“I didn’t know your father, but I’m sure you’re right. You still have the dark brown Stetson in your closet, but I think that this one looks much better with the band.”
“So, do I.”
They walked to the kitchen and after he set his hat on the table and they both sat down.
He turned to Sara and said, “I had an interesting talk with Mrs. Kemper after I left the sheriff’s office. She asked to be called Maggie now, but she also told me…”
Sara giggled when Jake told her what Maggie had revealed, but he decided to wait until tonight to ask her about his idea of finding R.L. Kemper.
When he finished talking, Sara stood and said she needed to cook lunch, so Jake returned to the office and sat behind the desk. Sara had returned his father’s mottled hat to the desk, so he just stared at the abused Stetson. He had expected that after he learned the truth of his father’s innocence, he’d finally feel remorse, but it had yet to arrive. He simply didn’t understand his father at all and wished that he could dredge up some happy memories from his boyhood years to ignite a measure of sadness. But all that he could recall were of stern lectures about what he needed to do to become a man. Even when he was four or five, his father had made it clear that life was hard, and Jake needed to be just like him. He could understand why his father would want his only son to be a harsh dictator to rule over the Elk, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t have spared at least some faint praise now and then.
Jake sighed, then picked up the hat and left the office.
_____
Jake and Sara left the house at two-thirty and walked to the chow house. He was wearing his elk-banded Stetson and carrying his father’s hat. While it no longer had the decorative strip, there was a clean, light band around the crown’s base that gave it the appearance of one.
When they entered the chow house, all the men stood, and Jake was impressed with their appearance. Each man was well groomed and those who didn’t wear beards had shaved.
They all must have seen the elk band on his hat, but no one spoke before Jake said, “The hearse should be arriving soon, but before we go out to the cemetery, I’d like to say a few words.”
He glanced at Sara, took her hand then continued, saying, “I’m not going to deliver a high-toned eulogy after my father is laid to rest beside my mother. You all know that we didn’t get along and I know that it was as much my fault as his. But because we didn’t get along, I never understood my father. Each of you probably knew him much better than I did.
“Over the next few months or years, help me understand him better. I had Sara move the elk band from my father’s hat to mine to pay respect to my father for building the Elk into what it is. I’m not sure I could have done it, but I’ll do my best to make it even better.
“After the burial, I’m staying on the Elk to start doing just that. I’ve decided to let the law handle finding and prosecuting Dave Forrest for murdering my parents. I don’t know why he did it, and I don’t believe I ever will. I’m not sure I even want to know. But I have responsibilities now. Responsibilities to the Elk, to each of you, and especially to Sara.
“When we get to the cemetery, you’ll notice that my mother’s marker is missing. I’m having the writing modified. It will be replaced when they bring out my father’s stone. So, let’s head to the cemetery and pay our respects to the man who built the Elk.”
He and Sara turned and began the slow procession to the family cemetery. Jake never looked behind him or even glanced at Sara as he stared at the small graveyard. While he’d been talking to the men, Isiah Redmond had driven quietly to the cemetery and was waiting with the two gravediggers and his assistant.
As they walked, Jake began to have second thoughts about letting the law find Dave Forrest. He was certain that it was the right decision, but he was concerned that only Sheriff Zendt would care enough to actively look for the ex-foreman. Other lawmen had their own problems and might arrest Dave if he committed some local offense, but with all the money he’d taken, Dave wouldn’t need to resort to crime.
Jake was just as convinced that the longer it took to find Dave, the less likely it would be that he’d ever be caught. There might never be justice for his parents unless he started his own search. If only he knew where Dave had gone.
By the time they arrived at the cemetery, Jake set the notion aside. He wouldn’t ask Sara about it, at least not yet. He’d give the lawmen a week to find Dave before he asked her.
As they slid his father’s coffin from the hearse, Jake removed his hat hoping that within a week, some sheriff would have Dave Forrest in his jail and notify Arv Zendt. Jake would be happy to join the escort who brought him back to Fort Benton.
Jake would soon learn that would take just another day before Dave Forrest came to the attention of the law. But when Sheriff Zendt received a telegram from Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Pat Jefferson, it wasn’t to inform him of the capture of the ex-foreman.
_____
Five hours later, as Sara lay close to Jake, she said, “We never did talk to Jack about Mrs. Kemper.”
He quietly replied, “I know. It just didn’t seem appropriate
