Anatomy of a Lawman Read Online Free Page A

with.”
     
    Doc Foster walked Clint over to the two-story brick City Hall. They walked in and Doc led him to a room in the back.
    There was a long table with five chairs, four of which were occupied. Doc Foster walked around the table and sat in the fifth chair.
    “Have a seat, Mr. Adams,” said a man whom Clint didn’t recognize.
    He only knew Doc Foster and the man from the saloon, Radke.
    There was an empty chair in front of the table and Clint sat down in it.
    The man seated at the other end of the table introduced himself. “I’m Hal Finley, mayor of Guardian.” He was in his sixties, well dressed and healthy looking.
    “Mr. Mayor,” Clint said, nodding.
    “You know the two men to my left, Doctor Foster and George Radke,” the mayor said. “To my right are Mr. Lew Preston and Mrs. Henry Dennison.”
    Preston was a sad-looking man in his forties. Mrs. Dennison was a handsome-looking woman of about forty.
    “Mrs. Dennison is here representing her husband, who died last year.”
    Clint wondered why the mayor thought that was important enough to mention.
    “Mr. Adams, we understand Sheriff Harper has asked you to take his place until he’s back on his feet.”
    “That’s not quite right, Mr. Mayor.”
    “Oh?”
    “He may never get back on his feet,” Clint said. “I told him I’d wear this badge until I found someone who could handle the job.”
    “Well, you understand that the Town Council has to approve you as temporary sheriff.”
    “I understand that’s a formality,” Clint said.
    “Actually, it’s quite serious—”
    “Mr. Mayor,” Clint asked, “do you intend to go out into the street with a gun when the Graves gang comes back?”
    “Well . . . I don’t use a gun, Mr.—”
    “What about you, ma’am?” Clint asked.
    “Certainly not, Mr. Adams,” she said. “You definitely have my vote to keep that badge.”
    “We haven’t put this up for a vote yet—” Radke started.
    “None of you plan to take up a gun when the gang gets here,” Clint said, “so there’s no way you’re going to take this badge away from me—and there’s no way I’m going to jump through your hoops.” He stood up. “I intend to do what I told Jack Harper I’d do.”
    He turned and walked to the door, pausing for a moment.
    “But I may just be calling on some of you to pick up a gun, whether you want to or not.”
    He left them all there staring as he went out the door.

NINE
    Clint was sitting at Sheriff Jack Harper’s desk when the door to the office opened and the deputy came walking in.
    “Buck.”
    “How’d it go?” Buck asked.
    Clint looked down at his chest.
    “I’ve still got the badge on,” he said, “but I don’t know for how long.”
    “What did you tell them?”
    “Basically,” Clint said, “to mind their own business and stay off my back.”
    “Really?” Buck grinned. “I really would have liked to see that.”
    Clint grinned back at him.
    “They weren’t very happy. What’s going on around town?”
    “Not much,” Buck said. “Folks are talking; about the sheriff gettin’ shot and the Graves gang comin’ back. They’re wonderin’ who’s gonna stop them.”
    “Let them wonder,” Clint said. “Meantime, you got any names for me?”
    Buck looked down at his feet.
    “Not yet,” he said. “I’m still thinkin’ on it.”
    “That’s okay,” Clint said. “Just let me know when you come up with somebody.”
    “Yes, sir,” Buck said. “I’ll just . . . keep makin’ rounds.”
    “You do that, Buck.”
    Buck nodded and left the office.
     
    It was a half an hour later when the door opened again and Doc Foster came in.
    “They send you to collect the badge?” Clint asked.
    “You didn’t make yourself any friends in that room,” Foster said, “but no. They voted to let you keep it.”
    “I wonder who they would have sent to take it if they’d voted the other way?”
    “That’s just it,” Foster said. “Nobody was willing to try.”
    Clint