Shadow of the Gallows Read Online Free Page A

circumstances, both groups rubbed along fairly well. It’s only recently that there’ve been complaints about Steadman’s behaviour, that he’s been using unnecessary violence, as well as accusations about ordinary farmers rustling cattlemen’s stock.’
    ‘When did all this start’?’
    ‘I’m not sure. It just seemed that a lot of small things suddenly added up to real big trouble.’
    ‘But why? Something must have happened to change things.’
    ‘I know,’ Jackson agreed with a little frown. ‘But there ain’t anything I can put my finger on. Things certainly ain’t been helped by a couple of bad seasons. It’s always dry down here near the desert as we are, but we’ve had hardly any rain for well over a year. Things are getting desperate. For everybody. There’s jealously and anger where a farmer has fenced off water that a rancher believes was, in the days of the free range, once his own and should still be free to everyone who needs it. And anger too from the farmers when they believe the ranchers ain’t taking any notice of their ownership of the land.Each side thinks it has right on its side.’
    ‘And now the cattlemen are accusing the farmers of wholesale rustling.’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘With any justification? Is there any truth to all these accusations?’
    ‘There are faults on both sides.’ Jackson raised his hands. ‘The farmers ain’t perfect and some are surely not above rustling for profit as opposed to taking a cow to feed their family. But the ranchers are making too much of a situation that once they might not have taken any notice of at all.’
    ‘And had Steadman become too violent in trying to uphold the ranchers’ interests?’
    Jackson shrugged. ‘I guess so.’
    It was a scene set for trouble. Range wars had started over much less.
    ‘What about the man who was killed?’
    ‘Ralph Bannister.’ Jackson sighed and stood up to refill their coffee mugs. ‘He was part of the trouble. He was a real hot head, always going around saying how the farmers were as good as the ranchers. Said the farmers had as much right to the land as anybody else. And, of course, so they do. It was the way he kept goin’ on about it, all of the time. I warned him more’n once that he was making a bad situation worse. Things were hardly helped because his farm included a waterhole that so far has showed no sign of drying up and which he refused to let any of his neighbours use. But he wouldn’t listen. He was trying to get the farmers to stand together against the ranchers.’
    ‘Was he succeeding?’
    ‘Partly. Especially amongst the younger ones. One or two of the older farmers tried to keep a lid on the situation but they were beginning to fail. I tell you, Mr Cobb, I didn’t like it, I could foresee a helluva fight coming our way, but I’m the town marshal not the county sheriff and there wasn’t much I could do except try to keep the two sides separate.’
    ‘But you didn’t succeed because Bannister was shot and killed. Or did that solve some of your problems ?’
    Jackson frowned and said angrily, ‘I certainly wasn’t happy about it.’
    ‘All right, I’m sorry.’ Cobb didn’t want to annoy Jackson unnecessarily. And from first impressions he appeared a good man, not one to condone murder, even one that might help him keep the peace, or one to railroad an innocent man because it was convenient . ‘Was Steadman your first suspect?’
    ‘About my only one as it turned out, yeah.’
    Cobb sat forward. Now they were coming to it. ‘Why? What evidence was there?’
    ‘For a start, with Bannister dead, it was going to be easier for Steadman to make sure the rest of the farmers toed the line.’
    ‘But that can’t be all?’
    ‘No, of course not.’ Jackson sounded angry again as if he suspected Cobb of thinking he hadn’t done his job properly. ‘Steadman was seen in the area of Bannister’s home at the right time.’
    ‘Who by?’
    ‘A couple of hands who work for the