'It isn't? Well, then what is it like?'
'It's... it's a prison,' Longarm said, trying hard to think of something good to say about the Yuma prison. 'It's situated on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River. In the summer, the guards escort the prisoners down to the river a couple of times a week to bathe in the river. I've seen them splashing and laughing in that water.'
'Under the guns of prison guards?' Lucy challenged. 'I don't think so.'
'It's true. And yes, Yuma is probably the hardest prison in the territorial system, but it isn't hell on earth and the warden, whose name I've forgotten, is a fair and just man who treats the inmates well who behave themselves and follow the rules with respect.'
'Longarm, please help me stay out of there.'
'I will do everything I can.' Longarm took a deep breath. 'But Lucy,' he added, 'if I can't find any evidence that you were framed, I'm going to have to deliver you to that prison. It's my job and my duty. I won't turn my back on it.'
'I understood that from the very beginning,' she said quietly. 'I knew from the start that you wouldn't just set me free. You're too much the lawman.'
'Yeah,' he admitted, pushing his weary horse on down the steep mountain trail. 'I guess I am at that.'
CHAPTER 8
As they approached the old mining town of Prescott, Longarm could see the former governors' mansion, and he was reminded that this town had once been the capital of the Arizona Territory. Surrounded by mountain ranges and pine forests, Prescott was high, cool, dry in the summer, and not nearly as cold as Denver in the winter.
It was a good place, Longarm had often thought, for a man to retire. There was a large, shady plaza in the center of the main shopping district surrounded by businesses and saloons. Ranching and logging had replaced mining as the number-one provider of jobs. People seemed content to live here and, to Longarm's way of thinking, Prescott had just enough activity so that a man enjoying his later years would not stagnate or become bored with life. 'Where is your husband's ranch?' Longarm asked.
'Just a few miles north of town,' Lucy replied. 'Do you want to go there first?'
'No,' he said. 'I need to check in with the town marshal. You said that he didn't impress you. What's wrong with the man?'
'He never liked my husband,' Lucy replied. 'They were not even on speaking terms.'
'Any particular reason why?'
'In addition to Marshal Haggerty being abrasive and a bully, my husband always thought that he was corrupt. That he accepted money from saloons and such and protected them with his badge.'
'That's pretty common, I'm afraid,' Longarm said. 'I've seen it happen time and time again no matter how good the man. Money becomes tempting even to a lawman, Lucy.'
'Marshal Haggerty has money,' she said. 'More money than an honest small-town marshal can earn in a lifetime. I'm sure that he is being paid by the saloons in town to look the other way and to ignore complaints about cheating and prostitution.'
'Well,' Longarm said, 'we'll just see how our meeting goes. These locals do not appreciate a federal officer coming to their town and asking too many questions. They have a tendency to get very defensive.'
'Marshal Haggerty is going to be very upset with me,' Lucy warned. 'He'll want to arrest me, lock me up, and throw away the key.'
'I suspect that's true,' Longarm said, 'but you're my prisoner now and my authority is greater than his.'
'Don't tell him that. Haggerty is a very arrogant man. He'll listen to no one except those who financially support him.'
'What else do you know about him?' Longarm asked, not liking what he'd heard so far.
'Not much. When Don Luis and I came to town, the marshal would be swaggering about and he'd glare at us. He never said anything directly, but I could see envy in his eyes.'
'Envy?'
'That's right. Don Luis was a Spaniard and he was rich. He had a ranch and was friends with men in high places. That sort of thing drove Marshal Haggerty crazy. He knew that he could not intimidate my husband or browbeat him into handing over any money.'
'I see.
'Only once do I remember seeing Marshal Haggerty approaching my husband. I was in a millinery shop and could not hear their conversation, but it was clearly unpleasant. Haggerty became loud and abusive, and I thought my husband was going to kill him or at least lash him with a quirt.'
'But he didn't.'
'No,' Lucy said. 'My husband was very self-controlled. He rarely lost his temper or showed impatience. I think that was one of the things that I most admired in him. It was so opposite my own personality and I wanted to develop those same qualities.'
Longarm didn't quite manage to suppress a smile. 'I doubt that you will ever be able to control your temper or impulses,' he said, 'and quite frankly, I hope you do not.'
'Really?'
'That's right. You're fiery and impetuous, and those qualities make you all the more appealing.'
'Well, I'll be,' she said. 'And I've always admired women who were cool and somewhat aloof Who could be thrown headlong into any unpleasant situation and know exactly how to act.'
