Latimer stood very still for a moment. Then he crossed to the wall to pick up the chair from beside the stove. He placed it in front of his desk, and took his own seat, studying the young woman while she adjusted her skirts. She raised her head and he half expected she would turn her head and look away but she sat quite composed, returning his gaze.
‘What took you so long, Miss Parkes?’
‘I’ll be honest with you, Sheriff. I thought long and hard about coming forward. I do not wish to be diverted from my business here and I’d assumed that some of the townsfolk would come forward.’
Latimer shook his head. ‘If anyone had seen what happened I’d have been told by now.’ He paused, and again held the young woman’s gaze. ‘How come among all the townsfolk you’re the only one who saw what happened?’
‘My room overlooking Main Street is noisy. I’d gone upstairs to find out if a room there would be quieter before I spoke with Mr Morgan. I was in the passageway, when I saw through the window a man in the alleyway across the street. He seemed to be acting strangely, and I stopped to see what he was doing.’ She paused, as if recollecting what she had seen. ‘He opened a door on the side of one of the buildings and stood behind it.’
Latimer frowned. ‘How did you know he hadn’t gone into the building?’
‘He didn’t fully disappear from my view. He stood half hidden as if waiting for something across the street.’ Emma Parkes pushed out her lips. ‘I was intrigued by what the man was about, and I stayed by the window.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘A few minutes passed by and suddenly he stepped from behind the door with a gun in his hand. I heard the shot from the open window, and there was shouting below me from several men. I saw the man turn and run around the end of the building and out of sight.’
‘A boy was killed,’ Latimer said.
Emma Parkes bit her lip. ‘Yes, I’ve been told.’
‘Did you recognize the man?’
‘No.’
‘Can you describe him?’
‘He was a tall man, dressed in range clothes, about thirty years old. He wore his boots like a cavalry man.’
Latimer reckoned that description would fit about a third of the men in Beaver and the homesteads to the west of the town before he even began to think about the ranch hands and the owlhoots out at the Lazy T.
Emma Parkes put a finger to her lips. ‘I’ve remembered something. He had silver markings on the front of his boots, a single line on each boot, curling like a snake.’
Latimer froze. Jesus Christ! ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘Yes, I’m sure.’
‘Have you told anyone else this?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I thought you should hear it first.’
‘That was good thinking, Miss Parkes.’
He looked directly at her eyes. Hell, if he thought she wouldn’t scream for help he’d have leaned across the desk and taken her hand. Anything to convince her of the importance of what he was about to say.
‘You must say nothing of this to anyone.’ He leaned towards her across the desk. ‘Tell nobody, d’you understand?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Goodness, Sheriff. Do you know the man?’
‘Yes, I think I do.’
‘Are you able to tell me?’
Latimer shook his head. ‘You’ll learn soon enough. But think what I’ve said. Do I have your word that you’ll keep silent?’
‘If you insist. But why the need for secrecy?’
To keep you alive, he almost said. Instead he repeated his request.
‘I’m askin’ you agin. Do I have your word, Miss Parkes?’
She hesitated for a few seconds, and then nodded. ‘You have my word, Mr Latimer.’
Latimer stood up as she began to rise. This time he was quick enough to get around his desk and escort her to the door. After he’d bid her a good day and closed the door he stood for a moment turning over in his mind what his next move was going to be. Then he went to his desk and picked up his pen.
‘Wilkins and Holland will be here at sundown,’ Harry Wilson said. ‘I’ve tol’ them what we need, an’ they’ll work out a routine so one of ’em is always on guard.’
‘The town will pay them,’ Latimer said. ‘Give ’em each a scatter-gun an’ plenty o’ buckshot. I don’t want handguns anywhere near the cages. Now take a seat, Harry. We’ve got some thinkin’ to do.’
A puzzled expression on his face, Wilson took the seat vacated by Emma Parkes. ‘You sayin’ we got even more problems?’
‘I know who shot the Jenkins boy.’
Wilson sat up straight. ‘How the hell—?’
‘I’ve got someone who saw the shootin’, an’ identified the sonovabitch,’ Latimer cut in. ‘You’ll have to trust me on this, Harry. I’m not tellin’ anyone who my witness is.’
Wilson shifted his eyes to look out of the window overlooking Main Street, appearing to turn over in his mind what he’d been told. At last, he looked back at Latimer. ‘You have your good reasons, I guess,’ he said slowly. ‘But what happens if—?’
‘If I get killed,’ Latimer interrupted. ‘There’s paper in the safe with the name of the witness. You take it from there.’
