Merriweather Rides West Read online

  Merriweather Rides West

  Failed law student and ex-outlaw Jacob Merriweather is riding west to start a new life when he strikes up a friendship with Sam Critchley, an eccentric travelling preacher. Sam suggests that they call in at a smallholding owned by his friends Stan and Beth Salinger, only to find that the young couple has been shot dead.

  They report the murder to the local sheriff and return to town, where they meet Marie Silversmith, a close friend of the Salingers. Marie is determined to bring the killers to justice and she persuades Jacob and Sam to help her. They are joined by an Indian tracker called Running Deer, and together this unlikely posse sets out on a mission that proves to be both challenging and extremely dangerous!

  By the same author

  Shoot Out at Big King

  Man of Blood

  Riders From Hell

  Time to Kill

  Blood on the Sand

  A Town Called Perdition

  Incident at River Bend

  The Proving of Matt Stowe

  Nolan's Law

  Blood Will Have Blood

  Brothers in Blood

  A Sack Full of Dollars

  Writing as James Dell Marr

  Badland's Bounty

  Horse Soldier's Return

  Merriweather Rides West

  Lee Lejeune

  ROBERT HALE

  © Lee Lejeune 2018

  First published in Great Britain 2018

  ISBN 978-0-7198-2738-9

  The Crowood Press

  The Stable Block

  Crowood Lane

  Ramsbury

  Marlborough

  Wiltshire SN8 2HR

  www.bhwesterns.com

  Robert Hale is an imprint of The Crowood Press

  The right of Lee Lejeune to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him

  in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  CHAPTER ONE

  After the incident in Silver Spur, Jacob Merriweather rode north-west towards the North Platte river. He had heard the shots down on the trail, and he knew that someone must have been badly wounded or killed. He didn’t know whether it was Marshal Adam Kirk or Steve, and he didn’t wait to find out. He just kept riding north-west, heading in the general direction of Oregon. He didn’t know much about Oregon, either, but he’d heard it was a land of milk and honey. But Merriweather didn’t believe in lands of milk and honey, and he didn’t rate pots of gold at the end of rainbows, either. Life was life and the earth was the earth, and you had to live with it for better or worse. Jacob Merriweather was a realist.

  The episode in Silver Spur had chastened him somewhat. He knew that Marshal Adam Kirk might be close on his heels, and he didn’t like the notion of swinging from a high tree. So he just kept on riding, stopping occasionally to pull into a stand of trees to check he wasn’t being followed.

  Jacob was a restless spirit who didn’t care to be reined in. That’s why he had left the law practice in the east and ridden west, and that’s why he had fallen in with Alphonso and his gang of outlaws. At first, a life robbing banks had appealed to him. It was exciting and stirred up his blood. Alphonso had become a good friend and a loyal buddy, but without his specs he was blind as a bat. He even laughed about it himself! And now Alphonso was lying dead at the funeral directors in Silver Spur with his twisted specs perched on the end of his nose – though Jacob Merriweather didn’t know that until somewhat later.

  The trouble had started with Black Bart, the huge black-bearded guy who seemed to actually enjoy killing people. As soon as he met Bart, Jacob knew it had been a mistake. Alphonso knew it too, but he went along with it since he had met Bart in the old days when Bart had been a little more civilized. And that unfortunate meeting had sealed Alphonso’s death warrant.

  ‘As soon as you meet a killer, you can smell it,’ Jacob said to himself. ‘That stink comes off him like the stink of rotting corpses! Alphonso should have caught the odour too, but maybe his nasal passages were blocked!’

  And so Jacob Merriweather rode on in the direction of Wyoming, with Denver, Colorado, many miles to his left. He knew it would take him weeks to reach Oregon, and that meant camping in the wilderness, which he didn’t care for too much, either. His wilderness skills were minimal: he could fry an egg in a pan or a slice of steak, if one was available, but he had never learned to build a shelter, and he had no tent. So he would just have to curl himself up in his bedroll and hope it wouldn’t rain or snow! But the fall would soon be here, and that was something of a problem, too.

