At the jail, the girls got out of the buggy, and went inside. Val was not at the desk, or in the office at all.
"Maybe he had to go tend to something," Teresa said.
Charlie went to touch the coffee pot the way that she'd seen Johnny do. "The coffee pot is still warm," she said. "He hasn't been
gone long."
"Well, we could go on over to the Silverman's. Maybe Val will be back by the time we're finished talking to them."
"I want to say hello to Burl first," Charlie said, and went towards the back, to the cells, Teresa following behind.
But, Burl wasn't there. The cell that he'd been in the day before was empty, the cell door opened. There was no sign that
Burl had been there at all, other than the fact that his trunks were there.
"Well, it looks as though he went out walking, or something," Teresa said.
"No. I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, Mr. Val had him actually locked in."
"Why?" Teresa asked.
"Because he got upset and broke the lamp, and messed up the office," Charlie aid.
"Oh," Teresa said, looking regretful. "Well, Val must have let him go, then."
"Yeah," Charlie said, feeling uncertain. "But, where did he go?"
"Maybe we can find out," Teresa said, reassuringly. "We'll go and see the Silverman's. And, then maybe we'll find Val, and
he can tell us where Burl is. Come on."
Charlie followed Teresa out, and they got back into the buggy, driving the short distance to the Silverman's house. When the two girls got
to the front door, Teresa knocked, and then said, quietly to Charlie, "Mrs. Silverman is nice enough, but she's a bit sharp. Don't take
it personally."
Charlie wrinkled her forehead, wondering just what Teresa meant by that. A tall, thin woman opened the door, and stood,
wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing.
"Teresa," she said, by way of greeting.
"Hello, Mrs. Silverman," Teresa said. "How are you?"
"This heat has near done me in, that's about how I am." The woman's eyes moved to Charlie, and then back to Teresa again. "What can
I do for you, Teresa?"
"We came to talk to you about your rental house," Teresa said.
"We? You and this child here? Are you planning to move away from Lancer?" the woman asked sharply.
"No, ma'm. It's for someone else that I want to inquire about it."
"Murdoch knows you're here?" Mrs. Silverman demanded, insinuating that Teresa would be amiss if it wasn't so.
"Yes. He does. He sent his best to you," Teresa said.
Mrs. Silverman appeared appeased. "Well, come in," she said, gesturing them into the house. Once indoors, they were
offered, or rather they were told, to take a seat on an incredibly uncomfortable sofa. Drinking lemonade that, to Charlie, tasted
as though it had no sugar whatsoever in it, Teresa began to ask about the rental house.
"Of course Mr. Silverman would have to have the say-so," Mrs. Silverman was saying. "But, I myself, would like to
see it rented out as soon as possible-the money would be welcome."
"How much rent would you be asking a month?" Teresa asked.
"Again, Mr. Silverman would have to say for a certainty, but I know it would be in the neighborhood of seven dollars a month."
Not knowing about what was normal for rent, Charlie had no idea if seven dollars was a fair amount. She looked to Teresa, who
was nodding. "I think that might be alright," she said. "I'll talk to our friend, and to those that are advising him, and let you know. It would
be fairly soon, though, that the house was needed."
"It's a man? He have a family?" Mrs. Silverman asked. "Children? The house isn't that large-"
"No. No children," Teresa said.
"A wife?" the other woman asked.
"No. He's alone," Teresa said. "He's an older man."
"He be able to keep up his rent?"
"Yes, he would," Teresa said.
"Well, what's his name? I know most folks around here-"
"His name is Burl Clemens."
"Burl Clemens," Mrs. Silverman said, looking as though she was thinking hard, trying to recall the name.
"Yes."
"That doesn't ring a bell in my memory for some reason."
"Well, he keeps to himself mostly," Teresa said.
"Quiet sort, hmm? Well, that's fine. Why didn't he come himself?"
Charlie waited, wondering just what Teresa was going to say.
"He hasn't been feeling well," Teresa said. "But, we'll bring him by." She stood up, and so Charlie did, as well, leaving
the lemonade that tasted so bitter.
Once outside, after Mrs. Silverman had closed the door behind them, the girls got back into the buggy.
Teresa sat, though, instead of driving on, looking deep in thought.
"I think I did wrong," she said.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
"Well, I didn't tell her that it was Burl."
"Yes, you did. You said Burl Clemens. I heard you," Charlie defended.
"I meant, that I didn't tell them that it was Burl. If I'd told her that it was the little, raggedy man that everyone thinks is
so strange, she would have known right off who he was."
"Why is it wrong that you didn't tell her?" Charlie asked.
"Because I doubt she would even consider it, if she knew who Burl really is."