‘OK, who we goin’ after?’
‘Will Danton, Josh Danton’s son.’
Wilson leaned back in his chair, his mouth open. ‘Now hold on,’ he said, when he’d got over his surprise. ‘Why would he be tryin’ to kill Kerswell?’
Latimer shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But we ain’t gonna turn a blind eye ’cos he’s a Danton. We’re gonna have to put him in a cage.’
Wilson looked across the office at Latimer, pursing his lips in a silent whistle. ‘Sheriff, I ain’t been with you all that long, but I’m hopin’ that you trust me.’
‘I trust you,’ Latimer said.
‘Puttin’ Will Danton behind bars is gonna cause a lotta trouble. Not just for you an’ me but mebbe for the whole town. If I’m to stand with you then I have to know the name of the witness.’
Latimer was silent for several moments. He guessed that if he insisted on Wilson’s blind loyalty the deputy would go along. His father had served in the artillery during the war and Wilson would be aware of the need to obey an order. An owlhoot like Fuller behind bars was enough trouble for a small town like Beaver. The son of the most powerful man in the county alongside him would bring a heap of trouble. Wilson was right. If he was putting his life on the line, he had a right to know.
‘Miss Parkes is the witness,’ he said.
Wilson leaned back in his chair, disbelief showing on his face. ‘How could she recognize Will Danton? She’s only been in town a few days.’
‘She described the silver markings on Danton’s boots. Nobody else in the whole Territory, I reckon, has boots like those.’
Wilson frowned. ‘You ever thought she could be playin’ a clever game?’
‘I ain’t followin’ you.’
‘You tol’ me she has the land claim on the Lazy T spread. Maybe she’s seekin’ some sort of a deal. I reckon behind that young woman’s pretty face she’s as smart as a whip.’
The thought chased through Latimer’s mind that his life was suddenly going to hell in a handcart. Less than a week ago he’d been thinking about the chances of his reelection and what he’d do if a rival garnered more votes. Now he was backing his judgement of a young woman he’d known only a few hours; he’d got the threat of gunslingers breaking out Fuller, and he was about to enrage Josh Danton.
‘Miss Parkes ain’t a liar. I’ve told her to keep her mouth shut, an’ we’re going to keep her name between us.’
‘We could have a problem with that,’ Wilson said.
Latimer frowned. ‘How d’you mean?’
‘Will Danton gets himself a lawyer, an’ I think he can demand to know the name of the witness. I’d need to check my books but I’m sure that’s the position.’
‘OK, we keep quiet until someone speaks up.’
Wilson looked across the room for several seconds, before he nodded.
‘OK, what we gonna do?’
‘Is Will Danton still in town?’
‘He’s over in the Dollar. I saw him talkin’ with Luke Bartram afore he went in.’
‘Any of those owlhoots from the Lazy T with him?’
‘A couple, I guess. One of ’em’s that big feller who favours Californian spurs.’
Latimer knew who Wilson meant. Frank Armand ran the gunslingers Josh Danton paid to deal with rustlers and anyone else who thought they could take a piece of the Lazy T. Latimer had come up against Armand when the bunch of no-goods first joined Danton’s payroll. They’d piled into Luke Bartram’s saloon one Saturday night and made trouble. Latimer had called on a few of the Volunteers and with their help stuck the whole bunch in cages. In those days the locks on the cages were fine. The no-goods had made a racket loud enough to wake the town until Latimer and a couple of the Volunteers had thrown buckets of cold water through the bars.
‘Beaver’s a quiet place,’ he’d said when Armand arrived the following day to find out why his men hadn’t returned to the Lazy T. ‘Folks don’t take kindly to drunken fights spilling over onto Main Street. Those owlhoots are stayin’ where they are unless you fancy payin’ their fines. I’m postin’ ’em all for a month. They show their faces in town afore then an’ I’ll have ’em breakin’ rocks down in Cheyenne.’
‘You sayin’ my men cain’t ever come into town?’ Armand had said.
‘After a month they’re free to come into Beaver but they don’t make trouble. You make sure they know that.’
Armand had paid the fines, and told his men to get the hell back to the Lazy T. In the street, his face grim, he’d watched them shuffle off towards the livery to pick up their horses. As he’d been about to mount his horse he’d turned back to Latimer.
‘Shootin’ at lawmen gets a man hung where I come from,’ Armand had said. ‘We don’t want to cross each other agin.’
