Chapter 2

I dragged the man across the muddy street and into the sheriff’s office. It was filthy. Someone had thrown manure, both horse and cow, all over the floor. I dragged my prisoner through it all and put him in one of the two cells. Going back to the office, I found the keys and after locking the cell door, I got a shovel and was about to start cleaning when a funny idea occurred to me.I walked back to the café to find Homer still there.”Homer! Don’t you have horses to feed?”

“Yeah, but Elizabeth and I have been talking,” he said with a sly smile.”Well, I need to find the Mayor. Where might I find him?”

“I would guess in the bank. He runs it.”

“Thanks. Oh and by the way. I have a prisoner in the jail. Let people know the town has a sheriff again.”Before the shocked Elizabeth could speak I was out the door, a loud “whoop” coming from inside the café behind me.I walked into the bank and asked to see Mr. Sugar. I was led to his office and knocked on the door frame. The Mayor looked up at me and smiled.”I have a prisoner in the jail. Could I have a badge to make it official?”

“Mr. O’Dell it was official the moment I offered the job to you. The badges are in the top center drawer of the rifle cabinet, along with the ammo.”

“I’m going to need a lot of shovels and brooms. Can you get them for me and have a couple of each left in my office and the rest delivered to the church?”

“The church?”

“Trust me. If I’m right, the church will be ready for use in a couple of weeks.”He smiled and nodded and I walked out of the bank and back to the livery to gather my things. I paid my compliments to Smooth and took my things to my old shop. It was dusty and unused, but otherwise clean. I went to the back of the shop and found my room still there and untouched. I flipped the mattress over, sending dust flying everywhere.I opened the two windows and let some fresh air in. I began making some mental notes of things I would need. A mop and bucket. Kerosene for the lamps. The list went on as I cleaned things up. When I’d done all I could do with what I had there, I figured it was time to walk over to the general store. But first I had to make it official.I walked next door to the jail, stepped around as much of the horse and cow shit on the floor as possible and opened the drawer on the rifle cabinet. There was a slightly tarnished sheriff’s badge. I pinned it on, ignoring the swearing from my prisoner. He was cussing about the smell of his clothes since I’d dragged him through all the shit and manure or much of it. “And you eat with that mouth?” I said as I walked out the door.I crossed the street and past several buildings down the way to the general store. I walked in on the Mayor making a large purchase of cleaning supplies. I recognized the shopkeeper as one of the City Council.”Sheriff!” Mr. Sugar said offering a hand in greeting. “This is Tom Weld. He owns the store and is on the Council.”

“I remember him from this morning. Hello Mr. Weld.”

“Hello Sheriff. How can I help you?”

“I’m moving into my old place in back of my tailor shop. It’s old and dusty so I need some cleaning supplies and kerosene for the lamps. I’ll also need to order a mattress for the bed. The old one is real old.”

“Yes sir, I’ll get right on it. Can I ask what all the other cleaning supplies are for?”

“For the church, Mr. Weld. To clean up and reopen the church for decent folks. I already got a surprise crew picked out to do it.”

“Who?”

“Now that would spoil the surprise. Trust me.”I paid for my supplies and the mattress and went back to the tailor shop. I spent the next few hours cleaning when I heard a terrible ruckus next door in my office. I strapped on my gun belt and carefully walked next door and to the office door. Looking in I saw two men were tearing the place apart. I quietly walked in and slammed the door. They both froze before spinning around to face me.”Boys, this here is waaaay out of line.”

“Where’s the keys to the cell?”

