UGR - Scuffs on the Walls (549 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.31 on 10 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by HeimdallsMan (View user info) at 2006-06-29 00:20:56 EDT
Round Two: http://www.ubersite.com/m/89576
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"Jake."
"Jake! C'mon outta there!"
Sheriff Bob Bell shifted his weight uncomfortably as he leaned his back against the side of the feed store across from the jailhouse. His jailhouse.
"C'mon Jake. No good can come of this. It's gonna end bad for you." Bell sat back on his haunches, tilted his hat back and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
Deputy Will Tanner sat next to the sheriff. "Haskell!" he shouted. "Don't make us come in there after you!"
Heaving a sigh, Bob briefly looked up at the blazing prairie sun that was soaking his shirt in sweat then turned a jaundiced eye on his deputy. "Shut up Will," he said, barely keeping his cool. "If you weren't such a god-damned halfwit we wouldn't be in this mess." Tanner looked hurt but said nothing. The sheriff had been alternately blaming Tanner, then himself all afternoon.
The sheriff closed his eyes and leaned his head back until it rested against the rough wood of the feed store's plank siding. "Tell me again how this happened Will. Don't leave anything out."
"Dang it sheriff, I've told you three times already..." Tanner read the look on his boss's face and shut his trap. Chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment he collected his thoughts. "Well," he started hesitantly, "I was at the desk working on some, uh, warrants when I heard a awful commotion coming from the cells." Bell knew damn good and well that Tanner had been asleep with his boots up on the desk but said nothing. That battle would wait for another time. Tanner continued, "So I got up and checked on the cells. I guess I'd been so busy with the warrants that I didn't think to take my guns off..."
Tanner hung his head for a moment, embarrassed, but the sheriff motioned silently for him to continue. "So anyway, I heard this commotion so I gone to check it out. Haskell had taken off one boot and was a-bangin' away with the heel on the bars, on the walls, on the bunk, all over the place. I told him ta stop but he just got louder, so I opened up the cell door ta, um, restrain him. As soon as I opened the door he turned around and was on me. He hit me in the head with his boot heel and managed ta get my gunbelt off while I was stunned. Then he forced me outside."
Gunshots suddenly barked out from across the street. The sound of the deputy's 44 sounded like a damn cannon in the otherwise quiet street. Not only had the deputy lost his guns, but the keys to the gun closet were on his belt too. Jake Haskell had an arsenal in there with him. There would be no frontal assault on the jail if Bell could help it. He had no intention of dying for this town. Haskell was just a cowboy, locked up for having slightly too good a time at the Great Western last night. Bell was pretty sure he could talk him down, if Tanner would keep his trap shut.
"Why won't you give me a gun, sheriff? That dang... criminal in there is gonna kill somebody if we don't shoot him." Tanner's petulant tone set Bell's teeth on edge. He turned on his deputy with an angry scowl.
"That man is not going to die to pay for your stupidity! Now be quiet and let me think!" Bell closed his eyes, took a deep breath and gathered himself. Yelling at Tanner was not going to help. "Look Will, you made a mistake, but I don't want to make another one that will cost that man his life. Getting drunk is not a capital offense in this town, right?"
"Right sheriff, I know. Just tell me what I need to do." Tanner really was nothing more than a boy, Bell thought. He placed a paternal hand on Tanner's shoulder. "Just lay low here for a spell. I want to get this thing settled before the mayor over there decides to force me to move." The sheriff gestured down the street where sure enough, the mayor was waving a white handkerchief at the two lawmen, trying to get their attention. They ignored him for the moment.
Bell thought for a moment, then stood and unbuckled his gunbelt. No sense in escalating this thing. He put his hands to his mouth and shouted. "Jake! I'm gonna step out into the street so you can see I'm unarmed. Don't shoot! I just wanna talk with you!" He took a deep breath and stepped around the corner. His boots clocked hollowly on the plank sidewalk in front of the feed store. He walked slowly, hands in the air. He stopped directly across from the jail and turned slowly all the way around. When he faced the jail again he slowly lowered his hands, unconsciously tucking his thumbs into his pockets. "See Jake? No problem. I want to talk to you before this thing gets out of hand."
Nothing but silence came from the jail. The door stood open but the sun was so bright that it was nothing but an empty black hole. Bell couldn't se anything moving, no sign of where Haskell might be.
Bell suddenly caught movement in the corner of his eye. Looking left he saw the mayor dart across to his side of the street and start to make his way up the sidewalk. Bell gestured angrily at him but he wouldn't stop. His instincts told him what was about to happen and he turned back to the jail. "No Jake, don't!" he shouted, but his premonition was proved correct as gunshots again came from inside the jail. Bell looked toward the mayor. There were splinters of wood flying all around him. He stood stupidly for a moment then dived through the nearest doorway, apparently unhurt.
"Jake, you gotta cut this crap right the hell NOW!" Bell shouted at the empty door. He caught movement inside the door when suddenly time seemed to slow to a crawl. In his mind's eye he saw a finger tightening on a trigger. An ugly bellow of flame burst from the door and Bell could swear he saw the bullet flying at him. He just had time to regret leaving Tanner in charge of the jail when all the universe hit him in the chest. He fell back against the wall of the feed store. "I'm okay..." he mumbled around a mouthful of blood. His knees gave way and he sank slowly to the sidewalk leaving a long smear of blood on the wall.
Deputy Tanner ran around the corner and dropped down next to the sheriff. He hunched his shoulders as a single hollow bang echoed from the jail, but the bullet didn't seem to hit anywhere near him. Tears in his eyes, he rose and ran toward the jail, no longer afraid. He ducked inside the door, sun-blind. Nothing moved, and as his eyes adjusted he began to discern a huddled shape against the back wall. He walked carefully over to it. It was Haskell. He had shot himself under the jaw. The wall behind him dripped with gore.
From where he stood, Tanner could see the sheriff across the street framed in the sunny doorway, the streak of blood like an exclamation point over his head. He looked back and forth between the matching crimson streaks, one from his friend and mentor, one from a random cowboy. He dropped to his knees and cried.
User Reviews
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2006-06-29 17:33:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-06-29 16:14:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
but it's not yer best.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-06-29 16:14:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I enjoyed this.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-06-29 13:49:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Blood as scuffs is really a stretch....
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2006-06-29 13:21:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You guys aren't going to hurt MY feelings. this is crappy and I know it.
*sigh* They can't all be gems, can they? Unless you're BigMike of course... bastard.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-06-29 11:50:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
2 in honor of scourge. shutup. don't ask.
Submitted by alwayspeach1 (user info) at 2006-06-29 10:52:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2006-06-29 10:11:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Not your best.
-Dave
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-06-29 03:42:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
sorry old man...
Submitted by HighVoltage900 (user info) at 2006-06-29 00:41:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I just didn't feel it. I mean for a mans death it was kind of plain.