Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Blog

Blogathon 2006: Chapter 8.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 1 comments link this post

"Howdy stranger. How's about you and I go outside for a little visit?"

Solitaire's shadow stretched across the floor but that was no mind to Dove. A shadow was nothing but the absence of light and he knew darkness well enough on his own.

"I'm enjoying my meal." Dove took another sip of coffee.

Solitaire's eyes narrowed slightly. "This will only take a minute of your time."

Sergio's wife whispered to Dove that she would keep his meal hot and waiting for him, that she didn't want any trouble in her hotel. He remembered the barkeep's thoughts on peace and furniture.

"Alright, then."

The town was deserted out in front of the hotel, nothing left of the previous activity but a lone pig. Something clicked on in the back of his mind that Solitaire had a way of earning his name, the way things kept clearing out when he was around.

"You and I are a lot alike, Dove," Solitaire said, leaning up against the wooden fence and motioning Dove to do the same.

"That so."

"Can't help but notice it now, can you?"

"Can't say that I did."

"I'm jes' wondering what you're doin' in town. I never heard of no Robert Dove before." Solitaire laughed loudly, a laugh full of hate and all things bad, what a laugh should never be used to express.

"Most haven't. I'm fond of yondering. It's not a way to meet friends or tame a land but I get by, just the same." Dove didn't think about his gun much, in the way that he didn't think about his hands. They were always there, a part of him, like his gun. It was no seperate piece of metal but like flesh and bone instead. He ever so slightly shifted his weight to allow his leather duster to slide back silently, exposing his hip for quick access.

Solitaire continued to watch the pig waddling down the street. Dove had no small thoughts on who the real pig was.

"You some kind of gutless wonder? I know what you're doin'."

Dove stood still, saying nothing, speaking loud and clear all the same. He saw it coming, like the rain before the onslaught of a swollen creek. He saw that Crossfire Trail was going to be the proving trail.

"I'd keep that gun in your holster, friend. That's where I got mine, and I got the sheriff in my pocket and a knife in my boot," Solitaire sneered.

"I heard about your knife," Dove said. "My meal and bed are waiting for me."

He turned to go back inside the hotel, his head screaming that he ought not turn his back to a man who was surely going to bring down the darkness once again.

"You think we're through?" Solitaire called after him.

"Never crossed my mind."

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Labels: blogathon