Shadow of the Hangman
Page 27
“Aye, so I’ve been told.”
The man was still holding the pistol in his hand, though the barrel was pointing straight down.
“I’ll nae be telling you again to drop the gun.” The gunman opened his hand, and the gun fell to the porch with a loud thump.
“Mr. White, you have a telephone in your establishment, I believe?” Duff asked.
“Y-yes,” White said, relief from fear visible on his face.
“Would ye be so kind as to call the marshal’s office ’n ask Deputy Baldwin if he would come collect his prisoner?”
“I’d be glad to. And the cough medicine is on the house.”
Duff smiled. “’Tis a funny thing. I no longer feel the need for the elixir.”
When Duff returned to where he had left his horse, several people applauded him.
“Come into the saloon, Duff, and I’ll buy you a drink,” someone said.
“I thank you for the offer, Mr. Miller, but I must step into this shop for a few moments,” Duff replied, nodding toward the building next door to the saloon. A sign on the front of the building read MEAGAN’S DRESS EMPORIUM.
A bell on the door jingled as Duff stepped inside.
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” a woman’s voice called from the back of the room.
Stepping toward the sound of the voice, Duff saw Meagan Parker on her knees, pinning up the skirt on a dress being worn by Martha Guthrie, wife of the mayor of Chugwater.
“Mrs. Guthrie, ’tis a beautiful picture you make in that dress. You’ll be warming R.W.’s heart, and that’s for sure.
Martha, who was a short and rather rotund woman, blushed and giggled at the compliment. “Oh, do you think so?”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been telling her,” Meagan said, standing up.
“I’m buying the dress for a Christmas party we’ll be giving John, his wife, and our grandchildren,” Martha said. “They’re coming to town for Christmas.”
“Oh, and what a joyous event that will be. I’ll have to stop by to say hello,” Duff replied.
“Please do.”
“All right, Mrs. Guthrie, if you’ll go back there and take off the dress, I’ll have it finished for you in plenty of time,” Meagan said.
“Thank you, dear.” Martha took one more look at herself in the mirror. “You do such beautiful work.”
Meagan waited until Martha disappeared into the back room, then she kissed Duff. “What brings you here, today?”
“Smoke, Sally, and Matt will be coming to Sky Meadow. I want you to come out for dinner Wednesday night while they are here.”
“I’d be glad to.” Meagan frowned. “Didn’t I see several people gathered in front of the Fiddlers’ a few minutes ago? What was that all about, do you know?”
“Aye, ’twas a small disturbance down at the apothecary is all. ’Tis over now.”
She examined Duff with a quizzical smile. “Why is it that I think it might have been more than that, and that you had something to do with it?”
“Because you are a woman with a very suspicious heart,” Duff said.
“You are aware, are you not, Duff, that there is to be a dance on Christmas Eve?”
“And are you asking me to the dance?” Duff replied with a teasing smile.
“No, you are supposed to ask me.”
“Oh. Well then, lass, would you be so kind as to attend the dance with me?”
“Let me think about it,” Meagan replied. Then, with a wide smile she continued. “All right, I suppose I can.” She was about to kiss Duff again, but at that moment, Martha Guthrie reappeared.
“I left the dress on the table,” she said. “How soon will it be ready? I also want to wear it for R.W.’s Christmas dinner for the businessmen of the town.”
“Oh, you can pick it up tomorrow,” Meagan said.
“Wonderful. Thank you. Mr. MacCallister, please do drop by when John and his family are in town. I know they would love to see you.”
“I’ll do that,” Duff promised.
As soon as Martha left, Duff turned back to Meagan. “I believe you were about to kiss me?”
“I will, but then you must go. I have work to do and, for some reason, I find you distracting.”
They kissed again, then Duff turned to leave. “I’ll see you at dinner when Smoke and the others arrive.”
Elmer Gleason, Duff’s foreman, had a most interesting background. He had been a guerilla with Quantrill during the war; had ridden some with Jesse and Frank James after the war; had lived with the Indians for a while, taking an Indian wife; and had gone to sea as an able-bodied seaman, sailing all over the Pacific.
In a way, one could say that Duff had inherited him with the ranch, because when Duff came to develop the land he had filed upon, Elmer was already there.
“They say the place is hainted,” R.W. Guthrie had told Duff when he’d first arrived in the territory. He was talking about Little Horse Mine, a worked-out and abandoned gold mine that was on the land Duff had just taken title to.
“Course, I ain’t sayin’ that I believe in haints, mind you. But that is what they say. Some say it wasn’t the Spanish, but injuns, that first found the gold, and they was all kilt off by white men who wanted the gold for themselves. What happened was, after the injuns was all kilt, they became ghosts, and now they haint the mine and kill any white man who comes around tryin’ to find the gold. Now, mind, I don’t believe none of that. I’m just tellin’ you what folks say about it.”
As it turned out, the haint Guthrie was speaking of was Elmer Gleason.
Elmer had located a new vein of gold in the mine, and unable to capitalize on it, was living a hand-to-mouth existence in the mine, unshaved and dressed only in skins.
Duff discovered him in the mine, which was on the property Duff had just filed upon. Everything Elmer had taken from it actually belonged to Duff, giving him every right to drive Elmer off, but he didn’t. He offered Elmer a one-half partnership in the mine. That partnership had paid off handsomely for both of them.
Elmer had been with Duff from the beginning and was now Duff’s foreman and closest friend.
Duff’s half of the proceeds from the mine had built Sky Meadow into one of the most productive ranches in Wyoming. His operation was large enough to employ fourteen men.
When Duff returned to the ranch, Elmer was talking to the three other cowboys who had been with him for a very long time. Al Woodward, Case Goodrich, and Brax Walker not only worked for him, but were extremely loyal and top hands, occupying positions of responsibility.
“Get the men out to bust up the ice so’s the cows can get to water,” Elmer was telling them. “And you’d better send a couple men out to check if any of the beeves have wandered off.”
The three men nodded in acquiescence, spoke to Duff a minute, then left to attend to their duties.
“Anything interesting happen in town?” Elmer asked.
“I invited Meagan to come to dinner when Smoke and the others are here.”
“Uh-huh. And you talked some feller outta shootin’ Damon White, too, is what I heered.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“I sent Dooley into town to get some things, and he told me about it when he got back.”
“There wasn’t much to it,” Duff said. “Are you goin’ to ask your friend Vi to come to dinner?”
“You mean you don’t mind?”
“Why should I mind?”
Elmer smiled. “Well, then, if you don’t mind, I’ll ride on into town and take care of that.”
Duff nodded, then rode on to the barn to get his horse out of the cold.
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