by Lydia Olson
“Then I think you probably can help me, because Wilson isn’t the man everyone seems to think he is,” she said. “I don’t know what Vincent and the sheriff told you, but I don’t think Wilson would pull his gun out and threaten them senselessly. Something else happened.
“I know he doesn’t like many of the people in this town, but he wouldn’t hurt them. And he’s done nothing but help me and my father since he got here. If he wanted to steal all the land, he’s done a poor job showing it... He’s not the kind of person to steal things from people.”
“The truth, you’ll find, is a collection of facts from all over,” said Lawson. “As it happens, I’m aware of the talk – and I know that much of it is untrue. That’s why, Miss Hastings, I’ll tell you what I know.”
“I’m not interested in gossip,” Eloise replied. “I’m worried about Wilson. And what’s more, I know Wilson’s innocent of whatever happened here. He was only back here trying to protect my reputation, and he only ran because he was in danger – I’m sure of it.”
“And you want me to prove that?” he said, eyebrow raised.
“If you could.” Eloise clasped her hands together.
“Well, I’ll do what I can, but until we know what happened here,” he said, moving a bale of hay out of the way, “or – oh, my.”
“What? What is it?” Eloise said, peering around him.
“Miss Hastings, I’ll still keep my word to ya, and help however I can... but it looks like that’s gonna be harder than I’d anticipated,” Lawson said, staring at the hay.
Eloise stepped nearer to Lawson, and the first thing she saw was someone’s boots sticking out from behind the bale of hay. As she stepped further down the alley, she recognized the attire attached to the boots immediately. Eloise gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. Leaning against the hay, with three bullet wounds to the chest, was the sheriff.
Chapter Fifteen
Silence hung in Miss Maudie’s Saloon. As the midnight hour drew nearer, several men lay with their heads down on the table, fast asleep. Those still awake were only barely kept from sleep by the haunting image of the sheriff leaning against the hay. Suddenly, the entire room was startled awake as a man flew through the front door and let out a loud yell.
Deputy Sheriff Floyd Wilkens widened his stance and stopped just inside the door. With his hands on his belt and shoulders back, his beer belly extended so far forward that it almost covered his belt buckle entirely. Deputy Wilkens smacked his lips and waltzed around the room, stopping by each person to look them in the eye with an accusing expression.
“How did he get the job?” Eloise whispered in Maudie’s ear.
“The sheriff needs men he can boss around, who will never question him,” Maudie pointed out. “Needless to say, a man like that has to be pretty... unintelligent. Wilkens got the job because Wilkens fits the bill. Bet the sheriff would’ve thought twice about that if he knew the deputy would be solving his murder one day.”
Deputy Wilkens stopped in the middle of the room, narrowed his eyes, and scrutinized everyone a second time, but he seemed to skip right over Lawson. When Eloise saw Lawson seated at the end of the bar, she realized that she had, in fact, seen him seen there many times before. Just as he said, he was always there, blending in.
“Right,” Deputy Wilkens said, pursing his lips. “Every one of ya was here when my boss kicked the can... and at least one of ya knows what happened.”
Wilkens stood there for a while, nodding. Miss Maudie smiled encouragingly at the deputy, but Eloise could tell she was just as desperate for him to get to the point as she was. They had been waiting long enough. Eloise focused her gaze on Lawson, who rolled his eyes. Eloise smiled. He would’ve been much better for the job, she thought.
“I realize it’s late,” Deputy Wilkens announced, still nodding.
“Honey, how about you skip the introduction and get right to stuff about the investigation?” Miss Maudie suggested, trying her hardest to sound pleasant.
Wilkens scratched his belly and noticed he hadn’t finished tucking in his shirt. In his hurry to leave his house, he must have missed a spot. The men who had been previously sleeping nodded off again while they waited for Wilkens to adjust and smooth out his shirt.
“Honey?” Miss Maudie prompted, masking her frustration with a smile. “Maybe just tell us what we need to know, and fix your shirt later?”
“Right,” he said, lifting a finger in the air, “there will be an investigation. And when there is, every one of ya better still be in town, because if you leave, it’s because you’re guilty.”
“Thank you, Wilkens,” Miss Maudie said, smiling. “Now, can someone show him out back?”
One man stood to show the deputy to the alley, and Eloise watched in awe as Lawson followed casually behind them without them, giving him a second thought. As the deputy left the saloon, a few of the men and the remaining Whiskey Girls rose groggily to their feet.
