After they’d leisurely eaten their treat, Charlotte told Bret she wanted to look around the general store.
“I’ll walk down and talk to the sheriff again. He needs to know about the change in ownership. Moose, Davie, you’re invited if you want to come with me.”
The three of them ambled toward the jail while Charlotte and her two youngest went into the store. She was almost giddy with relief. But what did it mean, really?
Bret must have a lot of money if he could give away the price of the mortgage. Why was he opening a bank account in Palo Pinto when he was going to California? She had too many unanswered questions whirling in her mind.
Chapter Seventeen
Bret and his two companions strolled toward the sheriff’s office.
Davie said, “Papa used to let me go see the sheriff with him. Sheriff Haney would let me look through the wanted posters.”
Bret was surprised. “I didn’t realize your dad and the sheriff were good friends. They got along real well then?”
“I guess. They’d sit around and talk about growing up in the same place.”
Bret wasn’t especially curious but wanted to encourage Davie. “Must have been nice. Where was that?”
“Macon, Missouri. They did a lot of things they shouldn’t have. Like turning over outhouses, that sort of thing.”
Moose looked thoughtful. “What’s the sheriff’s first name?”
“Arvin, but I’m not allowed to call him that.”
Moose glanced at Davie. “Since you’re about grown, your Papa must have been quite a bit older than your mama.”
“Yeah, he was twelve years older than her. She didn’t seem to mind. She’s real easy to get along with, don’t you think, Bret?”
Bret grinned at Davie. “So far. I’m not ever telling her I don’t like what’s for supper, though.”
Davie laughed.
At the sheriff’s office they waited for him to finish giving Rick instructions about the dead man. “Come in, men, and sit down.” He pushed a stack of wanted posters toward Davie. “Guess you want to look through these.”
Bret took one of the chairs. “We were in a hurry this morning in case Winfield beat us to the bank. We came to let you know that we think those cattle will be moved soon. Mrs. Dunn paid off her note at the bank a few minutes before Winfield arrived. He knows he isn’t getting that ranch now. I expect he’s going to do something, but don’t know what.”
“Glad to hear she scraped up the money. I’d hate for Ike’s work to have been wasted on Winfield and would hate to see her and the children homeless.” He leaned back and steepled his fingers over his stomach and appeared to be deep in though.
After a few seconds, he leaned forward and laid his hands on his desk. “Reckon we’d better ride out there and see what we can find. You folks go on back to the ranch after you’re through in town and I’ll ride out and meet you at the house there. I don’t have to tell you to keep this to yourselves, do I?”
Davie held up a sheet of paper. “Sheriff, this looks like Mr. Winfield’s foreman.”
“Let me see.” Sheriff Haney reached for it. “I’ll be Dadburn. It does resemble him. What do you fellas think?” He passed the poster to Bret and Moose.
Moose waved off the handbill. “Only time I saw the man was from a distance.”
“Looks like him.” Bret read the description again. “Sounds like him, too. It’s from Erath County. Where’s that from here?”
“Next county due south. Guess I didn’t study this close enough. Says his name’s Faron Adams. Lots of crooks keep their initials when they change their name.”
Bret stood. “Come on, Davie. We’d better get your mother and take everyone home to wait for Sheriff Haney.”
Davie carefully restacked wanted posters. “Thank you for letting me look at these, Sheriff Haney.”
“Thank you for your sharp eyes, Davie.” The sheriff piled them on top of others in a tray.
As they walked toward the general store, Davie raced ahead.
Moose nudged Bret. “Need to tell you something in private.”
His friend had a solemn expression. Since Moose was usually easygoing, Bret’s curiosity was aroused. “Let’s wait by the wagon for Charlotte and the children.”
“We may be in trouble. I grew up in the same town as the sheriff and remember him. Guess he didn’t remember me. ’Course it’s been a goodly number of years.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I wasn’t sure when I met him or we went out the other day. Something about him nagged at the back of my mind and I tried to figure where I’d met him. When I heard his first name, I remembered. He was a real troublemaker back then and I don’t mean tipping outhouses. Like to have been shot several times and left town under a cloud.”
“You saying he’s crooked?”
“No, I’m not accusing him. Lots of people change when they come west. What I’m saying is we got to be prepared for him to be so we don’t get caught in the crosshairs.”
“What about Ike Dunn?”
“Birds of a feather.”
Charlotte stomped out of the store looking ready for a fight. “Get in the buggy now, children.”
Bret rushed to help Charlotte but she beat him and was on the seat before he reached her. He set Susie up while both Jimmy and Davie climbed into the wagon.
Before he released the brake, he wanted to know what was wrong. “Charlotte, what’s upset you?”
Susie leaned over the seat. “Mrs. Gregory was mean to Mama.”
He kept his tone even. “How was she mean?”
“She called Mama a not nice name because—”
“That’s enough,
