The other hundred or so couldn’t be bothered.
“Now, then,” Tandy said. “Our first order of business is to extend our appreciation to Mr. Asa Delaware for the splendid job he did cleaning up our town.”
“I’d appreciate the other half of my fee,” Asa said.
Thaddeus Falk wagged a bony finger at him. “You’re lucky we’re paying you another red cent, the mess you made. A mess, I might add, we had to clean up ourselves.”
“It’s your town,” Asa said.
“Show a little respect,” Horace Wadpole said.
“I show as much as I’m given.”
Wadpole turned red and opened his mouth to respond, but just then Asa picked up the Winchester shotgun and set it in his lap. Wadpole closed his mouth and glowered.
“As for your money,” George Tandy said, “the treasurer will pay you when this meeting is adjourned.” He gazed at the townspeople. “Our second order of business is a new marshal. We intend to put out the word that we’re seeking a new lawman and expect to interview qualified applicants over the next month or two.”
“The sooner we have a new marshal, the safer everyone will feel,” Falk said.
“That leaves the last item on our agenda,” Tandy said. “We’d intended to call Weldon Knox before this body and inform him that as soon as we have our new marshal, we would have him arrested on a variety of charges. But as all of you have probably heard, he committed suicide. We sent a man out to the Circle K with our demand for him to appear, and his wife informed our messenger that he shot himself after he heard that his desperados had met the fate they deserved.”
Asa Delaware looked at Noona.
“So with that out of the way, and due to the long hours we’ve been putting in, we’ll cut this meeting short and adjourn unless someone has something pressing they must bring to our attention.”
No one did.
Tandy rapped the gavel, and the council rose and filed out. The townspeople trailed after them. Several smiled at the town tamers, and an older man came over to Asa and said, “I’d like to shake your hand.”
Last to go was the treasurer, after giving Asa a poke with the five hundred dollars. Asa never took a bank draft or a check. It had to be real money. Jingling it, he stuck it in an inside pocket of his slicker.
“‘The dragons are dead, the slayers have triumphed,’” Byron quoted.
“You slayed your share,” Asa said.
“Don’t remind me.”
Noona changed the subject by asking, “Why do you reckon the widow did that—lie about Knox shooting himself?”
“I don’t rightly know,” Asa said.
“She knew it was me. She was right there. She talked to me.”
“You told us,” Asa said.
“She took it so calmly. I’ve never seen the like.”
“Live to my age and you’ll see a lot of strange things,” Asa predicted. “People are always full of surprises.”
“Coming from you,” Byron said, “that’s almost profound.”
“Keep goading me,” Asa said.
“What will you do? Hit me?”
“I’ve never struck you in your life, boy, and you know it. You don’t hurt family, ever.”
“You turned my sister and me into killers before we were mature enough to realize what you’d done.”
“Keep me out of this,” Noona said.
“I taught you to be town tamers,” Asa said to Byron. “That’s not hurt.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Pa,” Byron said, “I’m hurting like hell.”
“What hurts is that you’d like to live in the clouds with your poems and you hate being brought down to earth.”
“You are damn right I hate it.”
Asa rounded on him. “Watch your tone around your sister. If you took some pride in your work, you’d be better off.”
Byron laughed. “First, it’s not work. It’s killing. And second, you’re a fine one to talk about pride. You don’t even use your real name.”
“And you know why.”
“So the kin and friends of those we exterminate can’t come after us. But that’s only part of it.”
“How
“Now, then,” Tandy said. “Our first order of business is to extend our appreciation to Mr. Asa Delaware for the splendid job he did cleaning up our town.”
“I’d appreciate the other half of my fee,” Asa said.
Thaddeus Falk wagged a bony finger at him. “You’re lucky we’re paying you another red cent, the mess you made. A mess, I might add, we had to clean up ourselves.”
“It’s your town,” Asa said.
“Show a little respect,” Horace Wadpole said.
“I show as much as I’m given.”
Wadpole turned red and opened his mouth to respond, but just then Asa picked up the Winchester shotgun and set it in his lap. Wadpole closed his mouth and glowered.
“As for your money,” George Tandy said, “the treasurer will pay you when this meeting is adjourned.” He gazed at the townspeople. “Our second order of business is a new marshal. We intend to put out the word that we’re seeking a new lawman and expect to interview qualified applicants over the next month or two.”
“The sooner we have a new marshal, the safer everyone will feel,” Falk said.
“That leaves the last item on our agenda,” Tandy said. “We’d intended to call Weldon Knox before this body and inform him that as soon as we have our new marshal, we would have him arrested on a variety of charges. But as all of you have probably heard, he committed suicide. We sent a man out to the Circle K with our demand for him to appear, and his wife informed our messenger that he shot himself after he heard that his desperados had met the fate they deserved.”
Asa Delaware looked at Noona.
“So with that out of the way, and due to the long hours we’ve been putting in, we’ll cut this meeting short and adjourn unless someone has something pressing they must bring to our attention.”
No one did.
Tandy rapped the gavel, and the council rose and filed out. The townspeople trailed after them. Several smiled at the town tamers, and an older man came over to Asa and said, “I’d like to shake your hand.”
Last to go was the treasurer, after giving Asa a poke with the five hundred dollars. Asa never took a bank draft or a check. It had to be real money. Jingling it, he stuck it in an inside pocket of his slicker.
“‘The dragons are dead, the slayers have triumphed,’” Byron quoted.
“You slayed your share,” Asa said.
“Don’t remind me.”
Noona changed the subject by asking, “Why do you reckon the widow did that—lie about Knox shooting himself?”
“I don’t rightly know,” Asa said.
“She knew it was me. She was right there. She talked to me.”
“You told us,” Asa said.
“She took it so calmly. I’ve never seen the like.”
“Live to my age and you’ll see a lot of strange things,” Asa predicted. “People are always full of surprises.”
“Coming from you,” Byron said, “that’s almost profound.”
“Keep goading me,” Asa said.
“What will you do? Hit me?”
“I’ve never struck you in your life, boy, and you know it. You don’t hurt family, ever.”
“You turned my sister and me into killers before we were mature enough to realize what you’d done.”
“Keep me out of this,” Noona said.
“I taught you to be town tamers,” Asa said to Byron. “That’s not hurt.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Pa,” Byron said, “I’m hurting like hell.”
“What hurts is that you’d like to live in the clouds with your poems and you hate being brought down to earth.”
“You are damn right I hate it.”
Asa rounded on him. “Watch your tone around your sister. If you took some pride in your work, you’d be better off.”
Byron laughed. “First, it’s not work. It’s killing. And second, you’re a fine one to talk about pride. You don’t even use your real name.”
“And you know why.”
“So the kin and friends of those we exterminate can’t come after us. But that’s only part of it.”
“How
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