Bunty the Bounty Hunter, page 13
“I guess I did do that,” Bunty said, the thought cheering her.
She tried to think back to the events in the bank so she could work out what had made her do it, but those few moments had happened so quickly and now the memory was just a blur. All she could recall is that she’d had the idea to close the door, and she’d done it. Bunty stood up and she and the sheriff faced each other.
“Apparently, an important part of cricket is that during the game you have to eat several meals,” Merryweather said. “But the match was completed so quickly nobody got a chance to eat. That means there’s to be a feast shortly and I’d be honored if you’d accompany me to the dinner.”
“Who said anything about dinner?” she said with a playful smile.
Merryweather frowned. “What do you mean?”
Bunty winced, realizing that was something she said only in her dreams and the real sheriff wouldn’t understand it.
She looped her arm in his. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain it to you later.”
Merryweather smiled and with that they headed to the door. As they walked across the office, she noticed the Wanted posters in the corner. She’d been in the office only once before and back then she hadn’t seen them, but they were in the same position as she had put them in her dreams.
There were over a dozen and the portraits and listed crimes were enough to provide Bunty the bounty hunter with adventures for many months. Then she shook herself and gripped Merryweather’s arm more tightly, but the sheriff had seen where she had been looking.
“You may have helped me to defeat Tex, but you shouldn’t concern yourself with those folk.”
She was about to agree, but then she stopped and read the posters again until she found a particularly evil looking varmint.
“Maybe I shouldn’t, but even when everything in your life is right, a girl still has to dream,” she said.
“Stop looking back, Fergal,” Randolph said. “Nobody is going to follow us out of town.”
Fergal swung back into the stage and settled down on his seat opposite Randolph. As they were the only two passengers, he put his feet up on the seat and leaned back in a corner with his hands behind his head.
“The sheriff might still have some awkward questions to ask us, Kelvin sure won’t be happy about us leaving and Spurgeon will want his money out of the safe.”
“Right now the sheriff will be more interested in spending time with Bunty, and Kelvin will be too busy sorting out his problems with Spurgeon to worry about us.”
“I guess you’re right,” Fergal said. “Even if you got the right code for the safe, Kelvin won’t be getting into it any time soon. I guess I’m just not used to leaving town while not being pursued by dozens of angry townsfolk.”
“Then start believing it.”
Fergal smiled. “I do believe it.”
Randolph patted their bulging saddlebag in the hope that he might convince himself to accept his own words, but that only led to him shaking his head in disbelief.
“Then tell me it’s true and I might start believing it, too.”
“In that case, we did it. We finally did it. We won!”
“We won,” Randolph intoned and then liking the sound of those words he punched the air. “After all those years of near misses and almost getting our hands on a fortune, we’ve actually done it. We’ve left town with a bag full of money and with nobody on our tail wanting to kill us.”
“Nobody will ever want to kill us.” Fergal chuckled. “After all, we’re dead.”
“I guess we are.” Randolph frowned. “But I don’t like the thought of that.”
“Relax. The demise of those two outlaw tonic sellers gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. With all this money we can do anything we want to do now.”
Randolph raised a hopeful eyebrow. “Such as sell the tonic again?”
Fergal shook his head and spread his arms. “That’s what we used to do, but now we’re men who deal in big ideas.”
Randolph thought about this for a moment and then smiled.
“Then we could rebuild the traveling show, but this time bigger than before and perhaps with some authentic historical memorabilia that we didn’t make ourselves.”
Fergal spread his arms even wider apart. “You need to think even bigger than that.”
Randolph shrugged as he tried to think of other ideas and that made him feel the weight of the ball he’d put in his pocket. He withdrew it and held it up, and then unpinned his umpire’s star and held that up in the other hand.
“We could form our own cricket team so I can adjudicate on the laws of cricket again.”
“Clearly you enjoyed enforcing the law.” Fergal waited until Randolph smiled and then waggled a finger at him. “But you’re still thinking too small. Keep telling yourself that we can do absolutely anything we want to do.”
Randolph nodded and then turned to the window. Outside, the land spread away from them in all directions. He tried to think what he wanted to do now that he no longer had limitations.
No ideas would come, but Fergal’s lively smile and flickering eyes suggested he was already having so many ideas he couldn’t decide which one would work best. Randolph decided to let Fergal do the thinking and he pocketed the ball and umpire’s star. Then he matched Fergal’s posture with his hands behind his head and his feet sprawled out on the seat.
