Both Matt and John turned toward the front door of the newspaper office, where they saw Jimmy Smith, the young man who worked both in the saloon and at the corral.
“I know he has no beard. It’s a metaphor,” John said.
“I know what a metaphor is. Miss Grimes taught us. It’s like calling someone a snake, when he ain’t really a snake,” Jimmy said.
“Very good, Jimmy, very good,” John said. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to Mr. Jensen,” Jimmy said. “Only, it has to be a secret.”
“Does it have to do with the arrangement we have?” Matt asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s all right. You can talk in front of Mr. Bryce.”
“The fella you was askin’ about? The one sittin’ at the table last night?”
“Yes, what about him?”
“His name is Lucas Meacham,” Jimmy said.
“So that’s Lucas Meacham,” Matt said.
“You mean you know him?”
“I’ve heard of him,” Matt said. “I’ve heard nothing good about him, but I have heard of him. He is what they call a regulator, someone who hunts wanted men for the reward. He seems to have followed me here,” Matt said. “Though I have no idea why. There is no paper out on me.”
“Is this Meacham fellow going to be trouble?” John asked.
“Let’s just say that he might be the joker in the deck.”
Matt pulled a quarter from his pocket and handed it to Jimmy. “Thank you, Jimmy, that was good work.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jimmy replied, smiling happily as he pocketed the coin. “Oh, I know something else too,” he said.
“About Meacham?”
“No, sir, this ain’t nothin’ to do with what we was talkin’ about. This is about somethin’ else, some-thin’ Kenny Perkins told me.”
“What would that be?” Matt asked.
“Kenny’s ma is hopin’ you’ll go to the firemen’s ball come this Saturday.”
John laughed out loud.
“Are you?” Jimmy asked.
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” Matt replied.
“You didn’t tell Jimmy that, did you?” Lucy Perkins asked her son, her voice rising in exasperation.
Kenny had just returned home after delivering the extra edition of the
“Please don’t tell me that you told him that,” Lucy said.
“But Ma, you said that yourself. I heard you tellin’ Mrs. Bryce that you hoped Mr. Jensen would go to the firemen’s ball.”
“That was strictly between Millie and me,” Lucy said. “It was nobody else’s business, not your business, and certainly not Jimmy Smith’s business.”
“But Jimmy is my best friend,” Kenny said. “I tell him everything.”
“He may be your best friend, but he isn’t mine. You can tell him anything you want about yourself, but I don’t want you blabbing to him, or to anyone else, things about me.”
“I’m sorry, Ma,” Kenny said contritely.
Lucy sighed, then walked over, put her arms around her son, and pulled her to him.
“You are a good boy, Kenny,” she said. “I know it has been hard on you without your father. It’s been hard on me as well, but you have been such a big help to me. I don’t know if I could make it without you.”
“Are you going?” John asked. Jimmy had already left, and John and Matt were cleaning the press after the extra run.
Matt laughed. “You are as nosy as Jimmy.”
“Of course I’m nosy, I’m a newspaperman,” John said. “It is my profession to be nosy. What do you think of her?”
“You mean what do I think of
“Yeah, Millie and I had a good laugh thinking about that. No doubt when you heard her name was Ma Perkins, you were expecting some fat old lady.”
“I will admit I was surprised when she answered the door,” Matt said. “You are right, she is not someone I would think of as ‘Ma.’ She is an uncommonly handsome woman.”
“She is a very good woman too,” John said. “A lot of women would not have had the gumption to stay if they
