Opportunity
She was stunning: long black hair, angular face; tall for a girl. “I, ah, was… am looking for Mr. Samuelson.”
“My father is in the back. I’ll get him.”
Samuelsson was a heavy-set man in his mid fifties; appeared in pretty good shape for his age. He offered his hand. “Jim Samuelsson.”
Ted shook with an equally firm grip. “I came to meet the mayor.”
Samuelson looked closer at the stranger. “Come on back and have a cup of coffee.” As he turned, his daughter caught the old man’s glance and slipped ahead. The mayor pointed to the desk chair and pulled up a wooden box for himself. “What can I do for you?”
“Heard that you were looking for a sheriff?”
Jim looked up as his daughter entered. “This here’s my daughter, Leitha.”
Ted managed, “Hello, Miss Leitha.” Then they fussed around pouring and fixing coffee. He realized that Samuelsson was watching him closely.
When the daughter disappeared, the father opened up. “Yes, town needs a man—the right man. You have someone in mind?”
“Might. What do you mean the right man?”
“There’s trouble brewing around here. Last sheriff was a good man, and maybe he was killed by accident; maybe not. My opinion is he wasn’t experienced enough to know the difference between a couple of boys whooping it up and a cold blooded rattler that would drop a man for no cause. I need someone who knows that difference -- for my conscience sake.”
The mayor leaned toward Skillman. “If we’re talking about you, what does a young fellow like you know about bad men?”
Ted looked Jim Samuelson straight in the eye: told him about the incident on the cattle drive; how he tracked the stolen cattle, surprised the thieves, and turned them over to the trail boss.
Samuelsson sat quietly for a few moments studying Ted, who forced himself not to look away.
“I don’t know if you were foolish or brave,” he said. “Challenging two armed men.” He nodded sideways in doubt.
“Maybe both. But, I came from behind. They couldn’t know if I was alone or not. By the time they did, they were tied in knots .”
The mayor suddenly smiled. “I tell you what, son. I’ll offer you the job for ninety days – see how things go. It pays fifty cents a day with room and board at Ma Blanchard’s.”
Ted shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. “Thanks for the offer, Mayor. Know that I am interested, but I can’t commit right now.”
Samuelsson’s face hid his thinking. He finished the last drop of his coffee. “Leitha, come out here and pour this good cowboy and me another cup of coffee.”
He watched with a father’s protective eye as the poor fellow desperately attempted conversation with the girl. The interview ended with father and daughter pointing out the attractions of Holliday.
Ted spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town. By the time he tested supper at Ma Blanchard’s, he was ready for a night ride home. How was he going to break this to his parents?
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