Dominion: Closer. (Three)

Shelby, Wyoming Territory, November 1st, 1874.

He had ridden one hundred and fifty hard miles, over sand and rock, through dry scotching desert heat, mountain snow storms, and down into a wide valley in a down pouring rainstorm that turned his path into small streams and mudholes. He rode into Shelby Wyoming just past dusk where the fading light quickly laid down into his path on the empty street, with the driving heavy rain beating down on his back he kept the pack animal in tow, the two dead bodies bobbing and swaying with each step until he finally came to a stop in front of Myers Livery and Tack, he rode slowly in the large open door and stopped when the older hunched over fellow approached him with a raised lantern. He lowered himself from the saddle, removed his saddlebags, and threw them over his shoulder, and then handed the old man two dollars in coins.

"Just leave them loaded until I come back." He said. 

The old man carefully looked him up and down and then nodded.

"Where's the marshal's office?" 

The old man leaned forward and pointed across the street.

"Marshal Gauge is right next to the land office." He said with a slight southern accent.

He stepped up and swung the door open and shook off the excess wet before stepping inside, there were two younger fellows sitting at a small table in the corner playing cards, they stopped and stared at him as soon as he entered, casting him cautious looks. He carefully leaned the rifle up against the window SIL, and sat the saddlebags on the long table in front of the window, looking around the room, there was a large wooden desk in the corner that looked slightly out of place, a rack of locked rifles on the wall surrounded by several public notices and wanted posters. there was a lit wood stove in the opposite corner, he turned his attention to the two young men slowly removing his black leather gauntlets. He returned their cautious glances.

"My name is Elias Crowe, I'm a United States Marshal, we're tracking a group of outlaws wanted in three states, could one of you young bucks point me in the direction of the town marshal?" He asked.

The young slightly built, blonde, moppy haired fellow stood up seeming slightly indignant, looking Crowe up and down.

"How do you know one of us ain't the town marshal, mister?"

Crowe's steely stare never left him as he carefully removed and stuffed the gauntlets into his coat pocket. The look unsettled the much younger man.

"You look a mite young to be a marshal, but if you are, I have business to discuss with you." He answered.

"What kind of business?"  The 2nd asked nervously.

He shifted his gaze to the 2nd young man, slowly stepping forward and lying two wanted posters onto the table in front of them.

"Dead outlaw business." He answered slowly.

Both of them looked down at the wanted posters and then slowly back up at Crowe, his steady gaze offered them no comfort. Behind him, he could hear the cowbell above the door ring out as it swung open, through the door, a taller older muscular man with long salt and pepper hair came walking in, he looked over the top of his spectacles at him, and then at the two young men. He cocked his head to one side and grinned. 

"You done scaring my deputies, Mr. Crowe?  They look like they're about to soil their britches." He laughed.

"Matthew?"

He smiled in return and shook his extended hand. Marshal Matthew Gauge seemed genuinely happy to see him. He walked over to the table and picked the wanted posters, looking sideways at him. 

"Hmmm, two of them Church brothers, aye? That clan still giving you problems?" He asked.

"Yep, there's two less now though, ol, Elgin Gatewood and I had been tracking them and the Forge brothers, along with another young man, we aren't sure who he is, they seem to have formed quite the notorious little gang, everyone from the US marshals office, The Pinkerton's and Wells Fargo have been looking for them. They split up at the South Dakota border, and so did Elgin and me. I took down Damian and Pritchard Church. I took Damian clean in Saddlerville, Pritchard tried to backshoot me outside Willwood, I got them both hanging over the back of my pack animal wrapped in canvas over at the livery. I aim to collect those bounties to pay for my provisions and lodgings for me and my horses."

He folded the wanted posters up and tucked them into his inside coat pocket, he walked slowly to the window, picking up the rifle and saddlebags carefully. He turned back to face Marshal Gauge.

"How did you end up in this mudhole, Matthew? last I heard you were up in Cold Station, Colorado." He asked.

"I was, worked on a cattle ranch, tending to a herd, cowboying, branding, a man came calling, saying that Shelby needed a marshal and long story short, they needed a marshal and I needed a change of scenery and a new job, so I packed up and moved here. At first, it was a mess, but I did some house keepin, and now it's nice and quiet." He drew in a deep breath and turned to face him. 

"I'll grab my duster, and we'll go over and take a look at those bodies." Gauge said.

He instructed both deputies to go around to the back of the office and to hook a two horse team up to the flatbed wagon and to bring it around to the livery stables to collect the bodies to take to the undertaker.

"Tell him to build two boxes but don't bury them yet". 

He pulled the duster up over his shoulders and followed Crowe across the street to the livery stables, Marshal Gauge called the liveryman over with his lantern as he pulled the canvas away from their faces, Gauge knelt down to take a closer look, he positively identified both men as the wanted Church brothers, he cocked his head to one side, gave a curious look, and then stood to face Elias.

"Come on back over to the jail and have a drink with me Elias, there's something that I need to double-check, don't worry about your saddle or horses, Merle Myers is a good man, he'll take proper care of everything." Gauge told him.   

As the two deputies loaded the bodies, They walked back to Gauge's office and went inside. He sat down behind his large wooden desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, he began looking through a stack of papers in one of the drawers, his eyes squinted against the failing light, scanning every word carefully, Crowe filled the glasses with whiskey. Matthew lit a second kerosene lantern on top of the desk and asked to see the two wanted posters again, before he carefully pulled out a thin stack of folded papers, he put on his spectacles and leaned in closer to the light to read the one on top.  He leaned back in his chair and raised the whiskey glass to his lips. He paused slightly, staring for a moment out the window at the pouring rain.

"Well, Elias, it would appear as though you did the world a great service by removing these two Church brothers from it." He leaned across the desk and handed him one of the papers. 

"It seems that a little over a month ago, Damian took to raping a fourteen-year-old girl and then shot her and her mama to death afterward, about thirty-five miles to the north of here in a town called Gaston, while Prichard, two of the Forge brothers along with William Stanhope, robbed the overland stage, killed the driver, the shotgun messenger, two passengers and made off with the strong box. According to that paper there, they're wanted in half a dozen or so counties, in three states. The bounty is being paid by Kindred Bank and Trust." 

"The Forge brothers are from around here?" Crowe asked.

He nodded, without replying.

"You've got a lot of high value targets in this vicinity, Mace Dukes and Zayn Riddle were both seen heading this way, or so I've heard, I've also heard that Lucius Frost may be sneaking around hereabouts. If you have a hotel here, I'll get a room for a couple of days."

Matthew poured them another glass of whiskey.

"Miss Hetty Granger runs a rather large boarding house at the end of Grove street, it's across from the school, around the corner from the saloon, about one and a half blocks from here. Hetty runs a clean, quiet place, with no gun play, You tell her I sent you, and she will treat you right." 

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