“Somewhere that is not here. Oh my! Is this a jail break?” I asked innocently.The bigger of the two men stood and faced me. His eyes were wide open with fury. Suddenly, he went for his gun. My hand flashed to my side and just like that the big man dropped his gun and fell to the floor holding his arm. I looked at the other man and pointed my still smoking gun at him.”Place your gun very carefully on the desk. Very ... carefully.”The second man did so and then I opened the front door and stopped a curious passerby.”Excuse me, I’m the new sheriff. Would someone be so kind as to get the doc over here.”I closed the door and then took the keys to the cells out of my back pants pocket. I walked to the empty cell and spoke to the standing man.”Drag that one into the cell and get him on the bed so the doc can look at him when he gets here.”The fella took hold of his partner in crime and dragged him through the manure to the cell and after some effort got him on the bed.”Now stand over there while I unlock the other cell and get you in there.”The fella backed away; I unlocked the cell.”You should stay back so I don’t sorta shoot you trying to escape. It’s a good thing I got here when I did. If I’d have seen you coming out of the jail, I’d a had to shoot the lot of you. Now you,” I waved at the unwounded jail breaker, “get inside against the wall.”He obeyed and I closed and locked the cell door. I walked back out the front door and called out, “Did anyone get the Doc. I’ve got a wounded man in here.”Not five minutes later, the Doc, the Mayor, and several others came running to the office.”Well it’s about time, Doc. There’s a big fella in there seems to have gotten shot in his right arm. It would seem that he and his friend in the other cell were trying to break the other man out of jail.”The Doc made his way through all the manure on the floor and went into the open cell. He began to work on the wounded man and I turned my attention back to the Mayor.”Hello Mr. Mayor. Interesting first day.”

“How did you ... who...”

“Relax Mr. Mayor. The fella they were trying to break out tried to draw on me over at Belinda Sue’s little apartment. I dragged him back here and put him in the cell before I came to see you. I was cleaning up my place when these two made a ruckus over here trying to find the keys to the cells. The big guy drew, I shot him in the arm and put them in jail too. What do we do for a judge around here?”

“Uh ... a judge? The circuit judge stopped coming because we lost our sheriff and no one was being arrested or charged with any crimes.”

“Well send him a message that we are open for business again. I’ll keep these boys here and busy until he shows up.”

“Busy?”

“Yeah, Mr. Mayor. The office here needs cleaning and so does the church.”

“You’re going to put Circle X men to work cleaning the church?”I nodded and that was all it took for him and a few others to start laughing like they was crazy. A crowd was gathering outside the office so I walked out to clear the walkway.”Folks, my names in Dave O’Dell. I am the new sheriff and when I’m not sheriffing I’ll be taking back my old shop to do some tailor work. When the church opens, I’d be proud to play piano once in a while. But for now, I really need y’all to go back about your business and clear the walkway. Thank you for your cooperation.”Everyone in the crowd looked at me in amazement and then slowly broke up, talking about all sorts of things. I went back inside and stuck my head in to see how the Doc was doing.”Sheriff, you damn near blew his arm off. Your shot hit him right in the middle of his elbow. It’s going to take a long time for it to heal and for him to get any use of that arm.”Well, I guess he won’t draw on me again. That’s good, I don’t like shooting people or getting shot at and I like killing people even less.”

“Do you know who these men are?”

“Nope. I figured I’d find out when I started keeping records after this place was clean.”

“Well, I’ll save you a little trouble. The wounded man is Bull Turner. He’s the Segundo at Circle X. His partner is Ally Jack Bottoms and the man they were breaking out is Whiskey Walker. Walker is the man Stuger hired to keep people away from Belinda Sue.”

“All that is good to know Doc. Now, I’m gonna guess that that man’s wounds won’t be helped by all the cow and horse shit on the floors in here, right?”

“That’s correct. I was going to suggest that he be taken over to my place.”

“Nope. He drew on me, that’s attempted murder. He did it in the act of a jailbreak. That’s a felony in this State. The judge is going to lock him up for many moons. As to the other two, they’re going to pay for their jail time by cleaning this place up. The more they clean the better they eat.”

“Well, Bull Turner is gonna need the bandage changed a couple of times a day.”

“He ain’t going anywhere, Doc. Just walk on in and take care of business. If I ain’t here, I’ll more than likely be next door in my tailor shop.”

“Tailor shop. I still can’t believe that a tailor is going to be sheriff.”

“Neither can the tailor, Doc. Neither can the tailor.”He laughed and left the office. I went back to the cell and spoke to the two conscious prisoners.”Boys, here’s the deal. When the judge gets to town you two will be tried for attempted murder and jail breaking. That means you’ll either hang or get sent up for a long time. In the meantime, I have a little hard labor of my own that needs taking care of. Now I know that you two hard cases won’t want to do this, so I’ll make it clear. You don’t work, you don’t eat.”

“What do we have to do?”

“Why clean out my office, of course. If you didn’t notice, I’ve got a room full of brooms and mops and buckets. I have a feeling that it was the Circle X boys that dumped all of this shit in here, so it should be the Circle X boys that clean it out. What do you say?”

“Got to hell!”

