Shaunessy asked. âWhat did you think of it?â
âYou donât want to know what I think, John.â
âYeah, I do,â Shaunessy insisted. âCome on, Fred. What do you think?â
âOkay, since you insist,â Dodge said. âI think you are all a bunch of no-account, murdering, law-breaking, cowardly scoundrels.â
Shaunessy stood up so fast his chair fell over.
âYou got no love for John Heath, Fred,â he said. âI know that. You got no callââ
âIâm wearinâ a badge, John,â Dodge said, âand you boys committed murder. I got call.â
Shaunessy looked at Clint, then.
âYouâre Adams, right?â
âThatâs right.â
âWell, whataya think?â
âThat goes for me, too, Shaunessy,â Clint said. âIâll back Deputy Dodge all the way.â
Dodge turned his back and leaned on the bar. Clint followed. Shaunessy stood there for a few moments, then righted his chair and sat down. The mob was quiet.
âWhat happened, Ike?â Dodge asked.
âHell, Fred,â Roberts said, âcouldnât have been more than half a dozen guns on the mob. Will Ward practically left the door open for them.â
âThatâs Wardâs son, his jailer,â Dodge said.
âIt was planned, Fred,â Roberts said. âI didnât know nothinâ about it.â
âI know you didnât, Ike.â Dodge dropped some money on the bar.
âHell, Fred, youâre a deputy,â Roberts said. âYou donât have to pay.â
âNo, I ainât,â Dodge said, âand yeah, I do.â
He walked out, Clint following him. The first man they encountered was Sheriff Jerome Ward.
âJesus, Fred, there you are,â Ward said. âA goddamned lynch mob practically killed my son breakinâ Heath out and then they hung himââ
Dodge stopped Ward by taking his deputy commission from his pocket, tearing it up and throwing it in the manâs face.
âYeah, I know about it, Ward,â Dodge said. âAnd youâre an accessory before and after the fact.â
He took his badge off and dropped it at the manâs feet.
He walked away.
Ward looked at Clint.
âYouâre Adams, right?â
âYes.â
âWhatâs wrong withââ
âThe lawâs the law, Ward,â Clint said. âIf it was me, I would have stuck that badge up your goddamned ass.â
He turned and walked away.
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As it turned out, the townspeople and the miners didnât appreciate a sheriff who would conspire with a lynch mob.
Ward did not even run in the next election, and Bob Hatch was elected Sheriff.
TWENTY-TWO
TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA TERRITORY
1886
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Clint had managed to replay the entire Bisbee Massacre in his head while taking his bath. When he finished, he stepped out, bathed and cleanly shaven, and decided he needed some new duds to go with his otherwise fresh appearance.
He spent some time buying a couple of shirts, some new trousers, socks, and underwear, but stayed with the same hat, which heâd had for some time.
After his shopping he went back to the hotel to his room to change into his new clothes. By then it was about time to go over to the Bird Cage and check it out while waiting for Dodge. And he was looking forward to that steak.
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As he entered the Bird Cage he saw that little had changed, but it still felt very different to him. Must have had something to do with Doc Hollidayâs faro table being tended by someone else. Also, no Wyatt Earpâno Earps at all.
He went to the bar and ordered a beer, looking at himself in the mirror on the wall behind the bartender. He wondered how many famous and infamous men had looked in the same mirror? He also wondered what they saw?
âPassinâ through?â the bartender asked. He was youngâtoo young to have been there during the O.K. Corral or
Anthony Kiedis
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Unknown
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