She hurried across the lobby to Frank, threw her arms around him, and sobbed.
Chapter 33
“She claims that Hammersmith shot Munro, then Evers shot Hammersmith and Hammersmith broke Evers’s neck before he died,” Frank told the others gathered in the office of the Lucky Lizard Mining Company.
“You reckon she’s tellin’ the truth?” Tip Woodford asked.
Frank shrugged. “I can’t prove that she’s not. My gut says she’s lying, at least about part of it, but that doesn’t change anything. Munro is dead, so that makes her the owner of the Alhambra. She wants you to settle the strike with all the miners, Tip, and she says she’ll go along with whatever agreement you negotiate with them.”
Diana said, “What’s she going to do? She’s not staying here in Buckskin, is she?” Her dislike for Jessica Munro was plain to hear in her voice.
Frank shook his head. “No, Mrs. Munro told me she’s going back to San Francisco as soon as she can. She’s not interested in having anything to do with running the mine. She’s going to hire a new superintendent and leave everything to him.”
“All she’ll do is collect the money,” Diana said.
“Yeah. I reckon she’ll do that, all right.”
Colonel Starkwell was also at this gathering. He said, “I don’t like the way Munro tried to use me and my men, Marshal, but I feel a responsibility to remain here and help maintain order until everything is settled.”
“And I appreciate that, Colonel,” Frank said with a nod. “All the miners are getting together over at the Silver Baron. Mayor Woodford and I will go talk to them. It might be best to keep your men outside for now, where they’ll be handy but the miners won’t feel threatened by them.”
Starkwell agreed. “But if you need our help, don’t hesitate to ask for it.”
“I won’t,” Frank promised, but he hoped above all else right now that the miners’ strike could be settled without any more violence.
Buckskin had seen enough bloodshed to last it a long time.
The meeting didn’t last long. Fighting a common enemy had rebuilt some of the bonds that had existed between Tip and the men who worked for him, and with Hamish Munro and Gunther Hammersmith both dead, along with Dave Rogan, the miners from the Alhambra had lost some of their anger. Tip’s workers knew that the Fowler brothers had been responsible for the cave-in and for stirring up the strike, and since Red Mike and Gib were dead as well, the miners were willing to get back to work with only a few concessions from Tip. The men from the Alhambra were willing to accept the same proposal, and Frank promised on behalf of the Crown Royal’s management to go along too, so that the wages and hours and safety conditions would be roughly consistent at all three of the major mines.
“You reckon young Claiborne will go along with that?” Tip asked after the meeting broke up and the workers headed back to the mines.
“I think I can pretty well guarantee it,” Frank said.
“Yeah, I forgot you own part o’ the Crown Royal.”
“But my real job is here in Buckskin.” Frank shook his head. “I’m just not sure I ought to be wearing this badge anymore.”
“You got to stop talkin’ like that,” Tip protested as he and Frank walked toward the Silver Baron. “Nobody wants you to turn in your badge. Hell, if you hadn’t rallied everybody together when them outlaws come chargin’ in, they’d have looted the town and likely burned it to the ground. You said that’s what Pool usually did.”
“Yes, but I didn’t stop Munro and Hammersmith from causing a lot of trouble before that happened. We had a full-scale riot going on, if you remember.”
“I remember all right, and I remember you riskin’ your neck and doin’ everything in your power to head things off before they got that far. It ain’t your fault you couldn’t.”
Frank shrugged. The mayor might be willing to let him off the hook, but he wasn’t sure if he was.
“I’ll think about it,” was all he said as they reached the saloon.
Before they could push through the batwings, a man who had just ridden up in front of the Silver Baron said, “Morgan? Frank Morgan?”
Frank stopped, stiffening as he recognized the tone of voice. He had never seen this hombre before, but he knew the man anyway, knew him as well as he knew his own face in the mirror.
“I’m Morgan.”
“I got a bone to pick with you, Morgan. Folks say you’re mighty fast with a gun, but I think I’m faster.” The man dismounted, dropped his reins, and faced Frank in a crouch, his hand hovering over the butt of his Colt, ready to hook and draw. “I aim to prove it,” he added.
Before Frank could respond, Tip Woodford said, “Then you’re a damned fool, mister. You know who this is?”
The gunfighter sneered. “Yeah, he’s Frank Morgan, but he don’t scare me. I can beat him to the draw.”
“No,” Tip said, “he’s the marshal of Buckskin, and he’s our friend. Even if you do beat him, which I seriously doubt you can, you’ll have to shoot me next. And then him—” Tip nodded toward the batwings, where Johnny Collyer had appeared carrying his sawed-off shotgun. “And him.” That was Leo Benjamin, stepping out onto the porch of the general store with a rifle in his hands. “And him.” Catamount Jack eased along the boardwalk, his gnarled old hand on the butt of the cap-and-ball pistol at his hip.
Tip pointed out half-a-dozen other townspeople whose attention had been attracted by the confrontation between Frank and the would-be fast gun. The stranger looked around, his face growing taut with worry as he realized he was surrounded by hostility.
“So you see, mister,” Tip concluded, “when you go up against the marshal o’ Buckskin, one way or another you’re gonna wind up blowed full o’ holes. Don’t you reckon the smartest thing to do would be to climb back on that horse and ride outta here while you got the chance?”
The man hesitated, but only for a moment. Then he snarled, “You’re the luckiest hombre I ever saw, Morgan.” He grabbed his reins, swung up into the saddle, and rode out.
Frank watched him go and said, “Yeah. I reckon I sure am.”
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2007 William W. Johnstone
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Following the death of William W. Johnstone, the Johnstone family is working with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Mr. Johnstone’s outlines and many unfinished manuscripts to create additional novels in all of his series like The Last Gunfighter, Mountain Man, and Eagles, among others. This novel was inspired by Mr. Johnstone’s superb storytelling.
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