Vin stared over his shoulder at the shot glass on the
table. The afternoon sun and the saloon’s dusty atmosphere created the illusion
that the glass was half-full; he knew it was bone-dry empty. Chris had slid the
brimming glass across the table, and he’d uncharacteristically gulped it all down.
He didn’t normally do that — a wanted man couldn’t afford to guzzle the hard
stuff, he needed to stay sharp.
Wanted.
Chris made him feel wanted—and not in the $500 bounty
kind of way. No, he felt safe with Chris. That was something he hadn’t felt for
a long time, so it kind of stood out.
Chris had been seated with his back to the wall. Vin
had joined him, sliding sideways into the opposite chair, so that his back,
while not braced by the chairback, was to the side wall. They had briefly
discussed Tascosa, then Chris had left, planning on meeting him in the morning,
leaving the bottle of Highland Rye Whiskey on the table.
Vin considered switching to Chris’ abandoned chair, but
figured that kind of move would only draw more eyes. Shifting slightly in his
chair, he draped his right elbow on the low chairback and adjusted his slouch
hat to shade his eyes, appearing relaxed. He now had most of the saloon in
front of him and could easily hear the conversations around him. Like Josiah
and Nathan, at the table kitty corner to his, talking about Josiah’s future ministering
prospects and the bullet wound he’d acquired at their battle at the Seminole
village. Buck moseyed in from across the room and the three left the table,
heading for Nathan’s place.
Vin next heard JD and Ezra at the bar, the kid
bemoaning that they all seemed to be parting ways. Ezra’s response changed
abruptly in tone and the saloon doors parted, the man who entered causing a
hush to fall over the place.
Judge Travis made his sheriff’s offer from just inside
the saloon, and JD stepped right up, volunteering. The judge tried to shame the
bar’s other occupants into accepting his offer. Vin tensed slightly, waiting to
see if any of the other men took the job, needing to know who might become a
problem for him. None of the townsmen spoke up, so Travis reluctantly hired JD
on the spot.
Vin’s eyes tracked the kid as he walked towards Ezra,
eagerly proclaiming himself as Sheriff. This backfired for the gambler as the
Judge recognized him from a previous encounter, exposing Ezra’s hidden
derringer as proof. Vin tensed even more hearing Ezra’s plaintive appeal to his
friend ignored as the new Sheriff arrested Standish and the three left the
saloon.
Vin waited a few minutes, pondering JD’s words about
not knowing Ezra that well and being thankful that only Chris knew about his
bounty. He then calmly stoppered the paid-for whiskey bottle. Vin knew that Chris
expected to be drinking it on the trail. He pocketed the bottle and rose. Good
thing he — they — were leaving town tomorrow.
The End