Latimer hadn’t seen Armand since that day. Some of his men paid regular visits to the saloon but Armand never showed, although Luke once said that Armand paid Texas Tess to go out to the ranch a couple of times a month. So why had Armand chosen this time to visit the town? Had he heard of Emma Parkes’s claim or was this connected with Fuller and Kerswell?
Latimer stood up behind his desk. ‘Get yourself a long gun, Harry. This is what we’re gonna do.’
Latimer pushed through the batwing doors of the Silver Dollar. There was nothing unusual about the saloon, aside from maybe its size. He’d been in a dozen smaller ones like it on the trails to Fort Laramie and Cheyenne. Over to his left the long bar stretched to the staircase that led up to the rooms where Luke kept the calico queens. On the wall over to the right a long mirror was pinned, helping to make the place look bigger.
Against the back wall a raised platform provided space for the fiddlers who played on a Saturday night. A mixture of long tables and smaller tables for cards stood on the plank floor covered with its thin layer of sawdust. Luke Bartram was standing at the bar his back to the door talking with the barkeep. The man spotted Latimer and said something to the saloon owner. Bartram turned to face Latimer.
‘Howdy, Jack. A mite early but there’s a bottle for you here.’
Latimer stepped into the saloon keeping his eye on the only other three men in the saloon. They’d glanced up from their cards for a moment when he’d pushed through the batwing doors but now appeared to be concentrating on their game.
‘I’m workin’, Luke,’ Latimer said.
He strode to the rear of the saloon, his eyes on the silver markings of the boots that showed beneath the table. He stopped a pace from the three men who looked up from their cards. Will Danton was flanked by Frank Armand and another man he didn’t recognize. Armand looked up, a frown on his face.
‘You got somethin’ to say, Sheriff? You’re bustin’ in on our game.’
‘Will Danton, I’m arrestin’ you for the shootin’ o’ the Jenkins boy.’
With a muttered oath the man to Latimer’s right pushed back his chair, his hand dropping to his sidearm. With practised ease Latimer drew his Colt and struck the man across his face, sending him sprawling from his chair to the sawdust where he lay still. Almost in the same movement he’d swung back to bear on the other two. Neither Danton nor Armand had moved. Muffled cries of alarm came from Luke Bartram and the barkeep behind him. Danton still had cards in his hand, and he placed them on the table before him.
‘Have you lost your mind?’
‘I have a witness who recognized you, Danton.’
Armand glanced at Danton alongside him. ‘Guess this was always gonna happen, Will. Me and Latimer, I mean.’ He turned back to Latimer. ‘You ain’t makin’ sense, Latimer. Why would Will kill a boy?’
‘I ain’t interested in reasons.’
Armand made a show of looking around the saloon. ‘You’re alone, Latimer. Your pal Bartram sure ain’t gonna help you. Why don’t you back off, an’ take some time to think what you’re doin’?’
From behind and above Latimer came the ratchet sound of a Winchester preparing to fire. ‘Two of us, Armand, an’ you’re plumb in my sights,’ called out Wilson from his position on the balcony. ‘One of you makes a wrong move, an’ I’m gonna shoot you both down.’
There was silence in the saloon for a second or two. Armand’s face tautened, and he moved his hands slowly onto the surface of the table where Latimer could see them.
‘Seems you ain’t the hick sheriff I took you for, Latimer.’ he said. ‘But you’re makin’ a big mistake. Josh Danton’s gonna destroy this town if you put Will in jail.’
‘I’ll take that chance.’ Latimer took a step back. ‘On your feet, Danton.’
‘An’ if I don’t?’ Danton said.
Wood splinters flew from the plank floor two inches away from Armand’s chair as in the same instant the report of Harry Wilson’s Winchester sounded around the saloon.
‘A warning,’ said Latimer. ‘I’ll not tell you agin, Danton. On your feet.’
Armand stared hard at Latimer. His eyes flickered up towards Harry Wilson’s position on the balcony. ‘Best do as he says, Will,’ Armand said eventually. ‘Don’t you worry none. We’ll soon have you outa this.’
Harry Wilson stepped back into Latimer’s office from the passageway fronting the cages. ‘Damned good job Sam fixed both cages,’ he said wryly. ‘Didn’t expect we’d need both of ’em so soon.’
‘Go back to the saloon, an’ check on Armand,’ Latimer said, looking up from the book he was writing in. ‘He ain’t likely to do anythin’ crazy but I’m gonna be happier if he’s outa town.’
Wilson looked at Latimer. ‘I sure didn’t reckon on this much excitement when I put on the badge.’
‘Goes with the job, Harry. We just gotta make sure we stay alive.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ Wilson said with a grim smile, ‘when the town’s back being peaceful.’
