Chapter 5

Betas Saddletramp and Nakoosay

Slim POV

Sounds, noises, a voice that sounded like a squeaky floorboard bombards my ears and my brain felt like it was stuck. My ear drums pop and explode with the noise before the noises go far away and become faint and then coming roaring back. A sudden jolting to my body leaves me breathless and a fierce pain in my chest. Exquisite silence envelopes me and I start to go over what happened before I got taken and am now wherever I am.

After the stagecoach left and after hours of Mose's words incessantly ringing in my ears I tried to finish my paperwork. Irritated, angry, and confused I decided it was time to make dinner for myself. I got up from my desk where my work was scattered. Getting up, I stretched and grimaced when I heard my back crack. Heading to the kitchen I wished Jess were back.

I might be a slightly prideful man when it comes to my work and my family, but no amount of pride could mask that my cooking isn't very good. Actually, and I chuckle aloud as think this, I must agree with Jess that my cooking is barely edible. Thankfully, cooking is not my only skill. If it were, me and Andy (my little brother) would have starved a long time ago.

I cooked my supper and while it simmered on the stove, I moved away from it to get the dishes necessary to eat. As I passed by the window, a movement outside the house caught my eye. I put the dishes gently down on the table and froze, waiting to see if it was just my imagination or if someone was outside in the darkening evening. A minute passed by and I finally relaxed, letting my body slowly uncoil from the rigidness I had while I waited. It was nothing I told myself, but just to be sure I went outside and checked around the house, the barn, and the corrals.

There was nothing there showing someone had been outside the house. Going back inside I chided myself for being so silly. Of course, no one was outside. I was just jumpy because I was worried about what Mose had said. Dad-gum it what Mose said. That confounded man had my head spinning, and I wasn't sure which way was up anymore. I calmed down though as I washed the dishes. It wasn't Mose's fault, I reminded myself, he was just telling me what he heard.

The dishes done, I headed out of the house and to the barn to saddle my horse. Riding through town, I decided to check in with Mort to see just what the man on the stagecoach had been saying about Jess. I pulled up short of the Sheriff's office and swinging my leg over my chestnut-colored horse, I climbed down. I wrapped the reins loosely around one of the poles of the building and stepped up onto the wooden sidewalk.

Striding to the door I was almost run down as a rather dirty looking man barged out of Mort's office and almost into me. His clothes weren't tattered, but they had certainly seen some hard use and tons of dust and grime seemed to cling to him. His boots were scuff marked, but looked rather new underneath the grime. He had a brown hat sitting low over his face and his gun belt was slung low on his hips. Most people were righthanded, so it was unusual to see someone with their gun belt slung that had its gun holster tied onto their left leg.

He grunted an apology, almost ran all the way across the dirt street and to the bar on the other side. Shaking my head at what I had just seen, I strode into Mort's office through the still wide-open door.

He was sitting behind his desk, his papers in neat little stacks, not scattered like mine. His black and slight graying hair lay slicked back, his hat hung on the back of his chair precariously, and his face had about a day's worth of stubble. He looked up from writing as I closed the door gently. His face brightened and smiled when he saw it was me. Then, his face lost its smile and it darkened as if he could sense why I had come.

Mort had always been like that. It was like he could sense what you were thinking before you thought it. He is one of mine and Jess's closest friends. He sat there and leaned back in his chair as I walked over and sat down in one of the two empty chairs sitting in front of his worn desk. Mort's sheriff's badge was only slightly shiny, and his clothes were rumpled like he had slept in them.

"Well Slim I guess this isn't a social visit because Jess is away on business is it?" Mort sounded tired.

"No, Mort it isn't. I was changing the afternoon stage horses and Mose told me a black mustached man was bad talking Jess in town."

"Yeah Slim, he has been. His name is…" I cut Mort off before he could finish.

"Mike Capstone. Yeah, Mose told me. What did he say Mort?"

Mort moved his body forward and putting his elbows on his desk scrubbed his tired face with both hands.

"Slim, what he said doesn't matter…"

"Mort don't tell me it doesn't matter. It obviously does matter if Mose told me to go to town and it sure as heck matters what this dirt bag is throwing around town about my partner." I knew I was starting to sound mad and I was mad, just not at Mort.

