“Do you know?”
“You know something that no one else knows?”
“You should speak well.”
Lane crossed his arms and glared at Max.
Of course, it wasn’t a bad intention. It was just a sign of Rain’s curiosity.
“The governor, who had been absent, suddenly called the legislature together at a place called Pawnee.
What does this mean?”
“……What does this have to do with Pony?”
“It’s an excuse to say that we are far from being a slave state and a free state. The legislature is composed of slave states, so isn’t Lecompton, which is full of pro-slavery people, safer now?”
“hmm.”
It’s hard to completely agree with that, but it’s a plausible guess. While everyone was thinking about the relationship between Pony and the Governor, Max looked at Lane and spoke.
“I think it would be good if Congressman Lane could do this.”
“Are you telling me to go to Pony and find out?”
“This is just my guess, but I think it would be a good idea to track down the governor’s assets.”
“If it’s property, it would be land.”
Ironically, this was also the reason why Governor Andrew Leader was later fired by the President.
The charge was illegal land speculation.
Andrew Leader was a land speculator who owned 1,200 acres of land in Pawnee Village at 90 cents an acre.
Max urged Lane to find evidence and blackmail him.
Joe Jim Jr.
Sheriff’s office.
Peach, who had dropped out of school, did not attend the town council meeting. Perhaps that was why he came to the office the next day and immediately sat down next to me and asked questions.
“Did anything important come up at the meeting yesterday?”
“It was nothing special.”
“But why are these meetings taking so long?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The formation of the Lawrence-only legislature, thrown by Max.
Given the ramifications, it was decided to keep all meeting details confidential.
And the result of the meeting held separately from the committee. Lane decided to visit Pony Village within a few days and to have Joe Jim accompany him on this trip.
“Here he is again. He must be going to work.”
The man who opened the door and came in was none other than Joe Jim Jr. He has been frequenting the sheriff’s office since the incident that day.
“good morning!”
“Are you saying this because you really like it?”
“Have you eaten? I brought you some cornbread. Please eat it.”
Junior handed the bread to Max without even looking at Peach.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
After bread comes coffee.
Pour water into a tall metal kettle and add coarsely ground coffee beans.
Each time the water boiled and the lid steamed and shook, coffee grounds spilled out.
Peach had her eye on coffee as well as cornbread.
“I’ll drink well.”
“There’s nothing to drink, Deputy Sheriff.”
“Why, since you were going to make it anyway.”
“Tch.”
‘This is where I should be.’
I feel like I’ve been robbed of my spot by Peach.
I had no intention of doing well.
Of course, I was doing everything I could.
Max looked at Joe Jim Jr., his mouth agape.
He is 18 years old, one year younger than Max.
I don’t really pressure you to teach me anything.
He would quietly work on his weapon next to Max, or do the same thing while Max was exercising.
And very rarely, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, I told him a few things and he would tremble and follow along.
– What do you want to be in the future?
– A strong person like Max.
– so?
– I want to work together.
Max had no intention of raising anyone to be his colleague.
It would have been much more efficient to accept a human who was somewhat complete.
However, if there was any sign of that, I was willing to give a little advice.
Joe Jim Jr. is one such case.
He had stamina, speed, and tenacity.
He may not be outstanding now, but he is someone to look forward to in a few years.
When Max looks at Joe Jim Jr. and thinks.
A while later, Holiday came into the office.
He looked at the gathered people and whistled.
“This is truly the heart of freedom.”
Asians, female deputy sheriffs, and even Indians. Wouldn’t it be a perfect picture if there were only black people?
Holiday said, sitting in a chair in the middle of the office.
“By the way, I didn’t mention this at the meeting yesterday. As the legislature is formed, the administrative boundaries of Kansas towns will also be determined.”
“Lawrence will enter Douglas County.”
“That would include Lecompton, Wakarusa, Bloomington, Eudora, and Big Springs.”
The reason Holiday brought up this story was because of the appointment of a formal sheriff.
Up until now, Max has literally been a temporary sheriff.
