Slip Gun (20 page)

Pain blazed through
Wil
’s reeling
senses. Croaking out sounds which might have been words, she
grabbed Lily’s left forearm in both hands and jerked it forwards.
Down ducked Wil’s head and sharp white teeth sank through the black
material of Lily’s glove into the flesh below. The blonde screeched
loud and long. Trying to escape, she eased herself upwards above
Wil. Releasing the arm with her hands the, mayor grabbed over her.
Sinking her fingers into Lily’s matted, disheveled hair, she hauled
down on it. At the same moment, Wil thrust her rump from the floor
until she stood on her head and feet. She had made the movements
with such speed and power that Lily was catapulted from her.
Turning a somersault, the blonde landed on her back and bounced
twice.

Wil beat Lily to regaining their
feet. While the sobbing blonde was still trying to rise, the mayor
reached her. Up hurled Wil
’s right knee, taking Lily full in the face. Blood
gushed in an increasing volume as she was lifted erect and sent
blundering away to fall backwards on to the bed. The blonde was
beaten and knew it. Every inch of her almost naked body throbbed in
a white-hot cauldron of torment. Her head felt on the verge of
exploding after the knee-kick she had just taken. Through the
pain-mists which boiled about her, she saw Wil looming above
her.

A sense of wild, primitive elation filled
Wil. Yet she remembered what had happened when she had last thought
the blonde beaten. She did not intend allowing it to happen again.
By the time she was through, Lily would be irrevocably licked.

Leaping astride the still
conscious, but completely impotent blonde, Wil forced both arms
against Lily
’s sides and clamped them there with her knees. That
rendered the blonde unable to defend herself, while leaving the
mayor’s hands free. Going by Lily’s expression and feeble attempts
to escape, she knew what to expect. Taking her time, Wil let fly
with a left that snapped the blonde head around as far as the bed’s
mattress would permit. Across flashed Wil’s right fist as soon as
Lily’s face pointed upwards. Then another left, right, left, right,
the tempo increasing and the blows pelting the blonde’s battered
features from side to side. Diluted somewhat by many tears and the
sweat pouring from both over-heated bodies, Lily’s blood soaked
Wil’s gloves and splattered on the covers. At that moment there was
only one thing for which the blonde might have counted herself
lucky. Wil was so exhausted that her blows fell at much less than
their earlier force.

Swinging around,
Wil’s right hand
missed its mark. She overbalanced and fell from her bosom-cushioned
perch. Sobbing in pain and exhaustion, Wil lowered her protesting
body from the bed. Slowly she turned to face her rival, hoping that
she would not need to continue her exertions. Lily lay motionless,
having passed into merciful unconsciousness soon after the final
battering had commenced.

All the elation ebbed away from
Wil and sanity returned. Dragging feet which seemed to be weighted
with lead, she stumbled around the bed and retrieved her clothes.
The door crashed open as she was trying to pull on the skirt.
Followed by the doctor and some of Lily
’s girls, Waxahachie Smith burst into
the room.

‘
What
the hell?’ the Texan ejaculated, skidding to a halt.

‘
See—to—Shiv—Shiv—doctor!’ Wil ordered, holding up the skirt
to cover her naked bust. The room seemed to be rocking and twirling
around, but she forced herself to go on. ‘And one of you girls tell
her I want to see her in my office at the bank tomorrow morning.
If—she—can make it.’

That proved to be
Wil
’s final
effort. Letting the skirt fall, she collapsed in a heap and slid
limply from the bed.

‘
What
the hell started this?’ Lorna inquired, staring in amazement from
one battered, bruised and bloody girl to the other but addressing
her words to Smith. ‘Lily told that painter to quit working on the
new sign and burn it just after you and Miss Jeffreys left the
saloon this morning.’

‘
Wax,’
Ottaway
said, walking into the marshal’s office followed by the
burly ‘drummer’. ‘This here’s C. B. Frith. I met him putting his
hoss up at the livery barn and fetched him along. They said at the
bank that Miss Jeffreys won’t be in today.’

