Mildred Just Call Me Sheriff Read online

  Mildred

  Just Call Me Sheriff

  “A Short Western Romance”

  By

  Rhondee Barlow

  Copyright © 2020

  Also By Rhondee Barlow

  Western Romance Series:

  THE LADY AND THE PROSPECTOR

  Gold Rush, Book 1

  Gold Rush, Book 2

  Gold Rush, Book 3

  Gold Rush, Book 4

  Gold Rush, Book 5

  Gold Rush, Book 6

  THE LADY AND THE GAMBLER

  The Risk, Book 1

  The Risk, Book 2

  The Risk, Book 3

  The Risk, Book 4

  The Risk, Book 5

  The Risk, Book 6

  COPYRIGHT

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or placed into any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (mechanical, electronic, recording, photocopying, photo imaging, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This western romance is fiction. Characters, places, names, brands, incidents are either products of this author's imagination or used fictitiously. This book or ebook is licensed for your personal use only. No rights to transfer this story to anyone else is authorized. If you would like to share this book with someone else, please purchase another copy for each person with whom you would like to share. If you enjoy western romance stories, be sure to check out other works by this author. If you are reading this without having purchased it, please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting this author's work.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to all of my friends who enjoy warm but clean, western romance who enjoy the passion that happens when love surprises us.

  May you never grow too citified.

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Introduction

  When Mildred decided to move from Cheyenne to Rock Springs, Wyoming, she hoped for a quieter life as the Sheriff of a small town.

  Of course, not everyone in the west wants a female sheriff. She knew the challenges well, but she had never run from a fight in her life.

  Her biggest supporter is a tall, handsome man who also asks her to be his date to the town dance.

  Mildred is able to take on the challenges of a Judge who is accustomed to running the town, and some outlaws who enjoy the freedom of raisin' a ruckus in town.

  Mildred is up to the task.

  Chapter 1

  The ride from Cheyenne to Rock Springs had been a long one. I pulled the wagon into town and felt everyone's eyes on me. Likely they had no idea who I was – or where I came from. I reached around to touch my rifle in the rack to the left of my buckboard seat, almost in reflex to the men standing outside of the saloon.

  It was late afternoon and the hotel cast a shadow toward the mercantile across the main road.

  Looks like a nice enough town. Homey enough. Not as full of bustle and noise as Cheyenne, the city I had just left a few days ago.

  I had become weary of the fast-growing area of Cheyenne. More people moving into the center of town, and more noise. I enjoyed the quiet space where I had been raised. The youngest of eight children in a family that respected God and the law, I was happy when I pinned on a Sheriff's badge. I was one of four sheriffs in Cheyenne and was quite tired of the "old boys' club" there. When the opportunity to become the sheriff in a small town was posted on the board at the jail, I jumped at the chance to move west – closer to the beauty of a western skyline, fewer buildings taking over the landscape and more agriculture. Back to the routes of my farm living as a teen.

  I thought back to when I was learning to rope calves from my daddy. He's been gone three years now. He fell victim to the Typhoid Fever and wasn't able to recover. It was hard when we lost him, and harder still the next summer when mama got taken by the outlaws. She tried to fight them off, but her shotgun only held two shells. She got one of 'em, but there were three more masked men that came bustin' through the door right behind him. If she hadn't told us to hide in the woods at the end of the field, they likely woulda got all of us too.

  I was the baby, but I was 19 – old enough to have gotten married and be havin' babies already.

  But – that just wasn't for me. I wanted to ride a horse. As far back as I could remember, I had wanted to ride a horse for a living. In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to be a lawman, well, law-woman. There weren't many women in law jobs these days. My being a tomboy all my life had helped, but I was petite, so folks always thought I wasn't much force when they first met me. I took on the nickname of Jake when I was a kid. Mostly the boys called me that to make fun of me. But, it stuck. I had been known as Jake for a long time now. So long, that I not only introduced myself as Jake, I even used it as my legal name.

  Chapter 2

  "Hey, little lady. Can I help ya?" the raspy voice called out to me.

  Startled from my reverie, I looked over and saw the cowboy standing at the side of my wagon. "I'm looking for Judge Adams. Do you know where I can find him?"

  "What would you be lookin' for the judge for? You in trouble?' He leaned in and looked up at me, letting his cigar hang loose from his lips.

  "Nope. Just looking for the Judge."

  "Well, all right then. You can find him over there in the Saloon, he's playing poker." He pointed across the dirt road to a building with swinging doors. "But we don't usually allow no ladies in there, unless you're one of the 'entertaining' type." He smirked at me.

  "Nope. Just got business to take care of with him."

  "Well, let me help you down from there." I handed off the reins and he tossed them over the hitching post at the other side of the wagon. He reached his hand up to me to help me step down. As he did, he spit tobacco into the dust of the road.

  "Let her alone, Jeb."

  I looked up to see a tall, rugged, handsome man under a black cowboy hat walking toward me.

