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"For my handling of the situation at Tombstone, I have no regrets. Were it to be done again, I would do it exactly as I did it at the time."  -- Wyatt Earp, lawman

The lawman Maddox rode into Sabbath slowly, with his blue eyes fixed ahead. Behind him, there was another horse with someone´s body on it. And another one with a handcuffed woman cowboy. The three stopped at the sheriff´s office in the end of the Sabbath main street. By then, quite a few curious bystanders and onlookers were gathering around to see what was going on.

It so happened that Mayer was visiting Cotton Ryan that morning to sort out some paperwork. The two got along fairly well. Mayer took care most of the problems with drunken customers without the need to call Ryan, which made his life easier. Today, they had just finished sorting out the fine for a man who had broken a mirror at Lucas´ place when Maddox walked in holding a gun belt and his saddle bag on his shoulder. With him there was Sinta Custer. Mayer had not met her before personally, but he knew her by reputation. She was the only woman cowboy riding for Mr. Bronson. She was also rumored to be abstinent, which explains why she was never seen in the saloons.

The two lawman greeted each other for the first time, Ryan still sitting in his chair. Maddox did not notice Mayer standing in the hallway that lead to the jail.

-What can I do for you, Maddox?, Ryan asked and raised an eyebrow towards Sinta. She was not one to get into trouble with the law. He had never met this Maddox before, but he had a very bad feeling about this.

-Vincent Bronson, Choctaw Lee, Jack Dekker, Vern Adams, Hurd Price, Harvey Stenbaugh, Marc Corman. Know any of 'em?, Maddox read from a list he had taken from his pocket, and then he placed the list on the desk.

-All of 'em, Ryan confirmed. They were all Bronson men!

Maddox seemed relieved to hear that the sheriff could help. Little did he know how things worked in Sabbath. .

Ryan closed his eyes and sighed. This didn´t look good.

-I want these men brought in under arrest. I want 'em fed and ready for travel.

The words sounded like gun fire. It was then he noticed Mayer standing on the other side. If he recognized him from San Acoma, he did not say a word, simply nodded as a greeting and added to both men: -Some months ago, Bronson took several thousand head of cattle across the Kiowa. On the way back, they hit a town called Bannock. They drank their fill, had their women, shot up the town. All just cowboy fun. They killed an old man.

He pointed again at the handwritten list.

-Good to see you again, Maddox. -I said. It was some time ago, and I was sure he ran into many man like me in these months, so maybe he didn't remember me. I introduced myself again, just in case-. Mayer -I offered my hand for he to shake-. Joe Wilmot's funeral, remember? We drank together is San Acoma. 

I shook his hand, smiling, the took a look to the list.

-Guess we have more people in common everyday, uh?  -last time we met, we talked about our mutual friend, Lucas.

It took Maddox a second before he associated Mayer to the men he had met in San Acoma. He was usually a very keen observer, but this man had changed quite a lot since the funeral in the Sky City. –I remember you know, Mayer. So you found your way to this town.

The lawman fell silent. Mayer being here implied that Lucas was also in Sabbath. Man´s past always came back to him.

-It´s a small world, he said more to himself than anyone else. From the corner of his eye he saw Ryan still sitting comfortably in his chair. It did not look as he was going to lift a finger to help. The local sheriff had probably been sitting comfortably for many years now…

-Do you know these men on the list?, he asked Mayer.

-It is -I answered when he said it was a small world we were livin'-. I knew 'em a few months ago, before we first met in that church -I explained-. Dekker and Lee, outlaws. They were part of Ed Stein's gang. I met Marc Corman once too, drunk in the saloon. I just know he's a Bronson man.

Of course, I would have never revealed the whole truth to the sheriff. As he said back in San Acoma, a man is what it is now for his own acts, and his past is a burden only he should carry. But that didn't meant I wouldn't say what I knew 'bout 'em.

-'Bout the outlaws... Dekker is the most dangerous. He was a professional, he acted like a soldier. I think Lee was just a noob tryin' to prove himself in front of Stein -I stopped for a second-. Anyway, that was some time ago. Maybe they've changed.

–It ain´t easy for a man to change, Maddox answered and looked at the list still on the desk, and then at the sheriff. –You´ve got jurisdiction in this territory, Ryan. Take Sinta Custer here to custody, he said, and arrange for the papers to be sworn out.

-I´ve got jurisdiction. And I´ll put her in jail, Maddox, Ryan said and slowly got up and walked the cowboy woman to the small jail. –I´ve got jurisdiction, he continued when he got back. -But you couldn´t have reason enough to get papers from me for the rest. Nobody could. Look at this town, he said pointing out the window. Outside, more men were gathering to try to catch a peek of what what going on inside.-Nice town to live in. This town eats because Vincent Bronson puts their bread on the table. He owns the town. He owns the county. People around here owe him. Those men on your list... they stand in Bronson’s shadow. I can't move against those men. I sit there 'cause Bronson says sit.

Maddox´s blue eyes were fixed at Ryan. –If you don´t carry the law, at least you can carry messages, no? Tell these men I ain´t leavin´ without them.

He looked tired, disappointed, worn out. But determined. He was not prepared to back down. He had dedicated his whole life to carrying the law. Maddox turned around and left the sheriff´s office and walked across the street to check in the hotel.

The sheriff sighed, and took the keys for the jail and put them in the drawer. There was a time… But he shook his head, and then he put on his Stetson and looked at Mayer. –Well, I better get goin´ and ride to the Bronson ranch…, he added inviting Mayer to leave his office.

-Good luck with that, Ryan. See you tonight at Lucas'? -I said while leaving the sheriff's office.

I stared at Maddox, thinkin'. I could've easily ended in Dekker or Lee's place if I had never changed. I took off the damn watch from my pocket and looked at what time it was, but kept staring at it for a while. It was like if I was staring at that eyes I would never forget. 

I closed the watch and put it back in my pocket again. I felt covered in dust again, just like that day: it seemed like it was fucking thirty years ago. But it wasn't, and I kept the watch as a memento from that day. From what I was, just to remind me who I had to be now.

-Humph, Ryan muttered as a reply as stepped out with Mayer. As soon as he got out, the storekeeper Harris, the Mayor Sam Bolden a few others got closer to find out what the hell was going on.

-That´s my brother-in-law, Marc Corman!, he said pointing at the dead body on the horse. –I demand an explanation, Ryan!

–What´s the trouble? What happened, Marshal? , the mayor Sam Bolden said putting his hearing trumpet to Ryan´s face.

-Mayer, do me a favor would ya?, he said and pushed the hearing aid away from his face. -Take Corman to the undertaker´s. We´ll talk later tonight. Ryan felt a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances, and Mayer seemed to handle himself well when required. A man he could count on.

–Sam, better come inside, he said to the mayor. –The rest of you go on about your business!

Ryan was about to go back in with the mayor, when he saw Maddox across the street. The lawman had left his horse in the stables, and now he walked calmly towards the hotel. Everyone stepped wide of him. Murderer! Killer!, he heard someone say. That is what they were, the lawmen. Killer of men.

The aging sheriff walked towards Maddox. He stopped in front of him and pointed at Corman´s body. –I guess you know that´s one of the men on your list, huh? What happened?