Posted October 1, 2018

The sun blazed down with all the fury typical of an August afternoon in northwest Montana. There was a good chance that the temperatures would reach the mid-to-high nineties before day's end. Deputy Marshal Hannah Cory paused in her progress along the street and looked longingly over at the Stardust Saloon. Then she shook her head, sending the unruly mass of golden-brown hair. Although she entered the saloons in the course of her patrols or in response to trouble, she rarely went in at any other time. Hannah was aware that there was only so much she could do without causing more of a stir amongst the town's old biddies than her job already caused.

Hannah called out to a group of boys racing down the street, warning them to watch out for horses and wagons. Racing down the town's main street was not as dangerous as it could be. There were town ordinances regarding speed. Hannah supposed having the boys running down the street was better than them running down pedestrians on the sidewalk.

The deputy marshal had just taken note of a tall, well-dressed man strolling along the boardwalk when the clatter of hooves going faster than was allowed got her attention. At the same time as Hannah spotted a group of rowdy riders galloping down the main street, she saw a smaller boy dart out of an alley, intent on catching up to his friends.

Hannah reacted without conscious thought, dropping her rifle and running into the street. She screamed at the riders to slow down and leaped into the street to snatch up the boy. Clutching his small frame to hers, Hannah dove toward the sidewalk and safety, landing hard, but managing to cushion the boy as they fell. She lay there panting, hearing the sound of laughter as the cowboys galloped north along Kalispell's normally peaceful Main Street.

Posted October 3, 2018

Hannah shot Quentin a narrow-eyed look as the two men assisted her to her feet. Honestly, despite his teasing comment, she was grateful for the help. The fall had not hurt her but the boy had landed hard on her midriff, knocking the air out of lungs. Once on her feet, Hannah dusted off the seat of her britches and pushed tendrils of hair out of her eyes. Leaning down, she retrieved her rifle and settled it in the crook of her arm with the muzzle pointed safely down and away from her companions.

Following Quentin's gaze, she looked at the milling riders at the far end of the street. No doubt they would be heading for the Stardust soon. They were a little rough to be allowed in at the Belle-St. Regis' bar. Hannah also surreptitiously glanced around to see if Quentin's shadow, Shade Thornton, was anywhere nearby. He had a penchant for mixing it up with men like those cowboys which, in turn, made Hannah's work harder.

"Those scoundrels are with the Circle Y outfit. They come through a couple of times a year heading for the stockyards in Missoula. I'll pass on the fines to their trail boss. Thank you, Quentin," Hannah said to Cantrell and then turned her blue-green gaze to the other man. "Thank you also. I'm Hannah Cory - Deputy Marshal.

Posted October 5, 2018

Hannah eyed the cowboys, "I really don't think they will be a problem," she said. Rolling her shoulders to ease the tension, she glanced at the two men, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wentworth." The fact that the man was willing to treat her respectfully despite her appearance and the work she had chosen to do was a pleasant change. It was a far cry from the usual attitude that seemed to be that if she wanted to dress in a man's clothes and do a man's job, there was something wrong with her. "I believe you are the new owner of the Belle?" She shot Quentin a quick look. The Belle-St. Regis would be a good ally if the range and business war with the Steelgraves continued escalating.

Matt nodded, "Yes I am. I was just on my way back to the hotel." He paused for a moment before continuing, "It's not often I get to rescue a woman as lovely as yourself. I know that the law can't show any favouritism to a particular business but if you are ever in the mind to come by for lunch or dinner, it will be my honour to receive you as my guest."

Hannah was not sure if the man was delusional or just being polite when he referred to how lovely she was. Either way, the unexpected compliment made her blush lightly. "I am not always on-duty," she murmured in reply to the luncheon invitation although her voice faded in light of Quentin's look in her direction. No doubt Shade had by now told him of their past history. She was rapidly getting out of her depth with the two men.

Quentin arched an eyebrow at the gentleman's words to Hannah. He looked between the two of them and was glad Shade had not come into town with him today. He cleared his throat and stuck a hand out toward the newcomer. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wentworth. I am Quentin Cantrell..."

Turning his attention from Hannah and held out his hand. "Mr. Cantrell. Judging by Deputy Cory's familiarity to you, I take it that you live locally?" Matt had heard Cantrell's name a few times during his initial investigation of the town. He wasn't sure what was the truth and what had been lies. Now he had the opportunity to find out.

Quentin nodded. "I am part of the Lost Lake Ranch just outside of town. I used to pass through here quite a lot when visiting my sister and now live here permanently..."

Matt nodded, "I've heard some about your ranch. I remember coming across the name in the hotel's accounts a few times." He also knew a lot more from his briefings about the Steelgraves but he knew that would be best kept to himself. Having a newcomer knowing a lot more than most residents would take a lot of explaining.

Hannah shifted her stance slightly, a thought occurring to her and she looked up at Quentin, "Heard that Lost Lake has had a couple of steers killed?" She wanted to make sure that Cantrell and Thornton were not about to blame the Steelgraves for these losses. "Randall Hannity said that something killed his entire herd of goats."

Shaking his head, Matt said "For something to kill a whole herd it would have to be big. I've heard that mountain lions can do a lot of damage. Do you suppose it was a pack of them?"

Toby, the young boy Hannah had saved was listening to the conversion. He had recovered from the scare of being tackled by the deputy sheriff and was about to go off to find his friends. In his opinion, the grown-ups weren't saying anything interesting but at the mention of steers and goats getting killed his ears perked up. "Weedy says that it was a grizzly. It killed one of Miss Addy's horses last night when she was comin' back to town with some fella named Speed."

Hannah gave the boy a sharp look, "Are you sure about that, Toby?" In her opinion, Weedy was not the most reliable source of information in the world. If this was true, she needed to find Adelaide Chappel and talk to her. A rogue grizzly was bad news.