marlin said, "I'm just curious. I'm looking for a man who knows about
money, somebody I could maybe put a couple of questions to."
The man looked flattered and said, "What sort of questions?"
"I wondered what land around here is going for. If I wanted to get me a
spread here someday, how bad would it be likely to set me back?"
"Well," the banker said, "government land is a dollar and a quarter and
acre, standard price. Then there's offered land, as they call it under
homestead law, and that's yours for the taking. But I'll warn you, the
last of the offered land went about five years ago. The government land
is still around, but none of it close to town or the river. Good land could
cost you up to five dollars an acre on the open market. There's a land
office across the street, of course. They might be able to turn something
up for you...?"
Marlin shook his head. "Sounds a bit out of my price range. Thank you
just the same."
The banker stood up before Marlin got to the door. "There are, you
know, other options..."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, you don't have to have cash, you see. The principals of the bank
are quite willing to lend money with land as collateral."
"Really? Is that a common practice?"
"Of course. Just the other day...well, I couldn't go into any details, you
understand. But yes, it's not uncommon at all."
"How much per acre are we talking about?"
The banker shrugged modestly. "Perhaps as