He left the office and Latimer picked up his pen again. For the best part of fifteen years the place had been quiet with decent hardworking folks going about their business. Now he felt as if he was living in a cattle town like Abilene. How the hell did lawmen sleep in a place like that? He looked up as the door to the street opened. Emma Parkes stood in the threshold. Latimer got to his feet.
She stepped into the office a determined look about her. ‘I saw the man you’ve just brought out of the saloon. That’s the man I saw shooting from the alleyway.’
Latimer was about to reply when behind Emma Parkes the street door burst open. Henry Gibbons stormed into the office, ignoring Emma Parkes who stepped back hurriedly to avoid being trampled. Gibbons halted in front of Latimer’s desk, his face puce with anger.
‘Have you gone out of your mind? Have you gone stark, staring mad? What the hell d’you mean putting Josh Danton’s son in jail for the shooting of the Jenkins boy?’
‘I have a witness who saw him do it.’
Gibbons swung around to face Emma Parkes. ‘A witness!’ he roared. ‘A damned witness! Young lady, you’ve been in this town for only two days. What the hell d’you think you’re doin’?’
‘Who said Miss Parkes was my witness?’ Latimer said quickly.
Gibbons swung on Latimer. ‘Then what the hell is she doin’ here? You tell me that.’
Latimer thought fast. ‘Miss Parkes and I are talkin’ about a buggy ride we’re takin’ together.’ He looked across at her. ‘Shall we say ten in the morning tomorrow, Miss Parkes?’
Behind Gibbons her eyes opened wide as she looked past the mayor’s shoulder in Latimer’s direction. Indecision showed for a second in her eyes, and then she nodded. ‘That would be very suitable, Mr Latimer. I shall expect you then.’
Gibbons turned to face her, his face still red but this time showing more embarrassment than anger. He gave a brief bow. ‘I apologize for my manners, Miss Parkes, and my unseemly language.’ He forced a weak smile. ‘You must understand, ma’am, these are trying times for Beaver Creek.’
‘I understand, Mr Gibbons. Your apology is accepted.’ She gave a short nod. ‘Gentlemen,’ she said.
She turned, and Gibbons moved quickly to open the street door, bowing again as she stepped out onto the boardwalk, and closing the door quietly behind her. Latimer remained expressionless, thinking not for the first time that Emma Parkes was proving a real handful. Gibbons came back to the desk, and took the seat. The polite manner he’d shown a few moments before with Emma Parkes had vanished.
‘Now you listen to me. I’m the mayor of this town, and it’s the town that pays you. You ain’t on a holiday here. Goin’ buggy rides with a pretty gal is mighty fine but when you got Fuller an’ now Will Danton behind bars it ain’t makin’ much sense.’
‘It does if I can find out what the hell’s goin’ on in this town.’
‘Fuller’s hired to kill Kerswell,’ Gibbons snapped. ‘You’ve told me that.’
‘So why would Will Danton try to kill Kerswell?’
‘How the hell do I know? An’ what’s this got to do with that young woman?’
‘She’s got a claim on Lazy T land,’ Latimer said.
Gibbons’ jaw dropped. ‘My God! You sure of that?’
‘I’ve seen the documents. That’s what the buggy ride’s about. I’m hopin’ I’m gonna learn a lot more.’
Gibbons pulled out a large red and white spotted handkerchief and mopped his forehead. His anger had melted away to leave him with a desperate note in his voice. ‘This is gonna finish us. Cheyenne’s gonna wish the town would just disappear.’
Latimer shook his head. ‘We keep Kerswell alive, we hold onto Fuller, and you show that no man is above the law. The governor himself will be ridin’ outa Cheyenne to shake your hand.’
Gibbons lowered his handkerchief slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. For a moment he looked almost pleased, and then his face darkened. ‘Josh Danton ain’t gonna see his son facin’ a trial for shootin’ a homesteader’s boy. He’ll pay off Jenkins.’
Latimer’s face hardened. ‘Josh Danton can give Jenkins as much money as he’s a mind to. His son murdered a boy in this town an’ he’s goin’ before a judge.’
Gibbons’s anger reappeared. ‘You keep talkin’ like that an’ Josh Danton will send in his gunslingers. You an’ Wilson got enough to worry about. It don’t make sense to ask for more trouble. An’ I’m telling you now, this town’s got no hankering for gunfights down Main Street.’
Gibbons didn’t give Latimer the chance to reply. He stood up, turned on his heel and within a few moments Latimer was left alone, staring sightlessly at the blank wall on the other side of the office.