“Are you Blaze Nolan’s friend?”
“Not yet; I haven’t known him long enough.”
“Huh!” snorted Jim Kelton, gathering up his lines. Jane shot Cultus a grateful glance, as they drove away, leaving him with a smile on his lean face. Finally he turned and walked down to Bad News’s office, where he found the lanky, sad-faced deputy seated at a table, making meaningless marks on a sheet of paper with a stubby pencil.
“I wish I knowed where Blaze Nolan is,” he said mournfully. “I’ve sent telegrams to every darned sheriff in the world, I reckon. Somebody ort to pick him up. I hope he resists. It’s a hangin’ job, and I don’t want no chore like that. The county is going to offer a thousand dollars reward for him, dead or alive. The bank is closed and Freeman has been fired. Kendall Marsh was here a while ago, and I reckon he was awful mad. I reckon his plans have kinda gone haywire lately.”
“I guess they have,” smiled Cultus. “In more ways than one. What will be yore first move in locating Blaze Nolan?”
“Gosh, I dunno! None, I reckon. What can I do? This is a hell of a big country to look for one man in. Nossir, I’m jist goin’ to set here and wait until somebody else sees him. I may be a fool, but I’m not goin’ to be a tired fool. I’ll tell yuh that. Some folks seem to think that the burnin’ of the courthouse at Broad Arrow had some connection with the bank robbery here.”
“They’re not blamin’ that on Nolan, are they?”
“I s’pose. Why, they’d blame him for a change in the weather. And,” sighed Bad News, “he’d prob’ly be to blame. The part that hurts the worst is the fact that before Blaze had any trouble around here, him and Buck Gillis was the best of friends. And then for Blaze to up and kill Buck! Well, yuh never can tell which way a dill pickle will squirt. I suppose he was willin’ to do anythin’ to keep from goin’ back to the pen again. Buck didn’t want to serve that warrant. He was mad about it. But he couldn’t help doin’ it, after Marsh swore it out. Gosh, I’m sorry I didn’t go with Buck. I wanted to, but Buck said he didn’t need me. And I didn’t think he did. Well, that’s the way it goes, Collins.”
“Didja ask the coroner to find them two bullets that killed Buck?”
“Shore. He said he would.”