by John Legg
Jonas nodded. That would explain Childress’s surliness minutes ago in his office. “Daisy in her room now?” he asked.
“That she is, Sheriff,” Sarah interjected. “She’ll be plumb delighted to see you, I’d say. You go on up there now and call on her.”
Jonas smiled and headed for the second floor. Bear bounded up the stairs ahead of him, seemingly eager. Jody was right on his brother’s heels.
When the Culpeppers got to the door, Bear was sitting there, tail wagging like crazy, soft little whines erupting from the short, fierce muzzle. Jonas knocked on the door.
A moment later came a faint, “Who’s there?”
“Jonas Culpepper.” He grinned at the door. “And Bear.”
The door flew open to a happy Daisy Greenwalt. Bear could hardly contain his excitement as Daisy bent and rubbed his head behind both floppy ears and let the mastiff lap at her face a little. Finally she looked up and smiled at Jonas. “It’s good to see you, Sheriff,” she said almost breathlessly.
“Sheriff?” Jonas said with a laugh.
“You know what I mean,” Daisy said. “Come in, you and…She cast a telling look at Jody.
Jonas made introductions as he and his brother went inside and sat. Before they could really get into talking again, Sarah Stanton knocked and entered when Daisy opened the door. The older woman was carrying a tray on which sat a coffeepot, three crockery mugs, a small bowl of sugar, and plates of tiny sandwiches and cookies. She set the tray down on the room’s only real table. “Enjoy yourselves,” she said, as she bustled out.
As Daisy served him and his brother, Jonas took a good look at her. She was dressed like a proper young lady, in a high-necked, long-sleeved calico dress—a different one from the last time Jonas had seen her—that hugged her figure. Her hair was done up in some sort of bun, with a few hairs straying out, and she was scrubbed clean. She wore some sort of perfume or toilet water with an appealing scent. She looked and smelled fine, Jonas thought.
Jody was of the same opinion as he watched Daisy with eagle eyes. Had Jonas not told him what a hard time she’d been through, he’d never have been able to tell by looking at her now. She was positively delightful looking to him.
Finally Daisy sat, too.
“I hear Marshal Childress has been givin’ you a hard time,” Jonas said.
“Oh, darn,” she snapped, “I told Mister Stanton not to say anything about that.”
“He hurt you any?” Jody asked, surprising everyone.
“No,” Daisy said, flustered, looking askance at him. She had liked Sheriff Culpepper more than a little, but she knew he was married. But here was a copy of him, and one that might not be married. She allowed herself to hope a little.
“Good thing,” Jody growled softly.
“You have any other callers?” Jonas asked.
“No, not really. At first, I think anyone else who might’ve been interested in such a thing was put off by the marshal’s comin’ around. It’s only been two days since I told Childress I didn’t ever want to see him again, so there’s really been no time for others to come around.”
“You all right otherwise?”
“Oh, yes,” Daisy said enthusiastically. “Mister and Mrs. Stanton’re the nicest people. It’s like…well, it’s like a real home with them, almost.” She looked a little embarrassed.
“That’s good, Daisy. You’re lookin’ like this place agrees with you. In fact, you’re lookin’ mighty durn good.”
“Better’n good,” Jody added, in a voice so low that Daisy and Jonas were not sure if he’d really said anything at all.
Daisy flushed at the compliments.
Jonas stood. “Well, Daisy, we’ve got to see to the horses and such. We’ll be stayin’ at least tonight, maybe a little longer. We can talk more later. Come on, Jody.”
The brother continued to sit. “I’d just as soon stay here a few minutes, if Miss Daisy don’t mind,” Jody said seriously to his brother, but he was looking at Daisy.
Jonas stared at Jody a moment, eyebrows raised. Then he, too, looked at Daisy. Good Lord, he thought, they’re smitten with each other. “Well, Daisy?” he asked.
“I’d like that, Sheriff.”
Jody finally looked up at his brother. “You can leave my horse and the mule. I’ll take care of them later.” He did not want Jonas to think he was a slacker.
“I’ll get them.”
