Late that evening, there was a loud knock on the door. Jon hurried over to answer it. “Yes?” he inquired, without opening the door.
“It’s Cliff. Got a minute?”
Jon turned the brass knob and quickly opened the door at the familiar sound of Cliff’s voice. “Hello, Cliff. How are ya? Please come in.”
A look of concern clouded Cliff’s face as he entered the room.
Jon slid a chair over to his cousin and sat down on the corner of the bed.
“We can talk now. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“First, thanks again for staying on to help us with this mess,” Cliff said sincerely.
“No problem, cus. I would like nothing better than to put Stanton, Barton, and the boys in the ground.”
“You may have your chance before you know it. Things are heatin’ up out at the camps. Curly Harmon, an old timer who was working a thick vein near the rim of the canyon, came up missing today.”
The light filtering through the hotel window fell across Cliff’s face. Jon could see the strain in his eyes as he told him about old Curly.
“Some of the miners talked to him last evening, and he said he’d been having some good luck lately. He told ’em he was going to get up early today and work his vein hard. When one of ’em went by his stake around noon, Curly was nowhere to be found. His donkey and tools were right where they had been the evening before.”
“Looks like foul play,” Jon surmised.
“Yeah, and the tension is really mounting. They think Stanton had Curly murdered so he could jump his claim. Curly was popular and well-liked—the miners are plenty angry and running scared right now.”
“I’ll bet they are,” Jon said as he fell back on the bed. “I talked to Ned Sloan earlier about getting a few of the boys together out at the mines to help fight Stanton’s group. With this miner coming up missing, it could help Ned’s recruiting efforts.”
“Yeah, I know. Ned stopped by my camp today and brought me up to snuff. He said Stanton got wind of your visit, later Barton showed up at his campsite. Barton told him he’s comin’ into town for a heart to heart with you tonight.”
“Hmmm…doesn’t surprise me,” Jon said quietly, “but Barton’s little showdown with me will have to wait. I need to know what Ned has put together out at the mines first.” Jon jumped up from the bed. “Let’s go back out to the camps and talk to Ned Sloan.”
“Okay, Jon.”
Jon spun the cylinders on his Colts to be sure they were fully loaded. He tossed his hat on and started toward the door. “No time to waste, Cliff. Let’s get going.”
The door slammed behind them as the two men hurried out.