We was ridin' slow on west. We wasn't past all them saloons yet. Some of them saloons was bein' took down already, gettin' ready to move on west to keep up with the railroad. I reckon them east end folks in Amarillo was glad to see them go. The east end was the oldest part of Amarillo and it was where all the fancy folks stayed. Them Chinamen and them Mexicans and all them scruffy lookin' white folks who was buildin' that railroad was always comin' into Amarillo and they had only two reasons for comin: whores and whiskey. I already told you how them fancy folks are. Well, some folks that's fancy is high tone too. A whole lot of them use both whores and whiskey but they go around actin' like they don't know nothin' about them things.
If you want to be one of them high tone folks, there's certain things you got to let on. You got to talk hard against whores and whiskey even if you're doin' them things yourself and you can't like nobody who likes them things and don't care if somebody knows it.
That's why them east end folks was glad them saloons was movin' west. I already told you it questioned me why folks said one thing and done another but I don't think on that much no more. I reckon I got that one thought out. It come to me that there's different things in this world. There's folks and horses and cows and buffalos and I don't know what all. You can tell which one you're lookin' at by how they are. They got things about them that let you know what you're seein'. Ain't hard to tell a horse from a man.
"There's them big differences and then there's smaller differences. There's some horses that's bays and some is chestnuts. There's buckskins and grays and blacks and paints. Ain't hard to tell what you're lookin' at. "There's smaller differences in folks too. There's white folks and Indians and Mexicans and church folks and Christians and fancy folks and high tone folks and just regular folks. Each of them kind got their certain differences. Some of them ain't too hard to tell like Mexicans is darker and they got their own talk. Some is harder. Like church folks can be Christians or fancy folks or high tone folks or all of them at once but they got their differences that let you know what you're seein'. Church folks is always goin' around sayin' "Praise the Lord" and "God Willin'." Christians is mean. Regular folks is like Paco and me and fancy folks is just fancy folks. High tone folks say one thing and do somethin' else.
With all them questions I got in me, makes me feel proud when I get one all thought out like that.
I tasted whiskey once. That goddam stuff is awful. I still can't think out why folks want it so much. I reckon I can kind of know why they want them whores but it seems that every place there's whores there's whiskey. Could be it's the other way around. Anyway, all them raggedy lookin' saloons had whores sittin' or standin' out front and them whores was even sayin' things to me and Paco about comin' in with them.
Me and Paco wasn't talkin'. I don't know what he was thinkin' but he sure as hell was doin' a lot of lookin'. I should have been lookin' more than I was. I was thinkin' on whores and whiskey when, before I knowed what was happenin', somebody jumped in front of our horses and grabbed them bridles. That jumpin' and grabbin' spooked them horses and they both reared. I got throwed in the street. Paco stayed on his bay but he seen when my buckskin reared, she got loose from him who grabbed them bridles. He got off real quick and grabbed for the buckskin, hopin' to get her before she run off but there was no chance of that. That goddam Jigger was still hangin' on to the bay and he had the buckskin before Paco could get her. He was lookin' at us with a real mean smile on his face.
"Well, if it ain't that whore's bastard from Goodnight who everybody's lookin' for."
He looked real hard at Paco for a spell.
"And, I'll be goddamed if he ain't got Vox's greaser with him. I hardly know you, greaser, can't I see your ass. Where did you get them new britches? You run off from Vox, didn't you? I know he wouldn't buy you none. Can't say I blame you for runnin' off. That dumb son-of-a-bitch is too sorry even for a damn greaser.
"Where'd you get them new britches and them fine horses. Did you steal them?"
Jigger opened one of my saddle bags and looked in. He run his hand over my bed roll. "And look at all this found and fancy new gear. Vox is always sayin' the day he set eyes on you, Greaser, was the sorriest day of his life. But this is my lucky day. I can get me some money from that Goodnight Marshal for you, whore boy, and I can sell you to the Apaches, Greaser. I can do all that and still have two fine horses and all this gear."
I was fightin' mad but I didn't have nothin' to fight with. My gun was in my saddle bag and them new knifes we just bought was rolled up in them bed rolls. Both me and Paco was yellin' and cussin' at Jigger about leavin' us be but he just kept laughin' at us and lookin' at us real mean.
Like I said, I can generally hold on to my thinkin'. I don't get mad at folks too often but I got some mad in me. I could feel it buildin' up and I didn't even try to get hold of it. I put my head down and run at Jigger and butted him right where his legs come together. He grunted and fell back and let go of them horses. Paco grabbed them bridles and hung on real good. Them horses was still some spooked and was buckin' some and steppin' around real nervous, but Paco held on real good.
I kept right on that Jigger. Before he got his feet good, I knocked him over backwards and then sat on his chest and pounded on his face with my fists. I reckon Jigger had been cussed before but never by no one who meant it more than I did that day. He was mostly drunk and looked like he didn't know what was happenin' for a spell but you could see by his face, that his head was comin' back to him. I was as mad as I can ever remember bein' but he was too big for me. He kind of bucked up with his belly and I felt myself flyin' off him when everything went black.
I could hear Paco yellin' but it seemed a long way off. I thought I could see things but they was all fuzzy and they was moving real slow. I saw my mama tryin' to hit me with a ax and I saw Jigger and some Apaches chasin' after Paco. Paco was yellin' and cussin'. Then it come to me that I was layin' on my face in the dirt.
