Chapter One.

[James]

A Telegram Arrives at Wrong Address.

Chapter One — A Telegram Arrives at the Wrong Address
The morning started like most mornings in the Streets of Promo.

I had been at the blacksmith shop since sunrise, working on a horseshoe when the door swung open.

Clyde “Bear” Thompson stepped inside.

“Jessie!”

I kept hammering.

“What?”

“You won't believe what just arrived.”

“If it's another traveling salesman, tell him I don't need anything.”

“It ain't.”

I stopped hammering and looked at him.

Clyde held up an envelope.

“A telegram.”

“So?”

“It ain't for you.”

“Then why are you bringing it to me?”

“Because it came to the wrong address.”

That got my attention.

I set the hammer down.

“Who is it for?”

Clyde looked at the envelope.

“Silas Reeve.”

I froze.

I hadn't heard that name in a long time.

“Silas?”

Clyde's smile disappeared.

“You know him?”

“Unfortunately.”

He handed me the telegram.

Silas Reeve's name was written across the front.

But underneath it was the address of my blacksmith shop in Streets of Promo.

“That's why they brought it here,” Clyde said. “His name. Your address.”

I turned the envelope over.

“Where's Silas?”

Clyde shrugged.

“Far as I know, nowhere around here.”

I stared at his name.

Silas “Quick Draw” Reeve.

A man I'd hoped never to see again.

Clyde leaned against the workbench.

“You going to open it?”

“It's not mine.”

“Nope.”

I looked at him.

He looked at me.

I tore it open.

Clyde smiled.

“I knew you would.”

“Shut up.”

The message was short.

MEET AT THE OLD MINE AT DUSK.
THE STAKES ARE HIGH.
DON'T BE LATE.

No signature.

I read it again.

Clyde leaned over my shoulder.

“The old mine?”

“Looks that way.”

“Think they mean the McGraw Mine?”

“What other old mine is there?”

He scratched his beard.

“Good point.”

I folded the telegram.

“I don't like this.”

“Neither do I.”

“Somebody thinks Silas is in the Streets of Promo.”

Clyde looked toward the door.

“Maybe he is.”

We didn't have long to wonder.

The sound of several horses came from Main Street.

Clyde and I stepped outside.

A group of riders was coming through town.

They slowed as they passed the General Store.

The lead rider looked toward us.

I recognized him immediately.

“Silas.”

Clyde looked at me.

“That's him?”

“That's him.”

Silas pulled his horse to a stop.

The other riders stopped behind him.

He climbed down and walked toward us.

“Well, well.”

He looked at me.

“Jessie McGraw.”

“Silas Reeve.”

His eyes moved to the telegram in my hand.

Then he smiled.

“I see you got my message.”

“It came to my shop.”

“That explains why I didn't get it.”

“You sent it?”

Silas laughed.

“No.”

That wiped the smile from Clyde's face.

I held up the telegram.

“Then who did?”

“If I knew that, Jessie, I wouldn't need you.”

Clyde stepped forward.

“What do you want?”

Silas looked him over.

“And you are?”

“Clyde Thompson.”

Silas smiled.

“Bear.”

Clyde's eyes narrowed.

“You've heard of me?”

“Maybe.”

I stepped between them.

“What do you want, Silas?”

He looked at me.

“The same thing I've always wanted.”

“And what's that?”

Silas glanced toward the far end of town.

“The mine.”

I tightened my grip on the telegram.

“You're not getting it.”

“We'll see.”

A voice came from behind him.

“See what?”

Sheriff Promo stood in the street.

Silas turned.

The Sheriff walked toward us,

He looked at the riders.

Then at Silas.

“Don't believe we've met.”

“Silas Reeve.”

“Sheriff Promo.”

Silas glanced at his badge.

“I figured.”

Sheriff Promo looked at me.

“Everything all right?”

“No,” I said.

Silas smiled.

“Yes.”

The Sheriff looked between us.

“That clears things up.”

Clyde laughed.

Silas didn't.

Sheriff Promo looked at Silas.

“You and your men planning on staying?”

“For a while.”

“Hotel's down the street.”

Silas nodded.

“I saw it.”

“And while you're here, I expect things quiet.”

“I haven't caused any trouble.”

“Then we understand each other.”