“I guess to convince myself that we can do anything, I just have to keep reminding myself about who is sitting opposite to me.”
Fergal smiled. “You’re sitting opposite to a rich man, as am I.”
“It’s more than that. You’re a man who left Kelvin to face his irate customers.”
Randolph laughed long and hard. Fergal chuckled, but he didn’t laugh as heartily as Randolph was.
“It’s good that we made him suffer, but what’s cheered you so much about that?”
“It means that as you left with the money you were going to use to save the bank, it’ll be your fault when it fails.” Randolph waited until Fergal puffed his chest proudly and then leaned back in his seat and winked. “So in the end, you’re the man who broke Paradise’s bank.”
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Did you love Bunty the Bounty Hunter? Then you should read The Curse of the Phantom Pirate by I. J. Parnham!
Having finally become a wealthy man Fergal O'Brien no longer has to sell his universal remedy to cure all ills, but that leaves him with the problem of what he wants to do instead. An opportunity arises when he comes across a theater that has been abandoned after the untimely death of its owner Harold Beaumont.
Fergal sets out to bring his skills as a showman to a larger audience, but he soon faces plenty of problems. The theater has a poor reputation, it's haunted by the ghost of a pirate and, worst of all, the gunslinger Laramie Todd wants a regular pay-off or he'll burn the place to the ground.
As the theater has never made a profit, to succeed in his new venture Fergal must work out how Harold ever managed to pay Laramie in the first place, a mystery that can only be solved by confronting the curse of a long-buried pirate.
Also by I. J. Parnham
Fergal O'Brien
Clementine (Coming Soon)
Bunty the Bounty Hunter (Coming Soon)
Standalone
The Man who Tamed Lone Pine
Night of the Gunslinger
The Devil's Marshal
The Raid That Never Was
All Must Die
The Mystery of Silver Falls
The Cursed Brand
Bullet Catch Showdown
Shootout at Bleak Point
Uneasy Partners
Legend of the Dead Men's Gold
I. J. Parnham, Bunty the Bounty Hunter
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She tried to think back to the events in the bank so she could work out what had made her do it, but those few moments had happened so quickly and now the memory was just a blur. All she could recall is that she’d had the idea to close the door, and she’d done it. Bunty stood up and she and the sheriff faced each other.
“Apparently, an important part of cricket is that during the game you have to eat several meals,” Merryweather said. “But the match was completed so quickly nobody got a chance to eat. That means there’s to be a feast shortly and I’d be honored if you’d accompany me to the dinner.”
“Who said anything about dinner?” she said with a playful smile.
Merryweather frowned. “What do you mean?”
Bunty winced, realizing that was something she said only in her dreams and the real sheriff wouldn’t understand it.
She looped her arm in his. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain it to you later.”
Merryweather smiled and with that they headed to the door. As they walked across the office, she noticed the Wanted posters in the corner. She’d been in the office only once before and back then she hadn’t seen them, but they were in the same position as she had put them in her dreams.
There were over a dozen and the portraits and listed crimes were enough to provide Bunty the bounty hunter with adventures for many months. Then she shook herself and gripped Merryweather’s arm more tightly, but the sheriff had seen where she had been looking.
“You may have helped me to defeat Tex, but you shouldn’t concern yourself with those folk.”
She was about to agree, but then she stopped and read the posters again until she found a particularly evil looking varmint.
“Maybe I shouldn’t, but even when everything in your life is right, a girl still has to dream,” she said.
“Stop looking back, Fergal,” Randolph said. “Nobody is going to follow us out of town.”
Fergal swung back into the stage and settled down on his seat opposite Randolph. As they were the only two passengers, he put his feet up on the seat and leaned back in a corner with his hands behind his head.
“The sheriff might still have some awkward questions to ask us, Kelvin sure won’t be happy about us leaving and Spurgeon will want his money out of the safe.”
“Right now the sheriff will be more interested in spending time with Bunty, and Kelvin will be too busy sorting out his problems with Spurgeon to worry about us.”
“I guess you’re right,” Fergal said. “Even if you got the right code for the safe, Kelvin won’t be getting into it any time soon. I guess I’m just not used to leaving town while not being pursued by dozens of angry townsfolk.”
“Then start believing it.”
