Rogue Law by Paul Lederer

Author:Paul Lederer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480488441
Publisher: Open Road Media

SIX

I was in and then I was out. One minute Judge Plank was pleased I was at the courthouse and, as I waited, Mayor Jefferson, also pleased to see me came in, shook my hand and disappeared into the judge’s chambers. The next minute Plank’s court clerk came up and told me that the judge was in an emergency session, he would be pleased to see me at a later time.

Shrugging, I rose, put on my hat and sauntered toward the courthouse door. I brushed past a tall stranger who wore a long dark flowing mustache. He assessed me with keen gray eyes, looked for a moment as if he would speak to me and then passed on. I saw the clerk wave him along to the judge’s inner office. Apparently the stranger was involved in the emergency session, whatever it was about.

I sloughed off the snub. It was only a minor inconvenience. Indio was in no hurry to be arraigned, and he was secure where he was. I simply shuffled my schedule a little and decided that since I was now free of my obligations to the town, I might as well proceed to take care of my own.

There was an eerie silence across the land. It was clouding up a little, not much, but the wind was beginning to gust and crackle through the brush. I glanced northward, thinking that it might soon be raining dust. It didn’t happen often, but now and then at this time of the year the weather shifted so that the north wind carrying thin clouds with it would drift across the desert and while scant rain was falling from the skies, sand was picked up by the stronger winds below and you would get a sort of a moist dust storm falling from the sky.

I passed two freight wagons, creaking slowly along across the yellow land. These at least were not carrying more of Matti’s furniture to the Rafter L, but sawn lumber. I reined up at my turn-off to watch them, but they passed the Rafter L road and continued on. They had to be going to the Hatchet ranch, then. That figured – Reg Kent was the only rancher around who could afford such material. I had to wonder what he planned to do with all that wood, but I knew he would answer my questions about the time ice invaded the lower regions.

I found Matti on the front porch, broom in hand, industriously sweeping as if anything could keep dust from coating it again just as thickly within an hour. I wondered again why she, any woman, would wish to live out in this sorry corner of nowhere.

I didn’t see Virgil around, and his little blue roan was missing from the corral, so he was probably upcountry, looking over the herd. My herd. If anyone was looking after them it should have been me. If anyone was crazy enough to sweep off the porch, that should have been me as well.

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