I tried to find Paco but it hurt like hell to turn my head. All I could see was dirt with blood on it. I kept hearin' Paco yellin' and real slow, I got to where I could see again. The side of my head hurt real bad and I could feel blood runnin' down my neck. I turned toward where the yellin' was comin' from and I could see Jigger holdin' Paco by his hair with one hand, tryin' to pistol whip him with the other. Paco was still holdin' on to the reins of the bay. I couldn't see the buckskin nowhere.
Paco was jumpin' around so that Jigger couldn't get a good lick on him with that pistol. With Jigger as drunk as he was and Paco jumpin' around and that bay still skittish and some rarin', Jigger was missin' Paco more that he was hittin' him. When he did hit Paco, he was mostly just grazin' him. There was some little cuts on Paco's face and a lot of blood comin' from his hair but Jigger couldn't hit Paco solid enough to knock him out like was done to me. I knowed right off I'd been pistol whipped long side the head.
It took me a long time but I finally got to my feet and went to lookin' around for the buckskin. I didn't know how I was gonna get it, but I was thinkin' on my gun. When I seen that buckskin, she was bein' held by some man standin' near the hitchin' rail of one of them saloons, watchin' Jigger pistol whip Paco. My head was clearin' out and I was mad again. That damn drunk was not only tryin' to steal my horse but he was laughin' at Paco and sayin', "Damn, Jigger. Them greasers bleed blood. I thought they'd bleed lard."
I was gettin' to where I could see pretty good when I could keep the blood out of my eye. I kept whippin' it out with the back of my hand and pretty soon I seen that my hand and even my britches was all bloody. You'd have thought from all that bleedin', I'd have been hurtin' like hell. I didn't hardly feel nothin'. My head hurt some inside but not hardly at all where the blood was comin' from.
By now Paco was pretty well wore out. He wasn't jumpin' around and fightin' no more. He was kind of just hangin', lettin' Jigger hold him up by his hair. He was still holdin' on to that bay but from all the blood on him, he looked real bad hurt. Jigger wasn't tryin' to pistol whip him no more but every now and again he'd kick Paco and ask, "Where'd you steal them horses, you goddam greaser?"
Everybody was watchin' Jigger. Nobody was lookin' at me so I was able to get to the opposite side of my buckskin from the man who was holdin' him. I wasn't sure I was gonna get there. The more awake I got the more my head hurt and I was wobbly in my walkin'. I thought I was gonna fall down again', but I got there. I was lucky them men was all drunk and thinkin' what Jigger was doin' to Paco was funny. I was able to get the gun with nobody seein' me.
My first thought was to kill Jigger. From all the shootin' I'd been doin' and close as I was, I knowed I could do it. But I also knowed that a gun shot and a dead man would bring the sheriff and most likely the rope. Did I kill Jigger, I reckoned the best I could hope for was another damn orphanage. That was the same as the rope and I didn't want neither one so I yelled, "Leave him be, Jigger, or you're a dead man!"
I was backed up against the saloon wall so I knowed no one was behind me. All them men looked kind of stunned. Jigger looked scared and confused at first, but then he got a real mean smile on his face and sneered, "Look at that whore's bastard with a six gun almost as big as he is. You won't shoot me, boy. You couldn't hit me if you did shoot."
He gave Paco another kick.
I pulled back the hammer and was about to shoot him, sheriff or no, when I heard, "I wouldn't bet he can't hit you, but I know damn sure that I can."
I knowed the voice. It was that big red-headed cowboy. The one my mama hated and the one who took me from that damn preacher man - the one who give me them feelin's.
Jigger looked all mixed up. Things just wasn't goin' right for him. He was used to walkin' over folks. He was mean and most folks stayed out of his way. Nobody hardly never crossed him.
But here in front of all them folks he'd been knocked down by a boy and then been throwed down on by that same boy. Now this stranger was tellin' him what to do. Folks in north Texas knowed he was mean. What the hell was wrong with these people, callin' him out like they was? No one done that to Roscoe Jigdon.
"This is none of your doin', cowboy. You know who I am? You'd best mind your own business."
"I didn't plan it this way, but it looks like I've gone into the business of pullin' cowards off of younguns so I reckon it is my business. Let that boy go!"
"I'm gonna tell you one more time, cowboy. This is Jigger you're dealin' with. Now you just ride on and save your goddam ass. Can't see why you're so goddam fussed anyway. This ain't nothin' but a greaser pup. I found him. He's mine."
A pistol sounded and there was a little drop of blood on that hangin' down part of Jigger's ear. I thought I was lookin' at that cowboy but I didn't see him pull his gun. It just seemed to come in his hand by itself.
"The next one will take your whole ear. Let the boy go."
Jigger let go of Paco's hair and let him fall in the dirt. I run to Paco. He was awake but he was all blood. I set in the street beside him and put his head in my lap. I was worried about Paco but I was mostly mad at me. I was gettin' that water in my eyes. I reckon I had reason to cry, the way that damn Jigger done my friend but I didn't want them people seein' me doin' it.
Paco seemed to know what that water was from. He got that real soft look on his face again, smiled and said, "Sam."
Then his face went sour. "Did that son-of-a-bitch get blood and dirt on my new britches?"
"Don't worry none about that. We'll get them clean or we'll get you new ones."
When I looked at Jigger again I could see he'd sobered down some. He got to wonderin' who that big man on the gray horse was.
"Who the hell are you, mister?"
"I reckon you've got a right to know who's going to kill you if you ever lay a hand on either of these boys again. The name's Seamus Flynn."