“OK. I’ll see you boys in the morning.”Without another word, I locked Bull’s cell, in case he woke up and wanted to walk around and turned down the lamp in the office and left. I went to the post office and sent a telegraph to the circuit judge on a question in my head. Then, back in my tailor shop, I set to work cleaning and fixing up the place so I could do business again. It must have been about nine or nine-thirty at night when there was a knock on my door.Taking up my pistol, I stood to the side of the door and opened it just in case someone was going to shoot through the door. I opened the door to find Homer.”Come on in Homer, what can I do for you?”

“Well you might want to come next door and see who is trying to break your prisoners out.”

“Again?”

“Yup. You might need more than a pistol this time.”I sighed and put the pistol back in the holster and belted it on, then I took my double-barreled shotgun and put two shells into it and put another four in my pocket. In the close quarters of the office, if I had to cut loose with it I wouldn’t need more than two shells but you never know. I headed for the door with Homer behind me.I pulled the hammers back on the shotgun and listened. There were three horses tied to the hitching rail. All three had the Circle X brand. As I turned towards the office’s open door I heard the voices.”I don’t know where he keeps the damned keys, just get a hammer and bust out these hinges.”I looked at Homer and just shook my head at the stupidity of these fellas. I slowly used the barrel of the shotgun to push open the door and there stood three men. None held a gun.”Evening boys.”The three spun around and all went for their guns, but the shotgun seemed to give them pause.”I’ll let loose both barrels and you know what that will do. And I’ll aim high so I don’t kill you. I’ll just shoot out your eyes and faces. Now one at a time, unbuckle your gun belts and drop them onto the floor. Homer, please go and get the Doc. I’m sure at least one of these fellas is thinking he’s salty.”Homer took off running while I kept my eyes on the men as, from left to right, they began to drop their gun belts. The man on the right was the one thinking he was a better man. As his belt dropped, he grabbed a small gun that he had hidden in the waist band of his pants. As soon as I saw it in his hand, I pulled the triggers on the shotgun.His head disappeared, spraying its contents all over my office wall. Then he dropped straight down like a puppet with cut strings. I dropped the shotgun and drew my pistol.”Holy shit!” One of the men screamed.”What happened?” came from the cell.”Damn it! Why do you people never listen? Now lay on the floor.”The two men joined their headless friend on the floor and immediately recognized what they were laying in. The disgusting groans they made as their faces were held up inches from the various horse apples and cowpies made me chuckle.”What the hell happened!?” The same voice called from the cell.”You boys act like shit, you get to lay in shit. How you two boys doing back there?”

“What happened, God damn it?” The same voice demanded.”The sheriff blew Shorty’s head clean off,” one of the Circle X punchers on the floor said.”What!?” The voice said in disbelief.”That’s right. No wounding this time. From now on if Circle X riders break the law they will be arrested, if they put up a fight they will die. Period. Now excuse me a moment while I make room for you two.”I stepped around the two men, put my pistol back into the holster and reloaded the shotgun with shells from my pants pocket, and went to the cell door.”Back up boys or get some,” I said wielding the shotgun in their direction.The occupants of the cell backed against the wall and I unlocked the door and stood back against the wall to be out of reach of any of the prisoners.”Alright you two, big guy first, get in here.”The larger of the two on the floor stood, shook off the shit on his clothes and walked into the cell. The smaller man followed. I closed the cell door and locked it. Walking back out, I made a show of hanging the keys on a hook behind my desk, then secretly put them in my back pocket and walked out the door to wait for Homer and the Doc.The two men came walking across the street, in no apparent hurry.”Well it took you long enough,” I declared.”When I was running to get the Doc I heard the shotgun. I figured at that distance no one was going to be wounded, so I walked to get the Doc.”

“What do we have Sheriff?”

“I’m afraid that the shotgun did considerable damage to one of the men’s head.”I walked the men back into the office and the Doc stopped, shocked, in the doorway.”You call this ‘considerable damage’?”

“Yup.”

“I’ll find some men to remove the body.”

“No Doc. Leave it. I’ll do it in the morning. It might be best if the town sees what’s going on,” I said.”OK, Sheriff, if you say so.”Doc stepped around the body and checked on Bull. He was asleep or unconscious but he was breathing and the bleeding looked like it stopped as his last bandage showed only slight signs of blood. After he left, I looked at Homer.”Homer, go ahead and get some sleep. We can get to this later. Come by in the morning with Smooth saddled and another sturdy horse.”

