Of Colonel Hanover’s men, perhaps the vilest was Wendell Mason. Wendell wasn’t a kind man by any means, and it seemed the only man he respected was the Colonel. Wendell stood about five feet, nine inches tall; he sported a thick black and gray mane often greased back by some form of pomade or hair wax. Rumors were that Wendell refused to buy pomade from the general store because he had a propensity to make it himself. Pomade was created from bear fat and Wendell’s collection of bear teeth, heads, and furs led one to conclude that Wendell did indeed collect his own bear fat to make the pomade. Wendell owned a small cottage about two hundred yards away from the center of town. While most of the Colonel’s men lived in a boarding house in the town itself, no one dared bother Wendell for fear of something awful going down, thus the Colonel moved Wendell out to where he could be alone when not upholding his duty. A few months following the completion of Wendell’s abode, a salesman approached Wendell’s home selling a “magic elixir.” Screaming at the man, Wendell demanded he leave. The salesman, persistent to his end, continued his speech about the wonders of his “magic elixir.” At the continuation of his sales pitch, Wendell reached inside the house for a P-160 Lee Enfield rifle and proceeded to shoot the salesman in the head at point blank range. From that moment forth, no one ever set foot on Wendell’s property without proper invitation. The man was evil for sure, but the Colonel knew that Wendell would obey any of his orders, no matter how wicked. And while the man may have come across as something of a savage to most people in town, he was actually a brilliant tactician, someone who examined an enemy’s weaknesses and strengths before striking. This made Wendell the perfect man to help the Colonel devise a plan to either employ or dispose of Jim Hammer. Two days had passed since Jim Hammer collected the bounty on Walter “Bluebird” Reed. Two days had passed since Hammer was in town, taking Bluebird’s body to La Bala De Plata and a Marshall named Andrew Willow to collect the bounty. The Colonel did not like it when bounty hunters came into town and killed men without his consent. The truth of the matter is that the Colonel often employed such criminals and wanted men to carry out high risk operations that may incriminate his own men. In simpler terms, the Colonel hired outlaws to carry out his most risky operations which had a chance of failure. Such activity would include robbery, extortion, and murder, and would affect those who spoke against the Colonel, but in instances where there was a witness or two. ************************************************************************ It was a particularly warm day in Steel Creek. At High Noon, the sun peaked, beating down on the desert floor below. Those working at the steel mill did their best to stay hydrated and out of the sun’s direct light. Miners took the time to do menial tasks rather than descend into the earth in search of gold. Most of the town’s shopkeepers minded their stores from porches, sitting in rocking chairs with hand fans bought from the local Chinamen. The working girls at Six Shooters refused to take on any johns, and not wanting to work in the heat, they helped Texas Cosmo, the bartender, instead. The girls assisted Cosmo and his son Ethan as they dumped spoiled beer out in back of the saloon and washed it away with pumped water transported in buckets by the women. “This is why I hate beer. Such a waste, such a waste! Whiskey! Bourbon! Rum! That is what sells!” Texas Cosmo would say aloud as the spoiled beer splashed against the ground. At the Smith/Donnelly Guns and Dry Goods shop, Patrick Donnelly and Virgil Smith sat next to each other in their wooden rocking chairs, slowly rocking back and forth. Smith sat upright and used a Chinese fan in his right hand to attempt to cool down a bit. Donnelly slouched in his chair with his brown hat pulled down over his forehead. In addition to these two men, Abel Douglas leaned on one of the porch’s support posts near the entrance. He was cutting an apple with a small pocket knife, looking around at the town in front of him. “Ain’t you the least bit warm, Abel?” Smith asked, pulling a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiping his brow. Abel smiled and cut off a small piece of his apple. “I don’t mind it much, Virgil. It was much warmer in the Carolinas. It’s kind of dry out here, not much for makin’ me sweat.” Abel tossed the piece of apple into his mouth. Donnelly lifted his head slightly and used his index finger to push his hat up from his brow as he said, “The outfit I ran with in the Army was stationed in Onondaga territory, Syracuse. After spending two winters out there, I’ll take the heat.” “Well, you two are much younger than I am. I was born in Rhode Island–that was a decent balance,” Smith answered. “Given any more thought to the Sherriff’s offer, Abel?” “About being a deputy? I been thinkin’ about it. I took on a few hours of labor at the steel mill yesterday; he came by and talked to me a bit. He seems like a nice enough fella. Just not too sure about those other folks he runs with. That Colonel Hanover puts me off a little,” Abel said