13
Slocum walked in and found Holbrook looking white as a sheet, with his eyes about halfway opened and his breathing heavy. “Don’t stay too long, Mr. Slocum,” said the doc.
Slocum walked to the head of the bed and looked down at the wretched sheriff. “Cy,” he said, “you don’t need to say a damn thing. They tried to get me, but it didn’t work out. I killed the son of a bitch who tried it. It was that damned Harrington, so I know who shot you. Tor Stark. I’ll get him, Cy. You just relax and get well.”
He started to turn and leave, but Holbrook raised one hand just a little and spoke in a harsh whisper. “Slocum. Wait.”
“What is it, Cy?”
“You don’t have to, Slocum,” said Holbrook. “I lied to you about the conscription. You’re free to go.”
“This is a fine time to tell me that, you son of a bitch,” Slocum said. “They tried to kill me, and you too. You know damn well I ain’t going to leave now.”
“Then you’re acting sheriff,” said Holbrook. “Doc, you’re my witness to this. You’re on the payroll, too, Slocum. Go get the dirty bastard.”
Holbrook’s eyes shut, and he seemed to have gone back to sleep. The doc checked him quickly. “He’s resting,” he said.
“I’ll be going,” said Slocum. He walked out of the room and headed for the front door. Yates sat up straight as he walked by.
“How’s Cy?” he said.
“He went back to sleep,” said Slocum.
“After he made Slocum acting sheriff,” said Josie, who had come out of the bedroom just after Slocum. “It was a good decision.”
“He didn’t have a hell of a lot of choice now, did he?” Slocum said.
“I still say it was a good one.”
“Yeah,” said Yates. “I agree. What are you going to do now, Sheriff?”
“Don’t call me that,” said Slocum. “I’m going after that god damned Stark.”
He opened the door, and as he was walking out, he heard Josie say, “Be careful, Slocum.”
Outside, Slocum managed to locate Loy and ask where he and Mac had found Holbrook. Loy rode along with him to the spot. Slocum thanked him and sent him on back to the ranch. Then he rode slowly around studying the ground until he found the ambush spot. From there he found where the horse had been tied, and he followed the tracks back toward town. About a mile out, he lost them, due to the heavy traffic. Slocum figured that Stark had gone into town to report to his boss, whoever the hell that might be. He had likely also expected to meet up with Harrington, thinking that the two of them would celebrate their success with a drink.
Perhaps the son of a bitch had even been in town when Slocum rode in with the body. In a way, Slocum hoped that he had been. He hoped that Stark had seen Harrington lying limp across his horse’s back. He hoped that Stark had also seen Mac ride out of town with the doctor in tow, so that he would know that he, too, had been unsuccessful.
Slocum went to the hotel and paid his bill. Then he went to his room and packed up his few belongings. He carried them on over to the sheriff’s office and tossed them in one of the cells. That would be his home now for a while. He rummaged through the drawers in Holbrook’s desk until he found some keys. He tried them out, finding that one of them was an extra key to the front door. He put that one in his pocket and returned the others to the desk drawer. Then he sat down behind the desk. The door opened and Burly Baker came striding into the office.
“Slocum,” he said. “I heard that Cy was shot.”
“You heard right,” said Slocum, adding in his mind, you son of a bitch.
“He name you acting sheriff?”
“He did.”
“I’m not sure that he can do that,” said Baker. “That might call for an act of the town council.”
“Oh yeah? That’s the first I’ve heard of a town council around here. Pretty active, is it?”
“Well, we haven’t met for a while, but—”
“If you’re uncomfortable with the title, just call me a deputy. You never complained when he made me a deputy.”
“Well, he’s got the authority to name deputies, but not an acting sheriff.”
“Call me whatever you like,” said Slocum. “It won’t make any difference anyhow.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just what I said.”
“I get the feeling you don’t like me, Slocum,” said Baker.
“I don’t know you,” said Slocum, “but I don’t like your profession worth a damn.”
