1:10 P. M., next door to Mrs. Whitby’s school…
“What’s happening, Ben?” Mayor Frederick Dodd asked the marshal after he and two councilmen had gotten out of the rain. James Derrick and Arthur Prince were the two men with the mayor. “Sheila said something about Trent Tolliver being here…”
“Yessir,” Ben replied, water dripping from the brim of his hat. “He’s got several hostages inside the school building. Says he’ll exchange them for Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer, but they have to be here by 6 or he starts shooting.”
Dodd, who was a shorter, older man with a bit of a paunch, but was nobody’s fool, looked stern. “How many hostages does he have?”
“I think five children and the teacher, Mrs. Whitby.”
“Do you know who the children are?”
“No.”
Dodd rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I guess we need to find that out so we can inform their parents.”
“Ok,” Ben said. “I’ll ask Tolliver to give me their names.”
“Have you informed Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer?” Arthur Prince asked.
“I sent Turley out to the Atkins ranch right before you men arrived. I haven’t had a chance to get anybody over to Kelly Kramer’s place. I was hoping one of you fellows would volunteer.”
“I’ll go,” Derrick said. He was tall, dark-headed man, in his mid-30s. Most of the women in town swooned over his good looks, but he had a wife and two children.
“Thanks, James,” Ben said. “This is terrible, but the two Kellys need to know.” Derrick left to find Kelly Kramer.
“Do you have any ideas what to do, Ben?” Mayor Dodd asked him.
“Not at the moment,” the River Bend marshal replied. “Maybe we can round up a few volunteers and surround the schoolhouse, but rushing the place would be a last resort.”
Dodd looked at the sky. “Even with this weather, it won’t be dark at 6. Tolliver would see us coming.”
“He’s holding a good hand,” Ben said.
The mayor looked at Arthur Prince. “Arthur, can you get back into town, see if you can find some men to help. Amos Anderson, Bit Russell, Otto Kreuger—they’d help, for sure. And when we find out who those children are, I’m sure their fathers will also want to be in the mix.”
“Done,” Prince said, and he headed back into the rain to mount his horse and begin his errand.
Mayor Dodd looked at his marshal. “Ben, you know Trent Tolliver. Will he really…kill those children if Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer don’t give themselves up to him?”
Ben was grave, but honest. “I have absolutely no doubt about it…”
1:25 P. M., Gold Dust Restaurant…
“Who could that be beatin’ on the door?” Sudsy Word said as she watched her husband and two men struggling to remove the huge cast iron stove the Gold Dust had been using for years. “Can’t they read the sign? We’re closed today.”
The knocker, of course, was James Derrick. And he was persistent.
Finally, Sudsy stuck her head out of the kitchen door, and waved him away. “We’re closed. Can’t you see that?” she shouted at Derrick.
“I need to talk to you, Sudsy. It’s real important,” Derrick hollered back.
“Ok, ok,” Sudsy grumbled. She didn’t figure anything was so important that it couldn’t wait a couple of days, but she went to the door anyway and opened it.
“What it is, Mr. Derrick?”
“Is Miss Kramer here, Sudsy?”
“No, since we ain’t open, she ain’t here. You wantin’ to ask her for a date?”
As noted, Derrick was married and Sudsy knew that, so she was just being ornery. “No,” the councilman responded. “I need to find her. Do you know where she lives?”
“What’s so almighty important that it cain’t wait another day?”
“Trent Tolliver is in town, and he wants…to see Miss Kramer.”
That immediately put Sudsy in a more serious, somber mood. “Tolliver? He’s the one that shot her, ain’t he?” Sudsy knew that he was, she was just trying to overcome her initial shock and concern.
“Yes, he is,” Derrick replied, “and I need to find her.”
“You ain’t gonna give her to him, are ye?”
“Not if we can help it, we’re not. But he’s holding some children and Mrs. Whitby hostage at her school. The marshal is at the school right now with Mayor Dodd. I’m sure we’ll think of something.” Then, he repeated, “But I need to find Miss Kramer.”
“Yeah, yeah, I guess you do,” Sudsy said, absently, staring at nothing, thinking of the magnitude of the problem. Then, she said, “She lives at Mrs. Bowden’s. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, I do, and thank you,” Derrick replied and started to leave.
“Mr. Derrick,” Sudsy said.