  When a man is alone in the wilderness he learns either to talk to himself or to his horse, or go plumb loco. Jacob had neither horse sense nor horse language, so he just argued with himself and hoped to keep sane.

  ‘You can’t go on like this, my friend,’ he mumbled. ‘Sooner or later something’s got to give. So what do you do, my friend?’ Jacob called everyone his friend, even if the man was his enemy, so it seemed natural to talk to himself in the same way. ‘Maybe you should stop by a cabin some place and ask if there’s work available. But there again, what can you do? You’ve never dug or sowed but you have reaped a bit on other men’s land. So, let’s get real: you’ve just been a layabout and a lawbreaker, and the only skills you’ve mastered are smooth talking and pushing a pen around, and what good are they out here in the wild country?

  ‘Speaking of smooth talking,’ Jacob continued to himself, ‘It isn’t a lot of use talking; you’ve got to look right, too! A hobo or a bum won’t cut the mustard even if he does speak like a gent. In fact, as soon as he opens his mouth and starts gobbing forth, folks will think he’s just a fraud ready to charm you into submission and rob you of your well-earned green backs. So, what do you advise, my friend?

  ‘Well, one thing’s for sure,’ he answered himself. ‘You need a bath, my friend. Keeping yourself sweet and clean is ace high in my book of good options. And a new outfit of nice-looking dudes might help, too.

  ‘Easy to say, not so easy to do,’ Jacob said to his invisible friend. ‘Where does a dandy like me find a new suit of clothes around here in the middle of the wilderness and without the dollars to pay for it?

  ‘Ah, there’s the rub,’ the invisible friend seemed to stroke his beard. ‘Why don’t you start with a bath. There might not be a hot tub around here but you can always jump into the creek and dunk yourself down. That might be a good starting point. Get rid of all the bugs too!’ That was good advice and Jacob followed it through. Every time he came to a creek, he tethered his horse and dunked himself down. His horse looked at him sideways and seemed to grin. ‘Horses have a lot more horse sense than we think,’ Jacob said to himself.

  Then there was the tricky question of food. Jacob had no hunting skills. Since he had come West and met up with Alphonso, he hadn’t needed any. The bunch had always stolen their food or caught it in the wild.

  His invisible friend said, ‘You’re a real knucklehead, Jake. Why don’t you call in at the local spread and buy some tuck? Surely you’ve got enough dollars for that!’

  Sure! Jacob had a few dollars, but where was the spread? He looked across the endless prairie and saw nothing but sage and creosote and the occasional stand of aspe
ns.

  These conversations went on for several days. Jacob had a few supplies so he wasn’t exactly starving, but now his belly seemed to be flapping against his ribs more and more urgently.

  Then one morning as he was starting to talk to his invisible friend again, he saw a wagon coming towards him on the trail. It was quite a small wagon and it was being drawn by two burros. The wagon was painted in vivid colours as though deliberately inviting attention, and in the driving seat was the squat figure of a gnome-like man with a long white beard – and Jacob guessed it wasn’t Santa Claus. It was too early in the year, anyway!

  Jacob waited at the side of the trail until the wagon came close and the gnome-like figure drew it to a standstill. The man looked at Jacob and nodded.

  ‘Is this a hold-up?’ he asked as casually as a man asking if he was on the road to Paradise. His voice was friendly but somewhat harsh, as though he’d been looking at the world for a long time and decided it was some kind of farce.

  ‘No, my friend,’ Jacob assured him. ‘This is no hold-up. This is me asking you if you have supplies to spare.’

  The parting in the white beard where the lips should be seemed to grin. ‘And who is “Me”?’ asked the gnome-like figure.

  ‘ “Me” is Jacob,’ Jacob replied, ‘but you can call me Jake if you care to.’

