“If he doesn’t know that the sheriff has been placed under military arrest, he might,” Edie affirmed. “Let’s go talk to the men.”
Sergeant Hoxly had put the sheriff in his own jail and left two non-commissioned officers to guard him. Lawyer Eaton wanted to keep the whereabouts of the sheriff secret, hoping the banker would refuse payment, giving the court more reason to award damages to Edie.
Dan still hadn’t had time to bathe and shave, so he looked scruffy, but when he saw Edie, accompanied by Rhoda, he knew it was time to make the payment on the mortgage. Attorney Eaton motioned for them all to join him. When they responded, he said to Dan, “I want you in on this.”
“Edie,” the lawyer began, “your timing is excellent. The banker doesn’t know that the military has taken custody of the sheriff, so he will act as though nothing has changed, and he’ll find a reason to refuse payment. He’ll try to talk to you in a private room, but don’t let him. If you make the payment at a teller’s window, the banker will be forced to come to the window. Speak loudly enough for everyone in the bank to hear, and say, ‘Here is the money in gold, to pay my mortgage in full.’ The banker will probably ask you to go with him to his office with the excuse that he has to get the mortgage papers so he can sign off on the final payment. Don’t allow him to get you alone. Tell him, ‘A written receipt will be sufficient for now, and I will pick up the signed mortgage later.’ Colonel Mabry and Lieutenant Brien will be with you to cash the check they gave you for your cattle, so you can pay the mortgage in cash. To confirm the sale of the cattle, they will show the teller the bill of sale signed by the bank owner. The teller will recognize the banker’s signature, so the banker won’t be able to deny the bill of sale. The minute he refuses payment in gold, we’ve got him, and the lieutenant will take the banker in custody charging him with selling cattle he doesn’t own.”
He turned to Dan. “Dan, I want you to know about this, but it’s better if you don’t go into the bank. The people here don’t know you, but they’ve heard about you, so why don’t you get cleaned up while we take care of this? And then we’ll meet at the hotel for dinner.”
“Sounds good, Mr. Eaton. I sure need a shave,” Dan said as he rubbed his whiskers.
He walked toward the bank with Edie and stood back at a discrete distance. “Mrs. Calem,” he said, “you look wonderful all dressed up like that. Is there anything you would like me to do while you take care of business?”
Edie, acutely aware of being addressed in such a formal manner replied, “Yes, I want you to get some rest. You haven’t slept for two days.”
“I am a bit untidy and more than a bit weary. What time will we be having dinner? We left your horses and cows untended, and I’ve got to do something about it. We can’t just leave them penned up; they need hay and water, and those calves need feeding. Maybe if we pay Ganus he’ll send one of his cowboys to attend to them.”
“That’s a good idea, Dan; I had forgotten all about the animals. Please ask Ganus to have his men turn the animals loose in the meadow below the house. The cows will take care of the calves, and the calves will relieve the pressure on the cows’ udders.”
Bradford Eaton took Edie by the elbow and said, “We’ve got to go, Mrs. Calem, while the timing is right. Dan, we’ll see you for dinner at around six. Get some rest.”
Chapter 10
It was 2:10 in the afternoon, and for a small town the bank was crowded. Edie went to one window while the colonel and the lieutenant lined up at another. Attorney Eaton’s plan worked so well, it was as though the banker was a puppet. When Lieutenant Brien took Banker Bartle in custody, Herman Bartle growled, “Get your hands off me. We’ve got a sheriff in this town.”
“Yes, you do,” the lieutenant acknowledged, “and he has been taken in custody also. You will both be tried for murder, fraud, and embezzlement. I suggest you save your comments for your lawyer because you’re going to need one.”
The customers in the bank stood stupefied. Some were shocked, but most were smiling. They did business at this bank, not because it was a good bank, run by a good banker, but because it was the only bank in town.
Unknown to Edie, Ganus McClure and a few other ranchers were in the background watching. When the lieutenant led the banker off to jail, they slapped each other on the back and roared laughing.