Well now, that stopped everything. Nobody said nothin' for what seemed like a hour but you knowed what everybody was thinkin'. Seamus Flynn was knowed to be the fastest gun in this part of Texas but most folks in this part of Amarillo never seen him. Seamus Flynn didn't have no reason to go to where the railroad buildin' was goin' on and most of them railroaders was from other places. They didn't know the folks that lived around here. Anyway, a whole lot of people who had heard of Seamus Flynn never seen him.
I reckon when Seamus Flynn is shootin' it makes everybody stop and think. Even the sheriff who heard the shootin' and was runnin' down the street with his deputy stopped when he seen who done it. It was so quiet you'd a thought the world come to a end.
Seamus Flynn was the first to talk. "I was down to Goodnight to get these boys. They're big enough to start doin' light ranch work and Sam's mama said I could put him on for a dollar a month and keep. Sam told me about this Mexican boy and I came to Goodnight to hire them both. I know Sam's a good worker and he spoke well of that Mexican boy. When I got to Goodnight I learned that Sam's mama was dead and that these boys was seen in Claude. Claude folks said they was headin' west. I came for my hands and I don't take kindly to those who bother Bent-Y hands.
"And one other thing. It's none of your damn business, but these boys didn't steal these horses. I hear Sam did some pretty fancy horse tradin' in Claude."
Flynn acted real proud when he was tellin' about me.
When I looked at Jigger again, he was almost cryin'. As scared as I was and hurtin' like I was, when I seen Jigger about to bawl, I had to laugh. When he was doin' with folk who was scared of him, like younguns and store keepers and crackers and such, he was real mean and acted real tough. But now that he was dealin' with a really tough man, he was actin' like a baby. I looked at Paco. He looked some surprised too and you could tell he was likin' what he was seein'. Jigger had done him bad a whole lot of times and now the whole town of Amarillo could see that that damn Jigger was nothin' but a coward.
When he talked, Jigger sounded like a whinin' baby. "I didn't know they was your hands, Mr. Flynn. They wasn't headin' toward no Bent-Y spread. It never come to me that they was somethin' 'sides a whore's bastard and a goddam greaser. Please don't think bad on me, Mr. Flynn. I didn't mean to cross you. I won't never bother no Bent-Y hands no more."
It come to me that Jigger had best shut his damn mouth. I knowed that look in Flynn's eyes. He was mad and from his face gettin' redder and him kind of shakin', I knowed the mad was gonna get away from him soon. Jigger whinnin' and beggin' like a baby wasn't helpin' him none. It was makin' Flynn more mad.
I reckon I wanted Flynn to give Jigger a beatin' like he done that damn preacher man. Jigger done Paco real bad and he needed a beatin'. But I couldn't think on how good that beatin' would make me feel. It come to me that I mostly wanted Flynn to hold me close like he done when he was bringin' me back to my mama from that damn orphanage. I was havin' them big red-headed cowboy feelin's again and I was about to cry and I wanted that feelin' of bein' took care of. Flynn's mad was scarin' me some but mostly I was thinkin' on that feelin' he give me when he was holdin' me close.
But I couldn't go to Flynn right then. He needed time to take care of his mad. I knowed that from them times I needed time to get hold of my thinkin'.
Flynn looked at Jigger like he was the most disgustin' thing he ever seen. When he talked, his voice was hard, almost mean. "It doesn't make any difference if he's one of my hands or not. If I ever hear of you beatin' on any sprout again, I'll kill you."
Jigger was on his knees. He was cryin' now and he was sayin', "I won't never bother no sprout no more. Don't kill me, Mr. Flynn. Please don't kill me."
Flynn got off his horse and called me to him. He handed me the reins without sayin' nothin'. He took a step toward Jigger. I thought he was gonna give him a pistol whippin'. Jigger needed one but Flynn got a look on his face that told me that he figured Jigger wasn't worth that much attention from Seamus Flynn. The way Jigger was carryin' on, he was hurtin' hisself more than anything Flynn could do to him anyway. Flynn spit on the ground in front of Jigger and turned toward the man holdin' my horse.
He walked over, slapped my buckskin' on the rump to move her over and whopped that drunk long side the head with the barrel of his gun. "You got to learn to keep your hands on what's yours and off what's not yours." He wrapped the buckskin's reins around the hitchin' rail and come back toward me but I could see he wasn't done bein' mad. He turned and looked at the crowd what had come to see what the hell was goin' on.
"Don't none of you ever do nothin' like this again. A man who'd beat on a youngun like that is rat piss and folks who'd watch and think what they were seeing was funny are lower than buffalo chips. I'll tell you right now, if any of you work for any of the Flynn properties, you're fired."
A man and a mostly growed boy who'd just come up got all excited. The boy looked like he was about to cry but he didn't say nothin'. The man went to talkin' so fast it was hard to tell what he was sayin'. "We just come up to see what was happenin', Mr. Flynn. We didn't do nothin' to them boys."
Flynn was still shakin' from bein' mad. When he talked, his voice was even shakin'. "I don't know you. Where do you work?"
"We're down on the McLean spread. Mr. Chalk just hired us on. Please, Mr. Flynn, we need these jobs. I'm a good hand, Mr. Flynn, and my boy here's a comer. He does good now for his size and when he's full growed, he'll make you a top hand.
