All the men agreed to go.
Should be interesting, Smoke thought. For he planned to take Preacher Morrow into Louis’s place. Not that Smoke thought the man would see anything he hadn’t already seen…several times before, in his past.
11
Ralph Morrow was the first one back to where Smoke stood beside Drifter. “Where is your wife, Preacher?”
The man cut his eyes at Smoke. Smoke could see the faded scars above the man’s eyes.
A boxer, Smoke thought. He’s fought many times in the ring.
“Walking along the creek over there,” he said, pointing. “I suppose she’s safe. From hostiles,” he added, a touch of bitterness in his voice.
“I’d think so. This close to town. Preacher? Anytime you want to talk, I’m available.”
The man looked away, stubbornness setting his chin.
Smoke said no more. The others soon joined them and they made their way into Fontana. The newspaper man carried a note pad and had a breastpocket full of pencils. Smoke stabled Drifter with Billy and smiled at the boy. Billy was dressed in new britches and shirt, boots on his feet. “Give him some corn, Billy.”
“Yes, sir. I heard that was some show last night over to Longmont’s place.”
Smoke nodded. “He was a tad slow.”
Billy grinned and led Drifter into his stall, the big outlaw stallion allowing the boy to lead him docilely.
“What a magnificent animal,” Colton remarked, looking at Drifter.
“Killed the last man who owned him,” Smoke said.
The doctor muttered something under his breath that Smoke could not quite make out. But he had a pretty good idea what it was. He grinned.
The town was jammed with people, bursting at its newly sewn seams. American flags were hung and draped all over the place. Notices that Tilden Franklin was going to speak were stuck up, it seemed, almost everywhere one looked.
“Your fine man is going to make a speech, Jackson,” Smoke said to the shopkeeper, keeping his face bland. “You sure won’t want to miss that.”
“I shall make every attempt to attend that event,” Ed announced, a bit stiffly.
Several of the miners who had been in Louis’s place when Tay was shot walked past Smoke, greeting him with a smile. Smoke acknowledged the greetings.
“You seem to have made yourself well known in a short time, Smoke,” Hunt said.
“I imagine them that spoke was some that made money betting on the outcome of the shooting,” the lawyer was informed.
“Barbaric!”
“Not much else to do out here, Lawyer. Besides, you should see the crowds that gather for a hanging. Folks will come from fifty miles out for that. Bring picnic lunches and make a real pleasurable day out of it.”
The lawyer refused to respond to that. He simply shook his head and looked away.
The town was growing by the hour. Where once no more than fifty people lived, there now roamed some five thousand. Tents of all sizes and descriptions were going up every few minutes.
Smoke looked at Ed Jackson. “I’m not trying to pry into your business, Shopkeeper, so don’t take it that way. But do you have any spare money for workmen?”
“I might. Why do you ask?”
“You could get your store up and running in a few days if you were to hire some people to help you. A lot of those men out there would do for a grubstake.”
“A what?”
“A grubstake. You give them equipment and food, and they’ll help you put up your building and offer you a percentage of what they take out of the ground. I’d think about it—all of you.”
“I thought you didn’t care for me, Mister Jensen,” the shopkeeper said.
“I don’t, very much. But maybe it’s just because we got off on the wrong foot. I’m willing to start over.”
Ed did not reply. He pursed his perch-mouthed lips in silence. “I thank you for your suggestion,” he said, a moment later. “I shall…give you a discount on your first purchases in my store for it.”
“Why, thank you very much,” Smoke replied, a smile on his lips. “That’s right generous of you, Ed.”
“Yes,” Ed said smugly. “It is, isn’t it?”
The other men turned their heads to hide their smiles.
“How do I go about doing that?” Ed questioned.
“Just ask somebody,” Smoke told him. “Find a man who is afoot rather than riding. Find one carrying everything on his back or pushing a cart. You’ll probably get some refusals, but eventually you’ll find your people.”
Ed, Colton, Hunt, and Haywood walked off into the pushing, shoving hubbub of humanity, leaving Smoke and Preacher Morrow standing alone.
“You have no spare money, Preacher?” Smoke asked.
Ralph’s smile was genuine. “Find me one who does have spare money. But that isn’t it. I want to build as much