"You mean they won't rent to Burl, once they find out?" Charlie asked.
"Right," Teresa said, with a sigh.
The dark haired girl looked back towards the Silverman's front door. "Maybe I should go back up and tell her right now. That
way, we'll know if their house is going to be an option for Burl."
"Maybe if we have Burl wearing some nice clothes and all-she might not recognize him," Charlie suggested.
Teresa shook her head. "Even if she didn't recognize him right away, he's likely to say something outrageous. Or he would
eventually act odd. There's no helping that." She sighed again.
"What are we going to do?" Charlie asked, feeling helpless.
"I don't know. Maybe if Murdoch came, and talked to Mr. Silverman, that might be best. He might be able to convince them."
A gusty wind was suddenly sweeping up, and Teresa flapped the reins, driving back to the jail. Val was standing outside, having
left the jail door opened. He was lighting a cheroot, striking a match on the wall.
Charlie hopped down without waiting for Teresa.
"Hullo, Mr. Val," she greeted him.
"Hey there, girls," Val returned the greeting.
"We stopped by earlier," Teresa was saying.
"Yeah, I was out checking on some things," Val said.
"Did you let Burl out?" Charlie asked, unable to contain the question for a moment longer.
Val looked down at Charlie with a hard-to-read expression. "Yes, Charlie, I let him out," he said.
"Where did he go?" Charlie asked then.
"I don't know," Val said.
"Oh," Charlie said,
Teresa began telling Val about the Silverman's house being available for rent, and about the money that had been gotten
by the sale of the brocade.
"Murdoch thought you could keep it here," Teresa was saying. "That way, when Burl needs it, it would be right here in town."
Val nodded. "I'll put it in the safe. Come on in."
He and Teresa went on inside, while Charlie stood there, on the sidewalk, thinking.
She turned after a few minutes and went inside, too, going to watch as Val put the money into the small safe behind his desk, and
then closed the door again.
"Where do you think he might have gone?" she asked.
"With that ornery old-" Val began, and then paused, thinking better of his chosen words. "It's hard to say," he amended.
"He's a free spirit," Teresa said.
Charlie looked from Teresa to Val, feeling frustrated. Didn't they understand how serious this was?
"Well, but, he can't just be roaming around, out there anywhere, by himself," Charlie protested.
"He'll turn up," Val said. "He knows he can come here now, to the jail, and get something to eat, or have a bit of company,
if he wants it."
Charlie left them standing there, and went back outside, looking up and down the streets, as if she were suddenly going to see
the old man.
After a few minutes, Teresa came out, as well, followed by Val.
"That's a powerful wind that's blowing up," Val said.
"Yes, we'd better be heading home," Teresa said. "I need to stop at the mercantile first, for a few minutes."
"I'll wait here," Charlie told her, and Teresa said, "Alright. Be right back," and walked on down the sidewalk.
Once alone with Val, Charlie looked up at him. "Does Burl have his gun?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"So he can go hunting," Charlie specified.L
"No," Val said, with a sigh. "I have his gun locked up here."
"Why?"
Val gave Charlie a steady, level look. "Because I felt it was best that he not have it, Charlie. For everyone's safety, including
his own." His tone suggested, quite strongly, and without any doubt, that he was growing weary of questions from her.
"Oh," Charlie said, subsiding a bit at that tone of his. Still, she felt she had to point out, in Burl's defense, "He's really
gentle, most of the time."
"Most of the time, yes," Val said. "It's that amount of time that he's not gentle that I'm concerned with."
Charlie sighed, admitting defeat. In this, at any rate. "Yes, sir," she said.
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Once in the buggy, and on the road trotting thru town, Teresa held out a small brown sack.
"Take one," she offered, and Charlie pulled out one of the peppermint sticks.
"Thank you," she said.
"What's wrong?" Teresa asked.
"It was a waste of time today," Charlie lamented. "We didn't find Burl a house, and-we didn't even get to see him, and make sure
he's alright!"
"You're looking at it all wrong," Teresa said. "We took the money to Val, and we did talk to the Silverman's, and, at least you
know Burl isn't sitting, cooped up in the jail cell."
"Yes," Charlie admitted, licking the peppermint stick.
Teresa eyed the sky. "It looks as though we're going to get a real storm."
Charlie, too, looked at the black clouds rolling by. They were nearing the end of the town's street, when Charlie saw
Burl, limping along, nearly in the trees on the other side of the road.
"Teresa, it's Burl," she said, and pointed.
"What's he doing?" Teresa said, more in question to herself, than to Charlie.
"Can we go and say hello?" Charlie pleaded.
Teresa looked considering. "I suppose we can, for a minute."
As the buggy pulled up alongside of where Burl was tramping along, Charlie called out to him.
