Jake C. Petit (e novels to read online txt) 📖

After entering the office side of the mortuary, Jake had to wait for a couple of minutes before Mister Redmond stepped out of his back room. Jake hadn’t just stood idly by the desk waiting but had taken a sheet of paper and written his instructions.

So, when the mortician appeared, Jake held out the paper and said, “I wrote down all of the instructions and what I’d like on the memorial stone. I told the men that we’d have a memorial service at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Is that alright?”

“We’ll be ready. Do you want me to notify a minister to be there?”

Jake shook his head as he replied, “No. My father wasn’t a religious man.”

Isiah quickly read Jake’s instructions then said, “We’ll take care of everything. You can settle the bill when you have the time. I already found the slug and sent it to the sheriff.”

“Thank you.”

As the mortician returned to the embalming room, Jake walked through the front door, then untied Mars, mounted and turned him toward the jail. The sheriff might have gone home already, but Jake hoped he would still be there so he wouldn’t have to ride to town in the morning.

He spotted the sheriff’s horse tied at the hitchrail near the jail, and soon dismounted and tied off Mars beside him. He entered the sheriff’s office and found Arv Zendt at his desk writing. He assumed his two deputies had already gone home for the day.

The lawman looked up and said, “I was going to leave after I finished writing my report if you didn’t show up. Glad you could make it.”

Jake was removing his hat as he stepped to the desk and replied, “I appreciate that you waited, Arv. Isiah said that he sent the slug over.”

As Jake sat in front of the desk, the sheriff said, “It’s a .44, so that doesn’t help much. I stopped by and told Mister Jones and he’ll issue a warrant for Dave’s arrest for murder tomorrow morning. I’ll send out wires to all the law offices in the territory with a description. Can you add anything that will help them find Dave?”

“Sure. I’ll write it down while you finish your report. Can my statement wait for a couple of days?”

“That’s not a problem now that we’ll be issuing that warrant.”

Jake nodded as he slid a sheet of paper from the sheriff’s box and snatched one of the pencils from a Mason jar. He didn’t include anything about Dave’s personal appearance because Arv could handle that on his own. He did add the description of the two horses he’d taken, including the distinctive gray gelding that looked like General Bobby Lee’s famous horse. As a warning, he added that Dave was carrying a long-range rifle that had an effective range of a thousand yards.

The sheriff was still writing his report when Jake slid his short addendum across the desk.

Arv stopped writing, picked up the paper and when he reached Jake’s last line, his eyebrows peaked.

“He took one of your father’s long guns? It was that British rifle; wasn’t it?”

Jake nodded as he replied, “The Martini-Henry. It’s a nice gun, but I liked the Sharps better, so I took it with me. I figured if anyone did find him, then they’d like to know that they were probably outgunned.”

“You got that right. Let me ask you something. If we don’t find him after a while, do you want to put a price on his head? It would attract bounty hunters if it’s big enough.”

“I already thought about that, but let’s give it a couple of weeks. I don’t believe that he left the territory yet and I’d lay odds that he headed west rather than east or south.”

“Do you think he was trying to ambush you?”

“No. But he seemed more familiar with that part of the territory and if he was worried about being chased, he’d know what to expect ahead of him.”

The sheriff nodded and said, “I’ll make sure that my counterpart down in Helena is aware that his county is the most likely place for Dave to hide.”

Jake stood shook the sheriff’s hand and said, “Thanks for your help, Arv. I’m going to head back to the ranch. I have my new bride at home, and I feel as if I’ve neglected her.”

Arv smiled and watched Jake leave the jail. He was surprised and pleased that Jake was able to recover so quickly. He was even more pleased that he had let the law find Dave Forrest. Of course, the law wasn’t interested in pursuing his missing father, so Jake had to do it. It was just a horrible place to find him.

He spent another ten minutes finishing his report before he blew out the lamp and left the jail.

_____

The summer sun was setting when Jake turned down the Elk’s access road. He could see light streaming from the ranch house’s windows and smoke drifting from the cookstove pipe.

While the sheriff may have been pleased with Jake’s rapid return to normal behavior, Jake wasn’t. He knew how angry and saddened he was when he learned of his mother’s death and how distraught he’d been when he first stood by her grave. Aside from the nausea and shock he’d experienced when he’d discovered his father’s hidden burial site, he hadn’t felt any measure of grief. He knew it wasn’t just because he was numbed by the realization of what lay below the pine-covered ground. It was because he had spent so many years believing his father to be a cold, heartless man and simply didn’t feel any sense of loss.

Yet Mrs. Kemper didn’t see him that way, and she didn’t spend nearly the amount of time with him that Jake had. He suspected