Baker pulled a chair over to the desk and sat down, looking across at Slocum. Slocum pulled out a cigar and a match and lit his stogie. A big cloud of smoke rose between him and the lawyer. Baker coughed.
“The world’s got to have lawyers, Slocum,” Baker said.
“It’s got too damn many as far as I can tell.”
“I’m the only one in town.”
“That speaks well for Guadalupe. One’s already too many. Tell me something, lawyer. Why would anyone want to run all these ranchers out of business?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Baker said.
“Then I’ve got no more use for you than for any other citizen of this town.”
Baker stood up and glared at Slocum for a moment. “I’ll be seeing you around,” he said, and he turned and walked out the door. Slocum heaved a sigh and looked at the big desk in front of him. In disgust, he stood up, walked around it and headed for the door.
He spent some time walking around town looking for Stark’s horse. He didn’t really expect to find it, but it was something to do.
He waited until after one o’clock so the crowd would be thinned out, and then walked over to Maudie’s for some lunch. She still had a few customers, but she took Slocum’s order in a short while. The customers left one at a time, and soon Maudie had served Slocum’s meal. He was the last one in the place, and Maudie poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down to join him.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said.
“Hell, no,” he said. “I’m glad for the company. Ain’t you going to eat?”
“Not yet,” she said. “Say, I heard some talk.”
“What about?”
“Cy.”
“He’s been shot,” Slocum said.
“Not killed?”
“No. At least, not yet.”
“Have you seen him?”
“We had a few words before he went back to sleep.”
“Well, what did he have to say? Did he know who shot him?”
“He told me he lied about that conscription business,” Slocum said. “He said I was free to go. I told him I’d stick around.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“He didn’t see who shot him,” said Slocum, “but it don’t matter. I know who it was.”
“How could you know?”
“On account of the bastard’s partner tried to kill me. I got him instead.”
“You know for sure the two men are partners?”
“I know it.”
“Well, I sure wish you luck,” Maudie said, “and I hope Cy pulls through all right.”
“He’s a tough son of a bitch,” said Slocum. “I think he’ll pull through.”
“Slocum?”
He looked up at her, a question in his eyes.
“Slocum,” she said, “if you want to, you can drop by here tonight. After I close up.”
He finished chewing his mouthful and swallowed. “Thanks, Maudie. It’s a tough offer to turn down, but I think I’ll spend the night in the jail. I got my reasons. Can I take a rain check?”
“Sure,” she said. “Anytime.”
When he finished his meal, he saddled up his Appaloosa and rode out to the place where Harrington and Stark had been camped. He found what he had expected. The campsite had been abandoned. It had not been cleaned up however. He looked around for a few minutes before he determined that there was nothing to be learned there. Then he rode back to town.
Was it possible, he wondered, that Stark had left town? He didn’t hardly think so. Then the man would have had to relocate his camp. Or could someone have been putting him up secretly? Slocum could not imagine who could be doing that. He did not really believe that the murdering Stark had just ridden out though. Obviously there was still work to be done, and he would want to bleed it for all it was worth. He might not give a shit about his dead partner, but Slocum thought that he would want to get the man who killed Harrington, if for no other reason than for pride. He was probably still around, and he would be looking for an opportunity to kill Slocum.
Slocum knew that he would have to be on his guard. Stark was not the kind to call a man out. He had already proven that he would much more likely shoot from hiding and shoot a man in the back. Slocum meant to be more careful with Stark than he had been with Harrington. He wanted Stark alive so he could question him. He wanted to find out who was behind all this. Maybe if Stark was threatened with a hanging, he would decide that he did not want to hang alone.
The day dragged by slowly, with Slocum feeling at loose ends. When evening arrived, he went to the Hogback for a drink. He had several. There was no one interesting in the place and nothing really happening. He left and walked on over to the sheriff’s office. He tossed his hat on the desktop and walked into the cell where he had thrown his belongings. Sitting down on the cot, he pulled off his boots. He took off his shirt, and then he unbuckled his gunbelt. Stretching out on the cot, he put the gunbelt beside him. His mind was racing with thoughts, but eventually, he dropped off to sleep.