“OK, Dave. Nite.”

“Nite.”I went back to the shop and undressed for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a day of statements to the town and to the Circle X.

I was already up when I heard Smooth snorting and calling out to any mares in the area. I walked outside and was greeted by my oldest friend. Smooth proudly stepped to me and lowered his head and nuzzled my shoulder. I stroked his neck and patted his shoulder before walking to the hitching rail in front of the Sheriff’s Office.”Morning, Homer. Smooth give you any trouble?”

“Strangest thing, Dave. He was acting all stubborn and as soon as I said that I was taking him to you, he sparked right up.”

“He’s a good friend and smarter than some people I’ve met recently. So, this morning I want to load the body onto the other horse and take a walk around town before I take it out to the Circle X. He’s their man and I assume he was in the jail on their orders. When the town sees that there is a sheriff in town and that he will stand up to law breakers it will make a statement. When the Circle X sees their man it will also make a statement.”

“Statement!?” Homer spat out. “Yeah, it’ll say shoot my ass now before I get you.”

“Well, I hope not.”Just then the Mayor showed up with Mr. Weld and some other men.”What happened Sheriff?”

“Three men came in to break out the others and this one drew a pistol against my shotgun.”The men looked at the headless body Homer was carrying out and turned a little green.”Aimed a little high, huh?” one of them said.”Nope. Hit head center, just like I warned them.”

“You said you were going to blow off their heads?”

“Sort of. I told them I would aim high. I really didn’t know the shot pattern would be that tight. Still, it made the point.”

“Are you going to bury him?”

“Nope. I’m gonna take him to the Circle X and let them bury him. I don’t even know who he is.”

“That’s Shorty Long,” Homer chimed in. “He always was a head shorter than everyone else.”I tried to suppress my smile but couldn’t.”Dave, Circle X is not going to be happy.”

“They’re not even close to unhappy yet, Mayor. Wait until I marry Belinda Sue.”

“She’s already married to Stuger.”

“Nope, not consummated. I got a feeling that he’s about to be very disappointed.”

“Or you’re going to be very dead,” Mr. Weld said quietly.”Anything’s possible, Mr. Weld. Anything.”With Shorty tied hand to foot over the other horse’s back, I got up on Smooth and took a long circuitous ride around town, displaying the body and letting people see that the Circle X didn’t have as much power as some thought.At the end of the street, I kept going towards the Circle X ranch.

“Whitey! Who’s that?”

“Don’t know. Get Williams.”

In the distance I saw a puncher take off running to the bunkhouse and as I approached he and another man came out to the front of the ranch house. Soon there were six others outside the bunkhouse to see me ride in with Shorty.”Who’s the owner or the man in charge?” I asked.”Owner ain’t here. I’m Williams, Segundo on the Circle X. Who are you?”

“I’m Sheriff O’Dell. This man tried to break two of your men out of jail and got the short straw.”

“Shorty’s head’s gone!” Someone yelled from the side of the horse where the head should have been.”Yeah, there wasn’t much left to bring back for burial with his body.”

“Who did this?”

“Well I did, of course. Look, Whiskey Walker drew on me. I hit him upside the head with my pistol and took him to jail for drawing on the sheriff. Then Bull Turner, who said that HE was Segundo, and Ally Jack Bottoms tried to break Walker out. Turner got shot and Ally Jack got put in jail with Walker. Doc patched up Turner and he’s in jail so I can keep an eye on his wound.”The men had all gathered round with three taking Shorty off the horse.”Then last night three fellas came to break all the others out and Short got his. I haven’t even taken the time to get the names of the two I’ve got in jail with Walker and Bottoms. I’ll do that when I get back.”

“What makes you think that you can kill our people and not get killed yourself?”

