Undead at Sundown by R.J McCabe Page A

in that place.’
          Bill found himself surprised at Ken using the word  “fabrications”. He smiled at the deputy. ‘Yeah I know but like I told Gina, its always worth knowin' what’s bein' said when you're the sheriff.’
    Ken nodded. ‘I guess so. So what she say?’
          Bill recited to Ken what Gina had told him earlier. Ken,s face took on a serious look as Bill told him what the drunken cowboy had said. The deputy listened intently taking it all in. When Bill had finished, Ken took a deep breath and looked to be mulling it over before he spoke.
          ‘So it could be the man heard somethin' over by the Blackwater railway camp, as that’s the only place around eight miles from here where you are gonna find a group of people big enough to make any kind of noise.’
         ‘It could be that he heard somethin' out there. The way I see it, unless he was out of his mind he didn’t have anythin' to gain by tellin' the girl that. You think its worth checkin’ the place out?’ Bill asked.
          ‘Sure thing Sheriff, I can’t see why not. There ain’t too much else goin' on around here as far as I know. Say, you spoke with this man? The one who told Lizzie.’
    Bill shook his head slightly. ‘No, Gina said he was long gone this mornin', seems he was just passin’ through.’
         ‘Thats a pity,’ said Ken.
         Bill could almost hear Ken’s brain ticking over in the quiet office.
          ‘Well, I tell you what Sheriff Bill. This sounds quite interestin' and I sure don’t say that very often. I'll ride out there with you just as soon as you are ready, you just say the word.’
    Bill slapped his hands on his thighs before getting on his feet . ‘Ok, in that case I’m as ready as I'll ever be so lets do it Deputy.’
    Ken smiled and the men readied themselves before heading out towards the stables.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    14
     
     
     
    The two men rode along the rough, dry ground with the July sun beating down. They passed a water canteen between them and Ken told Bill stories from the history of Sundown. Things that he himself had seen and stories that had been passed down to him by his parents and the parents before them. Bill enjoyed the tales and he couldn't deny, Ken sure had a great way of telling them.
        Ken was part way through a story about a crazed alcoholic gunslinger called Ginger Maldoon, who had come by the town and started shooting at everyone he saw. The story ended with Maldoon so drunk, that out of the thirty or so shots he let off that day, only one managed to hit anyone, which was a raggedy old bastard named Totts Wilson.
        The sheriff at the time had ended the rampage by using his rifle to shoot Maldoon in the head and people had said it was as if Ginger had a stick of dynamite in his skull, because everything from the neck up had exploded when the sheriff pulled that trigger.
         Ken never got the time to finish the story because he spotted the place they were looking for in the distance.
          ‘There it is Sheriff. My eyes ain’t what they used to be but I can make it out, can you see it?’
          Bill squinted but the camp was too far away. ‘Not too well, we need to get a little closer to see whats goin' on, or indeed what has gone on.’
         ‘Okay Bill, but before we get down there, I think maybe I should just fill you in on a couple of things, if thats okay with you?’
         ‘Will it stop me from gettin' my head blown off?’ asked Bill.
          ‘It just might, though I wouldn't make that kind of guarantee.’ Ken replied with cheeky grin.
          ‘Well, Deputy. If it benefits my health then I'm all ears.’ Bill said as he steadied his horse to listen.
          ‘Okay then. That there is a Blackwater place, and that means your gonna find at least one of three things there. First thing you might find is Jack Blackwater. Now the