Priestess of War (The Bowl of Souls Book 10), page 39
“Hey!” said a child’s voice and Tom looked down to see that just a few feet away was a young boy with a piece of coal in his hand. He was using it to draw on the walkway.
Tom put on a smile. “Sorry. What’s your name?”
The child’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Neddy.”
“Hi, Neddy. Mind if I borrow that piece of coal?” Tom asked. “Just for one second.” He snatched it from Neddy’s hand before the child had time to decide. “I’ll give it back. I promise.”
His jaw set, Tom took the piece of coal and began working on the poster.
In the parlor of the Cloverleaf Hotel, Albert and Denny were still sitting at the table looking unhappy.
“I just know my luck was about to turn around,” Albert was saying. Surely there was a way he could make the money back. “Denny, you going anywhere soon?”
The salesman put down his drink and shrugged. “My train don’t come in for a few hours yet. Why?”
Albert turned towards the bar. “Hey, Miss Joline. There anyone else staying here that we can call down to play a game?”
Joline put her dime novel down and gave him a dull look. “Nope. You two are the only ones here for the day.”
“Aw hell,” Albert moped.
Joline frowned. Why wouldn’t the men just leave already? As long as they were sitting in the common room drinking, she had to stay. She made a decision.
Joline shook her head exaggeratedly. “I really can’t believe you boys actually went and played a game with Tom Dunn in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” Albert said, suddenly suspicious. “He famous or something?”
Joline didn’t bother to suppress her smile. “Famous for cheating, maybe.” Both men stood and she added, “He couldn’t have gone far.”
Tom stood back and nodded in satisfaction at the changes he had made to the poster. The smile on his face in the poster no longer looked quite so goofy and he had given it a proper mustache. More importantly, he had blackened out some of the letters and it now read, Tom Dunn, of the Red Star Gang. Wanted for Robbery. Bounty $725.00.
“Sad,” said the Kid in amusement.
“I think it’s a definite improvement,” Tom replied.
He tossed the piece of coal back to the the child just as the door to the inn burst open. Albert and Denny spilled out, wincing as their eyes adjusted to the sun. Tom quickly turned to head across the street, but it was too late. The two men started towards him.
“Hey!” shouted Albert. “You stop there, Tom Dunn!”
“Yeah, you . . . scoundrel!” echoed Denny. The other people in the street turned to look.
The Kid chuckled. “Gee, I wonder what gave you away?”
Tom sighed. “Joline, I’d bet. She still hasn’t forgiven me for kissing her sister.”
“Well, you gonna fight it out in front of the jail?” the Kid asked, gesturing at Tom’s wanted poster.
“Uh, no,” Tom replied and walked towards the two men, wearing a disarming smile. He met them in front of the general store. “What is it, gentlemen?” He started patting his pockets. “Did I forget something back there?”
“We want our money back, sir!” Denny harrumphed.
Tom blinked innocently. “And why would I do that?”
Albert pointed a stiff finger. “You were cheating!”
“Woah now,” Tom said, feigning shock. “Hey, that’s a slanderous charge. Why’d you think that?”
“We know!” Denny insisted.
“That’s right,” Albert agreed. “Pay up. No one gets three kings five hands in a row.”
The Kid appeared atop a horse tethered in front of the store. He sat atop the horse’s rump cross-legged, and sucked at his teeth. “Sloppy.”
Tom placed his hands on his hips not far from his two pistols, “That was just blind luck, sirs. Do you have any proof of this?”
Albert, eying the guns, drew his own pistol and pointed it at Tom. “The hell with proof, cheater! Give us our money and we’ll be on our way.”
“Put the gun down, Albert,” Tom said. He left his expression unfazed, but he was surprised by this aggressive behavior from the railroad man. “You ain’t gonna shoot. Sheriff Dale’s office is just over there and he is a personal friend.”
“Oh ain’t I?” Albert’s lips pulled back from his teeth and he pulled back the hammer with a click. “I ain’t about to let a thief cheat me and get away with it.”
Denny licked his lips. The salesman had seen enough gunfights in his travels and had no desire to be caught in the middle of one. The other onlookers had similar thoughts and began entering buildings or heading for alleyways where they could watch from safety.
Looking uncomfortable, Denny said, “Just give the winnings over, Dunn. Then we’ll let you go like nothing happened.”
“Well, I protest! I take great offense at being called a cheater,” Tom said. “Still, I suppose I have no choice . . .”
Tom reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the pouch of coins. Albert held out his free hand, but Tom tossed the pouch at the man’s gun. Albert turned and fumbled with the pouch, finally catching it in the crook of his arm. By that time, Tom had already run up to him.
He started with a punch to Albert’s nose, which rocked the man’s head back. Tom then grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted, wrenching the gun from his fingers. He breathed a sigh of relief that it didn’t go off.
Albert punched him in the ribs with his free hand and Tom swung an elbow into the side of the man’s face. This knocked the railroad man back far enough that Tom was able to get his foot up. Tom’s front kick caught the railroad man in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards.
