That Day in Dodge

Just a little Wild west pastiche

Well it was a Tuesday. Then again, I guess you don’t care what day it was. I was in Dodge City Kansas, every disreputable characters favourite little home away from home as you know. And before you ask Marshall, it’s none of your god damn business how I ended up there, we made our peace. It’s what happened that day that you seem to care so much about anyway.

It was around mid-afternoon, the sun was nowhere near the horizon and you could see the heat of the day where ever you looked. Sheriff Bolton was asleep in his old chair that sat out front; he was hugging his old shotgun like you’d hug a good woman. Not that any good woman would go near that old fool, but that’s another story. Everyone had either decided to stay indoors or had left town for the day. The streets were real quiet. It wasn’t all that unusual though, and I don’t even think I took notice. At the time I was more concerned with getting hold of a good drink. Judging by what I could see through the windows of Bill’s place across town, I wasn’t the only one. I crossed the dusty street and entered through the double doors, swinging them like they do in the old dime novels. None of the b******s in there took any notice, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. I wasted no time in heading to the bar and Bill recognised me straight away.

            “Usual?” He asked.

I’d seen him open the damn bottle already so he was lucky my answer was yes. He passed me the old Forty-Rod he’d opened. The stuff was the colour of blood and tasted like coffin varnish, but it kept your mouth from being dry. I’d never had the fancy champagne flips you get here so I didn’t know any better. I wet my mouth with the stuff, set it down on the bar, and ran my eyes around the room.  

            Ellie was wearing as little as ever, looking for a lucky guy to charge for the privilege of heading upstairs. She caught my eye as she swept her hair from her chest, but I’d spent enough money on her already and she knew it. A local boy by the name of Clinton was screeching out a tune on his fiddle over by the staircase and well, I won’t bore you with unnecessary details Marshall, seeing how busy a man you seem to be.... It was the new addition to the poker table over by the window that should interest you. That table and the people who used it were as familiar to the place as the sun is with the sky. They sat at that table every god damn day, yet the only one of them I knew was old man Cooper. He was older than the whole damn town and I swore if I ever entered that place and he wasn’t there, I’d be sure he’d finally bit the dust. The tables’ new addition was sat across from him. He was a real young man with a real tidy moustache, and judging by the size of his pile of chips, he was quite the card player.

            Some time passed and I’d been watching the game for so long it was time to get another drink. I turned away to catch Bill’s eye and as I did that new boy at the table piped up.

            “Aces again fella’s, I just can’t believe my luck.”

I turned to see the guy raking in even more chips. Old man Cooper reached for his malt and I could tell by the way he grabbed the bottle, he didn’t intend on drinking it.

            “I can’t believe your luck either boy.” He screamed as he raised that old bottle over his head. He brought it down real quick and as it met the edge of the playing surface; the game changed.

            Cooper stood up and leapt across the table. I’ve never seen someone so old move so fast. He crashed down on the youngster and the table flipped sending cards flying in the air like a mountain blizzard. The fiddle stopped playing, the dice stopped rolling and folk stopped talking. It was silent as the cards settled on the ground, and as they did it became clear to everyone that the day had just gotten interesting.

            The patrons gathered round shouting and betting on the outcome. Bill didn’t even flinch and served me another drink like nothing was happening. I moved closer so I could see what was going on; both men were on the ground surrounded by broken chair legs and bent cards. Old Cooper was on top of the boy; his right arm was being held tightly stopping him from landing any blows with the bottle. They wrestled for a good minute before that young boy’s left arm swung round and caught old Cooper right in the mouth. He dropped of his bottle when he was struck and it went sliding across the floor towards me; along with Cooper himself and some of his few remaining teeth. The young man jumped to his feet and I swear to God he straightened his facial hair before he did anything else. Stupid kid failed to realise until it was too late, Cooper had hopped up, grabbed my brand new drink off the bar and flung it towards him. He raised his arm just quickly enough and the bottle smashed. We couldn’t tell if it was blood or my Forty-Rod spraying all over the place, but when the boy looked up we realised it must’ve been a bit of both. Cooper ran across the saloon ready to finish things, but the old fool slipped on the combination of cards and liquor. His old frame came down with one hell of a bang. What I heard next was an all too familiar sound. The boy had had enough and pulled back the hammer on his quick shooter. As I heard the click, I jumped over and ducked down behind the bar. I’d been in this situation enough times and experience told me it was the best thing to do.