  The gnome-like man leaned forwards. ‘Pleased to make your acquaintance, Jake. My name’s Sam, Sam Critchley.’ The driving-seat was too far up, so instead of leaning over to shake Jacob’s hand, he just nodded. ‘Haven’t I seen you someplace before, Jake?’

  ‘I don’t think so, Sam,’ Jacob replied, ‘unless you have second sight.’

  Sam nodded again. ‘I never forget a face, my friend. That’s my ace in the hole and I know I’ve seen your face before. Those side whiskers of yours are quite distinctive though somewhat bedraggled at the moment. And before you ask again, I do have supplies and I don’t carry a gun. So if you have an inclination to shoot me, I guess you can. But I hope you won’t because I’m a passing good cook, too. So why don’t you join me in some chow? By the way, I see you carry a shooter, and is that a Winchester carbine I see in your saddle holster?’

  ‘Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, my friend,’ Jacob replied. ‘I’ve carried these tools since I rode West. I heard rumours there are some ugly hombres between here and California.’

  Sam Critchley gave a rich musical chuckle. ‘So you’re a gunman?’ he suggested.

  Jacob grinned back at him. ‘I wouldn’t claim any such distinction,’ he said. ‘But a man can’t be too careful if he wants to stay alive, can he?’

  Sam Critchley gave a hearty laugh again. ‘Well, sir, that depends on your business. I’ve never carried a gun, and so far the Good Lord has kept me in the land of the living.’

  ‘Well, that’s really kind of him, I’m sure. But what is your line of business, my friend?’

  Sam Critchley nodded like Job on one of his better days. ‘Hard to describe,’ he said after a moment. ‘Mostly it’s just talking. And I get along purty well with that. Some folks have called me wise, but I don’t take much account of such foolish talk. No man can be called wise until he’s dead, as a wise man once said. Or maybe it was happy. I’m not sure about that.’

  Jacob chewed that thought over in his mind but made no comment.

  Then Sam Critchley spoke again. ‘Now listen up, my friend, you look real tuckered out. Why don’t I pull in this rig and have a cook up so you can regain your strength and vigour? It’s a bit late for breakfast and a little early for lunch but if you don’t mind, I don’t mind. What do you say?’

  Jacob thought, yes please, but he didn’t say so.

  Sam Critchley climbed down from his painted wagon with surprising agility for such an old man, and he offered his hand to Jacob, and Jacob took it and gave it a good hard squeeze.

  ‘A good firm grip,’ Sam Critchley said. ‘I like a man with a good strong grip.’

  Sam Critchley quickly released his burros from their harness and they were soon munching away at a patch of grass at the side of the trail. Then he went over to a creek close by and brought back a couple of pails of water for the burros to drink. Jacob’s horse raised his head and looked at them askance and then put its head down and went on munching the grass

  ‘I see you wait on those two beasts just like they are human,’ Jacob observed.

  ‘Well, of course I do,’ Sam Critchley said. ‘Those two so-called beasts are like my own children. So I have to be like a father to them. Now to the grub I mentioned.’

  Sam Critchley was surpassingly adept and he soon had a fire blazing away beside the trail. He had loaded his cooking pot with various bits of meat and even a few wild onions he’d harvested along the trail, and soon the two men were sitting by the fire chewing away, if not merrily, at least with great satisfaction.

  ‘Where did you get all this from?’ Jacob Merriweather asked in surprise.

  ‘From the Indians,’ Sam said. ‘I have some good Indian amigos, and they taught me a lot about surviving out here in what some ignorant folk call the wilderness. I always carry a little pemmican and jerky around with me so I won’t starve.’ He even produced a couple of bottles of beer. He removed the tops and handed one to Jacob.

  ‘Now I remember,’ he said casually.

  ‘Remember what?’ Jacob asked.

  ‘I told you I never forget a face, and I remember where I’ve seen yours before.’

  ‘Where was that, my friend?’ Though Jacob guessed what was coming, he didn’t move a muscle.

  ‘You were standing next to Black Bart on a wanted poster. I think it might have been in River Bend.’

