Pearl River Junction: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

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Shaye heard the shots from outside just as Vic Delay stepped out from the vault area. He was still partially hidden by the tellers’ cages.

“Tell the guard to put his rifle down,” Delay said.

“Do it,” Shaye said.

The guard set his rifle down on a nearby desk.

Delay came out from behind the cages, his gun in his holster.

“Sounds like some excitement outside,” he said. “Your sons?”

“Probably taking care of the rest of your gang.”

“Or bein’ taken care of,” Delay said. “Wanna check?”

“I’ll check,” Shaye said, “after we’re done here.”

Delay was trying to distract Shaye from the task at hand, gain a little edge.

“Come on, Vic,” Shaye said. “You’re the one with the big rep as a killer. Let’s see if you deserve it.”

“I deserve it,” Delay said and drew…

Outside, as soon as the people ran into the street, Samms and Leslie reacted by drawing their guns.

“What the hell—” Leslie said.

When they drew their weapons, Thomas and James stepped into the street and produced theirs. They thought the two outlaws were going to shoot at the fleeing people.

“Hold it!” Thomas shouted.

The two men turned to face them and the four guns began to blaze. Having learned a valuable lesson once before, James moved before he fired. He stepped left, dropped to a knee, and fired two shots at Leslie. Both struck home, putting the man on his back in the street. On his back Leslie pulled the trigger of his gun twice, firing harmless into the dirt.

Thomas drew easily, standing fast, and put a bullet in the chest of Bill Samms. The outlaw pulled the trigger of his own gun once, but he was dead before the bullet struck a building across the street.

At the sound of the shots, Jeb Collier turned and shot Lou Tanner in the head. One less person to share with.

“Wha—” Belinda snapped, not believing her eyes.

The bank manager turned from his task of filling a money bag and Jeb shot him as well, grabbing the bag of money.

“Jeb—” Belinda said.

He turned to her and said, “This is for not tellin’ me about my boy.”

“No!” she screamed. Belinda put her hands up, but they were no match for the two bullets he fired. One went through her palm and into her chest, the other hit her in the abdomen.

Jeb ran for the bank manager’s office.

Inside the bank Shaye drew his gun very deliberately. In his haste to beat him to the punch, Vic Delay’s first shot went wide. Shaye, slower but more accurate, shot the killer in the chest.

At that moment he heard the shots from the vault area and the girl’s scream.

“Come on!” he said to the guard.

Behind the bank Ben Collier heard the shots from inside. He ran to the window and at that moment Riley Cotton stepped into the open with his shotgun.

“Right there!” he said.

Ben turned, saw the sheriff, and went for his gun. Cotton triggered both barrels and Ben was flung away from the window, landing in a bloody mess several feet away. The horses, spooked by the shooting, ran right over the body in their haste to get away.

Jeb Collier entered the bank manager’s office carrying one bag of cash in his left hand and his gun in his right. He saw Ben looking in the window, but before he could say a word his brother disappeared in a red mist. Jeb figured his only chance was to get out, so he ran and leaped head first out the window.

Cotton lowered his now-empty shotgun and started walking toward the body, but before he took two steps, a man came flying out the window. He rolled, came up on one knee, and pointed his gun at Cotton, who figured he was dead. In that split second he thought of his wife, then dropped the shotgun and grabbed for his pistol, even though he knew it was too late.

Shaye came through the door in time to see Jeb dive out the window. He ran to it, saw Jeb on one knee pointing his gun, and fired twice. Both bullets struck the bank robber. His blood sprayed the cash bag, which fell to the ground a second before he did. It spilled its contents and Jeb fell onto a blanket of cash.

Shaye stuck his head out the window, looked both ways, and saw Cotton to his right.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Thanks to you. Inside?”

“They’re all dead,” Shaye said. “You better come in.”

Instead of using the window, Cotton went around to the front of the bank, where he ran into Thomas and James.

“Where’s Pa?” Thomas asked.

“Inside,” Cotton said. “He’s fine. You boys?”

“We got the other two,” James said.

They all went inside.

“Back here,” the guard called.

They entered the vault area and found Shaye standing over Belinda’s body.

“What happened?” James asked.

“I guess Jeb wasn’t so forgiving, after all,” Shaye said. “He was going to use her to rob the bank and then kill her anyway.”

“Looks like he didn’t want to leave any witnesses,” Cotton said, looking at the dead bodies of Tanner and Brown, “and didn’t want to share the money.”

There were two other bags of cash on the floor near the bank manager, as Jeb had only been able to handle one.

“Speaking of witnesses,” Thomas said, “where is the hardware store guy?”

They all went back into the manager’s office and found Alvin Simon hiding underneath the manager’s desk. He was alive…