Latimer had taken an early breakfast and was studying the list of Turner’s effects given to him by Joe Sterne, the undertaker, when Harry Wilson burst through the door.
‘Josh Danton’s with the Mayor. He’s gonna be here mighty soon.’
‘OK, we know how we’re gonna play this, Harry. We don’t give him Miss Parkes’s name unless he demands it.’
‘We got a problem with that, Sheriff.’ Wilson pulled back his lips in an expression of frustration. ‘My pa’s with him.’
‘Your pa! What the hell’s he doin’ with Danton?’
‘Danton must have hired him.’ Wilson saw the scowl on Latimer’s face. ‘He can’t refuse to give legal advice, Sheriff, if he’s asked.’
‘Where’s that fast-talkin’ lawyer in fancy clothes that Danton brings up from Fort—?’ Latimer stopped suddenly. ‘Hell! I clean forgot ’bout the bridge for a second.’
Wilson was looking through the window into Main Street. ‘Three of ’em, Sheriff, comin’ this way. The mayor’s with Danton and Pa.’
Latimer got to his feet. He didn’t want Danton and Gibbons bearing down on him while he sat behind his desk trying to justify the decisions he’d taken. Through the window he saw the shoulders and heads of the three men. Then the door was thrown open, and Danton stormed into the office, his face black with fury. Behind him came Abe Wilson, and finally, scowling with worry, came Henry Gibbons.
Danton didn’t bother with greetings. ‘I wanna see my son!’ he roared.
‘My deputy will accompany you, Mr Danton,’ Latimer said calmly. He looked across the room. ‘Harry, show Mr Danton through to the cages.’
Danton swung on his heel. ‘You stay here, Gibbons. Mr Wilson, you come with me.’
Harry Wilson led his father and Danton through the door to the rear of the office, closing the door when the two had passed through into the passageway.
Gibbons swung on Latimer. ‘I warned you! I goddamned warned you this would happen!’ He pulled out his spotted handkerchief and mopped furiously at this forehead. ‘Danton’s threatenin’ to block the licences for the mill when they come up next month. You and your high-minded stand are gonna ruin this town.’ Gibbons stepped forward, his fists clenched. ‘Folks have given their whole lives to build Beaver Creek, an’ you’re gonna tear it down!’
Before Latimer had chance to reply, the door leading to the cages was thrown open, and Danton burst into the room. ‘Will said he didn’t do it. That’s good enough for me. Why the hell d’you think my son would kill a homesteader’s boy?’
‘He was tryin’ to kill Mr John Kerswell, the boy got in the way.’
‘You’re outa your mind, Latimer. What evidence you got for that?’
‘Someone saw your son shoot young Jenkins.’
‘Who’s sayin’ that?’ Danton barked. ‘Bring him in here an’ let me hear him say that to my face!’
‘The witness has identified your son twice.’
Danton snorted. ‘I’m tellin’ you again, Latimer. I wanna know who this witness is. I gotta legal right.’ He looked sideways at Abe Wilson. ‘That’s true, ain’t it?’
Wilson nodded briefly. ‘That’s correct, Mr Danton.’
Danton swung back to face Latimer. ‘So let’s hear this feller’s name, Sheriff.’
‘The witness is a lady.’
Danton’s eyes bulged. ‘A lady?’ he exploded. ‘You’ve got my son in jail on what some damned woman says.’ He took a pace closer to Latimer’s desk, his eyes bloodshot with rage. ‘I wanna hear her name and I wanna see her now.’
Latimer glanced past Danton’s shoulder to see Abe Wilson indicate by his expression that Latimer had no choice. For an instant he wondered if he’d be signing Emma Parkes’s death warrant by giving her name to Josh Danton. If she were unable to testify at a trial Will Danton would walk from jail a free man. Did he have the right to gamble with her life? Why shouldn’t he say to hell with it and release Danton? There’d be no showdown with Armand and his bunch of gunslingers, Gibbons would be happy, and the townsfolk would be free to go about their business.
But how many times over the past nine or ten years had he told the townsfolk that if Beaver was to prosper then the law had to be supported? If he backed down now and gave into demands from Danton he knew he’d have to quit Beaver and make a start somewhere else. Not only that, he’d have to live with the decision for the rest of his life. Harry Wilson would reckon he’d broken his solemn oath. Emma Parkes would return to Boston convinced he was a weak man, and she’d be right.
‘I’m still waitin’ for an answer, Latimer.’
‘Miss Emma Parkes from Boston,’ Latimer said.
Danton’s jaw dropped with furious disbelief. ‘Are you outa your mind? Some damned pilgrim from back East. Get the woman here now!’
