“What decision is that?” Edward narrowed his eyes. “You aren’t pulling out, are you?”
Charlie laughed. “No, just the opposite. I’ve found a house I want to buy, along with the land beside it to build a school for boys. I want out of the banking business. This proved to me once and for all that this job isn’t for me. I’mnot a banker, and my father is just going to have to accept that.”
“Sure glad you aren’t planning to go. I was just starting to think of you as a friend.”
“Of course I’m your friend, Edward. I figure God put us together for a reason. Maybe catching Jefferson is the purpose. Who can say?”
“Well, whatever the purpose, I’m glad you’re sticking around. I’d best head out. I still have to make the rounds. Working during the day now has me kind of mixed up. I got so used to working at night that it still seems I ought to be sleeping.”
“Thanks for coming by to tell me about the posse.”
“No problem.”
Edward was hardly gone two minutes when the front door opened again, and no fewer than a half dozen brawny men entered. Charlie recognized most as railroad workers and freighters. Men with the muscle to impose their will. He made his way to the front of the bank to greet them.
“Afternoon, gentlemen. How may I help you?”
“You can give us our money,” one of the men asserted. The others nodded their heads in agreement. “And don’t be tellin’ us we shouldn’t worry about whether it’s safe,” the man continued. “We know it ain’t.”
“We’ve been workin’ and just got back to town to hear there was a robbery and our money might be gone. I worked hard for that money,” a tall, well-muscled man declared. He probably had forty pounds on Charlie.
“Don’t try to change our minds neither,” a shorter but equally robust man with a beard and mustache said. “We want our moneynow.”
Charlie knew that it would be easy enough to make ascene about the money and how they didn’t need to worry, but he also knew it wouldn’t change their minds. He called each man to the teller’s cage one by one. He prayed, asking God’s guidance in his words and manner. The last thing he wanted to do was further upset these men. He looked up their accounts and counted out their money and had them sign the receipt.
“I appreciate that you trusted us with your business. I’m sorry you feel you can no longer work with us. Given the circumstances, however, I understand. I accept responsibility for this.”
This seemed to surprise the men, who in the beginning looked as if they were just itching for a fight.
“Well, it ... it ain’t you personally,” one of the men said, stuffing his money in his trouser pockets.
“No. It’s not you, Mr. Decker.” This came from a man Charlie had seen at church.
He smiled. “I know it’s not me. It’s the situation that has angered you. You’re worried that if you don’t take your money now, someone else might. I completely understand. You have to look out for yourselves. There are a lot of bad people in this world. I hope you have a good day, gentlemen.”
He left them standing there in the lobby and went back to his desk. Charlie had hoped after the initial run on the bank that people would settle down and not worry if the bank could keep their money safe. Now, with these fellas taking out their cash, Charlie worried word would get around, and people would once again get stirred up and come to demand their money. If they did, Charlie wasn’t sure if there would be enough cash to cover all the withdrawals.
The men left without another word, and Charlie was relieved to see that it would soon be closing time. A wave ofdiscouragement washed over him. All of his life, he had tried so hard to please his father and do as he asked. If it hadn’t been for his father telling him how much he needed him, how now more than any other time it was imperative that Charlie do as he requested ... Charlie wouldn’t even be here.
But if he hadn’t come to Cheyenne, he never would have met Melody or Clancy. He never would have met the woman he intended to marry. Never dared to dream of a boys’ school to the point where he was ready to purchase the land and see the place built.
He supposed the good was bound to be mingled with the bad, and yet it seemed almost too much to think about. In some ways, he wondered if he would lose his father just as Melody had lost hers. Would this be the final thing that caused his father to turn away from him once and for all?
It wasn’t that his father was unreasonable. Not really. He was assertive and focused on the vision he had for his family and business. He had his plans and didn’t brook interference. Father was a man of strength and character whose impeccable reputation for getting things done had made him a man of high regard in the Chicago area and elsewhere.
Charlie buried his face in his hands. “God, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I don’t want Father to think I’m walking away because of what Jefferson did, but it sure didn’t help things at all.
“I also feel Clancy’s death deeply. Even though I didn’t even know him that long, I feel as if I lost a dear friend. And, of course, there’s Melody and my feelings for her.”
He raised his head and looked for a long while at the ceiling. Was God even listening? Charlie had never felt so alone.
20
Jefferson stretched and got up from the straw-filled mattress. It was old and so worn that there wasn’t a lot of comfort to be had, but for now it would suffice.
He’d been hiding in the hunting cabin for nearly a week and was finally starting to relax. There had been no sign of anyone snooping around or coming to see who was in the place. Not that there was anyone else living in the area.
The cabin belonged to his father, and Jefferson had been there on many occasions as a boy. His father used it for his hunting trips and sometimes just to get away. Jefferson had never cared much for it. Hunting and fishing didn’t interest him, and living without the amenities he was used to was unbearable. But he had had little choice in the matter. As an only son, he was expected to do whatever his father demanded.
