Chapter 4

I hate funerals! I won't dwell on John's funeral, except to say that it was your usual sort of ceremony. Jane was surprised at the number of people who turned out; pretty much the whole town of Hixville and all the ranches around the area. John had more friends than any of us realized. I just hope he does as well in heaven.

We returned to the ranch and tried to get back to a normal life. Jane moped around a lot, but seemed to be coming out of her funk a little each day. Ten days after the funeral, she was nearly back to normal and I thought it was safe for me to see what I could learn in Johnson.

I rode over there early on a Monday morning. I got there in time to find the marshal in his office. "Howdy, marshal. I'm Bill Lang. Here's a note from Sol Sedgwick what will tell ya why I'm here."

"Howdy, Mr. Lang. I'm Ed Harper. Let me read this here note from Sol and I'll be right with ya... Hmmm... It shore looks like Sol sets a lot of store by you. I'll do what I kin ta he'p."

"Thanks, Marshal. Call me Bill. My friend John Buckley was murdered a couple of weeks ago an' I'm trying to find out what's behind it. His ranch, the Circle JB, has had a passel of trouble with rustlers, but none of the other ranches have been hit a tall. In the process, I was shot at the other day and I got a crease across my chest ta prove it. The yahoo what shot me claimed that he was paid $20 by some lawyer-type here in Johnson to kill a rider fer the Circle JB. The galoot didn't know a name an' I got no better description than that."

"Well, Bill, you can call me Ed. That's quite a story. I knew of John Buckley, no finer man in these parts! What do ya want from me?"

"The first thing I need is what ya know about the lawyers in this here town. An' is there anybody else in town what looks like a lawyer, but ain't."

"We got three lawyers, all of 'em with upstanding reputations. I believe that all of 'em are honest, upright men who wouldn't hurt anybody. I think yer man meant somebody what looked good dressed in a business suit. We got a passel of them types. We even got a new dentist what looks like a real dandy. But I don't know anythin' bad 'bout him. I'm afraid that ya're gonna need a lot better description than the one ya got to find who ya're lookin' fer."

"Yeah, it shore looks that way. I'll be more careful the next time I question somebody. Well, I'm much obliged fer yer time, Ed. Is there a good place ta eat afore I go home?"

"Ya're welcome. I wish I could be more he'p ta ya. Ya'll find a pretty good restaurant 'bout 2 blocks down that way. Good luck, an' ifen I kin do anythin', ya be shore ta let me know."

I took my horse down to the restaurant and tied up. It was past the regular lunch time fer most people, so I was kind of hungry. I wasn't paying much attention to the few patrons left, I just found myself a seat and looked at the menu posted on the wall. They had something called spaghetti that I never heard of. I'm always looking for different things to eat, so I thought I'd give it a try. The waitress walked over to me with a cup of coffee and asked what I wanted. She brightened up when I said spaghetti.

She went into the kitchen with my order and was back almost immediately with a plate of stuff that looked like white worms! There was some red stuff to one side of the plate and some balls of what looked like meat on the other side. She said, "Be sure ya put plenty of the sauce on yer spaghetti an' meat balls. I'm shore ya'll like it."

Well, I'm game for almost anything, so I dug in. Damn, that was good stuff! I ate it all and was thinking about ordering some more when the door burst open and come galoot came busting in shouting for Mary. The watress came running up and said, "Mary ain't here, Jimmy! Now ya jus' calm down afore ya bust a blood vessel."

"Git the hell out of my way, woman. I know she's here an' she's jus' hidin' from me." The galoot pushed the waitress hard and she fell down.

I can't mind my own business when some idiot starts pushing a woman around, so I jumped to my feet. I shouted, "STOP THAT, YA IDIOT!" In a calmer voice I said, "Now, ya help that lady up an' apologize ta her fer the way you acted!"

"FUCK YA, ASSHOLE! Mind yer own business."

"It is my business when some galoot is abusin' a lady. Now do what I said or I'll throw ya out on yer ass." I stood, as was my habit, with my arms crossed on my chest with my hands on my gun butts.

The galoot said, "Ya can't talk to me like that, you son of a bitch! DRAW!" and reached for his gun.

