Trego. J. D. Oliver
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the lid on Dad’s casket. We stood there staring at each other. He said, “Come in son, you need a hair cut.”
“Who the hell are you?” I asked.
“My name is Lambert Crane, and if I’m not mistaken you’re the son of Howard Shelby. And I think that would make you my nephew. I’ve heard a lot about you Trego. Some good, some not so good.”
“Now just hold on there. You say Dad and you were brothers, how come he never mentioned you? Or come to think of it, any of his family? Heck, you don’t even have the same name.”
“Well now son, that’s not my fault, your father took his mother’s maiden name of Shelby. You see we were half brothers, we had the same father. Your mother was a Blackfoot, her name was Shelby Tall Elk. She was the one who named you Trego. I suppose your Dad told you all this, right?”
I stood there transfixed. I shook myself, “No, he didn’t. Not one word.” I plopped down in the chair.
“Where is your Dad? Is he doing well?”
“Well, Yes, he’s feeling no pain. I buried him this spring. So what about my Mother, where is she?”
“Your Dad didn’t tell you? Well I guess he didn’t. Your mother was killed by some high binders. Your Dad went on a rampage, he killed all of them, some twenty in all. Then he took you and disappeared. I heard tales about you from time to time. I seen you the first day you got here, figured you’d get around to coming in here sooner or later.”
I sat down and he gave me a hair cut. Brie would be surprised, I think she liked my long hair. But at times it sure got in the way. I felt the back of my head, it felt naked. “Wow! That’s going to freeze, you don’t have a scarf that I can borrow, do you?”
“Yes I do, my wife knit’s them, along with sweaters and stuff, she sells them.”
He proffered me one, I wrapped it around, that felt better. “How much do I owe you.”
“Nothing, you’re kin.”
“No way, I pay my way.” I tossed him a double eagle. He caught it. He looked at it, like he knew that too.
“Ah, you still have a lot of them, I take it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but yeah, I have enough. What are you getting at?”
“Nothing, just a comment. You have change coming, hold on.” He gave me eighteen silver dollars back. “a dollar for the haircut, one for the scarf.”
I took the money, held it for a second, “I tell you what, why don’t you just keep this and put it on my account, that way all that weight won’t weigh me down.”
“Yeah, I can see why you don’t want extra weight, with those twin .44’s you’re packing.” He smiled wryly at me. “That sure is a shiny badge you have. Is it supposed to be a target?”
“How did you know?”
“I remember the days of yore myself. Your Dad and I used to play with that chain mail all of the time. Watch your back son.”
“I plan on it, Uncle, I plan on it. By the way, don’t tell anybody we’re related.” Then I went out on the boardwalk, the wind caught the tails of the bright red scarf and waved them in fate’s eye.
I had more enemies in this town, then friends, or at least that was what I thought. Maybe I was just starting to get paranoid. But I doubted it.
I knew I was half Blackfoot, and that’s why I had a dark complexion compared to Dad’s. So that was why I also had his volatile nature. Over twenty, huh!
As I walked toward the saloon, I was thinking, just what brought me to this town. I don’t remember setting any particular direction. I just sort of let the reins lay on Jim’s neck, he brought me here, him and Jake. As I remembered, Jake was always out in front. Maybe it was Jake who was the guiding force?
I made a mistake that I couldn’t afford to make; thinking. That is being absorbed in thought and not paying attention to the ambient. The first shot slammed into the post that I was just passing, the next one went wide also. It was Junior, the Blythe kid. He had just staggered out of the saloon door, he held the gun in both hands pointing it at me.
I raised my left hand gun and shot him in the leg, I hoped it hadn’t hit an artery. Those same two that had baby sat him last time busted through the door. They had guns in their hands. “Drop them, or I won’t just shoot you in the leg, I’ll give you a new nickname, Cyclops.”
“Huh?” They said, as they complied and dropped their guns. “Don’t shoot, we know how you can shoot, we seen you shoot three guys over at Fort Benton. They were friends of ours.”
“Well, you didn’t keep good company then and you’re not now. Pick that little bastard up and get him to the Doctor, you tell Blythe the next time I’ll plant his little offal.”
As they passed me, they said, “what’s Cyclops and what’s offal?”
“There’s a library down the street, ask the librarian, she’ll tell you.” Then I picked up all three guns from the boardwalk and went into the saloon. They were all gathered by the door, they backed up quickly as I came in.
I walked to the bar and turned around and said, “The drinks are on me, belly up boys, cause this is the last time I’m buying.”
They did as told, I drank a beer, and then I took the three guns back to the jail and locked them in a drawer. I stoked the fire and sat down to think. It wasn’t two minutes later till Jake and Brie came through the door. They both tried to get in my lap at the same time.
“We heard about the shooting, did you get hurt?”
“Nope, not a scratch.”
“Owwee, you got a hair cut.” Brie said as she stood up and stepped back to get a better view. “and where did you get that scarf?
“The Barber’s wife makes them, I paid a buck for it. Do you want one?”
“No, I have enough. You know she is an Indian, don’t you?”
“No I didn’t. Does it make a difference?”
“Goodness no. I just mentioned it. They say she’s a Blackfoot, I believe her maiden name was Tall Elk, or something like that.” I looked at Brie, “How old is she?”
“Around the same age as Lambert is, I think. She’s real nice, I like her.” Brie said, cocking her head and looking at me, she added, “you know you look a little like her, the way you smile and all.”
“I guess that’s a compliment.”
“It is, I told you I like her, but I love you. I didn’t notice the resemblance before, not with your beard and all.”
“How about the rest of the community, do they like her?”
“Well, not at first, you know being Indian and all. A few made disparaging remarks, but Lambert set them straight, he’s good fighter and he shoots straight. You know, your eyes, their green, verging on hazel, but at times they seem gray, just like Lamberts.”
“Well, pretty soon you’ll have me looking like everyone in this town. You know sometimes my color vision isn’t that good, everyone looks the same to me.” I said.
“Do they really?”
“Yes, I don’t judge people by their outward appearance. I do however put them in categories. And then I let their actions speak for their character.”
Jake was lying behind the stove, watching us talk. Brie got up and was walking around the jail looking at things. She picked up a pair of wrist manacles from a peg.
“Do you know how to use these?”
“I suppose, they are pretty self explanatory, uh, be careful, I wouldn’t lock them on yourself, I don’t know where