Second Chances for Nathan Chapter 4, Part 5, Page 19

Bill watched the man sit down slowly with his hands up. Checking to see if he had a gun or a knife, Bill put his gun back in his holster, and stepped in the room. "Who are you?" Bill questioned, "and why are you here?"

The stranger replied, "I have nothing to hide. I am looking for Wyman Walden. He told me he was investing my money and last I heard, he was buying this saloon."

Bill interrupted, "Well that's true, he did buy the saloon, but this place is no longer his. The town objected to his proposal and two of us bought him out. He is no longer here. So, go on."

"Damn, just my luck. Now all my money is gone," the man shook his head and continued "My name is Sam Tremblay and I come from Brookfield. I was helping out the ladies at the new orphanage with repairs so they could pass inspection."

Bill stopped him again, "So if I talk to Lillian or Grace, or better yet, Mountie Gabe, will any of them verify this for you?"

"Yes, yes we became friends. Before I met them, I was looking for work. I'm a prospector and always looking for odd jobs to make some cash. They hired me right on the spot, and I'm beholden to them."

"How did you come across Walden?" Bill inquired.

"He was in town looking for people, dumb like me, to put money in for investment purposes. I figured it was a mighty good idea and so I gave him almost all the money I had. I've been following him by foot and took a few jobs here and there along the way. People told me he had been trying to buy businesses and property at most places I was at." Sam informed Bill.

"Listen here Sam, Bill explained, "Walden is a very sneaky character, I'm afraid you were swindled by him. One of the men here in town gave him all his savings, but luckily we got it back for him. I don't know if we can help you out, but you need to give me some receipts and I'll talk with Mountie Gabe. He's supposed to be by here sometime this week. However, I will call him and check on your story with him first. Now, explain to me how you got in here!"

"I saw a window open on the second floor in the back, so I climbed up and looked around. When I saw it was vacant, I just found a room and slept in the bed. I figured Walden owed me at least that." Sam said.

"A window was open?" Bill looked puzzled. "How in the world did we miss that? I want you to come with me to my office. I'm Judge Bill Avery and I will call Mountie Gabe now."

Sam stood up and followed Bill over to his office. Lee noticed through his window the two of them walking across the street and asked Rosemary, "Do you know who that is with Bill?"

Rosemary replied, "No, Lee I don't know, but we should go find out!" and like a flash was out the door and walking with purpose headed for Bill's office.

"Wait Rosemary!" Lee pleaded. "It's better we let Bill handle this. If we need to know, he'll tell us. Come on back."

"Oh, but I can't miss a tip on a newsworthy article" Rosemary stammered, but reluctantly heeded Lee's advice.

Bill was able to reach Gabe and confirmed that Sam did indeed help the ladies at the orphanage with repairs and seemed like a trustworthy man, but he didn't know much more about him. Bill thanked him and told him he was looking forward to seeing him later that week.

"You do know that I could arrest you for trespassing, but I won't seeing as how you had no idea that Walden was no longer here. I do want to get to the bottom of all this." If you have no work right now, I have an idea. Let's walk over to the Coulter Lumber Company."

Bill and Sam walked into Lee's office. "Hey Lee, I've got a situation that we need to discuss. This is Sam Tremblay." and with that he proceeded to give Lee the lowdown on what he knew and his idea to allow Sam to stay at Billees tonight. "I think we can put Sam to work for his room and board. We've got plenty to do at Billees. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a good plan!" Lee confirmed. "I think we can let him in through the door so he doesn't have to sneak through the window now."

"Yea, I can't figure out how we missed the window being open!" Bill muttered.

Rosemary had been listening intently to their conversation without saying a word. She had to get the details correct for The Valley Voice. Then she heard them say that Sam had gotten in through a window. Was that her fault? She remembered when the sewing circle was upstairs measuring for curtains, it was warm and stuffy. Rosemary opened the window to let air through, but never closed it. OH NO she thought, it was her fault.

"Lee, darling," she wiggled her finger to come over to her. "I was the one who opened the window, but I didn't mean to leave it open, I just forgot."

Lee smiled at his lovely wife, "Honey, right now I'm glad everything is fine. Don't worry your pretty little head over this." and kissed her on her forehead.

"Lee, I'm not going to write about this." she smiled. "I will introduce Sam with a positive article."

"Good idea," Lee assured her. Then he, Bill, and Sam walked over to Abigail's to get some lunch and discuss what Sam would do at Billees.