The Lawyer: Six Guns at Sundown by Eric Beetner

Author:Eric Beetner [Beetner, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Westerns
Publisher: BEAT to a PULP
Published: 2016-02-25T11:00:00+00:00

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The streets of Sundown were quiet. The Lawyer could faintly hear the ruckus coming from inside the saloon, only because the rest of the place was so still. The sun had crested and started its descent, filling the hills surrounding the town with a glow that called to mind a warm fire. Could have been a charming town. A nice place to raise a family. But hatred had poisoned the well. He thought he remembered where he'd seen the barber standing on the boardwalk in front of his shop. The Lawyer passed in between buildings for a mercantile and blacksmith. If he continued straight he'd come to the church. In earlier years he might have thought about stopping in to say a prayer, but he'd left behind any help from above when he first saw his wife and child splayed out on his living room floor. No God he'd ever read about would let a thing like that happen.

He poked his head out onto the main street and checked both ways as if a stampede might bust out any second and he wanted to be prepared. Seeing no one, The Lawyer dashed across the main street right as the batwing doors of the saloon burst open and a quartet of drunk men fell out into the dirt. A roar of laughter followed them and he felt fairly certain he hadn't been seen, but it was close.

The Lawyer knocked on the barber's door, lightly so as not to call attention to anyone but Virgil. When nothing stirred within the shop, he knocked a little harder and louder but Virgil failed to answer.

He recalled Virgil had been leaning out from the window above the shop during the uproar, and assumed it must be the living quarters. So, The Lawyer stepped down into the street again, clinging to any shadow he could find, but they proved to be elusive dance partners. He scoured the ground for a pebble or small stone. He came up with one and tossed it up to the window. It plinked off the glass and fell back to the dusty street. He tried again. This time the window opened.

"What in tarnation?" Virgil held one eye closed squinting against the afternoon sun.

"Doc Cotter sent me. He needs some antiseptic, and said you have some that would suit his needs."

"Doc sent you?" Virgil said. His eyes focused on The Lawyer. "You're the one, huh?"

After today's actions, there was no other 'one' he could have been speaking of.

"Yes, that'd be me, but it's no time for introductions. Buchanan's men beat up Doc on his way to the office for medical supplies. They broke some of his ribs and split his lip."

"I'll be right down," Virgil said, and then shut the window. A few moments later the door to the shop opened.

The Lawyer stepped inside. It smelled of soap and the leather from the razor strop. The lamps weren't lit and the room held out the light.

"What is it you need?"

"Something to stop infection.

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