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Mayer tried to talk some sense to Stenbaugh, but it was too late... The foreman went for his gun!

But Maddox was quicker. The veteran lawman pulled out his Colt with lightning speed and fired.

BANG!

The two men were standing only a few feet apart, and the shot hit Stenbaugh in the chest.

The shot sent Harvey flying backwards and the huge man hit the ground hard, dropping his gun. He was unconscious and bleeding profusely.
 

-NNggghh... Harvey had difficulty breathing, and his feet felt cold. Then everything went dark, and he saw a point of light in the distance... -Jacob, is that you?

Once he saw Stenbaugh was not going to get up, Maddox looked around, still holding his gun. He could not see any other threats, and put the Colt Flattop Target back to the holster and walked away. He had had enough of killing for today.
 

The sheriff scratched his head. Harvey was dying, he knew it. He had seen enough men receive a shot in the gut. And it seemed the bullet had lodged, and hit an artery. Bloody Harv, why do you have to be so stubborn!

Once Maddox had left, Harris and the others were gathering around the body.

The sheriff caught Mayer and Crowe in the crowd, and walked closer. -This ain´t good, ya know?, he started by stating the obvious. -This can get out of hand, and I ain´t got the stomach for a blood bath. I want to know where you stand. Can I count on you?

-What's your plan, Sheriff? -To hell with me if Cotten was not right. That was not good at all, and it was just the beginning. I didn't want to get involved in the war that was coming to Sabbath, but things were just like that. You couldn't be neutral: if you weren't with Bronson, then you were with Maddox. Or against both. I just wanted to keep enjoying my new life, my new girl... And I had that terrible feeling that I could be that guy spitting out his guts on the ground in the next few days.

-Harris and the rest of ´em, Ryan spat and lowered his voice even more, -they ought to step wide, leave Maddox alone. All the towns he has stepped into have graves of men who thought they were faster or better than him.

Ryan did not want to look as if he was coming up with his plan there and then. He was not too worried about looking scared. Everyone already thought of him as a coward, so he was used to that. In fact, he was not afraid. Just worn out, and tired.

-The main concern now is Mr. Bronson. I reckon Crowe should take Harv back to the Bronson ranch. I should go with him, and explain what went on here. He needs to hear it from us. What happened. That it wasn´t murder.

Then he looked at Mayer. -That leaves you with a town of wannabe vigilantes. They take courage from each other, and there is a chance someone is brave enough to shoot Maddox in the back. We don´t want that. He is a lawman, and I reckon we got plenty of trouble in Sabbath as things are. Do ya reckon you can handle them? Keep things calm while I´m away.

-I don't want anyone to kill Maddox like a dog, shooting him in the back. I'll be sure to follow his steps from a certain distance -He wasn't lying, and he wanted to be honest with Ryan-. But I can't promise you I can keep him safe. I don't want people to see me too next to him, and start talking horseshit 'bout me. He knows how to handle himself, he wouldn't be here standing otherwise, but yeah — I'll keep an eye on him.

I sighted. This could be just the beginning... And Cotten was taking a big part on how the whole situation would evolve.

-Careful with your words, feller. You know this ain't news Bronson's gonna be happy to hear.

Sheriff Ryan and Crowe placed Harvey carefully on a carriage. By the time the doc arrived, the foreman was dead. 

In silence, the two leaved town with the body of the man who had been more than a brother to Mr. Bronson. Ryan stopped to whisper a few final words to Mayer, and put something into his hand. 

Harvey, Vince and Vince´s brother Jacob had founded the ranch and the town. The Indians had killed Jacob shortly after, many years ago. But this was different. And it was going to be difficult to explain what had happened to the cattle baron.

The town held its breath as the carriage disappeared into the horizon. Only the sound of the printing machine from the local newspaper was heard. Soon, a special edition was coming out...  

-Here, take this, Ryan said and shook Mayer´s hand. -You might need to use it, as you see fit, OK? Best of luck. 

As the veteran sheriff got back to the carriage, Mayer looked at the object he had been given in secret. 

He felt sorry for Ryan. In his prime, back in the days of Fort Bliss, he had enjoyed a high reputation, almost a legend. But time and life had not been kind with him, and to most people he was but a joke nowadays. On the other hand, Mayer could not avoid to smile a little. Whether he ever had the need to put the badge on or not, his life had completed a full circle from an outlaw to a distinguished member of the community and now a deputy sheriff. 

Staring at the badge, I couldn't do anything but smile a bit, realizing the irony. I took my watch off the pocket, and held it.

Two items symbolizing my two lifes. One I took from a dead body just before diggin' a grave for that poor kid, and the other one putting my right in the opposite side of the law. Lots of things had changed since the mormon bussiness man's caravan episode, but even though I still feelin' cover in blood and dust. A man can change, but his past can't.

