The humpback’s face was crusted as though he hadn’t bathed in a month, and he had the pungent stench to go along with it. Dirty clothes hung on his narrow frame, making the gun belt around his waist look more like a rope tied around the middle of a scarecrow.
“I asked you a question,” the fat man said, his intrusive mustache lending an odd sound to some of his words. “You remember my uncle or not?”
“Sure, I recognize him,” Caleb said. “That just leaves me wondering who the hell you other two are.”
Digging his thumb into his chest, the fat man said, “I’m Kyle, and this here is Jim.”
The humpback gave a short, upward nod when he heard that last word.
“We’re Orville’s kin, and we got a problem with you.”
Already, Caleb could see a few people outside trying to get a look into the Flush. When they realized they couldn’t see through Kyle’s girth, they moved along toward some of the other saloons down the street. That sight made Caleb feel like he’d just tossed some money from his own pocket into the gutter.
“I’ve had a real bad couple of days,” Caleb said angrily. “So how about you roll your asses away from the door so folks can get in?”
For a moment, Kyle looked stunned. He glanced from one side to another as if he was waiting to see the person that Caleb was really talking to. When he didn’t find any likely candidates in the vicinity, he grabbed hold of Caleb’s shirt and dragged him outside.
Kyle’s strength was a bit more than Caleb had been expecting. Before anyone could do anything about it, all three of the younger men were outside the saloon with the miner not too far behind.
With his face twisted in an ugly snarl, Kyle slammed Caleb against the closest wall he could find. “You see that old man, there?” he asked, jabbing a finger toward the miner. “That’s Orville Deagle.”
“Orville Deagle is both of our uncle,” the humpback said as he leaned in so close that Caleb could smell the rot in his teeth.
“Yeah,” Caleb said with a grimace. “Why the hell should I care?”
“I know all about the shit stains you cater to in that saloon of yours. It’s men like Virgil Ellis and that Doc Holliday that took damn near everything my uncle had in this world.”
After waiting this long, Caleb figured that he’d seen the best that these men had to offer. If there were any more armed assholes waiting for him outside, they would have surely made themselves known just to put some more bite into Kyle’s bark. Caleb met Kyle’s stare and snapped both arms up and out to knock the fat man’s hands away.
“I asked you once already,” Caleb growled. “Why the hell should I care? The last I saw of your uncle, he was running out of my place without leaving behind what he rightfully lost. If you’ve got a problem with Virgil, then you’re in luck, because he’s already been fitted for his coffin. If you’ve got a problem with Doc, you can mention it to him in person, because he’s right inside.”
Jim reached over Kyle’s shoulder and pushed Caleb toward the wall. “My uncle got out with some claims, but they weren’t worth half as much as the money he got cheated out of before any of that trouble started. Our problem’s with the asshole that set up them crooked games. We know damn well you get a cut from every—”
The humpback was cut off as Caleb shot both arms out in a quick snap of motion. His left arm caught Kyle right under the chin, and the right extended to take hold of Jim by the collar. Shocked by the way Kyle was suddenly staggering back, Jim let out a pitiful groan when he realized that he wasn’t able to get away from Caleb.
Hauling Jim toward the wall, Caleb pivoted at the last second to clear a path for the humpback to stumble past him and run face-first into the front of the Busted Flush. Jim’s face hit with a dull crack and left a bloody stain upon the wood panels.
By this time, Kyle had worked through the pain shooting through his mouth and was working himself into a real lather. The taste of blood trickled into the back of his throat, causing the fat man to ball up his fists and start swinging. Even though his first wild punch clipped the back of Caleb’s head, his next punch gave him nothing but more pain as it slammed into the wall not too far from where Jim had landed moments ago.
As Caleb twisted around to deliver a punch to Kyle’s ribs, he was wearing a wide grin. “I don’t know what you were thinking coming back here,” he said while tossing a right hook into Kyle’s face. “But I’m kind of glad you did.”
The fat man reeled from the punch but quickly recovered. Before he could respond in any way, he saw Jim hop up with his arms splayed out to either side. The humpback let out a crazy shriek as he wrapped his arms around Caleb’s neck and hung onto his back like a tick.
“You boys obviously don’t come to my place too much,” Caleb continued with just a little bit of a wheeze thanks to the added weight hanging off his back. “Because, if you did, you’d know that I’m used to this sort of thing.” Rather than try to shake free of Jim or the humpback’s flailing punches, Caleb reached up and grabbed hold of both of Jim’s arms.
As Caleb turned to put Jim directly between himself and the saloon’s wall, he said, “In fact, this is doing me a bit of good.” He then pushed back off of both legs to smash Jim against the wall. “This might even serve as some advertising to show just how much I care to keep the bad element out of my saloon,” Caleb said as he slammed Jim once more against the wall.
When Caleb let go and stepped forward, he left Jim stuck there like a swatted fly.
“I don’t even care what you two assholes were after anymore,” Caleb said.
Now Kyle was standing directly in front of Caleb wearing a murderous look on his face. Fortunately, he seemed to have forgotten about the gun at his side and instead swung his fist with every ounce of his muscle behind it.
Waiting until the last moment, Caleb ducked and moved to one side. That way, Kyle got a clear shot at Jim, who was still peeling himself off the side of the saloon. Caleb almost felt sorry for the humpback as the fat man’s knuckles buried themselves into the poor bastard’s face.
Jim slid to the ground in an unconscious heap.
“All right, fat man,” Caleb said as his blood still pounded through his veins, “you can either collect your friend and leave, or we can keep dancing.”
Kyle’s eyes flashed, and he started to accept the challenge with his fists. The moment his hand brushed past his holster, his smile took on a whole new level of ferocity; and he began to skin the gun with a clumsy draw. Before he could clear leather, he was stopped by a wavering voice from a few feet away.
“Hold up, Kyle,” Orville said from where he was standing. “There’s not to be any shooting. We agreed on that.”
Neither Kyle nor Caleb would take their eyes off of each other, since doing so would only prompt the other to make a move.
“I know what we agreed,” Kyle said. “But it looks like this asshole wants to keep fighting.”
“Put the gun away,” Orville insisted. “Maybe then I’ll put mine away, too.”
That caused Kyle to swivel and get a look at the old man for himself. Sure enough, Orville was holding a revolver that looked like something of an antique. Still, the weapon seemed to be in working order, which was enough to earn a bit of respect.
“You wanna shoot this one?” Kyle asked. “Go ahead.”
Orville looked scared; there was no denying that. He also looked ready to fire at a moment’s notice. “I’ll shoot the leg of the first man who tries to make this any uglier than it needs to be. That means all three of you.”
By this time, the humpback had cleared the fog in his head just in time to see Orville point the revolver at him.
“Now, are you boys gonna act like we discussed?” Orville asked.
“Yes, sir,” both Kyle and Jim answered in unison.
Turning his eyes and his gun toward Caleb, the old man asked “What about you?”
“I’m not the one who started this,” Caleb replied.
“That’s not what I’m asking. Are you gonna come along and hear us out, or are you gonna start swinging again?”
After a few seconds of deliberation, Caleb shrugged and nodded. “What the hell? I’ll hear what you have to say. But we could have all been talking real civil right now over a drink if these two hadn’t dragged me out here the way they did.”
