by Duane Boehm
“Oh, no. What is it? Tell me or I’ll wonder about it all night,” Gideon said.
“I’ve known children that weren’t as worrisome as you. Some more cattle were rustled last week. You can’t do anything about it now. They’re long gone. Eat your steak and go home to Abby. You can worry about things tomorrow,” Mary said.
“Thank God we’re back. I don’t know how Finnie and I would have survived another day without a woman’s guidance. By the way, this steak is delicious. You’ll probably own the hotel and all the shops in Last Stand before it’s all said and done,” Gideon said.
Ignoring the jests, Mary asked, “Did you get your men?”
Finnie swallowed his bite of food first and spoke. “We did. We had to chase them through hell, but we got them. All nice and proper too,” he said.
“That’s good to know. The good doctor had faith that justice would be served as promised. I’m sure Betsy’s parents will be grateful,” she said.
“Zack has got a big mouth,” Gideon said before taking another bite.
“I guess since I already told you about the rustling, I might as well let you know that the town is all riled up about the bank robbery. Anybody with enough money to have a bank account is worried that they’ve lost all their savings. Some of them are blaming you for Betsy’s death too,” Mary said.
“I blame me too. I just don’t think Betsy had a chance no matter what I would have done. We recovered the money. I guess we got all of it,” Gideon said.
“That should help calm things down,” Mary said.
“How are the banker’s wife and Betsy’s parents doing?” Gideon asked.
“Mrs. Fredrick is beside herself. Some of the women in town are taking turns staying with her. The town took up a collection and I heard that the bank gave her some money. Betsy’s parents are keeping to themselves. I know that Ethan has been visiting them,” Mary answered.
“They both were good people and died way too young,” Gideon said.
After finishing the meal, Gideon said goodbye and walked towards Buck. Even in the poor street light, he could see the animal’s ribs and that he looked worn down. His horse would need some time to recover.
“One more ride,” Gideon said to the horse as he mounted.
Even though he was anxious to get home, Gideon kept the horse in a walk all the way there.
“Abigail Johann, your man is home,” Gideon bellowed from the yard.
A moment later, the door opened. Abby with Winnie by her side, bolted outdoors.
“Gideon, we’ve been so worried about you. I’ve barely slept this last week. I feared I’d never see you again or know what happened to you,” Abby said.
“We had a time of it. You best stay back. Mary and Charlotte informed us in no uncertain terms how bad we smelled. I guess we should have stopped and bathed in the river, but we just wanted to get home,” Gideon said.
“Well, come on in then and I’ll start heating water. You’ll feel better after a good bath anyways. We can get caught up while you wash,” Abby said.
Gideon dragged the tub they used for bathing out while Abby began heating water. She sent Winnie to go play in her room when the water was ready. Gideon shed his clothes and threw them out onto the porch before climbing into the tub.
“Oh, this feels so good. Would you please fix me a pipe? I probably need to soak the grime loose anyhow,” Gideon said.
Abby made up the pipe and handed it to him. She struck a match and held it above the tobacco as Gideon puffed. Once lit, she retrieved a chair and sat down beside him.
“Well, Grandpa Johann, you have a granddaughter,” Abby said.
Gideon let out a war whoop. “That’s what I wanted. I just wish I had been here. How are they doing?” he asked, priding himself in the acting job that he had just pulled off. He made a mental note to himself to inform Mary of his thespian skills.
“They’re doing well. Zack had to get a goat because Tess wasn’t getting enough to eat, but nature has solved all that and she’s putting on weight now,” Abby said.
“Tess, huh? I like the name. We’ll have to ride over to see them in the morning,” he said.
“She’s a little doll baby,” she gushed.
“How’s Chance?” he asked.
“Good. He’s missed you. I thought I was never going to get him down tonight. He kept saying Daddy,” Abby said.
Grinning, Gideon said, “That’s my boy.”
“Gideon, I want another baby,” Abby said.
“We could try here in a little while,” Gideon said optimistically.