  "It's nunya business, O'Boyle. Just go find somethin' else to do."

  The man he called O'Boyle brushed the first man aside, and stepped right up on my buckboard. He picked up my bag off the seat next to me, jumped to the ground with it and offered me his shoulder. I was pleased to oblige him, placing my hand on his shoulder to support my weight as I stepped off the wagon.

  "Jeb, is it?" I said to the man with the cigar hanging out of his mouth.

  "Yep."

  "Jeb, I don't need your help now that Mr. O'Boyle is here."

  "Ouch, Jeb. Guess she told you!"

  These two, both acting like the cock of the walk.

  "Really, I've been getting in and out of buckboards my whole life. I don't need either one of you to be acting like I'm some genteel, southern lady."

  "Told you too, O'Boyle!"

  I reached up and pulled my rifle out of the rack to let them know that I was not anyone's weak female. "I'm sure I'm not gonna need this around town, am I?"

  "You shouldn't. There's a few outlaws that been comin' into town lately, we're all mostly nice here. As long as you stick with the locals, you'll be fine." Jeb tossed his cigar butt into the dirt and stomped on it with his l
eft boot heel.

  "But we got a new sheriff coming to town in the next day or so. So, you needn't worry 'bout the outlaws, anyhow. He'll be takin' care of 'em then. In the meantime, I'm known for protectin' the ladies." O'Boyle smiled as if he was naming himself my body guard. "Especially from Jeb over there."

  I swung my rifle up over my shoulder and looked at O'Boyle. "Where can I find the Judge?"

  "Well, he's in the saloon. But you can't go in there."

  "I've been going places where I shouldn't since I was 11. I'll see you boys around."

  I walked toward the saloon, my six-gun at my side under my leather jacket and the rifle in plain view. it's just as well neither of them saw my pistol.

  "Feisty little filly, ain't she?" I heard O'Boyle remark to Jeb as I walked away. I'm sure he didn't think I heard him.

  "You have no idea," I called back to both of them over my shoulder, never breaking my stride.

  Chapter 3

  I stepped up to the swinging doors of the saloon and looked in. One man tapped the man next to him on the shoulder and pointed in my direction. They both looked at me with interest. One sent something flying into the nearby spittoon as the other took a long swig of beer. A lady in a big hooped skirt and lacy blouse hurried toward the door, smiling broadly as she approached.

  "What can I do for ya, honey?" She cooed. "We ain't lookin' for any new dancing girls, although I can see you could sure help me sell more beers here." She looked me up and down as if she was figuring out if she had any dresses that would fit me.

  "I am not a dancin' girl – or whatever you and your girls actually do here."

  The painted lady sneered at me. "Well, we don't really allow no female customers here, so you just move along there, honey."

  "I'm lookin' for Judge Adams."

  "He's busy. You can see him tomorrow over at the courthouse. He'll be there first thing in the mornin'." She turned on her heels and spun away from me.

  "Hey. You're just a little bit rude. You know that? You got a name?"

  "Name's Ruthie, and we don't need no outsiders comin' in here givin' lessons on how to behave. Be on your way, Missy."

  "You tell the Judge that Jake is in town. I’ll be getting a room over at the hotel and look forward to seein' him."

  Ruthie didn't even turn around. I decided I would respect their 'no females' policy for the time being. So, I turned around and walked back to my buckboard, picked up my bag that was in the road next to it, patted my horse on the rump as I passed him and headed over to the hotel.

  Chapter 4

  I walked into the hotel and the desk clerk gave me a bit of a 'side-eye.'

  "What can I do for ya, miss?"

  "I need a room… and bath privileges." I put my bag on the floor next to me and waited for the clerk to pull the book from under the counter.

  The clerk put the registration book in front of me and handed me a stub of a pencil. "Just sign here. How long will you be needin' a room?"

  "I'll need the room for about a week. I'll be lookin' for a long-term place to stay in town. Is there a boarding house nearby?" I took the pencil and wrote "Jake Kingsley" on the line he had pointed out.

  "There's a boarding house down at the end of the road here. Just step out and look to the right, you'll see it. Old Lady Jamison runs a pretty tight ship over there, so you'll need to mind yer p's and q's over there. No rowdy folks in her place. But it's clean, not as clean as my place, but clean enough." He took the register, looked at it and back at me. "Jake? Jake ain't no girl's name."

  "Well, I ain't your regular 'girl' anyhow." I held out my hand, "I assume there's keys to your rooms?"

  The old man stammered, "Sure, of course there's keys." He reached in a cubby behind him and handed me a key, "Room 14 – top of the stairs and left. Bathroom is on down at the end of the hall, just hang the OCCUPIED sign on the door when you use it."

  I picked up my bag and walked to the stairs, as I started climbing them I heard a familiar voice whisper, "So, what's her name?" I looked back and saw O'Boyle standing close to the desk clerk. He glanced up at me, noticing that I was watching him, he smiled and nodded.