I put both the items back in my jacket with a sight. Now it was time to get dirty with blood and sand again, this time as the lawman. So there I went, lookin' for Maddox...

Luther Harris was fuming with rage that afternoon. The citizen committee had not acted fast enough, and now Harvey Steinbaugh was dead. And Marc Corman. He gathered everyone to his shop again, but now he was not going to take a now for an answer. This was the moment. To take the bull by the horns. It´s now or never…, he thought as he grabbed a rifle from the gun rack, and then another. And another…

The special edition of the Sabbath newspaper had come out only hours after the shooting. And for once, Harris felt the paper was really “The People´s Voice”, as it claimed to be.

Pointing at the paper with one hand, and holding the rifle on the other, he stated with the firmest voice that could be heard outside on the street:

-We all go over to the hotel, all of us, and we go meaning business, and that means going armed. And we can tell Maddox to get out of town.

-Now, now, wait a minute, Luther. That sounds like vigilante talk. Shouldn't we stay within the limits of...

-Marc Corman and Harvey Stenbaugh were our friends. Do we care about our friends?, Harris asked raising his voice so everyone could hear him. There was no stopping the storekeeper. -Corman's widow, my sister, and the little ones, do we care about them? Are we just gonna stand around here and talk? Talk never moved a thing or pulled a stump. Are we gonna stand around and wait while this killer shoots down whoever he wants in our town? Now, we can talk till sundown and accomplish nothing, or we can act.  Now, I say that we call off this meeting and do what we know is right.

Mayer located Maddox at the hotel. He was eating his lunch calmly in the otherwise empty dining room, as if nothing special had happened. Outside, at the Harris store, the local vigilante were gathering. Yet, the lawman looked calm, in peace with himself and his action. In a way, he seemed to place himself above the rest.

Mayer was standing at the doorway, pondering whether to enter to have a palaver with him, or try to calm down the locals.

-Hold on a minute, folks -I said to everyone gatherin' around-, and look at yourselves now. Gatherin' here like hound dogs thirsty for blood, with your rifles loaded and ready to shoot. Is this really what we are here in this town? Witch hunters? Listen to me, fellers. I've been around for quite some time now -most of you know me since I arrived-, and I've never seen anything like this before. We're losing control right here.

I looked at them. To be honest, I wasn't sure about what I was doing, but I was trying* my voice not to reveal it.

-Justice will be made -I paused for a second, holding my breath-, but it's not in ours to take. We've got a law, and we respect it no matter how: we know the consecuences. So think about it twice before doin' something you'll regret later on. We all want the same: the best for Sabbath, and I think we can all agree that more bloodshed will not make things easier.

At first, the vigilante were not in the mood to listen to Mayer. They forced their way into the hotel. As soon as the clients saw a group of men armed with shot guns and rifles marching into the dining room, they left quickly. Except the barman, and one drunken man sleeping with this head on the table, unaware of what was going on around him.

Mayer stood between the group lead by Harris, and Maddox,who was finishing his lunch as if this situation was none of his business. To the left, Mayor Bolden was next to the pianola. And four more men were behind Harris, who clearly was the man in charge.

Eventually, they listened to what Mayer had to say. And they looked down at their feet when he said about them losing control. It did not look as if all of them really wanted to be there.

-What happened in bannock months ago is of no concern to us, but we must respect the law, the Registrar said with his usual pompous tone from the back. -However, if there's been a breakdown in the formal law services, such as the good ´ol sheriff Ryan leaving town right after a man was murdered...Then there is a legal precedent for forming a citizen committee.

-As your Mayor, I say we gotta protect our own.Withing the limits of the law, we ain´t vigilantes, surely...

-Sam, Sam... It seems to me that you, as Mayor, should be giving lead, you know, not trying to keep your head on straight. We have come here to tell this man to get out of town, he said holding the rifle firmly against his chest and looking passed Mayer at the lawman, summoning his courage.

-Sheriff left town -I said, slowly. At that moment, I wasn't sure if I was going to regret later what I was about to do- ... But that doesn't mean your "citizen committee" is in charge around here -I took the shiny badge outta my pocket and showed it to everyone standing in the room.

-Ryan Cotten is in Bronson's ranch trying to sort everything out with Mr Vincent Bronson. And that means now I am the law in Sabbath -I raised my voice a little-. This man right here -Maddox, obviously- is just trying to make justice. We all know that's not what we want for our town, but at least we gotta give him that - he's got a point, he's got the right, and the law is on his side. We are in a delicate situation for everyone, so we better calm down and keep our weapons to ourselves in order to settle things up... Unless, of course, someone wants to sleep in jail tonight. We even got some femenine company for ya there fellas.