The Sheriff's Stamp

Tiny sat on the cot. He rubbed his bandaged head.

-You never told me why you were the one came to stop the assault, he said. Not the sheriff. He could make an arrest.

Jackson stood by the door. Her hand was on the latch.

-Mike’s a good man, she said. A lawful man. He’d arrest ‘em. And Silas Newcombe would burn this town to ash before the jury was even seated.

-That don’t answer the question, Tiny said.

-Because the law don’t always keep folks alive, Jackson snapped. Sometimes it just gives the vultures a legal excuse to pick the bones clean.

-That don’t make a lick of sense, Tiny said.

-This ain’t about sense, she said. It’s about survival.

-I’ll burn all four territories down if it’s what it takes for Annie and me to be together, Tiny said.

Jackson stared at him. She stepped back.

-Then you’re a damn fool, she said. And you’ll burn alone. Get out of my saloon. Take your death wish somewhere else.

Tiny gathered his things. He limped out. The door creaked shut.

Jackson watched through the window.

Outside, a woman screamed.

-I thought you were dead!

Annie Newcombe ran up to Tiny. She hugged him hard. She lifted him off the ground.

-My Shetland pony! she shouted. I’ll kill the rat varmint that told my cousins!

Jackson turned away from the window. She reached beneath the bar. Her fingers closed around the cool metal of her derringer. She slipped it into her pocket.

She walked to the door. She kicked it open.

-Well now, she drawled.

Annie and Tiny looked up. Annie was clinging to his arm.

-Sounds like y’all are fixin’ to start a whole mess of trouble.

-Listen Jackson, Tiny said. -This is Annie. She’s got something to tell you about your husband.

Jackson’s eyes narrowed.

-You’re bringin’ a viper to my doorstep to whisper poison about my husband? she asked.

-Your husband is trying to use me and Bill to squeeze my daddy out, Annie said, squeezing Tiny’s arm.

-Mike’s too damn stubborn to play games, Jackson said.

-If your husband followed the law, Tiny said, it’d have been him at the livery last night. He hasn’t so much as checked on me.

Jackson froze.

-Mike’s a good man, she whispered weakly.

-Facts ain’t about belief, Tiny said.

-Come with us to the office, Annie said. We’ll file the report.

-No, Jackson said sharply. If Mike is tangled up in this, you two walkin’ in there is just givin’ him a reason to make you disappear.

She grabbed Tiny’s arm. She pulled them inside. She bolted the door.

-Talk, she said. And it better be the truth.

Annie took a deep breath.

-The note, she said. It wasn’t a love letter. Last week, Tiny and I filed for a joint deed for land in Southtown.

-My Easttown lawyer done said it was a heckuva deal we’d flip, but…

-It connected our names, Annie finished.

-It made its way up here to Westtown, Tiny continued. The bureaucrats in Southtown sent off duplicates. It’s not like that in Easttown.

Jackson stared at a knot in the wood grain.

-Mike handles the mail, she said quietly. Every damn piece.

She swallowed.

-He’d have seen that duplicate. Would’ve known your names were tied.

-The story adds up, Tiny sighed.

Jackson pushed off the bar. She paced.

-It adds up, she said. God help me, it does. He’s been distant. Tired. I thought it was the job. Turns out he was buildin’ a cage.

-What do we do? Tiny asked.

-We need proof, Jackson said. Something solid.

-The note, Annie said. -It’s got the sheriff’s stamp on the copy of the deed. I reckon my cousins still got it.

-Where? Jackson demanded.

-They’d keep it close, Annie said. Probably on Eli. He’s the sneaky one.

Jackson’s eyes narrowed.

-He drinks here, she said. Gets sloppy.

-You want to take that risk? Tiny asked. I can pummel him twice as good as the three of them did me.

-No, Jackson said. You’re limpin’. This is my play. Eli’s got a weak spot for whiskey. And a softer spot for me.

She grabbed a bottle.

-Eli’ll be in by sundown. Thirsty and full of himself.

She herded them toward the backroom.

-You two stay out of sight, she said.

She locked the door.

She turned back to the bar. She checked the derringer in her pocket. She adjusted her blouse.

She waited.