looking over towards the Sherriff’s office. From the office, the Colonel, Wendell, and Portsman exited and began to make their way towards Donnelly, Smith and Abel. “Now what in the hell is this about?” Smith asked as he watched the three soldiers approach. “Probably want to talk about Hammer. We can deny our relationship all we want; Jim did ride into town with us. I figure they’re going to ask us about Bluebird,” Donnelly replied calmly, still slouching in his chair as the soldiers approached. “Afternoon, gentlemen.” Portsman looked at all three men with a tip of his hat. The Colonel stood to Portsman’s left and behind them, arms folded across his chest. Wendell snarled and sized up each of the men. “There’s some concern about your friend Mr. Hammer.” The Colonel said. “Who said he’s our friend?” Donnelly replied. “You all rode into town with him, he frequents your shops and we’ve got witnesses that have him speaking with the priest you came in with before he went off and killed Bluebird,” Portsman said as he put one knee up on the front step of the porch and leaned forward. “If there is some concern over Mr. Hammer, and you are under the assumption that he is our friend and/or associate, then I reckon you’ll be tellin’ us what it is that bothers you.” Donnelly sat up in his chair, spine straight, rubbing his chin. “Well, Mr. Donnelly, we’ve got a set of rules in this town–strict ones when it comes to the operations of bounty hunters, and Mr. Hammer didn’t exactly adhere to them.” Portsman’s voice sounded a bit more nervous than before as Smith stared him down. “I did not see these rules posted near the entrance of town. When did bringin’ wanted men to justice become bound by a set of rules out here? Smith asked. You put up a poster–in this town’s case, a wall of posters–and expect bounty hunters not to collect.” As Portsman opened his mouth to retort, the Colonel stepped forward and said, “I don’t mean to come here to wave around my rank and status gentlemen, but Sherriff Portsman is one of my soldiers and ultimately answers to me. Therefore, before any bounty hunter can lay a finger on a wanted man, they have to go through Mr. Portsman, which in turn means they have to go through me. I don’t care who it is that provides the reward, be it in this town, La Bala De Plata, or anywhere else for that matter. All bounty operations go through my say so.” “Is that right, Colonel? Seeing as how there aren’t many bounty hunters, and certainly plenty of wanted men, I figure you must take a hefty share of the reward for yourself,” Donnelly answered. And I would assume if they don’t like it, they either leave town or worse.” Portsman took offense to Donnelly’s insinuation and stepped forward, reaching for his pistol. Smith, Abel, and Donnelly did not flinch as Portsman’s eyes flared. “Just who do you think…” The Colonel put his hand in front of Portsman and nodded his head. Portsman backed down, staring straight at Donnelly who non-chalantly bit his fingernail and spit it in Portsman’s direction. “Now, now Gentlemen,” the Colonel said, “we just came over to have a simple discussion. We meant no harm. If ya’ll say you don’t know Mr. Hammer that well, I suppose I’d have to take your word for it. Truth is, we’d like to employ Mr. Hammer and we thought you gentlemen might know him in some capacity.” Smith looked straight ahead at the Colonel and shook his head. “From the little I know of Mr. Hammer,I’d have to say he prefers to work alone. When we met up with him before coming into town he really didn’t talk much, nor take on any assistance. I doubt he’s a man that will take any kind of managed employment.” “We’ll see about that, Mr. Smith, is it? Speaking of which, Mr. Douglas, we sure hope you’ve considered our offer. It still stands.” The Colonel tipped his hat and he and Portsman turned to walk away. Wendell stayed in place, staring down the three men like a mad dog. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name…” Donnelly said to Wendell with a smirk. Wendell took two steps towards the porch and grunted at Donnelly. The Colonel quickly turned around and called for Wendell. “Sergeant Mason, let’s be on our way.” The Colonel held out his hand and motioned for Wendell to follow. Wendell spit on the ground in front of the porch, turned and walked towards the General. “Nothing there but a mad dog on a rope,” Smith said as the three men watched the soldiers walk away. “I’d much rather not see things get so tense around here. When Hammer creates tension, people start dyin’.” “If I do join up, I can probably figure out how they work and keep them off of Hammer for some time. Might not be a bad idea, could find out if this Colonel Hanover has any of the information Hammer is always after,” Abel said. “Hammer’s been after the same thing for a long time. I don’t know why he thinks he’ll find it here. I figure as long as the money keeps comin’ we have a purpose besides doing what may or may not be right,” Donnelly answered as he stood up and started to make his way inside the shop. As Donnelly entered the shop, he turned around to see Hammer atop his horse, slowly entering the town limits. “Well, things were quiet for a couple of days, anyway,” Donnelly said as he entered the store.