It was Saturday morning and all the ranchers in the area came together at the Gold Dust Café in River Bend to swap lies, tell stories, talk about their wives, and otherwise waste away the morning eating breakfast and drinking coffee. It was a time for them to relax, and they enjoyed the gathering more than anything else they did during a week.
Kelly Atkins always came to town with her father. She might eat breakfast with him—her mother had died many years before—but she never stayed for the lie-swapping. She had shopping she needed or wanted to do, and up until recently, had usually spent much of the day with her fiancée, Evan Dryer/Nicholas Backstrom. It was still a little unreal to her that he was gone, but more and more, each day, she was becoming adjusted to the idea. She thought about Rob some, and that helped; or it didn’t, because she missed him, too. I wonder if he’ll be back…She started to try again and talk herself into not liking him, but gave it up. He’ll pass, like he did before. There are other men in town, and some of the bolder ones were beginning to show an interest in her. Some of the shyer ones thought she might want a little more time to mourn over Backstrom. She didn’t really care, one way or another.
As she and Fred, her father, entered the Gold Dust that crisp late-February morning, Kelly saw a familiar face—or at least one that she knew but hadn’t seen for a few months. He was eating alone and Kelly mentioned to her father that she would like to go say hello to him. Fred was already greeting the other men around the restaurant, so he didn’t pay her much mind.
The man sitting alone noticed Kelly as she walked over. He gave her a soft smile, though he wasn’t given much to it, and he stood up. “Hello, Kelly. It’s nice to see you. Would you care to join me?”
“Hi, Ben, and thank you, yes, that would be nice.” They both sat down and Kelly looked at Ben Baker. “What are you doing back in town?” she asked him.
Readers of River Bend will remember that Rob Conners had met Ben Baker in the town of Windy, a few hundred miles south of Clearwater, where he was the local barber. He wasn’t especially liked, because he was black. And handsome. And intelligent, and tough. He had quit his job in Windy and traveled with Rob and the settlers up to Clearwater, where he had played a major part in ending the problems that had plagued the valley, i.e., Nicholas Backstrom and Homer Kragan. After that, McConnell had asked him to join the Rangers and Ben had accepted. Kelly hadn’t heard anything from, or about, him since he had left River Bend, so she was surprised to see him.
In answer to her question, he opened his vest and showed her a star on his shirt pocket. Kelly knew that Rangers wore badges—although Allie never did—so she wasn’t surprised to see Ben’s, but he continued to hold the vest aside and she did a double-take. And then shock registered on her face.
“You’re a marshal now? Here? River Bend?”
Ben did have a sense of humor and he could laugh at a funny. And the expression on Kelly’s face tickled him. “I guess you haven’t heard. Yeah, that clown of a sheriff you had resigned and the territorial government decided to move the sheriff’s position to Port Station and put a marshal here in River Bend. The town council contacted me and asked me if I’d like to have the job.” He shrugged. “Sounded good to me, so here I am.”
“Ben, that’s wonderful,” Kelly said, happy for him. She had known that Fagan Doolittle, the sheriff-stooge of Backstrom and Kragan, had quit and skipped town a few weeks before, but she’d heard nothing about a replacement. Then she blurted out, “Rob will be—“ and she stopped. She was going to say, of course, “Rob will be so happy to hear about it,” but then, she didn’t know if Rob ever would hear about it. And the thought of him panged her again.
The waitress showed up just then and took Kelly’s order. She loved ham and eggs, so that’s what she got. Ben was smiling softly at her when the waitress left. “Have you heard from Rob? Do you know where he is?” he asked quietly.
“No, to both questions, Ben. I don’t know…” she sighed, and looked at Ben. “I don’t know what he wants. I thought he wanted a ranch, and Clearwater is a perfect place for him. Lots of good land, the people here think the world of him—“
“You’re here,” Ben interjected.
Kelly glanced at him. “I’m not sure that matters, Ben.”
Ben leaned back in his chair and looked at Kelly thoughtfully. He had finished his meal and was drinking his coffee. “Oh, it matters, Kelly, it matters to him a great deal. But maybe you haven’t detected something about Rob Conners that I noticed almost immediately. Under that ‘tough’ exterior he likes to show, he’s got the biggest heart of any man I’ve ever known. He’ll do things for people, give his money, time, and even risk his life, whether there is anything in it for him or not.”