While Smith did not feel
surprised at the last piece of information, considering the
mayor
’s
condition when he had last seen her, he made no comment on the
subject. Instead, he laid aside the sheaf of ‘Wanted’ posters he
had been examining and rose from the desk.

‘
So
you’re C. B. Frith,’ Smith greeted and held out his right hand. ‘I
never did figure you for a travelling salesman for Schuyler,
Hartley and Graham.’

‘
I was,
way back,’ Frith objected, his grin matching the Texan’s. ‘And
Cedric Burbury’s my given names. Only I’d sooner you gents didn’t
spread that around. There’s not many folks knows it.’

‘
Looks
like you two know each other,’ Ottaway commented.

‘
We met
down at Gilpin’s,’ Smith explained sketchily, resuming his seat
behind the desk and indicating the room’s other chairs. ‘Pull up
and set a spell. You played them close to your vest down there,
Ric’

‘
So did
you,’ Frith pointed out as he seated himself facing the Texan. ‘I
figured you was heading here to be hired, same as me, but I didn’t
know if the same feller had sent for us both.’

‘
Comes
out we’re both on the same side, anyways,’ Smith drawled. ‘And I
can’t say I’m sorry over that.’

‘
Or
me,’ Frith replied. ‘Point being, Wax, who’s on the other
side?’

‘
You
mean who-all sent those three jaspers to Gilpin’s after
me?’

‘
Something like that. There’s a heap of this “sending after”
going around. Three fellers tried to put windows in my skull up to
Billings.’

‘
Did
you get ’em?’ Ottaway inquired, having drawn up a chair and perched
himself astride it.

‘
Two’re
wolf-bait,’ Frith admitted. ‘But the other was still alive when I
left to come down here.’

‘
Did he
tell you who’d sent him, Ric?’ Smith wanted to know.

‘
Was
hit bad and unconscious,’ the burly man answered. ‘I left the Big
Indian and Jed Trotter there to see if he’d tell anything when, or
if, he come to. Doctor allowed it’d be three-four days at most
before they’d know which it’d be. So they’ll be here Monday or
Tuesday to tell me. Mr. Ottaway here allows that the mayor wants to
take on some more men.’

‘
Sure
does,’ agreed Smith. ‘I was counting on asking you, not knowing
you’d already been asked.’ He looked at the burly man quizzically.
‘Do you want to cut the cards, or spin a coin for who wears the
marshal’s badge ?’

‘
You’ve
got it on, so keep it there,’ Frith replied cheerfully. ‘Likely
there’ll not be enough difference in the pay for it to be worth
dickering over. I can take orders as easy as giving em.

‘
How
about getting more help, Wax?’ Ottaway demanded.

‘
Happen
my recommendation’s any good, you could do worse than take the Big
Indian and Jed when they get here,’ Frith suggested. ‘They might
not look like church-going folks, but they’ve sand to burn and’ll
do to ride the river with when the water’s over the
willows.’

Suddenly Smith became aware that two men
were standing outside the open door, listening to the conversation.
He recognized the mournful-featured bank teller and Stanley
Jeffreys. Coming in, they approached the desk.

‘
Hope
we’re not interrupting anything special, Mr. Smith,’ Jeffreys said.
‘But Ry—Mr. Ryall thought you should know—’

What about?
’ Smith asked.

‘
Counselor Yorck from Cheyenne has been to the bank,
demanding to see Miss Jeffreys,’ the teller answered. ‘I told him
to try at the house as she wasn’t in.’

‘
Now
why’d you do a mean thing like that?’ Smith inquired. ‘You know
that she’s in no shape to talk business.’

‘
Yorck’s talking for those two soft-shells you had us toss
in the pokey,’ Jeffreys put in. ‘So Mr. Ryall thought you should
know he’d be coming here.’

‘
He’s
like that, huh?’ Smith drawled.
‘Gracias,
Mr. Ryall.’

