“Elsa explained that I probably contributed to Cindy’s problem,” Alex confided, “and maybe Elsa is right. If I failed Cindy, then I should help her now, and I’m trying. But I’m in danger of losing my self-respect. I’m sure you know what I mean.”
“I sure do,” Marl replied slowly, admitting his shame. “When I went home for supper, I noticed that Marian was a bit flustered. She wasn’t expecting me because I don’t usually go home to eat. While Marian was preparing supper, I checked the bedroom. The covers were all messed up, and a cigarette was burning in an ash tray on the nightstand. Marian doesn’t smoke.”
Alex nodded. “When we got back to town, I took Cindy home; you had already gone back to work. I hope she didn’t tell Marian that my shooting arm is useless. If Marian told Frank, I’ll bet he sends someone to tell the pistoleros that they didn’t kill me, and they had to come back and finish the job.”
“Why don’t you hide out somewhere until your arm heals?” Marl asked.
“I went to Thunder Canyon to rest up and practice my shooting, but Eva, Cindy, and Kyle found me. I can’t hide forever. I’ve already lost respect for myself, and if I run, everybody in town including Cindy will lose respect for me. I can still use my rifle pretty good. I think my being here at the saloon cramps Cindy’s style, so I’ll go back to my room. Don’t tell her where I am, but let me know if Raphe and his two pistol partners come back. They’ve only been gone for a day and a half. A fast rider could overtake them in a few hours.”
Alex thought he should let Kyle know that Frank was in town, but when he got to Kyle’s door, he heard the bedsprings squeaking and knew that Frank still didn’t know that Eva was here with Kyle.
* *
Alex ate his meals in his room and spent his days exercising his arm and reading books. On the third day, Marl came by and told Alex that Raphe had come back, but he came back alone and had gone to the Bar H.
Alex almost hated himself for thinking that Cindy would entertain Raphe as soon as he got back from the Bar H, and if he were going to live, he needed to confirm his suspicions, so he asked Lila if he could use her room for a couple of nights. Lila knew why.
“Sure, you can use it. I’ll use one of the other rooms until you see what we both know you’re going to see.”
* * *
When Raphe returned from the Bar H, he went to an upstairs room and asked Lila to send for Cindy saying that he had some important information. Cindy rushed to the room intending to tell Raphe that she wasn’t going to have anything more to do with him, but when he grabbed her and took her in his arms all good sense left her. What she didn’t know was that Alex was in the next room. Alex recognized Cindy’s voice coming through the hole behind the picture. he quietly moved the picture and looked. Just as he had suspected, Cindy was in bed with Raphe again.
Alex carefully moved the picture back into place and sat on a chair with his head in his hands. he wanted to go into the room and put a bullet right between Raphe’s eyes, but there was no way he could do it without losing Cindy. Raphe had come back to kill him, and if he defended himself, he would take from Cindy the one thing she wanted most. If he didn’t kill Raphe, he could never have a life with Cindy. he offered Cindy a future with a home and children, and she had said that she would try to resist Raphe. But it was obvious that she hadn’t tried hard enough.
He would do as Elsa had suggested and get on with his life. he strapped his gun around his waist and walked down the stairs to the table that Marl always kept open for him. Marl came right away and sat across from him.
“Lila told me where you were, and I know what you saw,” Marl said. “You know that Raphe has come back to kill you, so what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to buy you a drink, and then I’m going to my room. Tomorrow I’ll open my law office. If Raphe comes after me, I’ll have to defend myself, and one of us will probably die, but what will happen to Cindy? She’s the girl I want to marry. If I kill Raphe, she’ll hate me. If Raphe kills me, Cindy will go with him, and he’ll sell her to the Comanchero and abandon her again. She’s your daughter, and you love her. Your wife is sleeping with another man.” Alex frowned and covered his face before he said anything more. “We were all happy before we found that damn gold. I wish we could put it back and start all over. Mother and Dad would still be together, and you’d probably have grandchildren by now.”
“I’ve thought of that, too,” Marl said. “It makes me wonder if the gold had a curse on it.”
“The Ute won’t even allow their people to go into that canyon. They say the canyon is the home of spirits. Maybe they know something we don’t.”
* * *
As Alex walked out the saloon doors, Cindy walked down the stairs and went to Marl. She didn’t see Alex leave and sat in the chair that Alex had vacated; it was still warm.
“Alex watched you with Raphe tonight,” Marl said as he looked at his lovely daughter sadly shaking his head.
“Oh, my God! How did he do that?”
“Surely you know that whores watch out for one another by having hidden peepholes between the rooms. When Alex was shot, Elsa took care of him, and she showed Alex the peephole in her room. he knew that Raphe would come back when he found out that Alex wasn’t dead and his shooting arm was paralyzed. Alex also figured you’d want to see Raphe again, so he waited in Elsa’s room to confirm his suspicions.” Cindy was beginning to cry, but Marl was so angry he wouldn’t let up a bit.
“You’re my daughter, and I love you, but you’ve broken the heart of one of the finest men the West has ever produced. I would never have approved of it before, but if you want to work as a whore, use Elsa’s room.”
