The next day, August 16…
The reader might recall that, between the location I had just departed—the campsite—and River Bend, there was another town, called Wickerville. It didn’t have everything River Bend had, but there was a general store and a restaurant. And I was ready for both. My jerky was starting to taste like horse meat—not that I’m a connoisseur of the stuff, mind you—and my dried fruit was petrified, so it was past time to restock. If it hadn’t been for the several trout I caught in the stream, I would have lost 10 pounds. The thought of a nice, thick juicy steak had my taste glands salivating for at least 15 miles before I got to Wickerville.
And I wasn’t disappointed. At least in the steak. But it was in Wickerville that my plans for impending nuptials got delayed. And almost canceled.
It was the middle of the afternoon and I was sitting in a near-empty restaurant—well, it was empty, except for me—when a familiar face walked in. I smiled, because it was a face I was comfortable with. But the face I looked at registered disbelief when it looked back and acted like it was looking at a ghost.
“Conners!” W. T. McConnell said, and the surprise was as evident in his voice as it was on his face.
I stood up. “Hello, Captain. Nice to see you. Join me?”
Still looking shocked, he said, “Yes. Yes, I will, thank you. Actually, I’m very glad to see you, and in more ways than one.”
He sat down and was immediately accosted by the waitress. He ordered what I was eating and then looked at me strangely. “Have I changed that much since the last time we met?” I asked. “You look like you’re staring at a phantom.”
“I’m not sure I’m not. You’re supposed to be dead.”
I gave him a wry grin. “Well, that’s news to me. When did I die? Is it too late to go to my funeral?”
“Rob, I’m serious. I just came through River Bend, and they think you’re dead. They’ve got a nice plot for you in their cemetery and you’re six feet under.”
I do think the man was serious. “Would you care to explain?”
So he told me what Ben Baker had told him. My first reaction was, “Ben’s the marshal? Since when?”
“This spring. He wanted to be a little more stationary than I could let him be. From all indications, he’s doing a bang-up job. But somebody brought a body in a couple of weeks ago, it was identified as you, and...” he shrugged. “They all think you’re dead. Ben even had a gravestone that said the Tollivers killed you because you killed one of them.”
This was a little too much to digest at once. My mind went into overdrive, but first things first. “Who was it that was killed?.....” And then it hit me and I threw my head back and laughed. “It serves that so and so right. But he might have saved my life.”
Captain McConnell had no idea what I was talking about, of course, so I explained to him my misadventure. “That guy, whoever he was, took my wallet. Inside my wallet I had a business card with my name on it. He must have thought he’d get a lift out of life if he went around pretending he was me. He obviously ran into the Tollivers, told them he was me, and…well, he’s the one with the dirt piled on him now.” I playfully harrumphed. “With my name on his gravestone. I’m offended.”
McConnell grunted. “You ought to be grateful. Like you said, he might have saved your life.” His face was somber. “Man, this whole thing is taking some weird turns.”
“What whole thing?”
“Where have you been, Conners? Besides the last two weeks.”
“I spent three months at a cabin I own not far from Agua Caliente. Then I’ve been taking my time, wandering through the mountains, trying to decide whether to go back to Clearwater Valley or go to China or somewhere else. So, I’ve been a little out of the news loop.”
“But you ran into, and killed, Tristy Tolliver.”
I shrugged. “You aren’t going to arrest me for that, are you?”
“No, I’d like to give you a medal, but that’s part of the ‘whole thing’ I was talking about and I understand now why you don’t know anything about it. You’re not the only one, in the last few months, who’s killed a Tolliver, and Trent is hell-bent on revenge.”
“I kinda gathered that,” I said, “from what you said about what was written on that piece of wood. But…he’s after more people than just me?”
“Yeah. Top Tolliver was in River Bend a few months ago. He laid low for Ben, but Kelly Atkins saw it, shot him, and killed him. So she was on Trent’s list. And he went after her.”
My face went hard as stone, my heart leaped into my throat, and I leaned forward. “Did Trent kill Kelly?”
“No,” McConnell said, “but it wasn’t for lack of trying. It wasn’t very long ago, not more than a few weeks, I guess. He and his men went to River Bend; apparently it was payback time. There’s another woman in River Bend, and her name is Kelly, too, and, from what Ben said, she’s the spitting image of Kelly Atkins. Well, Trent mistook this other Kelly for Kelly Atkins and shot her. So your Kelly is ok.”
I stared at him. “This other Kelly. Is her last name Kramer?”
McConnell nodded. “Yes. Yes, I believe it is. Do you know her?”
I looked away and spoke basically to myself. “Why, that little liar.” I looked back at the Ranger captain and said, “Yes, I do. I met her in Upton during my recent wanderings. We talked, she said she wanted to get out of Upton and go to Bandera where she had some family. We rode together for awhile, I put her on a stagecoach in Lethridge, bound, I thought, for Bandera. I guess she decided to go to River Bend. Well, obviously she did.” Then, with no small amount of angst, I asked, “Did she die?”
“No, she survived,” and I blew out my breath. Even though she had lied to me—how many times?—I still was very fond of Kelly Kramer and would have been very angry, to say the least, if Trent Tolliver had killed her.
“Does Tolliver know that he didn’t kill Kelly Atkins?” I asked.
“As far as Ben knows, no, he doesn’t.” And the Captain’s face was grave. Or, still grave, I should say. “But, he’ll find out, Rob. And when he does, he’ll return to River Bend. And he’ll try to kill both Kellys.”
I nodded. That just cinched my decision to get there as soon as possible. “He’ll get to those two women through my dead body,” I said.
