I saw Jeb move toward me from the right, and turned to face him.
"You get to stand right here," he pointed to a circle someone had already cut into the dirt. He spit tobacco into the center of the circle and sneered.
I stepped into the circle and pulled my pistol from the holster. As I raised it, I heard men beginning to snicker among themselves.
Judge Adams called out, "You can use all six bullets."
"There's only five bottles down there, I'll use five." I aimed. I pulled the trigger.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
The men grew quiet as one after another the five bottles shattered as I hit them in succession. Jackson had slipped away from me and the confrontation, but came right back to stand behind me when I hit the five bottles.
"Quite the shot, ain't she, Judge?" Jackson called out to him.
"Well, no matter, we still ain't havin' no lady Sheriff," the Judge called back at me.
"Nope, you ain't havin' no lady Sheriff. But you're havin' me as Sheriff as of right now."
"Can you use that rifle you came into town with?"
"Sure."
"Go get it, Missy."
I stepped toward the hotel and went up to my room to retrieve my rifle and a couple of sugar cubes. I had a feeling that I was gonna need Chaser for the upcoming challenge.
My heart was pounding in my chest.
I knew that this was gonna happen, but I ain't lettin' this Judge off the hook. He hired me, he's gonna deal with it.
Chapter 11
I got back down to the street to see that the Judge had grabbed some plates from the café. "Can you hit a movin' target?"
"Of course I can."
"While you're ridin' a horse?"
"I wouldn't be here if I couldn't do the job."
"My horse is right there, jump on him and get ready to shoot with that rifle."
"Nope, I will ride my own horse." I whistled and Chaser came running to me. "He's a bit tired after the ride from Cheyenne, but he'll deliver. He always does."
"Already makin' excuses. Figgered a girl would make an excuse right off," the Judge let out a guffaw as he said it.
"I ain't makin' no excuse. I said he'll deliver." I stepped up and jumped onto Chaser bareback. "I'll ride up from down the street, you just take care of throwing the plates as high as you can."
I trotted Chaser down to the west end of the main street and turned to face the crowd. I saw Jackson smiling at me. He seemed to be enjoying this. "I'll ride up and I will shoot the plate before I get to the circle where I was standin'. You just take care of throwin' the plate."
I kicked my right heel into Chaser's side and he took off. He was at a full gallop when we approached the circle. The Judge threw the plate, no, he threw two into the air at the same time.
Ha!
I pulled the rifle, aimed, shot then cocked it and shot again. Both plates fell to the street below in shards. A couple of the townsfolk ran back as the pieces landed near where they were standing.
"Now what, Judge?" I heard Ruthie shout to him from the doorway of the Saloon.
"Now, nothin'." The Judge reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Sheriff's badge. He tossed it up to me, "Here. Fine. You get to be the lady Sheriff. But I gotta tell ya, the reason we need one is to take care of some outlaws that have been comin' into town lately. There's three of 'em and they been raisin' some kinda hell. Everything else, I handle here in town, you got that?"
I caught the badge and pinned it above the left pocket of my shirt. "Well, lemme tell ya. I was raised with seven brothers. They were all older than me, and not a one of them could outshoot OR outsmart me."
"I'll let Old Lady Jamison know that the town will pay for your room at the boarding house until you can find more suitable lodging. That is, assuming you stay in town longer than a week." The Judge sneered at me and walked away.
"It will be my pleasure to be your Sheriff, Judge Adams." I jumped off of Chaser and patted his rump at the same time that I pulled a sugar cube from my pocket for him.
Chapter 12
"That was fun to watch, Mildred. We've all been wishin' someone could take Judge Adams down a peg or two. You sure did it."
"I didn't do it to disrespect him. I did it so's he'd respect me. He hired me and I'm sure he thought no matter who he hired, he could push 'em around. Just tellin' ya, I don't get pushed." I looked up at Jackson, directly into his eyes. "By no one."
"I get what you're sayin'. I already respect ya, and I ain't gonna push ya, not one little bit."
"I'm glad we have an understanding."
Jackson took Chaser's reins from me and we walked together toward the livery. The stable master reached out and Jackson handed him the leather straps. "Okay if I bed him down for the night now?"
"Yes, please do. And if I owe you any more for the brushing, you let me know first thing tomorrow. I know he's got a lot of dirt and dust on him."
"Thanks. Ummm... Sheriff." He grinned at me and then at Jackson, tipped his hat for good measure and led Chaser toward the stalls.
Chapter 13
As Jackson and I walked back toward the hotel and café, I was aware of just how tall he was. Holding his arm with my hand, his muscles rippled at each step. I could see how folks would take issue with me as their Sheriff, I was so short and petite, they probably thought I didn't know how to handle myself.
Well, they were wrong. I could handle myself just fine. And I could ride. All their worries were for nothing. Sure, they bet I could