“If that was all he had to say, couldn’t we have gone ages ago?” Vincent grumbled.
“Now, now, it's his first time,” Miss Maudie admonished. “He didn’t go to bed last night expecting to be woken up during the night as the new acting sheriff, now did he?”
“Yeah, I’ll bet he went to bed after drinking a few too many beers!” someone yelled.
“That’s enough of that.” Maudie tapped her foot. “He doesn’t wanna be out of bed any more than we do at this hour, but he still came. None of ya have even given him the chance to make his first call as sheriff, and you’re already trying to correct him before he’s done anything.”
“No wonder this town goes through so many sheriffs,” Eloise grumbled.
“All I’m saying is, his first call as sheriff better be good,” Vincent said. “Because if he doesn’t get that stranger hanged by morning, then I’ll sure take care of him myself.”
Eloise gasped, covered her mouth, and slouched down in her seat. The thought of Vincent going after Wilson with a gun made her feel like she might faint. Miss Maudie noticed Eloise’s face going pale, put an arm around her, and patted her on the shoulder.
“Vincent is all talk,” she assured Eloise. “He had the chance to have a shootout with Wilson before and didn’t, so why would it be any different now? If this is anything like last time, Vincent will cool off and Wilson will be back once he feels the threat’s died down.”
“Last time? You mean, at the card game?” Eloise asked.
“Right,” Maudie said. “When he got into trouble with the sheriff, word was he took off running just like he did now. Sheriff lost sight of him before they could see where he went, but he was right back in here by evening, looking clean and well rested. He must’ve made it back to his room sometime in the morning.”
“But now that the sheriff’s dead... do you think he’ll want to go back to his room?” wondered Eloise. “And is your saloon still neutral ground, even when the sheriff’s been murdered?”
“I don’t know if it can be neutral ground anymore,” Maudie admitted. “See, this place was made neutral by an agreement I had with the sheriff. He didn’t cause trouble in my saloon and I’d see to it that no one else did either. With him killed just around back, I don’t know that the same rules will hold with Wilkens.
“As for Wilson, you had already fallen by then, but I was right near you when he was running, and I could still see his form way down the road. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he ducked behind that old bakery out there and made his way back around. I don’t think he went far as he wanted us to think.”
“So, you think he came back?” Eloise said.
“I swear it – the moment you fell, he changed direction,” Miss Maudie told her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was coming back around to check on you, but by the time he got close, I’d already helped you up.”
“Maybe he came back to wait for Wilkens like the rest of us,” suggested Eloise. “Maybe he came back to tell them what really happened back there, to
clear his name.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Miss Maudie said. “The way I understand it, Wilson isn’t too keen on the people in this town. I don’t think he’d trust the deputy any more than he trusted the sheriff. If anything, I think he’ll come back to talk to you.”
Eloise yawned and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was surprised to see Ryan walking toward her. She hadn’t seen him since she was in the alley with Wilson, and now that she thought about it, she couldn’t be sure that was him to begin with. Ryan smiled and sat beside her.
“You seem tired,” he said. “Shall I take you home?”
“Oh, no, I’m gonna wait a little longer. I need to be sure Wilson’s okay,” she responded.
“Wilson?” Ryan furrowed his brow. “But have you not heard? Wilson just shot the sheriff. I know he was our friend once, but I should hope you wouldn’t be talking to him anymore after something like this.”
“But we don’t know that it was him,” Eloise pointed out.
“I see – you haven’t heard,” he said. “They’ve found his gun near the body, and he was seen running away from the stables only moments after the gunshots. Not to mention, I overheard one of the men say Wilson threatened to shoot the sheriff during a card game a few nights ago. I know how much you care for him, but I don’t think he’s the man we once knew.”
“It... couldn’t have been...” Eloise said, staring down at the table.
“I’m so sorry.” Ryan wrapped an arm around her.
Eloise glared at him and shoved his arm away. Ryan must have been loving this moment, she thought. As much as he tried to say he felt sorry, he was probably celebrating his victory in his head, unaware that she still had no intention of marrying him. Her feelings for him, or lack thereof, had nothing to do with Wilson.
“Just because you want it to be true, doesn’t mean it is!” she yelled. “Maybe he was there. Maybe his gun was found near the body. But Wilson did not do it.”
“All right,” Ryan said, sarcastically. “How do you know he didn’t do it?”
“There was the horse,” Eloise retorted. “The sheriff’s horse was already untied, but Wilson ran away on foot. If he approached the sheriff while he was untying his horse, and he knew we heard the gunshots, don’t you think he would’ve taken the horse for a faster getaway?”