Silas looked at me.

“Dusk, Jessie.”

“At the mine?”

“You've got the telegram.”

“You just said you didn't send it.”

“I didn't.”

“Then why would you go?”

Silas smiled.

“Because I want to know who did.”

He turned toward his horse.

Sheriff Promo stopped him.

“Hold on.”

Silas looked back.

“If somebody's arranging meetings outside my town and bringing armed men into it, I'd like to know why.”

Silas looked at his riders.

“They're with me.”

“That wasn't my question.”

Silas climbed onto his horse.

“Then I guess you'll have to come to the mine.”

Sheriff Promo didn't answer.

Silas looked at me one last time.

“Dusk.”

He and his men rode toward the hotel.

By late afternoon, word had gotten around.

Maggie O'Sullivan met Clyde and me behind the blacksmith shop.

A few other townspeople had gathered with us.

Maggie looked at the telegram.

“So Silas didn't send this?”

“That's what he says.”

“You believe him?”

“No.”

Clyde folded his arms.

“Neither do I.”

Maggie looked toward the hotel.

“What if he's trying to lure you out there?”

“That's what I'm trying to figure out.”

One of the men spoke up.

“And if his gang is waiting?”

Clyde looked at me.

“We don't go in blind.”

I nodded.

“We know the mine. Silas doesn't.”

Maggie shook her head.

“That's assuming he's telling the truth about any of this.”

She was right.

I looked at the people gathered around us.

“We don't know what Silas is planning. Warn your families and keep your eyes open. Nobody goes looking for trouble.”

Clyde looked at me.

“Except us?”

“Except us.”

Maggie rolled her eyes.

“Wonderful.”

Clyde looked toward the Sheriff's Office.

“We should tell Sheriff Promo we're going.”

“I thought he already knew,” Maggie said.

“He knows about the telegram. He doesn't know what we're planning.”

I tucked the telegram into my pocket.

“Then let's tell him.”

The sun was dropping when Clyde and I reached the Sheriff's Office.

I tried the door.

Locked.

“Sheriff?”

No answer.

Clyde stepped over to the window and looked inside.

“Sheriff Promo?”

Still nothing.

“No sign of him.”

“He's not there.”

I looked through the glass. His chair was empty. Everything inside looked normal.

Then we heard it.

Horses in the distance.

Then shouting.

From the direction of the old mine.

Clyde looked at me.

“Think that's where he went?”

“Only one way to find out.”

I pulled the telegram from my pocket.

MEET AT THE OLD MINE AT DUSK.

I put it away.

“Let's go.”

Clyde nodded.

We headed for the mine.

Whatever Silas Reeve had brought to the Streets of Promo, we were about to find out.

We mounted our horses and headed toward the mine.

We hadn't gone far when a rider appeared on the trail ahead of us.

Clyde squinted into the fading light.

“That's the Sheriff.”

Sheriff Promo was riding back toward town.

We pulled our horses to a stop as he approached.

“Sheriff!” I called.

Promo slowed his horse.

“What are you two doing out here?”

“We came looking for you,” I said. “We heard shouting coming from the mine.”

Promo looked back over his shoulder toward the ridge.

“I heard it too. That's why I went out there.”

“What happened?” Clyde asked.

Promo turned his horse alongside ours.

“Silas and his men weren't alone. Another group of riders showed up at the mine.”

I looked at Clyde.

“What did they want?”

“The mine, from the sound of it. One of them said it belonged to them. Silas's bunch didn't agree.”

“Who were they?” I asked.

“Don't know. They weren't interested in introducing themselves.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the telegram.

“Did you ask about this?”

Promo nodded.

“Silas asked them himself if they sent it.”

“And?”

“Nobody answered.”

Clyde frowned.

“So Silas didn't send it.”

“Apparently not.”

“And the other men won't admit they did,” I said.

Promo shook his head.

“No.”

I looked down at the telegram in my hand.

Someone had sent it to Silas Reeve.

Someone had deliberately used my blacksmith shop as the address.

And now two groups of armed men had shown up at the old mine because of it.

I folded the telegram and slipped it back into my pocket.

For the first time, I wasn't wondering why Silas Reeve had come back to the Streets of Promo.

I was wondering who had brought him here.

End of Chapter One.