“That would be against the law, wouldn’t it?”
“I would think so.”
Bo rubbed his jaw. “Let ’em try it, then. They might wind up with more trouble on their hands than they bargained for.”
Bo had to get on with his rounds, so he said so long to Lucinda and left the cafe. As he walked along the street, he saw a number of people gathered around the handbills that Luke Devery had put up. The Deverys’ entry into the election campaign had stirred up a lot of interest.
Other than that, the town was quiet this morning. Another night had passed without a murder. The citizens of Mankiller might be starting to feel secure and safe for a change. Bo hoped that if that were the case, it wouldn’t turn out to be a big mistake for them.
When he returned to the sheriff’s office, he found Biscuits O’Brien saying to Scratch, “Tell me again how all that whiskey spilled on the floor in the Fan-Tan.”
Scratch shook his head. “I ain’t gonna do it. You know good and well it’ll just give you nightmares, Biscuits.”
“Yeah, I know. I can see it in my head. Haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about it ever since you told me.” Biscuits shuddered.
Scratch glanced at Bo, then looked again. “You appear to have somethin’ on your mind, pard,” he said. “What is it?”
Bo beckoned for them to follow him as he started toward the cell block door. “You’re right,” he told Scratch. “Come along back here so I’ll only have to say it once.”
Wearing puzzled expressions, Scratch and Biscuits followed Bo into the cell block. Reuben and Simeon immediately started to complain, but Bo held up a hand to silence them. Thad just glared from the cell across the aisle.
“I’ve got some news for you boys,” Bo told the brothers. “You probably don’t know it yet, but you’re running for town council in the election.”
“What?” The exclamation came from four people: Scratch, Biscuits, and the two candidates themselves. Thad was the only one who still didn’t say anything.
“I said you’re running for town council,” Bo repeated. “Your brother Luke is, too. He’s out nailing up handbills all over town about it right now.”
“But that ain’t possible,” Scratch protested. “They’re in jail!”
Bo shrugged. “That doesn’t keep them from running. If they’re elected, I figure the new judge will dismiss the charges against them.”
“What new judge?”
“Their Uncle Edgar.”
“That damn liveryman who tried to steal our horses?”
“One and the same,” Bo replied with a nod.
“But he can’t be a judge! He takes care of horses and mucks out stalls for a livin’.”
“Evidently that doesn’t disqualify him. And I’m sure that if these two get elected, it’ll mean that the rest of the Devery slate won the election, too.”
“The rest of the Devery slate?” Biscuits asked.
“The old man’s running for mayor, and somebody named Granville Devery is running for the other spot on the town council.”
Reuben said, “That’s one of our cousins. Uncle Lester’s boy.”
“I don’t recall hearing about a Lester Devery,” Bo said.
“That’s ’cause he’s dead,” Reuben explained. “Fever got him a little more’n a year ago.”
Scratch grunted. “Sorry…I guess.” He looked around at Thad in the other cell. “I notice they didn’t put
Thad sneered. “I’m not interested in bein’ on any damn town council. The whole thing’s loco anyway. When I get outta here, I’ll show all of you who the real law is in Mankiller.”
“I reckon we’ll see about that,” Bo said, although he thought it was a foregone conclusion that if the Deverys got elected, Edgar would dismiss the charges against his own son. Bo went on, “It won’t take long, either. The election’s only six days away.”
“A lot can happen in six days,” Thad said.
Bo didn’t like the sound of that. Didn’t like it one damned bit.
CHAPTER 25
That evening, the group that had hired Bo and Scratch to be deputies in the first place met again. Lucinda sent word to Bo that they would like for him to be there.
“Are you sure you don’t mind missing out on whatever they’re going to talk about?” he asked Scratch before he left the sheriff’s office to attend the meeting.
“You mean, would I rather sit in some stuffy room and listen to folks yammer about politics, or stay here and play dominoes with Biscuits?” In recent days, Scratch had been teaching Biscuits how to play the game. Like any
