They were also well prepared. From a wide belt around their waists hung a riot stick, tear gas canisters, a stock prod, handcuffs and a narrow beam laser. All this was in addition to the .70 calibre recoil-less that each of them held in their pudgy hands.
The pistol was taken away from Billy’s throat.
‘Okay, relax, but don’t try nothing or I’ll blow your head off.’
The cop holding Billy’s gun looked at his partner.
‘Is he the one that shot the guy?’
The one holding the gun on Billy grinned.
‘Must be, Angelina’s up here with her shock box.’
Angelina sat up in bed.
‘Screw yourself, pig.’
‘Shut your mouth, honey, or we’ll book you for L and F.’
The one with the gun prodded Billy in the stomach.
‘So you’re the gun-happy kid?’
Billy tried to explain.
‘Listen, he pulled a laser on me …’
The cop slapped Billy across the face.
‘We’ll tell you when to talk.’
He pointed with his gun to the upright chair.
‘Sit.’
Billy sat. The two cops stood in front of him.
‘So you’re the killer who blasts down citizens of Dogbreath with his fancy reproduction pistol.’
The one with his gun spun it on his finger. Billy tried again.
‘He was roughing up Angelina, I hit him and he pulled a laser.’
‘So?’
‘It was self defence.’
‘So?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘What makes you think Dogbreath has got any laws about self defence?’
‘It wasn’t my fault.’
‘No? You shot him, didn’t you?’
‘But …’
‘It’s lucky for you, kid, that Dogbreath don’t have no laws about killing, or you’d be in trouble.’
Billy looked bewildered.
‘So what are you here for?’
‘We don’t like gun-happy kids in town.’
‘But you said there was no laws …’
‘We kill who we don’t like. The stage leaves at midnight. Don’t miss it.’
Billy shook his head vigorously.
‘I won’t.’
The cop pulled a pad of printed forms from a pouch on his belt.
‘Sign here.’
‘What is it?’
‘Statement exempting the People’s Metropolis of Dogbreath from all claims by agents or relatives of the deceased.’
Billy signed.’
‘Okay, that’ll be …’
The cop counted on his fingers.
‘Conveyance Fee ten, Mortification Duty twenty, Disposal Fee twenty, and Law Enforcement Charge fifty. That’s a round hundred altogether.’
‘You mean I have to pay to go through this?’
‘You better learn, kid. Nothing comes free.’
They gave him his gun back.
‘Be on the stage.’
They left. Billy looked round at Angelina.
‘What was that all about?’
‘They shook you down for a hundred. You got taken, honey.’
‘So what was I supposed to do?’
She licked her lips with a swift, lizard-like flick of the tongue.
‘You could have killed them, and run.’
‘Wouldn’t that have been overdoing it?’
‘You don’t have any sense of class. No drama, no romance.’
Billy started to get into bed, but Angelina pushed him away.
‘I’ve gone off you, honey. I don’t think I want you anymore.’
‘What’s the matter with you?’
‘The way you handled those cops, you’re just no good, babe.’
Billy began to get annoyed.
‘I was good enough to handle your buddy with the laser.’
Angelina thought about it, and then slowly rubbed her thighs together.
‘Yeah, I guess you were at that. Come on back to bed.’
After another strenuous hour with Angelina and the induction coil, Billy passed out.
He woke up with Reave shaking him.
‘Wake up, old buddy. The stage leaves in an hour.’
Billy yawned.
‘Have I been out for that long?’
‘You have indeed.’
Billy sat up rubbing his eyes.
‘Got a smoke?’
Reave handed him a cigar, and then struck a match. Billy inhaled and coughed.
‘Did you have a good time last night?’
Reave grinned and winked.
‘I’ll say.’
Billy got out of bed and struggled into his clothes. Reave laughed.
‘You look rough, did you have a heavy night?’
Billy pulled on one of his cowboy boots.
‘Heavy.’
‘Yeah? What happened? Did you come back here with that blue chick? She looked weird.’
‘She was weird.’
Reave poked him in the ribs with his elbow.
‘Come on Billy, it’s me, Reave. What happened? Don’t be so cagey.’
Billy took another cigar from Reave and sat down on the bed. He began reluctantly to tell him about the killing in the saloon and the scenes that followed.
‘… And then, to top it all, the fucking cops took a hundred off me.’
The atmosphere of all boys together telling tales dropped away. Reave stroked his chin and looked worried.
‘How much money have you got left?’
‘About eighty, why?’
Reave looked guilty.
‘I don’t have more than that left myself.’
‘So? We’ve got a hundred and sixty between us, and the Minstrel Boy must have some more money.’
There was an awkward silence. Reave walked across to the window and looked down at the street.
‘That’s the trouble. I haven’t seen him for hours.’
‘You mean he hasn’t been back?’
‘There’s not a sign of him, and the stage goes soon. I mean, if he don’t show up in the next few minutes we’re in trouble. We don’t even know where the fucking stage goes to.’
Billy stuffed the last of his things into the bag and did up the straps.
‘We don’t need the Minstrel Boy to nursemaid us.’
He strapped on his gun belt.
‘We’ll go down to the stage, and if he doesn’t get on it, we’ll just ride it down to the next town and see what happens there.’
Reave slung his own bag over his shoulder. He still looked unhappy.
‘I don’t like it, Billy.’
Billy turned in the doorway.
‘What’s the matter with you? We’ve done okay so far. We don’t need anyone to look after us.’
Reave shrugged, and followed Billy out of the door.
‘Maybe you’re right.’
In the foyer Mohammed stood behind the counter and watched them walk to the door.
‘Good luck on your journey, boys.’
Billy glanced back at him.
‘Yeah, right.’
Whatever Billy and Reave had expected, the stage was a total surprise to them. It was like something out of a legend. Billy had seen pictures of things like it, back in Pleasant Gap. The battered wooden coach with its high spoked wheels, small square windows, three on each side, and the brass rail round the luggage rack on the roof. None of the pictures had shown anything like the four huge green lizards that were harnessed to it, and squatted on their haunches, waiting for the journey to start.
On the boardwalk, beside where the stage waited, there was a signboard. Overland Hollow City and Dogbreath Stage Co. - Passengers Wait Here. Only one man stood beside the sign. He wore a wide-brimmed bat hat with a band of silver and turquoise links, and an ankle-length, dirty yellow duster coat. His pin-stripe trousers were tucked into high black boots. As Billy and Reave approached, he turned and they saw he had a weather-beaten brown face with a blond drooping moustache and short pointed beard. A strap across his chest, outside his denim work shirt, indicated that he was wearing a shoulder holster. He looked Billy and Reave up and down.
‘Well now, two more for the stage. Where you boys headed?’