Free Song of the Road by Dorothy Garlock

again.
    Another flash of memory presented itself. Before Lon Delano shot him, Ocie Clawson, on a big black horse, his white hair blowing in the wind, had raced toward them. At the time Jake had not known if Ocie was coming to aid Mary Lee or to help Lon Delano kill her and her baby.
    Jake switched on the light long enough to see the time. It was three o’clock. He went to the small bathroom to get a drink of water. Damn, but he had to get the dream out of his mind so that he could get some sleep. He needed to be sure-footed when he climbed that girder in the morning.
    It was an hour before Jake could get back to sleep, and during that time he became reconciled to the fact that any connection he had with Mary Lee Clawson had been conjured up by wishful thinking. Sure, he would like to have a woman like her. What man wouldn’t?
    But to save himself the humiliation when she rejected him, he would keep his distance, help her if she needed it, the same as he would do for any other woman; but that was all.
    He slept, and on awakening, his first thoughts were of Mary Lee Clawson.
    Frank Pierce was gone when Mary Lee awoke. Before breakfast she went out and picked up the liquor bottles and other trash he had thrown out, and snatched off the KEEP OUT sign he had tacked up on the door.
    As soon as the overnight renters had left, Mary Lee instructed Eli to strip the beds and put the sheets and towels in the washer and start the machine. She put on her straw hat and walked down the highway to Mr. Santez’s filling station to use the phone. She had to know how much of a telephone bill her mother had run up and if she had to pay it all before she could get the telephone connected again.
    “Morning, Mr. Santez.”
    “Mornin’, gal. What brings you down the hill so early in the mornin’?”
    “I’d like to use your phone again. I need to see about getting our telephone connected. Last night I would have called the sheriff if I’d had one.”
    “Someone givin’ you trouble?”
    “Frank Pierce. He turned the radio up so loud I’m surprised you didn’t hear it down here.”
    “I’d of bet my boots he’d cause trouble. He had hopes of marryin’ Dolly and gettin’ his hands on the court.”
    “That will never happen. Oh, he might marry Mama. But he’ll not get Daddy’s court. I’ll burn it to the ground first. One of my renters broke down the door and took the radio or I’d have lost my night’s receipts.”
    “Jake, huh?” Mr. Santez went on without waiting for her to confirm his question or express her surprise. “Jake’s a good man to have on your side. I’m glad he’s up there.”
    “I told Mr. Ramero to break down the door, but Frank is threatening to go to the sheriff and have his parole revoked.”
    “Won’t do him no good if you tell how it was. Sheriff Pleggenkuhle knows what Frank Pierce is.”
    “How did a man with a name like Pleggenkuhle get elected sheriff in a county where there are so many Mexicans?”
    “Wait’ll you meet him. Big man, loud voice, but straight as a string and fair to a fault. If he can’t corral ’em by talkin’ to ’em, he’ll bash heads. He’s been good for the county.”
    “I hope he’ll do something about Frank.”
    “Rosa sent a box for me to brin’ up to ya. It’s stuff that we pass down through the family. Both my girls and their babies has used ’em. Rosa said they didn’t need to be sittin’ around waitin’ for one of the girls to have another baby. Use whatever you want, and hand ’em back when you’re done with ’em. Rosa’ll keep ’em and pass ’em on.”
    Tears came to Mary Lee’s eyes. “Tell Rosa that I appreciate it and that I’ll take good care of everything and send them back.”
    “Now, now. Ain’t no need to blubber ’bout it. I’ll bring the box up sometime today. It’s too heavy for ya to be totin’ back up the hill.”
    “I have a boy helping me. He’s going to fix our old coaster wagon. When he gets it fixed, I’ll have