All of it

Kate’s singing filled the saloon and shone despite the harsh droning of the off-key piano. The men stared in silent awe, eyes wide and mouths ajar. The drunks at the bar had turned on their stools, forgetting their drinks as they watched. Even the poker games lagged, the men gazing over their shoulders rather than concentrate on their game.

Cornelius Walken—the saloon’s owner—stood just above her on the second-story balcony. His cheap suit struggled to contain his bulk, the buttons clinging desperately to the jacket like a drowning man to a raft. The chain of an equally cheap gold pocket watch hung from his chest pocket as he leaned over and barely hid his attempt to see down Kate’s dress.

The batwing doors creaked open as a young man stepped in, a gust of wind rustling the several wanted posters nailed to the wall. The disruption earned irritated glares from several of Kate’s admirers, glares the stranger ignored as he brushed the dust from his serape and flicked the front of his wide-brimmed hat. The string caught on his neck as the hat settled onto his back. 

He paused at the entrance and took in the saloon with casual eyes. A lop-sided grin formed on his stubbled face when he noticed Kate. “Not bad,” he muttered, then made his way to the bar. 

“Bourbon.” 

With his drink now in hand, he leaned back on the bar, joining the rest of the saloon as they watched Kate dance her way off the stage and sway among the tables, her voice booming over the piano. The curled locks of her wavy blond hair bobbbed as she sashayed around the room and twirled a frilly blue dress that hung loose from her shoulders. Her matching blue eyes wandered the room as she performed, meeting up with the men one at a time and lingering just long enough for each of them to feel special.

As she reached the end of the song, her eyes met with the stranger’s. She stared a little longer this time. He smiled and raised his glass to her. Before she could look away, he turned back to the bar and set down his now empty glass. With a nod, he ordered a second.

The piano banged one final time before going silent. Men whistled and hollered as she flirted her way across the saloon to the bar, eyes fixed on the stranger who by now nursed a third drink.

“Long day?” She asked, sitting gingerly on the stool beside him. 

“Nope.”

She nodded to the empty glasses. “Well, you’re on your third one.”

“I am.”

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “A man drinks that fast, he’s either had a long day or planning on a long night.” She paused. “You planning on a long night?”

“Hope not.” 

“Name’s Kate. You got one?”

“Yep.”

“Want to share it?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“Sometimes.” He glanced at her. “What about you, Kate? You had a long day?”

She flashed her practiced smile. “Sure, I have. Wasn’t you watching?”

He grinned. “’Course I was.”

“Well, I’ve been at it since ‘fore you showed up.” She looked off into the crowd of men. “Been working all evening.”

He followed her gaze. “What about now? You working?”

“I’m always working.” 

He downed the rest of his bourbon. “So am I.” He waved his empty glass at her as if that proved his point before slamming it down beside the others. With another nod, he ordered a fourth.

A hand came down hard on his shoulder, brushing Kate’s aside in the process. “Who’s your friend, Kate?” The stranger looked up and saw a man in a suit standing between them, his other hand on the small of Kate’s back. Unlike the rest of the saloon, he was clean-shaven and spotless. 

“Don’t know,” she said. “Won’t say.”

“No? Let me try.” The suit turned his attention to him. “Name’s Jesse. You got one?”

“Yep.” He picked up his new glass.

“You want to tell me?”

“Nope.”

“Well, unfriendly strangers ain’t really welcome here.”

Kate sighed. “Jesse…don’t.”

“No, Kate, I got to. A man ain’t friendly, he don’t need to be in a saloon.”

“Well, I’m not going to be here for this.” She turned and walked to the poker table to try her magic among the gamblers.

Jesse didn’t budge. “You listening, pal?”

He turned on the stool and smiled his lop-sided grin. “Alright, pal. Since you asked nice—name’s Aaron.”

Jesse smiled. “Well, Aaron, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.”

“I don’t want to hear your secret no more than you’re going to want to hear mine.”

“You got a secret, too? Well, my secret ain’t really no secret. You see, Kate’s my girl.” He glanced over at Kate as she flirted with the gamblers. “And since you’re new around here, I thought I’d let you know up front before you go and do something stupid.”

Aaron smirked. “Well, Jesse, I can pretty much guarantee that ‘fore the night’s out I’ll have done something stupid. Just the way I am.” He followed Jesse’s eyes. “As for the girl, I don’t much care who’s got a claim on her.” He downed his bourbon and dropped the glass on the bar with the rest. “Now, since you were all nice and shared your secret, I’m going to let you in on mine.”

Jesse sat at the stool Kate had just vacated. “This oughtta be good.”

“You see that fat man in the suit up on the second floor? The one trying to stare down your girl’s dress?”

“Cornelius?”

“Just the two of you in suits and only one of you’s fat. Try to keep up.”

“What about him?”

“I’m going to take his money. All of it.”

He barked a laugh. “Are you, now? How do you plan on doing that?”

“That would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t like surprises. In fact, I don’t really like you.”

“I thought we were having fun.”

