The first one was so much fun, I thought it was time to go back and see what’s going on in Anderson’s Gulch.
“And so, we say farewell to our number one citizen, Gus Anderson. He will be greatly missed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” Belle Parker tuned out Parson Gray’s voice as she wiped her eyes. The past six months since that dust-up with Boss Connell had been busy, but peaceful. Jesse had finished building their homestead near Charley Charging Bear’s place, and had started to study law. Caroline Charging Bear was due any day now with a second child, and Belle had taken to helping her out around their ranch.
Since the discovery of the uranium and phosphate in the abandoned silver mine, Anderson’s Gulch had started to prosper again. There was even talk of a new schoolmaster coming to teach, and Sally Charging Bear was looking forward to going back to school.
Belle shivered as the wind whistled through the bare branches of the trees. This winter promised to be a cold one. She had hopes of breeding horses at their ranch, but so far their entire stable consisted of her own horse, Diablo. She was planning on going up to Kansas City in the spring to hunt for some breeding mares. But for now, she was happy to keep house for Jesse, who became interested in the law after helping the Land Office sort out what Connell had stolen from her father. He wanted to be at the funeral for the founder of Anderson’s Gulch, but he had agreed to mind the jail while the Sheriff reprsented the legal community at the service. The jail was currently empty, which meant Jesse had plenty of quiet time to pore over his law books, borrowed from Judge Cotton.
The townsfolk stirred as the clods began to drop on the coffin. Belle made her way out of the cemetery, worried about Caroline. She nodded to her neighbors, with a special smile for Sheriff Wilson. She frowned as she saw a strange man scowling at her, before he was lost in the crowd.
“Who’s that, Miss Belle?” Tommy asked. He was the barkeep at the Tumbleweed Saloon, where Judge Cotton had presided over the trial of Boss Connell and his henchman. “There was no call for him to glare at you like that.”
Belle shrugged. “I’ve never seen him before, Tommy. But I can’t worry about him now. I’m going to see if I can hunt up Doc MacCaulley for Caroline. I don’t like the way her feet are swelling.” She smiled as Tommy blushed six shades of red. He mumbled something about getting back to the saloon and left. As Belle made her way toward Doc’s clinic, chatting with Zeke Clayton, the blacksmith, she failed to see the stranger watching her. He bit off the end of a cheroot and began walking back to town and the Tumbleweed Saloon.
Saloons were always a great place for gossip. And the skinny barkeep looked like he knew that redheaded bitch.