April, 2010

Issue #7

The Undertakers
by Sandra Seamans

Smitty Jones spotted the vultures just outside of Silver City. Black shadows circling high in the sky, with a crowd of feathered undertakers waiting their turn in the branches of a gnarled oak tree. Others perched on the shoulders of a cowboy dangling at the end of a rope, his body swaying with every savage peck.

"Petey Sway," he muttered. "You never did know how to keep your neck tucked in when trouble was sniffing round your back trail. I'm gonna miss you, old friend."

Jabbing his heels into the horse's flanks he nudged the pinto away from the tree.

"He a friend of yours, Mister?"

Smitty froze in the saddle, then slowly turned. A green kid with a deputy's badge was holding a shotgun on him. "Used to be."

"You just gonna leave him hanging there?"

"The law seen fit to let him swing, ain't much else I can do, is there? I expect your sheriff left him hanging there as a warning."

The kid nodded. "Sheriff Cole. He's in town. Supper. He's having his supper. It is supper time."

The kid stopped talking, took a big gulp of air and managed to get his tongue under control. "He left me standing guard but I can't take them birds no longer. Don't matter none to me what you done, Mister, just help me bury him, then get back on your horse and ride on outta here. Please, I can't stand seeing them scavengers pecking at his eyeballs no longer."

"I know what you mean, kid," said Smitty as he swung out of the saddle. Hell, Petey would've taken the risk for him. "You got a shovel handy?"

The shovel sliced through the dirt and for a long while only the sound of the birds fighting over Petey's body broke the quiet of the grave digging.

"You were supposed to be here with him, weren't you, Mister?"

Smitty stopped shoveling. He pulled the bandana from his around his neck and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Yeah, I should have been here but my horse threw a shoe. Kept me from catching up with him before he hit Silver City and ran into your sheriff."

"You sorry he's dead and you ain't?"

"Petey and I been friends for as long as I can remember. We grew up together, fought a war together, rode herd together. Am I sorry he's dead? Yeah, I'm gonna miss him. Do I wish I was dead right along with him? Not a chance in hell. If I'd been here he might still be alive or we could both be swinging from that tree. Ain't no way of telling. Life is what it is, kid, all you can do is live it the best you know how."

"You think killing a woman is living the best you know how?"

"Petey never killed no woman. Yeah, he was trying to cut her from the herd at that dance over in Red Rock, but she wasn't having none of him. The thing about Petey? That man had the looks and charm to sweep any number of girls off their feet. One didn't want him, he just moved on to the next."

"Then how come his face is on a wanted poster?"

"Cause folks in Red Rock didn't want to believe one of their own killed that girl. It's a whole lot easier to pin that kind of meanness on a stranger. Makes it easier to look at your neighbors without wondering who among you might of done something like that."

The kid grunted and went quiet for a spell while Smitty went back to digging.

"That hole deep enough so we can cut him down?"

"I 'spect so," said Smitty. "You been mighty deep in thought, kid. Made any decisions yet?"

"Decisions?"

"About me."

"I told you, you're free to go once we got your pal buried."

"I know what you said, but you ain't set that gun down since I started digging."

"I'm the deputy and you're probably a wanted man. It wouldn't look right if someone came along and I wasn't doing my job."

"And what is your job, kid? You supposed to shoot off that gun to let the sheriff know that I showed up?"

"That was the plan."

"Was?"

"Look, let's just cut you friend down and get him buried before them birds got him all picked to pieces."

Smitty laid the shovel down and walked over to the hang tree. He waved his hat in the air to chase the vultures off of Petey, then pulled his knife to cut the rope. The kid's shotgun blasted through the branches and a cloud of black vultures filled the sky. Smitty sliced through the rope and Petey's body thumped to the ground.

"You just couldn't resist could you?"

"Couldn't stand them birds a minute longer. Now, you just drag his body on over to the hole, mister. Besides, you shoulda known from the start that I couldn't let you go, you being a friend of his and all. There's paper out on you ain't there?"

"Could be. Could be not. Let me ask you something, kid. What's more important? That reward money or your word?"

"My word? To an outlaw?"

"A man's only as good as his word, boy. You gave your word that I could be on way once Petey was buried. Hell, that's the only reason I stuck around."

"I thought you stuck around because I was holding a gun on your sorry butt."

"As green as you are, kid, I could've dropped you before you pulled the trigger on that shotgun. But I ain't a killer and now I know you ain't a man of your word. That makes you no better than old Petey here, 'cept your picture ain't on a poster."

"I ain't nothing like your friend. I didn't never kill no one."

"Yeah, you did. You killed my friend, Petey, without benefit of a trial. The sheriff and you and probably a bunch of town folks strung him up just because his face decorated a piece of paper. You're the law, you're supposed to be better than that."

"What would you know about the law, mister?"

Smitty pulled back the lapels of his coat. A silver marshal's badge was pinned to his vest. "I'm the US Marshal for these parts, kid. I've been tracking Petey so I could take him back for trial in Red Rock."

"But you said he was your friend."

"He was, but there comes a time when a man has to make a choice about what side of the fence he plans to stand on for the rest of his life."

"You said he didn't kill that girl. You know that for a fact?"

"Yeah, I do, kid, cause I did some investigating before I set out to find Petey. I arrested the man who killed that girl. Folks in Red Rock weren't too happy with me but finding out the truth, well, that's my job."

"So what were you tracking him for?"

"Cause he robbed the bank in Red Rock before he left town. He's a wanted man, but bank robbery ain't a hanging offense."

The kid looked toward town and spotted a group of men heading their way. "You'd best head on out of here, mister. The Sheriff Cole ain't a man who listens real well. He'll hang you quick as he did your friend there. I'm sorry for what we done to him."

Smitty swung up in his saddle. "You kept your word, kid, and that's good enough for me. Just do me one favor."

"Anything, mister."

"The next time you're rushing to judgment on somebody, think about Petey Sway and what you done to him before you do anything you might regret later."

"I doubt I'll ever forget what was done here today, Marshal."

"Looks like you picked what side of the fence you're gonna live your life on, kid. Petey'd be proud to know that at least one good thing came out of his dying like he did."

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