“And why not, Sally?”
“A large posse would be too easy to spot, and it would move too slow. I think just five or six men should be enough.” She glanced around at Louis, who smiled and nodded his head. “I think Cal and Pearlie, Louis and you, and of course me will be more than enough.”
“But Sally,” Monte argued. “We don’t even know how many men we’ll be going up against nor which way they went.”
She smiled. “Monte, outside of Smoke himself, you four men are the best men I know to have on my side in a fight. No matter what the odds are, I think the five of us will be able to handle it, and from what I hear, Pearlie can track a mouse in a blizzard. We should be all right.”
Monte nodded, his lips tight. “I hope you’re right, Sally.”
EIGHTEEN
The next morning, with their saddlebags packed for a long trip, Sally and Cal and Pearlie rode back into Big Rock. As they were passing the general store, Peg Jackson stepped out on the boardwalk in front and waved to Sally.
“Sally, can I talk to you for a minute?” she called.
“Why don’t you boys go on over to Longmont’s while I have a few words with Mrs. Jackson?” she said.
Cal and Pearlie tipped their hats to Peg and rode off down the street. Sally climbed down off her horse, tied it to the hitching rail, and then turned to Peg.
“Yes, Peg?”
“I was just wondering if you’d seen Sarah Johnson in the last couple of days,” Peg said.
Sally thought back. “Why, no. In fact the last time I saw her was the last time I was in your store.”
“That’s strange,” Peg said, looking worried. “I really don’t believe she has any other friends in town she might be staying with.”
“What do you mean?” Sally asked. “Is she missing?”
“Oh, I don’t know as I’d go that far,” Peg answered. “It’s just that she hasn’t been to work for the past couple of days, and she didn’t tell me she wasn’t going to come in.”
Sally shrugged. “Maybe she quit, or got a better job.”
“I don’t think so,” Peg said. “I still owe her for three days’ work. If she was quitting, don’t you think she’d come by for her money?”
“Yes, I do,” Sally said. “Have you checked with her landlady?”
“No, not yet,” Peg said. “I just assumed she was sick or under the weather or something.”
“Well, she’s been staying at Mamma Rogers’ place. I can go by there on my way to Longmont’s,” Sally said. “I’ll just stick my head in and see if she’s all right.”
“Oh, thank you, Sally. That would put my mind at ease,” Peg said. “After all, she’s such a nice young woman.”
Mamma Rogers opened the door and smiled at Sally. “Oh, howdy, Sally,” she said. “Come on in.”
As Sally entered the parlor, she asked, “Melissa, is Sarah Johnson in her room? I’d like to talk to her.”
Rogers frowned. “Funny you should mention that,” she said. “I think she moved out.”
“Why is that?” Sally asked.
“Well, I didn’t see or hear her for a couple of days, so I peeked into her room. The bed hadn’t been slept in and all of her clothes were gone.”
“Did she leave owing you rent?”
“Oh, no. Matter of fact, she’s paid up through next week. It is kind’a funny, though, that she didn’t ask for a refund if she was leaving for good.”
Sally began to get an itch at the back of her neck that told her something was wrong. She remembered the smaller set of tracks they’d found along with Smoke’s “Did Sarah have any callers while she was here?” she asked.
Rogers frowned. “Well, you know I don’t allow gentlemen visitors to my women boarders, but a couple of times two men did stop by and leave messages for her.”
“Citizens of Big Rock?”
Rogers shook her head. “No, they were strangers. Far as I know, they were staying over at the hotel on Main Street.”
“Strangers, huh?” Sally asked.
“Yeah, and come to think of it, I haven’t see the two of them the past few days either.”
“Maybe I’ll just stop by the hotel and see what’s going on,” Sally said.
The desk clerk smiled at Sally as he flipped through the pages of his register book. “Oh, here it is, Missus Jensen. Their names were Carl Jacoby and Daniel Macklin. Macklin’s been here a few months. Jacoby arrived not too long ago.”
“Could I see that book, Mort?” she asked.
“Certainly,” he said, turning it around so she could read the names.