It was a nameless place that would not even be recorded in history.
But once the legislature is assembled and the Constitution is promulgated, Lawrence will be subject to the direction of the Douglas County Sheriff.
“The governor in Lecompton is going to appoint a sheriff soon, and I wonder who he’ll nominate.”
visor.
Peach dropped the stick he had been poking around the barrel of his rifle to the ground. Then he opened his eyes wide and asked Max.
“Are we going to get fired soon? Without doing anything?”
“I’ve done a lot.”
“But it’s still cut off. Anyway, since we’re one body, we’ll go together wherever we go, right?”
“Are you conjoined twins? What, are you one body?”
As Max chuckled, Peach brought her face closer.
‘Then let’s merge them together.’
Peach, who thought to himself and laughed, picked up the fallen stick. Then he poked the barrel of the gun.
Anyway, the deputy sheriff just wanted to be with Max. He doesn’t have any big regrets about the position.
Rather, I was curious to see what Max would do after stepping down as sheriff.
*
Jackson County, Missouri.
David Rice Acheson, the key figure who had gathered the Border Rufians and plotted to rig the election, called his aides into a conference room.
Acheson, who lost his bid for reelection as a state senator, had recently become increasingly obsessed with making Kansas a slave state.
“The legislature that will be held in Pony will be composed of those who were elected early as scheduled.”
“What about those who were elected through re-election?”
“It was a re-election that shouldn’t have happened. Just rule it out.”
All circumstances were moving in favor of making Kansas a slave state, but Acheson was not pleased with the actions of the Kansas governor, the leader.
“You are going to convene a legislature in Pawnee to free yourself from the influence of slavery? Can you stand by and listen to this madness? If we are to make a constitution and get it done quickly, this is the only way.”
Acheson was trying to block opposition by ignoring the re-election and appointing 36 pro-slavery members to the legislature in March.
“I guess I’ll have to send some Border Rufians to Pony.”
“We must prevent the abolitionists from gaining a foothold. If the governor is doing something foolish, we don’t have to put up with it.”
Benjamin Stringfellow nodded.
The Stringfollow brothers who lead the Border Ruffians.
They were diehards who even published books supporting slavery.
“By the way, I heard that James Henry Lane, who was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, settled down in Lawrence. He and his family.”
“That must be why you’re lurking around Lawrence. He’s a tough guy, so it’ll be quite a nuisance.”
Acheson frowned and quickly turned his gaze to the man sitting in the corner.
A freckled man about Max’s age.
Samuel Jefferson Jones had a history of interfering with elections in the town of Bloomington, near Lawrence, in March.
His home is in Recompton, a place in Douglas County, along with Lawrence.
“You’ll soon be appointed sheriff of Douglas County. Why not take the time to check out Lawrence?”
“Okay, then. By the way, can I kill that Asian kid?”
Jones asked Acheson with a calm face.
‘Considering his age, he’s a cool and composed guy. Not to mention his skills.’
Acheson burst into laughter, perhaps pleased by Jones’s remark, but soon shook his head and said:
“When you officially become sheriff, you can kill him. Then you will be the law.”
“Then I will just lightly take care of your hands.”
“That should be fine. Go and see how exaggerated the rumors are.”
Acheson was also curious about the identity of the Asian sheriff. If you just read newspaper articles, he seemed like a character straight out of a myth.
It’s happened before, but who would believe that an Asian alone did it?
It was just a ridiculous article made up by the Lawrence Newspaper.
*
“Father! I’ll be back soon!”
“Take care on your way. Come back before the sun sets.”
“all right!”
Joe Jim smiled happily as he watched Junior walk away.
Even I felt my heart pounding when I saw Max that day, so how much more excited must my son be.
‘Yeah, you shouldn’t live like me.’
Joe Jim bowed his head toward the rising sun, wishing for his son’s future, unlike himself, who had been living in an awkward position as a mixed race white man and Indian.
