Read Horse With No Name for Free Online Page B

think it could belong to the
man or men that attacked him."
    Merrick handed the glove back to her.
"Perhaps."
    Julia's brows came together in a look of
concern. "Are you going to look into it?"
    "No," Merrick began unrolling his sleeves and
buttoning them at the cuff. "It could have been dropped by
anyone."
    "But look," Julia pointed to the glove's
palm, "Walt and I think that's the mark a reign makes. Whoever's
glove this is works with horses. It could belong to one of the
drovers from around here."
    Merrick stood frozen while working at one
cuff button. "'Walt and I'?" he asked.
    Julia looked at him defiantly. She stood up a
little straighter. "Yes. Walt and I discussed the glove just now. I
found him next door before I knew you were here."
    "Huh," Merrick began rolling his other sleeve
down, "Well then, I will leave it to you and Walt to figure out who
the glove belongs to."
    "Good heavens, Constable Merrick, what's
gotten up your nose this morning? I didn't think you'd be so
petulant."
    "Not petulant, Miss Thom, just busy. I've got
paperwork on my desk that's about to swamp me, brands to check on
several different ranches, and just for fun I thought I might have
a stab at trying to find out who attempted to attack you the other
night. If that's all right with you. So if you don't mind, I'll go
take care of some of those things and leave you and Mr. Sheehan to
discover just who the rightful owner of this glove is."
    Julia's back was up now. She felt as though
Merrick was attacking her for no good reason. "What about James
Hunter? Isn't it also your responsibility to find out who attacked
him? What if whoever it was comes after someone else in the
community?"
    Merrick pulled his jacket off the hook with a
sharp jerk, "Not that it's any of your business, but Mr. Hunter is
not cooperating. I've spoken to him twice so far today and he won't
answer any of my questions. Swears he's got amniotic
something-or-other."
    Julia stifled a smile, "I think you mean
amnesia."
    "Whatever. The point is he won't cooperate so
there's not much else I can do. Without a witness or, heaven
forbid, any details about what happened, my hands are tied. Now, if
you'll excuse me."
    Julia stepped aside to let Merrick pass. The
constable sailed down the aisle and went out into the light outside
without looking back. Julia turned and looked at Earl, who stood
with his eyelids half-closed. "He's not an easy one to manage, is
he?"

Seven
    Through the large front window of the store, Merrick
could see Betty Mitchell sweeping the day's dirt into a pile in the
center of the room. He walked past once, stomping down the wooden
sidewalk as though he was rushing to an emergency. When he got to
the end of the row of shops, he hopped down onto the street and
turned right, without thinking or knowing where he was going. He
walked up the slight incline that occurred in this part of the town
center. When it rained, this sloped street became a river; he could
still see the furrows in the dirt from the last big storm they'd
had. Soon it would be snow they'd be contending with and his job
would become that much more challenging. The previous winter had
been hard on everyone; several people had moved away, back to the
coast where the climate was milder and where amenities were easier
to come by. Living out here in a new province, with the paint
hardly dry on the few buildings they had, was not easy.
    But Merrick loved it. He loved the wide open
space and the feelings of possibility and opportunity available to
him. As a boy growing up on a farm in the Ottawa valley, he had
known from a very early age what his future held. He and his
brothers would take over the farm from his father, and they would
work the earth until they died. Someone, probably his mother, would
find him a wife, and they in turn would produce children that would
do the same as their parents had done.
    By the age of ten he couldn't bear this idea.
It stifled him, made him feel a panicky sensation. He felt