"Don't make this hard for me, Mr. Flynn. I'm a proud man and I ain't used to beggin'. I was tryin' to run a few cows down by Austin but things just went bad on us. What the rustlers didn't get, the brackish water did. The bank took my spread and I got seven younguns to feed. I ain't no quitter but I ain't one who can stand by and see his younguns gettin' skinnier and skinnier and cryin' from empty bellies. I got to feed them younguns, Mr. Flynn.
"Talk around is that you Flynns is fair men to work for but what you're doin' now ain't fair. I'll take what I got comin' when I done wrong. But when I ain't done wrong, I'll talk up or fight if I have to."
When that cowhand was talkin', you could see the fire goin' out of Flynn's eyes. He almost acted like he was some ashamed but he still wasn't all done bein' mad. "Did you try to help these boys?"
"Wasn't no time. I told you, we just come up. We didn't even have time to know what was done before you come up. You done all the helpin' that was needed, I reckon."
Flynn just looked at him for a spell and then said, "I think I'm going to like you. What's your name?"
"Herman Colburn and this is my oldest boy, Chester."
"Well, Mr. Colburn, as you have seen, I have a temper and when riled, I sometimes say things that shouldn't be said. What was done here angers me and it angers me more to think someone could stand and watch two little boys being treated like that. I reckon after you've worked for us for a spell, you'll get to understand me some. I have a real fault with my temper, I truly have. I apologize to you, Mr. Colburn and to you, Chester."
What the hell was goin' on here? Seamus Flynn was apologizing. That's the same as being sorry. The way folks was talkin', Seamus Flynn would just as soon kill you as look at you and he wasn't sorry for nothin'. I knowed that big red-headed cowboy was tough but he had a softness in him too.
When I thought on it, I reckon it didn't surprise me none. Seamus Flynn and that big red-headed cowboy was the same person. Made me feel real funny knowin' that what I played in my head really was.
Flynn looked at me. "How are you doing, boy?"
"I reckon I'm fine, but it looks like Paco's gonna need some doctorin'."
"I ain't lettin' no damn doctor near me," Paco yelled. "I hear them sons-a-bitches is mean."
Folks laughed but it wasn't no mean laugh. Folks in these parts had their own ways of carin' for sicks and hurts and they didn't know much about no doctors. Most of them was just as scared as Paco.
The sheriff was lookin' at me. "This one can use some patchin' up too. I'll fetch the doctor."
Paco tried to get up and run off from bein' so scared of the doctor. He didn't get nowhere. He was too bad beat by that damn Jigger and he fell from tryin' to take his first step.
I never had no doctor fix no cuts on me. The only time a doctor ever come near me was when that drunk cowpoke kicked my ribs in. I was scared too but I said to Paco, "Them doctors won't hurt you when they're fixin' them cuts. Them doctors have to go to school for doctorin' and they learn them to fix you up without hurtin' you none." I didn't know what the hell I was talkin' about but I was hopin' damn hard that I was right. Anyway, what I was sayin' seemed like what Paco needed to hear.
The sheriff looked at me again and then said to Flynn, "I got word from the Marshal over to Goodnight that this whore's boy was to go to the county orphanage."
Flynn was mad again. His eyes was flashin' and his voice was as hard as when he was talkin' to Jigger. "That boy's got a name. Use it!
"Who's the sheriff of this county anyway, you or that damn Clayhurst? Do you let that lazy, shiftless, no-good tell you how to run your business? He's just a town Marshal. You're the one who should be deciding on these kinds of things. Clayhurst's real tough when it comes to dealin' with drunken women and little boys but he's dealing with me now. That boy's not going to any orphanage. I'll get Jasper Walton to say that if I have to."
"Didn't mean to rile you, Shay. What's between you and Clayhurst anyway? Ain't like you to hold a grudge."
"In the case of Clayhurst, I make an exception."
The sheriff seen that Flynn wasn't gonna tell him nothin' more on the Goodnight Marshal so he want back to talkin' about me. "You can't leave that boy just run loose. He's still young enough, he needs lookin' after. They'll look after him good at the county orphanage."
Flynn's voice was still hard and mean. "Where the hell were you when I said that these boys were Bent-Y hands? The county orphanage won't take that Mexican boy, and Sam here has had enough of those kinds of places."
The sheriff looked at him like he was wonderin' how the hell Seamus Flynn knew what I had enough of. He looked like he wanted to say more but, I reckon, it come to him who he was talkin' too. He seen that mad and he knowed there wasn't no sense in askin' no more questions.
He started to walk away, I reckon to get the doctor, but he stopped real quick and you could tell by his face that somethin' just come to him. "You're really gonna take them boys, ain't you? I figured you was just sayin' that to get Jigger off them. How the hell you gonna look after two boys, Shay? You ain't married and all them things you're a doin' in Austin and Santa Fe...."
Flynn didn't have to say nothin'. By the look in Flynn's eyes the sheriff seen that it was time for him to shut his damn mouth. He kind of shuffled his feet and looked at the ground, actin' like a youngun who got caught doin' somethin' bad. I think it come to him that it was Seamus Flynn he was talkin' back to and you got the feelin' that was somethin' not even a sheriff done.
After while he said, "I reckon that's fine - as long as them boys is looked after. I'll fetch the doctor."
Flynn said, "Send him to my room in the hotel."
The sheriff went off down the street and Flynn looked real soft at me. It was one of them looks he give me when I was real little and he'd come and ride me on his horse. For a minute there, his look got so soft I thought he was gonna cry. I knowed right off that was a dumb thought. Seamus Flynn would never cry but his look give me them feelin's again and then I thought I was gonna cry. What the hell was goin' on here?
