She says through gritted teeth, “That’s no excuse. He shouldn’t be in command then.”
John nods. “I didn’t say I agreed with the reasons, I just said that was his excuse over it. A lot of people can’t let go of the past, after all.”
She turns toward the group of people still standing around and sighs deeply. She looks at Judge Logan and asks, “So, since the Army is proving to be worthless in this, what do you want to do about it?”
“Like I said earlier. I don’t think there’s anything that we CAN do about it. We’ll have to look into it later.” He shrugs. “There’s only so much we can do. Since that area is outside your jurisdiction, I can tell you that you can’t go after whomever it is committing those crimes, at least not until he starts breaking the law inside your area.”
Joey looks at the older man for a few frustrated moments, before turning and walking away.
Judge Logan looks at her a moment, shakes his head, then goes toward the stables, to see after a mount.
John speaks with David and Rebekah quietly, asking if her day was as productive as theirs was. She explains everything she was able to get. She goes on to describe how her parents had responded to the telegrams she had sent, telling them about her engagement. She says her parents aren’t happy, but will be at the wedding and requested a date for it.
Before the young couple can get involved in a debate about their wedding date, John quietly mentions seeing a dejected-looking Capt. Richards approaching.
When the captain stops in front of the three people he breathes a sigh of frustration. “Where’s the Marshal and Judge?”
John jabs a thumb towards each person and says, “They left, expecting to hear you say that the Army won’t help in this at all.”
Richards nods. “Yeah, I finally got the major to call down. He’s still insistent this is a civil matter and has to be handled by the civilian authorities. Sorry, I did the best I could, but he’s being intractable about it.”
The bitter taste of disappointment fills John’s mouth. He nods. “Yeah. I’d figured he would do that.”
Capt. Richards looks toward Joey and asks tentatively, “Would you mind telling the Marshal what I said, while I tell the Judge?”
John cocks a half-grin at his old protégé. “Coward. Sure, I’ll explain it.” He walks over to Joey and under his voice says, “You were right. Army refuses to help us out here.”
The look the young woman gives him is full of steel. “Oh? Is that so? Well, I guess it’s high time for me to turn in my badge, put out a warrant on that monster, and bring him in, then.”
John shakes his head. “Going rogue isn’t a good idea. You’re too badly needed around here in the official capacity. Would you leave your responsibilities so easily, just because something else more interesting came up?”
She grunts in frustration and says, “Don’t think to lecture me, John. I’m aware of my responsibilities. What do you suggest we do, then, hmm?”
“I don’t know. I get the feeling that it’s gonna take a troop to bring that animal in. I’ve met him. He makes my skin crawl and my trigger finger itch.”
“Are you trying to saying you don’t think I’m good enough to bring him in on my own?” she demands.
“Honestly, I don’t think ANYONE is able to bring him in, alone. It has nothing to do with you.”
She glares at him a moment and sighs, crossing her arms. “Well, then that means you won’t be going after him yourself, doesn’t it?”
John nods. “I’m not dumb enough to try it. At most, all I’m gonna do is try and get a little information on him when I can.”
She looks at him shrewdly. “Be careful. If he’s half as dangerous as you say, you don’t want to get his attention. You might end up being his next victim.”
He looks at her, confusion written all over his face. “It’s funny you should say that. I’ve been having stranger dreams than normal lately, and they involve him.”
She continues looking deep in his eyes. “I think that’s something we’ll have to discuss later, in private.”
John nods. “So, we’re agreed. Neither one of us is gonna go after him alone, then?” She nods. “Good. There’s just something about him . . .” he looks off into the distance. “I have met someone like him only once before, and I killed that man. As painfully as was physically possible.”
She looks away for a moment, then says, “You’ll have to tell me the story, sometime. I think we might be needed, though.” She points at David and Rebekah, who are walking towards them.
As they approach, David says, “I would like to head back to Denver. I don’t wanna be anywhere near Norman come sunup.”
John looks at his young friend, curious about the reason, and sees fear written on the younger man’s face. John cocks his head at an angle. “You alright?”
David looks around, quickly checking for someone able to listen in on their conversation. He shakes his head and quietly says, “There’s trouble brewing and I want none of it.”
John nods then looks over at Joey. “Sorry, but I think the story will have to wait. Looks like I’m needed elsewhere.”
Joey nods in acceptance and says quietly, “I think I may be needed elsewhere as well. I will go check with Judge Logan. I’ll make sure to stop by and say bye before you leave.”
John nods and leads the way out of the courtyard. On the way back to the hotel, David explains how he’s been having feelings of unease for the last few days. He explains that all day long, he’s been feeling the need to get back home.
Rebekah, having remained quiet most of this time, says she’s learned to listen to these feeling of his, and that with, or without John’s help, they were heading home as soon as they could.
John agrees to accompany them, but with the request that they stop by White on the way home, so he can gather as much information on Richard as he might be able to.
Rebekah agrees and says on their way out of Norman, she will send another telegram to her parents.
Politely, John asks if they have set a date.