“I’ll make it up another time.”
“You’re durn right you will,” Jonas said with a laugh. “Well, then, I’ll be on my way.” He stabbed his brother with a stare from his piercing blue eyes. “You mind your manners around this young lady, boy.”
“Yessir,” Jody said, still seriously.
Shaking his head, Jonas headed out the door and down the stairs. Bear had looked a little confused, undecided whether to go with his master or stay with the woman. But loyalty won out, and he trotted alongside Jonas.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was well past dark when Jody entered the room he was to share with his brother. Jonas looked at him and gave him a grin. It was returned. Jody sat down and pulled off his boots.
“You seem taken with Daisy, little brother,” Jonas said quietly.
“She seems to be a girl to be taken with,” Jody said without apology.
“I suppose she is.” Jonas paused before deciding to continue. “But you don’t know the whole story about her, Jody.”
“I don’t?” Jody leaned back in the chair and wiggled his toes in his socks.
“No,” Jonas said flatly.
“Then tell me.” He still did not seem concerned.
Jonas rose and pulled a pint bottle of whiskey out of his saddlebags. He found two glasses and poured some whiskey into each and set them on the table. Then he put the bottle away and sat again. He sipped a little whiskey. “I lied about how she got to be with the outlaws. She wasn’t on the trail with her parents, nor did the outlaws attack the wagons she was with.”
“Then what happened?” Jody asked evenly.
“I hate to say this, little brother, but Daisy worked in a fancy house in Durango—that’s where the outlaws got her. They spirited her away true enough, but she weren’t exactly innocent when they did so. Not by a long shot.”
“I never thought I’d see my older brother, a man I’ve looked up to and trusted my whole life, stoop so low.”
“Think what you want, Jody. It’s the God’s truth.”
“Then what about that other story?”
“I started tellin’ that here so Daisy’d have a fresh start.”
“Sounds like a crock of shit to me, Jonas. If you wanted her to yourself, you should’ve told me earlier. Now that I’m taken with her, I ain’t about to let her go just for you.”
“I’ve nearabout killed men for such insults,” Jonas said in flat, deadly tones.
“Touchy bastard, ain’t you,” Jody said more than asked. “Supposin’ it is true—which I ain’t sayin’ it is. What’s your problem with it?”
“Didn’t say I had a problem with it. All I was doin’ was makin’ sure you knew what you were gettin’ into. Now that you know, if you’re still smitten with her, so be it.”
“You really mean that, don’t you, brother?”
“Of course I do.”
Suddenly Jody laughed. “She told me already. Earlier tonight, while we were over in her room.”
“And you gave me such a hard time, you fractious little snot,” Jonas said, only a little heatedly.
“Just wanted to see if you were on the up and up.”
“Good Lord, but if you ain’t enough to try a man’s patience,” Jonas said with a laugh. “So you really are taken with her?”
“Yessir. And I think she returns it.” Jody paused, watching the light reflect through his glass as he twirled it in one hand. “I ain’t ever felt like this about a woman before, Jonas. And as strongly as I have felt about some women, ain’t a one of ’em come over me this fast.” He paused
again, a little embarrassed. “I aim to come back for her, Jonas,” he said almost defiantly.
Jonas raised his glass in something of a salute. “Here’s to you both, boy,” he said, and downed the drink.
Jody smiled and then swallowed his whiskey. “It don’t bother you none what she did before?” he asked suddenly.
Jonas shrugged. “Why should it matter to me?” he countered. “I ain’t the one smitten with her. Does it bother you?”
“Not too much. But,” he admitted, “if I think about it more than a little, it does some.”
“It’s not somethin’ easily gotten over,” Jonas said, “knowin’ what she used to do. But it ain’t the worst thing in the whole wide world.” He stood. “Well, it’s time for this ol’ boy to be asleep. I’ll flip you for the bed.”
“You take it. If we stay tomorrow night, too, I’ll take it then.”
“Fair enough.”
Jody grinned. “I’d be obliged if we was to stay tomorrow night.”
