Now Playing: The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
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Episode Nine concluded with:
Both
men turned their heads as the sound of slamming wood made a distant bang in the
morning air. “That must be coming from the church,” Krammer looked toward the
steeple that raised above the rest of the town. “The church doors are heavy and
not put in quite right…”
“Is the church locked?”
“No…never…do you think that jasper
who got left behind…”
Dehner spoke hurriedly. “Get the
sheriff. He’s at home. This was going to be his day to sleep in. I’m heading
for the church.” Krammer nodded his head. Dehner ran in the direction of the
steeple.
Episode Ten
As
he got nearer to the church, Dehner reckoned he was dealing with a man who
lived in Cooper. A church would make a good hide out for a few hours, then the
robber could slip out and mix back into the town.
Dehner wondered if the crook knew
how far the sound of the church door had carried. The detective would soon find
out.
Dehner stepped carefully onto the
wooden porch of the church and examined the double doors in front of him. The
doors were thick and ornate. They seemed to have come from another church. The
detective could understand why the doors were a bit awkward to handle.
He pulled out his Colt, carefully
opened one of the doors, stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind
him. The church was typical of a small
western town. There were two sections of pews divided by a narrow middle isle.
The platform at the front consisted of a pulpit in the center and a choir loft
behind it.
The detective felt compelled to give
the outlaw a chance. “I know you’re in here. Give up now and make things easy
on yourself.”
There was no response. Dehner hadn’t
expected one. He moved slowly down the aisle, his eyes darting between the two
sections of pews and the choir loft. He reached the front of the church without
spotting anything unusual. He didn’t really need to use the steps located at
both sides of the platform. One quick hop and he was even with the pulpit,
directly facing the choir loft.
The detective’s instincts gave him a
plan of action. He began to walk toward the loft. “Okay, I know you are—”
Dehner spun and fired at the figure
crouched behind the pulpit. The outlaw gave a loud screech of pain and fired
his gun as he fell over. As he hit the floor, the outlaw raised the upper part
of his body for a second shot. A flame from Dehner’s Colt sent the outlaw down
for the last time.
The front door of the church opened
and Sheriff Stephens burst in, gun drawn. “The shots from the robbery woke me
up. Whit Krammer told me—”
Dehner was crouched over the body of
a man he had just killed. “This man looks familiar. Recognize him?” The
detective nodded at the corpse.
Buck hurried onto the platform and
looked at the dead outlaw. “That’s Kyle Ryan. Remember, I pointed him out to
you last night. He’s the jasper Vicki put a curse on.”
Dehner nodded. “Vicki is young,
guess she hasn’t got the hang of being a witch yet.”
“What do you mean?”
Dehner pointed at the corpse. “I watched
this man run after his horse took off. Kyle Ryan wasn’t limping.”
Monday: Episode Eleven of The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