“I’m not sure I want one that badly. You may need two baths before I let you touch me,” Abby teased. “I missed you so much. You can’t be gone that long again.”
Chapter 14
Gideon rode to town from Joann’s cabin in a state of jubilation. He had ridden Abby’s horse over to see his new granddaughter and Abby had followed on the buckboard with the children. Holding Tess for the first time might not have been as monumental as embracing Chance on the day he’d been born, but it made for a close second. Visions of someday taking Tess and Chance fishing were already filling his head and the title of grandpa didn’t seem nearly as distasteful as it had in the past.
Walking into the jail, Gideon found Finnie sitting with a man dressed in a suit. The sheriff didn’t have to be told that he was about to be introduced to someone from the bank. Gideon could practically smell money.
Rising to his feet, the man offered his hand. “Sheriff, I’m Eldon Hopkins. I’ve been sent from Denver to manage the bank,” he said.
“Welcome to Last Stand, Mr. Hopkins. How can I help you?” Gideon asked.
“I heard this morning that you had returned and I wanted to let you know that after auditing the books, I have determined the bank was robbed of twenty thousand dollars. Obviously, I have a lot of nervous customers that are concerned about their money,” Eldon said.
Studying the banker, Gideon tried to decide if he was going to like the man. Mr. Hopkins appeared too formal and stiff for Last Stand. Mr. Fredrick had been the perfect banker for the town and would be sorely missed. Gideon doubted the same sentiment would be felt for the new man.
“We recovered a lot of loot. I’ll have to find out how much money they stole from the train before I know if it is all here,” Gideon said.
“I see. That’s good to know. I think you should know that the board back in Denver is considering shutting down this bank. They have serious concerns over your ability to protect the bank and its customer’s wealth,” Mr. Hopkins said.
“Well, there’s not much I can do about your board. I lost two people that I liked and admired during this robbery. That’s my main concern. If you pull up stakes, there’ll be somebody else that comes in and starts a new bank. Tell your board that it’ll be their loss,” Gideon said and walked around Mr. Hopkins to his desk and sat down in his chair.
Mr. Hopkins stood facing the door with his back to the lawmen. He paused for a moment before striding out the door.
“You look considerably better,” Gideon said to Finnie.
“You too. I feel like a new man,” Finnie said as he rubbed his hand over his smoothly shaved cheeks. “A real bed can do wonders even if Mary’s belly takes up most of the room.”
“That could get you killed,” Gideon warned.
“Not if she doesn’t know. By the way, I already sent a telegram to try to get confirmation on the railroad’s loss,” Finnie said.
“Well, look at you. You’ll probably run against me in the next election. I’m apparently not too popular right now anyways,” Gideon said.
“Everybody will get over it when they get their money back,” Finnie said.
“I suppose. I’m more worried about how I feel about it. Do you think I should have done things differently?” Gideon asked.
“Gideon, how many times did we already go over this on the trail? I think the only thing that would’ve turned out differently was that we wouldn’t have
had to chase them halfway across the west,” Finnie said.
“And Betsy wouldn’t have been raped,” Gideon said as he tossed his hat onto the desk.
“True, but you tried your best to keep her alive,” Finnie said.
Mayor Hiram Howard walked into the jail and sat down beside Finnie. “Gideon, the town is riled up. People are questioning whether you’re fit for the job. Between the rustling and letting the robbers run off with the money, everybody is worked up,” Hiram said.
“Well, good morning to you too,” Gideon said. “I tried to keep Betsy alive. I failed, but I didn’t see much choice. I guess it doesn’t matter how much good I’ve done around here. People lose their money and they’re ready to turn on me. I got the money back. That’s all anybody gives a damn about anyways.”
“That’s good to hear. That should help quiet them down. I just wanted to let you know how things were. I realize you got stuck between a rock and a hard spot. You know I’ll always take up for you,” Hiram said.
“So you weren’t down on me?” Gideon asked.