Latimer looked across to Harry Wilson. ‘Ask Miss Parkes to join us. Tell her it’s important.’
Wilson nodded, and Latimer watched him leave the office. His deputy would be smart enough to warn Emma Parkes that she was about to face the most powerful man in the county. He hoped she was strong enough to meet the challenge.
Danton turned to Abe Wilson. ‘I wanna word with you outside.’
The two men left the office, leaving Latimer and Gibbons alone. There were a few moments of silence before Gibbons spoke. His voice shook and he was patently making great efforts to keep himself under control.
‘Is there any chance this woman will go back on what she saw?’
‘I don’t know,’ Latimer said. ‘It’s possible. I guess she’ll be returning to Boston when the trail reopens. She hasn’t a chance of claimin’ the land she reckons she owns. I don’t see her comin’ back West to do justice a favour.’
Gibbons began to speak but was cut off by the door opening and Danton and Abe Wilson coming back into the office. Danton glared at Latimer.
‘I guess young Wilson’s bringin’ the woman with him now.’
A few moments later the door opened and Emma Parkes stepped into the office closely followed by Harry Wilson. He was surprised to see her carrying her document case. She looked directly at Latimer who knew her well enough now to recognize that although she was nervous, she was determined.
‘I’m waitin’ to have a word with you, young woman!’ Danton barked.
Emma Parkes returned his stare unflinching. ‘Is that the way you address a lady, Mr Danton? No matter, I shall ignore your poor manners, as I am waiting to have a word with you.’
Whatever Danton was expecting, Latimer realized, the rancher certainly hadn’t expected the robust reply from Emma Parkes. He saw Danton hesitate a moment, puzzlement showing in his eyes, before he again showed his anger.
‘Your word’s put my son in jail, young lady, an’ I wanna know what you mean by it.’
‘Mr Latimer has put your son in jail, Mr Danton. I merely saw your son shoot that poor boy.’
‘Listen to me, my son never killed no-one. He’s tol’ me that, an’ I believe him. But I’m gonna tell you what I’ve done. Half an hour ago I signed a paper in Abe Wilson’s office. My boy walks outa this jail an’ the Jenkins family gets a thousand dollars. I know it don’t make up for the loss of their boy but you got any notion what a thousand dollars means to poor homesteaders like them folks?’
‘A fortune, I imagine,’ said Emma Parkes. ‘But don’t misunderstand me, Mr Dalton. I’m not foolish enough to think I can influence what you men decide. I shall appear if your son comes before a judge. If he does not,’ she glanced across at Latimer, ‘then what I could say means nothing.’
Danton looked at her for several seconds, as if attempting to read her thoughts, before nodding slowly. ‘Maybe I should pay a visit to Boston. Seems folks are movin’ along back there.’ Maybe Danton meant his words as a compliment but he didn’t stop there. ‘You can leave us now,’ he said.
Later, when he was alone, Latimer decided it was the dismissive tone of Danton’s voice when he uttered those last words that fired up Emma Parkes. At the time he saw the colour rush to her face, as Danton, believing that he’d finished his discussion with her, turned his back on her.
‘One moment, Mr Danton,’ Emma Parkes cut in. ‘We have business to discuss. With these gentlemen here, this is a good opportunity.’
Danton turned back to her, an impatient expression crossing his face, as she pulled from her document case the papers Latimer had seen before. Anticipating what Emma Parkes was about to do, Latimer pushed aside his large leather journal, and shifted his inkwell so her papers could be laid flat out on the desk.
Danton looked down at the outspread sheet of paper. ‘What’s this?’
Emma Parkes stepped forward. ‘It’s a map of the area to the east of the town.’ She pointed a finger. ‘That’s the creek.’
‘You’re talkin’ about land belongin’ to the Lazy T.’ Danton traced with his finger around the red ink close to the blue line marking the creek. ‘What’s this s’posed to mean?’
‘It means a hundred and sixty acres left to me by my father and that are now mine.’ She placed another document, bearing red seals, on the desk. ‘This is a copy of the ownership document deposited in a Boston bank.’
Blood rushed to Danton’s face and a blue vein throbbed at the side of his forehead. ‘That was open range homesteaders tried to take twenty years ago. I ran ’em off.’ He slammed his fist down on the map. ‘Parkes! So that’s your game! I remember Parkes. Feller with a big mouth an’ a twisted leg. He gave me trouble for over a year.’ Danton swung round to face Abe Wilson. ‘Tell this woman the law. Parkes had to tend that land for at least five years afore he could claim ownership.’
