Death Has Its Price

Chapter 14 – Change in the Wind

John knew they were being watched, but Amy had her back to the trail bums. The three men sat at their table and waited for Doc Holliday and his lady to finish their meal before making a move. John reached over and put his hand on top of Amy's. "Don't react – just listen. I need you to get up and walk out of here right now. Don't turn around and don't look back. Just leave and go get the sheriff as fast as you can."

"What – "

"Don't ask questions, Amy, just get up and go. Now."

She looked into his eyes and saw something she hadn't seen before, and it frightened her. "I love you." She put her napkin down, stood up and walked out of the dining room. As soon as she was gone all three of the cowboys pulled their guns and started shooting. John had already flipped the dining room table over in front of him and pulled the derringer out. 'Whatever happened to a good old fair fight?' he wondered. He glanced to the left and saw Susie run back into the kitchen, where he hoped she'd stay.

One of the men broke away from the table and moved to the right; John saw his chance and fired. The cowboy dropped and laid still.

"Bart! Bart! Answer me!" One of the two remaining men yelled at the fallen man.

"What? Who? Bart?" John wasn't sure what he'd heard. Why was that familiar? Where had he heard it before? He was stunned and confused, and so distracted that he didn't realize the second man had rushed him until he looked up and the attempted assassin was almost on top of him. John fired the final round into the attacker and the man dropped. Now he had a problem – one troublemaker left and no bullets. Before he knew what was transpiring the sheriff came running in shooting. He caught the third man in the arm and the gun dropped harmlessly to the ground.

"You alright?" the sheriff asked as he walked past John, gun still trained on the assailant.

"Yeah," the stunned gunslinger answered. "Good timing," he told the sheriff as he stood up from behind the table and showed the derringer. "Empty."

Amy came rushing in and stared at the carnage on the floor. Then she ran straight to John and threw her arms around him. He held her tightly with his left arm, the right hand still holding the now-empty derringer. One of them was shaking and he didn't know if it was him or Amy.

In another minute, a deputy appeared in the dining room and the sheriff handed over the wounded man. "Lock this one up and then send for Doc Greeley," he told his deputy, then turned to John and asked, "What happened?"

"They decided to use me for target practice. That's all I can tell you. Never saw 'em before."

The sheriff looked from one dead cowhand to the other. "You shoot 'em both?"

John nodded, "Yeah."

The sheriff turned his attention to the kitchen and motioned Susie out. She came reluctantly. "That the truth?"

Susie kept staring at John as she nodded. "Yes sir, Sheriff Donnelly. These folks were just eatin' their dinner when the three a them came in and sat down. The girl left and they started shootin'. He didn't even have a gun out." She finally put her head down and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Sorry, Mr. – what did you say your name was?"

"John Holliday, Sheriff."

"Mr. Holliday, you're in the clear. Who knows what they had up their sleeves, but – say, Doc Holliday?"

"I've been called that before."

"Well, that's what they wanted. Be the man that killed Doc Holliday. You're free to go, Mr. Holliday. You might want to have Doc Greeley take a look at that arm."

It was then that he looked down. A bullet had just nicked his left arm, leaving nothing more than a flesh wound. But it wasn't the wound that troubled him – it was his reaction to the cry of "Bart! Bart! Answer me!" that disturbed him. Why had he been paralyzed by the words? Who the hell was Bart? Why had they stunned him so that he almost let one of the men take him by surprise? And again, who the hell was Bart?

He glanced down at Amy and realized she had been talking to him. " – let Doc look at it before we leave. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Doc doesn't need to see it. We can take care of it at the ranch. Let's go on back." She walked outside with him, still with her arm around him, and didn't care who saw.

They'd tried to kill him, for no reason other than he was Doc Holliday. Is that what his life was always like? Could she live with that, or would she be terrified that he wouldn't come back every time he walked out the door? He didn't even have a gun on, and they still tried to shoot him in cold-blood. And he was supposed to be the killer.

He helped Amy into the wagon and then climbed in behind her. He took the reins, despite the wound, and they left Mountain City. Life had just been forever changed.

XXXXXXXX

Bret was surprised the next morning when Doc followed him down the stairs to the dining room. He said nothing to the reputed gunslinger until they'd gotten a table and coffee, Doc with his usual half-cup. "Thought you'd be gone this morning."

"Nope." The normally reticent man was even more so right now.

Bret ordered breakfast and waited to see what Doc had to offer. They sat without talking for ten or fifteen minutes, and once Bret's food was delivered Doc watched him eat and smiled. "I still can't believe how different your appetite is from your brother's."

"You said 'is', Doc. Does that mean you've changed your mind about Bart's being dead?"

The answer was slow in coming. "No, I haven't. But I'm hoping I'm wrong. It's happened once or twice before."

Bret almost laughed, but Doc was so serious he thought better of it. "And that means - ?"

"That I'm going with you."

"You sure?"

"Completely."

"And you're not gonna keep telling me that he's dead?"

"Nope."

"Thanks, Doc."

"He'd do the same for me."

"Yeah, he would."

"We leavin' today?"

The coffee cup was drained, the napkin set down on the table. Bret was ready to go. "That's the plan, yeah."

"Where we goin'?"

"Someplace I've already been. I've got a hunch." The visit to one of the ranches had bothered Bret for months and he was determined to go back and investigate more thoroughly.

Doc was ready, he'd made up his mind last night. Wherever the search took them, as long as the search took them, he was in it all the way. Until they found Bart or the consumption killed him. He was hoping he'd live to see his friend again.