Blood Wedding

“I don’t like the way this is going, Fargo. You might want to think it over before you say anything else.”

“I’ve already thought about it. I don’t have much else to say.”

“That’s good, because I’m about through listening. Get on with it.”

“It’s about Jed,” Fargo said. “I don’t think anybody in the Murray gang killed him.”

“I don’t know what makes you say that. Everybody knows he was killed in the fight at Lem’s barn.”

“He was killed in the fight, all right, but it wasn’t the Murrays who killed him. I’ve been pretty sure of that all along. They were on horseback, but the way the bullet went in Jed’s head showed that whoever shot him was standing behind him. Murray wanted him dead, all right, but he had to be sure the job was done. The one way to do that would be to have somebody there who could take care of it. It would have been easy for somebody who was already at the party to come up behind and kill Jed in all the confusion.”

“Why would someone besides the Murrays want to kill Jed?”

“Because they wanted to get rid of him. Maybe whoever did it was jealous.”

Molly slid off the barrel and stood facing Fargo.

“Are you saying that I killed him because I was jealous of Abby? And that I was spying on everybody for the same reason?”

“It makes sense,” Fargo said. “You knew where Paul was buried, and that’s important. Not just the general area. Everybody knew that. But Murray went right to the grave and dug in the right place. I was there and saw it. Somebody had to tell him just exactly where the grave was.”

Molly drew herself up a little straighter. She towered over Fargo, who continued sitting on the nail keg.

“You’re going to make me mad in a minute if you keep on like this,” Molly said.

“You can settle down,” Fargo told her. “I don’t really think it was you. It could have been, though, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t.”

“And you’re sure now?”

“I’m sure. You wouldn’t be so mad at me if you were guilty.”

Molly relaxed. She grinned and sat back down on the barrel.

“How do you know I’m not lying to you?”

“You could be, but I don’t think so. There’s somebody else who fits all the facts even better than you do.”

Molly thought a second and said, “Rip Johnson.”

“That’s right. Rip. I asked Lem if Rip would be willing to fight with the rest of us, and he said that Rip was ready to go, and that he wanted to know as soon as anything was decided. I figure he wants to know first so he can get word to Murray. And when you think about it, it was mighty convenient that his wife was the only one killed when Murray raided his place. Everybody was drunk, but Rip might not have been as drunk as he wanted us to think. He might even have pushed his wife out of the house or told her to go outside. The others were too drunk to know if he did.”

Molly’s mouth twisted in disgust. “And him doing all the crying about her being dead. He was probably glad to get her out of the way so he could start working on Abby.”

“He’s already been sniffing around. His house and barn weren’t burned, either, but then only yours were.”

“Don’t get started on that again. If you want to know, I think Murray did that because he thought I might leave if he did. I’m the only one around here with guts enough to stand up to him now that Jed’s gone, and he’d be glad to get rid of me. But I’m not all that easy to get run off.”

“On the other hand, he didn’t burn any of the other houses,” Fargo said. “Why not? He wanted to get rid of everybody else.”

“What if he wants the houses?” Molly asked.

“What would he do with houses?”

“It’s more than just houses. It’s farms. Let’s say he runs everybody off. The farms will still be here, and Murray and his gang can take them. Rip would be staying, since he’s in with Murray, but he’d get a better farm. Lem’s. And he’d get Abby into the bargain. Or that’s what he thinks. Abby would never stand still for it. She’d either kill him, or he’d have to kill her.”

Fargo thought over what Molly had said. He’d always thought there had to be more than just revenge in Murray’s mind. Power and revenge and property. It made sense. Fargo remembered Angel’s comments about Murray’s feeling for the South.

“You might be right,” Fargo told Molly. “Murray could have the idea that he can set up his own little state here, maybe seal it off, or even pull out of the Union. He’d have a hell of a time defending it, though.”

“He wouldn’t have to. The army’s already got its hands full, and nobody else is going to do anything. Before long, the whole country could be at war, and nobody’s going to pay any attention to what’s going on in some little farm area here. Who knows? Murray might wind up running the whole territory.”