Jonas nodded, but did not return the smile. Instead, he said seriously, “We got important business, Jody. If that keeps us here another night, or another week, you can call on Daisy all you want. But our work’s more important than your courtin’.”
“I’m sorry, Jonas,” Jody said, abashed. “I didn’t mean...”
“I know you didn’t mean anything by it, little brother. But you’re still new to the sheriffin’ business, and might not be used to the calls it makes on a body. Daisy’s a good woman. She’ll understand when I drag you away from her.”
Jody nodded. “Just as long as you drag me back here.”
“Sooner or later, little brother. Sooner or later.”
Jody spent as much time with Daisy the next day as he thought he could get away with, letting Jonas wander the streets and saloons of San Miguel in an attempt to pick up any kind of information that might be useful in finding Mack Ellsworth and his gang.
The Culpeppers went together in the morning, but by noon, Jonas was aggravated and frustrated by the futility of their search. After lunch, he told Jody to go call on Daisy. Jody needed no special invitation.
Watching his brother walk away, Jonas smiled. In some ways it was good having his brother along to watch his back, but right at the moment, Jonas figured he’d be better off prodding people for information by himself. Two large, hard-looking, fiery-maned lawmen were enough to intimidate a good many men.
He did learn somewhere during the day that he was being followed. He counted four at one point. All had the tough, vicious look of bounty hunters. Culpepper was a little concerned about it at first, but after a short while he realized the bounty hunters were not about to do anything. Not until he— and therefore, they, too—learned something of value. Once he figured that out, he pretty much ignored them.
Still, by late afternoon he was again frustrated at the lack of information, and having the four men following him increased his irritation.
Deciding to have some fun with them, he went into the Deuces saloon, and walked straight out the back door. From there he headed to the Lucky Buck saloon, where he had a beer in peace. He sat at the back of the room, waiting. It took the four bounty hunters twenty-two minutes to catch up with him there.
But Culpepper was tired and hungry and annoyed, so he left soon afterward. He met Jody and Daisy for supper in Brickley’s hash house. Afterward the brothers escorted Daisy to her room. She was not happy about it, but she knew that Jonas needed his brother for a while, and she owed Jonas Culpepper far too much to put up a fuss where business was concerned.
The brothers stood just outside Stanton’s and talked a little, with Jonas bringing Jody up to date—and laying a plan to perhaps keep the bounty hunters off Jonas’s trail for a while.
Ten minutes later, Jonas went to the Lucky Buck and ordered another beer. When he spotted the four bounty hunters, he sauntered outside and turned up the street. Just across the alley next to the saloon, he stopped in the space where the doors of a hardware store were set back from the front wall of the building a little. He leaned back against the wall of the building and waited, watching back the way he had come.
A few minutes later the bounty hunters came out of the Lucky Buck. They hesitated a moment before turning up the street rather than down it. As they stepped up onto the boardwalk past the alley, Culpepper moved out from his spot in front of the store. “Evenin’, boys,” he said.
“Sheriff,” one of them said politely.
“You boys’ve been followin’ my tail all day, and I must admit to y’all that I’m just a wee bit weary of it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Sheriff,” the same one said with a look of innocence.
“You boys ain’t that durn stupid, and neither am I.” He paused. “What’re your names, boys?”
“I ain’t gonna tell you jack shit,” the same man replied in harsh tones. He looked at Bear when the mastiff growled. “And you tell that goddamn mangy dog of yours to keep his yap shut.”
“Calm down, Bear,” Culpepper said quietly, with a small smirk. “You bite one of these pukin’ scoundrels and you’ll probably get poisoned.”
“Very funny, you big, stupid bastard. Now you’re in our way. Move, or…”
“Or what, asshole?” Jody asked with a sneer. He stepped out from the shadows of the alley behind the bounty hunters. “Now, the sheriff asked you punks a question. Answer it.” The man who had spoken cranked his head around and glared at Jody, who stood with a pistol in hand. The bounty hunter looked back at Jonas. “My name’s Carl Jaegger.” He pointed to each of the men as he named them. “Adam Cole, Dave Eberhardt, and Danny Hillman.”
