Shaye stuck his head out the window, looked both ways, and saw Cotton to his right.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Thanks to you. Inside?”
“They’re all dead,” Shaye said. “You better come in.”
Instead of using the window, Cotton went around to the front of the bank, where he ran into Thomas and James.
“Where’s Pa?” Thomas asked.
“Inside,” Cotton said. “He’s fine. You boys?”
“We got the other two,” James said.
They all went inside.
“Back here,” the guard called.
They entered the vault area and found Shaye standing over Belinda’s body.
“What happened?” James asked.
“I guess Jeb wasn’t so forgiving, after all,” Shaye said. “He was going to use her to rob the bank and then kill her anyway.”
“Looks like he didn’t want to leave any witnesses,” Cotton said, looking at the dead bodies of Tanner and Brown, “and didn’t want to share the money.”
There were two other bags of cash on the floor near the bank manager, as Jeb had only been able to handle one.
“Speaking of witnesses,” Thomas said, “where is the hardware store guy?”
They all went back into the manager’s office and found Alvin Simon hiding underneath the manager’s desk. He was alive…
77
Shaye looked down at the coffin that contained the body of Belinda Davis, then across the graveyard at the small group gathered around the bank manager’s resting place.
Thomas and James were beside him and across from him was Sheriff Cotton and his wife, Marion holding the child in her arms. They had already decided to adopt the baby and to keep the name Matthew.
When the first shovel of dirt struck the casket, Shaye turned and started walking away. He could still hear his own handful of dirt as it landed on the coffin of his wife—and later Matthew. The pain of their deaths never seemed to go away.
Thomas and James followed, then came the sheriff and his wife.
They walked back to town, where their horses were already saddled. It had been two days since the shooting in the bank. The town was grateful to the sheriff and his deputies for saving the deposit money. Cotton was hailed as a hero who led his men against the bank robbers.
Their horses were waiting in front of the sheriff’s office. There they said good-bye to Marion and to Little Matt. Just the night before, James had asked Shaye, “Do you think she ever really even knew Matthew?”
“It really doesn’t matter, James,” Shaye replied, “does it?”
Now they turned and each shook hands with the sheriff as Marion returned home with Little Matt.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you all did,” the sheriff said. “It’s ironic how it was Belinda who brought you here.”
“I don’t think she really knew what she wanted,” Shaye said, “and because of that she brought us all to this place to meet.”
“What will you do now?” Cotton asked. “Go back to your ranch and try to make a go of it?”
“Only to sell it,” Shaye said, looking at his sons. “We’ve decided to find someplace that needs a sheriff and a couple of deputies. Wearing a badge gets into your blood.”
“Well, I wish you luck, wherever you end up,” Cotton said. “If you ever want to come back here, I’ve got three badges waiting for you.”
They all mounted up and looked down at Sheriff Cotton.
“Try to make a lawman out of young Thad,” Shaye said. “Tell him we said good-bye.”
“I will.”
They turned their horses and rode out of Pearl River Junction. There had been no grandson, but since they had decided once again to uphold the law, the entire trip had not been such a waste.
About the Author
ROBERT J. RANDISI is the creator and writer of the popular series The Gunsmith, under the pseudonym “J.R. Roberts.” He has written many other Western novels under his own name.
Books by Robert J. Randisi
The Sons of Daniel Shaye
PEARL RIVER JUNCTION
VENGEANCE CREEK
LEAVING EPITAPH
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
PEARL RIVER JUNCTION. Copyright © 2006 by Robert J. Randisi. All rights reserved.