The Last Buckaroo by J. R. Wright Page A

t
that right, Irene? ”
    “ It
is, ” Irene said from beside
him.
    “ All
right, Calvin, you can set down now.  Mister Clampett, you can continue, ” Judge Samuels said.
    “ Thank
you, Calvin, ” Woody
said.  “ Now
back to you, Kermit.  So you were saying … about how you knew Calvin was struck from behind? ”
    “ What
do you want me to say? ”  Striker seemed out of sorts now, his
eyes darting around rapidly.
    “ Kingsley
never said anything to you, did he?  But you knew Lester knew something.  It
was all over town he had given a statement to Katie Peck, and you jumped to the
conclusion it contained things about what you ’ d
done.  I think you went over to get Clyde for the sheriff the day he and Yancey
got crosswise with each other at the tavern.  The two of you got into it once
you arrived at the livery, and you killed him. ”
    “ Objection, ” Lane Wilson said, but
there wasn ’ t much enthusiasm in it.  “ He ’ s
badgering again, Your Honor. ”
    Both
the judge and Woody Clampett ignored the objection.
    “ I
see by which hip you wear your gun, Kermit, you ’ re
left handed, ” Woody said, all the while slipping
one of his hands inside his jacket.
    Striker
lowered his head and made a move like he was coming up from the chair, and
would have  —  gun
in hand  —  if
it weren ’ t
for the fast action of Sheriff Preston Ames, who put a gun to his temple before
he could follow through with it.  “ Hand
it over! ”
    Striker
did as told and came down from the stand.  Preston held him at gunpoint near
the side door.
    “ What
goes here? ” Lane
Wilson said, and glared at the judge.
    Woody
went back to his table, facing the beaming smiles of Katie and Yancey as he
walked.
    There
was a sudden rustling in the gallery and the judge pounded a fist.  “ I
think it ’ s
pretty obvious, Lane, ” Samuels said.  “ It
is the ruling of this court that Yancey Burke be …”
    “ Just
one moment, Your Honor, ” Woody said.  “ I
don ’ t
exactly think this is proper, but since they came all this way, maybe you ought
to ask the jury to render a verdict … just to make it official? ”
    “ You ’ re
right, Mister Clampett, it isn ’ t proper …   But then, what has been
proper here today?  Members of the jury, what is your verdict? ”
    With
little debate, Jake Pearson came to his feet.  “ Not
guilty, Your Honor! ”
    With
that, the gallery erupted in window rattling cheers.
    Judge
Samuels pounded them to silence one more time.  “ Sheriff,
put that man under arrest for the murders of Lester Kingsley and Clyde Banyon! 
We ’ ll
hold the trial on Wednesday and hang him on Friday. ”
    “ The
man has a wife and kids, Jethro, ” the s heriff
said.
    “ Okay,
then we ’ ll
give Striker life and send him to Terryville.  An ex-deputy sheriff ought to
get a grand welcome there. ”   Judge Samuels then slammed his fist
to make it official and left the bench.
    “ Serves
him right, ” Katie said and stood to hug
Woody.  “ You
are one crafty man, Mister Clampett.  What you did here today was nothing short
of miraculous.  However, it probably would have gotten you disbarred where I
came from. ”   She laughed.
    “ Well,
then thank God this isn ’ t where you came from,
little lady, ” Clampett
said and moved on to some people nearby, who were waiting to congratulate him.
    “ Oh,
Yancey, we did it! ” Katie said gleefully and kissed him on
the cheek.  She then allowed him to pull her in for a long hug.  “ What
will you do now? ”
    “ I ’ ll
need to get away from here for a while, Katie …  
I need some time alone to get my head together.  It takes the wide open spaces
for that. ”
    “ Okay, ” she said, clearly disappointed.  “ But
you will be back? ”
    “ Count
on it, ” he said, and abruptly
walked away.
    Katie
watched him leave by the side door, most likely to avoid the crowd.  Now she
wondered if she ’ d ever see him