"Ready for that pie and coffee?"
"Sure enough, Sheriff." Jackson winked at me. It was going to be interesting, getting to know this tall cowboy.
We stepped back into the café. The place erupted with cheers and applause. I smiled as I looked around at the tables. Probably ten folks in here, all of 'em were outside during the challenge presented to me by the Judge. My guess was they were just waiting for me to get back from taking Chaser over to the stables. I nodded, and tipped my hat toward them all.
"We need a Sheriff like you, that's all I got to say," a man called out to me from the corner of the café.
"Well, thank you very much. I look forward to getting to know all of you as I step in and help to keep order here."
"Welcome, Sheriff," another voice replied.
We sat down at the table where we had been earlier, and Katie came over to put my piece of pie and cup of coffee in front of me. "No charge, Sheriff."
"I don’t mind payin' my way, Katie."
"Ha! You paid your way when you put Judge Adams in his place. By the way, what is your name?"
"Mildred, just call me Sheriff."
Chapter 14
When we left the café, Jackson again offered his arm and led me across the street back to the hotel.
"I really enjoyed spending time with you, Mildred."
"I did too, and I wasn't sure how it would all work out once you knew I had been hired as the new Sheriff. Men sometimes take offense to a woman making her living in law."
"It's not a problem for me at all. But I'm not your ordinary cowboy," he replied while slowing his step a bit. I could tell he was trying to take as long as he could getting back to the hotel. But, since it was not even a thirty yard walk, it was gonna take some work on his part to stretch it out.
We stepped up on the boardwalk in front of the hotel door. Jackson put his hand on my shoulder. He towered above me, and I liked that about him. Just as he started to open the front door for me, we heard gunshots.
We both turned and saw them coming around the corner at the end of the street way past the livery, near the chapel. Three rough riding men, going full steam down the middle of the road, guns up in the air as they shot at nothing in particular.
"Them's the outlaws that the Judge was tellin' ya about."
"I figgered." I stepped off the walk into the street just as the men rode by.
"HEY!"
I saw two of the men pull their horses up to a stop and the other slowed to turn around. As the men looked at me, I saw them grin. The kinda grin that tells one they mean trouble. Broad with all their teeth showing, like they owned the place. They kept grinning at me as all three slowly rode back to where I stood.
"What do you think you're doing? Coming into town and shootin' up the place?"
All three men let out loud guffaws and looked at one another. Then they looked around at the townsfolk who had stepped out to see what was gonna happen.
One of them was definitely the oldest, easily weighed over 200 pounds and wearing a full beard, while the other two were slender. Of the slim fellas, one had a mustache and the other simply looked unkempt, no rhyme or reason to the hair on his face that swept down all across his neck.
"Well, boys, look what we got here."
I felt their stares and knew they were taking note of the badge on my shirt. "Yep, you got a new Sheriff, that's what ya got."
All three laughed. I felt Jackson moving up on the left side of me. I looked up at him, "I don't need your help right now. They need to know that I can handle them."
Jackson stepped backward, out of the main street, near the hotel and motioned to a couple other fellas who had stepped forward to move back.
The two younger men stayed on their horses as the older man dismounted within two feet of where I was standing. I had my right hand poised over the handle of my pistol.
"Whatcha gonna do, Sheriff?" He said Sheriff with a whine, as if it were an inside joke.
"I'm gonna arrest you if you don't stop comin' into town and raisin' a ruckus."
"Ha! Look here, Missy! You ain't gonna do nothin' of the sort." He reached for his gun, but before he had a chance to clear his holster, my pistol was pushing hard against his rib cage.
"Is that what you really think?" I threw my left arm around his neck as my gun barrel found its way between a couple of his ribs. He squirmed, but then realized I was stronger than he thought. The element of surprise had caught him off guard. I yanked his pistol from his holster and threw it toward the walk near Jackson, who picked it up and proceeded to empty the few unspent shells on the ground.
The two younger men had pulled their guns and were aiming at me. "Tell 'em to drop their guns or I'm gonna drop you."
"Lady…"
"That's Sheriff to you, now tell your little boys there to drop their guns."
He tried to back up from my pistol, but I kept it positioned deep into his ribcage. He nodded at the slim riders, "Drop 'em boys."
Both men let their pistols fall to the ground and Ruthie stepped out from the saloon doorway to pick them up.
"Thank you, Ruthie."
"All right, boys, down off your horses."
They both lowered themselves down and while I kept the pressure of my gun shoved into the oldest outlaw, I motioned for them to head over to the jail