“Where was Alex going?” Cindy asked with tears streaming down her face. “I’ve got to tell him that he was right—Fadden did kill Vard, and he’s hired men to kill Alex. The men he hired thought they had killed Alex, but when his horse came up missing, they knew he had survived and that he would be coming after them.”
Cindy wiped the tears from her face and continued. “Raphe’s pistoleros were going back to Mexico when Frank’s man caught up with them and told them that Alex was still alive, but his shooting arm was paralyzed. They were still afraid of Alex, so they continued on to Mexico. Most people don’t know it, but Raphe and Fadden are both good with guns, and if they work together, they’ll kill Alex.”
“Is Raphe going back to the Bar H? I don’t think Fadden is there. He’s been with your mother all afternoon, and he’s probably still there.”
“Oh, Father,” Cindy cried. “I didn’t know that you knew about Mother until Alex told me, and I didn’t think that Eva knew until she told me. Did you know that Eva is sleeping with Kyle Coulter? I’d like to talk to Alex. Did he say where he was going?”
“He said he was going to his room, but I don’t think he’ll be interested in anything you have to say.”
“Well, I’ve got to tell him anyway. I love him, you know.”
“You’ve got a strange way of showing it.”
Chapter 22
Alex sat in his office and watched Raphe come out of the alley that led to the back stairs of the Trail’s End Saloon, untie his horse, and ride away in the direction of the Bar H.
Raphe is the man who has taken from me everything dear—he has taken Cindy, he is somehow involved in the death of my father, and he is again conspiring to kill me. Why am I still hoping that Cindy will get over that awful man? Alex thought.
Alex also knew that Raphe was the partner of the man who took his mother’s loyalty from his father. He could easily put a bullet through his head, but if he did, he would end any hope of having a life with Cindy. He would just have to deal with the problem as it developed.
He had been looking out the window for only moments when someone knocked on his door. When he checked to see who it was, Cindy was standing there with a worried expression on her face. She was the last person he expected to see, and he was in no mood to talk to her tonight.
; “Why are you here? Did your playmate leave?”
“Don’t be like that. I have something important to tell you.”
“Cindy, Raphe sold you into servitude in New Orleans,” Alex reminded her. “I brought you back and arranged for you to have all the money you’ll ever need. Raphe hired gunfighters to kill me, and they damn near did. Elsa nursed me until I was able to go somewhere to heal. Lila and I saw you and Raphe through the peephole tonight, so I know that Raphe has come back to finish the job that the Mexican gunmen failed to do, and you went to bed with him again after promising that you wouldn’t. or was that your way of helping me?”
Alex was so angry that it was hard to continue. “Why have you come here? You made your choice, and I want nothing more to do with you. When Raphe comes to kill me this time, I’ll have to defend myself, and either he’ll kill me or I’ll kill him. Since he’s the man you want, perhaps you should be trying to save him.” Alex slammed the door and walked back to the chair by the window.
Cindy knew she had gone too far this time, so she went home, and as Marl had said, she found Marian and Frank in Marian’s bed. Cindy silently left the house and returned to the saloon.
* * *
Marl was still sitting at the same table, drinking heavily. He looked up at Cindy with contempt.
“Alex refused to see you, didn’t he? He loves you, and you treat him like dirt. I love Marian, and she treats me like dirt. I can’t go on like this. Cindy.”
Marl got up from the table and while climbing the stairs, he turned back to Cindy. “I’ve signed the Trail’s end Saloon over to you. You own it; therefore, you can do with it whatever you want. I can’t stand the sight of you; I’m going to find a place where there are no women.”
Cindy had been spurned by the two most important men in her life, and she was wondering what to do when Lila came and sat at the table.
“I heard Marl,” Lila said. “We work for you now. Are you going to use Elsa’s room? We have plenty of customers, and a lot of them will want you.”
Cindy smiled a weak smile. Lila was being impudent, but she was also being honest. “I may take a prize morsel from time to time,” she replied. “If you don’t get back to work, I’ll take one of yours.”
“You can’t give us what Marl gave us, but I think it’s going to be fun working for you.” Lila gave a twisted smile, walked to the bar, and took the arm of the first man she could find.
* * *
Cindy just sat there. Her life had taken a major turn—and not for the better. She already had more money than she could count, but Alex controlled it.
Trail’s End is the best saloon in town and as soon as the men find out that I’m working, every man who comes in will want me. I’ll show Alex; I might put Elsa’s room to good use.
Thoughts ran through her mind. I have all of this, but I don’t have a man to share my life with. Alex has rejected me, and Father was drunk when he said it, but he, too, has had enough. He meant every word he said, and he’s upstairs packing. Eva, the most wanton of us all, has found a good man. If Raphe kills Alex—and he probably will—Eva will inherit the ranch. Eva will then divorce Frank, and Kyle will run the ranch unless Frank kills Kyle, too. If Frank doesn’t get either Mother or Eva, he’ll have to find another way to make a living. Mother will go with Frank wherever he wants to go, but the only money Mother has is the money Father gives her. When Frank finds out that Father has left everything to me, he’ll abandon Mother, and what will Mother do?