“Well, first, it would be really wrong to shoot the Sheriff. Second, the folks in town want their town back. They want the church opened again and maybe a school for the kids. They can’t do that with Circle X riders piling horse and cow shit in the church.”Several men chuckled at that.”And third, before I die, I’m going to kill you, Mr. Williams, Segundo of the Circle X, and as many of your men as I can. Of course if you decided to just raise your cows and horse, and be peaceful when you come to town, then nobody has to die.”Just then for some stupid reason, one of the punchers, a guy with a big handlebar mustache, grabbed Smooth by the bridle and the stallion raised up and put a hoof on the man’s head leaving a sharp, horseshoe-shaped dent in the now dead man’s head. Before anyone could move I had my gun out and aimed at Williams.”Well that was unfortunate. I didn’t come up here to kill anyone, but old Smooth here, likes to be left alone. Now, do I go back to town and start cleaning out the church or do we start killing each other?”Williams looked at the pistol in the hand of the Sheriff on the horse that had just killed one of the men and who was now still as an oak trunk, giving the Sheriff a steady chance to aim.”Sheriff, I’m not the owner. I can’t make those decisions. You ride back.”

“Well, Mr. Williams, thank you for not making me kill you. It’s not something I like to do. You tell Stuger that the town just wants to grow and stay peaceful.”

“Stuger?”

“Yeah, you know. Explain what I said. He’s about to be very unhappy and he might order you boys to make some real bad choices. The jail has room for more in Turner’s cell but then he’d have to stand a lot and that might start the bleeding again. Good day gentlemen.”I twitched the reins and without a word from me, Smooth walked backwards away from the group of stunned men. When we’d backed off about thirty yards, I turned and slowly walked off the property. It seemed that since no one followed that the Mayor was right about Stuger owning the Circle X. Williams didn’t have the authority to order a killing. Next was Stuger himself.

“Sheriff, there seems to have been some trouble over at Belinda Sue’s place this morning,” Homer said as I rode in with Smooth and the other horse.”Belinda Sue?”

“I guess last night she refused to sing at the saloon and this morning after you left, she came to see you. Stuger got pissed and beat her down right here in the street. Doc got her back to her place and is seeing to her. You’re back alive!”

“Nice of you to notice. Take care of Smooth. Corn and oats, he did a good thing today. You know a Circle X rider with a big handlebar mustache?”

“That would be Web Brown.”

“Well, Smooth up and kicked his head in. If what I saw is right, the Circle X only has eight men left at the ranch. Their numbers seem to be shrinking. I’m going to go see Doc.”

“He’s at Belinda Sue’s place. Look out for Stuger. He’s mighty angry.”

“He’s still gonna be angrier, Homer. Take care of Smooth for me. I may have to ride him again real soon.”I went to the jail and got my shotgun, loaded it, and put several shells into my coat pocket.”Who you gonna kill now, Sheriff?” Walker yelled.”The man who just beat up Belinda Sue.”I heard the whispers. “He’s gonna kill Stuger” “Shit!”I walked out the door and headed for the saloon. At the last minute, I turned and walked around to the back, where Belinda Sue’s little apartment was located. I gently knocked on the door and when it opened I saw it was Doc.”Hi Doc, I came to check on Belinda Sue. I heard he hit her.”

“Hi Sheriff. He beat her pretty bad. Her face is a mess and she has a couple of broken ribs. She also has bruises all over her arms, breasts, and shoulders.”

“Can I see her?”

“I gave her some sleeping pills. She’s not out but close. Don’t get her excited.”I walked into Belinda Sue’s bedroom and was shocked at what I saw. Her head was bandaged so I could almost not see it. There was a tight fabric wrapped around her body and she had big swollen welts all over her arms.”Belinda Sue? Can you hear me?”

“Dave?” she answered weakly.”Yes, my love it’s me. Who did this?”

“Stuger. Mad. Told him. Love you. Have your babies.”

“I love you too and we’ll have lots of babies when we get married. You rest. Sleep and dream of our babies.”I returned to the other room to find Doc sitting in a chair.”I was waiting for you. I’ve done all I can do. One of the saloon girls is going to stay with her and call me if I’m needed. What she really needs now is rest; her body will do the rest.”

“Thanks, Doc. I owe you.”I shook the man’s hand and walked out heading for the saloon’s back door. I opened it and entered onto the side of the stage. Stuger was standing at the bar and I caught the end of his diatribe.” ... fucking bitch. Well I’ve had enough. As soon as she’s awake, I’m going over there and fuck her. Then her ranch will be mine. With that and the Circle X, I’ll be set and in the money for life.”I walked off the stage and headed straight for him. My shotgun aimed at his fat gut.”Well, well, if it ain’t the new Sheriff.”

“Well, well, if it ain’t the slimy cunt that likes to beat women.”

