Deputy at Large

by Judge Rodriguez

  Jake gets up and quickly picks up the young boy before he falls out of his chair. He looks to Brigit’s questioning look and nods in agreement. It looks like he’s got a roommate for the night.

  Chapter 11

  John looks at his old friend disbelievingly when Josh gets back downstairs after dropping the urchin off in his room. He doesn’t understand how the man could be living a lie and still say he’s being led by God to do this. “Do you mind?” he demands.

  Josh looks at him impudently and says, “No, you can have some of my food if you want. Why didn’t you order some of your own?”

  “You know what I mean. What is all that about?” He points angrily toward Josh’s room.

  “I told you. I feel the calling to help him out. I don’t know what else to say.”

  John shakes his head in irritation. “I think you’ve said enough. Dealing with him best not keep you from doing what you ought. I have the feeling he’s gonna bring us a level of trouble unlike we’ve seen for a long while.”

  “Well, he’s my responsibility, so don’t worry about it. I’ll not worry your delicate sensibilities any further.” Josh pushes his chair back rises. “Now, I think it’s time for me to hit the hay.” Without waiting for any response, he heads back upstairs.

  After he’s gone, Brigit comes over, with a steaming cup of coffee and sits down at John’s table. “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Talk about what?” John’s irritation is burning through him. He’s no stranger to feeling the call of the Lord. He’s been following the word, doing what he can to be a good Christian for the last six months, so why is this so irritating to him now?

  “What has you so riled up? You’re not normally this crotchety.”

  He gives her a sour look. “Thanks.”

  “I mean it. What’s going on?”

  John sighs and stares out into space. “He and I grew up together. We’ve been blood-brothers for far longer than I care to admit.” He looks at her expectant reaction and sighs. “Alright, alright already. Since you insist.”

  Over the next hour and a half, he describes growing up in the orphanage, it’s destruction, his and Josh’s role in the War Between The States, and finally, Josh falling at the Battle of Crecilla Monastery at the beginning of the Red-River War.

  About halfway into the narrative, Sean comes over to be seated next to his love and listens in on the story. Silently, he takes her hand gently kisses it.

  John barely takes notice and continues with the story. He finishes off by saying, “We gave everyone that fell there at Crecilla a splendid funeral. I’ve mourned him these last fifteen years or so. Now, he shows up as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, using a different name, expecting me to let bygones be bygones?” He shakes his head in annoyance.

  Brigit looks at Sean with a serious expression on her face. He takes a deep breath and motions her to say what she’s thinking. “I probably won’t say this very well, but I’ll try anyway.” John motions her to continue. “Are you sure you’re angry at him, or is it you, you’re so riled up over?”

  That question definitely sends John’s head spinning. “Why would I be so angry with myself?”

  “Well, you may never have forgiven yourself for letting him die, even though you didn’t have a choice in the matter. His presence serves as a constant reminder of your failings.”

  Could that possibly be it? John sighs deeply, thinking furiously. “You may be right. I’ll really have to think and pray about it. I think it’s time for me to hit the hay myself. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

  JAKE IS AWAKENED JUST before dawn by Andy thrashing about in the bed.

  He cries out, “Papa! Papa! Noooo!”

  Jake lays his hand on the small boy and says quietly, “You’re okay, Andy. You’re safe.”

  Instinctively, Andy turns over and snuggles up to the deputy. In his sleep, he murmurs a quiet, “Papa, you’re okay.”

  Jake feels an unfamiliar feeling. Before accepting the Gift of Grace, he’s bedded his fair share of women. Some, he’s even spent the whole night with. This feeling? Completely foreign to him. He doesn’t know how to describe it, even to himself. This is unlike anything he has ever felt before. The trusting nature of this child makes his heart melt with feelings of protectiveness. He looks down at the small head and wonders if this is what fatherhood feels like? At least, partly? About an hour after dawn, unable to ignore the call of nature, Jake rises, doing his best not to wake the sleeping child. He takes care of what is needed and when he gets back to his room, he sees the child still laying in the bed, staring at the door.