Ganus exclaimed, “Well done, Lieutenant,” and ran to Edie and told her, “Don’t worry about your ranch; me and the other ranchers will take care of everything until you get home.”
“Did Dan talk to you?” Edie asked.
“He sure did, and what a fine cowhand you have there. Too bad he’ll be leaving, but none of us can blame him. He has to go back to his hometown and clear his name. A crooked banker and a mean sheriff have wronged him, too, and if he needs a character witness, I’ll be glad to travel to Indian Territory to help him in any way I can. The two of you have sure taken a load off my shoulders. Gail will be tickled.”
“How did you hear about Dan’s troubles?” Edie queried.
“A cowboy from over in the panhandle told someone in the saloon about it last night, and we verified it with Lieutenant Brien. It’s true, all right.”
“Did Dan say when he was leaving?”
“No, he didn’t say, but if I were him I wouldn’t wait too long. He’s going to receive a hero’s welcome in his hometown. They’ve been taking care of his farm ever since the truth got out about what really happened. My wife says you shouldn’t let him get away. She says you need a husband, and Dan would make a good one. I don’t know much about what women want in a husband, but as a man, I can tell you that Dan is better than most. None of us thought he had a chance against Sheriff Taggart, but he fooled us, and most of all he fooled Sheriff Taggart.”
“Now you see,” Rhoda whispered to Edie, “they’re telling you the same thing I told you. Why don’t you leave Venie in my care and go take care of your man? I’ll bet he would like to have his back scrubbed. We’ll see you for dinner at the hotel dining room at six. Now get going. If you don’t take care of that man, some other woman will.”
‘What am I supposed to do; I can’t just barge into his hotel room and announce, ‘I’m here, do you want me?’”
“Oh, I forgot, you haven’t had a man for over a year. Well, that’s not taking Basel Haliford into consideration, but surely you still remember how to entice a man, and if I got Dan figured out right, he’s a man all right.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind taking care of Venie?” Edie was kind of looking for a way out—not that she didn’t want to scrub Dan’s back, but because she felt like a girl on her first date and didn’t quite know how to go about it.
* * *
When Edie got to Dan’s room, the door was locked, and not wanting to ask the bellman for a key, she went to her own room. Then she remembered Rhoda telling her about the adjoining door. The idea of scrubbing Dan’s back appealed to her, so she went to the door but hesitated; her hand shook as she tested the knob. To her surprise, the knob turned, and the door opened. Dan’s room was quiet, and she didn’t know what to expect. She inched into the room and noticed that Dan’s new clothes were still in the closet; therefore, he was in the bath or he was lying down. The door to the bedroom was closed, but that knob turned also, and with trembling hands she pushed the door open and peeked in.
Dan was lying on the bed asleep; he had bathed, shaved, and washed his hair. It was a warm day, so Dan was sleeping with a light sheet covering his lower body. He looked big—bigger than Ed, yet somehow vulnerable. He looked strong. He was gentle, as well as a gentleman, and he had proven his gentleness with Venie. Edie felt drawn to him, but she knew he was tired, and he needed rest. She stood beside his bed looking down. She had never really looked at him before, because before her glances were just that—glances. This time she gazed more questioningly.
Dan was sleeping soundly and unaware of her presence, so he wasn’t hiding anything. She could see him as he was, not what he wanted
her to believe he was. His face was relaxed, showing a firm jaw line, and he was surprisingly good-looking. Observing him this way, she could see what Venie saw, and why Venie had accepted him as her father. Venie would be devastated if Dan should leave. Edie knew it was a violation of Dan’s privacy to examine him so closely, but it was something she couldn’t resist doing. He looked so inviting that she had to restrain an impulse to lie down beside him and feel him next to her. Dan stirred in his sleep.
Edie slowly stepped back, fearful that Dan might awaken. If he awoke and saw her there, what would he do? Would he open his arms to embrace her, or would he pull away as she had done? She remembered what she did, and how Dan had reacted, but how would she react if he pulled away? Would she feel rejected, hurt, maybe offended?