“No, certainly not. I admit that I was considerably worried about my money, but I know that you always try your best,” Hiram answered. “I got to get back to the store.”
As the door closed behind the mayor, Finnie decided to try to change the subject and said, “Tell me about that grandbaby.”
Gideon leaned back in his chair and smiled sadly at Finnie. “You know, Finnie, I probably don’t show my appreciation enough, but you really are a good friend,” he said. “But to answer your question, that baby was just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Good. I can’t wait to see her,” Finnie said.
“I’m going to take a walk of the town. I might be gone awhile,” Gideon said as he arose from his chair.
As Gideon walked the street, he studied the reactions of the townsfolk to him. Some of the people seemed their normal self, but others avoided eye contact or barely spoke. On a normal day, he would be ready to get back to the office by the time he had finished talking to everyone on his walk, but not today.
Gideon headed down a side street to the home of the retired Sheriff Fuller. He found the old man sitting on his porch smoking a cigar. The former sheriff had once been a strapping man, but time had withered his muscles away. His eyes were still bright and his mind keen and Gideon had sought his counsel on more than one occasion.
“I bet I know what this is about,” Sheriff Fuller said. “Glad to see you made it home all in one piece.”
“Seems I’m not a very popular person around town,” Gideon said as he sat down beside the sheriff in the swing.
“It comes with the job. I’ve been there before. Being sheriff isn’t a popularity contest. It’s doing your best to uphold the law,” Sheriff Fuller said.
“But maybe I didn’t do my best. I don’t give a damn whether most people like me or not, but I hate making mistakes and having people think that I’m incompetent,” Gideon said.
“Gideon, I heard all about what happened. You made the choice that you thought was best. Maybe it was wrong, but it certainly wasn’t negligence. I think you were stuck in a difficult situation. You’re a sheriff – not God. Mistakes will be made. Just keep doing your best and the town will get over it,” Sheriff Fuller said.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you to talk to,” Gideon said.
“You’d figure things out for yourself just like you did all those years that you were running all around the country and gone from here,” Sheriff Fuller said.
Gideon grinned. “I’m not sure I did so well with that. I got to be getting back,” he said as he walked off the porch.
Finnie stood at the wall pinning up a new batch of wanted poster when Gideon walked into the jail. Having grown tired of rifling through the stack of papers every time he wanted to look at an outlaw, he had recently taken to putting them on the wall.
“The telegram came back and the railroad is claiming that they lost five thousand dollars in the holdup,” Finnie said as he looked over his shoulder at Gideon.
“That comes to twenty–five thousand dollars and we found a little over twenty–six. Interesting. I guess they robbed somewhere else that we don’t know about. We’ll give the extra money to the banker’s widow. That’s the least we can do for Mrs. Fredrick,” Gideon said.
“You think it’ll be okay?” Finnie asked.
“I do. She needs money a lot worse than Colorado does. I’ll pay my respects and give it to her,” Gideon said.
“All added up, I believe there’s two thousand dollars in reward money for Charlie Reilly and his gang,” Finnie announced.
“Really? That’s good to hear. Why don’t we split it with Zack and Blackie? That’ll help Blackie for the money he lost being out of work while he recovered,” Gideon said.
“Sounds fine to me. I guess I better take the money down to the bank,” Finnie said.
“I’ll go get you the key out of my saddlebag. Did Mary tell you who got their cattle stolen?” Gideon asked.
“Randall Jenkins,” Finnie answered.
“Thanks. I’ll ride out to his ranch and talk to him. I’m sure I’ll get the pleasure of dealing with one more discontented constituent,” Gideon said as he pulled his hat down farther onto his head.
Chapter 15
With supper eaten, Kurt Tanner excused himself from Ethan’s table. He thanked Sarah for the meal and said that he had to be on his way. After Kurt left, Abby began clearing the table of dishes, humming while she worked.
“Sarah, I don’t know why you think we have to have Kurt stay over for so many meals,” Ethan said.
