Dick Clayton impatiently paced the rooming house dining room floor. Each time he reached the window, he peered intently across to the closed doors of the bank.
A short time after reaching Parson Falls, he had gone straight to the railroad company offices located midtown. There he’d met Camer Wilkinson, who had immediately wired company headquarters. A wire had come back within the hour telling Wilkinson to sign and witness all the necessary paperwork.
In the oldster’s hand now, he had the railroad company’s check for ten thousand dollars and was waiting for Hope to come down for breakfast. When the bank opened, he’d cash the check and leave town, heading for a place where he wasn’t known. Only then would he be able to relax.
Rees Mann found him with little trouble. Mann walked in, dusting his range hat down his brush-torn clothes. His gaze traveled the room before they settled on Clayton. He strode over to him and said;
“Everything finalized?”
The old man nodded and patted his shirt pocket. “All I’ve got to do now is wait for the bank to open its doors. Then I can get our money and get to hell out of here. I’m grateful to you for what you did for us. I’ve been thinkin’ about it all and I realize now that without your help we wouldn’t have stood a chance. When you lent me your horse, that just about sealed things for us. I’ve got him out back, still in the rig and I’ll pay you double his worth, if you want to sell him.”
“Fair enough,” Mann said. He looked at his pocket watch. It was five minutes to ten. “Might as well see it through all the way,” he said. “I’ll stay with you until you finish your business with the bank. Then maybe we’ll have a drink and share a meal before you leave. Meantime, while we’re headin’ for the bank, I’d like you to think about my comin’ further with you. I’m mighty attracted to your niece and I have reason to believe she feels the same way about me. I’m through with gunfighting. I’ve learned there are other ways of making a livin’, ways that are far more rewarding.”
Clayton looked surprised. “You sure you want that? Hell, I always figured that your kind never changed.”
Mann smiled shyly as he fitted his hat to his head. “My kind don’t often meet up with a woman like your niece, Mr. Clayton. She deserves a lot better than working on that small ranch of yours. I’ve got money put aside and I want to buy my own place, have others working for me. If you want, maybe we could come to some arrangement on a business deal. I’ll always have my guns to protect us, no matter if I’m not hirin’ them out anymore.”
Clayton licked his lips, an eager light showing in his eyes. “That doesn’t sound too unattractive. Let me think about it, eh? I been worried about all this money anyway, and I don’t reckon I can last forever. Besides, Hope will have to get herself settled down sooner or later. Maybe, just maybe ...”
His voice trailed off and he stood there nodding his head. Suddenly, he drew himself tall and said;
“All right, come on then. The sooner we get this business done, the sooner I’m gonna get a drink into me. Hell, crossin’ that desert sure took a lot outta me.”
Mann let the old man lead the way across the street to the bank. Clayton went in past the clerk who had just opened the doors and stopped at the grille behind which a second clerk waited.
The clerk took Clayton’s check, smiled and said;
“We were told that you might be coming, Mr. Clayton. It will be no trouble to pack the money into a case for you, but I strongly advise, what with the ruffians who are in town at the moment, that you take some spending money and leave the rest for us to transfer to a bank of your choice.”
“I’ll take the cash,” Clayton told him. “And don’t you fret none about anybody takin’ it from me. This here’s Rees Mann ... my partner.”
The clerk looked Mann over coolly, clearly not impressed. Mann held the fellow’s stare evenly for a moment, then walked to the door. He waited there, scrubbing a hand down the back of his neck. When he saw Clayton coming out, he stepped onto the boardwalk. Two men were standing outside the rooming house foyer, a couple of yards apart. There was a sprinkling of people at the other end of the street but not many people were in this section of town. Then Hope appeared in the rooming house doorway, looking fresh and dainty in a brand new dress. She smiled broadly when she saw her uncle come jauntily across to her.
But Clayton was only halfway across the street when the two men went for their guns. Clayton froze, then threw an anxious look Mann’s way. Hope spun, saw the two men and let out a scream.
The scream was drowned in a sudden eruption of gunfire.
Hope saw her uncle go down, the case in his hand dropping from his grasp. He hit the ground and threw a hand over the case as more bullets thudded into his body. By then, Mann had brought out his gun and was punching off shots. The two gun hands had stepped to the edge of the boardwalk, close to Mann. His vicious gunfire cut them down. Hope screamed again as both men staggered back under the impact of lead. Then a deathlike silence settled on the street, and Hope dropped her hands from her face.
