Chapter 2 – Smithson Talbet

There was no time for niceties, and Bret didn't waste any. "Bret Maverick to see Mr. Talbet."

The pretty young blonde sitting at the reception desk didn't waste any, either. She gathered herself up and told him, "Mr. Talbet left word not to be disturbed, sir."

"Mr. Talbet will want to be disturbed if he's ever gonna do any business with the B BarM again," Bret snapped back.

The young woman quickly picked up on the name of the ranch and recognized it. "Yes, Mr. Maverick, I will get him for you." She rose from the desk and hurried hack to Talbet's office. She knocked once and opened the door. Smithson Talbet was reading a page in one of his law books. "Mr. Bret Maverick to see you, Mr. Talbet. He appears to be quite agitated, sir."

"Agitated, hmm? Send him in, Katherine. And find out if the sheriff's horse is here."

"Yes, Mr. Talbet." Katherine hurried back to the man waiting anxiously at her desk. "Come with me, Mr. Maverick."

Bret followed her back down the hall, practically clipping her heels as he strode behind her; stopping abruptly when she got to the office door. He gave her no time for introductions, just charged past her into the office. "Smithson, I've got an emergency."

Katherine closed the door and went back to her desk. She had no desire to hear any part of this conversation. She started to sit down and then remembered her bosses request. She got back up and went to the front door, peeking out and looking for Sheriff Parker's horse. Sure enough, the big bay gelding was tied up in front of the office, along with two other horses she didn't recognize. She hurried down the hall one more time; knocked once on the door and opened it. Maverick was pacing back and forth in from of Mr. Talbets desk, just as upset as when he first arrived.

"Is it?" Talbet asked, to which she replied a quick "Yes," and went back down the hall.

"Bret, I wish you'd sit down and tell me the whole story," Smithson begged in a hushed voice. "I can't help unless I know everything."

Finally, Bret took a seat in front of the desk and immediately started drumming his fingers on the desktop. "Alright, but it's a rather ugly story, and I'm not sure I remember everything," and began relating the tale of what was supposed to be a happy occasion. When he got to the part where he and Beau found Bart locked up in the jail, he broke down and had to stop. It was such a painful night for all three of them, not knowing if Bart would live or die. When it was finally determined that he would pull through physically, it became obvious that the man might never be right again mentally.

Sometime later Bart had recovered enough to close up the saloon one night while everyone else went to dinner; in the course of that event, he discovered an attempted robbery. During the robbery he was shot in the arm and returned fire, killing Logan Doran, the accused robber. It was determined by the marshal at the time, based on the coroner's report, that the shooting was plain and simple self-defense.

Smithson interrupted Bret's story. "Who was the marshall at the time?"

Bret had calmed down enough to give Smithson an unfortunate but true answer. "Travis Cole."

"The same Travis Cole . . . ?"

"One and the same."

"That doesn't make any sense, Bret."

Bret exhaled a long sigh. "None of it makes any sense, Smithson."

"And this Travis Cole is the marshal that persuaded a judge to issue an arrest warrant."

"Yes."

"And Bart is in jail now?"

"Yes."

"Judge Martin is in town Wednesday. That's the longest Bart should have to stay in let's see what we can do in the meantime."

Smithson and Bret gathered themselves and left the office, walking over to see what was going on over at the jail. What they found was a loud argument going on between the sheriff and the marshal. Bret and Smithson stood in the doorway of the office and listened intently. It seems that the judge who had issued the warrant and was supposed to issue the extradition notice was out of town, and no one else was willing to sign one.

Travis insisted that the judge had agreed to sign the document and wanted to take Bart with him right now; Parker said no, absolutely not. Smithson Talbet stepped into the middle of the dispute.

"Gentlemen, let's settle this argument right now. Marshal Cole, you have no right to take the prisoner anywhere. Sheriff Parker has jurisdiction until he receives a court order to the contrary."

"Who in the hell are you?" Travis snarled.

"I am Smithson Talbet, Esquire and as a representative of the court, I suggest you clean up your language, sir."

Bart's face lit up in a big grin. "Nice to see you, Mr. Talbet. I assume my brother has obtained your services. When can I go home?"

"As soon as Judge Martin gets here tomorrow. No longer than that, Mr. Maverick. We'll get a writ of Habeus Corpus and get you out of here."

"You're not takin' him anywhere," Cole responded.

Bart sat down on the cot in his cell and leaned back against the wall. If these two were about to get into it, he was going to watch. He'd put his money on Talbet. Bret wandered over to lean on the bars of the cell. "You okay?" he asked.

"For the moment," came the reply."

"You need anything ?"

Bart rubbed his chin and thought. "Can you bring Doralice to town tomorrow? I need to talk to her."

"You bet."

"Thanks. I'd appreciate that."

Neither of them heard what was said, but Marshall Cole slammed the door behind him as he exited the office. Smithson Talbet was still standing, a smile on his face.

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