She had some mending to do, but it would have to wait until after dinner, and after Venie had gone to sleep. Then she would offer herself to Dan in a provocative way, as Rhoda had suggested. Or should she wait and see if he would come to her?
Edie quietly returned to her room, lay down on her bed, and was soon fast asleep. She awoke to a knock. Still half asleep, she went to the adjoining door, but no one was there. Then the knock sounded again; it was coming from her front door. Feeling strangely disappointed, she went to the door, and when she opened it, Dan was standing there dressed up in his new store-bought suit and the handsomest man she had ever seen. She couldn’t help remembering him lying on his bed. Without willing herself to, she opened her arms. Dan eyes searched for her meaning, and after a slight hesitation, engulfed her in an exuberant embrace. Edie pulled him to her this time and led him into her bedroom.
“Where’s Venie?” Dan asked as he looked around.
“She’s with Rhoda,” Edie explained. “Rhoda thought that we needed some time alone. She even suggested that I scrub your back while you bathed, and I came to do that, but you had already bathed and were sleeping soundly.”
“I’ll go bathe again, if you’re still of a mind to scrub my back, and how did you know I was asleep? Did I snore?”
“See that door?” Edie asked, pointing to the adjoining door. “It connects your room to mine, and it was unlatched, so I peeked.”
“What did you see?”
“Not much, just a naked man.”
“Not much, huh, well you would have seen more, if you had awakened me.”
“I thought you needed rest, so I came back to my room to wait, but I fell asleep instead. What time is it? Do I have time to bathe before dinner?”
“It’s only five, so you have plenty of time. Shall I scrub your back? I might be a little clumsy. I’ve never scrubbed a woman’s back before, but with a little coaching, I’ll bet I could get the hang of it. It’ll probably take a while for me to do it properly, and it might make us late for dinner. Ganus is going to care for the animals, so we won’t have to worry about that.”
“It’ been a long time since I’ve had my back scrubbed, and the scrubbing I need will take more than an hour,” Edie confessed with a teasing smile. “Maybe after dinner would be a better time, so why don’t you wait at the bar—oh, I forgot, you don’t drink—perhaps the lounge would be better. Venie will be tired tonight, and she’ll go to sleep early. I’ll leave the adjoining door unlatched.”
Edie’s change in demeanor came as a surprise, and Dan, unsure of its meaning, bowed extravagantly and, as he backed out the door replied, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
That didn’t go as I had hoped, Edie thought as Dan left the room. I’ll get another chance after dinner, but this dinner is so important that I must concentrate. We’ll be discussing the man who killed Ed. Now that Dan has brought the sheriff in to face charges of murder, I’ll do everything in my power to see that Sheriff Taggart is hanged. Many nights I lay awake hoping this time would come but doubting that it ever would. My heart can never open until Ed’s killers have been brought to justice. This would never have happened without Dan’s help, and he has helped selflessly. He’s a wonderful man, and I want to love him as completely as I loved Ed, but liking a man, appreciating a man, and loving a man, are all different things. It would hurt Dan if I pretended a love I don’t feel. I want him, I need him, and I want him to stay, but how do I express that without cheapening our relationship?
* * *
The dinner went well and plans for the trial were made, but Dan was visibly troubled. He had done his part, and he knew that Edie was in good hands. The trial would go in her favor, without a doubt. After the trial, Edie would have enough money to hire all the help she needed, so she could go on with her life, whatever she chose. Dan felt like a loose wheel. Edie’s comment about leaving the adjoining door unlatched told him that she would be waiting and willing, but he knew that she needed more time. Tonight was the night he had dreamed of, and to deny it was to deny the obvious, but to allow it would be a violation of his promise to Edie, and a violation of his honor as a man. He was looking for a way to keep his promise to Edie without losing respect for himself.
Attorney Eaton solved the dilemma by asking Edie if she would join him in the colonel’s suite to bring him up-to-date on the situation with the banker and the sheriff. The attorney said he would need to know as much about the sheriff killing Edie’s husband as she could tell him.
Edie had been with Ed when the sheriff shot him, and just the mention of it brought back memories that Edie had tried to forget, but now that there was a chance to avenge Ed’s killing, she was eager to tell the story, and she forgot all about Dan and the adjoining door.
