The Kid
Raymond Daley
Copyright 17/11/11 by Raymond Daley
Smashwords Edition
Towns come and towns go. The town of Dry Gulch came and went with the Gold Rushes.
It's name wasn't ironic in any way, Dry Gulch had always been a prosperous town, even when it was the frontier.
No law but plenty of grass lands for those who had cattle, and there were plenty of them.
The way the Marshall always explained it was that this particular meaning of dry was a Cheyenne word for fertile.
The town had been built fast to support the cattle folk, supply and demand, fulfil a need.
Main Street had been the first to be built, everything important was there, Marshalls Office, Saloon, Mercantile Store, Stables.
And The Kid. Always seems like The Kid had been there since day one. Always in the same place, by the horse trough outside the saloon.
If you wanted to know where anyone was, you asked The Kid. He knew. Everyone passed him on their way to where ever it was they were going, everyone always took the time to greet him. Folks kinda liked The Kid.
Well, as places like Dry Gulch go, with cattle folk there's always rustlers and that means anger and that generally leads to folks getting shot.
It was almost noon when the stranger rode into town. It wasn't a big town so The Kid heard him coming as soon as he rode in.
The stranger took his time to secure his horse then fixed The Kid with the kinda stare you don't wanna be on the end of more than once.
"Folks say you knows where everyone is" the stranger said to The Kid.
"Reckon theys right on that" The Kid replied.
"Some bad people been stealing from my herd, I'm looking to make a reckoning on that. Have you seen Gus McCoy go past today?" asked the stranger, fingering his holster.
"No sir, ain't seen him go past. Definitely not." said The Kid.
"If he comes this way tell him I'll be by the stables" said the stranger and he walked away from the saloon in the direction of the stables.
The saloon door opened and one shot was fired. The next sound was the strangers body hitting the ground, dead.
"Did he ask if you'd seen me?" asked Gus McCoy, for it was he.
"Surely did, Gus" replied The Kid. "Told him the truth too, said no"
McCoy reached into a pocket and placed a silver dollar into the hand of The Kid. "That should see you right for a time, I'm mighty obliged to ya" said McCoy and he went back into the saloon.
The Kid pocketed the coin and continued to gaze out onto Main Street.
There was a real good reason so many folks liked The Kid.
A lot of folks feel sorry for the blind.
He earned his keep though. Just a matter of asking the right questions is all.
Think on that.