  Jake smiles and says, “Good morning, Andy. Are you alright?”

  Andy’s eyes look unfocused and he asks, “Papa?”

  Jake shakes his head and gently says, “No, child. I’m Jake. Remember last night?”

  The young boy blinks, gasps, and then gathers the blankets about him as he sits up in the bed. “What you gonna do to me?” he demands.

  Jake sighs and shakes his head. “Nothing bad, child. I really don’t want anything other than to help you.”

  Andy’s eyes water. “The last man who said he wanted to help me tried to do bad things to me. What makes you any different?”

  Jake moves slowly over to the chair and lowers himself down into it. “Child, I can only tell you that time will tell. I can explain how our Lord tells us to treat children, how children are a treasure sent by His Father. Honestly, the only way I can prove to you I don’t want to hurt you, is by showing you. Will you give me that chance?”

  “I don’t know. I’m scared.”

  Jake sighs once more. Poor guy, he’s had to endure so much. I hope I can get him to trust me. “I’ll tell you what. If I do anything that makes you afraid, if I do anything to make you not trust me, I want you to kick me.” He points to his right shin. “Right here. Got it?”

  “Promise?”

  “I expect you to. Okay? Now, if you’re going to start trusting me, there’s a few things we need to do.” Jake points to the young man and says, “You need a bath, some clothes and we need to do something about your hair. It’s horrible. Have you been trying to cut it yourself?”

  He giggles and nods.

  “Okay. So, first thing’s first. Breakfast, then bath. Then, I have a few things to take care of in town, so, I’ll send you with Brigit to the store, to get some clothes.”

  “I ain’t got no money.”

  “It’s alright, child. I have some. It will be fine. Let’s go get you some breakfast and we can get the day started.”

  “I gotta water.”

  Jake grins and slowly rises, groaning a bit as he does so.

  Andy looks at him, a concerned look on his face and asks, “You hurt?”

  “Yes, child. I got hurt a long time ago.” He motions for Andy to follow him. “I was a soldier for a very long time and got hurt awhile back. It’s okay, but I just have to be careful is all.”

  The young child gets out of the bed and leads the way out of the room and to the stairs. He waits patiently at the head of the stairs for the deputy to catch up.

  Once they are both downstairs, Jake shows him where the outhouse is and waits by the door. While he waits for the child, he thinks about how quickly things can change. This time two days ago, he was just a mile or two outside of Denver. Now he’s waiting on Marshal Blackwolf and responsible for the well-being of a child.

  The door opens and Andy peeks out of it. “I’m done.”

  Jake looks at the young face presented him. “Ready?”

  He nods and quickly leaves the outhouse.

  Jake leads the way to the restaurant and is greeted, then seated by Sean.

  “Well, I’m glad ta see yer guest decided ta stay wit’ us awhile. An’ what kin I get ya?”

  After they order and Sean brings out the food, Jake prays a blessing over the meal and explains why it’s needed to give thanks for all the blessings in life they have been given.

  After taking a tentative bite, Andy
tears into the scrambled eggs in front of him with a gusto that surprises Jake.

  Jake takes a bite of the food and follows suit.

  After several minutes, Sean walks up and says, “Ma mam always says Tis a success if lively conversation stops fer tha food.” His grin is wide as he looks at the pair. “Kin I getcha fellas anyt’hin’else?”

  Jake shakes his head as he washes down some of his food with coffee.

  Andy looks down at his now, mostly empty plate and yawns wide.

  Jake smirks and looks at Sean. “Would you mind asking Brigit to come out here for a minute? I would like to ask a favor of her.”

  She steps up from behind Sean and says, “I’m here. There’s no reason for this stubborn mule to come fetch me. What’s up?”

  Jake smiles at her a moment and forgets what he was going to ask her for a moment. “Sorry. I lost track for a bit. Would you mind taking Andy to the barber to get his hair cut straight, then to the store and get him some new clothes, then a bath?”

