Now Playing: The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
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Episode Sixteen concluded with:
A voice sounded
from outside. “The wagon’s comin’!”
“Want me to get out and help you guys, Zack?”
“Not yet. With Broder there will be four of us. We can unload the wagon. You
stay here and tie these two up. When we’re done unloading, you can help us
reload and put the money on the bottom.”
Lucky smiled at his two companions as he kept a six shooter pointed at them.
“You girlies will hav’ta give me a moment to find the rope. I’ve tied up lots
of jaspers in my life, but I think this time it’s gonna be a lot more fun.”
Episode Seventeen:
Zack
hurried out the door and shouted a greeting to the driver of the large
buckboard that was pulling in. Broder was completely silent: not cursing,
complaining or demanding more pay. Something was wrong.
“How was the trip?” Zack asked.
Haggart and Gruber stood on each side of their ramrod.
“Just fine.” Broder made an
elaborate production of standing and putting a hand on his hip. He wasn’t
carrying iron.
Zack went for his gun. Rance
Dehner’s head poke up from behind a stack of flour sacks, so did his right hand
which held a Colt .45. “Drop the gun!”
Zack Gilpin raised his weapon.
Dehner fired a bullet into his right arm. The gunman spun and hit the ground.
David Martin popped up beside
Dehner, holding a .44. He yelled at the two henchmen still on their feet.
“Unbuckle your gunbelts and let them drop to the ground. Now! Broder, get off
the wagon and join them.”
“Better do what the preacher says, gents!”
Buck Stephens shouted as he moved out from behind the bunkhouse. He was walking
fast and carrying a Winchester.
The three outlaws did what they were
told.
Inside the makeshift building, Lucky
tossed down the rope he was about to use as he gazed out the small, grungy
window. He waved his gun in a threatening manner at the two women. “If either
of you makes a peep, I’ll kill you.”
Judy squeezed her companion’s left
arm gently. “Do what he says, Vicki. We have no choice.”
Lucky moved to the side of the
doorway and peaked outside. Zack was down and not much good to anyone. But
Haggart and Gruber were still standing, their guns right at their feet.
Lucky felt a surge of energy. Guys
like Zack rawhided him about a lot of stuff. But nobody had ever accused him of
being a bad shot. Now, he was going to show everyone how valuable his gun could
be…
Lucky edged into the doorway. He
could take down the two guys in the wagon. That should allow Haggert and Gruber
enough time to…
A sudden wallop hit Lucky from
behind. The outlaw stumbled outside of the building as Judy’s voice shouted,
“Now, Vicki!” Lucky was hit by a second impact, this time directly to the head.
Counterfeit money began to rain over Lucky as the second sack to hit him split
open.
Lucky could hear the two women
running off. He spotted them through a multitude of red blotches and raised his
gun for a shot. He’d show those…
Dehner’s fist slammed into the
outlaw’s face. Lucky fell onto a sack of money; the sack which Judy had hit him
with, the sack that didn’t break. Beside the unconscious outlaw lay the second
sack which Vicki had applied to his head. A breeze now played with the contents
of the open sack as well as the bills that lay on the ground.
Dehner did a quick survey of the
people around him. Except for Zack and Lucky, everyone seemed okay. But the
entire scene was oddly subdued. Everyone remained quiet, almost frozen, as they
watched an array of ten dollar bills dance playfully over the barren landscape.
Tomorrow: Episode Eighteen, the
conclusion of The Witch of Cooper,
Arizona