            Everything went quiet, the kid pulled some glass from his face with his free hand and Cooper finally came round only to be faced with the barrel of a gun. Nobody moved and everyone in the place was as sure as hell that Cooper’s seat would be free in the morning; everyone except Ellie that is. Moving like a god damn ghost she grabbed Clinton’s fiddle pulled it back and swung it so hard that if I didn’t know for certain, I’d swear she was a man. Ellie hit her target and the fiddle collided with the side of the boys’ head. It splintered and the strings snapped flying off into the air. The shot knocked him out cold and as he began to fall, his pistol fired.  The shot must’ve hit at a strange angle; it ricocheted off the floor and just as I ducked, it flew over my damn head smashing the bottles at the back of the bar. I looked up to see the boy hit the floor nearly as hard as old Cooper had. I stood up and to my delight, Bill handed me another drink.

            The guy was finished, I’d dodged a bullet, that damn Fiddle was smashed to pieces and I had a new drink. I was pretty happy. But it didn’t last. The Saloon doors swung open to reveal the silhouette of a tall, chubby guy brandishing a shotgun… Bolton.

            “What in god’s name is going on in here?” He shouted, before even thinking of trying to figure it out for himself.

            “This son of a b***h was gonna shoot old Cooper!” Said Ellie as she spat on the young guy’s lifeless body.

            “I had no choice Mr Bolton sir; I think he’s still alive this time.” She poked him with what was left of the fiddle a few times just to make sure. Bolton looked around, no doubt trying to make it look like he gave a s**t about what had happened.

            “Bill, be a good boy and fetch me a drink.” He said as he stepped over the guy and moved closer to Ellie.

            “Ellie darlin’, why don’t we discuss this upstairs like last time? I’m sure you need a lie down after all this.” He smirked as he spoke, as if to suggest it was the cleverest thing that idiot had ever said.

            “Not if you forget to pay like last time Sheriff.” She said.

Bolton knelt down and rooted through the young guy’s pockets until he found a few ten dollar bills.

I still don’t understand why they don’t make them any larger.

            “I’ll be up in a minute.” He said, shepherding her towards the stairs. He took my damn drink off the bar as he followed her and before he headed up, he turned to me.

            “Take the boy outside and get rid of him.”  He said it loudly enough. After all, this is how the law was upheld in Dodge back in those days. Bolton wasn’t shy about letting everyone know it either. As you know, the law had done me a… favour a while back so I looked him in the eyes, pulled back my coat and tapped my six-shooter. Just before I pulled my coat shut, he slipped Ellie’s forty dollars into my inside pocket and then headed upstairs without saying a word.

            It was at this time I went to lift old man Cooper to his feet; an all too familiar occurrence.

            “I should start charging for hauling you off the ground, old man.” I said as I helped him up

            “Look son, I’ve been around a while. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you don’t just lay down and give in.” He said, brushing himself off.

            “That may be, Cooper, but you do spend a lot of time lying down.” I laughed with him and he held his hand out in appreciation. As I grabbed it, a deck of cards fell to the ground from the old man’s sleeve. He very quickly gathered them up and thrust them into his pocket before walking out of the place. I didn’t see much but I did catch sight of at least six or seven aces hit the floor of that old saloon and while I’m no card player, I knew for damn sure that that deck was bullshit. The old man had been cheating the whole time and he’d still lost. No wonder he was mad. I found it kind of funny, until I realised that the kid I was now charged with killing was more or less innocent.

