by Bill Sheehy
‘Well, actually I just came by to invite you to have dinner with me. Right now, while I’m waiting for answers to a few telegrams I sent off, I haven’t much to do myself. Seeing how quiet things are, I thought it might cheer both of us up to share some time this evening over dinner.’
The news he had sent off telegrams was good, she thought. What else would they be about except the federal money? It would make Martin hard to live with if she stayed in town tonight and had supper with this man. But he wanted to know what was happening with the bank’s money as much as she did, didn’t he? What better way to learn anything but over a meal. Anyway, it was important to keep him friendly, wasn’t it? And how long has it been since someone invited her to supper? Not ever. Not in this town. That was one thing she was going to change, once all this bank money problem was solved. Of course she’d have supper with Mr Drazen.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘once again I have to warn you; what our little town has to offer is nothing like what you’re used to. But, yes, I’d like that very much.’
Drazen stood up, a big smile lifting his lips. ‘Good. I’ll come by to walk you over to the restaurant at, say, six?’
‘Make it closer to half past. I always lock up after everybody has left for the day.’
But on the sidewalk he hesitated, settling his derby. Of course she’ll have dinner with me. What else is there to do in this town? Smiling slyly he nodded. Have to go make sure there are candles for the table.
Chapter 50
Just as Marcy Baynes had done, Elizabeth Havilah gave the deputy’s invitation to dinner some thought before agreeing. So far all the meals she’d had in Baynes Springs had been at the boarding house. Mrs Cornwall was a good cook and her meals were filling but in the brief time she’d been married to Roy she’d learned there was more to an evening meal than just food.
While he’d been courting her they had had many meals together. Some were at one or another of the restaurants in Kansas City and others just cold fried chicken from the wicker picnic basket. Thinking about that, it was the picnics that made her feel so good. Even before getting married, they enjoyed finding a hidden corner in the trees down along the river to spread out their blanket. She felt her face grow hot thinking about those times.
Mentally shaking herself, she brought her mind back to Deputy Stewart’s invitation. He wasn’t as handsome as that rancher, Tony Rodriquez, and not just because of his long mustaches hanging down alongside his mouth. She’d never liked mustaches or beards on a man. Roy had always kept his face clean and smooth. But she wasn’t here to think about men, was she? No. Only one man. Remember your purpose for coming to this little town, she told herself furiously. Maybe while having supper with this man she could learn something about the outlaw, Morgan Runkle. Or even that lawyer. The lawyer and the deputy had both come to town at the same time, didn’t they? There had to be a reason for that. Yes. She’d certainly have to have supper with the lawman.
‘Good,’ said Stewart after she smilingly agreed to his invitation, which had been shyly given. ‘I’ll come over about the time the bank closes and walk you up to the restaurant.’
‘Well, we close at about six,’ she said, ‘I’ll be ready.’
Both women, unknown to each other, spent the rest of the day thinking about how they were going to get the information they wanted from the men. Both were sure a lot rested on this meal.
Chapter 51
Deputy Stewart timed it right, getting to the front door of the bank just as Elizabeth Havilah came out. He thought she looked good, adjusting the dark lacy shawl over her shoulders. Stewart had taken his extra shirt and pants to the Chinaman’s laundry and had them washed. The canvas pants weren’t completely dry when he put them on. Looking down at his legs he didn’t think it showed. By the time he walked to the bank they even felt dry and, seeing the woman, he forgot all about it.
Elizabeth was wearing her second best outfit, a light blue sagebrush swisher skirt with an ivory long-sleeved blouse that had a ruffled front. Stewart thought her long curls were especially beautiful.
‘Thank you for inviting me to supper,’ said Elizabeth, as they walked up the street toward the hotel. ‘I’ve been taking all my meals at Mrs Cornwall’s and it’ll be good to have something different.’
Nathan Stewart smiled and holding her arm gently felt like letting out a holler. Walking with a pretty woman at his side was more pleasant that he’d ever thought it could be. That settled it, he was just going to have to do this more often. Chasing down outlaws was about the best work he’d ever had, but this beat that all hollow.
