Chapter 5

Author’s note:[ and ] delineate mind-to-mind dialog.

The next few evenings on the job were pretty much the same, but then came Saturday night. Clear Wells had four saloons and two brothels, and there were waiting lines extending out the door at the two brothels. The four saloons were so packed that you had to push your way to the bar to get a drink. My imagination said that this was the entire male population of three counties, but that was patently impossible.

I was down the street a ways when I heard gunshots come from one of the saloons, but not the one belonging to the mayor. I ran down the street to meet a crowd of men coming out the door as fast as it was possible to do so. There was one shot after I arrived, and I had to use the attributes of my body armor to work my way inside.

Once inside the saloon, I saw a man dressed in a classic cowboy outfit holding a gun, and another man was lying bleeding on the floor. From my position, I could not tell how serious the wound was, but the man with the gun was waving his pistol around as if he was just looking for an excuse to shoot someone else.

Men were still trying to get out the door, but the panic seemed to be quelled when I showed up. I couldn’t help wondering if that was an expression of confidence in me or a bunch of tourists looking for the next stage in the excitement. Whatever it was, I felt as if I needed to act. I shouted, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?”

The man with the gun said something, but he was drowned out by the voices of many of the men still inside the saloon. “EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND LET ME HEAR FROM THE SHOOTER!” Luckily, that was enough to quiet everybody down. “Now, Sir, please tell me what you tried to say a moment ago.”

“This here galoot insulted me, and I had to shoot him.”

“What did he say that upset you so much? There are very few things that would have that effect on me, so I am curious.”

“He said that my little sister was a better fucker than any of the regular whores in this town.”

“Okay, I will admit that would upset me, too. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO HEARD THAT STATEMENT?”

Several voices rang out to substantiate what the man holding the pistol had said. Since dueling was perfectly legal in Texas at this time, it sounded like justifiable homicide to me. No man with any self respect could let such a statement slide. The other man was holding a pistol in his hand, so I had to agree that the shooter was not guilty of any crime.

By now, the other man had died, so I sent the swamper to fetch the undertaker. I said to the shooter, “Go ahead and take what you want from the dead man. The undertaker will keep the rest. Mr. Johnson (the bartender), is there anything else I need to look into?” He shook his head, so I went out to continue my rounds of the town.

I had reached the line of men waiting a turn in the second brothel when a fight broke out at the door between the bouncer and an overly enthusiastic customer. The bouncer pushed the man back away from the door and said, “Wait your turn, dammit. Get back in line.”

“Nobody treats me like that!” and he pulled a gun.

The bouncer screamed, “DO NOT SHOOT! I AIN’T ARMED!”

“That is your tough luck,” and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the bouncer in the fleshy part of his arm, and I saw that the gun was an ancient Colt Pocket Pistol. Hell, I didn’t even know that any of those miserable excuses for guns still existed. The pistol was .30 caliber and currently considered a joke. Nevertheless, the gun could still kill if the shooter were lucky, but the range had to be less than about 15 feet.

No matter what, I had to act. I drew my pistol with my left hand and said, “You are under arrest for shooting an unarmed man. Give me your gun and come quietly.”

I guess that you can figure out what happened. The man shouted, “YOU WILL NEVER PUT ME IN JAIL!” as he swung around to point his gun at me. I couldn’t let him shoot for several reasons, so I had no choice but to shoot him. I didn’t know how many people he would kill if I did not act decisively, so I fired one shot into his chest. That .45 caliber hollowpoint bullet was all it took to knock the man down and kill him, possibly before he hit the ground, indicated by the fact of how little blood leaked onto his shirt.

A man said, “I will fetch the undertaker if I will not lose my place in line.”

“Thank you. Go ahead, I am sure that gentleman will save your place for you.” With that statement, I looked sharply at the man behind him, and he nodded his agreement. I had to wait half an hour for the undertaker to show up, so I had plenty of time to send someone else for the doctor to look after the bouncer.

Before the undertaker showed up, I went over the dead man to take his money. I found a little over $2 worth of silver, and I gave that to the bouncer to pay the doctor for looking after his wound. I didn’t find out until later that the brothel owner would pay the doctor, but I didn’t care. Money meant nothing as long as I had the replicator.

Thank God, the rest of the evening was quiet. I didn’t even have any drunks to contend with. I headed home at midnight, and I found Julia waiting for me. I knew this had nothing to do directly with Sam, or Replicator would have warned me. She just wanted to sit in the veranda swing and talk for a few minutes.

“Jeff, I can hardly wait until Sam can take over being marshal again. I find that I really miss being with you whenever you are gone. Even Susan is complaining. We can hardly wait until you can spend more time with us.”

“Honestly, Julia, I feel the same way. I hope it will not upset you if I say that I think that I have fallen in love with you. I know that we have not known each other very long, but that is the way things are with me.”

“Oh, Jeff, that is the way I feel about you, but we can never marry. No respectable man can marry me and keep his reputation intact. After all, everybody in Clear Wells knows that I was raped, and that makes me socially unacceptable.”

“I could not care less about my reputation in regards to you. If necessary, we could leave Clear Wells and live anywhere else in the world. As long as we have the replicator, we will never want for anything. In fact, you will have one right now. Replicator, please make a duplicate replicator for Julia.”

A few seconds later, a replicator was resting on her lap. “Julia, take this. All you have to do whenever you need anything is just to ask the replicator to supply it.” That was when Julia got a strange look on her face and fell totally silent for a couple of minutes.

“Oh, Jeff, what a priceless gift. The replicator spoke to me in my mind, and she said that she would treat me the same way she treated you. I am so thrilled that I do not know what to say.”

“I have an idea, let me talk to Replicator for a few seconds.” [Replicator, thank you for being so gracious to Julia. I have a question. Is there some way that we could talk to each other mind-to-mind the way I talk to you?]

[Yes, there is, but it requires that I implant a device inside your skull. If she agrees to it, I can do it tonight while you sleep. I’ll ask her right now ... Julia said that she would like such an implant. I will also supply her with body armor for her and for Susan so that they will be completely protected.]

[You beat me to it. I was going to ask for that also. However, I think that it is much too early for Susan to have her own replicator. I’m afraid that she would get carried away with it.]

[I agree. I will clear it with Julia before I grant any wishes from Susan.]

“Julia, will you marry me? We will be as good as married as soon as tomorrow morning after Replicator gives us the ability to talk mind-to-mind.”

“Oh, yes, I will marry you right now. I will spend tonight in your bed, and we can begin spending our lives as husband and wife.”

“Wait a minute. Your parents and other people will object if we sleep together before we are married.”

“No, in Texas, all you have to do to be married is to tell three people that you are married. We can do that tomorrow morning.”

“But when will we have the church wedding?”

“Silly boy, I cannot be married in a church. Remember, I am socially unacceptable.”