The light in the cell flicked on and when I laid eyes on Dusty Rose, I was stunned. From what I understood, she had been leader of the Hunters of the Rose for more than twenty years but she didn’t seem older than thirty, despite her long hair which was completely white. Her very movements into my jail cell exuded danger that I quickly understood why she was who she was. This was just from the way she walked. I hope I’m never on the wrong end of her guns.
Dusty’s shadow enveloped me but all she did was strike a match on the concrete wall and put the flame to a thin cigarette in her lips. Her eyes glistened red as she took a drag. She blew the smoke from her nostrils and this is what she said.
‘Who are you?’
I told her my name.
‘Did you do it?’
Pretty standard questioning to be honest.
‘No,’ I said.
‘Well then, I guess we should let you go, huh?’
If I could be more shocked, I would have passed out. The jail guards looked just as floored as me as they stared between the iron bars.
‘I must say, stranger,’ she continued. ‘You came at a pretty bad time. The Loya family have owned the eastern ridges of the town since its founding. They want me and mine gone.’
‘What does that have to do with me?’ I asked.
‘They knew how close I was to Mr. Oldbarrows. He was my supplier and close friend. Instead of starting a war with me, they killed him and pinned the murder on you. Fortunately for you, I’m not the idiot they think I am. In order for me to get rid of the Loyas once and for all, I need your help.’
Suddenly, two men with irons at their hips entered the cell and picked the crazed man in the corner. He began to scream and fight them but one of them, a mountain of a man, reared back and punched him in the stomach. This bled the fight out of him and he allowed them to pick him up meekly.
‘Wh-where are you taking me?’ he asked. They didn’t answer as they threw a brown sack over his head and dragged him out of sight.
‘Dr. Marcus Listrum is going to swing by the neck in a few hours once the sun has come up.’
I felt my stomach drop to my toes. ‘I thought you said I was free to go.’
Dusty Rose smiled. ‘I did. Dr. Marcus Listrum will hang and then, once the sun has gone down, you are going to sneak into the Loya farmstead and kill Hector Loya.’
‘What? I’m not an assassin. I came to Glen Rio only to bury my father. That’s the reason I spoke with Mr. Oldbarrows. I needed funeral arrangements.’
‘That’s tough,’ said Dusty as she walked out the jail and closed the cell behind her. ‘If you don’t help me. I’ll make sure you are buried beside your father. You have a choice now, Dr. Listrum. Don’t disappoint me.’
Why do I feel like I just leapt from the frying pan into the fire?
-Dr. Listrum
Author J.M. Topp 