Walking down the stairs from Doc's office, Matt strained to shove away the weariness he felt. He'd gotten only a few hours of sleep on the hard floor of the prairie before riding back into town early this morning. He hadn't had breakfast and when he'd stopped by the Long Branch to at least see Kitty, Sam had informed him that she'd taken the day off and left early to go see the Ronigers. This was not shaping up to be a good day.
Matt left the stable a little while later on a fresh horse, headed north to the Granger ranch. Dale Granger was a tough man raised in tough times and he brought his two boys up the same way. In some ways, Matt thought, Dale was too tough.
Dale took no grief from anyone. He ruled his ranch as a king would a kingdom with an iron grip and precious few soft touches. Matt had never known the man to be dishonest or, for the most part, unfair in his dealings with others. But he usually gave less than he gained and when it came to his sons, he gave nothing.
Rey and Tag Granger were a study in contrasts. Rey, the older, was tall, fair-haired and good looking. With his mother's fair complexion and his father's height and build he could and did attract the attention of anyone he chose. Tag, the younger brother had his father's darker hair his mother's slighter build. Though he wasn't ugly by any means, he didn't have the bearing or rugged good looks of his brother.
Rey was brash and bold and considered a leader among his peers. Tag was bookish and mild mannered and by most, considered the weaker of the two. Tag had a good head for business. Rey had a good eye for horses and cattle and pretty girls but no desire for bookwork.
But despite their differences, they seemed to work well together and their father was proud of that, although he did seem to favor Rey more. He often boasted that his sons made an unbeatable team to leave his ranch to when the time came. Everything Dale Granger did was aimed towards that goal of his sons, together, one day running the finest ranch in Kansas. Matt had no doubt that Dale was not going to take lightly the news that one of his son's messed with that goal.
The house was empty when Matt arrived which wasn't surprising. Mrs. Granger had died several years back and Dale and his sons were most likely working somewhere on their sprawling property. Matt stood at the hitch rail, in front of the house for a moment, considering his next step when he heard his name.
"Matt? What are you doing out here?"
Matt turned to see Dale Granger approaching him with his hand out. Tall, with graying blonde hair, hazel eyes and as fit a figure as any man twice as young, Dale Granger was every bit the older image of his oldest son. "Dale, good to see you." Matt reached out and shook the ranchers hand. "I came to see your sons."
"Oh?" Dale frowned. "Why? They do some hell-raising in Dodge, did they? I did hear that Miss Kitty hired a new girl and my boys…"
"No." Matt quickly shook his head. "It's nothing like that. As a matter of fact, it's a great deal more serious."
"Pa?" Both men turned to see Rey and Tag approaching them. "Hello, Marshal." Rey nodded with a smile. "Marshal." Tag echoed with less enthusiasm than his brother.
"You here to buy a new horse?" Rey continued to grin. "That buckskin of yours wore out?"
"Uh, no." Matt answered. "Actually, I came to talk to you all. I got a visitor in my jail this morning accusing one of you of hurting his daughter. He didn't say the first name but he knew your last name. I need to know if you two know anything about it."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Marshal." Rey quickly answered. "Neither one of us has even been near a girl in quite a while."
"That's right." Dale jumped in. "I've been keeping these boys of mine close to home lately. It's branding season. Too many chores for them to leave."
"You sure?" Matt pushed. "It would've been about 3 nights ago, north of here. A little village, kinda. A man came into my office this morning and said that a boy named Granger came there and hurt his girl. She died last night because of it."
"My boys were home 3 nights ago." Dale stated flatly. "Like I told you, it's branding season and we got a lot of things to do around here. I wouldn't let them leave the ranch."
Matt ignored Dale for a moment and looked directly at Rey. "That your story too?"
"It's not a story, Marshal." Rey answered evenly, never dropping his eyes from Matt's. "Me and Tag have been right here for the last week."
Matt looked over Tag. He also met Matt's gaze but his eyes weren't as clear as Tag's. Matt thought he saw something uneasy behind his stare. "You stand by that, Tag?"
"Yes, sir." Tag answered as he dropped his eyes.
"Dale," Matt looked back over at the older Granger, "you have a problem with me talking with your men? Maybe one of them…"
"Go right ahead." Dale smiled. "My men will tell you the same thing we did. And if you suspect one of them, you tell me which one and I'll take care of it."