“Christmas Day. It’s the day we celebrate the greatest gift of love, so we’ll celebrate our love at the same time.”
John is not surprised they would choose a date that is so dear to their fairy tale. He doesn’t say anything about it, but it’s hard to hide his disappointment.
When the party arrives at the hotel, John quickly explains that something came up and they are needing to check out.
Joseph is disappointed, but offers them a meal for the road. While Laura works to get the food prepared, Sean brings in some special soap.
After they gather everything up from their rooms and are in the lobby of the hotel, Joey enters, gives John a firm handshake, extracting a promise from him to share the story of the death of Wilkinson. She turns to Rebekah and tries to give the young woman a handshake as well, but is rebuffed. Her expression is one of shock and surprise.
She squares her shoulders and offers her hand to David. David shakes it and says quietly, “She’s still having some trouble accepting some truths. I’ll talk to her about it, it will be okay.”
Joey nods, expression still a little uncertain. She waves bye to the party and goes in to the restaurant for some food herself.
Less than an hour after they check out of the hotel, the three riders mount their horses and ride out towards the east part of Norman where the telegraph office is located.
They make a short stop, long enough for Rebekah to send a short telegram to her parents, just letting them know the expected date of her wedding. Less than fifteen minutes after arriving at the telegraph office, the party is back on the road, headed towards White.
Chapter 65
It is just before sunset that sees three riders approaching White from the west, along the Shawnee road.
John notes the first house they come across appears to be a burned-out husk. He’s not sure, but the remains of the building appear to be still smoldering.
Without
being too obvious, John loosens his weapons in their holsters, preparing for trouble.
Sensing the urgency, David picks up their pace to a gallop. When the party makes their way into downtown White, they gape at the smoking remains of what was at one time, the General Store.
Wordlessly, the young couple turns and looks at John as one. He nods his acceptance of their faith being placed in him and motions toward the Saloon, just down the street. He’d planned on getting some information, but this seems to be turning more into a criminal investigation, than a fact finding mission.
They dismount in front of the saloon, tethering their horses to the hitching post. John says quietly, “Let me do the talking. I don’t know what happened here, but I plan find out.”
David looks relieved as he nods. “I prefer you to ask the questions, anyway.” He motions to the saloon door. “This is your natural element. Who am I to disagree?”
John laughs in response to the question and leads the way into the saloon. The saloon is half-full with patrons and several saloon girls.
As they enter, the barkeep looks up and grins in genuine delight. “Well, lookie there! Hi, Doc Bakker, AND Miss Rebekah? I never thought to see you in here at all!”
The party winds their way through the different tables and ongoing card games over towards the bar. As they approach it, David says, “Hiya, Jack. Been awhile. Friend here is looking for some information. Think ya might be able to help?”
Jack looks at John, eyes narrow and he asks, “You lawman?”
John shrugs and says, “Yeah. Marshal of Denver, down the road a bit, but I’m law. Why you ask?”
“Where’s your badge?”
John opens his vest to show him.
The man nods in acceptance. “We sent to Norman this mornin for law. We got trouble hereabouts.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know who they gonna send, if anyone, but I guess you’ll do.”
John smirks at the man’s attitude. “Let me guess, this has to do with the burned-out buildings around town, then, doesn’t it?”
Jack nods, eyes searching John’s face for answers. “Ask your questions, first. Then we can chat about the rest.”
John shakes his head. “I was gonna ask about Richard Buchannan. I get the feeling both of us will be best served by having that chat after all. I would like a beer, by the way. How much?”
“Two bits.”
John puts the coins on the bar while the bartender pours a pint from the tap.
“This started about three days ago.” He hands the drink to John and leans over, putting his forearms and elbows onto the slick surface.
John takes a long drink, draining half the large glass in one swallow. He motions for Jack to continue.
“Friday morning, Richard rode out of town on one of his trips. He tends to disappear for a day or two every week or so.” Jack shakes his head, dispelling the questions he was obviously asking himself. “I didn’t think anything of it. Like I said, he does it often. Anyways, oh, did you want another?”
John nods and hands over the now empty glass.
While he’s filling the glass from the tap, he looks over at John and says, “Friday night, after the store closed, there were several lights burning. That in itself isn’t that odd. Strange family, that was.” He hands the now full glass to John and takes the proffered money.
John looks over at Rebekah and notes she is listening to the narrative intently. He looks at David.
The young doctor is scanning the crowd, apparently looking for someone specific. A moment later, he leans over and says quietly to John, “I’ll be right back.” He leans over to Rebekah, whispers something in her ear, kisses her on the cheek, and winds his way through the room, to stop in front of one of the saloon girls.
Jack looks at David and smiles. He says to himself, “He’s so caring about his patients.” He looks back at John. “So, it was just after midnight Friday night, when we heard several screams, several gunshots, and then the General Store exploded. A half dozen men were seen running from the blaze, but we were too busy trying to keep the fire from spreading to the other buildings to go after them.” He shakes his head. “We almost lost the whole town, with that stunt.”