  Brigit steps over to the child and lowers herself to where she’s eye-level with him. “Is that what you would like, Andy?”

  Andy looks at Jake, who nods in response, then turns back to Brigit, nods and says, “I would like that very much!”

  Brigit smiles and looks at Jake a moment before saying, “I have a little time, I can do that. I take it you want Andy to have a bath first?”

  Jake nods and gives Brigit two $20 gold pieces. “Think that should cover it?”

  Brigit looks surprised at the amount of money, smirks and says, “It should be enough to cover getting him clothes until he’s an adult.”

  Andy’s eyes glitter at the sight of the gold and gasps.

  Jake winks at the both of them and says, “Well, I gotta make sure that Andy has something nice for his birthday, don’t I?” He sees a look pass between Sean and Brigit. Brigit blushes, Sean looks away. I’m not sure I want to hear the story behind THAT.

  Andy looks at Jake and asks, “How do you know it’s my birthday?”

  Jake gives the young man a serious look. “Your birthday is when we decide to celebrate it. Now you have a new life, so your birthday is today. Fair enough?”

  The young man giggles, jumps out of his chair and throws his arms around Jake.

  Jake looks around, embarrassed. “Yes, well.” He pats Andy’s back awkwardly.

  Andy pulls back and looks fearfully. “Not ‘spose to?”

  “That’s fine. It just surprised me is all.”

  Sean looks at the empty plates. “Kin I go ‘head an’ take t’hese fer ya?”

  Jake nods, pulls Andy away from the table and says, “I think it’s time for us to get things done. Would you mind seeing to getting everything done with Andy, Brigit? I have some things to take care of at Sheriff Lyttle’s office.”

  Brigit nods, stands and holds her hand out to take the young boy’s. “I’ll make sure you get your money’s worth, deputy.”

  Jake nods and looks down at Andy. “Remember your promise to trust me. I want you to go with Brigit. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  The young boy looks between the two, nods, walks over to Brigit and takes her hand. He turns back to Jake, nods again and says, “I promise.”

  Jake stands and moves to leave. As he passes by Brigit, he says quietly, “Thanks. I owe you.”

  Brigit waves a hand says, “No problem. I’m glad to be able to do it.”

  Jake crosses the street, picks up Ranger and rides over to the telegraph office. There’s a message waiting for him.

  It says simply: Warrants on the way. Stop. Be careful. Stop. Walters. Stop.

  After he reads the message, Jake pays the telegrapher an additional two bits for its timely delivery. Then he rides over to Sheriff Lyttle’s office and meets up with the sheriff and John.

  He barges into the sheriff’s office and hands over the note to the man, asking, “Since we know we are going after them, what now?”

  Lyttle levels a look at Jake and asks, “Mind explaining to me about the orphan?”

  “Yes, I do mind. I don’t have to explain any part of my personal life to you. What do you plan to do about the two fugitives? Or are you going to question my personal life ‘til it’s over?”

  “You have no right to speak to me in that tone, DEPUTY. I asked because that decision may impact your effectiveness as a deputy. You know it, so don’t you dare speak to me in that manner.”

  Jake sighs. He really didn’t expect John to run to Lyttle with the news. He decides he needs to talk to him about that. “You still didn’t answer the question. Are we gonna form a posse, or not?”

  “No. The county doesn’t have the money for the posse fees. If you want to form one, you will need to convince Blackwolf to do it.”

  Jake crosses his arms and shifts the weight from his bad hip. “You mean to tell me you’re not gonna form a posse, just because your county doesn’t have the money?” He sighs. “I’ll talk to Walters or Blackwolf, then. I don’t want those men to get away with attacking a federal marshal.”

  Lyttle lifts his hand says, “That’s up to the U.S. Marshals, not local law enforcement. Now, if you’ll excuse yourself from this office.”

  Jake is stunned. Since becoming a deputy, he hasn’t received this type of resistance from local law enforcement. He nods, says, “Yes, SIR,” turns on a heel and marches himself from the office.

