James Axler – Way of the Wolf

“Exactly,” Kirkland said, motioning for Mildred to close up the anesthesia. “And for your consideration in this matter about letting these people into our ville, your dental work will be on me.”

“As long as you do it with that stuff,” Dodge conceded, touching his lip, “you got yourself a deal.”

“You have my word on it,” Kirkland said. He reached for the anesthesia.

Mildred kept the jar back. “We haven’t talked trade yet.”

Kirkland’s forehead furrowed then it was gone. “Madam, I’ve given you my word that anything you want within reason is yours. What is it you would wish?”

“Rooms at the hotel for starters,” Krysty spoke up.

Ryan nodded. “We’ll dicker from there.”

“As you wish.” Kirkland glanced at Dodge. “Sheriff, make it so. And anything else they want, pass the word around to the rest of the ville that I’ll be indebted to them.”

Dodge inclined his head. “Sure, but they got Albert with them.”

The doctor glanced at the dwarf for a moment in perplexed annoyance. “You’ve already met young Liberty, I gather?” Kirkland asked.

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “We settled up with Liberty, then he sent the little man on with us. Said that way you’d know we’d already been through him.”

“He’s demanded his tribute, I take it?”

Ryan knew from the man’s gaze that Kirkland was fantasizing about what Liberty had taken. “And gotten it. We had some playing cards and some knives, some self-heats he said he’d never seen before. I figure he got mebbe a little more than was fair. He didn’t understand about the anesthesia.”

“And you didn’t further his elucidation?”

“Not when a man’s already committing highway robbery on me,” Ryan said.

“I’m surprised that he didn’t follow you in.”

“Didn’t say he always did,” Ryan stated. “Mebbe he’ll be along.”

“He’s looking for the stickie tribe that’s come down from the north,” Albert said. “They cut sign on them a few days back.”

“Hopefully he’ll get them all.” Kirkland took the topical anesthesia when Mildred offered it. “At any rate, I leave you in the sheriffs capable hands.” He turned and walked back to the emporium.

Dodge waved two fingers. Two young men that favored him greatly came from the porch behind him. One of them carried a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun.

When he saw the weapon, Ryan figured J.B. was feeling better already.

“These here are my sons,” Dodge said. “Ira and Tucker. They’ll show you around the ville. When you go to bed at night, as long as you’re in Hazard, one of them will be down in the hotel lobby. When you get up in the morning, one of them will be down in the hotel lobby. You get out of the hotel without them seeing you, could be I’ll feel a little unfavorable about that.”

“Sure,” Ryan said easily. “But what if we don’t plan on staying together?”

“Oh,” Dodge said with a smile, “I got plenty more deputies.”

Chapter Five

“Here are your rooms.” The maid paused at the top of the stairs leading to the third floor of the Hazard Royale Inn and gestured toward a line of doors. She held out metal keys on circular plastic chips with numbers on them. “If there’s anything else I can get for you, Aunt Maim said to let me know and I’ll get it for you straight away.”

“Are there bathtubs in the rooms?” Krysty asked, taking one of the keys from the girl.

The maid didn’t look a day over fifteen. A mop of brown hair nearly hid her eyes, and every now and then a bit of a blue tattoo showed on the rounded cleavage she was showing above the unbuttoned green blouse. Her attitude about her job definitely wasn’t enthusiastic.

“Yes, ma’am,” the maid replied.

Ryan glanced at the hallway, getting its layout in his mind. It would be dark soon, and there was no guarantee they’d live through the night. A ville’s hospitality generally extended only as long as their guests’ usefulness remained. Even when there were signs of civilization in some locale of Deathlands, it tended to be superficial. Then again, Kirkland was a greedy man and might be wondering how to coax more anesthetic from them.