Flynn put his hand on my head and went to pettin' me like. I thought for a second that I seen water in his eyes but he turned away real quick and said, "Colburn, you and your boy come help me. Chester, take these horses over to the livery. Your daddy's going to help me carry these boys to my room."
Chester took the horses and Flynn reached down and picked me up. When Colburn seen that he stopped real short and his face went hard. "If you're gonna carry that boy, Mr. Flynn, that leaves that greaser for me. Right or wrong, I got a real strong dislike for greasers. I'll pick up road apples and carry them in my pocket or I'll bury my arms elbow deep in cow shit before I'll pick up a bloody greaser. You want that greaser in your room, let me have that white boy. You carry the greaser."
I felt Flynn's body stiffen. He put me down and I thought he was gonna give Colburn a beatin'. Looked like Flynn thought so too 'cause he started toward him but then he stopped. He stood there and you could tell he was tryin' to get hold of his thinkin'. You could tell by his face that he didn't stop bein' mad but his talk was real gentle and slow like he was thinkin' on each word real careful. "You're sure set on getting crosswise with me, aren't you? I like your sand, Colburn. It isn't often I find a man who talks up to me and does it because he feels he's right, not just so he could say he'd talked up to Seamus Flynn. I like you but you're not right now. You're dead wrong and if it wasn't for those younguns of yours, I'd fire you right now. I'm not going to make them suffer just because their daddy's stupid. But understand this. If you want to last on a Bent-Y spread, you'd best learn how the Flynns think on folks. You say you've got a strong dislike for Mexicans. Well, our daddy gave his boys a real strong dislike for folks who think like you do. I reckon I can't stop how you think but if you're going to work for us, don't let any of us hear you talk your thinking or see you act on it. Now, if you need that job as bad as you say you do, pick up that boy and follow me."
Colburn done it.
I thought I could walk but Flynn wouldn't have it no other way but him carryin' me. It come to me that with all Flynn's mad, I wasn't scared of him. I was just havin' that feelin'. I put my arm around his neck. I reckon Flynn thought I was just holdin' on but I knowed I was huggin' him.
As we was walkin' toward the hotel, Flynn said, "Sorry about your mama, boy."
"Thanks," I said, "I reckon she wanted it this way. I been thinkin' like that for a long time. How come you know about that Claude livery man? Why did you tell them lies savin' me and Paco from that damn Jigger and that county orphanage?"
Flynn looked at me kind of surprised. "I reckon you might be right about your mama. You see things real good, don't you? You always have been one to think older than you were. There was a time I wanted to marry your mama but her drinking changed my mind.
"I know about your horse trading because when I heard about your mama, I went to Goodnight looking for you. Folks there said you'd been seen in Claude.
"Sam, you had more friends in Goodnight than you thought, I reckon. Some of those men watching you and Carver knew you weren't with that train. They knew you and they knew what Clayhurst had in mind for you. They don't like Clayhurst and they don't like the way he treated you. They weren't going to let him get his hands on you. Anyway, they said, they were having too much fun watching you get the best of Carver. You did real good, boy."
He got that proud look on his face again. I knowed there was some folks what liked me. Some of them liked me real good, like Emma. But Flynn was proud of me. If someone was proud of me before, I never knowed it. Made me feel like somebody. I hugged him a little tighter.
Flynn was still talkin'. "I reckon I did lie about you telling me about Paco but the rest of it was the truth. I did come looking for you and I do want you on the Bent-Y."
I was wonderin' why he was so set on havin' me for a ranch hand. I never had no chance to be none and I didn't know nothin' about ranchin' but what I heard them cowboys talkin' around that saloon. I was about to ask Flynn but before I got it said it was my turn to be surprised. "You got the money, Sam? It wasn't where she usually kept it."
My mouth come open and my eyes must have looked like Paco's when he seen that bay. All I could say was, "I got it."
"Don't look so surprised. I'll explain it to you later. That cut on your head looks bad. Is it hurting you a lot?"
"Some."
I couldn't think on no cut. There was too many things happenin'. I already told you I was one for questions and all these goin's on and all the things Flynn was sayin' was givin' me a hell of a lot of them.
"Why'd you come lookin' for me? Why'd you keep me and Paco out of that damn orphanage?"
"I kept you out. Didn't you hear me say they'd never let Paco in that place? Too many folks, here about, feel about Mexicans like Colburn does."
"If you're thinkin' of takin' me to Pampa, Paco goes or I don't. He's the only friend I ever had."
"Sam, I already said Paco could come. I want you both there. You don't have to tell me now but after I explain some things, I hope you'll want to come to the Bent-Y."
"You keep sayin' that. Why do you hope I'll come? Most folks are always tryin' to run off a whore's bastard."
By now we was in his room and he was lyin' me on that bed. When we was comin' up the steps, I could hear Colburn right behind us and right behind him I could hear someone yellin', "No greasers in this hotel! No greasers, goddamit, not even greaser pups!"
Colburn put Paco on the bed beside me and that man I seen behind the desk when Flynn carried me into the hotel come runnin' in the room right behind him. He was still yellin' but he stopped damn quick when it come to him whose room he was in. That desk man kind of gulped and said, "I didn't know you was in town, Mr. Flynn. Are you sure you want that bloody little greaser on your bed?"
Flynn looked like he'd had about enough. "Since when are you making policy for Flynn Hotel. You were never told that Mexicans were not allowed in here."
