Carlyle

"They've been trying to hire one ever since Billy and me whupped the old one but I don't think they got anybody."

That wasn't enough for old man Clayborn. He didn't get where he was by taking chances. "Finch, Lucky, you two check out the sheriff's office. If there's anybody in there make sure they don't interrupt us."

"Yes, Sir, Mr. Clayborn." The two dismounted and cautiously walked down the wooden sidewalk. Lucky peeked in the window and saw Roberts sitting at his desk. He nodded to Finch then looked back and waved to his boss before they both entered the sheriff's office with pistols drawn.

As soon as Clayborn felt his only threat was removed he and his men thundered through town, quickly pulling their horses up in front of the hardware store. Before Hez realized what was happening the men stormed inside and rushed the two of them. Mattie screamed as three of the men grabbed her. Hezekiah struggled in an attempt to aid his wife but it was useless. The rest of the men had him completely incapacitated.

Clayborn saw the cuts and Hez's swollen eye and knew he had the right man. "You killed my boy," he flatly declared.

Hez was still trying to break loose as he answered. "It was self-defense," he yelled.

"I don't care. Come on boys, I got a rope on my saddle. Somebody get it. We're going to string him up in the front of the livery stable and leave him hanging as a warning for the rest of the people in this lousy town. C'mon!"

Eric grabbed Mattie who was still screaming wildly and slapped her across the face. "Shut up!" he yelled. "We're going to take you out and let you watch your murdering husband hang, then we're taking you to the ranch where you can entertain the hands until we all get good'n tired of you."

"Let her go! She had nothing to do with it," cried Hezekiah, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

"Somebody put him on a horse," yelled the old man.

One of the men tied Hez's hands behind his back as the cowpunchers pushed and shoved the two into the street. Several of them lifted him up on a horse. The rope they grabbed was already tied with a hangmen's noose. Clayborn mounted his horse and walked it in the direction of the stables.

Surrounded and unable to break free from the blood thirsty mob, Mattie screamed at the top of her lungs. "PLEASE DON'T, SOMEBODY HELP, PLEASE, PLEASE HELP US," she implored, but the doors and windows of Carlyle stayed closed.

The vengeful mob herded Hezekiah to his fate. Just as one of the men threw the rope over a big timber that was used to haul hay up to the loft, two shots rang out from the sheriff's office.

Eric grinned up at his pa. "I guess they'll be looking for a new sheriff again."

Ezekiel wasn't concerned with the sheriff, he was eager for vengeance. "Bring his horse alongside mine," he ordered. Mattie was still screaming frantically as Ezekiel got ready to slip the noose over Hezekiah's head.

"HOLD IT!"

The booming voice broke through the chaos and everyone stopped to look. Standing alone in the street was the tall slim figure of Carlyle's new sheriff holding a double-barrel shotgun.

Eric glanced in the direction of the jail wondering how he got past Lucky and Finch. He realized the two shots they heard meant his friends wouldn't be returning to the ranch.

Ezekiel broke the silence. "You going up against us all, sheriff? Don't be silly. It's fifteen against one, you don't stand a chance. Get out of here and we'll let you live, otherwise..."

The hero of Pleasant Valley stood pat. "I assume you're Ezekiel Clayborn. You got here fast. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow. I guess now's as good a time as any though. I got double-ought buckshot in this thing. You might get me but I'm going to take five or six of you to boot hill with me—and you're definitely going to be one of them."

"You won't shoot," replied old man Clayborn, "you could just as easily hit the store-keep here, or worse, his wife."

"The mayor's going to die anyway and for what you have in store for his misses...well, I'm sure she'd rather be dead."

Not a sound was made during the twenty or thirty second stand off until the overconfident Eric decided he was fast enough to drop the man where he stood. The deafening blast from one of the large barrels almost blew the older brother in half.

Clayborn's horse spooked as he was going for his gun and Robert's couldn't get a bead on him. Just as Ezekiel leveled his Scofield forty-four on the lone lawman another shot rang out from above and the king of ranchers flew from his horse, landing in a pool of blood.

Roberts had no idea where the shot came from but he was going make the most of it. "Alright, everybody hold it. You're all covered," he yelled, pointing the other barrel of his twelve gage.

They all looked back at their former boss as they raised their hands high in the air. "Everybody line up and drop your guns into the dirt. Then march towards the jail," he told them. "Mattie, go help your husband off that horse and go home. It's over."

She was almost hysterical as she ran over to Hezekiah. As soon as he was on the ground she untied his hands, threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed uncontrollably. He embraced her trembling body and tried to calm her. "It's okay, honey. I'm okay."

While escorting what was left of the would-be lynch mob back to jail, Jim noticed a young man with a Winchester thirty-thirty exiting the front door of the hotel. "You," he called out, "you want to give me a hand here?"

The kid couldn't have been more than twenty but he didn't hesitate to back up the sheriff. Once everyone was safely behind bars, Roberts had a talk with him. "I'm guessing you're the one who took the shot that put Clayborn down."

"Yeah, I had to. He was going to shoot you."

"Well I'm obliged. What's your name?"

"Joshua, Joshua Hicks. My dad was the town sheriff here...until the Clayborn brothers beat him half to death."

"I see; so that shot was just for revenge?"

"No, Sir. I...I want a good place to live. I thought about what you said at the church. You were right, first it was my pa, then the mayor. Who would be next? I've got me a fiancé. Her name's Molly. She's the prettiest girl in these parts. I thought about her. What if they came for her someday? I couldn't let that happen, Mr. Roberts."

He liked what he heard. "What about that job as my deputy; you interested?"

He answered immediately. "Yes, sir."

"Alright," he said, opening the drawer where he saw the deputy's badges. "The first order of business is to stop calling me sir, the name's Jim."

"Yes, sir, Jim; thank you," he said while pinning the badge to his shirt. "I hope you don't have a bad opinion of the people here. They're not bad, honest. They've...well, they've never had anyone they could feel they trusted before. My dad tried to keep the peace but he was just no match for the Clayborns. I'm pretty sure that after today you're going see the people won't be so scared."

"I hope you right, Josh. I'm getting tired of moving around. I'm kinda hoping to settle down—maybe here, we'll see."

Things did change in Carlyle from that day forward. Under the training of sheriff Jim Roberts, Joshua Hicks became a first rate deputy. Between the two they commanded a new respect for law and order in town. Joshua was also right about the people. The few times they need the town's backing it was there. Carlyle's reputation discouraged the criminal element around and encouraged more decent people to take up residence.

Mattie and Hezekiah never did move. In fact, as the town grew so did their family...by two healthy, strapping sons and one beautiful daughter. Hezekiah remained the mayor for years. They even started paying him.

Jim Roberts also stayed on the job. With his trusted deputy at his side the town's people just wouldn't let him step down. He finally left Carlyle behind one night when he passed away while doing his rounds at the age of seventy-three.

The End.