The Devil's Marshal by I. J. Parnham

Author:I. J. Parnham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Culbin Press
Published: 2022-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

As Brodie didn’t know when the devil’s marshal would return, he devoted his energies to moving, snake-like, across the floor to the door. This took him fifteen minutes, as after every few movements he had to stop to get his breath back and rest his strained muscles.

There was nothing in the bare room he could use to free himself and he reckoned that if he kept moving until sunup, he would struggle to get even a dozen yards away from the cemetery. As it turned out, the closed door was an insurmountable obstacle.

He planted his encased feet against the door and tried rocking it open. Then he swung around and nudged it with his chin, to no avail. Once he’d accepted he couldn’t free himself, the afternoon dragged on until, with the light dimming, hoofbeats approached.

Brodie tried to keep his fear at bay as he listened to the rider draw up and dismount. He held on to the hope that the devil’s marshal had targeted specific men and he had no reason to kill him.

Even so, he exhaled his breath with a relieved sigh when the door edged open and Deputy Farlow came inside, his surprised expression turning to a delighted one when he noted Brodie’s predicament.

“So while I was looking everywhere for Levander, you were resting up out here,” Erskine said with a sarcastic gleam in his eye.

“How did you find me?” Brodie asked after the deputy had stopped gloating and had started to free him.

“My former boss saw you heading this way earlier, so I retraced your movements,” Erskine said.

His neutral tone acknowledged that he knew how Brodie would react to this information, so Brodie limited himself to a scowl. When they headed back to town, Brodie told him what had happened to Levander. Erskine said nothing, but when they arrived back at the law office, he made him a coffee.

“At least four men are dead,” Brodie said wearily between sips from his steaming mug. “Has Hamilton ever had as bad a time as this one?”

“No, but then again you’ve never been the marshal here before. You’ll never replace Kyle. He looked for outlaws, not ghosts.”

“The man who kidnapped Levander was no ghost.”

“Except nobody else has seen this specter who haunts the depot and now the cemetery. I reckon you invented that story to cover up the fact your sister’s free and the dead and the missing are men who testified against her.” Erskine chuckled when Brodie frowned. “You have only another day to sort this out and then it’ll be the new marshal’s responsibility.”

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself. Kyle didn’t think you were good enough to be marshal, so I doubt anyone else will.”

Erskine supped his coffee, his pensive expression promising that any attempt Brodie made to explain what had happened and what he suspected would receive sarcasm and veiled accusations. Brodie wasn’t in the mood to trade words and, when he finished his coffee, he headed back to the hotel.

To his surprise, Lucinda and Genevieve were in his room.

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