"Yes, Sir, but we've had complaints."
"Complaints from whom?" Flynn was shakin' again.
"Well, Sir, from .. ah .. other guests."
"Well you just tell the next other guest who complains that he can sleep in the goddam street. Is that room next door rented?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well, put them in another room. I need that one for these boys."
"We're full up, Sir. If I may suggest, that white boy can sleep with you and that greaser boy can sleep in the barn."
"Now, if I may suggest. Give whoever's in that room your room and you sleep in the barn."
"I beg your pardon, Sir?"
"Do it, goddamit. You have been working for the Flynns long enough to know how we think. I've heard this boy bad-mouthed enough today and I don't need to hear it again from you. That boy has a name. It's Paco. You'd best remember that if you need to refer to him again. If I hear the word greaser come out of your mouth again, I'll put my fist where the word came from.
"And you need to remember one more thing. This is my goddam hotel and I'll bring who I want in it. Now, get the hell out of here. You have work to do."
That desk man went down them steps like he had a cougar after him. I reckon he'd seen Seamus Flynn mad before.
About then the doctor come in and looked at my cut. "That'll heal good but it'll leave a scar. I could sew it up if you want me to. I don't recommend it. It'll leave a scar anyway.
"Just bandage it, Doc. I think you better look after the other boy first. I think he's hurt worse."
The doctor walked to Paco's side of the bed, looked at him and said, "I don't doctor no damn gre...."
Flynn had that doctor by the front of his shirt with his face pulled right up to Flynn's before he could get the whole word out. "Now, I'm mighty short-tempered tonight, Doc. It seems like every damn fool bigot in Texas has stopped by for a chat with me and to call that little hurt child a greaser this afternoon. I just don't take too good to that and I'd hate for you to be the one who pushes me too far."
Flynn let his hand fall to his gun.
"You are going to treat that boy and you're going to treat him good. I reckon we're agreed on that."
The doctor went to lookin' real good at all them little cuts on Paco but he wasn't done mouthin'. "You god damn Flynns think you own the whole damn county, the way you always tellin' folks what to do and such."
"Well, we do own the whole damn county. Most of it anyway. Now, Doc, you just shut your mouth and attend to your doctoring.
"Damn you people! I could half understand not liking a grown Mexican who had wronged you. But this is a hurt little boy who you don't even know and who's never hurt anybody. I just don't understand it."
The doctor kept kind of mumblin' but he went to fixin' up Paco. It turned out that all his cuts wasn't as bad as my one. With all his jumpin' around, Jigger just kept nickin' him. He'd been hit a plenty. It looked like he had a hundred of them little cuts and bumps on his face and head. There was a lot of dried blood in his hair but Jigger never did get him square like he done me. I only had one cut but it was long and deep.
Paco yelled and cussed when the doctor poured that stuff in them cuts but then, so did I. I don't know what it was but, I'll tell you, it smarted. Flynn told me it was to clean them cuts so they wouldn't fester.
I'd seen festered cuts. I knowed of folks who died from them. I reckon if that stuff kept them cuts from festerin', all that smartin' was worth it. I said that to Paco. He said, "Hell no, it ain't."
Flynn told the Doc how Jigger was kickin' on Paco and Doc started pushin' around on Paco's belly to see could he tell if Paco was hurt inside. Paco was too fussed about them cuts smartin' and, I reckon, he was some sore from bein' kicked. He yelled and cussed and wiggled around so much that Doc couldn't tell nothin'. Doc said the way he was rollin' around, he couldn't be hurt too bad inside.
When the doctor was done, he started for the door. Looked like all he was thinkin' about was gettin' out to there. He wasn't even thinkin' about no pay. When he was far enough away that Flynn didn't think Paco could hear nothin', Flynn said to the doctor, "That boy's got a real rank smell to him..."
He was startin' to say somethin' else when the doctor broke in and said, "That boy's a goddam greaser. What the hell do you expect?"
He said it loud enough so Paco heard him and both me and Flynn was mad right now.
Flynn started to move toward the doctor. Looked like the first thing that come to his mind when someone got him mad was to whomp them but then he always stopped hisself before he done it. Flynn looked at that doctor real hard and done that real slow talkin' like he done before. "My mama had the cancer. Before she died, she took on a smell that was some like that. I was about to ask if you think the boy's sick."
"I told you what I think, Mr. Flynn." That damn doctor said that with a real hard edge to his voice.
Flynn was mad but he didn't say no more. He reached in his pocket, I reckon for some money. Flynn looked like he was done talkin' but I wasn't.
"For someone who's s'posed to done a lot of schoolin', you're sure a dumb son-a-bitch. He was livin' with a white hide hunter and they was livin' like rats. Reckon that's where that smell comes from. You already stink from whiskey and did you live like Paco had to, you'd smell like skunk puke.
"You seen he was awful skinny but I don't reckon he's sick. I think he just needs some more bathin'. I give him some but he's probably got that stink all soaked up in his skin. It'll take a hell of a lot more bathin' before it all comes out. He can run good and he laughs a lot but he tires quick and he ain't got much strong. But I don't reckon he's sick. You're gonna like him real good, Flynn, do you get to know him some.
"If he's lucky, he'll never have to get to know you none at all." I said that last part to that damn doctor.
Flynn give the doctor some money. I was glad to see that son-a-bitch gone. Flynn went and sat on the edge of the bed by Paco and put his hand on Paco's forehead, kind of like he was pettin' him. It come to me that Flynn was worryin' on Paco. I got that feelin' again. This time, for both Flynn and Paco. It looked to me like Paco's "thing" come to him. He scooted over real close to Flynn.
