Sack Full of Dollars by Lee Lejeune

Author:Lee Lejeune [Lejeune, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

John Smiley was sleeping in the wagon and his daughter Katie was lying in her cot eight feet away. Her thoughts were far from sleep. She was thinking about two things: Adam Kirk’s offer of marriage, and his warning that she was in danger.

At that moment John Smiley stirred, then he rose and sat on the edge of his cot.

‘So you’re awake?’ Katie said quietly.

‘Sure, I’m awake. Couldn’t sleep,’ he said, though a moment before he had been purring away.

‘I need to talk to you,’ Katie said.

‘Well, I guessed you would some time or other,’ he responded. ‘And it always comes sooner than you expect.’

That wasn’t as particularly good start. ‘I need to talk to you seriously,’ she insisted.

‘Of course,’ he conceded.

‘So you know what I wanted to say?’

‘Well, I have many gifts.’ She could hear the smile in his voice. ‘But one of them isn’t mind-reading.’

Katie swung out of her cot. ‘Adam Kirk asked me to marry him!’ she said abruptly.

John Smiley cackled to himself. ‘Didn’t you expect it?’ he asked.

‘Well, yes, I believe I did,’ she answered almost to her own surprise.

John Smiley was nodding sagaciously in the semi-darkness. ‘And did you say yes?’

‘I didn’t say yes and I didn’t say no,’ she replied. ‘I told him I’d think it over.’

There was a moment’s silence. ‘Seems a decent man,’ he said as if to himself. ‘He’s helped us out of a few scrapes.’

‘Did you know he’s a United States marshal?’

Her father was nodding. ‘I didn’t exactly know, but let’s say I’m not surprised.’

‘He must be at least ten years older than me,’ she ruminated.

‘I guess so. That’s young to be a US marshal, isn’t it?’

‘So, what do you think?’

‘It’s not for me to think; it’s for you to think. Matrimony is a big step in a girl’s life. What you’ve got to ask yourself is, do I care for the man, and will he make a good husband and father?’

Sound advice, Katie thought, but not particularly helpful, especially as John Smiley hadn’t been the best of fathers himself. ‘You know what this means, don’t you?’ she asked.

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ he said.

‘And what are your conclusions?’ she asked.

John Smiley sat on his cot and said nothing for a while. It was as though he had fallen asleep just sitting there. ‘Well now,’ he said, ‘what it means is far-reaching. Being a United States marshal is not being an entertainer. So Mr Kirk couldn’t be expected to fit in with the show business. He’s not that kind of man.’

‘That is true,’ she said deliberately. ‘So, are you saying the show might have to come to an end?’

‘Not necessarily,’ he said. ‘But I might have to consider following a lonesome trail.’

‘How could you do that?’ she asked him. ‘You don’t play the piano, do you?’

‘I can strike out a chord or two, but nowhere near as good as you,’ he said. ‘That comes from your ma.’

They both lapsed into a meditative silence for a while.

‘Well, I’ll just have to think about it, won’t I?’ she said.

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