The Five Dollar Mail (Book 1: The Green & Book 2: Lynch's Boys)

21: Rattlesnakes

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. All graphics by yours truly. Picture of Richard is a ambrotype-look photo I made in Photoshop out of found images.

In the split second before Richard "Call Me Richard" Galloway, Esquire jerked past Lily and slammed hard into the heavy kitchen table, Lily glimpsed Jesse's face in the doorway.

He had rushed up to the open door, and his eyes had fixed on the lawyer's hand clutching at Lily's wrist. He hadn't looked happy when he'd arrived, and when he focused on the offending fingers on his sister, his eyes had gone flat and crazy. And he'd plowed into the shocked lawyer like a steam engine.

Jesse was as tall as Galloway, but had nowhere near the bulk. Even though Galloway was bigger than Jesse, he wasn't angrier. And Jesse had been wanting to punch something since yesterday.

Lily yelped when the lawyer's hand jerked from her wrist and he fell into the table, sending cruets flying. She ducked, stumbling away. Galloway, trying to regain his balance, turned just in time to catch Jesse's lightning-like jab full in the face. He fell backwards, kicking out with his feet.

Jesse ducked, advancing on the sputtering lawyer. "Was...was that your hand on her?" He spat, incredulous. "You put your hand on her?"

Galloway came off the table and charged him, tackling him into the wall.

Jesse jerked his head to the side, and Galloway's fist connected with his shoulder instead of his jaw. He grunted, throwing the larger man off and darting past him.

Lily had grabbed the fireplace poker, but Jesse was all over Galloway. There was no way to use the poker without risking hitting her brother. I can't believe that not two minutes ago I was actually thankful that Saint wasn't here. "Mr. Bender!" She yelled frantically, sidestepping the combatants. I'd give anything for him to be here now! "Bender!"

"You touch my sister, you lose a hand, you son of a bitch!" Jesse hissed, grappling the larger man. Galloway grabbed a cruet off the table and slammed it into the side of Jesse's head. Jesse yelped, reeling. The acrid smell of vinegar and hot peppers permeated the kitchen, and Jesse's eyes were instantly red and watering. He stumbled, blinded.

Galloway shoved Jesse towards Lily and took a step back, his hand straying towards his pocket.

"I wouldn't, mate."

Bender stood in the doorway, a pistol aiming casually at Galloway's heaving midsection. He sniffed, his nose curling. "So, you girls making pickles in here? Jesse, go wash your eyes out. Someone better start filling me in."

Galloway, his nose bloody, raised his hands, showing the palms. He was breathing hard, his own eyes reddened and tearing as well. Pepper-infused vinegar had splashed everywhere, including his own face. The vapors were hanging in the air like a stinging cloud.

Lily had dropped the poker and had hurried to assist Jesse to the sink. Her hands fumbled to the pump handle and began shakily working it up and down.

"You got a gun in there?" Bender gestured with the pistol. "Luis. Go through his pockets."

Luis, who'd been in the doorway behind Bender, walked over and drew a derringer out of Galloway's pocket. "Well, well, well, amigo." He clicked his tongue sarcastically. "You know, I'm so surprised to see a fancy-smelling git like you needs carry a piece to visit ladies." He spat disgustedly, flipping the gun around to hand it butt-first to Bender. "Pinche cabrón." He looked up at Lily. "Miz Lily, You know I would'nta lef' you here alone, but I knew this was gettin' ugly. I had to go get some help for ya. I mean..." he shrugged, indicating his diminutive size. "Lookit me, I ain't real big."

Lily felt a fresh surge of affection for her friend. Of course he wasn't leaving me. I should have known. "Luis, you did good." She gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you."

"You know," Galloway said calmly, squinting through his watering eyes. "I didn't start this."

"Ya grabbed my sister!" Jesse yelled through a face full of splashing water. "What the hell did you expect?"

"That true, love?" Bender calmly directed the question at Lily, but never took his eyes off Richard Galloway. "This bloke make free with you without your leave?"

Lily looked up from the sink, where she was sluicing water over her brother's blond head. Her wrist throbbed from the twist Galloway had given her, but she was still too bewildered from what had just happened to have really digested it all in her mind. "Well..." she stammered, "we were talking and then he grabbed...."

She never saw the stock tender move towards Galloway. Evidently, neither did Galloway, because the next thing anyone knew was that Galloway was sprawled against the rough stone wall with Bender pressed behind him, jamming the pistol hard into the side of his face. "Grabbed" was not a word Bender had wanted to hear, from the look of things. Clearly, the lawyer had made many, many tactical errors today. Thinking that the calm-voiced, reasonable-appearing stock tender was there to save him from the crazed express rider was only one of them. However, it may have been his worst.

"Alright." Bender was speaking very softly, directly into Galloway's ear. Galloway attempted to shift and got another brutal shove into the stone for his trouble. "No, don't move. You've got sprung, and we've got you, and now it's time to listen very, very carefully."

Lily's mouth dropped open. Bender's voice was no more excited or angry than it might have been if he'd been asking for another helping of beans. She didn't know whether she should be relieved or terrified to have him helping her.

"Let me make this clear: you do not touch, leer at, insult, disrespect, look at, or in any way fail to doff your sad little hat to the ladies that live here. In fact, if you see one of them on the street, cross to the other side just to be safe. And for God's sake do not come here again. You're welcome's run out."

Galloway opened his mouth "Listen, you're making a mistake..."

Bender shoved the pistol more deeply under Galloway's cheekbone. "Naw, mate." he purred calmly into the lawyers ear. "I've made a great many mistakes in my life. I'm a bit of an expert, yeah? So I'd know. And this ain't a mistake." He smiled, getting a better grip on the heaving Galloway. "See, all you say now is 'No worries, Mr. Hungerford, and I'm sorry, Ma'am.' That should be a piece of piss to a sorry whacker such as yourself. Say it with me, now. 'No worries, Mr. Hungerford, and I'm sorry, Ma'am."

Galloway opened his mouth again and closed it, breathing hard. He was clearly weighing his options and finding that he didn't have many. "No worries, Mr. Hungerford." he spat angrily. I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Clever bloke." Bender jerked him away from the wall and shoved him hard into the yard. Jesse evidently was not the only person who'd been wanting to hit something since yesterday.