Late Monday morning, the door to the jail opens and in walks a hung over Bo Hannery, wearing a pair of ratty old boots, torn britches and a worn out shirt and hat.
As he walks in he spots Gus sitting behind his desk. Gus interrupts his sip of coffee to greet Hannery. "Well if it ain't Bo Hannery. I see you got some spare boots and britches and such. Did ya find yer horse?" Bo isn't in a talking mood and snaps back, "You cost me my job. I jest came here fer my gun rig and my clothes." Gus smiles, then bends over behind the desk and comes up with Bo's clothes and hat and places then on his desk as he says, "there ya go. Appears ta me that you'll look like a new man when ya git outa them rags yer wearin." Bo gets hotter under the collar as he snarls, "Where's my gun rig?" Gus smiles and tries not to laugh. "Comin right up." Again, Gus bends down behind his desk, picks up Bo's gun rig and then sets it on top of his desk.
Bo grabs up his gun rig and puts it on. As soon as he tightens the buckle he steps back quickly and shouts, "Alright Baxter." Bo's voice is calmer now, "You and me, right here. Jes go fer yer gun and see what happens." Gus looks straight into Bo's eyes and asks, "You want ta face me in a gunfight through yer hung over eyes?" Bo sets a stance in front of the stove as Gus stands up from behind his desk and walks calmly around to the front of his desk just a few feet from Bo and says, "Anytime you think yer man enough Hannery." Bo fidgets, his gun hand twitching over his gun. Bo is terrified, but he has to do this.
In a flash, Bo pulls his gun and points it right at Gus's face. But Gus doesn't even try to draw. He just stands there staring at Bo who asks, "What's wrong Baxter, you gitten to old? Can't even outdraw a fella with a hang over?" Gus just keeps staring at Bo, then says, "Well, what are you gunna do now sonny? You just gunna stand there or you gunna pull that trigger?"
Bo doesn't like Gus's challenge and presses with, "You think I won't? I'll drop you right here and tell every body I outdrew the famous Gus Baxter." Bo chuckles nervously at the thought as he continues with, "Wouldn't that be somethin? Then I'd be top dog." Gus continues to stare at Bo, then pushes him with, "You don't have the sand Hannery. Yer just a loud mouth squirt." Gus's words cut into Bo's pride. A resolve comes over Bo as he pushes his gun closer to Gus's face. For a moment, Gus and Bo stare at each other more intently. Then Bo pulls the trigger.
"Click," the gun doesn't fire. "Click, click," still nothing. But before Bo knows what's happening, Gus throws a hard fist that smashes into Bo's mouth sending him flying backwards into the stove. As Bo falls, his gun hand flies out and hits the stove pipe, breaking it apart. Then Bo hits the floor with a thud as a bunch of black soot falls out, covering Bo's face. Gus steps forward and looks down as Bo starts spitting out soot, blood and a tooth. Gus grabs Bo by his sooty shirt and pulls him to his feet. As Bo woobles bit he looks comical with his white eye's poking through his soot blackened face. Gus barks, "I ain't stupid." Gus pulls some bullets out of his own shirt pocket. Bo's eyes get wider as Gus fills him in with, "Knew I couldn't trust ya, so I took the bullets out of yer gun and yer gun belt."
Just then, Deputy Bob Clay walks through the front door and is surprised by what he sees. There stands Bo, his face covered in soot, his mouth bloody and missing a front tooth.
"Now here's the way it's gunna be" snarls Gus at Hannery. "You git on yer horse and ride out. And if you ever come back ta Logan, I'm gunna arrest ya an put ya in jail. Then yer gunna stand trial fer attempted murder of a peace officer. That plain enough?" Bo just stares at Gus in disbelief. Gus has lost his temper and shouts "I said is that plain enough?" Bo quickly answers, "Yes." Gus continues, "Then pick up yer belongins and git, before I change my mind and throw yer mangy hide back there in a cell where you belong." Bo picks up his hat and other belonging and as he does, soot keeps falling off of his head, face and shoulders. Then as Gus and deputy Clay watch, Bo walks out.
When the door closes behind Bo, more soot falls out of the stove pipe and onto the floor. Deputy Clay turns to Gus and says, "Glory be. What in tarnation happened here?" Gus looks at Deputy Clay and barks, "Young Mr. Hannery just learned another lesson the hard way." Deputy Clay tries to learn more by asking, "You two have a fight?" Gus shrugs it off with, "Only one punch was thrown. I threw the punch, an that was the end of it. Now get that stove pipe put back together so you can make a pot of yer famous undrinkable coffee." Then Gus starts to walk out the door. As he does, Deputy Clay asks, "Where are you headed?" Gus turns back to Deputy Clay and says, "To the Lucky Lady fer a good cup ah hot coffee. And make sure that stove pipe is fixed before I get back here." With that, Gus leaves and closes the door causing even more soot to fall out of the stove pipe and onto the floor.
Deputy Clay then walks over to the stove and looks down at the mess on the floor. He spots a small shiny object peeking through the soot and bends down for a closer look. "What's that/" the Deputy asks out loud as he picks up the object and stands back up. Holding the object close to his eyes between his finger and thumb, Deputy Clay says, "Well I'll be. A tooth. Musta been some punch. Sorry I missed that one."
The End