Now Playing: The Songbird of the West
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Episode Nine concluded with:
Gun in hand, the detective crouched down on the
porch and opened the front door. He was now only a few feet from a bald headed
outlaw whose entire body pivoted quickly to greet the newcomer.
“Drop the gun.” Dehner ordered.
“I was about to say the same thing to you,
stranger.” The gunman pointed his six shooter directly at Dehner. “I guess we
got us what they call a stand off.”
Episode Ten
“All
your pals are dead or seriously wounded, mister,” Dehner said. “Even if you
kill me, there are lawmen all around this place.”
The
gunman laughed derisively. “Well, there is one less lawman. I just shot your
friend in the kitchen.”
As
he pretended to look toward the kitchen, Dehner fired, a quick second before
his adversary could pull the trigger of his six shooter. The bullet entered the
outlaw’s shoulder. He slammed against the bureau, his arm flailing out and
tossing his gun a few feet away. Instinctively, the outlaw began to scramble for
the weapon. He was stopped by two bullets from Streeter’s .44.
The
sheriff quickly ran toward Dehner, motioning with his gun at the two men he had
killed earlier and the one he had just shot. “There are two more of them. They
left to take the horses--”
“Curt
and I took care of them. One is dead, the other wounded badly.”
The
sheriff looked confused, as if he needed to take some immediate action but
couldn’t think of what is was. “I stumbled over a rock or something out back.
Those thugs opened fire on me but missed. I took out two of them; the third hid
behind that thing.” He pointed at the bureau. “I was getting low on ammo. Good
thing you and Curt came along.”
Streeter’s
hands were shaking. The lawman seemed to be experiencing the jitters as well as
the exhaustion-excitement that follows a life threatening encounter. Dehner
understood the reaction.
“Hey
guys,” Weldon shouted from behind them. He had come in through the window.
“Don’t we have one more job to do here?” He pointed at the door to the room
where Carrie was being held prisoner.
Tal
Streeter laughed and ran a hand over his head. “Knew we had come here to do
somethin’.”
***
Rance
Dehner felt nervous and apprehensive. He stood erect and held his breath. There
was an explosion of smoke followed by loud cheering.
Dehner
was standing on a small stage in the Silver Crown saloon. The stage was located
a few feet from the bar. With Rance were Tal Streeter, Curt Weldon and Carrie
Whiting. Of the foursome, only Carrie appeared relaxed. That didn’t surprise
Dehner. Carrie Whiting would be quite used to being on stage and having her
picture taken.
A
medium sized man wearing a brown suit and derby jumped onto the stage. He had
been introduced earlier to Dehner as Felix Murphy, the town mayor. Murphy
smiled at the large crowd in front of him. Today, the saloon was being turned
into a theater for a few hours. The tables had been stacked along the side
walls and the chairs set up in rows. There were a large number of women and
children present.
“Thank
you, Glenn,” the mayor addressed the man who had just taken the picture. Glenn
Wilson was the photographer, reporter and editor of the local paper. “Glenn
tells me that the picture he just took and the story of what happened to Miss
Whiting yesterday will go all over the country and really put our town on the
map!”
There
was another round of loud cheering. Felix used the moment to whisper
instructions to Carrie’s three rescuers. “You gents can vamoose off the stage
now.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Eleven of The Songbird of the West