“She’s my wife, I can handle her any...”And that’s when I hit him. I launched the full fury I carried into him and knocked him back staggering. But he didn’t fall. He had several inches on me and a lot more weight. Stuger straightened up.”You little shit. You interfere with my marriage? You interfere with my business? Who the hell do you think you are? I’m going to beat you to death.”

“I was going to blow your head off Stuger, but I think I’m going to teach you a lesson about hitting MY woman!”A wide swing caught me on the side of the head as I turned it to set the shotgun on a table.”Gus!” Stuger ordered the bartender. “You stay out of this. I’m gonna kill him all by myself.”I was staggered but returned three punches, two to the face and one to the gut. The ones to the face broke his nose and opened a cut on his cheek. His next punch was to my stomach and it thought it was going to cut me in half. I’ve been kicked by a few cows, including an old mossy horned steer, but this was bad. I doubled over and fell to the floor, rolling around just before his boot stomped down on what would have been my head.Scrambling on my back like a spider, I got clear of his next kicks and stomps. When he went to lift his right leg for the next stomp, I kicked out my leg and caught him on the inside of the knee of the right leg. He let out a yelp and went down as the knee that was supporting his huge weight buckled unable to support his bulk on its own.I rose and readied for the next attack. Stuger got up on his injured knee. I guess he finally figured out that I wasn’t merely the town tailor. I moved to my right to stay away from his right hand and that’s when Stuger surprised me. He reached behind him and pulled out a Bowie knife.It was huge and sharp and would cut in any direction it was going when it hit you.”I’m gonna butcher you like a pig.”I jumped back away from the first swinging attack and when he slashed again, I stepped inside the passing knife blade and drove an elbow into his right eye. It immediately gushed blood and blinded him on that side of his face. I stepped to his blind side and when he lunged with the next attack I turned, caught his wrist, and spun him and twisted his wrist to drive the blade into his side.It only had a little effect, having cut into the fatty portion of his body. But it did surprise him and in that moment, I pulled out my own skinning knife. When he moved towards me, I deeply slashed the bicep of the arm holding the knife. He screamed and dropped his own knife. Throwing my own onto the table next to my shotgun, I hit him with a flurry of slaps and punches, including a couple of Glasgow Kisses.He dropped to his knees and I drove my right knee into his face, splattering his nose flat and causing him to lose even more blood. I bent low and brought an uppercut from the floor to his chin and his head snapped back. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell back like a big tree. His head hit the solid wooden floor with a resounding thud. After that, he didn’t move.I quickly spun around to see if the bartender was going to back his boss. He wasn’t. I looked down at my torn, ripped, and slashed shirt. Walking back to the table where I’d set my shotgun, I picked up it and my knife and headed for the front door. My face was cut and bruised and felt like it was on fire. I staggered across the street to my shop.Homer came running down the street with the rest of the crowd that heard that Stuger and the Sheriff were fighting. As I walked to my shop he followed me. Seeing my face and clothes he just let out a whistle.”Son, whereever you been I don’t want to go there,” Homer said.”I had a talk with Stuger. I’m going to bed. Would you go back of the saloon and find Doc and ask him to come see me when he’s done with Belinda Sue?”

“Sure, Sheriff. I’ll fetch him here as soon as he’s free.”

“Oh Homer. You know the Doc is many things, but free ain’t one of them,” I tried to laugh at my own joke, but it hurt too much. I walked to my bed, a peaceful blackness engulfing me so I didn’t feel it when I flopped down onto it.

There was something cold and wet on my face. It felt really good. Then it stung like the dickens. I flinched at the sting and I heard Doc’s voice.”Easy, Sheriff. You took a beating; gave a bigger one, but you didn’t come out untouched. You know a good tailor to fix that shirt of yours,” Doc chuckled at his own joke.”How’s Belinda Sue?” I mumbled.”She’s doing better than you and lot better than Stuger. I’m not sure I can save his stones.”

“Stones? I didn’t hit him low.”

“No, but when the bartender came to Belinda Sue’s place to get me to help him, Belinda Sue came along when she heard you two had fought. When she saw Stuger on the floor, weak as she was, she took to his stones with her pointy toed shoes. He was unconscious and couldn’t curl up or protect himself. His balls are pretty much gone.”I smiled.”Try to sit up. Slowly. The damage to your face is mostly cuts and bruises. You got a couple of cracked ribs. You’re pretty tough for a little guy.”