“I killed him,” Clark said.
“Stillwater’s the one that started it. He come in here a’ blazin’ away,” one of the other men said.
Dodd walked over to the shattered window to look out at the body. Stillwater’s eyes were open and opaque, his mouth was set in a sneer.
“You carry a shotgun, do you?” Dodd asked.
Clark shook his head. “Not normally. But I just happened to have one handy when I needed it.” he said.
Suddenly, and inexplicably, Dodd laughed out loud. “You just had one handy, did you?”
“Yeah.”
“Stillwater needed killin', Frank,” Conklin said. “Hell, the way that dumb sumbitch was blastin’ away, he could of kilt any of us.”
“That’s the truth,” one of the others said.
Dodd stroked his chin and nodded as he stood there, looking down at Stillwater’s body.
“The only thing is, that makes four good men I’ve lost in the last week,” Dodd said.
Suddenly, Emmett Clark saw this as his opportunity to join Dodd’s gang.
“You lost four men,” Clark said. “But you didn’t lose four good men. Not if Stillwater was any indication.”
“I suppose you think you are better than they were?” Dodd asked, showing a little irritation as Clark’s comment.
“Hell, yes, I’m better,” Clark said. “I’m better than all four of them combined. ”
“What do you think, Conklin?” Dodd said. “Sounds to me like this boy is applyin’ for a job.”
“Sounds like that to me too,” Conklin said.
“What about it, boy? You want to ride with me?”
“Yeah, I do,” Clark said. “If truth be told, that’s why I came here in the first place.”
“What do you say, Conklin? Is he as good as Stillwater was?”
“Look at it this way, Frank. Stillwater and this boy had a face-to-face showdown, and the boy won.”
“All right, boy, you can ride with us,” Dodd said.
Clark held up his hand. “Not so fast.”
“What do you mean, not so fast? I thought you wanted to ride with me.
“I do, but not if you are going to keep calling me boy,” Clark said.
Dodd laughed out loud. “So, you don’t want to be called boy, do you?”
“My name is Clark. Emmett Clark.”
Dodd nodded, and laughed again. “All right, Mr. Emmett Clark, I reckon anyone who can come out on top of a fight with Stillwater has earned the right to be called by his name.”
“In that case, Mr. Dodd, I’d be just real happy to ride with you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Back in Clovedale, Smoke decided to take a walking tour of the town, figuring that if he was going to break Bobby Lee out of jail, it would be to his advantage to have a feel of the place. Fremont Street was the main street of town, running north and south on the east side of and parallel to the railroad. West of the railroad, and running parallel to it, was the Reese River, a rocky stream that was so narrow and shallow that no bridge was required for a horse or wagon, and only a couple of boards were in place for foot traffic. The river was bordered on both sides by aspen and cottonwood trees. First Street crossed Fremont, the railroad, and the Reese River at a right angle, just south of the depot between the train station and the roundhouse. The railroad divided First Street into West First and East First. The houses and business establishments along West First were all Chinese.
Second Street was also divided into West and East Second, and West Second Street was primarily Mexican. Americans made up the entire population east of the railroad, along Fremont, as well as up and down East First and East Second Streets.
An alley that ran behind all the businesses separated Fremont Street from Vaughan Lane which ran behind, and parallel to Freemont. There were no businesses on Vaughan Lane, just private residences.
Smoke walked up Fremont from First to Second Streets, then east on Second Street to the alley. He came back down the alley to First Street, then went back up Vaughan Lane to Second Street again. Looking east beyond Vaughan Lane, he saw a long snaking ravine that ran toward the Toiyabe Mountain Range.
Although there were ranches around Cloverdale, the most important industry to the town were the nearby mines. To that end, there were several business in town that provided material and equipment for mining. Smoke went into one of the mining stores to make a purchase. Leaving with his acquisition securely wrapped in paper, he returned to the Depot Hotel, then took it upstairs to his room.
“I see that you have taken advantage of some of our stores and shops,” the hotel clerk said when he saw Smoke going up the stairs carrying his package.
“Yes, I found a bargain,” Smoke called back. He wondered what the clerk would think if he knew what was really in the package.
When Smoke stepped into the jail a few minutes later he saw Sheriff Wallace sitting at his desk while one of his deputies was over by the stove, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