That thought sent Kelly back a few years when Rob had paid off the Atkins’ $500 bank note—unbeknownst to them--two weeks before Homer Kragan was going to foreclose and take their ranch. And Rob had, indeed, risked his life to help clean Clearwater of a man, Jim Perry, who was trying to take over the whole valley.
Ben continued. “I never told you what he did down in Windy. He saved a man from being hanged—and almost ended up being hanged himself. He stopped a bank robbery all by himself, saving a little boy’s life, at the hazard of his own. He defended me, more than once, in front of the townspeople, who didn’t particularly like the color of my skin.”
Kelly’s eyes began to water, but her meal came and that helped divert her attention.
“He saved a girl from being raped. Then,” Ben said, “he wiped out a nest of vermin who were running that area for their own profit. He brought Clem Everett’s settlers up here, and didn’t take any payment at all, except he asked for two cows which he gave to some starving Indians. I think you know that he went looking for Allie Summer for no reason other than McConnell asked him to, and that almost cost him his life, too. He saved Gail Sanders, and, yeah, that just about got him killed as well; I was there. And he didn’t have to do any of that, Kelly. Nobody ever gave him one thin dime.”
Kelly kept her head down, trying to eat, but it wasn’t easy. He saved me from Nicholas Backstrom, too, or tried to…and all I did was curse and slap him…
“He lost one wife to a gang of thugs, and he ended up being an outlaw because he paid ‘em back. And then another wife left him due to her own stupidity. Do you know how much he must have loved those women, Kelly?”
Kelly didn’t answer; she picked at her food.
Ben was a little angry, but not at her. “This world has never given that man one break, and yet he gives back everything he’s got. Cut him some slack if he needs a little time alone.”
Kelly simply nodded. She didn’t trust herself to say anything.
Ben’s voice softened. “He’ll be back, Kelly, and he’ll be back for you. And if he doesn’t come back, the only reason will be because he loves you so much that he’ll be afraid of losing you, too.”
Kelly closed her eyes and fought, desperately, to hold back tears. “Stop it, Ben, please stop it,” she managed to whisper.
Ben held up his coffee cup to the waitress, indicating he wanted some more. He was also giving Kelly a chance to recover. He changed the direction of the conversation, at least somewhat. “This is a lovely valley,” he said. “That’s why I accepted the job. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to afford any of the land, but I’ll enjoy living here. The town seems calm enough.”
Kelly had gained sufficient control, thanks to Ben’s last statements, to be able to speak. She started eating again, and said, “I thought you wanted to be a Ranger.”
“I thought I did, too,” Ben replied. “But once I started looking at it…” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to roam from place to place, hunting criminals and sleeping on the ground. I know I’ll have to do that occasionally as town marshal, but mostly I’ll have my own bed to sleep in. And, like I said, I really like this valley. The people seem to have accepted me as well.”
“How’s Allie Summer doing?” Kelly asked Ben.
“She reminds me a lot of Rob. She can be hard as nails on the outside, but soft as a pussy cat on the inside. But I’ll tell you something else about her. After Rob Conners, she’s the one person in the world I’d want to ride the river with, but also the one person I’d not want to meet in a dark alley if she was mad at me. You ever hear of the Bradford Buckner gang?”
Kelly thought a moment. “I’ve heard of them, but I don’t know much about them.”
“Five of them. They were about as ruthless, barbaric, and savage as any group of men that’s ever hit this territory. Allie got them all by herself. She’s unbelievable.”
Kelly idly played with the fork in her plate. “Did she…ever talk about Rob?”
Ben smiled. “Haven’t heard her say a word about him since we all left River Bend. She could have her pick of any man in the Rangers, but they’re all afraid of her.” Kelly laughed.
Right then, an old timer hobbled over and said, “Hey, Marshal, Rance Leggett’s barbecuin’ a sow this afternoon and invitin’ lots of folks to come. Asked me to see if you’d like to join us.” He looked at Kelly. “He’s invitin’ you and your pa, too, Miss Kelly. I done spoke to Fred.”
Kelly smiled at him and nodded. “Thanks, Hoppy.”
“Tell Rance to count me in, Hoppy. What time does it start?”
“He’s gonna commence cookin’ about 2:30, so if you want to eat high on the hog, you better come early.” Ben and Kelly laughed.
“I’ll be there,” the new marshal said.
“I’m sure we’ll come, too,” Kelly said. “Dad never passes up a good barbecue.” She felt better now.
Ben had a pleasant, almost dreamy smile on his handsome face. He caught himself and looked at Kelly. “That’s why I like it here, Kelly. These people accept me for what I am, and don’t judge me by who my ancestors were.”
