toward him. 'Yes? ' he said as he put his arm across the opening so
Grace would have to stay inside the train.
'I thought that was you, being so tall and all. The porter gave me a
good description of you. My name's Owen Wheeler, and I'm the sheriff
in this here town. Folks who know me good call me by my nickname,
Bobcat.
You can too if you want, ' he added as he shook Daniel's hand. 'It's a
right pleasure to make your acquaintance.'
'What can I do for you, Sheriff? ' Bobcat spotted Grace behind Daniel,
tipped the brim of his hat, and said, 'Howdy, ma'am.'
'Hello, Mr. Bobcat.'
'Just plain old Bobcat will do, ' he explained. 'Don't need a mister'
in front of it.'
'How did you ever get such a nickname? ' she asked, her curiosity
piqued.
He grinned at her. 'A while back, I ran into a bobcat and had to
wrestle with him. I got the scars all over my belly to prove it. If
you'd like to see . . . ' 'No, no, that's quite all right. I believe
you, ' Grace rushed out.
The sheriff couldn't seem to take his eyes off Grace, and the rudeness
irritated Daniel. 'Was there something I could help you with? ' he
asked impatiently.
Bobcat vigorously nodded. 'We've got some trouble here. I was telling
the porter about it, and he mentioned he'd seen you wearing a badge and
thought maybe you could help.'
'What exactly is the problem? ' Daniel asked, wishing the sheriff
would get to the point.
'Yesterday, Gladys Anderson's boy, Billy, pulled a man out of the
lake.
Billy was doing some fishing instead of going to work at the stables
like he was supposed to, but it was fortunate he's such a slacker. The
man would have drowned if Billy hadn't been there, and that's the
truth.
Billy saw it happen too.'
'Saw what happen? ' 'Billy was sitting on his boat watching the train
go over the trestle when all of a sudden he sees a man come flying out