             I moved quickly dragging the boy out of the place before anyone else decided I was taking too long. I hoisted him up onto the back of Bolton’s horse before mounting it myself. I rode just out of town to where the roads become real dusty and the wind gets in your eyes. What on earth was I going to do, I kept thinking. On the one hand I could shoot the guy, keep Bolton off my back and be home in time for Bill’s chilli. But would it be the right thing? The boy was an idiot, but he wasn’t a cheat, and as far as I knew he wasn’t a killer either. I thought long and hard as I rode, but by the time I threw him down in the bushes, I knew what I had to do. I pulled my trusty six-shooter from my belt, pulled back the hammer and fired a single shot. It was done. As I made my way back into Dodge, Bolton wandered out of the saloon.

            “Good man. Heard the shot from here; the coyotes should deal with the rest.” He smirked as he zipped up his trousers, before heading back inside.

            Now before you give me a lecture. Or worse, I didn’t kill the boy, Marshall.  My plan to fire off a round had worked a treat though. Everyone thought justice had been done, and in a strange way it had been. Or so I thought.

             As far as I can remember, the next day started out just like the one before. It was hot as hell, dry as old bone and time for me to get a drink. I walked into Bill’s, headed to the bar and as I arrived, he wiped the cobwebs from a Forty-Rod and placed the bottle down in front of me. I turned and it didn’t take me long to realise I’d made a serious mistake.       Cooper’s chair was empty. I dropped the damn bottle on the ground and without thinking much at all, ran out those doors as fast as I’d ever moved. I bolted down the street towards Cooper’s place a block away. I had grit in my eyes and I’d lost my hat somewhere but nothing was slowing me down. I smashed in through Cooper’s door and what I saw stopped me dead. The old man lay on the ground in a heap, a small red trail flowing to a crack in his floor. I didn’t need to investigate; I knew exactly what had happened.

            As I walked away wondering what to do next, a shot rang out across town, I don’t know why but I was certain it had come from Bill’s place. I started to run, my mind consumed with a bloodlust that I hadn’t felt in many years. That’s the honest truth Marshall. I arrived at Bill’s to find Bolton skulking out of the place along with everyone else. Bolton was wounded but it was nothing serious. 

            “Damn guy nearly took my head off!” He said exhaling sharply as he ran.

            “Where the hell are you going?” I screamed to him as he walked away.

            “You can forget it if you think I’m taking another bullet for that w***e.” Bolton was obviously referring to Ellie. She had cost me a fortune but that girl was good as gold. I had to save her. I ran in gun drawn swinging the doors as I went. I could hear her shouting something from above, she was still alive. I quickly climbed the stairs and just as I was about to turn into Ellie’s room and fire, an almighty shot rang out like a powder keg had gone off. Wood from the door frame splintered all over the place and a body flew back out of the room spraying blood everywhere as it travelled. It smashed through the balcony handrail and fell some ten feet. I froze for a moment, I didn’t want to look over the edge and luckily for me I didn’t have to.

            “I’m sorry Mister but I told you to put it away.” It was Ellie and I was so pleased to hear those sweet tones, that I didn’t even care what had just happened. She walked through the door into view, Bolton’s old shotgun still smoking in her hands. The two of us locked eyes for a long moment and then peered over the balcony towards the mangled body of the young kid who should’ve learned his lesson. I turned to Ellie, reached into my coat and handed her back her forty dollars.

 

            “Stop there, I’ve heard enough.”

 

            “I wasn’t finished, and why do you even care Marshall, it aint exactly a high profile case.”

 

            “It’s sure as hell become one! You created a monster that day.”

 

            “The kid was dead Marshall.”

 

            “I’m not talking about the kid. I’m talking about Ellie!”

 

            “Ellie? I already said, that girl is as good as gold.”

 

            “Not anymore she isn’t; seems she got a taste for money in exchange for lives.”

 

            “Nothing wrong with that! You did it before you worked for Uncle Sam.”

 

            “That’s true. But nobody wants to hire a lady bounty hunter.”

 

            “Get to the god damn point Marshall.”

 

            “Well she can’t take guilty lives for money. So now, she takes innocent ones

instead.”

            “That still don’t explain what you’re doing here!”

 

            “You forgotten? You owe the law a favour.”

 

            “I’m not doing it Marshall; you and I are done!”

 

            “Either you get rid of Ellie, or we’ll get rid of you.”