Drawing closer to them and settling down on a chair as the children surrounded her, she began reading aloud.
Chapter 12
“Good day, Marshal.”
Adam tilted his hat at the court clerk and made his way out of the building into the warm sunshine.
He paused to look at some of the cowboys standing in front of the Royal Bell Saloon. From the way they were arguing at the top of their voices, he reckoned that trouble would burst out soon.
So, he decided to wait, in case something happened. He didn’t want any disturbance in the town. The atmosphere was generally peaceful.
He shook his head as the men continued arguing.
Some people just love raising sand.
From the slur in the voices, he knew they were roostered. Why they would decide to get themselves drunk when it wasn’t yet noon beat him.
A movement caught the corner of his eyes. Immediately, with his heart racing, he turned in the direction of the woman walking past him.
He opened his mouth to call out to the woman and then realized his mistake.
It wasn’t Olivia.
Darn!
This wasn’t the first time he was mistaking a woman for Olivia. Every woman with blonde tresses seemed to be Olivia in his eyes.
Sighing with disappointment, he removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair before replacing the hat on his head.
“Why do I keep doing this?” he muttered tightly.
He returned his gaze to the saloon and was relieved to see that the drunken men had dispersed.
His eyes roamed around the street and he noticed that they went in different directions. Satisfied that there would be no trouble, he walked toward his office.
“Marshal.”
Adam turned around to see the smiling face of Amos Sanders. Adam returned the smile. He particularly liked the sheriff’s deputy as he appeared to be different from the others.
Adam reckoned that the only reason Amos wasn’t publicly helping him with the case was out of fear of the sheriff. Adam had noticed that the deputies were somewhat afraid of their boss.
At first, he had thought it was out of respect for the older, but when Amos had to whisper or hide to pass on information to him, Adam understood the real reason.
“How have you been, Amos?” Adam questioned when the deputy caught up with him and the two men fell into pace together.
“I’ve been good, Marshal,” Amos replied with a smile. “How was your journey?”
Adam had been away from town to one of the Indian reservations in the area. He had met Sioux Indians who had almost been violent. It had taken him a while, but he had been able to tell them he came in peace. The half-Indian man he had taken along with him as an interpreter just in case none of the Indians spoke English had been terrified. But Adam had made him stand his ground.
Eventually, they were able to communicate with the Indians and Adam found out that they, too, had been raided recently. And it was still the same excuse. The Indians had been accused by the white men of cattle rustling they knew nothing about.
“It was revealing. It seems folks around here have decided to take the law into their hands. And lawmen have also resolved not to do anything about it.”
Amos didn’t say anything. Instead, his face turned red. “You don’t understand, Marshal.”
“I think I do. You all have grown so lackadaisical over the years due to the low crime rate in these parts. So, you’re finding it difficult to carry on with your duties and your vows to serve and protect.”
Amos shook his head ruefully. “You really don’t understand, Marshal.”
