Rudd’s rejection of the charge that Duff was a murderer and cattle thief was nearly universal, as nobody else in town believed it, either.
Rudd took the poster to the sheriff’s office, where he found Deputy Logan sitting at the sheriff’s desk, drinking coffee.
“Deputy Logan, where’s Sheriff Sharpie?”
“The sheriff won’t be back till tomorrow. He took the train up to Cheyenne last night.”
“Have you seen this?” Rudd asked, holding the poster out to show it.
“No,” Logan said after examining it for a moment. “I’ll be damn, accordin’ to what it says here, this dodger comes direct from the governor his ownself. ’N look at the reward! Ten thousand dollars! Who but the governor could authorize that much money? Where did you get it?”
“This here one was nailed onto the front wall of my office.”
“There’s somethin’ fishy about this,” Logan said. “I’ve known Duff MacCallister ever since he settled here in the valley, and for as long as I have known him, he has been an honest and upstanding citizen. And how is it that these posters didn’t come to the sheriff in the mail like all the others?”
“I don’t know,” Rudd answered. “But this isn’t the only one. They’re plastered all over town.”
“I’m going to ride out to Sky Meadow and see what this is all about,” Logan said, but as he and Rudd stepped out onto the front porch, they saw eight riders coming into town.
“That’s Jaco ’n the territory deputies,” Logan said, “but I don’t know who the one in front is.”
“I’ll be damn,” Rudd said. “That’s Houser.”
“Yeah,” Logan agreed. “Yeah, you’re right, that is Houser. What happened to that little beard he always wears?”
“Yeah, well, it ain’t just the beard. He ain’t wearin’ a suit like always, ’n I don’t think I’ve ever seen him on a horse before, neither.”
Instead of the three-piece suit that Houser normally wore, today he was wearing black trousers, a black shirt, and a black, low-crown hat, which was encircled by a silver band. But the most shocking thing about his appearance was that Houser, who never carried a gun, was wearing one now. And he was wearing it in the way of a man who knew how to use it.
When Houser and the others reached the sheriff’s office, they stopped. Deputy Logan was still holding the reward poster in his hand, and he held it up.
“Mr. Houser, are you responsible for this?”
“I am, sir.”
“What right do you have to put out such a thing?”
“I’m sure that you know that I hold a special commission from the governor, and as such I am authorized to speak directly for him. My position gives me gubernatorial authority. It has come to my attention that Duff MacCallister, who is a man of some repute in this town, has been guilty of murder and cattle rustling. I owe an apology to the small ranchers, as I have been blaming them for the rustling, when it was MacCallister, all along.”
“What makes you think it was Duff ?”
“I don’t think, sir, I know. We have found the stolen cattle on rangeland belonging to Duff MacCallister.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m not going to arrest him,” Logan said. “Maybe you can talk the sheriff into it when he gets back from Cheyenne tomorrow, but I’m not going to do it.”
“I don’t expect you to arrest MacCallister, or anyone else, for that matter,” Houser replied. “I am suspending you from duty and asking you to take off your badge. I am declaring a condition of civil emergency, and as such, I, and my deputies, will, henceforth, assume all law enforcement activities. As of now, this town and all activity herein, is under my control.”
“What?” Logan’s shouted word was so loud that it caused passersby on the other side of the street to look over in curiosity. “The hell you say! There’s no way I’m going to let you get away with a thing like that.”
Houser drew his pistol and pointed it at Deputy Logan. “I said, take off your badge,” he repeated ominously.
Reluctantly, but with no other choice, Logan removed his badge.
“Inside,” Houser said, with a waving motion of his pistol. He followed Logan into the office. “Now, release my brother.”
Logan took the key ring down from the wall hook, then walked back to the cell to open the door. Shamrock was standing there with a big smile.
“So, big brother,” he said. “Have you decided to go back to being Wynton Miller?”
“Wynton Miller?” Logan gasped.
“Get into the cell,” Houser ordered.
Sky Meadow Ranch
“Will you be comin’ over to the buildin’ site today, Mr. Gleason?” Emerson asked.
“I’ll be along in a while,” Elmer replied. He was watching Emerson and Percy load a wagon of tools and supplies needed at the site where Percy’s new house was being built.
“Poke is already over there,” Percy said. He chuckled. “He’s a good kid, and one hell of a good worker.”
“Yeah, he is,” Emerson said. “He’s better ’n anyone when it comes to climbin’ around in the trusses. He can climb like a monkey.”
Percy chuckled. “Steve, have you ever actually seen a monkey?”
“Well, no, but I’ve heard they can climb real good.”
“That’s a fact,” Elmer said, thinking of the ones he had seen in China.
Elmer was about to go back in for another cup of coffee, when he saw someone coming up the long drive that led to the house.
“Here comes someone,” he said. “More ’n likely someone wonderin’ why you two hadn’t got to work yet and . . .” He stopped and looked again as the rider came close enough to be identified.
“Why, that’s Ben Turley from over to Houser’s place. I wonder what he wants.”
“Mornin’, Mr. Gleason. Is Mr. MacCallister in?”
“Yeah, he’s here. What do you need?”
“He might want to see this,” Turley said, holding out the reward poster.
* * *
“From what I was able to overhear, they planned to take over the town