Rees Mann was standing in the street, his gun still smoking. On his face was a look of profound satisfaction that chilled her to the bone. Then Mann went to her uncle’s side and turned him over. When Hope reached them, Mann looked up and shook his head.
Within the space of seconds, a large crowd had gathered. Among them was the local sheriff, who quickly took charge. Mann drew him aside and spoke quietly to him for some time before the lawman inspected the dead men and announced;
“Had my eye on them the past couple days. Had the look of desperados about them, and I guess I was right.” He turned to Hope, “Miss Clayton, the whole town’s real sorry about this. But there was nothing we could do and I guess you were lucky that man was along. We’ll take your uncle to the undertaker’s. Meantime, you’d best go back to your room and rest.”
Mann reached down and plucked the case from the ground. He took the shocked Hope Clayton’s arm and led her away. In the foyer, he told the clerk to lock the case in the safe and to guard it with his life. He then escorted Hope up the stairs.
As soon as Hope saw the bed, she threw herself down and sobbed uncontrollably into the pillow. Mann waited until she had cried herself into a quieter frame of mind, before he said;
“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll see to all the arrangements. Wait here for me and don’t let anybody in.”
Hope didn’t answer him. Mann closed the door quietly and locked it, then he dropped the key into his pocket and went down to the foyer, the room crowded with curious townsfolk. He eyed the people warily for a time before he said;
“Get out of here and get on with your business. Those two tried to rob an old man and failed. So get out of here or you’ll answer to me!”
Mann walked out of the rooming house and up the boardwalk to the law office where the sheriff was leaning against the overhang, his hat pushed to the back of his head, his stare fixed solemnly. As Mann arrived, he turned and went back inside, and when Mann entered the law office, he closed the door. Walking to his desk, the lawman stood behind it and said; “Plenty of townsmen have heard about you, Mr. Mann.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, Sheriff,” Mann told him easily. “In fact, I’m surprised you don’t seem to know me.”
“I’m new in the job. Two months, in fact. Before that I was in Colorado. Couldn’t get my kind of work in these parts, then this job came up.”
“You look the kind who’ll make a good fist of it,” Mann said, hooking his thumbs in his gunbelt. “Now, what did you want to see me about?”
“There was a heap of money involved,” the lawman said.
“Ten thousand dollars,” Mann admitted, and smiled thinly. “But don’t fret about it. It belongs to the girl now. As soon as she’s fit to travel, I’ll get her rig ready and help her out of here.”
“Where?”
“Where she can forget, Sheriff. Her uncle was the only kin she had left in the world.”
“What about you?”
Mann smiled again and ran a hand through his hair. His gaze remained fixed on the lawman. “I was taken on as a partner, Sheriff. You can check with the bank, if you like. As I remember, Clayton mentioned the partnership to one of the bank clerks.”
“I’ve already checked,” the lawman said.
“Then the rest of it is simple,” Mann said casually. “You bury Clayton and I take the girl where she wants to go. The dead men don’t worry you, do they?”
The lawman pursed his lips and shrugged. “I guess only the living should worry a man in my position. But then, as you said, everything you said to me tallies up. However, I want you out of my town as soon as possible, as much for the girl’s sake as mine.”
Mann smiled again. “I think I know what you mean, Sheriff. I’ll go, and it’ll save us both a lot of worryin’.”
Mann walked out of the jailhouse into a town that shimmered under an intense heat. Calmly, he looked toward the hills. Somewhere in that blaze of desert, Buck Halliday was coming after him. Mann thought about that and worked out a plan for himself.
That done, he retired to the saloon and sat, hardly moving, at a table in the corner. He had downed four whiskies before he felt the tension leave his body. Then, stepping out onto the boardwalk, he crossed to the rooming house and took the stairs to Hope’s room.
He let himself in and sat talking to her for some time, telling her of the places where she could find happiness.
Hope didn’t know what to say to him. Even though she couldn’t deny that she felt obligated to him, she couldn’t forget the look on his face when he had cut down those two men. The enjoyment she’d seen there still sent a chill up her spine.
Had he really changed? Or was this a pretence that she couldn’t see through?
