White Fork, and not before.â The marshal grunted, and after a second Luke realized the sound was a laugh. âLooks like youâre gonna have to be takinâ a trip up north, Jensen, if you want to collect your blood money.â
CHAPTER 6
This was an unexpected annoyance. Due to the fact that men on the run from the law often ran far and fast, Luke seldom delivered a prisoner to the jurisdiction in which the reward had been posted. Usually it was enough just to lock a captured fugitive in the nearest jailâor deliver his corpse to the handiest undertakerâand have the local authorities contact the law where the fugitive was wanted.
That was what he had done here, and in the normal course of affairs, the sheriff in White Fork would have contacted the bank here in Bent Creek and authorized payment of the bounty.
Clearly, that wasnât going to happen.
âDid the telegram say why thatâs a condition of the reward?â Luke asked.
Donovan shook his head and said, âNope. Just that thatâs the way it is.â The marshal rubbed his chin. âItâs hard to tell much from words printed on a telegraph blank, but I got the feelinâ Sheriff Axtellâs anxious to see Tyler locked up in his jail. The boy killed a young woman, right?â
âThe daughter of one of the local ministers.â
âThatâs a mighty raw thing to do,â Donovan said. âFella like that sure deserves to hang. Bent Creekâs a peaceful town, but if word gets around about what Tylerâs done, folks are liable to start askinâ themselves why we donât just go ahead and string him up here, since heâs got it cominâ.â
âIâm not going to lose my prisoner to a lynch mob,â Luke snapped.
âDamn right youâre not. I never had a prisoner yet taken out and escorted to a necktie party, and we ainât startinâ with Tyler. But Iâd just as soon not tempt fate. I want you to get him out of there bright and early in the morning. You can be on the trail north at first light.â
Mary had listened quietly to the conversation between Luke and Marshal Donovan, but now she said, âIsnât that rushing things, Marshal?â
âMaybe. But I donât want any trouble in my town, so the easiest way to prevent it is to send it packinâ.â
âThatâs a shame,â Mary said as she looked at Luke.
He read quite a bit in her warm gaze, so his voice held genuine regret as he agreed, âIt certainly is.â
âI reckon youâd best spend the night on the cot in my office,â Donovan went on. âThat way you can keep an eye on Tyler, just in case anybody gets any ideas.â
âI assumed that youââ
Donovan held up a hand to stop Luke.
âI told you, you could lock him up in my jail but I ainât takinâ any responsibility for him. Heâs Montanaâs murderer, not mine. I plan to go home and get a good nightâs sleep, and when I get to the office in the morninâ, Iâd just as soon find that the two of you are gone.â
Luke could see that like the bulldog he resembled, Donovan wasnât going to let go of something once he had his jaws set in it. With a sigh, Luke said, âAll right, Marshal. Iâll head over to the jail just as soon as I finish this excellent meal.â
âMary does dish up some good grub,â Donovan said. âI reckon I can watch the prisoner for a little while so you can eat. Just donât linger too long.â
Donovan left the café. Luke shook his head gloomily and told Mary, âAnd here I was, looking forward to sharing some more stimulating conversation with you.â
âSo was I,â she said with a sigh of her own. âYou donât know how much I was looking forward to it, Mr. Jensen.â
* * *
The rain had stopped completely by the time Luke walked up the street to the marshalâs