Fergal smiled. “I do believe it.”
Randolph patted their bulging saddlebag in the hope that he might convince himself to accept his own words, but that only led to him shaking his head in disbelief.
“Then tell me it’s true and I might start believing it, too.”
“In that case, we did it. We finally did it. We won!”
“We won,” Randolph intoned and then liking the sound of those words he punched the air. “After all those years of near misses and almost getting our hands on a fortune, we’ve actually done it. We’ve left town with a bag full of money and with nobody on our tail wanting to kill us.”
“Nobody will ever want to kill us.” Fergal chuckled. “After all, we’re dead.”
“I guess we are.” Randolph frowned. “But I don’t like the thought of that.”
“Relax. The demise of those two outlaw tonic sellers gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. With all this money we can do anything we want to do now.”
Randolph raised a hopeful eyebrow. “Such as sell the tonic again?”
Fergal shook his head and spread his arms. “That’s what we used to do, but now we’re men who deal in big ideas.”
Randolph thought about this for a moment and then smiled.
“Then we could rebuild the traveling show, but this time bigger than before and perhaps with some authentic historical memorabilia that we didn’t make ourselves.”
Fergal spread his arms even wider apart. “You need to think even bigger than that.”
Randolph shrugged as he tried to think of other ideas and that made him feel the weight of the ball he’d put in his pocket. He withdrew it and held it up, and then unpinned his umpire’s star and held that up in the other hand.
“We could form our own cricket team so I can adjudicate on the laws of cricket again.”
“Clearly you enjoyed enforcing the law.” Fergal waited until Randolph smiled and then waggled a finger at him. “But you’re still thinking too small. Keep telling yourself that we can do absolutely anything we want to do.”
Randolph nodded and then turned to the window. Outside, the land spread away from them in all directions. He tried to think what he wanted to do now that he no longer had limitations.
No ideas would come, but Fergal’s lively smile and flickering eyes suggested he was already having so many ideas he couldn’t decide which one would work best. Randolph decided to let Fergal do the thinking and he pocketed the ball and umpire’s star. Then he matched Fergal’s posture with his hands behind his head and his feet sprawled out on the seat.
“I guess to convince myself that we can do anything, I just have to keep reminding myself about who is sitting opposite to me.”
Fergal smiled. “You’re sitting opposite to a rich man, as am I.”
“It’s more than that. You’re a man who left Kelvin to face his irate customers.”
Randolph laughed long and hard. Fergal chuckled, but he didn’t laugh as heartily as Randolph was.
“It’s good that we made him suffer, but what’s cheered you so much about that?”
“It means that as you left with the money you were going to use to save the bank, it’ll be your fault when it fails.” Randolph waited until Fergal puffed his chest proudly and then leaned back in his seat and winked. “So in the end, you’re the man who broke Paradise’s bank.”
Don't miss out!
Click the button below and you can sign up to receive emails whenever I. J. Parnham publishes a new book. There's no charge and no obligation.
https://books2read.com/r/B-A-MHDI-QLXGB
Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love Bunty the Bounty Hunter? Then you should read The Curse of the Phantom Pirate by I. J. Parnham!
Having finally become a wealthy man Fergal O'Brien no longer has to sell his universal remedy to cure all ills, but that leaves him with the problem of what he wants to do instead. An opportunity arises when he comes across a theater that has been abandoned after the untimely death of its owner Harold Beaumont.
Fergal sets out to bring his skills as a showman to a larger audience, but he soon faces plenty of problems. The theater has a poor reputation, it's haunted by the ghost of a pirate and, worst of all, the gunslinger Laramie Todd wants a regular pay-off or he'll burn the place to the ground.
As the theater has never made a profit, to succeed in his new venture Fergal must work out how Harold ever managed to pay Laramie in the first place, a mystery that can only be solved by confronting the curse of a long-buried pirate.
Also by I. J. Parnham
Fergal O'Brien
Clementine (Coming Soon)
Bunty the Bounty Hunter (Coming Soon)
Standalone
The Man who Tamed Lone Pine
Night of the Gunslinger
The Devil's Marshal
The Raid That Never Was
All Must Die
The Mystery of Silver Falls
The Cursed Brand
Bullet Catch Showdown
Shootout at Bleak Point
Uneasy Partners
Legend of the Dead Men's Gold
I. J. Parnham, Bunty the Bounty Hunter