‘
Miss
Jeffreys would have wanted you to know,’ the teller replied. ‘Now
I’ve done it, I’ll be going back to the bank.’

‘
He’s
not a bad old cuss,’ Jeffreys commented after the man had left,
then looked pointedly at Frith. ‘I don’t think we’ve
met.’

‘
This’s
Stan Jeffreys, Ric,’ Smith introduced. ‘Stan, meet C. B.
Frith.’

‘
Mr.
Frith,’ Jeffreys greeted, shaking hands.

‘
Try
“Ric”,’ Frith suggested, studying the badge on Jeffreys’ lapel.
‘You’re a deputy, huh?’

‘
He’s
learning the ropes,’ Smith explained.

A tall, lean, well-dressed man of middle-age
stalked into the office. Sharp-featured, he carried himself in a
manner oozing with self-importance.

‘
Where’s the marshal?’ he demanded, running cold eyes over
the men gathered around the desk.

‘
You’re
looking at him,’ Smith answered, indicating his badge.

‘
My
name is Yorck. I’m an attorney-at-law and I want an explanation of
your actions.’

‘
All of
them, Counselor, or just some in particular?’

‘
I want
to know why you assaulted and are holding prisoner two law-abiding
young visitors to this city!’ Yorck elaborated.

‘
Who
d’you mean?’ asked Smith innocently.

‘
Anthony Lander and Philo Wymar,’ the lawyer answered. ‘They
were with a bunch of farmers who—’

‘
Them
two!’ Smith said in carefully-simulated understanding. ‘They kicked
open the door of the mayor’s meeting-room and come busting in on a
private meeting like a drunken Sioux headed for a pow-wow. I did
what I did to stop the law being broken—’

They weren
’t breaking any law!’ Yorck
protested.

‘
Were
likely to bust the lock on the door, way they opened it. That’s
damaging civic property and breaking the law. Only that’s not what
I was thinking about.’

Then what?
’

‘
I was
fixing to stop Charlie Hopkirk breaking it, mostly. Which he
would’ve done if he’d throwed lead into one of them
fellers.’

‘
But
you assaulted
them,
not
him!’
Yorck croaked, seeing a flicker of a grin on Jeffreys’ face
although none of the other men at the desk displayed
emotion.

‘
I was
facing their way and thought it was a good thing to do,’ Smith
said.

‘
You
thought—!’

‘
I
always
think, Counselor. Those pair’d already bust the law, so I
stopped them. But, if you ask around, you’ll find that I was just
as set on stopping Mr. Hopkirk doing it, even and up to killing him
if I had to.’

‘
This
whole affair—’ Yorck began.

‘
Have
you seen these two young fellers, Counselor?’ Smith
interrupted.

‘
Well,
no. I haven’t,’ the lawyer admitted. ‘I only learned about their
arrest and treatment on my arrival.’

‘
Take
the Counselor down to see his clients, Mr. Ottaway,’ Smith ordered,
giving Yorck no opportunity to continue. ‘You’d best go along, Mr.
Jeffreys.’

‘
Sure,
marshal,’ Ottaway responded. ‘It’s this way, Counselor.’

‘
Now
look here—!’ Yorck spluttered, his temper rising at Smith’s abrupt
dismissal. He was used to more respectful treatment at the hands of
peace officers.

‘
If the
Counselor doesn’t want to go and see them,’ Smith continued calmly,
‘you two had best make the rounds. We’ll make them tonight, Mr.
Frith.’

‘
Just a
minute there!’ Yorck began.

‘
While
you’re over the river, Mr. Ottaway—’ Smith drawled.

‘
Are
you refusing to let me see my clients?’ the lawyer
challenged.

‘
I’d
say I’ve been trying to get you to do it,’ Smith
countered.

‘
Only,
way folks’re boiling into town and us being short-handed, I can’t
keep two deputies waiting around the office until you’re good and
ready to start. That wouldn’t be doing the right ’n’ legal thing by
the good tax-paying citizens of Widow’s Creek. Now would
it?’