I cocked the pistol as I drew it with my right hand. It was at full cock by the time it had cleared the holster, and all I had to do was drop my left arm out of the way and swing my hand around to point my pistol at my challenger. I squeezed the trigger as soon as it came to bear on his chest. I put a bullet right through his breastbone and, at that range, one was all that was needed.

I had reloaded and holstered my gun just as the marshal came busting into the restaurant. He yelled, "WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?" as I was helping the waitress to her feet.

She said, "This here gentleman was rescuing me from Jimmy, there. Jimmy tried to draw on him, so he shot Jimmy dead, an' Jimmy deserved it."

"Well, ma'am, yer testimony is good enough fer me. Bill, let's drag the corpse behind the counter ta leave 'im while I git the undertaker."

"Shore thing, Ed. Do ya need me fer anythin'?"

"Nah, I got all I need. Ya better be on the lookout fer this bastard's brother. He's Tommy Overmeyer, a real SOB ifen there ever was one. He carries a shotgun an' likes ta use it."

"Thanks, Ed, I'll be careful. I'm leaving town fer home soon as I pay fer the wonderful meal I just had."

"That'll be two bits, Mister. Thanks fer lookin' out fer me."

"Ya're welcome, ma'am. Mind tellin' me what that dustup was all about?"

"Jimmy wuz lookin' fer his girlfrien', Mary. He beat her an' she didn't have the gumption ta leave 'im. They weren't married, but Jimmy acted like they wuz. I don't know why he wuz lookin' fer her, this time, but ya kin bet it wuzn't fer nothin' good!"

"Well, I'm glad I was able ta he'p. My compliments ta the cook. Goodbye, ma'am."

"I'll tell Giuseppe what ya said. He don't often git compliments on his Italian cookin'."

I went out the door and started to mount my horse. A voice shouted, "STOP WHERE YA ARE, YA BASTARD! YA CAN'T KILL MY BROTHER AND RUN AWAY. YA GIT ON THAT THERE HORSE AN' I'LL KILL YA BOTH!"

I turned around and looked where the loud mouth was standing. There was a man standing on the boardwalk and pointing a shotgun in my direction. I said, "Ya better point that there shotgun in some other direction afore I shove it up yer ass an' pull both triggers."

His face turned bright red and he started to put the shotgun to his shoulder. That was all the hint I needed to get my own ass moving. I dove toward the middle of the street as I pulled my right handed gun from the holster. A shotgun with its long barrel is hard to change directions with, so I wanted to keep moving in random directions to mess up his aim. Thus, when I hit the ground, I rolled in the other direction just as a load of buckshot hit the ground where I had been. I snapped off a shot in his direction, not so much because I expected to hit him, but I wanted to give him something to think about. I missed, but his next shot missed, too. Now I had him! He had to stop and reload his double barreled shotgun and that's when I took time to line up my shot.

I put two quick shots at his chest and both hit. He dropped his shotgun and looked surprised as he crumpled to the boardwalk. I guess he never thought that he could be shot.

About this time, the marshal came up with the undertaker. He said to me, "I see ya done been introduced to Tommy. Ya done Johnson a favor, today, an' I thank ya. Well, the undertaker can deal with both of 'em an' we kin wash our hands of that there trash." The marshal grinned at me and said, "Now, I'd appreciate it ifen ya'd leave town now while we still got some citizens what kin walk!"

I laughed and brushed the dust of my clothes. "Be seein' ya, Ed."

I had a lot to think about on my ride back to the ranch. Obviously, I was no closer to finding an answer to the mystery than I was before I went to Johnson. I kept kicking myself for not being more careful when I questioned that galoot that had shot me along the chest. I was a combination of cocky and angry, so I didn't take enough time to frame my questions. I resolved to be more careful the next time.

It was kind of painful to have to tell Jane of my fiasco in Johnson, after I had left that morning so sure of myself. This time, she was the one full of soothing words who made me feel better about the whole thing. She was concerned about my two gunfights in Johnson, but realized that I was a professional who knew how to take care of himself.

We ate supper and I told everybody about the spaghetti I had for lunch. There was a lot of ohing and ahing about it and they all wanted every detail.