‘Mostly,’ he said, ‘I’m out somewhere away from towns and boarding houses. Talk about getting tired of eating the same thing day after day, well, eating my own cooking is about as bad as it gets.’ He stopped talking. All day he’d been telling himself how to handle this evening. All the things not to do, mostly. Such as talking too much.
‘What an interesting life you must have. Arresting men who break the law. Have you caught many?’
‘Aw, it’s just a job,’ he said, blushing slightly.
Holding the restaurant door open for her, he tried to remember what directions he’d given himself. Open doors for her, hold the chair as she sat down, don’t eat the food as if he was starving. Smile a lot and listen to what she had to say. That was important.
The restaurant was run by a man, Homer, and his wife Alice; he cooked and she took care of the customers. Typical evenings Homer only had to fix half-a-dozen meals. Except for when ranchers and their hands came through town there weren’t too many people eating out. Along with taking care of the restaurant, the couple also managed the hotel. The old men who spent their days out on the porch might have known a lot about things, but Homer and Alice knew more. At least about the guests staying in any of the half dozen rooms upstairs.
The menu, just as at lunch, was written in chalk on a dusty blackboard. Again, just as the mid day meal, customers had a limited choice. This night it was leg of lamb, beef steak or something called prairie oysters. Stewart decided he’d like a nice steak. Elizabeth, after asking Alice about a salad, ordered a small bowl of that afternoon’s leftover chili. While trying to think of something to say, Stewart looked around the room. Each of the six or so tables were surrounded by four chairs. The chair he had held for Elizabeth put her back to the room. He stepped around and sat with his back to the wall. On each of the tables was a small bowl filled with salt and silver utensils resting on a folded cloth napkin. Only one table, he noticed, had in the center a pair of candles sticking upright in a silver holder.
While they waited, Elizabeth was wondering how to get the talk going in the direction she wanted.
‘Have you captured many famous bad men?’
Again Stewart felt his face flush. ‘Not really. Most outlaws are just men who don’t want to work. Mostly they ain’t, uh, aren’t very smart. Just taking advantage of other folks is what they’re doing.’ He chuckled. ‘Not being very smart, they usually think they can ride away out into the territory and nobody’ll find them. There’s a lot of country out there and they think they can hide.’
‘Who are some of the men you’ve caught?’
The deputy smiled. This was going better than he had thought it would. ‘Well, nobody you’d have heard about.’
‘Are there any famous ones you’ve been after? Back before I came here I remember hearing about some holdups. Seems there was a train robbery and some time back, a stagecoach was held up. Are you after the men who had done those?’
Just as he was about to answer the door opened and others came in. Looking over he saw it was the woman from the bank and lawyer Drazen. Both he and Elizabeth were silent as they watched the man motion toward the table with the candles. Watching, both for different reasons, they paid close attention to the new arrivals.
Having supper this night, Stewart was thinking, might turn out to be really worthwhile. He could enjoy the woman’s company and at the same time see what he
could learn about the man he was in town to watch. How lucky was that?
Elizabeth’s first thought was close to the same, here he was. Maybe she could hear something. Then she considered. What was the chances he’d say anything about the outlaw leader, Runkle, while having dinner with Miss Baynes? No, best to get the deputy to talk. He might know enough to give her something to work with.
‘Uh,’ said Stewart, quickly looking away from the other table, ‘yeah, for a while I was on the trail of one of the members of the gang that did the train robbery. Caught him too. But I heard the judge let the man outa jail. Guess there wasn’t enough proof.’
Elizabeth felt her heart race. ‘Oh?’ she said, trying not to show too much interest. ‘That’s terrible. Were you sure you’d caught one of the holdup men?’
Stewart chuckled. ‘Wasn’t any question. He was a little fella, likely just one of the gang. And when I searched him I found a fifty dollar bill that come from the bank. It was the federal bank’s money what was on that train.’
‘What was the man’s name?’