“Yeah, well, when he finds out you’re still alive, he’ll want just that—your dead body. But, I, uh…” and he paused, and looked away, a little guilt replacing the gravity on his countenance.
I stared at the Ranger Captain for a moment, then closed my eyes, lowered my head, and rubbed my still healing scar. I already knew what was coming. “Captain, if Trent Tolliver is headed for River Bend, I want to get there as quickly as possible.”
“Even if Allie Summer needs your help?”
“Oh, Lord,” I groaned. “What’s Allie into now?”
“She killed a Tolliver, too.”
That didn’t surprise me in the least, and for some reason, it ticked me off. But not at her. I spoke angrily. “Captain, why didn’t you turn her loose and let her kill all of the….?” And I called them something I won’t print.
McConnell sighed. “I should have. She wanted to go after them, several times, but I wouldn’t give her permission because, technically, they aren’t wanted for anything in this territory. All of their crimes have been committed in other territories.”
“You could have caught them and held them.”
“We had other things to do, Rob.”
“Ok, ok,” I said, still aggravated. “So, Allie killed a Tolliver. Which means Trent is after her, too. And I gather she’s missing so you’re afraid he got her and you want me to go looking for her.” I don’t claim to be very smart, but I can add two and two.
“She went on vacation in these mountains over a month ago. She said she’d be gone only a month. I haven’t heard from her since. Trent’s been in the area. What would you conclude?”
I looked away and nodded. “That he found her first. This doesn’t look good, Captain. Unless Allie decided to extend her vacation.”
“Allie wouldn’t do that. I know her too well. Or, she’d let me know if she decided to be gone longer.”
I didn’t know Allie Summer all that well, but I knew her well enough to agree with McConnell that she wouldn’t leave her work for going on two months. She loved the Rangers way too much.
“So,” I said with a sigh, “you want me to hunt for her.”
“I can’t spare any men, Rob. I’m on my way to Idaho to testify at a trial and I can’t be sidetracked for too long. I need somebody to search for Allie.”
“Captain McConnell, do you know how vast those mountains are? That would be worse than trying to find her in Dandelion Valley.” That’s a reference to an event in the book, River Bend, and the reader will have to go there to understand it. But, bottom line, Dandelion Valley was a huge place. But not nearly as big as the area McConnell was wanting me to cover now.
“All I can ask you to do is try. I feel very fortunate to even run across you, especially since I thought you were dead. If anybody can find Allie, Rob, it’s you.”
That was a pile of barnyard stuff 10 feet thick, but I knew I had to do it. If there was a chance Allie was still alive….
“Tolliver might be up in those mountains, looking for her right now,” McConnell said, twisting the knife a little.
"No,” I replied, not buying that. “You were right, Allie would be home by now if she was…if she wasn’t…” I didn’t want to say it. “Maybe she’s just hurt. Or maybe the fish are biting real well.” I looked at the Ranger Captain again. “If she’s dead, Captain, I’ll never find her. And if Trent Tolliver is going to go gunning for Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer, I’m not going to stay in those mountains for long, searching for a dead woman. Even Allie Summer. I’m sorry, but I feel my first priority is River Bend.”
He nodded. “I understand that. But I think Ben made a reasonably good point. There’s no way, at least for awhile, that Trent could know that the two Kellys are still alive. If he did get to Allie, then he’s going to think that he’s fulfilled his vendetta—he killed you, Kelly Atkins, and Allie. He wouldn’t hang around this area, in fact, he might even leave the territory. At least for a few months. So there’s very little chance that he knows, or will know any time soon, that Kelly is still alive. I think you’ve got time.”
I just glared at him the whole time he was giving that speech. He didn’t appear comfortable with the way I was looking at him. So he added, “Keep in mind that Ben is in River Bend as marshal. He knows what’s going on. He’ll know if Tolliver shows up in town and he’s formidable.”
I was still staring at him, but I finally looked away. He was playing with the life of the woman I hoped to make my wife. I closed my eyes and dropped my head as a mild panic briefly swept over me. Julie…Robin…oh, Lord, what would I do if I lost Kelly now, too? How could I stand it? Especially when I can go there, right now, and protect her? Allie Summer is probably dead. McConnell wants me to risk the life of the woman I love in order to go on a wild goose chase. It’s not Ben’s job to protect Kelly. It’s mine…
I didn’t raise my head, but I did open my eyes. I spoke very softly, but very firmly. “Captain McConnell, if Trent Tolliver arrives in River Bend and kills Kelly Atkins while I’m in these mountains doing your job for you…”
His voice was soft, too, but a compassionate soft. “Rob, I know you care deeply for Kelly Atkins—“
I still didn’t look up. “I plan on asking her to marry me, Captain.” Then I did look at him. “You realize what you are asking me to do, don’t you?”
Now it was his turn to size me up for a few moments. He understood all right. “Rob, all I can do is ask. I can’t make you go looking for Allie, and I’ll understand if you would rather go to River Bend—“
I was getting angry again. “Captain, you know very good and well that I’m going up into those mountains and search for Allie Summer. Even if it costs Kelly Atkins her life. But if Tolliver does kill Kelly while I’m hunting for Allie…” I leaned forward and pointed a finger at him. “…You just better stay out of my way, buddy, because there’s not a place on this earth that Trent Tolliver will be able to hide from me, and there’s not a lawman alive who’ll keep me from killing him. Don’t try to stop me.” I stood up and dropped some money on the table. My final words to Captain W. T. McConnell, head of the territorial Rangers, were, “Because if he harms one hair on Kelly's head, and you try to stop me from killing him, I’ll kill you, too.”
And then I walked out of the Wickerville restaurant.