City of Gold by Will Hobbs

Author:Will Hobbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-05-15T16:00:00+00:00

18

Cries of Pride and Grief

WITH EMOTIONS RUNNING so high, Merlin told me, the Miners Hall would be packed that evening. When I said I was hoping to go, Merlin didn’t hesitate. “Jacob would want you there. What’s one more sardine in the can?”

Merlin wondered if I’d been able to talk with the marshal. “I did,” I said. “It wasn’t exactly a conversation. It felt like cat and mouse, and he was the cat.”

“He’s the cat, all right, and he’s been jumpy as one lately. Talk has it he’s got four Winchester rifles ready at certain locations around town. He’s always had enemies, but more so since he got his job back.”

“I got the idea he’s a fighting man.”

“Of the first order, fists or guns. He’s a crack shot with revolver or rifle—the fence out at the cemetery is his personal shooting range. Certain letters in the signs are his targets. When he first came to town, back in ’87, Telluride wasn’t like you find it now. I mean to say, it was rough.”

“How rough?”

“Well, the rowdies and the bandits were running wild and shooting up the place—had a regular reign of terror going. When Jim Clark came to town, he was digging ditch for a pipeline. In the midst of a ruckus, he walked into the mayor’s office and said he would arrest the malefactors if he had a badge. And he did, without firing a shot.”

“But how?”

“Cracking the toughs up the side of the head with his six-shooter! He marched them to the clink and that was that. Jim Clark got my vote in the special election for marshal. He became a fearsome presence on horseback or patrolling afoot. At the same time he was making extra money as a bill collector. Down from the mountain, in town socializing or gambling, you’d get a tap on your shoulder. Uh-oh, it was the marshal. All he’d say was the name of the merchant you owed money to, which meant you better pay up quick. Clark is nothing if not an enigma. On occasion he helps the needy and the old folks. Does chores, makes repairs.”

“Yet he shows no interest in helping me,” I said bitterly.

“Nobody knows what to expect from Jim Clark. Likes to keep you guessing.”

“So, what do you make of the talk about him being in on the bank robbery in ’89?”

“In cahoots with Butch? A lot of folks believe he was, me included. That’s not the only story in that vein. He may have done some moonlighting in various disguises as a hold-up man. Typically the victims were on their way out of town after withdrawing their money from the bank. He was also rumored to be on the take when stagecoaches with gold shipments were robbed. Suchlike suspicions, along with his foul temper and brutal treatment of prisoners, led to his firing after the Butch Cassidy robbery. His history before Telluride is murky, but he’s said to be from Missouri and to have fought with Quantrill’s Raiders.

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