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Episode Seven
concluded with:
Thorton
Weaver smiled benignly at the lawman. “I’ll tell Mr.Conklin you’re here.”
He arose from his desk and walked in a ceremonious manner
toward Conklin’s office, where he knocked twice and entered upon hearing
Conklin shout, “Yes!” from inside.
Weaver closed the door, then reappeared a few moments
later, closing the door behind him. He paraded back to his desk and announced,
“Mr. Conklin is very busy with some important work right now. He will see you
in a few minutes.” Thorton lifted an arm toward a bench by the front door.
“Please take a seat.”
Rush Hunter sat down very carefully on what he figured had
to be the most uncomfortable bench in Colorado. Thorton and the one teller on
duty both looked away to hide their chuckles. For the second time in less than
fifteen minutes, Rush Hunter was being laughed at.
Episode Eight:
The sheriff looked through the
glass of the bank’s double doors. A scene from two nights ago played in his
mind. The night he realized he was a coward.
***
Hunter woke up abruptly. The sound
from the door of his office went from persistent tapping to loud pounding. Rush
bolted from his cot and hurried to the door. Miners kept odd hours and the bars
were always open. The town only allowed him one deputy, who could be in trouble
right now.
He flung open the door to be
greeted by Penelope Castle, a beautiful, brown haired girl of about twenty. The
sheriff’s first response was embarrassment at being scraggly looking and in
sock feet. He managed to quickly move his thoughts in a more practical
direction. “Miss Castle, you shouldn’t be out at this time of night, you
need--”
“I should be home in bed, asleep!
How can I sleep?! An innocent man, the only man I could ever love, is now in
territorial prison. You know he’s been railroaded!”
She stormed into the office. Rush
made a slow production of closing the door and turning around. He really didn’t
want to face the woman.
“You’re a lawman, Sheriff Hunter.
Apparently, I need to remind you of that!”
“Miss Castle, the jury found Lon
Westlake guilty--”
“The jury consisted of people
beholden to George Conklin!”
Rush Hunter was tired, and being
criticized by a lovely young woman had inflicted a wound. “The people on the
jury aren’t the only ones beholden to Conklin! Your father hasn’t been able to
work a day since that mine explosion six months ago. How is your family making
ends meet? George Conklin is taking care of that, isn’t he, Miss Castle, and
the whole town knows why!”
Penelope Castle began to cry. Rush
felt like a monster. “I’m sorry, I never should have said--”
Penelope cut him off. “You spoke
the truth. It’s awful. Mother makes me be…nice…to Conklin. It’s my fault Lon
got framed for the robbery.”
“What do you mean?”
“George Conklin has supper at our
home on Wednesday nights. He used to pretend he was happy Lon and I are
engaged. He would ask me a lot of questions about Lon.”
“And you told him Lon slept alone
in the back of his general store every night. That’s how the banker knew Lon
Westlake wouldn’t have an alibi for the night of the robbery.”
The woman nodded her head. “Conklin
has been playing the role of the comforter…pretending he is sympathetic. It
won’t last long…my family has become dependent on him…I don’t know what to do…”
Sheriff Hunter spoke out loud a
thought that had been on his mind for some time: “Lon is the real force behind
the success of their family store. The business will be in trouble without him.
George Conklin may be planning to seize Lon’s business as well as his girl.”
Hope flamed in Penelope Castle’s
eyes. The lawman was on her side after all. “That’s right! What do you plan on
doing, Sheriff?”
Rush Hunter shrugged his shoulders
and looked at the floor. The young woman’s hope morphed into anger. She spoke
in a low whisper. “George Conklin owns you, doesn’t he? Just like he owns
everyone else in this town.”
“Miss Castle, I--”
“I’ve been very rude, Sheriff
Hunter. I apologize for bothering you at this late hour. It was a very foolish
thing to do.” The lawman could hear Penelope Castle begin to cry as she stepped
out of his office. Her last hope had been Sheriff Rush Hunter and that hope had
proved false.
***
“Sherriff Hunter!”
The lawman was yanked from his
thoughts. Looking up from the bench, he saw Thorton Weaver standing beside him.
“Mr. Conklin will see you now, Sheriff.”
The sheriff wanted to say something
snarky but settled for, “Thanks.” As he stood up and walked toward the office,
Rush tried to convince himself that he had done nothing wrong. After all,
George Conklin had identified Lon Westlake as the man who robbed the bank.
Westlake had been found guilty by a jury of his peers.
“My hands are clean,” Hunter
whispered to himself before entering the office.
Tomorrow: Episode Nine of Last
Job