Jesse shook his head. “Ain’t no fun with guys like you. Only trouble. And I don’t want any trouble.”

 Aaron stood up, his stool scraping across the floor. “Fair enough. Trouble or not, though, I’m leaving with the fat man’s money. You can run and tell him, or just watch it happen, but it’s going to happen either way.” He turned his back to Jesse and strutted toward the batwing doors. Kate watched from the poker table.

When Aaron got to the doors, he stopped and turned back to face Jesse. “You really are slow,” he said with that same lop-sided grin.

Jesse made a show of eyeing the wanted posters by the door. “Aaron Bullhorn,” he muttered.

Aaron smiled wide. “About time.” He leaped toward the poker table, drew a pistol from under his serape, and grabbed Kate. He held it to her ribs as he put her between him and the rest of the men. The saloon was filled with the sound of guns ripping from holsters and hammers cocking back.

“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing, boy?” It was Cornelius who spoke. He came walking down the stairs with no sense of urgency or fear. 

Jesse stood up. “He’s planning on taking your money, Mr. Walken. All of it.”

Cornelius reached the bottom of the stairs. “Now, son, I don’t have much money. In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t Tombstone. It’s definitely not worth killing poor Kate over.”

“Give me the money, and I won’t have to.”

Cornelius scoffed. “She’s worth less than the bit of money I’ve got saved up anyhow. Go ahead and shoot her.”

Aaron smiled. “Don’t play games with me, boss. I’ll call your bluff.” He pulled back the hammer on his pistol and moved it to Kate’s temple.

Cornelius was silent for another moment. With a dissatisfied frown, he nodded to the bartender, who disappeared into a back room.

“If he comes out with a gun, things ain’t going to be so good for Kate.”

“He won’t,” he said with a frown. “You won’t get far. You know that, right?”

Aaron smiled and tightened his grip, eliciting a moan of pain from Kate. “Good thing I ain’t got far to go.”

The bartender came out with a small sack. Cornelius snatched it and threw it across the saloon. It landed at Kate’s feet, the string coming undone and some bills falling out. “Now, get out of my saloon.”

“That all of it?”

“I told you I don’t have much.”

“You’re lying,” he said, scooping the bag up and tying it to his belt. “And for that, I’m taking the girl.” 

“No!” Jesse stepped forward. His hand went to his pistol.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Aaron said, moving the gun back to Kate’s ribs and digging in hard. Jesse stopped short. “As a matter of fact, everyone kindly put your firearms on the floor.” No one moved. Aaron fired a shot into the ceiling and pressed the now hot barrel against Kate’s neck. She groaned in pain as bits of the saloon’s ceiling rained down on them. “Please?” Guns clattered to the floor. “Thank you.” He dragged her backward through the batwing doors. The crowd of men followed, led by Jesse and Cornelius.

“Let me go,” Kate shouted as she struggled against him.

“Quiet now,” he said. “Don’t want this thing to accidentally go off.”

Once he was out in the street, he stopped, the crowd cramming comically together on the small wooden porch of the saloon.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Aaron started. “I’m taking Kate here ‘round back to get my horse. Then, we’re riding off into the sunset, just like in them books. And if any of you idiots leave this here porch ’fore I’m gone, I’ll kill her. We clear?”

Some of them nodded, while others just remained silent. Jesse stepped forward. “You’ll pay for this, Bullhorn.”

“Just Aaron’s fine.”

Keeping the gun on Kate, he pulled her around the side of the saloon. Once they were out of sight, he released her and holstered his weapon. 

She touched her neck. “You didn’t have to burn me.”

“Had to make it look real.” He glanced behind him. “We only got a couple minutes,” he said, walking along the back wall of the saloon. “You sure you can do it?”

She just smiled. “Give me a lift.”

He stopped under a second-story window. Linking his fingers together, he boosted Kate up.

“Not a bad view,” he said, his eyes going up her dress.

“Shut up.” She pulled herself up, disappearing through the window. Aaron stepped back and looked around the corner of the saloon. He didn’t see anyone. 

“Hurry,” he whispered. “They’re dumb, but they ain’t going to wait forever.”

A heavy sack fell from the window. It was at least ten times the size of the smaller one he already had tied to his belt. Aaron caught it and set it down. Next came Kate. She slid her feet out first, then dropped down into his waiting arms. “Thanks, cowboy.”

“My pleasure,” he said, tipping his hat. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

***

“Something isn’t right,” Cornelius said, his arms crossed and resting on his enormous belly. “It shouldn’t take this long to saddle up a horse.”

“Maybe Kate’s giving him hell,” Jesse offered. “She’s a fighter.”

Cornelius shook his head. “No…something isn’t right.”

As if on cue, Aaron and Kate barreled around the side of the saloon. Kate was sitting up front, holding the reins, while Aaron was behind her with his gun in her ribs. “Thanks, boys,” he shouted as they galloped away.