“Yes?” He was in a hurry and didn’t want to banter.
“That Kelly is an awfully sweet girl. Don’t let nothing happen to her, ok?”
Derrick smiled. “We’ll do the best we can, Sudsy. I promise.” He touched the brim of his hat in good-bye, mounted his horse, and rode for Mrs. Bowden’s boarding house.
1:45 P. M., Mrs. Bowden’s boarding house…
“Mrs. Bowden, I need to see Kelly Kramer. I understand she lives here.” This was Derrick’s greeting when the proprietor opened the door.
“She’s not here, Mr. Derrick, and I don’t expect her back until tonight. She left yesterday morning, telling me she was going to spend last night with a friend. Since the Gold Dust is closed, she took a little holiday.”
Derrick was getting a little agitated. “Do you know where she went, Mrs. Bowden? It is very important that I find her.”
Mrs. Bowden thought for a moment. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t know where she is. I’m sure she just said ‘a friend,’ and didn’t tell me who it was.”
“Do you know who her friends are? Her close friends?”
Mrs. Bowden was understandably curious. “Why is it so important that you can’t wait until tonight? She’ll be home by dark, I’m sure.”
Derrick told her why it was so important.
“Oh, my,” Mrs. Bowden responded. “The poor dear. I’m sorry, Mr. Derrick, but I don’t know her friends. She’s never had anyone over to the house. I think someone said that she and Kelly Atkins get along well.”
Councilman James Derrick sighed. “Well, let’s just hope that’s where she is…”
As we know, that’s not where Kelly Kramer was.
1:45 P. M., the Atkins ranch…
Kelly Atkins didn’t mind the rain so much, provided it didn’t last too long. It gave her an opportunity to do some things indoors that she might not otherwise do, or at least, not very often. Like sewing and knitting. She enjoyed doing both, but the outdoor demands of ranch life, along with feminine domestic duties, tended to limit the time she had for creative crafts. But the weather outside was a good excuse not to do anything outdoors beyond the essentials. So she stoked up a good fire, put some homemade bread in the oven and settled down to make a shirt for her father from some material she had just bought. He’ll like this. Green is his favorite color…
The steady rain, thunder, and wind prevented her from hearing Turley Edwards’ horse approach the house. Kelly always kept her rifle close at hand, but Clearwater Valley wasn’t an especially dangerous place, so when she heard a knock at her door, she was more surprised than alarmed. The rifle was more for protection against four-legged vermin than two-legged.
The surprise did lean a little towards alarm when she saw who her visitor was. Lawmen don’t usually make social calls in the middle of the day. “Hi, Turley,” she said. “It’s not a very nice day to be out. Come on inside and get warm.”
“Thank you, Miss Kelly,” Turley said. His oilskin was thoroughly wet, as was every other part of him. He took his hat off and stood just inside the door. He was more than a little uneasy and Kelly noticed it.
“That bread shore smells good, Miss Kelly,” Turley said, not wanting to get to the point.
“Thank you, Turley. It will be ready in about 15 minutes. You’re welcome to stay. I’ve got some butter and jam to go with it. And milk, too.”
“I’d like that a lot, Miss Kelly, but I reckon I cain’t stay. I got somethin’ I gotta tell you that I’d give anything in the world if I didn’t have to tell you.”
Kelly’s became fully alarmed now. Her first thought was her father. “Has something happened to dad?”
“No, ma’am, not that I know of. It’s…it’s…” Turley sighed. “Trent Tolliver is back in town. He’s taken over Mrs. Whitby’s school and he says he’s gonna start killin’ children at 6 o’clock if’n you and Miss Kramer ain’t there by then.”
Kelly was stunned and her blood went cold. The thought that Trent Tolliver might come back hadn’t disappeared from her mind, but it wasn’t a pressing concern or something that caused her any lack of sleep. It simply didn’t seem real to her. But now…he was here…
And he wanted her.
It took Kelly several seconds to digest Turley’s message. “He’s…he’s at the school?”
“Yes’m. I’m afraid so.”
“And he wants me and Kelly there by 6?”
Turley was patient with Kelly’s repetitions. The whole thing was a bit of a shocker to him, too. “Yes, ma’am. Marshal Baker is outside the schoolhouse right now. He’s called the mayor and some of the councilmen there, and I’m sure they’ll round up several men to surround the building. Tolliver won’t get away with this, of course, but Ben figured you needed to know about it.”
