Herb Wheeler at the hardware store told me young Widow Orton had taken in a new man. A hired hand, supposedly, but Herb knew different ‘cause he’d got it from Johnny Gibson, who’d got it from Harry Dade, who claimed to have got it from the hired hand himself.
Seeing Kyle Boardman in charge of the livery was a big surprise. After advising me to take anything Herb Wheeler says with a pinch of salt, he said he was looking after things till Sam Hardman's back on his feet. Seems Sam busted his leg falling from the hayloft.
Joe Hanlon at the liquor store told me he might have fallen from a hayloft too, if he hadn’t kept his insurance up to date. It ain’t like Joe to talk in riddles and for a smidge I was confused, ‘specially when he clammed up on me. Something was wrong, I could smell it, and it smelled a whole lot stronger when I turned around and saw Buck Mallory and his cousin Lonnie propped up in the doorway.
Eldon Lassiter was standing outside the newspaper office when I came by. Said there’s been all kinds of trouble lately and though he stopped short of pointing a finger, I figured it all came back to a certain family. Anyhow, some good news; it looks like the town will be expanding soon with new stores and a new church getting built. Praise be and hallelujah, huh? That ought to keep the bible thumpers happy.
About then I felt a mite hungry. Since Annie’s place was just across the street… well, what a mistake that was. Ain’t that I begrudge paying five cents for a donut and a cup of coffee, but old Bob Straker wouldn’t let me out of there till he’d done telling me about his back, his knees and everything nobody needs to know about hemorrhoids.
I left the donut half eaten and came out just in time to see two men carrying Phineas Cardwell over to Doc’s place. Heart attack, I figured, till Nervous Ned popped up from behind a barrel to say Magdalena Cardwell was on the warpath again. Now there’s a woman I’d hate to upset. Seems she told everyone in screeching distance what a worthless fool her husband was then she knocked him out cold in the middle of the street.
Irene Jackson and Nellie Trout were tittle-tattling about it when I stopped by at the general store. Course I took no notice. I just bought my supplies and got on with loading up the buckboard. The world would be a better place if people learned how to mind their own business, I reckon.
I had it in mind to buy Housty a present before going home; silky underwear, something like that. Since there’s no one better than Cordelia for giving the kind of advice I needed, I moseyed on up The Parlor. Leastways I would have, if Granny Applegate hadn’t come out of the bank when she did and spooked me into ducking into an alley. A slick move, I thought as she passed by, till…
‘Hiding from someone, Mister?’
I found myself looking down the barrel of a gun. By the set of the fella’s eyes and his countenance, I figured he wasn’t a man to be messed with and I was quick to comply when he told me to put my hands in the air.
‘No, I ain’t hiding. Well, maybe I am. But I ain’t up to no good, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
‘Then why are you sneaking around?’
‘Well, I…’
‘C’mon!’ he said, jabbing the gun at me. ‘You can tell it to the sheriff.’
Well, I might have breathed easier when I saw the badge on his chest, but as he marched me to the sheriff’s office it pained me to think I was being taken in by a man wearing my old badge.
‘Well now, what have we here?’ asked Sheriff Berry. Sitting at his desk, he set his paperwork aside.
‘I found this man acting all suspicious in the alley,’ said the deputy.
‘Hmm, looks like you’ve hooked a mean one.’ The sheriff leaned back in his chair. 'Well?’ he asked, turning his attention to me.
By the time I’d done telling him the truth, the whole truth and nothing but, he was smirking all over his face.
‘And that’s all there is to it, Emmett,’ I said. ‘You know what Granny Applegate’s like. I ain’t safe when she’s around.’
‘Okay Valance, put your hands down.’
‘You two know each other?’ asked a surprised deputy.
‘Yeah, we know each other,’ said the sheriff. ‘Ray; meet Levitt E. Valance, your predecessor. Valance; this is Ray Quigley, my deputy.’
Quigley’s jaw dropped. ‘You mean he’s…’
‘The very same,’ said the sheriff. ‘Better get along now Ray. I need you out there.’
I waited till the deputy left. ‘He’s a keen one, ain’t he?’ I said, as soon as the door closed. ‘Shame he ain’t smart enough to know an honest citizen when he sees one.’
‘Yeah, he’s keen. A little too keen sometimes, but Ray’s a good man to have around. These are troubled times.’
‘So I heard. Is he as good as I was?’
The sheriff chewed it over for a moment.
‘Almost.’
‘Almost? So what’s he’s got that I ain’t got?’
‘My trust.’
Hell, what a kick in the guts. And he said it straight out, without batting an eye. Since there was nothing more to say, I slunk out of the door.
Though I’d gotten over it by the time I got home, I felt bad when I remembered Housty’s present. I’d clean forgotten about that. No matter, Housty wasn’t expecting anything anyhow, and she was more than happy with the supplies I brought back. Still wish I’d gotten her something though.
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