"None of you are comin' back into this town with your noise and gunplay. But for now, you get three days in jail to think about it."
"Aw, come on," the young one with a mustache started, "we ain't doin' nothin' lady."
"And, again, you little pup, I ain't no lady. I'm the Sheriff and you better remember it."
The two younger men stepped into the left hand cell and I pushed the older man into the one on the right. As I locked the cell doors, I heard the poorly shaved one begin to swear under his breath. "And we ain't puttin' up with none of that mouth either. So, unless you want another day or two added to your time in our little jailhouse, you'll shut up now."
As I walked out of the jailhouse, I heard the older one call out, "Three days, that ain't right!"
I closed the door behind me and walked back onto the street to hear the cheers of the women and a couple of the men. It was clear that not all of the men were on board with a female Sheriff. But, since they hadn’t done anything about these outlaws, they pretty much just stayed silent.
Jackson walked up to me with the outlaws' pistols. "They each only had a couple shells left in their guns, since they were already firing in the air. Stupid waste of ammunition."
I laughed, "You got that right." I took the guns and went back over to the jailhouse to put them in the office for safekeeping. While I walked away, I directed my gaze toward the mercantile shop owner who had been watching everything as it unfolded. "Would you mind takin' their horses over to the livery? No reason that the animals shouldn't get watered and fed tonight."
"Sure thing, Sheriff." He called back. He stepped out and picked up the reins that were hanging to the ground and started walking the horses over to the stable.
Chapter 15
I came back out of my office and found Jackson standing nearby, leaning on a post and smoking a cigarette. I looked up at him, "Well, I think I was headin' to the hotel for the night when we got interrupted."
"Yes, ma'am. I was walkin' you over there."
"So, you don't mind my bein' the law here?"
"Not a bit, Sheriff. Not a bit."
He left me at the hotel door with a slight squeeze around my waist and tipped his hat.
I think I'm gonna like this town. I surely do.
***
I unlocked the door to Room 14, changed for bed and left the window open to enjoy the breeze. I placed my shirt and jeans over the corner chair, spread out, so that I could wear them again tomorrow. Being a Sheriff means that I don't have to feel obligated to wear the long dresses that most women had to, dealing with outdated ideas in these times. I know most folks don't want to see women in pants, but to me that was just ridiculous. I needed to be able to move fast, whether I was on or off a horse.
I relaxed in the single bed, enjoying the softness of the mattress as opposed to the hard buckboard wagon I had been sleeping in lately. The sheets were a little bit threadbare, but they were clean, so I didn't care much. With today behind me, all I needed to do now was to make sure that no one felt threatened by a little lady who would be their sheriff, especially the men. After all, I wasn't here to make the men feel bad about themselves, I was just here to do a job. Tomorrow I would take care of the three sitting in the jail cells and see what I could do to move them along down the road.
Fortunately for me, there were several men sworn in as Deputies and they had offered to take shifts to stand watch over the three outlaws for tonight so I could get a good night's sleep.
As I drifted off, my mind went to Jackson O'Boyle and his muscular frame…
Chapter 16
Morning came too soon, I heard the roosters crowing even though the sun was laying on the horizon. It seemed that just a few minutes had passed when the sun made an entrance into my room, breaking the darkness as it sent its rays through the window. I fluffed my pillow under my head, lamenting that I was gonna have to get up.
The knock at the door startled me.
"Who is it?"
"Judge Adams. We need you down at the courthouse. NOW!"
"Give me five minutes and I will be there." I grabbed my clothes, shoved my feet into socks, then into the legs of my jeans. I pulled the plaid shirt over my head at the same time that I tried to step into my boots. I ended up falling to the floor with a thud. I stood back up and pulled my shirt on, straightened it down over the waist of my jeans and then sat on the chair to get my boots on.
I walked out of the room, holding my gun belt with my left hand and locking the door with my right. And walked down the hall to wash my face and use the restroom.
I finished quickly, but not quickly enough as I heard Judge Adams call up from the hotel lobby, "Come on there, Sheriff!"
I took the stairs two at a time and almost landed on top of the Judge at the foot of the stairs. He backed up and shook his head at me as if I were an errant child.
I wrapped my gun belt around my waist, pulling it to the hip where I wanted my pistol to fall and looked at him. "What's the hurry, Judge?"
"You gotta take care of these boys you got in the jail this morning."
"No, I don't actually. I told them three days."
"Well, sentencing ain't up to you, Missy."
"That's SHERIFF to you,