Kelly smiled at him. “I’m happy for you, Ben. And I’m happy you’re here. And if Rob does come back, I know he’ll be tickled pink to know you’re the town marshal.”
“Maybe I’ll make a deputy out of him. Then I wouldn’t have to work at all.” Kelly laughed.
Ben stood up. “I need to go. Call on me if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Ben.”
“I’ll see you this afternoon.” He pitched some coins on the table, enough to cover his breakfast and Kelly’s, and a tip, too. Kelly started to argue, but didn’t. She knew Ben wanted to do it, and she didn’t want to disparage him the opportunity.
She sat there for a few moments, thinking about what Ben had said. Will Rob come back? Does he really love me as much as Ben says he does? I don’t know about that…do I love him? Or is he still…a comeback from Evan?..
Kelly wasn’t really sure of the answer to that last question because thoughts of Evan Dryer did still cause her some pain…
That afternoon, while Ben, the Atkins, and much of River Bend were at Rance Leggett’s barbecue, four men came riding into town.
“Ain’t nobody here, Top,” Gus Ferrara said to the second oldest Tolliver brother. “We could hit the bank right now and nobody’d know till Monday.”
“Hold your horses, Gus, we can’t do that and you know it. We’re still in Montana. But we can have some fun.” He shook his head, a little frustrated. “I hear there is money in this valley, though, and a bunch of it will be in that bank. But let’s don’t go off half-cocked. There’s a new marshal in town and we need to size him up, see if he’s got any craw. Then I’ll decide what to do.” The “I’ll decide” wasn’t lost on the other three men. And they accepted it. Top was…top man, and he’d never steered them wrong. Besides, Trent Tolliver would kill them if they crossed Top; that is, if Top didn’t kill them himself.
The other two men with Top and Gus were Snarky Allen and Lem Unser. Snarky was a little fellow, barely five feet tall, but he was quick with a gun. Not in Tristy’s league, but faster than most men, and he’d proven it a few times. Lem was a tall, big, easy-going fellow, except when he got some liquor in him. Then he could be fighting mean. Top tried to control them, but he let them have their fun, too. After all, why go out and rob banks if you aren’t going to enjoy the money with booze, women, gambling, and a few good fist fights?
They found out that night whether the new marshal had any “craw” or not. Actually, the people of River Bend had wondered that as well; Ben hadn’t really been tested since he’d taken the lawman job not long before. The four Tolliver men decided to spend the evening at the Royal Flush saloon, where they could pleasure themselves to their heart’s content. Lots of booze, women, and gambling…and men who might be good for a fist fight.
Top had a bit of an arrogant streak in him and liked to put people in their place right off. He’d been to River Bend a few times before, just passing through, so most of the bartenders in town knew him. The bartender at the Royal Flush was a stocky, muscular, mustachioed man named Nate Nation, and he’d seen plenty of outlaws and toughs and wasn’t inclined to take any guff off any of them.
Top and his men walked into the Royal Flush about dark. It was a little larger than most saloons because of the gaming tables in the back, but other than that, it was fairly typical. A bar that stretched about halfway across the room, and tables scattered here and there. Off to the left was a staircase that led upstairs. A piano, actually in tune and being played by a fairly accomplished pianist, was softly making melody. There were already a number of men in the saloon and the “waitresses” were serving them in appropriate—or inappropriate, however you look at it—ways. Top moseyed up to the bar. Nate was polishing a beer glass and looked at him.
Top smirked at him. “Do you know my name?” he asked Nate.
“Why? Don’t you?”
“Oh, a funny guy,” Top said, but before he could go any further, Nate pulled out a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun, cocked it, and pointed it at him.
“Yeah, I know who you are, Tolliver, and I’d just as soon splatter your guts to eternity as look at you. And I’ll do it, too, if you give me any trouble. You’re welcome to stay here and enjoy our…facilities…as long as you’d like. But I’ve got the patience of a momma bear robbed of her whelps and my finger was bitten by an ant today and is awfully itchy. So don’t you or your thug buddies be starting anything. Got it?”
The barroom got quiet very quickly as everybody looked at Nate and Top. The Tolliver brother narrowed his eyes at the bartender, but didn’t see any give at all. So, he just raised his hands placatingly. “Now, now, now, don’t go off half-cocked, barkeep, we’re just here for a good time, not to cause any trouble. Ok?”
