Both Joe Bob and Royce stood in front of him, their hands on their revolvers; though neither of them had pulled one clear of its holster. They stood rooted, staring at Cable, stopped suddenly in the act of rushing him. For in one brief moment, in the time it had taken Royce to slap the horse out of the way, they had missed their chance.

Cable stood over Dancey with the Walker Colt in his hand. It was cocked and pointing directly at Dancey’s head. Joe Bob and Royce said nothing. Dancey had raised himself on an elbow and was staring at Cable dumbly.

“Now you take off your belts,” Cable said. He brought Dancey to his feet and had to prompt them again before they unbuckled their gun belts and let them fall. Then he moved toward Joe Bob.

“You said something about my wife.”

“Me?”

“About leaving her here.”

Joe Bob shrugged. “That wasn’t anything. Just something I felt like saying-”

Abruptly Cable stepped into Joe Bob, hitting him in the face before he could bring up his hands. Joe Bob went down, rolling to his side, and when he looked up at Cable his eyes showed stunned surprise.

“You won’t say anything like that again,” Cable said.

Dancey had not taken his eyes off Cable. “You didn’t give him a chance. Hitting him with a gun in your hand.”

Cable glanced at him. “You’re in a poor position to argue it.”

“In fact,” Dancey said, “you didn’t give me much of a chance either. Now if you want to put the gun away and go about it fair-”

“That would be something, wouldn’t it?”

Dancey said, “You’re not proving anything with that gun in your hand.”

“I don’t have anything to prove.”

“All right, then we leave for a while.” Dancey looked over at Royce. “Get the stuff out of the house.”

“Not now.” Cable’s voice stopped Royce. “You had a chance. You didn’t take it. Now you leave without anything,” Cable said. “Don’t come back for it either. What doesn’t burn goes in the river.”