  Chapter 5

  Room 14 was sparsely furnished, but then again, it is a small town hotel. I stood my rifle up in the corner of the room, behind the door, and then put my pistol on top of the little round table by the bed. The single bed had an iron bed frame and when I dropped my bag on it, the old metal springs squeaked under the weight. The chest had three drawers, and the window next to it was already open. There was a little bit of noise from the road below, but it wasn't too bad. I knew I was gonna sleep okay even if the bed did squeak some. I'd been sleeping on the trail for the last couple of nights, any bed would be a good bed, in my opinion. One chair was placed in the corner of the room.

  There was a colorful quilt laying on the bed. I lifted it to see how bulky it was, noting that it was heavy enough to keep me comfortable even with the window open throughout the night. The sheets looked and smelled clean. I smiled to myself. To no one in the room, I muttered, "It's way better than my sleeping roll."

  Talking to yourself, Jake?

  The knock at the door startled me. I opened the door to see O'Boyle standing there.

  "Hello, again. I was hoping maybe you would let me take you to supper over at the café?"

  "I suppose that would be okay. I was going to take a bath before I went anywhere, so would about 60 minutes be good?"

  "60 minutes is perfect. Jake."

  I laughed. "Jake is just a nickname, I've had it for a long time. But, you can call me Mildred."

  "All right, then, Mildred. I will be back in about 60 minutes and we can go over to the café." He tipped his hat and turned to leave.

  "I will see you then." I know my voice sounded happier than I meant for it to, but he was so handsome…..

  Chapter 6

  I entered the bathroom at the end of the hall with my clean clothes, a washcloth and towel from the room, and found the OCCUPIED sign inside on the top of the cabinet. I hung it over the nail on the outside of the door, latched and turned the lock on the door.

  The water was relatively warm as I pumped it into the large tub. It's always nice this time of year in Wyoming, not too hot, and winter still a ways off on the horizon.

  I pulled off the sweat-stained clothes from the long ride and dropped them into a pile on the floor. I hung my clean ones on the hook next to the basin. I lowered myself into the tub and enjoyed the soothing feel of water washing over my body. I reached for the washcloth, and used the bar of soap, left there for everyone to use, to suds it up. I scrubbed hard in order to get the grime from the road off of me from the top of my head to my toes. It felt good to rub the cloth against my skin, there were a few rashes and cuts on my arms and legs from the 160 mile trip across the southern part of the state. Fortunately, I wasn't one of those females who thought I had to wear a dress, even when it seemed inappropriate. The blue jeans and heavy, long-sleeved plaid shirt had protected me from getting too cut up by brush along the ride. In the evening, when I stopped to bed down, I just pulled my sleeping roll over me, fully clothed, as I laid down in the back of the wagon next to the two trunks I packed along with me, which held all of my worldly possessions. It felt great to get out of the dirty traveling clothes today.

  My horse didn't wear a saddle when pulling the wagon, but I knew he would need it once I got to Rock Springs and didn't need him to pull the buckboard all the time. I kept the saddle at my feet as I slept, with my rifle at my side. I didn't come across any outlaws this trip, for that I felt blessed.

  I shook from my daydreaming and realized the bath water was cloudy from all the soap suds, so I pulled the plug and listened to the water run out, down the drainpipe onto the field below. I stepped out, grabbed the soft towel and rubbed myself almost raw. It felt good to feel the dirt stripped from my body and I was totally refreshed. Although I could still use a good night's sleep.


  Now, I'm ready for supper with O'Boyle. At least I won't stink.

  Chapter 7

  Once I was dressed, I put the UNOCCUPIED sign back into the bathroom as I left. I carried the towel and washcloth back to my room and threw them over the rod behind the door.

  It felt nice to be in my stocking feet. As I pulled my boots on, I tucked my jeans into the tops of them and stretched to my full height of 4'9". The full length mirror in the corner of the room confirmed, at least to me, that I was presentable. I looked around the room as I stepped out, making a mental note of everything and its place inside. I turned the key in the lock and walked down the hall to the staircase.

  The old man looked up at me and smiled as I got to the bottom of the stairs.

  "Feel better, young lady?"

  "I sure do. Thanks."

  "Is the room all right?"

  "Yes, I would like to have a small wash basin if I may?"

  "Of course, I will get one for you. All right if I put it in your room? Or do you want to take it up yourself when you get back from supper?"

  "I'll take it up myself when I get back, thank you."

  I walked out to the boardwalk in front of the hotel. Already, the mid-day heat bore down on me. I pulled my hair up off my neck into a ponytail. As I got to my horse and wagon, a young boy hollered, "I can take your horse over to the stable for you, ma'am."

  "That would be nice, young man." I reached into the pouch at my waist and pulled out two coins. "Here's a coin for you and the stable master, tell him I need my horse fed, watered and brushed out well. If he needs another coin when he finishes, tell him I will take care of it when I stop by to check on my horse tomorrow."