  Jacob nodded. ‘I don’t remember where that was taken.’

  ‘But it was you,’ Sam insisted. ‘Not that it makes no never mind to me. I can read your face like a deck of cards, and I can see pretty well what you’re thinking.’

  ‘Then tell me what I’m thinking,’ Jacob said.

  ‘You’re thinking you’ve had your fill of shooting and you want to turn your life around.’

  Jacob nodded again. ‘Well, you’re a good reader of faces, my friend.’

  Sam was smiling through his beard. ‘And I’ll tell you something else,’ he said. ‘I saw a news-sheet the other day, and there was quite a big spread about Black Bart.’

  Jacob opened his eyes a little wider. ‘So you know what happened to him?’

  ‘I sure do. Black Bart was shot in the leg quite close to his masculinity by a young lady he’d held captive. And a United States Marshal named Adam Kirk arrested him. He’s now on trial, and I don’t fancy his chances too much. He’s a heavy hombre, and when he drops through the hangman’s trap his head will more than probably snap right off his shoulders. Not that I believe in putting criminals to death, you understand. I’m a man of peace.’

  Jacob shrugged his shoulders. He was glad that young Katie Smiley was alive and free, and if anyone had to capture Black Bart, he was pleased it was Marshal Adam Kirk.

  After the meal, Sam hitched up his burros and climbed into the driving seat again. ‘So why don’t you sit up here with me?’ he said to Jacob. ‘That good horse of yours can trot along beside us. He’ll get a little relief from your weight. Not that you’re a big man, but lean hombres like you are sometimes heavier than they look. And you can doze a little if you fancy it.’

  ‘Where are we headed, my friend?’ Jacob asked him.

  Sam cocked his head on one side and mused. ‘General direction of Fort Laramie, but that’s quite a long haul. So I have in mind to call in on some friends of mine, Stan and Beth Salinger. They have a small holding no more than twenty miles from here. Good folks, I think you’ll like them. I aim to rest up there for a couple of days or so before riding on. There’s a small creek. They have a few cattle and hens, the usual things a small spread can boast of. Stan and Beth have plans to expand, but that’s all way ahead in the future, but they’re happy to let things grow like the birds and the bees
and the crops as the Good Lord sees fit.’

  ‘Sounds like Paradise itself!’ Jacob said.

  ‘It’s half way to heaven,’ Sam agreed.

  The rhythm of nature is slow and Sam Critchley went along slowly to keep pace with it. Sure they would stop at Stan and Beth’s place, but what was the hurry?

  ‘My opinion is we stop some place I know for tonight and ride in come morning and give our friends a pleasant surprise. What do you say to that, my friend?’

  ‘Sounds like a good idea to me,’ Jacob agreed.

  So they stopped at a convenient place close to a creek and made camp. Jacob gathered dry sticks and Sam built up a fire, and soon a splendid aroma started pervading the air around the cooking pot.

  ‘It’s been a real pleasure meeting like this, Jake,’ Sam purred. He had lit up a large curly pipe and was puffing away contentedly by the fire. ‘Do you believe in Fate, my friend?’

  Jacob grinned at him from across the fire, and the light of the fire danced on the old man’s face, giving it a somewhat devilish appearance.

  ‘Maybe you could tell me what you mean by Fate,’ Jacob said. ‘Whatever it is, I don’t think I’ve met it before.’

  Sam took his pipe out of his mouth and waved it at the stars. ‘Do you see those stars up there, Jake?’

  ‘I see them, my friend.’

  ‘What do they say to you, Jake?’

  Jacob held his head on one side and looked up at the stars. ‘If they’re speaking, my friend, I don’t hear them.’

  Sam was silent for a moment, and then he spoke so quietly that Jacob could scarcely hear what he said. ‘You should learn to listen, Jake,’ he said.

  ‘And what will I hear?’ Jacob asked.

  Sam looked at him across the fire. ‘Then you’ll hear the voice of Fate, my friend.’