Pinky and Palma calmed their horses and regarded the motionless figure below them. Palma was the first to speak.
"And that'll be that," he said. He got down from the saddle with his manacles hands held awkwardly in front of him and unfastened the rope that held his horse to Pinky's. "I'll get the key off him," he said then and walked toward Willie's body. Madrid made the chopping motion with the gun again and shot him squarely between the shoulder blades.
Pinky stared in open-mouthed astonishment. He grinned shakily and said, "What's my move, Pete? Go back with you or skidoo?"
"Neither," Madrid said, speaking for the first time. He raised the gun again, and Pinky understood.
"Pete ... wait...."
"So long, cowboy," Madrid said as he pulled the trigger.
He drew the extra gun from his coat pocket, fired it in the air, and tossed it to the ground near Pinky. Dismounting he recovered Willie's gun, fired it twice, and dropped it near Willie. In the saddle again, he led the horses up and down the road past the bodies several times to assure a hopeless confusion of tracks. He then rounded the bend, left the road and headed through the forest toward Tunneltown. It wouldn't do to be seen on the road.
As soon as he was out of sight, Muckamuck Charlie emerged from the trees, leading his horse. He walked round the bend and, having heard the shots, was not surprised by what he found there. Mumbling to himself, he bent over each man and assured himself they were all dead.
Lifting Willie's body under the arms, he dragged it to the side of the road and straightened it out so it looked comfortable.
"You were a tyee among them," he said in Yakima.