Spinning around towards the table, Sarah said, “I didn’t realize that you cared. I was just trying to help your hired hand.”
“I know. I just think we’re over doing it,” Ethan said in a measured voice.
Sarah glared at her husband. Something about his tone of voice struck her as irritating. She wished he would just come out and say what he was driving at instead of beating around the bush. “Before Joann married Zack, we had him over for most every meal. I didn’t know there was a difference between our hired hands,” she said with her voice rising.
Benjamin looked at his parents and realized that they were about to have a big fight. They seldom quarreled, preferring to make their points with each other by teasing. He could see that wasn’t going to be the case this evening. Rising from his chair, he slunk back to his bedroom.
“Zack was different. He was practically family from the moment he showed up here with Gideon. And besides, Zack had a decent upbringing. We could see that he amounted to something,” Ethan said defensively.
“Why did you hire Kurt if you don’t like him?” Sarah demanded.
“He is a good ranch hand. It’s not like there are that many unemployed ones to pick from,” Ethan said, his voice growing loud in agitation.
Staring at Ethan, Sarah tried to understand what his concerns were. Ethan was one of the least judgmental people she had ever known. She had a hard time believing what she was hearing.
“I grant you that he doesn’t have the best manners or greatest speaking skills, but you’re a preacher. Where is your compassion? Don’t you think it’s our duty to try to better Kurt,” Sarah said angrily.
“Yes, it is. I didn’t say I wanted to fire him. I just don’t want him over for supper as often. You and Mary act like he is your project to make him into the next fine citizen of Last Stand,” Ethan said irritably.
“Is this because Gideon doesn’t care for him? Are you just following Gideon’s lead?” Sarah questioned.
“Goodness, no. Most of my adult life has been spent without Gideon around here. I think I learned how to make my own decisions without him just fine. I can’t believe you would say that,” Ethan said testily.
“Well, I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you either. What is it then?” Sarah demanded.
In a quiet voice, Ethan said, “I don’t like him b
eing around Benjamin that much. I always knew that Zack was a good role model, but with Kurt, I just don’t know. He might just be rough around the edges and I’m making too much of this and not practicing what I preach. But Benjamin is my main concern. I can minimize how much he is around Kurt while we’re working, but not at the table. In time, I may find that this was all nonsense. I just don’t know.”
Sarah sat down at the table across from Ethan. “Why didn’t you just come out and say that in the first place. I think you’re wrong and I’m not going to stop trying to help Kurt, but I can at least understand your concerns and respect them for the good of our son,” she said.
“I don’t know. I guess I took the long way to get there,” he said.
“God didn’t bring Eve to Adam for companionship. He did it so that Adam could have a brain,” Sarah said with a smile as she patted Ethan’s hand.
∞
Kurt Tanner rode back to his cabin after having supper with the Oakes family. He quickly changed into some clean clothes and then poured himself a glass of whiskey. Sitting down at the table, he nursed the drink to pass the time. His belly was full and he felt content. Sarah could cook better than anyone he had ever known and her meals were a treat. Thoughts about the meal made him reflect on Ethan. His boss hadn’t seemed himself during the meal and he wondered if Ethan might be unhappy with his work. Losing his job was the last thing he needed right now.
At sunset, Kurt decided that it was late enough to go to town and visit the Last Chance. He found the saloon packed with the usual Friday night crowd. Kurt sat down at a table with a couple of cowboys that never bothered to work fulltime for any of the ranchers, but instead took jobs when any of the ranches needed extra hands. Most of the other ranch hands considered them lazy and avoided their company, but Kurt didn’t mind. Delta brought him a beer and he sipped the brew while catching up on all the local news with the two men.
After finishing his beer, Kurt decided to go flirt with Mary at the bar. Even if she was pregnant, she still looked better than just about any other woman in Last Stand did and he liked her sassiness. He couldn’t fathom how such a catch had ended up with that little mouthy Irishman. The world just wasn’t fair in his view. A man had to look out for himself above all else and that’s what he planned to do with his life.