"Slim…" Mort stopped and collected his thoughts before he spoke again. "He said some pretty outrageous stuff Slim. Basically, what he said about Jess was that he was a backstabber, a liar, and someone who preyed upon innocent victims twisting them to do whatever he wanted them to do. He said… He said that he met you Slim, and that you had that look that other victims of Jess's had.

"That Jess had weaseled himself into your life to take advantage of your generosity and your trust. He said that you were so stupid and foolish that Jess was able to manipulate you into being his friend and protecting him."

"Why didn't you stop him Mort?"

"Son, don't you think I tried? I might not be as close to Jess as you are but I sure as heck know him well enough that he is none of those things and neither are you." Mort heaved a deep sigh of frustration and he ran his hand through his hair as he continued. "I gave you the light version Slim. People were listening to this man Slim, and he wasn't breaking the law. So, I told him Jess and you were my friends and if he continued to bad mouth you boys, I would run him out of town.

"He was in the bar half the night and so was I. I swear to you Slim, I stayed there until he left town and I made sure he didn't talk about you or Jess. But the damage was done Slim. He had been in the bar long enough that he has at least half the town believing his lies." Mort finished and leaned back in chair rubbing his hand over his face as he waited for me to process everything. I had stayed quiet the entire time and had folded my arms across my chest as soon as Mort started telling me what Capstone had said.

I usually only did it when I was angry, and I was practically boiling beneath my hat. It's a surprise I didn't have steam coming off my head as I sat trying to wrap my head around what Mort said. I didn't care what the town thought of me but what he said about Jess, well he crossed the line the minute he opened his mouth and started to spew lies. I never resort to violence, but I was almost tempted to change my mind. Right then there was nothing I would have liked more then to go find Capstone and punch him right in his lying, evil, black mustached, face.

I don't think I had ever been this upset with someone. I couldn't think and I couldn't speak. I finally managed to collect enough of my wit to ask Mort "Where did he go?"

"I told you Slim, he left town 3 this morning, thank Heaven. He didn't say where he was going, and I was so darn happy to see him go that I didn't care." Mort stared, shocked, as I got up silently, and walked heavily to the door. He knew I was upset but I don't think he knew what to say to me. When I opened the door, he asked worry thick in his voice and plain upon his face. "What are you going to do-, Slim?

"I don't know Mort. He comes into our town and starts bad mouthing Jess and me. I don't care about me but talking about Jess like that is too much. I know Jess would say it isn't a big deal and he doesn't care- but he does, Mort. He cares more than he would ever admit to anyone. But if Capstone's gone, then there is nothing I can do. I'll just come back tomorrow and see if the people of Laramie still believe his lies.

"If they do then me and you will have to knock some sense in them before Jess gets back." I turned around and smiled slightly at Mort's gaping mouth and astonished expression "What Mort, did you think I was going to go after him and knock him silly?" I quietly asked Mort. Most all my anger had left me when Mort asked me what I was going to do. He sounded like he thought I was going to go after Capstone.

That wasn't my style and I had forgotten in my anger for a minute that I wasn't that kind of person. Yes, if Capstone ever showed his face again, I would punch him, hard. But I was more worried now about getting the town back to their senses. Jess had helped some of the people and most of the town knew him to some extent. I was just going to have to remind them that the type of person Jess was, was not the person that Capstone was blabbing about.

Mort stood up and walked over to me where I stood, the doorknob in one hand.

"No, Slim, I don't because that's not you." Mort smiled and I smiled back. We walked out together and headed to the bar to set the town straight. Almost the whole town believed Capstone's lies. It showed on their faces and as I rode on my way out of town their faces came back to my vision again and again. It wasn't disgust that had been on their faces but rather sympathy- as if I had been swindled by Jess and they felt sorry that I couldn't see the monster, they had been led to believe, Jess was. I spurred my horse making him go faster.

It was the first time that I had wanted nothing more than to leave Laramie and never go back into town. Mort and I had failed, and I didn't know what to do. I was mad and upset before; now I was still upset, but sad too. Mike Capstone had made the people of Laramie turn against Jess and I didn't know why. Now he's gone and I would probably never find out why he did what he did. Revenge? Anger? Hate? I didn't know. At least not yet.

TBC