back up a
step. “I suppose you want to know what Matthews was talking about.
I mean about me killing his son.”
His bluntness caught her off guard; it was as
if he’d read her mind. “I heard something about it.”
“ What did you hear?”
Almost sorry that she had come out here,
Althea stopped herself from twisting her apron around her fingers.
She felt as uncomfortable discussing this as she would talking
about her mother’s death. “That you caught the boy breaking into a
store in town and you shot him.” What more could there be to a
story like that? she wondered.
Jeff nodded and let his gaze wander to the
mountains on the distant east edge of the valley. “Wickwire’s. He
broke into Wickwire’s.” The afternoon sun highlighted the fine,
strong bones of his face, his broad brow, his mouth that was
generous without being too full. “I always felt a little sorry for
Wes. Cooper had been walloping the hell of out him ever since the
boy’s ma, Elly, died. Sometimes I think death was the only way she
could escape the beatings Cooper gave her.”
“ Dear God,” Althea interjected softly.
She could well imagine that with his low regard for all women,
Cooper Matthews would think nothing of hitting his wife.
Jeff kicked at a grass tussock by a fence
post. “After Wesley came to the jailhouse a couple of times looking
for his father, he took to hanging around. Nobody saw to it that he
went to school or learned anything, and I realized that there was a
pretty smart kid hiding under the bruised face and dirty hair. He
just needed someone to give him more encouragement and less
punishment. Since his father wasn’t doing that, I sort of fell into
the job.”
“ You did?” A very dark picture was
beginning to form in Althea’s mind, one of heartache and cruel
regret.
“ Yeah, I guess I started to think of
him as my son. I talked to the schoolmarm about helping Wes. She
had to work with him after regular class hours because he was so
far behind most of her other students. She didn’t have any other
twelve-year-olds who couldn’t read. But like I said, he was bright
and he wanted to learn, so he caught on pretty fast.”
He went on in a soft voice, telling her how
the boy would sometimes come by the office in the afternoon. Jeff
would listen to Wesley read or cipher. “I was proud of him. But
Cooper didn’t give a damn about what the kid had accomplished, and
he didn’t like him going to school. He told Wes he didn’t want a
son who knew more than he did. Cooper still knocked him around when
he got drunk and the boy couldn’t duck fast enough, or hide soon
enough.
“ One evening, I had one foot in the
stirrup, just about to ride home for the night. Sally—I had dinner
waiting for me, and I didn’t want to be late. But I heard the sound
of glass breaking down the street and I had to see about it. That’s
what the town paid me for.”
Decker Prairie was quiet. Dusk had fallen and
everyone had gone home. Jeff checked the darkened storefronts and
offices along the street, peering through each window. When he got
to Wickwire’s, he saw that the door glass had been broken near the
lock. The door itself was slightly ajar and he knew someone was in
there. With his revolver drawn, slowly, quietly, he crept in and
found a man rifling the cash box.
“ He had his back to me and it was dark,
so I didn’t recognize him right away. Wes had grown a lot in the
past couple of years, too, so I didn’t realize that it was just a
fourteen-year-old boy standing there.”
Now Althea did twist her apron in her
fingers, and the lump in her throat felt as if she’d swallowed a
rock.
In a quiet voice Jeff told the intruder to
turn around, slowly, and no one would get hurt. When Wes turned,
Jeff saw the gun in his hand, but he barely recognized his face.
Both eyes were black and the left side of his face was so swollen
and bruised, he looked as if he wore a grotesque mask.
“ He dared me to stop him. Cooper
step. “I suppose you want to know what Matthews was talking about.
I mean about me killing his son.”
His bluntness caught her off guard; it was as
if he’d read her mind. “I heard something about it.”
“ What did you hear?”
Almost sorry that she had come out here,
Althea stopped herself from twisting her apron around her fingers.
She felt as uncomfortable discussing this as she would talking
about her mother’s death. “That you caught the boy breaking into a
store in town and you shot him.” What more could there be to a
story like that? she wondered.
Jeff nodded and let his gaze wander to the
mountains on the distant east edge of the valley. “Wickwire’s. He
broke into Wickwire’s.” The afternoon sun highlighted the fine,
strong bones of his face, his broad brow, his mouth that was
generous without being too full. “I always felt a little sorry for
Wes. Cooper had been walloping the hell of out him ever since the
boy’s ma, Elly, died. Sometimes I think death was the only way she
could escape the beatings Cooper gave her.”
“ Dear God,” Althea interjected softly.
She could well imagine that with his low regard for all women,
Cooper Matthews would think nothing of hitting his wife.
Jeff kicked at a grass tussock by a fence
post. “After Wesley came to the jailhouse a couple of times looking
for his father, he took to hanging around. Nobody saw to it that he
went to school or learned anything, and I realized that there was a
pretty smart kid hiding under the bruised face and dirty hair. He
just needed someone to give him more encouragement and less
punishment. Since his father wasn’t doing that, I sort of fell into
the job.”
“ You did?” A very dark picture was
beginning to form in Althea’s mind, one of heartache and cruel
regret.
“ Yeah, I guess I started to think of
him as my son. I talked to the schoolmarm about helping Wes. She
had to work with him after regular class hours because he was so
far behind most of her other students. She didn’t have any other
twelve-year-olds who couldn’t read. But like I said, he was bright
and he wanted to learn, so he caught on pretty fast.”
He went on in a soft voice, telling her how
the boy would sometimes come by the office in the afternoon. Jeff
would listen to Wesley read or cipher. “I was proud of him. But
Cooper didn’t give a damn about what the kid had accomplished, and
he didn’t like him going to school. He told Wes he didn’t want a
son who knew more than he did. Cooper still knocked him around when
he got drunk and the boy couldn’t duck fast enough, or hide soon
enough.
“ One evening, I had one foot in the
stirrup, just about to ride home for the night. Sally—I had dinner
waiting for me, and I didn’t want to be late. But I heard the sound
of glass breaking down the street and I had to see about it. That’s
what the town paid me for.”
Decker Prairie was quiet. Dusk had fallen and
everyone had gone home. Jeff checked the darkened storefronts and
offices along the street, peering through each window. When he got
to Wickwire’s, he saw that the door glass had been broken near the
lock. The door itself was slightly ajar and he knew someone was in
there. With his revolver drawn, slowly, quietly, he crept in and
found a man rifling the cash box.
“ He had his back to me and it was dark,
so I didn’t recognize him right away. Wes had grown a lot in the
past couple of years, too, so I didn’t realize that it was just a
fourteen-year-old boy standing there.”
Now Althea did twist her apron in her
fingers, and the lump in her throat felt as if she’d swallowed a
rock.
In a quiet voice Jeff told the intruder to
turn around, slowly, and no one would get hurt. When Wes turned,
Jeff saw the gun in his hand, but he barely recognized his face.
Both eyes were black and the left side of his face was so swollen
and bruised, he looked as if he wore a grotesque mask.
“ He dared me to stop him. Cooper
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