lost their husband the way she lost Emil.”
“What happened?”
“Emil worked with dynamite. Evidently, there was a bad fuse or something, because the instant he held a match to it, the stick blew. That set off all the other sticks, and Emil was killed.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Yeah. But like I said, she has really been strong. Her strength is to be expected, though, since she comes from a good family. Her father owns a plantation in Mississippi, and was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. Her husband, Emil, was a good man who met her when he came down to Mississippi after the war. He was a Yankee civil engineer, so her father didn’t approve, but she defied her father, married Emil for love, and came out here with him when he took a job with Peabody Mining Company.”
“Is she doing all right with the boardinghouse?”
“It’s not just the boardinghouse, you know,” John said. “She also owns the Coffee Cup Restaurant, and the Fullerton Ladies Emporium. That’s how she wound up as president of the Fullerton Business Association. And Kenny, the boy that works for me? He’s a regular entrepreneur. In addition to delivering papers for me, he mows lawns in the summer, shovels snow in the winter, cuts and delivers firewood, and helps Jimmy out at the livery stable. Yes, sir, that boy is going to be a wealthy man someday.”
In the New York Saloon, Lucas Meacham sat at his usual table in the back of the room, listening to the patrons who had witnessed the shooting yesterday regale those who hadn’t seen it, with the story, told and retold, until eventually it became so embellished as to bear little resemblance with the facts.
Unexplained was how Butrum could have shouted such a challenge while clutching a knife in his teeth.
“
Meacham shook his head in disgust as he saw Matt Jensen being promoted to the status of hero right in front of him. At least the story, as reported in the Extra edition the Perkins kid had brought to the saloon earlier, more closely adhered to what actually happened.
Looking up from the story, he saw Logan, Caleb, and Ben coming into the saloon. The only reason he knew their names was because he heard them spoken last night. He’d also learned last night that these three men worked for Denbigh.
Seeing them gave him an idea, and getting up from his table, he walked up to the bar.
“Gentlemen, if you would join me at my table, I’ll pay for your drinks,” Meacham said.
“You’ll buy the drinks?” Logan said. “Hell, yeah, we’ll join you.”
Paul poured whiskey for the three men and Meacham paid for them. The four men returned to Meacham’s table.
“I don’t like to look a gift horse in the mouth, mister, but why did you buy us drinks?”
“You three men ride for Denbigh, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Caleb said. “Only, he don’t like to be called that. He likes to be called Lord Denbigh.”
“Why do you ask?” Ben wanted to know.
“Have you been back out to the ranch since last night? What I’m asking is, have you told him about Butrum?”
The three looked at each other. Then Logan spoke for them. “No, we ain’t told him yet,” Logan said. “It ain’t nothin’ we’re lookin’ forward to doin’, so we was kind of hopin’ he’d find out about it on his own.”
“Suppose I tell him for you,” Meacham suggested.
“What? Why would you want to do that?”
“I have my reasons,” Meacham answered.
Logan smiled broadly and looked at the other two riders. Then he reached his hand across the table to shake with Meacham.
“Mister,” he said. “We’d be pleased to let you tell Lord Denbigh about Butrum gettin’ hisself killed last night.”
Meacham had not been specific with the three riders as to why he wanted to be the one to tell about Butrum. But he believed it was possible that Butrum getting killed may have just elevated his own position with Denbigh. It was time that he rode out to have another visit with the man.
Chapter Twenty-three
As Lucas Meacham approached the tollgate, he thought about telling them that, like them, he was working for Denbigh. If he didn’t tell them, they would charge him a dollar every time he rode through, and that could get expensive.
Meacham smiled at the thought. What did he care how much it cost him, as long as he got every dollar back? And then he had an idea. What if he claimed more trips through the gate than he actually made?
No. That wasn’t such a good idea. If Denbigh found out what he was doing, it could mess up the entire thing. He was going to make enough money just by killing Matt Jensen. But if he hadn’t known before, he knew now that killing Matt Jensen wasn’t going to be easy.
Bleeker came out to meet Meacham as he approached the gate.
“Well, now, seems to me like you just come through here yesterday. What’s the matter, you don’t like Fullerton?”