“You’re welcome to the first, not to the second. I just want you to know the lay of the land in this saloon. And to show you I mean no harm, either, your first drink is on the house. The rest you pay for, just don’t pay for it with your blood.”
“Fair enough, and thanks for the drink,” Top said, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy. But he was also smart enough not to needlessly stir up a pot of trouble, so he let the matter pass—for the moment. He spoke to Lem, Snarky, and Gus. “Have a good time, boys, but mind your manners. We wouldn’t want Beer Mug here”—meaning Nate—“to think we were anything but peaceful and nice fellows.”
Nate grunted, but poured their drinks. Lem and Snarky stayed at the bar, Top and Gus took a bottle and went to look for a gambling game they could get into.
Well, as noted earlier, Lem could get a little nasty when he got a little liquor in him, and it tended to loosen his tongue. “River Bend,” he said, loud enough for the patrons near him to hear—and that was intentional. “What a rat hole of a town. There ain’t enough here to wipe my….” And he continued on in that vain for a little while, getting cruder and cruder.
Finally, Stan Lighter, who was one of the customers standing nearby at the bar, and a pretty big fellow himself, said to Lem, “Listen, buster, if you don’t like our town, nobody’s keeping you here. The same road that brought you in here will take your sorry carcass out. Some of us will help you if you ain’t smart enough to find the way yourself.”
“Watch it, Stan,” Nate warned.
“You heard him, Nate. He started it. I’m not about to let him insult River Bend like that.”
This was just what Lem was looking for. “Yeah, I started it, and I’m going to finish it,” he said, red-eyed and ready for a good brawl. He cocked a fist intending to smash Stan’s jaw with it.
He never threw the punch. Somebody caught his wrist and held on to it. “I think Stan had a pretty good idea, mister. If you can’t hold your booze, you don’t belong in River Bend.”
With a shocked expression on his face—and unable to move his fist forward—Lem turned and stared…into the face of Marshal Ben Baker, who was holding tightly to Lem’s wrist.
“Who are you?” Then he saw the badge on Ben’s chest. He relaxed his arm and snorted a chuckle. “You’re the law? You mean you people got a nigger for a marshal?? I knew this town was the basement of an outhouse and this proves it.”
Stan Lighter stepped over. “Marshal, can I bust him one? Please let me bust him. He’s asking for it.”
“No, Stan,” Ben said, releasing Lem’s arm. “I’ll just invite him to either leave River Bend or he can be the guest of the town tonight.” The implication of that last statement was clear to Lem—a guest in the town jail.
Snarky was standing by and giggling. “I can’t believe it. A nigger for a marshal. Ain’t these folks got no pride at all? Get him, Lem. I never knew a nigger who could whip his own mother, much less a man.”
In response to that, Ben did something that caused every jaw in the joint to drop. He picked a surprised Snarky up and threw him, like a spear, out of the saloon. Over the top of the swinging doors. The outlaw squealed the whole way and landed with a thunk in the street. As noted, Snarky wasn’t very big, but still Ben had eyeballs popping at that one.
“Lord A’mighty. I ain’t never seed nuthin’ like that a’fore,” one man commented in awe.
“Yeah, out the saloon, over the doors…”
Ben looked at Lem. “You want to go next?”
Lem snarled and threw a punch. Ben leaned back away from it and so the fist never landed, and then the marshal rammed a right into Lem’s gut. The big man doubled over, but he wasn’t especially hurt; he was into his game now. Quicker than Ben expected, Lem raised up and landed a left on Ben’s jaw. It staggered the Negro a bit and Lem charged forward--only to run into Ben’s solid left jab. From that point on, the River Bend lawman kept the outlaw off balance with quick, hard jabs and the occasional fist to the gut. Lem was able to land a few punches but they were ineffectual because Ben had him backing up. Finally, Ben through a right uppercut with all his strength and weight behind it, and it landed solidly under Lem’s chin. The Tolliver man grunted and fell backwards to the floor, dazed, but not unconscious. He didn’t get up.
Ben turned and looked around the room to see if Lem had any accomplices who wanted to join the fray. Almost as soon as he turned his back, he heard a loud blast, and sought the source. Nate was pointing the shotgun at the roof and had let loose one barrel. Some debris fell from the ceiling. Then the bartender slowly lowered the gun and pointed it. He was staring—and aiming the shotgun—behind Ben, at the batwing doors of the saloon.
“Don’t try it, little man, or there won’t be enough of you left to scrape up with a spoon.”
