Now Playing: Dangerous Calling
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Episode Three concluded with:
Reverend Goodman took a long drink of his coffee. The warm brew settled in his
stomach and felt good. “You know, I decided to ride from Dallas to Antioch
instead of taking the train because I felt that I needed the experience. Needed
to sleep under the stars and all that. Well, I got lost and, I’ll admit it. I
was scared.”
The pastor laughed whimsically. “But I ran into two good Samaritans. Maybe the
Lord wants me in the West, after all.”
Abner’s laugh was loud and harsh. He slammed a fist into Goodman’s neck. The
pastor dropped his coffee cup and rolled onto the ground, gasping for air.
Episode Four
For
the second time that night, the pastor was staring directly upwards. Only now
he was on his back and the branches of trees blocked out much of the sky.
Tendrils of smoke from the fire seemed to be wrapping around the branches like
monstrous snakes.
Then Abner’s face, red and full of
hate was suddenly blocking his view. A huge fist once again came down on his
neck, and something heavy pressed against his throat.
For a moment, Jim Goodman was back
in Boston, walking through a park with Amanda. They stopped beside a river. She
smiled at him and the two of them embraced.
Then everything vanished and there
was only darkness.
***
Abner gradually arose and looked
down at the corpse. “That was easy enough.”
“Coulda been a lot easier,” Fargo
replied. “Why didn’t you jus’ shoot the sky pilot?”
Abner walked over to the fire and
picked up a cup. “Any coffee left?”
“Yep.”
Abner removed the can from over the
fire and poured coffee into his cup. “What did you think of our last job?”
Fargo shrugged his shoulders. “Sorta
disappointin’. The payroll wasn’t on that stage like we heard.”
Abner returned the can to the spider
web over the fire. “We got a little over sixty-five dollars and we had two
jaspers helpin’ us.”
“Yep. So?”
“I’ve seen some of them stained
glass windows in Denver.”
“I saw me one in Dallas,” Fargo
said. “They’re pretty enough, I guess.”
“Pretty and very expensive,” Abner
explained.
“S’pose so.”
“Those good church goin’ folks in
Antioch must have raised a lot of money, and they’re gonna turn it over to the
new sky pilot once he hits town.”
Fargo laughed. “I think I’m
beginnin’to understand where you’re goin’.”
Abner glanced back at Goodman’s
corpse, then returned his gaze to Fargo. “To get back to your first question. I
didn’t shoot the Reverend because I didn’t want blood on his clothes. Antioch
is still gettin’ their new pastor tomorrow: a pastor who will be ridin’ out
with money stuffed in his saddle bags.”
Fargo’s laughter continued. “Like
takin’ candy from a baby!”
Abner smiled and took another sip of
coffee. Fargo was a decent enough partner, but he was a fool. He was a man who
would spend his life robbing the wrong stagecoach and getting one fourth of
sixty-five dollars for his efforts.
But, he still needed the fool. Fargo
had no idea how much money was involved here. Abner did. He had already killed one
man for that money. He’d kill more if necessary.
Tomorrow: Episode Five of Dangerous
Calling