“You’re bounty hunters, yes?” Jonas asked.
“Yeah,” Jaegger snapped. “What of it?”
“I don’t like bounty hunters. Especially pukin’ maggots who’re a pain in my tail feathers. You want to collect the bounty on Mack Ellsworth’s head, you go find out where he is and what he’s done with the loot. Don’t expect me to find out for you. Next time I see you followin’ me, I’m going to kill one or all of you. It don’t make any difference to me. You boys got that?”
“Yeah,” Jaegger growled. The others nodded sullenly. “Good,” Jonas said easily. “Now, go find yourselves somewhere else to be. Somewhere well away from me.”
The scowling bounty hunters shuffled away, backs stiff with anger. Jody stepped up onto the boardwalk with his brother. “Those walkin’ pukes’re gonna be trouble,” Jonas said, as he and Jody watched the four striding off.
“We could fix that,” Jody said flatly.
Jonas smiled a little, but there was no humor in it, only sadness. “They ain’t done anything wrong, little brother.” He turned a questioning stare on Jody. “You ever killed anyone?” he asked bluntly.
“Once,” Jody answered honestly. “I didn’t feel so good about it for a while, but that feelin’s long gone.”
“I hope so,” Jonas said, turning his head again to watch the bounty hunters, “for as sure as the sun comes up in the east of a mornin’, we’re going to have to kill us some men before this venture’s over.”
“Don’t be so damn gloomy,” Jody said glumly.
Jonas shook off a little of the darkness that had settled on him. “Good idea. How’s about a beer?”
“Now you’re talkin’. Where? The Lucky Buck?”
“Good Lord, no,” Jonas said with a forced laugh. “That place is a dump. The Deuces ain’t much better, but it’s the best place in town.”
“Lead on, then, big brother.”
Before long they were leaning against the bar in the Deuces, each with a beer in front of him. The Deuces didn’t have a very ornate back bar, but the one there did have a large mirror which allowed the Culpeppers to keep an eye on the door as well as the entire inside of the saloon. From the small spread of food, the brothers had laden their plates with hard-cooked eggs and two kinds of cheeses. They nibbled as they drank, one set of eyes always on the mirror.
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br /> “You learn anything today, Jonas?” Jody asked.
“Nothin’ that’d help find Ellsworth.”
“Damn. Somebody’s got to know some—”
“There you are, you stinkin’ son of a bitch!” Marshal Childress roared as he staggered into the saloon.
The Culpeppers turned and leaned back against the bar so they faced Childress. “You have a problem, Marshal?” Jonas asked.
“Yeah, god damn it. But not with you, you stinkin’ shit sheriff. With him.” He pointed a slightly shaking finger at Jody.
“What’s your beef with me, mister?” Jody asked calmly, though his voice was hard.
“I want you to leave Daisy alone, goddammit.”
“She don’t,” Jody said flatly.
“I don’t care. I had first claim on her, and by Christ, I’m gonna keep that claim. I’ll be damned if the likes of you is gonna waltz into San Miguel and start makin’ nice with that bitch and pumpin’ for information. What she knows is mine to learn, you son of a bitch.”
Jonas suddenly flipped an egg at Childress. It plopped on the marshal’s chest and then fell on the floor. It did no damage, but it made Childress shut up.
“Dumb maggot,” Jonas muttered. “Another couple of words out of him and the whole town’d know what’s going on.”
“I do believe it’s time for us to escort the good marshal out of here, don’t you think, Jonas?”
“Indeed, little brother.” Jonas looked at Childress. “Seems you’ve had a wee bit too much to drink for one night, Marshal,” he said smoothly. “I think it’s about time you slept it off. Me and Jody here’ll take you back to your place. Make sure you don’t fall down and break a limb or somethin’ on the streets.”
“That’d be a shame,” Jody agreed.
“You ain’t takin’ me nowhere, you bastards. I’m gonna...” Jonas stepped up and slapped a hand across Childress’s mouth. Then he and Jody each grabbed an arm and hauled the marshal out of the saloon.
Chapter Twenty-Four