  JOHN LEVELS A LOOK at the sheriff. “What was THAT about?”

  “I didn’t like either his attitude or his intrusion. The federals have been taking money away from the county and expecting me to do more with less. It’s not just the Marshals Service either. It’s Judge Logan as well. They convinced the territorial legislature to take money away from the county law enforcement to start up a bunch of schools.”

  “What, like colleges or something?” John feels a sense of dread at the prospect of having a bunch of lawyers hanging around. More doctors would be nice, though.

  “That and a bunch of public schools. They passed a bill that says every township has to have a public school in it.”

  “You mean like the one they have in Edmond, or the one in Oklahoma-Town?”

  “Edmond. The one in Oklahoma-Town is a private school. We’re going to be diverting half your pay to pay for building a school and paying for a teacher to come out and teach the kids in Denver.”

  John wasn’t expecting that. However, he doesn’t really mind that much, since he has so much money left over from the rewards last year. He feels bad for Red-Feather, though, since that means his pay is getting cut in half as well. Since his beef-alo ranch burned to the ground last year, the deputy has been depending on the meager deputy’s pay he’s been getting from John.

  “They also passed legislation saying we have to pay for several colleges, out of our own money, too. I don’t mind teaching all our kids, but do they really have to make us suffer financially because of their being tender-hearted?”

  John shakes his head. “We, at least need the kids to be able to read the laws that are being passed after all, don’t you think?”

  Lyttle stands, walks over to a cabinet and pours himself a drink. He offers one to John, who declines. “I don’t disagree with getting the schools built. What rankles is that they are taking my operating fund away, to give those kids their schools. It’s not gonna do us a whole lot of good teaching the kids the laws if we can’t enforce them.”

  John nods. “I know. It’s still tough. Where is the money gonna come from, if not locally?”

  “That’s not my concern. All I want is to be able to be effective in taming Hell’s Fringe.”

  “What’s that?”

  Lyttle grins tightly. “That’s the name being given to the crosstimbers.”

  John smiles at how appropriate the name feels. Oh, how things are shaping up after all. “So, what next?”

  “When the marshal comes, it will have to be his choice as far as what to do. I really have no money to do anything with, after all.”
>
  John nods. Not being able to pay a posse makes forming one almost impossible. With the territorial legislature effectively gutting the county treasury, paying for almost anything is going to require a miracle. Well, his relatively new-found faith has shown him miracles are possible.

  John rises and heads toward the door. Just before he reaches it, he turns and says, “Just so you know, Jake isn’t involved in the politics of it. You need to go easy on him. I don’t agree with most of what he’s done, but he doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. You know? Just saying.”

  Lyttle pours himself another drink, downs it then waves John on.

  John enters the outer office, his thoughts in turmoil.

  Chapter 12

  Jake looks at John as he enters the outer office, curious at the sour look his old friend has.

  John walks up to him and says, “Come on. Let’s go. I expect Marshal Blackwolf will want to meet us at the hotel.” He shakes his head and points toward the door to the sheriff’s office. “I don’t know what’s been going on with him, but he’s having some serious issues at the moment.”

  “Why did you tell him about Andy?” Jake demands of his old friend.

  “I didn’t. Sean and I were talking about the waif over breakfast when Lyttle came in and listened to a part of our chat. He heard a little bit of it and was able pick up on who we were discussing.”

  Jake shakes his head in annoyance. “Of all the nerve. Who does he think he is, questioning who I choose to spend my time around. It’s almost as if he thinks he’s my boss.”

  Just a little more than half an hour later, Jake is sitting in the restaurant of the hotel, having a beer at their usual table, when Brigit enters with a young girl catching his attention. Where is Andy? He wouldn’t think that Brigit would drop the young man off somewhere else to be watched by a stranger, at least he’d hoped not.

  It takes Jake a full thirty seconds before he realizes the young girl is Andy. He feels his mouth drop open. How is this possible? How could he have not known?