Free Rio Loco by Robert J. Conley Page B

sneak up to the house and listen at a winder. Someone would see him for sure. Someone would plug him with a bullet. As good a gunman as he was, he weren’t no match for a whole army a’ cowhands. And just then a horrible thought come into my head.
    What if ole Sly was to get hisself kilt? What would ole Lillian do then? Would she come back after me? Would I get my ass stuck again with her and that goddamn snotty kid? It was enough to make me sick to my stomach, and I went and poured myself another glass full a’ good brown whiskey.

Chapter Eight
    Well, I was a-setting there worrying my ass off about ole Sly getting hisself foolishly kilt out there at Chugwater’s ranch and thinking that I had been a fool to agree to his going out there. I wisht I had rid with him too. I coulda stopped him from doing any goddamn foolish bullshit what was too damn dangerous. I poured myself another glass a’ whiskey, and Bonnie seen me. She come a-waddling over to the desk. “Barjack, I coulda done that for you, sweetie. Whyn’t you call me?”
    â€œI can pour a goddamn glass a’ whiskey,” I said.
    Sly come back final. He had been gone for quite a spell, and the rest a’ my gang was getting mighty restless, I can tell you. They was wanting some action. Once ole Butcher had piped up and said, “Why don’t we just ride out to that damn Chugwater’s place and attack the bastards? Why do we have to sit around here and wait for him?”
    â€œButcher,” I said, “I am the town marshal a’ this here town. I ain’t got no jurisprudence outside a’ town. We’d just be a bunch of owl hoots attacking a man’s ranch if we was to do that. What we’re a-doing here is we’re guarding the jail andour prisoner. We just has got to keep our patience. That’s all.”
    And he weren’t the only one neither. They was all getting kinda jumpy. Me too, but I never let on so they could tell it. So I was damn glad whenever Sly final come back. I even jumped up from my chair and practical run across the room to meet him, but so did ever’one else, and I run smack into Bonnie and fell over back’ards and landed on my ass. “Barjack, I’m sorry,” she said, and she helped me up to my feet. Ever’one was talking all at the same time and asking Sly what he had found out, so I at last yelled out for them all to shut up. They did. Then I stepped right up to Sly and looked him in the face.
    â€œWhat’d you find out?” I said.
    â€œThey’ll be coming in in the morning,” he said. “And Chugwater’s called in another twenty men. They mean to attack with a full force and kill us all if that’s what it takes to free Owl Shit.”
    â€œBy God,” I said, “we’ll be a-waiting for them.”
    â€œThat’s not all,” he said.
    â€œWhat more?”
    â€œHe means to block off the town so we can’t get out. Both ends. He’s sending men in right now to do that.”
    I scratched my head, walking back to my chair. “What the hell would we want to get outta town for?” I said. “We’re guarding this here jail.”
    â€œChugwater thought that you might think to ride over to the county seat and ask Sheriff Cody for some help.”
    I thunk hard for a minute till it got to hurtingmy head, and then I said, “I wonder how in the hell he come up with that. That’s just ezackly what I was a-thinking about doing. Butcher, go back up on the roof and send Happy down here.”
    â€œYes, sir.” And Butcher run outside. I was thinking to send Happy, but I thunk better a’ it before he come in. I decided that I would ride over to the county seat my own self and get that damned Cody and make him help out. I knowed that I would be more persuasive than what Happy could be. I checked my Merwin Hulbert self-extracting revolver, and then I went over to the gun rack to get