She didn’t know the answer to that.
“Where would you suggest that we go?”
“There’s good land on offer in California. Most people are after gold there, but not us. No, sir. Gold is too risky. You see, Hope, those towns will need meat. The men and women who forget the gold and start the ranches now will be the ones who in the end will strike it rich.”
Hope wiped her tear-stained face. “What about Uncle Dick?”
“The sheriff said he’ll take care of the arrangements. I’ll have the rig ready and waiting straight after the ceremony. With your money and what I have stashed away, we’ll be able to buy the best ranch available and fill it with stock.”
“You and me?”
Mann went to her. “Why not? I had your uncle’s trust before he died. And don’t forget I killed those men for him and for you. But that part of my life is over now. There can be no more killings for me, no more Latimers and no more Whelans. I just want to buy a place of our own and work it, sweat like hell and get plenty of blisters for my trouble.”
He looked longingly at her, letting his gaze sweep over her body.
“And I want a woman, Hope, a woman to share it with me.”
Hope shook her head and walked to the window. She pulled the curtains back and then she gasped;
“Buck!”
Mann froze for a brief instant and then he stepped across the room and pushed her away from the window. Hope let out a cry as his grip bruised her arm. She stood back and saw deep hatred take hold of him. At that moment, she knew that all her fears had been well founded.
Mann swung about, brushing her aside on his way to the door.
“What is it?” Hope called out. “What are you going to do?”
“Stay put! And don’t come anywhere near the street.”
Hope felt a deep chill course through her body. Then the door slammed and she rushed at it as the key turned in the lock.
Halliday was in danger! Desperately, she hammered her fists against the oaken door, but in vain.
Exhausted, she went back to the window and lifted it.
Riding a mule in the company of a bewhiskered old-timer, Halliday had stopped in the middle of the street. It seemed to Hope that he was thanking the old man. There was a brief waving of arms before the old man accepted some money. Desperately now, she leaned out the window and called;
“Buck! Rees Mann’s on his way down the stairs. I think he plans to kill you!”
Halliday looked up at her. But almost at the same time, he saw Mann striding across the boardwalk. There was a good-sized crowd in the street but Mann charged through, sending several people staggering out of his way. He stepped into the street and Halliday stood looking at him, legs spread. A long silence fell between them, that Mann finally broke.
“Damn you, Halliday!”
“It’s you who’s damned,” Halliday said, then Mann’s hand flashed down to his side.
His draw was so fast it brought a gasp from some of the people watching. His gun came level as Hope Clayton screamed. Then she covered her face with her hands.
In the street, Buck Halliday stood his ground. No expression showed on his face, not even when the bullet slammed into his shoulder. His draw was a trifle slower than Mann’s, but his aim was more accurate. His bullet tore Mann’s neck open. Mann went down on his knees and knelt there in the street, wildly shaking his head, sending blood spraying into the dust.
Then Mann made a gurgling sound and fell onto his face.
For three days, Buck Halliday recovered in a bed in back of the medic’s house, impatient to get back on his feet, knowing that to try it would be foolish. He was sorry to hear of the old man’s demise and was worried about it for Hope’s sake. Then on the fourth afternoon, the old medic released him.
He went to the saloon and quenched his thirst for half an hour. Then he went up to Hope Clayton’s room. He found her sitting on the edge of her bed, hands clasped on her lap, looking sadly up at him.
He went to her and she rose, shook her head for a moment, then threw herself into his arms. Halliday held her as she cried, stroking her hair as she clung to him, all the time delighting in the freshness of her skin.
Nothing in this world would drag him from her room tonight.
Hope sat him on the bed and took off his boots. She stood there looking down at him, then removed his shirt and unbuckled his belt. Her lips quivered, then her hands began to tremble. Finally, she lifted her hands to the buttons of her blouse and began undressing herself.
Buck Halliday watched each item of clothing drop from her body until she stood in front of him. Then he reached up and pulled her slowly toward him ...
The lawman stood on the opposite boardwalk and looked up at the rooming house window. He saw Buck Halliday standing at the window, smoking a cigarette. He lifted an arm and waved, and Halliday waved back. Then the curtains were drawn shut by a slender hand.
Chuckling despite himself, the lawman went on his way, knowing that for the moment there were at least two happy people in his town ...