“Of course, of course,” Kelly said, absently, still trying to come to grips with the whole thing. “Have you told Kelly Kramer?”
“No, ma’am, the marshal sent me here. He said he’d send somebody else to tell Miss Kramer.”
Kelly finally looked at Turley; she had been staring at nothing for several seconds. “Turley, will he really kill those children if…if Kelly and I don’t…go to him?”
The deputy nodded slowly. “Marshal Baker thinks that’s highly likely. But again, we’re gonna sort something out. We won’t let him have you or kill the children.”
“How are you going to stop him?”
Turley was uneasy. “Well, I don’t rightly know yet, but Ben’ll come up with an idea I’m sure.”
Not too surprisingly, once the initial shock was over, Kelly’s thoughts turned to Rob Conners. Oh, Rob...why aren’t you here? You could do something, I know you could. Ben is a wonderful man but…but…but he’s not you… Kelly forced herself back to the actuality of the here and now. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was not quite 1:30. “Turley, let me take the bread out of the oven, and then I’ll saddle Rusty and ride in with you. I’ve got to be there.”
“Miss Atkins, you can stay here if’n you want to. You don’t really need to involve yourself.”
Kelly looked at the deputy. “But what if I’m not there by 6?”
Turley squirmed some more. “We’ll think of something, I promise.” It was all he could think of to say.
“I better be there, just in case, don’t you think? I can’t let him kill those innocent children.”
“Well, you do what you think best.”
Kelly immediately went and took the bread out of the oven, her mind a whirlwind. If I give myself up to Tolliver, he’ll kill me…or worse…Ben’s got to think of something…well, I’ve got to help him. What can we do?...
It was something she would cogitate and agitate about all the way in to River Bend. And, when she arrived at the school, all her cogitation and agitation had produced no answers.
1:50 P.M., Mrs. Whitby’s school and nearby environs…
“I need to go to the privy,” Carrie English, a 7 year old, said to Mrs. Whitby, but loud enough for everybody in the room to hear.
Trent Tolliver looked at the child with irritation. He suspected something like that, and he was prepared for it. He had his men strategically placed around the room. Ed Monger was just inside the back door, with the door open so he could see outside. Hank Frobisher was leaning against the storeroom door, ostensibly keeping an eye on the south part of the yard. Trent and Terrell were standing just inside the classroom, on both sides of the foyer entrance, and, as noted, Ricky Sata had gotten the dirty job of guarding the back of the building to make sure no one tried to approach from that direction. He had talked Hank into flipping a coin for it, but Sata lost anyway.
Trent spoke. “Hank, you and Ed take the kid to the outhouse.”
Hank grumbled. “Why two of us?”
“Because I said so. That’s the only reason you need,” Trent said, angrily.
“All right, all right,” Hank said. “You don’t need to git in a huff about it.”
Two men to take one child to the privy might seem like overkill, but Trent Tolliver was taking absolutely no chances. He never did take any chances he didn’t need to take, which was one reason the Tolliver gang had been so successful over the years.
Mrs. Whitby had been sitting with the children against the south wall. She stood up. “I will go with the child, too.” She had been steadily rebuilding her feisty courage.
“No, you won’t,” Trent said. “You’ll sit back down and keep those other kids calm.”
“Mr. Tolliver,” Mrs. Whitby said with some bite in her voice, “this little girl is rightly scared to death of your hooligans. I demand you allow me to go with this poor child so that she will have at least some comfort along the way.”
Trent wasn’t intimidated. He pulled his gun and pointed it at Mrs. Whitby. “You’ll do what I tell you or you won’t ever do anything again.”
Mrs. Whitby watched as Hank led the child away. The outhouse was at the northeast corner of the lot so they would go out the back door. She looked back at Trent Tolliver. “You won’t get away with this, Mr. Tolliver,” she said.
Trent wished he had a nickel for every time somebody had told him he wouldn’t get away with something. I could retire in France…But he thought he’d have some fun. “I won’t?” he replied.
“No, you will not,” Mrs. Whitby answered. “I’m sure Marshal Baker is, at this very moment, coming up with a plan to thwart your nefarious, unrighteous scheme.”