They went to the colonel’s suite, and after Rhoda had made everyone comfortable, Edie began her story by telling of a cattle drive she had made with Ed.
This drive was news to Dan, and it helped him understand Edie’s reluctance to be intimate with him while she was on a similar drive with him.
“The monthly payment was due,” Edie continued, “and the only way to get the money was to sell a few cows. We sold the cows, and we had enough money to make the monthly payment. But Banker Bartle said the payment was overdue, and he had to have the full amount. Ed and I hadn’t brought along our copy of the note, so we couldn’t prove the banker wrong. Ed asked for enough time to ride back to our ranch and get our copy, but Bartle refused and called for the sheriff. We should have known it was a setup when the sheriff was standing right outside the banker’s office door listening to everything we said. Sheriff Taggert rushed in and charged Ed with being belligerent and threatening Banker Bartle.”
Edie was sobbing uncontrollably by this time, but she managed to continue. “Ed wasn’t expecting trouble with the sheriff, so he tried to explain. Sheriff Taggert claimed that Ed reached for his gun, and the sheriff shot Ed through the heart. Ed died in my arms. Of course, everyone in the bank heard the shot and came running into the office. I told them that Ed just wanted time to get our copy of the note to prove that the payment was not overdue. With witnesses like that, Banker Bartle was forced to look at my copy of the note and accept payment, but that didn’t help Ed because he had already been killed.”
“If you can get a witness to corroborate your story,” Bradford Eaton noted, “the outcome of a trial is assured.”
Dan then joined Edie in telling Attorney Eaton about Sheriff Taggert going to Edie’s home with two hired killers, how they tried to burn her house, how Dan and Edie had managed to overcome the sheriff, and how they brought him into town to be charged with murder.
The attorney took notes and asked questions for about half an hour before he was satisfied that he had all the information he needed.
Edie’s eyes were red, and her face was swollen. Dan saw that she needed rest and asked Rhoda to let him take Edie to her room.
Rhoda laid her hand on Dan’s shoulder, bid them goodnight, and added, “She has had a very difficult night. Be gentle and patient with her, and we’ll see you in the restaurant tomorrow morning at six.”
When Dan escorted Edie to her room, she just kissed him goodnight, closed the door and went to her bed. D
an went to his bed, and weary as he was, he couldn’t sleep.
* * *
People moving in the street awakened Edie. The light of dawn crept through her window, and she looked in on Venie. Venie was sleeping soundly, so Edie bathed; but before dressing, she checked the latch to the adjoining door. It was still unlatched, and she remembered dropping her scarf in front of the door. The scarf hadn’t been disturbed, so Dan hadn’t tried to enter. Remembering the look in Dan’s eyes at the dinner table, Edie had to know if Dan was well. While telling her story last night, Dan’s eyes took on a troubled look, and when she told of her and Ed driving cattle to Lone Hill, he seemed almost distressed. She had forgotten to mention that drive to Dan, and Dan had seen that omission as further rejection. Telling of Ed’s dying in her arms left no room in her heart for another man, but this morning she felt differently, and Dan’s arms were exactly what she needed.
She tripped the latch with her thumb and entered Dan’s room expecting to find him asleep, but the bed was empty. A note was lying on the nightstand addressed to Edie.
Before picking up the note, she knew what the note would say, and her hand was shaking.
In clear and concise words, the note said:
Good morning, Edie,
I’ve gone to the ranch to look after things until you can hire someone. I’ll collect the roan horse as my wages and ride back to Indian Territory to clear my name. It will take Attorney Eaton a few days to prepare his case and get a judge to hear it. If Eaton needs more information from me, just send a rider to the ranch and let me know.
It’s been wonderful knowing you, but you have everything you need now, and I’m just in the way. If you ever need my help again, you can contact me at Village Videl, Choctaw Nation, Oak Road, Indian Territory.
Please kiss Venie for me and tell her I’ll miss her.
The note was signed, simply, “Dan”
Danny Page 8