When the sound of the front door opening woke him up, he had no idea what time it was or how long he had slept. Slowly and quietly, he slipped the Colt out of the holster and held it ready. Then he heard his name called softly.
“Slocum?”
He shoved the Colt back in the holster and sat up.
“I’m in here,” he said.
Maudie came walking around the corner. “You didn’t say that you didn’t want any company in here,” she said.
“No. I didn’t.”
“Do you mind?”
“Come right in,” he said. “If you don’t mind being in a jail cell.”
“It’ll be different,” she said.
He stood up as she walked in, and she reached her arms around his shoulders, pulling him to her. She parted her lips as they met his, and she probed his mouth with her tongue. Slocum’s blood began to race faster through his veins, and the rod between his legs started to swell and rise. Pressing her body against his, Maudie felt it coming to life. She broke loose from his embrace long enough to get out of her clothes. Slocum finished undressing himself while she was dropping her clothes onto the jail cell floor. She sat beside him on the cot, and as he kissed her again, she lay back, Slocum moving on top of her, feeling her nakedness against his own. Her hands reached down between his legs to stroke the now swollen member there. She clutched it hard, and it bucked in her hands.
“Here,” she said. “Right here.”
She guided it into her waiting pussy, and it slipped easily into the juicy tunnel. Slocum pumped slowly at first, then faster. As he drove down, she responded by thrusting her hips upward to meet him. Slocum’s heavy balls bounced against her ass as he pounded furiously in and out. All of a sudden, he stopped to catch his breath.
“Wait,” said Maudie. “Let me turn over.”
Slocum withdrew himself, and Maudie squiggled around until she was on her hands and knees on the cot. Slocum looked at the round ass that thrust itself up at him, and he aimed for the hole again and rammed himself in. “Ah,” she said. “That’s good. Fuck me, Slocum. Fuck me.” He slapped himself against her ample ass again and again, driving his hot cock deeply inside her. “Let me have it,” she said. Slocum pumped a few more times. Then he slipped himself loose. “What are you doing?” she said.
“Let me lay down,” he said.
She got out of his way, and he stretched out on the cot, his cock standing straight up. “Oh,” she said, and she straddled him, letting herself down on the stalk, allowing it to slip slowly into her wetness. “Ah,” she said. “That’s good. That’s very good.” She began to rock herself back and forth, sliding her sweating butt and thighs over his crotch. She moved faster and faster until she groaned out loud. “God,” she said, “I’m coming.”
“Come ahead,” Slocum said.
She lowered herself down until her breasts were mashed against his chest, and her lips crushed themselves against his. At last, she straightened up again and started to rock again. Soon she came again, and again. She was rocking furiously yet again, when Slocum felt the pressure build in his balls. He humped against her, thrusting upward, and suddenly he burst forth, sending a gusher spurting up into her dark and cavernous hole. She fell forward against him once more, and they lay still for a moment as his juices ran down onto her thighs and his.
At last, she got up and went to look for a towel. Finding one, she wiped at her crotch. Finishing with it, she tossed it to Slocum. He caught the towel, and she began picking up her clothes and getting dressed.
“Are you leaving?” he asked her.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’ve got to get back.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’m sure glad you came by.”
“Me too. Maybe we’ll do it again sometime.”
“I hope so.”
Suddenly she was gone, and Slocum sat alone and naked in the jail cell. He stood and walked over to the desk, opening a drawer. He found the bottle and a glass and poured himself a drink. He put the cork back in the bottle and the bottle back in the drawer. Then he walked back to the cell and sat on the cot. It had been a strange encounter, he thought, but then, he figured, women must get horny just the same as men. That must have been all she wanted. He guessed that was all right with him. He took a sip of whiskey and leaned back against the wall.