Matt nodded without answering. He knew Granger's men would back up their boss. He had no doubts about that. But he would not be doing his duty if he didn't at least try. An hour later, Matt rode back to Dodge with few answers but quite a few suspicions.
One of Dale's men, Simpson, wouldn't answer any questions from Matt. His only reply was that he was busy and couldn't talk. Matt suspected Simpson knew something but most likely wouldn't talk for fear of his job and his employer's wrath so with a silent nod, Matt finally turned, mounted his horse and rode out.
When he got back to town, Matt made his way back over to the Long Branch. Kitty had returned early and was standing at the end of her bar, working on her books. "Kitty?" Matt pushed the brim of his hat back from his forehead as he leaned down next to her.
"Well, hello, Matt." Kitty smiled happily up at him. "When'd you get back?"
"Oh, I got back to Dodge early this morning." He answered. "I stopped in here but you'd already gone."
"Yeah, I promised Bess Ronniger I'd help her with something." Kitty looked over at Sam. "Sam, get the Marshal a beer, would ya?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Sam answered as he reached for a mug.
Kitty looked back over at Matt. "You look tired and perplexed. I'm not sure which is more though. Why don't you tell me about it?"
Matt grinned. "You know me pretty well."
"I do." She acknowledged. "But that wasn't the question. What's up?"
"You know the Granger boys?" Matt paused as Kitty nodded and Sam sat the mug of beer in front of him and walked away. "Have you seen either of them in town this last week?"
Kitty pursed her lips in thought. "I think I saw the oldest one about 4… no I think it was about 3 days ago." She paused and nodded. "Yeah, it was. Monday. I remember because I was wondering what he was doing in town on a weekday. I know his father doesn't like his boys or his men in town during the week unless they're here on business."
"Did you see the younger brother with him?" Matt was finally getting somewhere.
Kitty looked down in thought before finally shaking her head no. "I don't remember seeing him. Just the older one."
"What time was it, that he was here?"
"Oh, about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I think." Kitty didn't ask why Matt needed the info because she knew sooner or later he'd tell her everything and right then, answers were more important than explanations.
"Did Rey come in for a drink or something?" Matt pressed.
"Well, if he did, he wouldn't have gotten one. You know how his dad feels about that and I'm not going against him." Kitty shrugged. "Besides he wasn't here that long. He came in and talked to one of the men in here and then ran out."
"What man? Do you know who it was that Rey talked to?"
"I've never seen him before." Kitty shrugged again. "He was a slight man, had a kinda lank blonde hair. Nothing really special about him that I could see. But I didn't really talk to him. Sam?" She called her bartender back over. "Do you remember about 3 days ago seeing Rey Granger come in here?"
Sam looked up in thought then nodded. "Yeah, but he was only in here for a couple of minutes. I wouldn't have served him, Miss Kitty."
"Oh, I know that." Kitty smiled. "That's not why I'm asking. I was wondering about the man he spoke to when he did come in. Do you know who he was?"
"No." Sam answered. "I've never seen him before. The Granger boy called him Simp… or something like that. But I don't know him."
"Thanks, Sam." Matt looked over at Kitty. "I've got to do a couple of things right now but you want to have supper tonight?"
"Of course." She answered. "But you'd better get some rest and a bath before you show back up here."
Matt grinned as he turned to leave. "See ya later, Kitty."
Once back on the street, Matt paused for a moment considering his next move. Sam's description of the man that Rey spoke to and the name he heard convinced him that it was the hired hand name Simpson, he'd talked to at the ranch. Matt considered riding back out to the ranch to press the man further but decided against it. He doubted he'd get anywhere and it was too far to ride for nothing.
With Kitty's word that Rey had lied and had been off the ranch on the fateful night, he could go out and arrest the boy, but he'd be hard pressed to keep him. Rey being Dodge that afternoon, was no proof that he was 30 miles north later on.
He could, of course, turn his back on the whole matter. He had no proof that the girl was murdered aside from the father's word. Doc said it was probable but that wasn't enough to go on. He could just go on his way and…. Matt stopped as a thought came to him and he hurried up to Doc's office.
TBC