I lay in bed and tried to absorb everything I'd learned this morning. At some point the knowledge in my head and the brandy in my bloodstream got to be too much, and I fell asleep. It didn't do me any good; I woke up some hours later just as confused as I'd been when I went to sleep. I finally got a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down what I knew and what I assumed.
It was quite a list, and I needed to know more about a lot of the things Jim had told me. Since the sheriff was the only man in town I'd met besides Buckley, I decided to pay Jake Bosworth another visit. I found the lawman doing what I'd been doing, napping, and almost felt guilty about waking him. Almost.
"What? Huh? Who is . . . oh, Mr. Maverick. Something wrong? Is Mr. Buckley alright?"
"Jim is fine, sheriff, worn out, but fine. I wanted to come by and let you know that I've been invited back for supper tonight, but I could really use some help from you before then."
"What can I do for you?"
"Tell me what you know about Janet Stinson. You kind of misled me when I asked if he was married."
"I told you the truth. James isn't married. Why don't you ask him about Janet?"
I sighed. "Oh, I'm going to. But he seems to get tired out fairly easily, and there's other things I need to discuss with him. He said she was from Grand Junction. Did they meet here?"
"I shouldn't be telling you this," Bosworth insisted. "But I will, because you could find out from anyone. Janet Stinson was born here, and she never went anywhere until one spring when she traveled to Denver for some teachin' experience. Miss Hunter was gonna retire and Janet was hired to take over in her stead. She met James in Denver, and when she came back to Grand Junction she brought a brand new husband with her. There was some gossip that James was after her money, but Janet didn't have any. The only thing she had was that little house.
"If you saw them together, you knew. They really loved each other. Right up until the day she died."
"How long were they married?" Jim hadn't told me the answer to that question.
"Let's see. A little over a year. No, closer to two years. They were gettin' ready for the baby . . .
"There was a baby?"
The look on Bosworth's face was one of profound sadness. "There was supposed to be a baby. But everything that could go wrong, did. They lost the baby, and then they lost Janet. James was inconsolable. Just like that, she was gone. And he was never the same afterwards."
"What did he do then?"
"He picked up and left town. Got Mrs. Murtaw to move into the house and get it ready for him to sell. He was gone almost three months, and when he got back he was . . . different. The town was tryin' to raise enough money for a new school, and they had a little less than half of what they needed. James supplied the rest of the funds, asking only that they name the school after Janet. Said a good friend of his lost his wife, and built a school for her, too. That's where he got the idea."
I swallowed hard. The good friend was, of course, me. One night when I was feeling particularly melancholy I told Dandy about gettin' the school built for the kids in Magdalena, and he got it stuck in his head. He didn't remember it quite the way I told it, but that was alright. Jim always had a slightly skewed idea of how to do things. And I could just imagine where he was and what he was doing for the three months he was gone, 'raising funds' for the school. He made himself a hero, as well as Janet.
"And after the school was finished and dedicated . . . he stayed here rather than goin' back to Denver or someplace else?" 'Of course he would,' I thought. 'Why wouldn't he? The whole town loved him.'
"He wasn't going to, but he decided to stay for a while. Then he got sick, and the best place for him was here, where he could be taken care of properly."
"I see." I really didn't, but then I'd never understood the majority of things Dandy did. Most of his reasons were unfathomable to me, as I'm sure mine were to him. My views on life and the people around me had changed dramatically over the years; I don't think Jim's had.
"Mr. Maverick, why are you so curious about what happened here in Grand Junction? You knew him before he came here, does he seem so very different from the man he was years ago?"
"Yes, Sheriff, he does. The man I knew doesn't appear to exist anymore." I wasn't entirely sure that was true, but the man in that wheelchair was different from the Jim Buckley I got into so much trouble with. Unless . . . unless this was all one giant con and Dandy was just biding his time before springing the trap.
Only thing is . . . I couldn't figure out what Dandy had to gain.
XXXXXXXX
I took great care getting dressed for my supper engagement with James. Yes, I said James, because that's who I was going to see tonight. I wasn't sure where Dandy Jim Buckley had disappeared to; I wasn't even sure he still existed. If he did, by God, I was gonna find him and bring him into the present. He was the one I had a rather large bone to pick with, the frustrating, loveable con man who had almost delayed my wedding, cost me a small fortune, and held me in the grip of a lie I'd told half a lifetime ago.
Anyway, I made sure that I looked like I was going to a meeting with the town council. Yes, over the years Little Bend had grown big enough to have a town council. A Mayor, too. And yes, between my brother and my wife they'd talked me into running for and getting elected to that same council. It seemed there was just no end of respectability for me, whether I wanted it or not.
Mrs. Murtaw answered the door and welcomed me in. "He's in the study, Mr. Maverick. Jake Bosworth is in there with him."
No doubt, Bosworth had informed him of our earlier conversation. They were just finishing when I walked in. "Bart, old boy, come in. Jake was just leaving, weren't you, Jake?" Bosworth tipped his hat and left the study, closing the door behind him.
"Getting a full report?" I asked.
"Quite. You couldn't wait for me to tell you?"
"I didn't want to wear you out. We have other things to discuss."
"Like my writing to your wife?" Short, sharp and to the point.
I smirked and sat down. "Among other things."
For the first time, James took a good look at me. "My, my, old boy. You've become quite prosperous, haven't you? No more one-step away from being thrown in jail?"
Before I could give him any kind of an answer, the study door opened. "Dinner is served, gentlemen," Mrs. Murtaw announced, and I followed the wheelchair into the dining room. Mrs. Murtaw served us and then withdrew. As I soon found out, she was an excellent cook. There was little said until the meal was almost finished.
"You seem to have found a jewel in Mrs. Murtaw."
A nod accompanied his answer. "Yes, she is quite a talented lady. Though why she puts up with me, I have no idea."
"Why did you stay in Grand Junction? After Janet's death, I mean? What was there here that kept you from moving on?"
"To be perfectly honest . . . I was tired. Worn out, you might say. Tired of being run out of town . . . or running for the skin on my back. You understand how that is, when you just don't have it in you to leave one more place. Isn't it what kept you in that little town you live in?"
That was a strange question. He knew exactly what kept me in Little Bend, and it had nothing to do with being tired of moving from one place to another. Her name was Doralice, and all I wanted was to be wherever she was. "No. You know why I stayed in Little Bend. Doralice. But you didn't have that here. What was it, Jim? The adulation from an entire town? The chance to pull one more con?"
"I'm surprised, Bart. You changed your life completely around – don't you think I might have wanted to change mine?"
I never considered that. But the answer I kept coming up with was 'no.'