On the way to Lawrence, enjoying the wind blowing against his body, Joe Jim Jr. kicked his horse’s back and picked up the pace.
All I can think about is training.
At first, my body felt like it was going to die from exhaustion, but now it feels like it’s bouncing around.
Although he didn’t teach me much, the things Max would blurt out were quite useful.
For example, the three men you see in the distance.
– Are there more opponents? Then we should run without making eye contact.
They say that when you have a lot of numbers, you gain confidence that you didn’t have before.
He also said that he felt an instinct to bite and tear.
And Max is never wrong.
“Jones, I think he’s going to Lawrence?”
“Then is it okay if we just stay like this? If we’re going in the same direction, we should hold on and go.”
“Should I go Indian hunting for a change?”
Samuel Jefferson Jones.
He glanced back and spoke.
“I told you. For the time being, killing is prohibited.”
“Oh, right. You said you were going to be sheriff soon.”
A year earlier, Samuel Jones, a native of Virginia, had come to Kansas and made friends who were all pro-slavery.
But it was when he caught the eye of David Rice Acheson that Jones became deeply involved in Kansas affairs.
– How about using that gun to kill some fucking abolitionist?
– Can I kill you?
– Of course. They’re worse than bugs.
‘What do I know about slavery?’
Samuel Jones didn’t care what he did as long as he could demonstrate his skills.
“Okay, then let’s catch it.”
Isn’t the refreshing morning breeze the perfect weather for hunting?
Jones galloped away, kicking his horse’s back.
*
“Hey, you little Indian. You thought we couldn’t catch you if you ran away, right?”
“Ugh.”
Joe Jim Jr. was forced to fall from his horse because a rope was wrapped around his horse’s head.
It was a shock, but I was able to endure it somehow.
But it seemed like it would be difficult to escape from these three guys.
‘I told you to target the boss first in times like this.’
Junior’s eyes stopped at Jones.
The guys on the left and right were all watching him.
A cold expression, a gaze that looked at him as if he were looking at a bug. As Junior was about to reach for the gun, the bastard opened his mouth.
“If he’s an Indian going to Lawrence… he’s helping settle Topeka.”
‘Do you know me?’
Junior’s eyes start to tremble.
But soon I calmed down.
“What does my going to Lawrence have to do with you?”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re going to be sheriff soon.”
It came from the mouth of the guy next to him, not Jones. Junior recalled what he had heard in the office a few days ago.
Sheriff to be appointed for Douglas County.
“How can you be so confident when you haven’t even been appointed yet?”
“Stop talking nonsense, do you know that Asian sheriff’s kid?”
Jones still didn’t say anything. He looked like he didn’t even want to talk.
“……Why are you asking that?”
“You seem to know a lot. We’re going to kill that bastard.”
“what?”
Junior opened his eyes wide and suddenly burst into laughter.
“Just the three of us are going to kill someone?”
“Hey, is that kid laughing?”
The guy next to Jones tries to pull out his gun.
But sooner than that, Junior’s hand pulled the gun from the holster.
bang!
“Ugh.”
Junior looked at the revolver on the ground in a daze.
A gun barrel dented by a bullet.
At the same time, the shaking of the hands due to the shock transmitted to the hands does not stop.
Junior raised his head and looked at his opponent.
Before he knew it, Jones had drawn his gun and was pointing it at himself.
‘fast.’
As Junior gulped, Jones finally opened his mouth.
“You seem to know the Asian sheriff well.”
“……”
“Is he faster than me?”
“Of course.”
“What if I don’t have a gun?”
Jones prefers his bare fists to guns.
In the eastern state of Virginia, guns were a problem, but fists were relatively lenient.
Moreover, Jones has never lost a fight for money.
“Isn’t someone like you even a match?”
“Seeing you provoking me like this, I guess you think I can’t kill you.”
Jones suddenly chuckled and continued.
“That’s right. I won’t kill you. But since you provoked me, I’ll provoke that bastard as well.”
Jones smiled and looked at his friends beside him.
“Who wants to fight?”
