civilization as brother fought brother, till his time as a peacekeeper, both in Arizona and there in Colorado. The Reverend Owen told about the marshal’s two brothers, Travis and Troy, who had come to Higbee to join him and to begin a restaurant.
Finally, when it began to grow apparent that the mourners would rather brave the rain than listen to the preacher talk any longer, he brought the service to a close and indicated by a nod of his head that the pallbearers could now close the coffin and carry the body to the waiting hearse.
It was a measure of the respect that the citizens of the town had for Titus Calhoun that all braved the rain, standing under umbrellas as the coffin was lowered into a grave that was quickly filling with muddy water. After the funeral, many of the mourners gathered in the home of Troy Calhoun, where Troy and his wife had prepared cake, pie, and coffee.
At the gathering, Mayor Coburn; Carl Moore, proprietor of the general store; Harold Denham; Prentiss and Corey Hampton; as well as Travis and Troy Calhoun, all approached Falcon.
“We’ve been talking it over,” Mayor Coburn said. “Falcon, we would like for you to become our new marshal.”
Falcon’s first reaction was to refuse the offer so vehemently that it wouldn’t be repeated, but he knew that they were serious about it, and he knew also that the offer was actually one of honor and respect. He did not want to accept the job, but neither did he want to refuse it in a way that would be discourteous.
“I appreciate the offer,” Falcon said. “But the truth is, if I accept the position, I would be bound by law to acting only within the city limits of Higbee. As it is now, working for General Garrison, I have a much wider range of authority.”
“I don’t understand,” Mayor Coburn said. “What authority could you possibly have working for Wade Garrison?”
“I can explain that,” Garrison said, stepping into the conversation.
“Please do.”
“Although not one mile of track has yet been laid, the Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas Railroad has been granted a charter. And because we are a chartered railroad, I am authorized to hire a railroad detective. By the state laws of Colorado and Texas, as well as federal and territorial laws which cover New Mexico and cross state lines, Falcon MacCallister is granted police enforcement authority. Gentlemen, by accepting an appointment as city marshal, you are limiting his jurisdiction to an area of about two square miles. But as a railroad detective, he has jurisdiction over fifteen hundred square miles.”
“You mean he has jurisdiction over Sheriff Belmond?” Troy asked.
Garrison shook his head. “No, not over Belmond, but he has concurrent authority with Belmond on anything that pertains to the railroad.”
Mayor Coburn laughed. “Why, that’s wonderful,” he said. “Mr. MacCallister, no disrespect meant, but the offer to be marshal of Higbee is hereby withdrawn.”
“What do we do now?” Moore asked.
“I have a suggestion,” Falcon said. “That is, if you are open to it.”
“Yes, we’re open to anything,” Mayor Coburn replied.
Falcon looked up at Travis and Troy. “Both Travis and Troy have been acting as deputies,” he said. “I would suggest that you hire one of them as the new marshal.”
“Oh, no,” Lucy Calhoun said, stepping up beside her husband. “We have two children. I don’t want to take a chance of what happened to Titus happening to Troy.”
“Darlin’, there’s always been that chance,” Troy replied. “Even when I was deputying for Titus.”
“It’s not the same,” Lucy insisted.
Troy shrugged his shoulders and looked at the mayor. “Sorry,” he said. “But I guess that lets me out.”
“I’ll do it,” Travis offered. He looked at Troy. “But that will put more work at the restaurant onto you.”
“I’ll help at the restaurant,” Lucy said.
“I think you’d make a fine marshal, Travis,” Troy said.
“Gentlemen, we have a new marshal,” Mayor Coburn announced.
Chapter Nineteen
Rose Simpson’s breasts were large and sagging. The sagging wasn’t so bad, but what disturbed the symmetry was the fact that her left breast had only half a nipple, the other half having been carved off by a drunken sailor when Rose lived and worked in San Francisco.
Sitting up, she reached for a bottle of whiskey and poured a generous amount into a glass. She handed the glass to Ray Clinton, who was lying in bed alongside her. Like Rose, Ray was naked, but from the waist down Ray was covered with a sheet.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Rose said as she poured a second glass for herself.
“You ain’t as pretty as any of them whores Maggie has, but you’re a heap more friendly.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Rose said as she took a drink.
“Yeah, I mean, Maggie won’t even let Cletus or me near any of her whores.” Ray chuckled. “The only one she’ll let be with her whores is Billy, which don’t make no sense ’cause he don’t want nothin’ to do with any of ’em.”
“I don’t know Billy,” Rose said. “He never comes into the Hog Waller.”