"Burl! Hullo!"
The old man looked up and seemed to recognize the girls at first glance. He gave a wave, and then walked to a nearby
tree, picking up the rifle that was leaning there.
"Val said he kept his rifle at the jail," Charlie said, in an aside to Teresa.
"Well, he must have had another," Teresa said.
Burl came thru the knee high grass to lean a knarled hand on the side of the buggy. "As bright and shiny as a new penny, are
the two faces who should see many," he greeted them.
"How are you?" Teresa asked him.
"I'm as fresh as a daisy, and nowhere near as lazy," he quipped, and Charlie couldn't help the spurt of joy she felt
at his lyrical mood.
"Where are you off to?" Teresa asked him.
"To check my traps," Burl said.
"There's a storm coming," Teresa said.
Burl cast an appraising glance at the darkening sky. "Not for a bit yet," he predicted.
"I've got somethin' for the two of you gals," he went on, with a smile showing his blackened teeth. "Carry me out to my place,
and I'll fetch it."
To his place? Charlie exchanged a look with Teresa. Teresa herself was looking unsure.
"Your things are in at the jail, though," Teresa said, gently. "Val's keeping them for you. Remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," Burl waved a hand. "That fella is alright. He's a good sort. I still got some things out at my place, though."
"Well," Teresa said, hesitating, and then, spry as you please, Burl was climbing up into the buggy with them. Charlie moved
over to the center, to make room, and Burl laid the offending rifle across his knees.
"I'm thinkin' to make me some rabbit stew," he was saying. "Likely I've got me some rabbits in my traps."
Teresa turned the buggy towards the road going out to the shack.
"You two gals can stay for some rabbit stew, can't ya?" he asked.
"We're expected at home," Teresa said.
"Well, I'll send one with ya, then," Burl said. "You can cook it up when ya get home."
When they neared the shack, Burl turned quiet. Pensive. Silent. It was almost as though you could feel tension radiating from
him. Charlie felt it, and she wondered if Teresa did, too. Maybe it was because she was the one sitting next to him.
The shack looked properly deserted. It had been cleaned up around the yard, and some obvious repairs had been made.
Teresa parked the buggy, and Burl jumped to the ground. He went to the door, carrying the rifle, and tried the door. It was
obviously locked, and he turned back to look at Teresa and Charlie, sitting there in the buggy.
"Come on, gals," he called out. "I wanna give ya both somethin'!" He disappeared around the corner of the shack.
Charlie looked at Teresa, who looked as though she wanted to be anywhere but where she was.
"How did we get into this mess?" Teresa said, almost to herself.
"Can't we see what he wants?" Charlie asked.
"We shouldn't be here at all. It's trespassing," Teresa said. "Burl's carrying a rifle that Val doesn't know that he has, and you're
worried about getting a present from him!"
"It's not that," Charlie said, in protest, feeling misunderstood. "That's not what I meant!"
Teresa sighed. "I know."
After a few moments, Charlie said, "Are we just going to sit here, in the buggy like this?"
"I think so, yes. I hate to leave him here, but, I also don't think we should get out and follow him to goodness knows where."
A battering of raindrops began, lightly, and then stopped.
"Where did he go?" Teresa asked, sounding frustrated, and looking around.
"To check his traps," Charlie reminded. "He could be awhile."
"A few more minutes, and then we're leaving," Teresa said.
Teresa heard before she saw, the two men riding down the road towards the shack on horseback. And, they rode right up
into the yard.
"Oh, Lord," Teresa said, under her breath.
"I don't know them," Charlie said, very low.
"No," Teresa agreed. "Just stay quiet. Don't say anything about Burl being here."
One man rode on one side of the buggy, and the other man rode onto Charlie's side.
"Well, good afternoon, ladies," the one on Teresa's side spoke first.
"Good afternoon," Teresa said.
"Are you lost, or turned about?" he asked.
"We stopped to rest the horse," Teresa said, smoothly. "The wind was making him nervous."
"Uh huh. Well, this is private property," he went on.
Charlie wondered if one of the men was the Mr. Blaine. The legal owner.
"We only stopped to rest the horse," Teresa said, again her voice not showing any emotion.
The man on Charlie's side of the buggy inched forward. "Come on now, Jess," he said. "Don't seem as though there's any
harm bein' done. You could be a bit more hospitable."
That man, the friendly one, was smiling at Teresa. "My name is Jason Stewart, ma'm."
"I'm Teresa O'Brien," Teresa replied.
"Little gal your sister?" the man asked.
"That's right. This is Charlotte."