After he sit by Paco for a spell, Flynn stood up and walked over to the wall. There was a hole in the wall and he called in there that they should send up some clean sheets. Pretty soon someone knocked on the door. When Flynn opened it there was some Chinaman with them sheets. Flynn pulled the britches off me and Paco and give them to that Chinaman so they could be washed and clean for us in the morning. Paco wasn't sure he wanted to let them new britches out of his sight but he give in when Flynn promised to shoot that Chinaman if them britches wasn't back, clean as new, in the mornin'.
"How did that Chinaman know to come just from you yellin' in that hole in the wall?" I asked.
"I'm a Flynn, boy. If a Flynn yells in any hole, something happens."
"You're funnin' me. How did you do that?"
"There's a tube that runs from that hole to the front desk. Did you ever notice how you can talk almost soft into one end of a hollow log and the person on the other end can hear you almost like you were yelling?" I knowed them hollow logs worked that way.
"Well, that tube works the same way. If I want something, I just talk into that hole and the desk clerk does what I ask.
"How did you get this room? That desk man said he didn't know you was here."
"This is a Flynn Hotel. My brothers and I come to Amarillo often and nobody uses this room except a Flynn. When one of us is here, we just come on in."
It come to me all at once that I was really talkin' to Seamus Flynn. Things was happenin' so fast since that damn Jigger grabbed our horses that I didn't have time to think on what was happenin'. I don't know when I decided to do it but it come to me that I was plannin' to live with Flynn.
I didn't know this that night I was first comin' to know who Seamus Flynn was but them Flynns was somebody. There was four brothers. One of them was a big banker in San Francisco. Seamus and the other two run a big spread up to Pampa and had some other smaller ones close by, like the one where Colburn worked over to McLean. Them Flynns was all big men and everybody was talkin' about them, you know, how rich they was and how they was good folks to work for and how nobody argued none with them and how nobody could stand up to Seamus.
All that was happenin' give me another question. From all them stories about Seamus Flynn and from the mad of that red-headed cowboy, I should have been scared. But Flynn seemed right nice. I still didn't know why he wanted me to be a ranch hand but I wasn't worryin' no more about what me and Paco was goin' to end up doin'. Even knowin' he was Seamus Flynn, he was givin' me that feelin' and I seen him worryin' on Paco and bein' real gentle with him. I know I'm one for questions but, I reckon, what I was seein' now would question anybody.
"You really kill all them people what they say you done?"
I was sittin' on the edge of the bed and Flynn come over and put his hand behind my head and kind of hugged it to him. He laughed and said, "Sam, you always were full of questions. If you decide to come to the Bent-Y with me, I may have to put on another hand just to answer your questions. I reckon you're already about ten questions ahead of the answers I've given you. I'll get to some of the others later. On this one, it really doesn't make much difference if I killed them or not. If people think I did, it works the same way as if I really did. Folks tend to stay out of your way and those who think they're fast with a gun aren't always trying you. I'm just as glad to let folks think what they want."
Paco tried to get in on the conversation. Like I said, even him way out there on the range, livin' with Vox, knowed about Seamus Flynn and even though they was scared of him, I reckon it was the dream of every boy in Texas to be talkin' to Seamus Flynn. But Paco was worn down. I already told you he was real skinny to start with so from that beatin' and probably from losin' so much blood, he almost wasn't awake. He talked real sleepy. He said somethin' about how big Flynn was and how soft the bed was and if his britches was brought back before he was awake, would Flynn look out for them good. He mixed them things all in together and you could tell he didn't know what he was sayin'. Before long he was sleepin' and Flynn went on out of the room. I didn't know where the hell he was goin'. He didn't say nothin'. He just left.
Pretty soon he come back into the room from another door. Things was gettin' to the place where you just didn't know what was gonna happen next. How the hell did he get in that closet from goin' out to the hall?
Well, that was one question that had a quick answer. Flynn wasn't in no closet. He come from that room next door. There was a door between them rooms. Flynn said that a whole lot of times his brothers bring their families to Amarillo with them and them younguns sleep in that next door room. Do they need their mama or daddy in the night, they don't need to go in no hall. Them younguns just come through that door.
Flynn carried Paco to the bed in the other room. He put him down real gentle and went to pettin' his forehead again. He was lookin' at Paco real tender. He was likin' Paco. Made me want to cry from them feelin's for Paco and Flynn and how Flynn was doin' Paco.
Flynn locked the doors to the hall from both rooms. "I don't reckon nothin' will happen but the way some folks feel about Mexicans around here, you can't tell. It's just better to be safe."
"You reckon he's all right, Flynn? You reckon I better go crawl in with him so I can keep an eye on him? He's the best friend I got and he's been done real bad. Not just by Jigger but by lots of folks. I reckon he needs me by him so he won't be scared do he wake up in the night."
What I was sayin' was only part of the truth. The other part was that I was sleepy too and lyin' on Flynn's bed made me want to get into that soft bed and cuddle up to Paco. I slept in a bed at that orphanage but them beds had them mattresses that was filled with prairie grass. They didn't stay soft too long and they got all scratchy and bumpy. These was soft and I was wantin' to cuddle up to Paco and sleep good on that soft mattress.
