Page 34 of Morning Dove

There weren’t many houses along the way. A two-story Victorian that looked much like Morgan Avery’s house back in Willow Creek was the first he came to, a smaller one nestled close beside it.

The town itself was a mixmash of buildings. It reminded him of Willow Creek when he was younger, before the town had grown to what it was today. Only a handful of buildings lined the road and there weren’t but a few people out and about.

He stopped by the first building he saw and tied Wind Chaser’s reins to the hitching post. The sign above the door said it was the mercantile. He saw nothing that resembled a saloon, so his best shot at finding out anything would be here.

A bell above the door chimed when he stepped inside. The first thing he noticed were raised voices. He turned to the source of noise and saw a man and woman behind the counter standing toe to toe, arguing about something.

He approached them slowly, looking around the store at the goods they had for sale. Like Jenkins Mercantile back in Willow Creek, there was a cold pot-bellied stove with six chairs sitting around it near the center of the room. He bypassed it all and came to a stop at the end of the counter.

“Woman, don’t try me…”

“Or what?”

The man grinning caused the woman’s face to go as red as her hair.

Ben cleared his throat. The man lifted his eyes and looked over her head before saying, “Afternoon.”

“This conversation is not over, Graham!”

“Whatever you say, Rose.” He kissed the woman on the forehead before she stomped toward the back wall and disappeared behind a curtain.

“She’s prickly,” the man said, “so it's best to ignore her if you can.” He grinned. “Something I can’t do even on my worst day.” He leaned against the counter, palms flat against the wood surface. “Graham Hart,” he said, introducing himself. “New to these parts?”

Ben nodded. “Just passing through. I’m looking for someone. A man by the name of Walter. Can’t recall his last name.”

The bell above the door rang as someone came in. Ben turned and glanced at him when Graham said, “We didn’t expect you back until tomorrow, Tanner.”

“The train came in early.”

Graham nodded at him before turning his attention back to Ben. “Burns,” he said. “That’s Walter’s last name. He’s the only person named Walter who lives in these parts.”

“Does he have an Indian woman living with him?”

“He did.” Graham straightened and cocked his head to the side. “She ran off about a year ago. Why?”

The red head stepped through the curtained doorway and mumbled, “Best decision that girl ever made, if you ask me.”

Ben had to agree with that. “Know where he lives?”

“Yeah.” Graham pushed the front of his hat up. “He’s about half a mile on the outside of town. I can take you out there if you’d like, but you’ll not find him. He took off several months ago, and no one has seen him since.”

“He’s back.”

Everyone turned to Tanner when he spoke.

“He’s back?” Graham asked.

“Yeah, there was smoke coming from trees near his place when I came through. Someone is there.”

“Well, it must be your lucky day.” Graham smiled before crossing his arms over his chest. “I can take you out there if you want.”

Ben shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but if you can just point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it. I’m not ready to pay him a visit yet.”

Graham told him how to get to Walter’s house and the need to rush over there was making him jumpy, but he needed food. He’d lived on dry beef and bread for going on four days now and had thrown most of that back up due to withdrawals. He was in no shape to confront Walter. He needed to collect himself before rushing into another confrontation with the man.

He looked around the store. There wasn’t much there other than canned foods he had no way of heating and a few pastries sitting under a glass dome on the counter. “Anywhere around here to get a hot meal?”

The red head answered. “Mabel’s Boarding House. It’s down the street. You can’t miss it. She’s always got something on the stove.”

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