Blogtober 2020 Day 27 Entry
Deputy James Gray joined the Kansas Marshalls after six years of arresting drunks and whores in downtown Kansas City. He liked riding the open skies of the Kansas prairie far more than trolling the streets stinking of stockyards.
He and his two fellow deputies followed the trail of the two young outlaws and their gang into the flat plains, where the single road north made it merely a matter of time before they caught up with them. Gray was determined there would be no capture, no trial, just six bodies loaded up in the back of their wagon.
Late in the morning on the fourth day, Gray spotted two figures on horses in the distance. The flatlands made the miles shrink, an illusion that left landmarks in the distance long past the time a rider would think he should have arrived.
“Got a couple of riders ahead,” Gray called out.
“Can you see them?” Deputy Carter asked.
“Not yet. Gonna pick up the pace.”
Gray snapped the reins and increased their speed along the dusty road. It was past midday when they had closed enough distance to make out details on the riders.
“That’s them” Gray said. “Red shirt, blue plaid, both wearing ten-gallons.”
“Where’s the others?” Deputy Jansen asked.
“Don’t see anyone,” Gray said. “Must have deserted them.”
“So much for honor among thieves,” Carter said.
“We’ll get them under the gun until they give up the others,” Gray said. “Then they both get a bullet in the head.”
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