“The sheriff was shot around back,” Ryan said. “Couldn’t it be possible that the sheriff heard him in the back alley while he was untying his horse and approached him, but Wilson had no idea he was in the stables?”
“No,” Eloise replied simply.
“And how are you so certain?”
“Because he would’ve seen the sheriff in the stables.”
“And you know this... how?” Ryan said.
Eloise intensified her glare but did not respond. Now, she was almost certain Ryan had seen her with Wilson in the alley, because it felt like he was trying to force her to admit it. It was almost like he was accusing her of watching Wilson kill the sheriff and lying about it. Maudie stared down at the table, clearly pretending not to be intrigued by what she was hearing.
“I didn’t see you when the party ended,” Eloise pointed out. “Where did you go? And why did you come back?”
“I was about to return home, but your father stopped me. He asked me if I’d seen you, and I told him that I had, and he asked me to wait for you to be sure you made it home safely,” he said. “Your father’s too old to stay in town late, so I told him I would.”
“I didn’t see you. Where did you go?” she pressed, accusingly.
“As a matter of fact, I saw you come inside the saloon and thought you might be a while longer. So, I found a place to sit outside, and waited for you to finish enjoying yourself,” he explained.
“Where were you when the sheriff was shot?” said Eloise.
“Ellie!” Miss Maudie exclaimed. “Now, that’s enough! Why would you accuse your oldest friend of something so vile? Do you really think he’s capable of something like that?”
“He’s accusing his oldest friend of the same thing!”
“Sweetheart,” Maudie said, resting her hand on Eloise’s shoulder, “you haven’t seen Wilson in many years. He might not be the same person you remember anymore. But Ryan – he's been here with you the whole time! Can you really look at him and tell me he’d kill another person?”
Eloise sighed. “Sorry.”
“Not to worry,” Ryan said. “I know it was a troubling night, so I’ll explain myself. I was still sitting on a bench outside when I heard the gunshot. I ducked into the alley to hide, because I didn’t know where it came from, and waited there until I heard Deputy Wilkens talking. Then I came to find you.”
“So, you ran right toward the gunshots?” she said.
Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but instead moved his lips silently, like a fish out of water. Miss Maudie chuckled and nudged Eloise, as if to suggest she should be pleased by Ryan’s reaction. Eloise hated how much more Maudie seemed to prefer Ryan over Wilson. Finally, Ryan collected himself enough to speak and held out his arm toward Eloise.
“Never mind all that; will you allow me to escort you home?”
“I dunno,” she said.
“I insist,” Ryan continued. “I would feel much better to have you out of harm’s way.”
“Okay,” Eloise relented, reluctantly taking Ryan’s arm.
She understood the severity of the situation, but part of Eloise still wanted to wait for Wilson, so she slowly changed out of Miss Maudie’s dress and into her own clothes, hoping that by some miracle Wilson would be there when she finished. To her dismay, it was only Ryan.
He led Eloise to the stables, where he had prepared both their horses. Before she could climb onto her horse, Eloise noticed Lawson walk passed them and stop at the edge of the alley. He made eye contact with her and gestured with his head for her to follow him to the front of the saloon.
“Uh,” Eloise said to Ryan. “I think I forgot something inside. I’ll be right back.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders while she scurried to the front of the saloon. She had hardly made it past the corner when Lawson appeared right next to her. He grabbed her by both arms and swung her around the corner, bringing her ear right next to his mouth.
“They’ve named Wilson guilty,” he whispered loudly.
“What? But what do they have besides his gun?”
“His gun’s enough,” Lawson told her. “They’re gonna be looking all over for him, and they know he’s likely to contact you – so be careful when you see him that no one else is watching.”
“But you don’t think he’s guilty?” Eloise pressed.
“Where I come from, it’s innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “Besides that, I have my doubts. You said you were with him in the back alley, but you never said nothing about seeing the sheriff in the stables – and I don’t think he ever was. Whoever untied his horse, it wasn’t him.”
“But why untie the horse and not take it?”
“I think whoever done it saw Wilson run out past the stables and got scared. They didn’t wanna be seen leaving the alley after him, and they saw it as the perfect opportunity to get rid of the blame. I think they ran back around and come out the other way when we was all looking at Wilson.”
“Then it would’ve had to be someone who was in the crowd,” Eloise put in.
“That’s exactly my thinking,” he agreed.