Chapter 4: The Reward

“Banker, um,” Clint addressed the stout, ill-kempt man dressed in something considered what a business suit of the day looked like. He intended it to intimate wealth, and it caused most people to flinch back when he stared out with his black, beady eyes. He carried a cane with a silver grip shaped like a wolf’s head.

“Barnes,” he volunteered, “Julius Anthony Barnes, at your service. Can you help me find the bank’s money?”

“Maybe I can help with that.” Clint replied. “What can you tell me about the reward for the return?”

“Reward!” he sputtered and fumed. “I hadn’t mentioned a reward. Why it just happened, and they hadn’t had time to even get away.”

“Yes, and that’s thanks to my lady friend and me. Now I will ask again, what is the reward you are offering?

“Well, I guess I could go a couple hundred dollars,” he stammered. “The bank really isn’t on that good of a footing.”

“Don’t you believe it” came a voice from the crowd that had finally gathered. They were listening in on everything they said. They were ready to offer testimony in the contrary to the banker’s opinion.

“He holds the mortgages on all the land around here. He charges outrageous interest on those mortgages, too. Why my mortgage gets him two percent per annum interest,” rang out a voice from the group of townspeople who had gathered. There were many cries of concurrence from the crowd. A lot of the townsfolk obviously didn’t like the man.

“I see,” came Clint’s reply. “So, Mr. High and Mighty Banker, I think the reward ought to be ... oh, let’s make it easy ... let’s say ten percent of the stolen funds as a finder’s fee, and you can also call it banking security.”

The rotund man almost fainted. He hemmed and hawed and argued and pleaded poverty. That was to no avail as Clint stood firm. Barnes had no choice but to agree. Clint had him over a barrel and made Banker Barnes say it to the assembly out loud. Everyone heard him proclaim a reward of ten percent to the person or persons who returned the bank’s money.

Once the banker announced the reward, Clint walked over and sat on the bench on the other side of the attractive and obviously distraught woman. She still looked frightened and was quietly sobbing. Janie was doing her best to sooth her.

Clint looked her over. She appeared to be a fine specimen of womanhood. He guessed that she was about the same shape as Janie, only not as tall. Her hair was flaming red and skin pale as alabaster. He guessed her age to be mid-thirties, but he could be way off in this time period. People aged faster in the Wild West. The emerald green of her iris’s almost glowed with gratitude when she finally looked him in the eyes.

Janie was holding her hands and Clint placed his hands on top of hers. He smiled back at the woman.

“You can rest assured that you won’t have any more trouble, Ma’am. My man and I will make sure that no one bothers you again. We’ve taken care of those galoots just fine.”

Her tears slowed, then stopped. She finally elicited a small smile from the redhead as they talked.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you looking for the bank’s money? I agreed to your extortion and you just sit there with those, those women. Get your priorities straight, Man. Find my money, I mean, the bank, the bank’s money.”

Clint just looked at the pitiful man, giving him a stare that the Duke would be proud of. He didn’t make a move to look for the money but continued to softly talk to Janie and Aggie as Janie introduced her to him. Aggie was feeling much better and the involuntary sobs had ceased.

Banker Barnes spoke out again. “OK, so let’s get a move on. We’ve got to find the money. The loss will ruin the bank. I’d have to sell off all the mortgages and then who knows what would happen if the people fell behind. I have always been slow on collections of defaulted accounts!”

“Ollie Olafsson would disagree with you on that one, Barnes” came another voice from the back of the crowd. He whipped his head around, his beady eyes searching the crowd to see who spoke.

“I gave Olafsson every chance to redeem his foreclosure. He didn’t. It’s not my fault that he couldn’t keep up with his payments. It’s just good business.”

“Ollie couldn’t work after that fall. You could have given him more time.”

“He had more time than the contract allowed and even more time than the law requires. I did nothing wrong.” Barnes declared in his defense.

The crowd was getting angry after the heated exchange between the banker and the townspeople. It was time to break up that little conflict. Clint looked Janie in the eye and gave a short nod. As if on cue, Janie called out “Oh look; what’s this under the bench. It looks like a satchel. I wonder what’s in it.”

She held the satchel up, and the man made a grab for it. That was a mistake. He had moved forward, but was now looking cross-eyed at the barrel of her gun as he felt the light touch of the barrel on the end of his nose. He backed up like a wasp had stung him. His arms flew up, his eyes bugged out as he called for the Sheriff. Clint took the action in. ‘Yeah, she’s OK,’ he thought.

“Now look here, you,” he blustered, “That there is my satchel. Those robbers took it from me at gunpoint.”

“Look, Sheriff,” Janie exclaimed as Sheriff Roberts strode up, “I found a satchel here on the boardwalk under this bench. I don’t know who it belongs to, but I’d like to claim it for myself if no one else can identify its contents.”

Janie had come up with the perfect stratagem. It would then all become Janie’s if the banker couldn’t identify the contents to the near exact amount. If he did, then he named the reward too.

The banker knew that she had had him. He told the Sheriff that it was his and told him that it was the money taken from the bank and that there was close to twelve thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, give or take a few, in the valise. Janie handed the bag over to the Sheriff who placed it on the lowered tailgate of a nearby wagon.

Clint volunteered to watch as the Sheriff counted the money. Janie tossed the Winchester to him and he cocked the weapon as he caught it. That got everyone’s attention. The amount of money in the satchel was exactly twelve thousand, two hundred and fifty-seven dollars when Smiley finished the count. The Sheriff immediately counted out one thousand, two hundred twenty-five dollars and handed it to Clint while piling the rest back in the valise. He handed it to the banker who stomped off in a huff, muttering under his breath with every step.

“Well, Ma’am, that was a smart trick that you pulled on old Banker Barnes. That old tightwad would have snookered y’all out of any reward if you and your mister hadn’t turned the tables on him. I’d a given it all to you if he’d misquoted the amount in that bag, just on account of your helping me!” the Sheriff told the pair.

“Thanks for the help. You saved my skin today and I’m much obliged to you for that. I’m sure my missus is too,” he added as an afterthought.

Janie had caught his words and her eyes shot to Clint’s face when the Sheriff referred to her using the words ‘your mister’. Her heart sang when he didn’t deny the thought. She inadvertently hugged the woman beside her when she heard those words. Then Aggie looked back at her and smiled. “He really is a handsome man. Why aren’t you married to him yet?” she whispered.

“It’s a long story,” Janie replied. “I’ll tell you later if I have the time.”

“Oh no, Missy, you’re not getting away from me that easily. You saved me and now you’re stuck with me. You and your ‘husband’ now must protect me. It’s the ‘Code of the West’ you know,” The older woman shyly grinned at Janie as she hugged her closer. The rest of the bystanders, the Sheriff, and Clint all missed this byplay. It was a secret between the women for now.

Eugenia Agnes Farnsworth was a single lady in her mid-thirties who had come west to teach school. She found that they were no longer interested in her services when she arrived in town. She was boarding with the Widow Johnson, but it was by her good graces that Agnes stayed. Her money had almost run out and the prospects for a decent job were dwindling. She was in the bank to apply for a job. All that Banker Barnes saw was a chance for him to bed her. An indignant Agnes refused his advances, and was leaving his office when the robbers stepped into the bank.