Cindy realized that since she and her mother shared a common problem, they should work it out together.
Nate, the bartender, interrupted Cindy’s thoughts. “Madam, you have a problem you may not be aware of. If Marl leaves, there’ll be no one to maintain order, and the Trail’s end will live up to its name. It will be a place where men come to die, and they’ll stop coming. You need a bouncer. Will Alex take the job?”
Being addressed as “Madam” hit Cindy hard because she knew that the title was appropriate. She was the owner of a saloon, and the saloon was also a bordello, so she was the madam of a whorehouse.
A commotion at the front door attracted Cindy’s attention. Frank and Raphe had entered while Marl was walking down the stairs carrying a suitcase in each hand. Raphe and Frank saw this as an opportunity to eliminate an opponent, so they both drew and fired. Marl tumbled down the stairs and lay on the floor bleeding.
Cindy ran to her father. one look and she knew he was dying. “Somebody get Alex!” she screamed. Then, remembering that Alex’s shooting arm was useless, she sobbed, “No, don’t get Alex; they’ll kill him, too.”
Before anyone could stop her, Lila ran through the door and was on her way to notify Alex, but when she got to his room, he was gone.
Frank and Raphe had wanted to prevent Lila from getting to Alex but didn’t dare shoot a woman in the back. If they did, every man in the saloon would shoot them without hesitation.
“Let’s get the hell outta here,” Raphe yelled. “Alex may not be able to draw quickly, but he’ll be coming with a gun in his hand this time, and he don’t miss what he shoots at.”
Customers at the saloon heard Frank and Raphe’s horses galloping away in the direction of Mexico.
Lila was walking back to the saloon when she saw Alex come out of Mayor Tipton’s residence carrying his rifle.
* * *
Alex had been sitting at the window when he heard gunfire, but gunfire was nothing unusual in Timberland. At first he ignored it, and then he wondered what he could do—or should do—to stop the violence that was consuming the town. Mayor Tipton and the council had been asking him to accept the job of sheriff. He picked up his rifle, checked his revolver, and then headed for the mayor’s residence.
The mayor met him at the door and guessed the reason for his visit.
“I heard the gunshots, too,” Mayor Tipton said, “and we need a sheriff to bring law and order. I have the sheriff’s badge ready. Raise your right hand and I’ll pin it on you. . . . “
Alex raised his partially paralyzed arm and took the pledge while the mayor pinned the sheriff’s badge on him. Alex was walking to the Trail’s end when Lila grabbed his arm.
“They shot Marl!” she screamed.
Alex didn’t even have to ask who the shooters were.
* * *
Frank didn’t know that Marl had signed the Trail’s End over to Cindy, so he thought that with Marl out of the way, Marian would be a wealthy woman. Eva had taken up with Kyle, so Frank needed Marian for her money.
* * *
A crowd was gathered around Marl as Alex walked in. Cindy was holding Marl’s head in her lap, crying.
“Has anybody called Doc?” Alex asked as he rushed to Cindy’s side.
“Don’t cry, Cindy,” he heard Marl say. “I was angry and disappointed, but it isn’t your fault. You’re not responsible for my being shot, so don’t blame yourself. Promise me, though, that you’ll ask Alex to forgive you, and this time honor him as he deserves. he loves you in spite of what he said.” Marl was having difficulty breathing, but he managed to say, “I want to tell Marian good-bye. Will someone bring her here?”
Lila dashed away again, this time to get Marian. The big house on the hill was two blocks away, and Lila was out of breath. When Lila got to the house, Marian had gotten out of the bed she had shared with Frank. Marian said she wanted to bathe and dress before going to the saloon.
“You don’t have time!” Lila said. “Your husband is dying.”
Marian was in a quandary, but the thought of losing Marl was utmost in her mind as she rushed to his side.
“Marl, I’m here,” she cried as she knelt beside him and held his hand. “Please don’t die!”
“I’ve always loved you, Marian,” Marl said, “and I understand why you took Frank to your bed. I forgive you. I hope you’ll help our daughter—she needs you.” Then he turned to Alex and grabbed his sleeve to pull him close. “Alex, I leave them in your hands; they both need you.�
�� The light in Marl’s eyes slowly faded, and he was gone.
“Aren’t you going after his killers?” someone asked.
“No, I’ll deal with them another time,” Alex replied. “Right now, I’ll help Cindy and Marian tend to Marl.”
With his eyes ablaze, Alex stood up and faced the people in the saloon.
“I’ve accepted the job of sheriff, and from this moment forward it’s against the law to fire a gun within the city limits. Anyone who fires one will answer to me.”
* * *
Alex’s reputation was all it took to bring civility to Timberland. he was called upon to settle arguments from time to time or arrest a drunk for firing a weapon. He put the drunks in jail and gave their guns back when they sobered up. The businessmen liked Alex, and the women loved him.
Legend of the Lost Page 22
