Kid sensed the two men, one on either side of him, before he actually saw them in his peripheral vision. The fellow on his right sported a shiny silver star, the sight of which gave him the usual sinking feeling. He and Heyes had seen the sheriff around town a few times, but hadn't had the pleasure of his acquaintance. And they had hoped to keep it that way. The suit-clad man on his left had been pointed out to him earlier by Jake as his father, the mayor. Of course they just happened to be in the bar when he'd confronted Reed, Kid thought ruefully. Isn't that the way it always went? Maybe this friendly little town ain't gonna stay so friendly after all. But both men were smiling and obviously eager to talk to him.
The sheriff spoke first.
"That was some fast draw, mister. I never seen the like. It'd be a real privilege to shake your hand."
Kid reached over and grasped the extended hand, saying, "Thank you, sir. Thaddeus Jones." There didn't seem to be any point in pretending the lightning-quick draw had been some kind of a fluke.
"I know," answered the sheriff, reminding Kid of just how small and tight-knit this little town was. "And your partner's Joshua Smith – same last name as me. I'm Mike Smith," he added.
"Sheriff Smith," replied Curry, nodding, although he and Heyes had ascertained his name soon after their arrival and had even shared a little laugh about "Lots of folks named Smith and Jones in this world."
"And this is my good friend Wade Thomas. - Er, I should say MAYOR Wade Thomas." Kid turned to shake the other hand.
"Newly elected mayor," amended Thomas modestly. "I'm not used to it yet, either. I believe you know my son, Jake."
"Yes sir, Mr. Thomas," answered the Kid, "Pleasure to meetcha. Ya got a real nice little town here. Lotsa friendly folks."
"And we wanna keep it that way," said Smith. "I had my eye on that fella as soon as he rode in. Gave me a bad feeling. Stuck to him like a tick on a hound. I sure wanna thank you for takin' care of him so neatly. Don't think he'll show his face in here again."
"Hope not," answered the Kid. "Looked to me like the type who might carry a grudge."
"I followed him out the door and 'suggested' he light out first thing in the morning - unless he wants to see the inside of our brand new jail cell. I doubt he'll be back," Smith said confidently.
"So Thaddeus – may I call you Thaddeus?" At Curry's nod the mayor continued,
"How long are you and your partner planning to stay in Bridgerton?"
"Well, we were just passin' through, but now my partner wants to stick around for the big game Saturday."
"What about you? The boys say you're not a bad poker player yourself. Ain't you gonna play, too?" asked the sheriff.
"Oh, I ain't too bad, but Joshua's much better'n me. And that buy-in's pretty steep. We figure we'd pool our resources and he'd play for the both of us."
"Wise decision, but how'd you like to make a few dollars yourself?" inquired Mayor Thomas.
Kid's face clouded over. "I don't hire out my gun," he stated firmly.
"No, no, it's not like that at all," Thomas answered hastily.
"Ya see, we got a job for ya," said the sheriff.
"I'm listenin'."
"You may have heard, Bridgerton is getting us a school teacher," Smith began.
"Yeah, I've heard it mentioned. Several times as a matter of fact," Curry smiled. It seemed everyone in town had been talking about the new school and its soon-to-arrive college-educated teacher from Back East.
"Folks here are real excited about it. It's a - well, it's a milestone I reckon," Thomas explained.
"My Sally just turned eight. She's gonna be one of the pupils. She's countin' down the days 'til school starts," Smith stated proudly. "Little Mikey can't wait 'til next year when he'll be old enough to attend as well."
"I envy you, Mike," said Thomas. "I had to send Jake and Will away to school. You'll get to keep your younguns close at hand."
"So I'm guessin' the job ain't gonna be teachin' school," joked Kid, attempting to get them back on topic.
That brought a spate of laughter from Kid's new companions, but soon the sheriff got to the point and explained his proposition, "So anyway, this school teacher we hired – college educated, by the way – this school teacher is coming from Back East – all the way from Illinois. But the closest she can get here by train is Red Hill. After that it's still a four day stage coach ride. What we need is someone like you – that is to say, someone who can handle himself – to see her safely from Red Hill to Bridgerton."
"You expectin' trouble?"
"Oh, no, nothin' specific-like," insisted Smith. "There ain't no Indians or nothin'. But ya see this schoolteacher is a gal, a young gal. That's a long way for a young lady to travel all alone and her not knowin' the country and all. At the very least you can tote her luggage for her and make sure she gets on the right coach. But ya never know, there could be trouble – bad weather, or highwaymen, or maybe some young buck who smells green grass and thinks he can take advantage."
"How much?"
"500 dollars plus expenses. Meals, hotels. Stage tickets. Like that."
"When's the train get to Denver?"
"Saturday 9 am."
"I'll have to leave tomorrow to get there in time – and even then, I'll have to cut cross-country, sleep rough…" Kid was thinking out loud.
"Yeah, and it'll take you twice as long on the way back. Ya haveta switch coaches in Granite Bluff. But that's why the pay's so good. Whaddaya say, Jones?"
"Just have one question. Why'd ya wait so long? I mean, what are ya gonna do if I say no?"
"It does seem very last minute," replied the mayor, "but up until this morning it was all set. The School Board president, Blake Johnson, has a nice little spread just outside of town. One of his hands was planning to do it –"
" 'til he went and busted up his ribs this mornin' gettin' throwed offa bronc," interrupted the sheriff. "Now Blake is short-handed and he sure can't spare anyone else."
"My Jake offered to go in his place," the mayor said, "but the wife put her foot down and frankly, I was relieved she did. I wasn't comfortable with the idea. He may look grown, but he's still just a kid."
"Up 'til we spotted you tonight, I was gonna go myself," Smith said. "But I sure hate to leave my Deputy in charge for such a long time. He's got the makings of a good lawman, but he's still young and inexperienced. Mr. Jones, if you do this job, you'll save me a wagonload of aggravation."
"Sure. I'll have to discuss it with my partner of course, but if he don't have any objections, I'll do it," Curry agreed, thinking it would give him something to occupy himself and it would be no small potatoes to be able to add $500 to whatever Heyes managed to win in the upcoming poker game.
"Let's drink to the deal!" exclaimed Thomas.