Terrell was just watching all of this.
Tolliver was amused at the schoolteacher. “I’m sure he is. And I’m really scared. I don’t want to die. Can you help me?”
Mrs. Whitby knew that she was being mocked. “I don’t think anybody can help you, Mr. Tolliver,” she said, sitting down.
“You’re right, Mrs. Whitby. Which is exactly why I help myself. To whatever I want.”
“Tolliver!” It was Ben Baker.
“What do you want, Marshal? Ares those two women here yet?”
Ben didn’t bother answering that. “The parents of those children want to see them, to know that they are ok.” Mayor Dodd has sent some of the men Arthur Prince had rounded up to talk to the parents.
“They’re doing all right,” Tolliver shouted back. “You haven’t heard any gunfire, have you?”
“It won’t hurt to let the children see their father and mother.”
Tolliver motioned to Mrs. Whitby. “Come here, woman.”
Mrs. Whitby almost objected, but realized that would be foolish. So, she arose and walked over to Tolliver. “What do you want?”
“Tell the marshal the kids are fine. He’ll believe you.”
“Why don’t you let the parents see their children? It would be a decent thing for you to do, probably the first decent thing you’ve ever done in your life.”
“Well, I don’t want to break a perfect record of indecency, do I?” Tolliver replied. “Tell them their children are safe and will remain so—as long as Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer arrive by 6 P.M.”
Mrs. Whitby looked up at the outlaw with the stern glare that had terrified her students. It only bored Trent Tolliver. He motioned with his head. “Tell them,” he repeated.
Again, the schoolteacher weighed the odds of disobedience and found the wanting. She lifted her voice. “Marshal, this is Caroline Whitby. You can tell their parents that the children are safe. They won’t be harmed.”
“..as long as the two women are here by 6,” Tolliver coaxed.
Mrs. Whitby gritted her teeth. “As long as Kelly Atkins and Kelly Kramer are here by 6,” she said loud enough for the contingent outside to hear her.
Ben was crouching behind the rock wall again. The parents of the children were standing under the eve of the building next door, anxiously waiting some news. “All right, Tolliver,” Ben shouted. “But you won’t get away with this.”
Another nickel, Trent Tolliver thought with a grin. “Go sit down with the children,” he ordered the teacher, and with some grumbling and bluster for effect, she did just that. Carrie English, the girl who had gone to the privy, was now back with the other students.
“Now, Mrs. Whitby,” Tolliver said, with honey dripping from his voice, “how about some more songs?”
“Ben, will he hurt them?” Marge English, Carrie’s mother asked the River Bend marshal once he had rejoined the families under the dry eve.
Ben exhaled audibly. “I don’t think so, Marge. There’s sort of an honor in these guys. If he says he’ll do something, he’ll do it—provided he gets his way and it doesn’t cost him anything. He loses nothing by letting the children go, because he’ll have Kellys Atkins and Kramer. They’ll be his hostages and he’ll leave with them. He won’t kill them here.”
“You can’t let them have those two girls, Marshal,” said Ether Rankin, the grandfather of one of the children in the school. “That no-good scoundrel will kill ‘em.”
“Mr. Rankin, if you can think of a way out of this, I’d be most glad to hear it.” He looked at his pocket watch. 2:10. “We still have three hours and 45 minutes.”
At that moment, James Derrick rode up, his face grave. He got off his horse and walked over to Ben. He shook his head. “I can’t find Kelly Kramer. The Gold Dust is closed so she’s not there, so I went by Mrs. Bowden’s, where she lives. Mrs. Bowden said Kelly went out to visit a friend yesterday and wouldn’t be back until tonight.”
“What friend?” Ben asked.
“Mrs. Bowden didn’t know. Apparently, Kelly didn’t tell her. She said she thought the two Kellys were pretty close. Maybe Turley will find her up there. Has he gotten back yet?”
“No, but it may be any time now.”
“Do you think Kelly Atkins will come back with him?”
Ben slowly nodded his head. “Yeah. If Turley found her, she’ll be here…”
“Ben, what are we going to do if the two Kellys don’t show up by 6 P.M.?”
Ben still had no answer to that question. Wasn’t even close to one. “I don’t know, Councilman, but I suggest we get our heads together and see if we can come up with something pronto…”