Tom let the purse fall and cracked the railroad man’s gun open. He shook the bullets onto the ground, then tossed the gun to the side and took a step back. “Now I want you two to stop and think for just a dag-gum moment-!”
Denny surprised him with a flying tackle from behind that took Tom to the ground. Tom’s hat flew off and he ended up with a mouthful of dirt. He twisted, trying to shake the man off.
Tom sputtered, spitting mud. “Damnit, Denny! Get off me!”
The salesman was no brawler, but he held on tight and he was behind Tom in such a position that it was hard for Tom to get any leverage. They tussled for awhile until Tom was finally able to flip over so that he was on top of the man.
Tom pried at the man’s fingers, twisting them until, with a yelp of pain, the salesman finally let go. Tom rolled to his feet and when Denny tried to sit up, Tom lashed out with a right hook. The salesman fell to his back; out cold.
“Stop right there!” said Albert. The railroad man was down on one knee and was clutching his pistol, having used the time of Denny’s distraction to retrieve and load it.
“Great.” Tom grimaced, spitting again. He was now covered in fine dirt that had adhered to his sweat. His hair was sticking up in all directions. “I’m sure I look ridiculous.”
Albert stood. “Now pick that purse back up and this time you walk over and hand it to me.” He cocked the hammer and glared. His split lip and bloodied nose made him look all the more furious. “And don’t you think I won’t shoot.”
What Albert didn’t know was that he was now standing directly behind the horse that Tom’s ghostly companion was perched on. Just as Tom was about to retrieve the purse, the Kid cried out and smacked the horse across the rump.
Tom was the only one who saw what had happened, but the horse definitely felt it. The poor beast felt a sting like twenty horseflies biting at once. It let out a scream and kicked out with both rear hooves, catching Albert right in the lower back.
The kick sent the unfortunate railroad man up on his toes. He let out a shocked cry and his finger convulsed around the trigger. The gun went off, causing the spectators to gasp. Luckily, the force of the kick had knocked Albert’s aim high and the bullet shot harmlessly into the air.
Tom took the opportunity to step forward deliver an uppercut that knocked the man out. As Albert hit the dirt, Tom dusted himself off and picked up his pouch of winnings.
He looked up at the Kid. “I’m surprised you interfered like that.”
The Kid shrugged. “The horse did it.”
They were interrupted by the sound of the door of the Sheriff’s Office slamming open. “Tomas Jefferson Dun!” shouted Sheriff Jim Dale.
Tom rolled his eyes at the way the Sheriff had pronounced his name, putting so much emphasis on the Mexican way of saying it. He turned. “It’s just Tom! You know that, Dale.”
Dale stood in the open doorway of his office with a shotgun in his hands. He was a middle-aged man with a thick mustache and the confident demeanor that came from his years of experience training under the retired Sheriff Paul. He stormed toward Tom, his deputy following closely behind him with a rifle at the ready.
“What the hell’re you doing starting a fight right outside my door?” Dale asked, his voice flabbergasted. “Right in front of your wanted poster, even?”
“I didn’t start no fight,” Tom insisted. He pointed at the fallen forms of Albert and Denny. “I was being robbed! That man drew on me and that man tried to help him.”
Sheriff Dale chuckled. “They were robbing you? Right. What’d you do? Cheat them at cards?”
Tom frowned. “I cheated nobody, Dale. It was just a friendly game.”
“I saw it, Uncle Dale, sir!” said the boy that Tom had taken the coal from earlier. “Those men did start the fight.”
Dale glanced at the child, then gazed down the street at all the onlookers that had come out from their cover. He raised his voice. “Anyone see anything different?” There were a few noncommittal head shakes, but no one spoke up. He turned back to face Tom. “I should arrest you right now.”
“What for?” Tom protested. “I didn’t shoot nobody. I didn’t rob nobody. You can’t even get me for being drunk in the streets.” He took a few steps toward the Sheriff and opened his mouth. “Here! Smell my breath.”
The Sheriff raised a disgusted hand and called out to his deputy. “Ted, go get the Doc. These men need seein’ to.”
Tom feigned offense. “Ain’t you going to ask me if I want you to arrest these men?”
“There’s only two reasons I don’t haul you in right now,” Dale said, raising two fingers. “First, your momma makes the best pie in town and I know she won’t forgive me. Second, your tiny bounty ain’t worth my time.”
“Two reasons?” Tom said. “I’m impressed, Sheriff. I didn’t know you could count that high.” At Dale’s enraged scowl, he raised his hands and added, “Just a joke. I wasn’t gonna ask you to haul them in. I think they’ve learned their lesson.”
Dale spat. “Get out of my sight, Tom. Next time you make a ruckus in my town I will arrest you. And that’s a promise.”
“Understood,” Tom replied. He walked over and picked up his new hat. He smacked the dust off of it, frowning at the way it clung to the felt.
“And that goes for your friends too,” Dale added. “You tell ’em I said it!”
Tom raised a hand in acknowledgement and headed across the street and into Hank’s Saloon.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Epilogue
Trevor H. Cooley, Priestess of War (The Bowl of Souls Book 10)