Cornelius watched as they rode away. Then he noticed it. Hanging off the side of the horse was a worn sack. “No…” he whispered. Turning around, he sprinted inside and huffed his way up the stairs towards his office. He kicked the door and saw his safe hanging open at the foot of his bed. 

It was empty.

***

They rode for several hours before turning off the path and forging their way deeper into the Arizona desert. Aaron had long since holstered his pistol and switched places with Kate. She had her arms wrapped around his waist and her head resting on his back as they ventured further away from civilization.

“You did well,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“How long did it take to get in with pretty boy?”

“Jesse?” She thought for a moment. “Not long. He’s a softie.”

Aaron stopped the horse and slid off. He helped Kate down. “You have to lay with him to get the key?”

Kate frowned. “I’d rather not talk about that.” 

He kissed her forehead. “You did well,” he repeated. “I’ll set up the tent.” He nodded to the sack of money. “Mind counting that for me?”

“No problem.”

He grabbed the rest of the bags as Kate counted the money, and soon he had their tent up and a fire going. Crickets chirped in the darkness around them.

“It’s all there?” he asked.

She slid the last of the bills back inside the sack. “Yep. All of it.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her. “I got a pretty good idea how we can celebrate.”

“Me, too.” She slid out of his grasp, leaving him standing confused and wide-eyed, and walked back to the horse. Digging through her bag, she pulled out a pair of glasses and a bottle. “How about a drink?”

 “Bourbon?” She nodded. “You know me too well.”

She poured the drink into both glasses and handed one to him, which he downed without a pause. “Now, what do you say we head on inside,” he said, nodding to the tent, “and finish this celebration?”

“You go on in,” she said with a smile. “I need to get out of this dress first.”

“Good idea.” He turned and disappeared inside the tent. 

Kate waited a few minutes before creeping up to the tent. She bent down, listened, and heard Aaron snoring. Dumping her drink out, she lit a lantern and walked off into the darkness, only getting a dozen feet before a voice startled her.

“Not safe to be alone in the dark.”

She spun and faced the voice, nearly dropping her lantern. A man stood in the darkness holding the reins to two horses behind him. One horse was barren, except for a saddle, and the other had a body slumped over. The man had a rifle on his back. 

“Jesse?” She shivered. “That you?”

Jesse stepped into the light of her lantern. “Of course, sweetheart.”

Kate nodded to the body. “Who’s that?”

“Some prostitute.”

She frowned. “Is that supposed to be me?”

“Let’s just do this so we can get moving.”

Jesse wrapped the reins around a nearby cactus and pulled a six-shooter from his saddle. Together, the two of them crept back toward the tent. Kate remained a step behind, hiding in his shadow as they entered the light of the campfire. 

Aaron was nowhere to be seen, but his snores could still be heard echoing out from the tent. Kate stopped at the edge of the firelight and knelt, her hands covering her ears and her eyes squeezing shut. “I hate guns,” she whispered to herself.

Aiming at the snores, Jesse emptied his six-shooter. Blood sprayed inside the tent, some of it splattering out and landing in the dusty desert. 

Kate opened her eyes. When she saw the blood, she shivered and turned away. “I hate blood.”

Jesse pocketed the empty pistol and slid the rifle from his back. He leaned forward and opened the tent flap with the barrel. After a brief look, he fired two more shots into the tent. “He’s dead,” Jesse muttered, glancing back at her. “Good job, Kate.”

She tried to smile but only managed an ugly grimace. “Thank you.”

He walked off toward the horses. “I’ll grab the hooker and your clothes. Take that dress off.”

She did as he said and started at the straps along her back. When he returned, the dress was on the ground beside her, and she was doing what she could to cover herself with her hands. He had the dead prostitute over his shoulder and a bag in his hand. Dropping the prostitute to the ground, he took a long look at Kate.

“Mind if I get dressed?”

Jesse smirked. “Sort of.” He took one more look before tossing her the bag and dragging the prostitute through the dirt towards the tent. After stuffing her into Kate’s dress, he dumped her inside. 

“That should do it,” he said, turning back to Kate. She was now fully dressed and holding her lantern. Jesse took it and snatched up the bourbon from the saddle, then tossed both inside the tent. There was the whoof of fire catching, then the tent was in flames. “And that’s how you and Aaron died.” He turned back to Kate. “Where’d you put the cash?” She nodded behind her, and Jesse walked over to check the money. 

“It’s all there,” Kate said, inching over to Aaron’s horse as soon as Jesse’s back was turned.

“All of it?”

“Well, I didn’t touch it.”

 He ripped open the sack and pulled out several of the bills. “You’ll forgive me if I check.”

Kate rifled through Aaron’s bag. “And you’ll forgive me for this.” She pulled out his six-shooter and fired. The first shot caught Jesse in the shoulder. He spun once and landed on his back, wide eyes darting back to Kate. She stepped forward and stood over him. “Sorry, Jesse,” she said with a frown, aiming the six-shooter at his chest. “I liked you best.”

She fired again, stepped over his body, then lifted the sack and disappeared into the night with Cornelius Walken’s hard-earned money.

All of it.