NaBloWriMo Day 16 – The Turning

Fictional Friday continues.  Part one is here and part two is here.  Onwards with part three or aka “Chapter two – The turning”.

Read on!

The morning was moving along into the early afternoon as Jacob lazily made his way through the valley.  Beneath him lumbered Mess.  She was a middle aged horse that had served him well.  They’d seen many adventures in his previous life as a Ranger and she was content to move through life at a slower pace now.  Jacob was of the same mindset most of the time himself but the recent events had him concerned.  As much as he’d tried to convince himself that he wasn’t going to get involved it seemed as if the path was already laid out for him.  His relationship with his grandfather had been a odd mixture of love and hate.  They had been close through the years and Otto had been a regular fixture at evening supper until recently.  Jacob slowed Mess to a halt as he looked towards town.

Coldstone sat at the base of the Gold Mountains.  It also rested at the far end of a valley.  On the other side of said valley rose the District Hills where Jacob called home among a handful of other settlers.  When the city had been bustling back in the day there was a dream of expanding the limits of the municipality to the far edges of the hills.  They had been “districted” by the planning commission.  Years after the plan fell apart the name had stuck and no one had the wherewithal to change any of it.

She wasn’t an ugly town by any means.  She was simply in her middle age.  Jacob chuckled to himself.  He didn’t care too much for Coldstone Proper but he had his meetings and people to see.  First on his rounds was Sheriff Ryder.

Nudging Mess ahead he took a deep breath.  Ryder was short, dumpy and not even qualified to be in the position he was posted.  The mantle of Otto Dahl’s sheriffhood had been laid at Ryder’s feet and pushed on him as if nothing else could save the city.  Stephen Ryder hadn’t blinked before accepting.  Jacob knew now the bespeckled regretted ever taking on the post and the duties he was sworn to uphold.  He was a puppet pure and simple.  It hadn’ taken Ryder long to discover his lot in life.  Jacob had found him crying in his office, unable to speak of what had happened to bring him to such a state.

Dahl was intending to visit Stephen to give him some kind of friendly warmth in a place that was quickly turning against any such ideas.

Moving slowly through Coldstone gave Jacob more reasons to be content with his situation.  The town had slid.  Less than respectable characters were roaming the town as opportunity was now readily available without a proper enforcement agent.  The entire town knew who Jacob Dahl was and where he had come from.  There was reason to fear the grizzled cowboy.

He reached the sheriff’s office and dismounted with a sigh and groan.  He needed to keep himself in shape for the upcoming spring season that would bring crops to fruit.  Dahl scuffed his way to the door and in closing it tightly behind him.

“Thank the Lord you’re here.”  Dahl turned slowly to see Stephen Ryder crouched in the corner with Otto Dahl’s double barreled shotgun gripped in his ruddy hands.  All of five foot and two hundred pounds Stephen Ryder was not someone you expected to see wearing a sheriff badge and with pistols strapped to his side.  And yet here he was with eyes wide and sweat beading across his brow.

Jacob took another deep breath.  Saints above why he did this whole being nice to people was beyond him but he still did it.  So here he again knew there was going to be something that would probably require his intervention.  Such was the life he seemed to be living lately.  “Stephen…what in the blue blazes of Hades are you doing?”  He looked to the sweat soaked man and then to the rest of the office.  No one was in the jail and there was no one else to share the odd observations Jacob was now trying to sort out.

Ryder motioned to the door.  “They’re going to kill me.”  Jacob chuckled, “They’re not going to kill you Stephen.  You’re their puppet.  You do what they tell you and they pay you.  What’s the argument there?”  Ryder went silent and stared at a point just to the side of Dahl.  This gave the taller man reason to worry.  If somehow his friend had angered those in power there were certainly consequences to be had and it wouldn’t be pretty.  It would be nasty.  There’d probably be gunfire.  Some blood.  And someone was probably going to get very close to death.  “What did you do Stephen?”

Finally the terrified young man looked Dahl in the eye and gulped.  Twice.  “I asked a question.   I asked why I had to kill a man.  They said it was for his own good.  He deserved it.  He was going to cause trouble for the town they said.  I told them that wasn’t true.  He’d mind his own business.  He’d stay away.  They said no.  I…I…I said…no.”  Dahl moved carefully to a chair and sat down.  He was mildly curious what this was supposed to mean.  “Who were you supposed to kill?”

Ryder shook his head and took a long breath before looking directly into the eyes of his friend.  “You.  I was supposed to kill you.  I couldn’t Jacob.  This has gotten out of control.  There’s a new guy in control and he’s crazy.”  Stephen slumped in to the corner as the weight of the confession lifted from his shoulders.

Jacob stood suddenly and checked his twin pistols at his hip.  His mind was now fully alert and searching around for any sign of something wrong.  Whoever “they” were things had certainly taken a darker turn in the last week.  He knew with his part experiences as a Ranger it created a bit of concern.  He had hoped his swearing off taking up his grandfather’s mantle would be enough for whoever ended up running the city of Coldstone.

He apparently had misjudged them on several accounts.

As if it was second nature Dahl moved to the weapons cabinet and snagged a similar shotgun to Ryders and with little ceremony loaded it dropping several spare rounds in the pockets of his duster.  It was all done without speaking or thinking.  Ryder remained sunk to the floor breathing evenly.  Jacob allowed himself to smile.  At least he was calm.  “When did they say you had to kill me?”

Ryder looked around the room before focusing back on his friend.  “Tomorrow.  That was the deadline.  I’m no good at this Jacob.  I can’t keep lying.  I can’t keep breaking the law.  These people deserve better.”  Dahl nodded as he glanced out the windows cautiously.  He was now a marked man. Togher they made a very tasty target.  “We’ll need to get you out of town and away.  You can stay the night with me and Ezzie and don’t try to say no.  I’ve been secretly wondering how long this would take.”  Ryder’s eyebrows went up for a moment, “What do you mean?”

Dahl shrugged, “I’ve been hiding behind my past.  Nothing ever fades away forever.  Can you move?”  A nod from Ryder as Jacob continued to speak, “Follow my lead.  We run into trouble you duck and cover.  Don’t shoot, don’t stop and don’t panic.  I need you alive.  Understand?”  Ryder was wide eyed at the sudden forthright force that Dahl had embodied in a matter of seconds.  He nodded slowly.  His new partner grinned for the time that day.  “Then let’s get dangerous.”