Abe Wilson turned down his mouth, his discomfort plain. ‘That’s correct, Miss Parkes. Five years of land improvement is needed.’
‘You should keep up with the law, Mr Wilson,’ she retorted. ‘The government has directed that army service counts towards the five years. My father served four years in the engineers.’ She turned back to Danton. ‘Under certain conditions I can extend my land to 640 acres. My lawyers are looking into it.’
‘Damn your lawyers!’ Danton roared. ‘You try an’ take that land an’ you’ll never see Boston agin!’
‘Make no mistake, Mr Danton, I mean to have my land. Your threats do not frighten me,’ she added sharply. ‘Ask your ruffian Armand about Pinkerton agents.’ She snatched up the two documents and thrust them into her document case. With a brief nod of her head, and a swirl of her skirts, she swept out of the office, brushing past Abe Wilson who had opened the door for her.
There were a few moments of total silence after the door closed before Danton turned on Latimer. ‘What’s that horseshit ’bout Pinkertons? I’ll deal with that damned woman later. She’s crazy if she thinks she can drift into town and lay claim to a chunk of the Lazy T. I’m gonna ask you agin, Latimer. You gonna let my boy go?’
Latimer shook his head. ‘He’ll stay where he is until Judge Hardcastle gets here. He’ll decide what happens, not me.’
‘You’re startin’ a war, you know that?’ He turned on Gibbons, who was standing in the centre of the office, his face pale. ‘You’ve had your chance Gibbons. You’re s’posed to be mayor of this town. I’m tellin’ you now, that boy o’ mine is gonna be free tomorrow.’
Danton didn’t wait for a reply. He turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, slamming the door with such force that it shuddered on its timbers. Abe Wilson expelled air noisily.
‘That young woman just made me look a fool,’ he said.
Gibbons looked around the room, fury mottling his features. ‘Are you all crazy? Abe here’s thinkin’ of his hurt feelin’s. You, young Wilson, are giving support to a sheriff who appears to have lost his mind. You shoulda stuck with your pa, Deputy. Sheriff Latimer’s gonna get you killed with him.’
After Wilkins had arrived to relieve Holland and Abe Wilson had left with Gibbons, Latimer told Harry Wilson to get his meal. He’d raised a grim smile when Harry turned at the door and, with an attempt at gallows humour, had remarked that he sure hoped it wasn’t the meal of a condemned man.
Latimer sat behind his desk trying to guess what was likely to happen the following day. There was every chance that Armand would appear with his gunslingers intent on breaking out Will Danton. With the bridge down, Josh Danton could risk everything settling down before word got to Cheyenne. By then Will Danton could be hundreds of miles away out of the Territory.
If it came to a showdown what were the chances that he and Harry Wilson would survive? He could make a fort out of the jailhouse but that would mean Armand and his no-goods laying siege to them. Gibbons had good reasons for wishing to avoid gunplay on Main Street. Get a reputation like that in the Territory and Beaver would become a target for every no-good for hundreds of miles around. Even were he able to fight off Armand he’d be risking future trouble for the town.
Harry would stand with him, and several of the Volunteers. The Williams brothers from the livery stable didn’t lack courage but he was reluctant to ask them to go up against gunslingers. He had no illusions about Armand. The no-good would kill anyone who stood in his way. Latimer suddenly recalled the four men with Armand. Had they joined Armand for a grubstake now Fuller was in jail? Did that show Josh Danton was behind the attempt to kill Kerswell? That would provide a motive for his son trying to bushwhack the government man.
Latimer grunted with exasperation. So much was happening in the town that it was difficult to decide the truth. This morning he’d have sworn that Emma Parkes was just a modern young woman. But the way she’d held her own against Danton made him think again. He’d read about women, proper ladies, doing all sorts of work back East. There was even a hospital in New York where all the doctors were women. Sure, he knew Emma could be brave, and she was smart, but he remembered Harry Wilson’s remarks. Had his deputy detected something about her that he’d missed? Was there a lot more to Emma behind that pretty face?
Latimer threw down his pen with another grunt of frustration. Better he thought about facing Armand than spending his time thinking about a young woman who’d forget him the moment the stage carried her away. His problem would be trying to forget her. That is, he reminded himself, if he was still alive to have such thoughts. He looked up as Harry Wilson came back into the office.
‘I’ll take over now, Sheriff. The Chinaman’s serving a great steak.’
Latimer looked at him thoughtfully. ‘Yeah, time I got some grub,’ he said. ‘But first I gotta job for you.’ He explained to his deputy what he needed, and after Harry had made one or two suggestions, Latimer was satisfied that his plan would work.
‘I’ll go see the Volunteers agin,’ Wilson said.