Saloon by Owen G. Irons

Author:Owen G. Irons
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780719821158
Publisher: Robert Hale

CHAPTER SEVEN

Evening arrived stealthily, with a flourish of color spreading across the empty sky and the empty land as well. Walt Cassidy stood behind the now quiet saloon, watching the changing sky. He wondered if the carpenters had left any of that barbecued beef behind. If so, he would fix himself a plate to eat and then give his new bedroom a try. He found Toby earlier, sitting on a crate, taking a rest from his day’s work.

‘Well, you’re all set for the night, from now on,’ Toby said a little sharply.

‘What do you mean, Toby? I don’t get what you’re talking about.’

‘What do you think?’ he asked, still a little bitterly. ‘The carpenters finished up your room for you, made you a bed. I toted the mattress upstairs by myself. Me, I’m stuck in the storeroom.’

‘I didn’t know anything about that,’ Walt said.

‘I figured it was some kind of deal you’d made with Diane … if you were going to stay on.’

‘Well, you were figuring wrong. I am not staying on here. I’m leaving as soon as I can get a horse or the railroad decides I am a real citizen again.’

‘That won’t be until the line’s through to Denver.’

‘Then that’s when I’m leaving—assuming Diane ever gives me enough cash money to purchase a ticket.’

Toby smiled faintly, ‘I’m sorry, Walt. I guess you’re not being treated much grander than I am.’

‘I’m thinking that maybe when this Shannon Pike gets here, she’ll be ready to slip me a few dollars and send me on down the road.’

Toby was shaking his head heavily. ‘Nope, that’s not the way it will work, Walt. Pike is going to be the saloon bouncer, your job is quite different.’ Walt looked at him in the semi-darkness of the store room until Toby clarified his meaning. ‘Pike is here to watch the saloon; you’re here to protect Diane from men like Shannon Pike. She’ll need you both.’

Walt smiled thinly. ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that …’ His head turned around sharply.

He cocked it to one side and held up a hand for Toby to remain silent. Unable to refrain from speaking, the bartender whispered, ‘What is it, Walt?’

In a low voice, Walt replied, ‘A horse. Didn’t you hear it?’

‘A horse? Probably you were just wishing you heard one. Who is there to ride around here, and if there was someone, why wouldn’t he step into the saloon, no matter who it was?’

‘I don’t know,’ Walt said, moving toward the rear door. ‘He’s gone now. It could have been one of Diane’s millions of friends, but I think you’d better keep your rifle close and sleep lightly.’

Toby went off to do whatever work was required to shut the saloon down for the night and left a vigilant Walt to stand sentry. It might have meant nothing, but on this godforsaken desert where few men passed, Walt believed it did mean something. The flurry of recent activity may have drawn someone’s attention to them, and the night rider could have been a scout sent to investigate.

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