‘Oh, you wouldn’t likely have ever heard it. It was Carly Morse. He was a short man and was called Little Carly by his friends. Least that was what I was told.’
Elizabeth shook her head, disappointed. As Alice brought their meal they sat quietly, not paying any attention to the couple at the other table. Both, however, were straining to overhear what was being said there.
Chapter 52
Drazen was hard at work. Not that being with this lovely young woman was work. He’d noticed the Dodge City deputy marshal sitting at a table nearby. The woman he was with, he remembered her too. She’d ridden into town on the stage with the two men. Well, let the young lawman watch and listen. He didn’t care. His attention was focused on Marcy Baynes.
‘Are there a lot of fancy restaurants in Dodge City?’ asked Marcy.
Drazen nodded. ‘Yes, and I’d like to take you to some of them. However my office is in Kansas City, which is much bigger and has even more nice eating establishments. Marcy, you have to come to Kansas City and let me show you the town. You would enjoy the theater, I’m sure.’
Marcy smiled. Being treated so nicely was a new experience and she was loving it. Yes, she wanted to say, I’d love to go to Kansas City with you.
Alice came to take their order about then, giving Marcy time to adjust her thinking. She would have to get past thinking about going to the big city. If that federal money didn’t come in, there would be no big city. Not Kansas City and certainly not San Francisco.
Chapter 53
‘It’s getting quite interesting, our little town,’ remarked Clyde Collins on a warm, dry sun-filled morning. ‘Lotsa things happenin’, ya know? There’s that lawyer fella paying close attention to Miz Baynes and Tony coming into town so much, taking supper at the boarding house and walking out in the evening with the new bank clerk.’
‘Clyde,’ said Harry smiling teasingly at the older man, ‘it’s clear you’ve forgot how it’s done. When there’s only a couple unmarried women, and mighty good-looking women at that, of course there’re gonna be men sniffing around. And those two men are both real eligible, wouldn’t you say?’
Clyde ignored his comment. ‘And then there they was, old George Allen and that housekeeper of his’n, getting on the stage to Dodge City. Why, did ya see the way he handed her up into the coach? I reckon that’s the first time I ever seen them two together like that.’
Amos laughed quietly. ‘Ya just never got out to the Frying Pan often enough. It weren’t no secret, the boss and his so-called housekeeper. Think about it like a sane man. He ain’t that much older’n her and she is a fine lookin’ woman. O’ course they was more’n what they appeared. But they both wanted it that way. Weren’t no secret to the hands neither. But we all liked and respected Mr Allen. And that Olivia woman? Oh, could she cook. Her bearclaw pastries were enough to get men riding all day just to sample.’
‘Hold up there, Amos,’ Harry cut in, ‘are you saying they were, well, living like husband and wife?’
‘Yup. They most certainly was.’
‘Why in thunder would they not just get married up then? ’Stead of carrying on like that. It’s almost indecent.’
Both the other men laughed. ‘Indecent? Wal, maybe,’ said Amos, ‘but there’s more to it than that. George Allen came up outa Texas pushing a little herd of beef stock for more reason than just to get free range. I don’t know the full of it, but way back when I was first hired on with him, out at the Frying Pan, a couple old boys who’d helped him chouse that herd mentioned someone down in the border country was looking for a certain young cattleman. Was even using a few Texas Rangers, claiming the fella they was after had killed a man.’
Harry scowled, ‘Murder? Well, can you beat that, here he is living high and proud and all the time wanted for murder? Naw, I can’t believe that. How come them Rangers never come get him?’
‘No telling. But I figure the murder charge simply didn’t hold water. Lotsa things going on down there, what with Texans fighting Mexicans and then there was that war over slavery over to the east. No sir, I don’t reckon there was much truth to the killin’ story.’
Harry wasn’t ready to let it go. ‘And what’d he do, bring Mrs Rodriquez along as his housekeeper and they got together?’
