Wild West Part 3
A banging sound from the vicinity of his kitchen woke Heero up the next morning. For a moment he wondered if Sylvie had come over to try and make him breakfast again, but it didn't smell burnt.
He stumbled out of his bedroom. Duo was at the stove already, looking wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Obviously a morning person.
"Morning Sheriff," Duo looked over at him and grinned. "Sorry about the noise. I didn't realize your cupboards were rigged to dump pans on the unsuspecting."
"Sorry," Heero leaned against his doorframe and looked towards the window. The sun was barely over the horizon. He guessed the preacher had taken the 'early' part seriously. "Let me just get dressed and we can head out."
"After breakfast," Duo raised the spatula threateningly. "I didn't risk this death trap you call a kitchen for nothing."
"After breakfast," Heero agreed. He went out back to wash up. A dash of cold water and he felt better.
An hour later they were at the stables, having already dropped by Catherine's to get more precise directions to the site of the massacre. At least Barton had buried the bodies. He'd offered to come with them, but to Heero's surprise both Quatre and Catherine had nixed the idea. Barton had agreed with their assessment that he wasn't up for it and Heero had seen the relief in his eyes.
Heero saddled his horse, patting the white shoulder fondly. When he led the horse out of the stall, he saw Duo blink.
"A white horse Sheriff? Isn't that... well cliché?"
"I inherited Silver from the last sheriff. He was kind of a loner so there was no one else to leave it to."
"Silver?" Duo repeated as they mounted up. Duo's horse was grey. There was a large well-worn staff strapped to his saddle. Heero saw a glint of metal at the tip and wondered again just what kind of preacher Duo was.
"And I suppose your horse has a better name?"
"Shadow." Heero shook his head as they started out of town.
"And that's more original than Silver?"
"It's biblical." Duo retorted.
"So is silver- as in 30 pieces." Heero countered. "Where is there a Shadow in the bible?"
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death..." Duo grinned and Heero gave up. He spurred Silver to a faster pace, making conversation impossible.
It was easy to find the remains of the caravan. Torn canvas, broken wagons, splashes of dark blood still marked the roadside. Duo dismounted and was walking around frowning as he examined the wreckage.
Heero had also dismounted. He couldn't believe the amount of damage. The wagons were unusable, smashed nearly to pieces; the ground was dug up in long furrows. What the hell had done this? Any lingering thought of Barton having accomplished this vanished. No human could've done this on his own. Maybe a group trying to make it look like an animal attack? But no animal could've caused this damage and the area didn't have any large predators.
He circled the largest chunk of what was left of a wagon and found the footprint.
Sunk in a muddy patch, the mark was at least a foot wide. Heero knelt down to examine it. It looked like a canine print and there were wolves and some feral dogs around, but none this big. A pack might attack humans- but smash the wagons?
His head was starting to hurt.
"Well, well," Duo knelt down next to him. "There's an interesting footprint."
"Do you recognize it?"
"Looks like a wolf print."
"It's too big for that," Heero argued.
"True." The preacher agreed easily. "Looks like you've got some other kind of beastie roaming the woods Sheriff."
"Anything that can cause this kind of damage is trouble." Heero frowned. "I can take some men out hunting for it, but if it could take out a caravan then we'd have a slim chance- even armed."
He saw the preacher blink at him. "What?"
"I'm amazed by your common sense Sheriff. Anyone else would be grabbing a posse and going out to hunt the beast."
"I don't even really know what I'm looking for," Heero pointed out. "Running off like that would be stupid."
Duo blinked again. Then he grinned. "You're smarter than you look Sheriff."
"Thanks." Heero got to his feet. "I'd better get back to town and put the warning out. Maybe we can come up with a safe way to track it. I don't like the idea of being stuck in the town because we're afraid to leave."
"Another good point." Duo headed towards Shadow. "Let's get back then, Sheriff."
Quatre and Catherine listened to Heero's description with wide eyes. Barton sat quietly, eyes closed.
"What the hell kind of animal is that?" Quatre demanded when he finished.
"I don't have a clue. But it took out a caravan."
"An armed caravan," Barton pointed out. "Not that there were many of us with weapons." He opened his eyes. "I want to hunt it down Sheriff. I want to see it dead. But you're right. We can't just go out there and look for it."
"Quatre?" Heero turned to the piano player.
"I know. We'll need a strategy. But I need more information. Hunting an unknown is not a good thing!" Quatre frowned. "There are ways we could protect ourselves despite the lack, but still..." He sighed. "We can't leave it out there Heero."
"I know. Do the best you can for me?"
"I'll try. Whatever you do, don't let Alex, Muller and that whole bunch hear about this. They'll go out there half-cocked and get themselves killed."
"We can't let people go wandering out there..." Heero protested.
Duo was listening to all this with a strange half-smile on his lips.
"I know, I know," Quatre groaned. "We're damned either way. Warn the town, but threaten Alex and them with jail time if they go out alone or something."
"Have the Reverend talk to them," Catherine suggested. "He's the only steadying influence over those young hotheads."
"Good idea," Heero agreed. "I'll go have a word with him now. You'll let me know when you have a plan Quatre?"
"Of course." Quatre nodded. "Good luck Sheriff."
"You turn to piano players for advice often Sheriff?" Duo asked as they left the saloon.
"I do when they are the sons of generals and groomed to take an officer position since they were born."
"Quatre's the son of a general?"
"Yes. He's the only son of General Winner. Famous war hero? Ever hear of him?" Heero enjoyed the shock on Duo's face.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
"He didn't want to join the army. So he left."
"And he's working as a piano player in a saloon?"
"He's a very good piano player," Heero smiled slightly. "And he's also the bouncer."
Duo shook his head. "This town gets odder all the time. Female doctors, Preacher's sisters running whorehouses, a sensible sheriff, general's sons playing piano..."
"Preachers who don't act like preachers," Heero added. Duo rolled his eyes.
"And how am I supposed to act? I'm not a monk you know. Just a preacher. Not ordained or anything. I don't have any rules to follow."
Good point, Heero conceded silently. Anyone could preach after all. Just needed a good knowledge of the bible and an ability to talk. Duo had those. Preachers didn't need to belong to a church, be ordained or trained in any way.
Chang had also said that Duo was only a man of god when it suited him. Heero could see that as well. He studied the young man pacing beside him and wondered what other occupations suited Duo. That trick with the knife- the staff on the back of the horse- what else was Duo?
TBC...
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