Shaye heard the saloon girl say, “Ow! That hurts. Get off me!”
That was his cue.
He entered the saloon, saw the three men at the bar, one of them holding the girl by the arm. He noticed one of them was not wearing a gun.
“Come on, Ledbetter,” one of them said, “let ’er go!”
“Shut up, Vin!” Ledbetter said. “You ain’t my boss.” It was the young man called Vin who was unarmed.
The third man also reached for the girl.
“Okay, I ain’t havin’ none of this,” Vin said, and backed away.
That suited Shaye. He only had to deal with two.
“I guess your name’s Ledbetter,” Shaye said, aloud.
Everything in the saloon stopped.
“What of it?” Ledbetter asked.
“And you?” Shaye asked the other man. “What’s your name, friend?”
The man hesitated, then said, “Santini.” He was dark-skinned, looked Mexican.
“Well, all right, then,” Shaye said, “why don’t we let the girl go. She’s got a job to do.”
“I know,” Ledbetter, a big, red-faced man, said, “and I want her to do it to me.”
“I’m not gonna tell you two men, again,” Shaye said. “Let the girl go and come along.”
Ledbetter squinted at Shaye, seemed to see the badge for the first time. He might have let up, but the man called Vin spoke up at that moment.
“Better do as he says, Ledbetter.”
Apparently, that didn’t sit right with the man, being told what to do by Vin.
“We ain’t doin’ no harm, Sheriff,” he said to Shaye. “Why don’t you go and bother somebody else?”
Shaye looked at Vin. The man backed up and raised his hands.
“Bartender,” Shaye said, “you might wanna move out from behind there.”
“Yessir, Sheriff.” The man quickly got out from behind the bar.
“Now let’s go through this again,” Shaye said. “Release the girl, drop your guns and come along.”
“Drop my gun?” Ledbetter asked. “Now, that’s a new one. You didn’t say that before. Do you know who we are, Sheriff?”
“Two big mouths who don’t know how to treat a lady,” Shaye said.
“This is a lady?” Ledbetter asked.
“In this town, she’s a lady,” Shaye said, “and she deserves respect.”
Ledbetter made a rude noise with his mouth. Shaye noticed that he wore his gun on his right hip, and was holding the girl with his right hand.
“Ledbetter, you’re already at a bit of a disadvantage here,”
Shaye said.
“Howzat?” the man asked, looking confused.
“You’re holdin’ onto her with your gunhand,” Shaye said. “If you yokels are gonna turn this into a gun battle, you’re already dead.”
Suddenly, Ledbetter seemed to realize his position. Also, Santini didn’t look happy about it. He pulled his hand back from the girl.
“I think we may have pushed this far enough,” he said to Ledbetter. “Sheriff, I’m givin’ up my gun.”
“Put it on the bar,” Shaye told Santini, “and push it away.”
Santini took the gun out carefully, set it on the bar and then sent it sliding down to the other end.
“Okay, Ledbetter,” Shaye said, “the next move is yours.”
Abruptly, the bigger man released the girl and put his hands up. The girl darted away from him.
“Like I said, Sheriff,” he said, “we wuz only havin’ some fun.”
“Well, the fun’s over,” Shaye said. “Take out your gun, put it on the bar and slide it.”
Shaye was hoping this would get done without Vin saying another word.
Regretfully, that was not the case.
“Better do as he says, Ledbetter,” Vin said, “or he’ll kill ya.”
“Shut up, Vin!” Ledbetter snapped.
Now that his gunhand was free, Ledbetter might have been having some second thoughts about surrendering his weapon and giving up.
“This ain’t right, Sheriff,” he complained. “We wuzn’t doin’ nothin’.”
“You were disturbin’ the peace,” Shaye said, “and maybe there’s even an assault charge here.”
“Assault?” Ledbetter exploded. “That’s crazy!”
“Don’t talk yourself out of this, Ledbetter,” Shaye said. “Give it up.”
Shaye watched the man’s eyes, and they gave him away. Dan Shaye did not consider himself a fast gun, but he knew when to draw his weapon, and he hit whatever he shot at.
“Yer a sonofabitch,” Ledbetter swore, and went for his gun.