‘Nobody’s sure,’ said Clyde, taking over. ‘I can recall some talk at the time, howsomever, her arriving one day kinda unannounced in a blackboard carrying a couple a trunks and a baby. Least ways that was what we’uns over on the Baynes spread heard. We was too busy getting our own cow-calf outfit up and running to pay much attention. Later, when the twins got big enough they was riding over to play with Mrs Rodriquez’s boy. Wal, we figured that was just the way it was. The housekeeper’s son, Tony, havin’ the same last name as her, wasn’t anyone gonna say different, now was they?’
For a time the three old men sat quiet. Finally after spitting a wad of chewed, soggy tobacco out into the dirt and carefully replacing it with another cut from the plug he carried in a shirt pocket, Clyde took up the story.
‘What I find interesting, though, was old Allen and Mrs Rodriquez getting on that stage. Then coming back on the next one, smiling and carrying a passel of boxes and such. Ya know, I’d almost bet good money that they went ahead and got hitched. Yeah, the more I think about it, I’ll bet that’s what happened.’
‘Why would they do that? After all these years, why now?’
‘Wal, Amos, think on it. Allen, he ain’t getting any younger, is he? Nope. And there’s the ranch to think of. And young Tony. What’s gonna happen if’n the old man fell off’n his horse, ya know, like ol’ man Baynes did, what’s gonna happen to Mrs Rodriquez and the boy?’
‘If you’re right,’ said Harry after a minute, ‘it isn’t Mrs Rodriquez any more, it’d be Mrs Allen, wouldn’t it?’
Amos nodded. ‘Most likely. And, if like Harry here says, it’s Mrs Allen now, I wonder how Tony took the news.’
Chapter 54
Pouring a cup of coffee from the just-perked pot, Tony’s mother sat across the kitchen table from her son and, placing both hands together in front, smiled.
‘Por favor, mi hijo, we must talk.’
‘Is it about Mrs Havilah you want to talk about?’ he asked cautiously.
‘Sí, I have noticed much, and there are questions of importance. But there are also other important things.’
‘Mi madre, it is true, I have been walking in the evening with Elizabeth. We have talked and, while I have nothing to offer her I want you to meet her.’
The woman’s smile grew as she bowed her head, closing her eyes. ‘Antonio, my son, it is clear, your interest in this woman. I must ask, however, if you have thought. She is from the big city.’
Tony’s frown grew. ‘And the fact that she has been married? Does that bother you?’
‘No, not really. If anyone comprehends how, ah, asuntos del corazón, hm, affairs of the heart, can appear to be as
hard as adobe bricks, it is your mother. No, your lady’s widowhood is not problemo. My concern is more of her acceptance of ranch life.’
‘I do not know. We have talked, yes, but not so much about that. After all, I haven’t even a cabin to bring her to, if she were to accept me.’
‘Do you feel she would not?’
Shaking his head slowly, he thought a moment. ‘There is something. I’m not sure what it is, but when we talk we both only go so far. I understand clearly she is of a different world, the big city with all it offers. It is more like neither of us want to hear bad news so we won’t let our words go in that direction. And she, I feel there is something she does not wish to discuss, too. Mamacita,’ he said, taking her hands, ‘I simply don’t know what to do.’
‘Ah, that I can not help you with. The best thing would be for you two to talk, really talk about what is holding you back.’
‘I am afraid that would be the end of things for us.’
‘Antonio, let me now tell you of something else. Possibly what I say will help you. Mi hijo, you have grown up on this ranch. This is the life you know. And all is not as you know it between Mr Allen and me.’
Tony smiled, ‘Mamacita, do not think I know you and Mr Allen are lovers? On the ranch there are few secrets. I have long known.’
‘Sí, it is true. What you do not know is how we came to be here. Mr Allen shot a man who was to do bad things to me. We had known each other before, but could do nothing. Until one morning, the foreman of a big ranch tried to take me away. He died and we ran. Mr Allen had a small ranch, with not many cattle or horses. The big ranch owner swore to have Mr Allen hung.’ She sighed before going on. ‘Well, he brought his herd here, a distance from the big rancher. I came soon after. When this happened, I was already with child. You were born before I could follow.’