Flynn said, "No, stay for a while. We need to do some talking, boy." About that time another knock come on the door. This time it was the sheriff. "Don't mean to bother you, Shay, but I'm gonna need you about one tomorrow afternoon. I talked to Judge Walton and him knowin' how busy you was, he said he'd try Jigger then so you wouldn't have to come back to Amarillo just for that trial."
I didn't know what the hell that sheriff was talkin' about but Flynn looked pleased. "You jailed him then? Good. I was thinking about pressing charges myself but I thought I'd wait until morning when I'd cooled down some.
"What Jigger done is against the law if you press charges or no. There's just too much fightin' and meanness goin' on in that west end and that damn Jigger always seems to be in the middle of it. The railroad folks say he's a good worker when he's sober and when he shows. They say he's right smart but they can't depend on him so he's nothin' but a gandy dancer.
"I try to work with the railroad and not throw too many of their men in jail but what Jigger done to them two boys is just too much. How is them boys?"
"They'll be fine. They're cut up some and bruised some but they'll make it. Paco, the Mexican boy, seems to be the worst off. His cuts aren't too bad but the way Jigger was kicking him, I'm worried that he may have been hurt inside. Doc tried to feel around some but he couldn't tell anything. The boy's too tender and he couldn't hold still."
"Reckon you better bring them boys with you tomorrow. Judge Walton may need to talk to them."
"They'll be there unless something turns up with Paco."
When the sheriff left, Flynn come and set beside me on the bed. "I have a lot to tell you, boy. You look too sleepy to hear it all tonight but some things need to be said before you go to sleep."
"You said you wanted to marry my mama. Why'd anyone want to marry her?"
"You got to know her too late. You're mama and I grew up together in San Francisco. Our daddies were very good friends and when we were very young, she was like our sister. Her mama died when she was still a baby and her daddy lived in our house and my mama took care of her until she didn't need watching all the time.
"But her daddy spoiled her. Her daddy and my daddy had gone to California lookin' for gold. They were some of the first to make a big strike. By the time we were born, our families were rich, I reckon. Amelia's daddy gave her everything she wanted. I reckon it was his way of making up for the loss of her mama.
"But your mama never learned to refuse herself anything. When she got old enough to do for herself, she did just like her daddy did. She gave herself anything she wanted. It turned out in the end that what she wanted most was too much whiskey. But while she was growing up, she was the belle of San Francisco.
"My daddy didn't like city living. He stayed in San Francisco until my brother, Sean, was old enough to run our mining company and he brought the rest of us boys to Texas. I was fifteen then. Sean was only eighteen but he was always quick thinking and seemed just naturally to know how to take care of money and men. Your Grandpa Martin was the president of the company but Sean was the brains.
"My daddy bought the Pampa ranch and we did very well here in Texas. Our ranching made almost as much money as our mining business. Oh, there were hard times. There wasn't much law in this part of Texas when we first came and we had to protect ourselves. The Comanches were still raiding and there were Indian wars to fight. It was during those times that all those Seamus Flynn stories got started.
"I love Texas but I couldn't keep my mind off Amelia Martin. For a time, she could have had any boy she wanted but she took a fancy to me. Whenever I could get away, I'd make trips back to San Francisco to see her. We had our wedding plans all made but it was about then that her drinking got out of control. After you were born, I brought her to the Bent-Y hoping she'd straighten up. She seemed to be doing fine and we started talking about getting married again."
Flynn's eyes got real hard and them muscles by his jaws was workin' almost like he was chewin' somethin'. He was mad again but I couldn't think what the hell for. Seemed like he hated my mama as much as she hated him. I couldn't think of no other reason for him to get so fussed.
He didn't say nothin' for a long time and then all he said was, "She left and took you with her. I tried to get her to let me bring you back to the Bent-Y but it was no use. I couldn't prove I had a claim on you at the time. She went to Goodnight and you know the rest of the story.
But I didn't know the rest of the story. What was makin' Flynn so mad? How come she left when it looked like she was doin' better? Looked like he didn't want to talk on that no more but there was some things he said I just had to know.
"Why did you want me back on the Bent-Y? What do you mean, you couldn't prove you had a claim on me?"
"Come here, Sam. Look in this mirror. What do you see?
"I see you and me."
"Look close, boy. Look at my eyes and then look at your eyes. What do you see?"
"They're the same color and kind of shaped the same."
"Look at my hair and then look at yours. What do you see?"
"Ain't quite the same color. Yours is real red. Mine's kinda red but mostly brownish. What you tryin' to say?"
I knew he was sayin' somethin' important. I got scared. Not from his mad. He was bein' real gentle. I got scared cause this was just like with Emma. I was scared he was gonna try to give me part of him and take part of me. I never felt nothin' like that before. I got water in my eyes.
"Look at me real good, Sam. What do you think I looked like when I was a sprout like you? What do you think you'll look like when you're a man like me?"
I knowed what he wanted me to say. I could see it and I wanted to say it but I couldn't get my mouth to do it.
He went to his saddle bag and took out what looked like a thin cardboard wrapped in paper. "When I heard about your mama, I dug this out and came looking for you."
He unwrapped it and handed it to me. It was a picture of me only I couldn't remember ever havin' no picture took. I couldn't remember them fancy clothes and them high button shoes. I couldn't remember none of them things but that sure as hell was me in that picture. "Where did you get this picture of me?"
"That's not you, boy."
"It sure as hell looks like me."
"That's what I've been trying to say. That picture is of me when I was a sprout about your age. Sam, I'm your daddy."