Seeing John’s look of dismay, he nods. “We won that hard-fought battle.” He chuckles. “In truth, after a little while, I was tempted to just let the whole town burn.” He shakes his head. “It took us until early morning to get the fire out. When we were sifting through the ashes, we found the bodies.”
John finishes his beer, and indicates he doesn’t want another one just yet. “Whose bodies?”
“Louis and Leslie Buchannan, we think. It was a man and woman at least. If we still had a doctor here, I would be able to tell you.” He shakes his head. “The bodies were badly burned. Beyond recognition, in truth. It was around noon Saturday that Richard came sauntering back into town, like he owned the place.”
John turns and looks over at where David is seated at a table, talking to the saloon-girl and sees the girl speaking expressively, yet quietly to the young doctor.
“He rode up to the store and just stared at it for the longest time. When Lonnie, our town marshal, walked up to him to talk about what happened, Richard started screaming incoherently.” Jack reaches under the bar, pulls a bottle of whiskey out, a shot-glass, pours himself a drink and downs it. “Lonnie tried to ask him about where he was, but Richard cold-cocked him, knocking him clean out. He mounted his horse and left town. About an hour after he left, Lonnie came over here and told me the Buchannan’s house was on fire.” Another shot of whiskey down. “Lonnie had come over to ask for some help out there and we were in the process of trying to get the men together to be able to go help put out the fire when Richard rode back in to town, acting as if he had a horde of demons on his tail.
“He was riding around in circles and screaming for Lonnie to come out. When Lonnie did go out there, trying to find out what all the hootin’ and hollerin’ was about—” another shot down “—Richard screamed incoherently and gunned down the marshal.” Another shot. “Well, lemme tell you. I’m not one for paying too much attention to sticky point of the law, but I’m also not one for randomly shooting a lawman either.” Another shot, this one followed by a deep sigh. “I ran out there with Bessie, her—” he pats the shotgun under the bar and shakes his head “—I got out there just in time for Richard to mount his horse and start to ride out of town. I stepped in front of him, but he tried to run me down. I shot at him, but I was diving out of the way, so I might have winged him, I might not. I don’t know.” Another shot. “He rode off, towards Shawnee, but I dunno.” He takes a final swig straight from the bottle, finishing it. “We buried Lonnie, Louis, and Leslie. I sent a messenger to Norman, for the law to come out. I’d been hoping you was who they sent.”
John sighs deeply and motions for another drink. “Well, I can’t speak for Lyttle myself, but,” he spreads his hands, “What I CAN say is, this gonna make things interesting to say the least.”
Jack hands the beer to John.
John salutes him with it, before taking a long drink. He belches and asks, “You heard about the attacks on the Shawnee and Chickasaw kids lately?”
Jack slowly shakes his head in obvious uncertainty. “What attacks?”
For the next little while, John describes the reports he received about the recent murders of the children and their families. When he’s done, Jack is just standing there with his mouth hanging open in shock. John then goes on to describe what Brigit went through, without mentioning the poor girl’s name.
“You mean they had a young woman staying with them for months? Of all the wonders. I wonder if no one else in town knew anything about that.” He shakes his head. “So, you’re obviously thinkin’ those attacks have been Richard’s doing, aren’t ya?”
John nods, searching the man’s face for any sign of treachery and not finding any. “You don’t seem surprised by this revelation.”
Jack shakes his head. “Like I
said, it’s a weird family. Nothing you could say would surprise me.” He laughs. “You could even tell me he was found guilty of the murder of Danielle, and my only question would be, when’s he getting hung?”
John sighs. He was hoping for more definitive proof. Those disappearances might very well coincide with the attacks, but it was circumstantial evidence, at best. “Who is Danielle?”
“She was one of my girls. One of the best ones I’ve ever had. Her body was found about three months ago. Cut up. Bad. Only reason we knew who it was, was because we found her scalped body right next to her signature single braid of long brown hair.”
John looks at Jack with a look of concern. “Pale complexion, fine features, about five foot two?”
Jack nods enthusiastically. “I take it you’re familiar with our Dani?”
John shakes his head. “No, but I know someone who fits her description to a ‘T’. I wouldn’t rule Richard out for her murder, after all.”
Jack sighs and says, just under his breath, “Animal.”
John nods. “Yeah. He’s a piece of work alright. We have to get the evidence before we can get him at the end of a rope, though. That’s actually the reason I’m here right now, is to find the evidence against him.”
“I say we just string him up. He deserves it.”
John shakes his head. “No. He needs to be judged and found guilty. No lynchings. He deserves to hear the gavel bang his fate.”
Jack sighs and opens another bottle of whiskey. During this exchange, David finishes his conversation with the saloon-girl and walks back over.
As the young doctor approaches, he says quietly, “We need to talk. Now. This is bad. This is worse than imagined.”
John looks at his young friend quickly, nods and says to Jack, “If you don’t hear from Lyttle in the next few days or so, send someone to Denver and let me know. I will see that you get someone here shortly myself, if I need to.” He drains his glass, motions his two young friends with him and they all quickly exit the saloon.
Just outside the door, John looks at David curiously.
The Marshal of Denver Page 37