"You live 'round here, do ya?" the first man asked. He still looked irritated at finding them there, and Charlie felt her
stomach knot up. Something wasn't right. She could feel it. That was verified even further by Teresa's next words.
"Yes, we do. Right in the center of town," Teresa said.
"That right?" the friendly man asked.
"Yes," Teresa said, as confidently as though she wasn't lying thru her teeth. Charlie tried to keep her expression nonchalant. For some
reason, Teresa didn't want the two men to know that they lived at Lancer, or were affiliated with Murdoch or Scott or Johnny.
"We don't care to have any noses bein' poked 'round here," the unfriendly man said.
"Shut up, Jess," the friendlier one said.
"We're not doing any 'poking around'," Teresa said, with spirit. "We just stopped to let the horse calm down, like I said before."
She took up the reins. "And, now we'll be going," she said.
"No need to rush off," the 'Jason Stewart' said.
"Yes, we're expected at home," Teresa said. "They'll be coming out looking for us soon."
Raindrops began to spatter again, and Teresa began to urge the horse forward, and both men rode up to block the buggy. Charlie took
a deep intake of breath.
"I think I've seen you around town," the friendlier one said. "You were with some fella, with black hair."
And, then, suddenly, things went much more wrong, very quickly.
"You men there!" came a holler. "Turn loose of that buggy!"
Burl was standing there, on the porch of the old shack, rabbits from the traps dropped at his feet, and the rifle leveled
at the group.
"It's that loony old coot," one man said to the other.
"I said to turn it loose," Burl repeated.
Both men released their holds on the buggy, and Charlie saw one of them rest his hand on the gun in his gun belt. She sucked
her breath in and reached for Teresa's hand.
Burl said, in a forceful, steady voice of a much younger man, "Take your hand off that pistol, son, lessen you want to lose a
finger or two."
The man moved his hand back to rest on his leg.
"You're not to be 'round here, old man," he called out to Burl.
Burl didn't respond to that. He gestured to the side with his rifle. "Step down, both of ya."
The two men exchanged glances, and then dismounted.
"Alright, you gals, clear on out of here," Burl said. "Get to home 'fore the storm rides in."
Charlie held her breath as Teresa turned the buggy, going forward and around the man to the left, and made
a beeline down the road. She was urging the horse into as high a speed as was possible, and then at the turn into town, she eased up,
pulling to a stop, and looking back, though they were too far away to see.
"Golly," Charlie said, letting out her breath in a whoosh.
"Yes, golly," Teresa muttered in agreement. She began to trot again, as the rain began. Charlie knew without asking that
Teresa was going to the jail office, to fetch Val.
Once there, they were both out of the buggy swiftly, and went into the jail office, to find Val and Dan, his deputy, facing
the checkerboard.
Val was on his feet nearly immediately. "What is it?" he asked.
Teresa swiftly told him what was happening, and both of the men went to snatch up a rain slicker, and a rifle from the
gun cabinet.
"Should we go on home, or wait here?" Teresa asked.
"I want you to wait here," Val said. "Storm's nearly here."
"Murdoch will be getting worried about us," Teresa said.
"He'll come here to check first," Val said, tying his gun belt string.
"Who are the men? Do you know?" Val was asking, as Dan went on outside.
"No. I've never seen them," Teresa said.
"Old codger had a gun hidden someplace," Val said, almost as if to himself. "I should have known."
Charlie wanted to ask Val if Burl was going to be in trouble, for threatening the men with a gun, or trespassing, but she knew it wasn't the time.
When Val was gone, though, and Teresa had closed the door against the upcoming winds, Charlie said, "Is Burl gonna get
arrested for this? He was just trying to help us."
"I don't know," Teresa said, sounding regretful, and tired. She went to make a fresh pot of coffee.
After that, the two girls sat for what seemed an interminable amount of time, and Charlie went to the window, to
look out. By now, the rain was heavy, running in rows down the window.
"Murdoch's going to be frantic, worrying about us," Teresa said, with a sigh.
"Scott, too," Charlie said, feeling sad at the prospect of the Lancer men being consumed with worry.
"Yes. Scott, too. And Johnny. All of them," Teresa said, coming over to the window to look out as well.
"How foolish could I be," Teresa was saying, nearly to herself.
"It wasn't your fault," Charlie defended. "We didn't do anything wrong."
"I had no business taking Burl out there. I should have told him no and gone on home," Teresa said.
"Well, even if we hadn't been there, he might still have gotten into it with those two men," Charlie pointed out.
"Thanks, Charlie, but it was my fault. I'm the adult, and I'm the one who should have been thinking of what was best to do."
Teresa turned to walk back around the room, aimlessly, and after a few minutes, Charlie straightened up, peering out the window.
"Teresa, I think it's Scott coming!"
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