Ben turned and looked and Snarky was standing there with his hand on his gun butt. Apparently, he’d been about to draw it, but he had second thoughts.
Snarky was glancing around the room, snake-eyed, but he slowly took his hand off the gun. “I wasn’t going to draw, I was just makin’ sure everything was going fair in here.”
“Everything is all right,” Nate responded, “and we don’t need your help.” He nodded at his marshal and Ben nodded back.
Top Tolliver came up to Ben. “I’m sorry about the ruckus, Marshal. These are my men. I try to keep them in line, but Lem there doesn’t hold his liquor very well and likes to scrap when he gets a little soused. Snarky’s got no manners, either. I’ll take care of them. If they cause any more trouble, they’ll answer to me.”
“No, they’ll answer to me, Tolliver,” Ben replied firmly. “And they’ll answer either with a long stay in jail or a quick trip out of town. We don’t need—or want—you or your men running loose in River Bend. So keep a tight lid on it or beat it. Because if you don’t do one or the other, I’ll do it for you.”
Tolliver’s face turned red and he flexed his right hand a few times, as if wanting to go for his gun. But he didn’t. “So you know who I am.”
“I make it a point to know who comes to my town, Tolliver. And where they are. And what they are doing. Now, as far as I’ve been able to determine you aren’t wanted for anything in this territory.” Ben’s eyes were flint hard as they stared into Top’s. “For your sake, keep it that way.”
Top scowled. “We’ve done nothing wrong, Marshal. We get accused of a lot of things, but nobody has ever proven any of it.” Then, in what appeared to be a disinterested, bored movement, he shrugged. “Our family likes to move around, travel. We’re seen a lot of places and people think we’re outlaws. But it’s not true.”
Ben heard Nate grunt. “Where does your family get the money to do all this… traveling?” Ben asked.
Top didn’t especially like the question. “We’re independently wealthy.”
"Yeah, they free a lot of banks of money,” Nate put in. Top gave the bartender a seriously nasty look.
“How long are you going to be in town?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve been on the trail and need to give our horses a blow. But we won’t be here long.”
Ben turned away. “I’ll be watching you. Every step of the way.”
Lem was standing up now, working his jaw. “That’s a mean left jab and right uppercut you got, Marshal. Teach me sometime?”
“I think you’re mean enough without learning any more punches,” Ben said. “Lay off the booze for the rest of the night or I’ll be back.” He left the saloon, looking down at Snarky, who scowled at him, as he did.
“Looks like we got us a good ‘un, Nate,” one of the men at the bar said. “Marshal, I mean.”
Top watched Ben leave, a gravely thoughtful expression on his face. “Boys, let’s go. I ain’t having no luck at poker, Gus can’t even pick up a whore, and Lem you took a swing at the wrong man this time.” Then he gave Snarky a sour grin. “Never knew you could fly, Snarky.”
The little man scowled again. “That Marshall better not—“
“You leave the Marshal alone,” Top said. “Come on, I’m ready to go. See you around, barkeep.”
“There’s plenty of other saloons in town, Tolliver,” Nate responded, “and a whole lot more on the other side of the territory.” Top just grunted and walked out the door, his men trailing behind him.
They headed for the hotel, turning their coat collars up against a biting wind that had risen that evening. Top stopped about midway down the block and stared at the bank a few doors down and across the street.
“That Marshal seems kinda tough, boys. We can’t hit the bank anyway, as much as I’d like to now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rough up the town a bit. We have to put that nigger in his place, where he belongs. The same place Indians need to be. Six feet underground.” He smiled a wicked smile.
“Let me have him, Top. I’d like to put a few bullets in him before I shoot him between the eyes,” Snarky said.
“Naw, he’s mine,” Lem said. “If I hadn’t been so drunk, he’da been easy pickin’s.”
“If you ask me, they ought to both stay out of his way,” Gus snorted. Then, “I don’t know, Top. This town seems a mite dangerous to me. Don’t you think we might be better moving on and just leave it be?”
“No, Gus. We owe this place. That bartender’s got to have a comeuppance, and we need to get rid of that marshal. We’ve got the Tolliver name to protect.” He grinned—evilly, again—at his companions. “Snarky, let’s figure out a way to provoke him into a gunfight. Then it would be self-defense.” He looked at the little man with a sarcastic grin. “You aren’t going to let a slave out-draw you, are you?”
Snarky grunted, and the others laughed. The problem was, Top wasn’t trying to be funny.