Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki.
Saiyuki DeadrockThe stage rolled into Deadrock on time.
It was enough to make the Sheriff open his eyes and watch through slitted lids as the ancient vehicle groaned to a stop in front of the town's only claim to a hotel, bar, restaurant and brothel.
The usual loiterers seemed to materialize from nowhere, and a press of usual faces at the general store window told the sheriff that although the stage had arrived at an unexpected hour, it hadn't arrived unnoticed. After all, the twice weekly arrival of the stage on its journey out and back provided at least the hope of some entertainment: letters, packages, or best of all, a new face.
Purple eyes shifted to watch as the guard riding shotgun leaped down to open the stagecoach door, another unexpected and therefore suspect event. At the same moment the door of the bank opened and the bank's president strolled out, his wife leaning on his arm. He was looking deceptively benign and bovine, as usual. She, on the other hand, had on more finery than was her custom, displaying - if not enhancing - her charms.
Ch. That explained it. The new schoolmarm was on the coach. She would be a fresh addition to what passed for the town's social life. And since the bank had helped fund the building of the new school, the bank president had taken an unusual interest in the issue of education.
Ignorant sot, thought the Sheriff, more in observation than condemnation. One corner of his thin mouth curled slightly. The new schoolmarm was pretty, if the guard's uncharacteristic attempt at manners was any indication. That meant that Mrs. Oxley, the bank president's second, trophy wife, would be displeased.
The door to the saloon opened and Sha Gojyo strolled out. Figured, thought the Marshall contemptuously. If it involved drinking, gambling, or a woman, it involved Sha. Those errant strands of red hair that he kept so carefully covered with his black Stetson might as well have been antennae, fine-tuned for women and trouble.
The stage door opened. The guard stepped back and dipped his head in a slight, respectful bow.
A slender young man stepped out. Even from where he sat, Sheriff Sanzo could see the flash of green eyes behind prim wire-rimmed glasses. He was impeccably dressed and impossibly cool looking in spite of the heat of the noonday sun. He had a vague, almost dreamy smile pinned to his lips, a smile at odds with that flash of green.
Sanzo sensed rather than saw Sha straighten. Sha wasn't stupid, not that Sanzo would ever admit it. Sanzo knew that Sha had sensed it too, that potentially dangerous contradiction that had just emerged from the stage coach in the form of a seemingly mild-mannered young man.
A fellow gambler? It seemed unlikely, but then when you got this far west, the unlikely was commonplace. A fugitive from justice? More likely, given that aura…but physically he didn't fit the profile. Still…
"Ah, welcome, welcome!" Guy Oxley surged forward, hand outstretched. He grasped the young man's hand and pumped it with practiced goodwill, laying claim to the visitor.
Behind them, a suitcase joined the stack of boxes that the guard had stacked carefully on the plank sidewalk. Heavy boxes, too, by the way the guard had struggled with them. If the sheriff had been a man given to fanciful thoughts, he might have speculated that stolen bullion gave the boxes their unusual heft. But he merely registered the fact of the their weight, filing it away for further use if needed.
Now the guard was bowing again, and the young man slipped his hand free from Oxley's grasp to turn and speak, leaning forward slightly in a bow as well. The guard beamed and Oxley looked puzzled. His own courtesy was reserved for those he considered his equals or, should he ever meet anyone of that august standing, his betters.
Then Mrs. Oxley had locked one of her hands around the young man's wrist and was drawing him away. The guard slammed the stage door shut and returned to his perch.
Sanzo allowed himself what might have been a small smile before closing his eyes again. The new schoolmarm had arrived. And the new schoolmarm was indeed quite stunning.
The new schoolmarm was a man.
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