Big Jim 8
Page 13
The change in Jonah Welsh intrigued Jim. Circle W’s boss needed a shave, and his clothes could have stood brushing. He seemed untidier than ever—and blissfully content. Slumped beside Jim’s bed, puffing happily on one of his well-blackened briars, he confided, “It’s easy to get along without a woman like Marcia. I’ll allow she sure was a looker—purtiest female I’ll ever see—but there were other things, things I don’t have to live with any more, things I’m glad to be rid of. I’m kind of sloppy, Mr. Rand. Always have been. Always will be. Ain’t braggin’ of it, but ain’t apologizin’ either. After a day’s work, I crave to loosen my belt and set around the house without my boots. If company calls and I need a shave, it’s just too damn bad. I am what I am, and people got to take me as they find me.”
“I’d say that’s fair enough,” grinned Jim.
“She tried to change all that,” sighed Jonah. “Did I say ‘tried’? She did change me—consarn her. Had me drinkin’ tea out of a doggone china cup, ’stead of coffee out of a tin mug. Made me shave every damn-blasted day of the week—even if company wasn’t comin’! A tailor comin’ all the way from Amarillo to measure me for special-made duds, ’stead of me buyin’ what I need at Foley’s Emporium. And you should’ve seen how she took on if I lit my pipe in the parlor! I haven’t lost anything that I can’t do without, believe me, and I’ve gotten back somethin’ I was missin’ my freedom.” He nodded emphatically and, in his own homespun jargon, voiced a great truth. “A wife is no wife at all, if she tries to make a man into somethin’ he can never be, or plots against him, naggin’ him, playin’ around with another man. Hell, Mr. Rand, there ain’t nothin’ as important as loyalty—and Marcia never savvied the meanin’ of that word. A selfish woman she was. Selfishness was her sickness. Sooner or later, she’s gonna die of it.”
Jim had two visits from members of the opposite sex. The first was Alice McDaniels. She offered him her warm personal thanks for his solving the mystery that had threatened to haunt her for the rest of her days. Financially, her future was now secure; the insurance company would honor its obligations on the policy of her late husband.
His second female visitor was the poised, fashionably garbed Nadine Searle. Her brief speech was a masterpiece of affection and tact.
“I saw you bringing them in—the L Bar outfit—all that was left of them. The blood on your shirt had me worried. You didn’t look quite as tough as when you first rode into Ortega, and I was afraid you might die. I didn’t smile again until doc assured me you’d recover. Tall men have always been my weakness, Jim, but don’t worry—I’m no clinger. When you quit this town, I’ll wave you adios and you won’t see a tear in my eye.”
Jim chose to leave town quietly. It was early on a Tuesday morning when, leading Benito’s burro by its rein, he rode to the law office hitch rack and dismounted, to enter the office and announce that he was here to collect his shadow. The only lawman in attendance was the sheriff himself, and Jim was just as glad. He had said his goodbyes to the handsome deputy who so resembled the late Lieutenant Rand. Better to leave it at that. If he lingered, becoming even more concerned with Lon’s future, valuable time might be lost.
He now had a lead on Jenner. It had come up accidentally during one of Kurt Richter’s visits. After examining the picture of Chris’ murderer, the blacksmith had declared:
“I wouldn’t swear it under oath, but this galoot looks like a tinhorn that passed through Ortega a few weeks back. His horse had a loose shoe, so he stopped by my place. He asked about the fastest route north. Now that might’ve been a trick to throw you off his trail, Jim. But you can’t be sure, can you? He just might’ve headed north.”
Fiske was more than glad to see Jim. Even while the big man was crossing the threshold, the sheriff was unhitching his key ring, opening the cell block door.
“Are you headed right out of the valley?” demanded Fiske.
“I surely am,” nodded Jim.
“Then take this runt with you,” begged Fiske. “Please take him with you before he steals the bars out of the cell doors and the flagstones off the floor!”
And so, less than three weeks after they had ridden into the Ortega Valley, the big gringo and the sawn-off Mex quietly departed. The big man kept his eyes to the north. In the next town, would he find the murderer of his brother?
Only Fate knew the answer to that question.
BIG JIM 8: DEVIL’S LEGEND
By Marshall Grover
First Published by The Cleveland Publishing Pty Ltd
Copyright © Cleveland Publishing Co. Pty Ltd, New South Wales, Australia
First Smashwords Edition: January 2018
Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book
Series Editor: Mike Stotter
Text © Piccadilly Publishing
Published by Arrangement with The Cleveland Publishing Pty Ltd.
About the Author
Leonard Frank Meares (February 13, 1921 - February 4, 1993)
Sydney born Len Meares aka Marshall Grover, published around 750 novels, mostly westerns. His best-known works feature Texas trouble-shooters Larry and Stretch. Before starting to write, Meares served in the Royal Australian Air Force, worked in the Department of Immigration and sold shoes. In the mid-1950s he bought a typewriter to write radio and film scripts. Inspired by the success of local paperback westerns, he wrote Trouble Town, which was published by the Cleveland Publishing Company in 1955.
His tenth yarn, Drift! (1956), introduced Larry Valentine and Stretch Emerson. In 1960, he created a brief but memorable series of westerns set in and around the town of Bleak Creek. Four years later came The Night McLennan Died, the first of more than 70 westerns (sometimes called oaters) to feature cavalryman-turned-manhunter Big Jim Rand.
More on Marshall Grover
The Big Jim Series by Marshall Grover
The Night McLennan Died
Meet Me in Moredo
Gun Trapped
Gun Sinister
One Man Jury
Killer’s Noon
No Escape Trail
Devil’s Legend
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