The town went still.<\/p>\n
Even the wind seemed quieter for a moment.<\/p>\n
The lawman looked down from the platform.<\/p>\n
Unshaken.<\/p>\n
But cautious now.<\/p>\n
His eyes dropped briefly to the revolver in the cowboy\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
Then back to his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful, stranger,\u201d he said evenly. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t concern you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cowboy didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t blink.<\/p>\n
Only looked toward the three veiled girls.<\/p>\n
Too quiet.<\/p>\n
Too frightened.<\/p>\n
The oldest lowered her eyes instantly when he looked her way.<\/p>\n
Like she had already learned not to speak.<\/p>\n
Something about that settled wrong in his chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny thing,\u201d the cowboy muttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarts concernin\u2019 me when people look that scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dust drifted between them.<\/p>\n
The girls stood close together.<\/p>\n
Hands trembling beneath worn sleeves.<\/p>\n
The youngest shifted slightly.<\/p>\n
Afraid.<\/p>\n
The cowboy noticed.<\/p>\n
The lawman straightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrders from the county,\u201d he said firmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re being transferred.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cowboy\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransferred where?\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
Just silence.<\/p>\n
Too long.<\/p>\n
Too careful.<\/p>\n
The cowboy stepped closer to the platform.<\/p>\n
Boots heavy against the wood below.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
quietly\u2014<\/p>\n
one of the girls whispered through her veil,<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Barely loud enough to hear.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything changed.<\/p>\n
The cowboy looked up slowly.<\/p>\n
Expression harder now.<\/p>\n
Colder.<\/p>\n
He rested a hand near his belt.<\/p>\n
Not threatening.<\/p>\n
Certain.<\/p>\n
Then spoke in a low voice\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cSeems like county business just became mine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The town went still. Even the wind seemed quieter for a moment. The lawman looked down from the platform. Unshaken. But cautious now. His eyes dropped briefly to the revolver in the cowboy\u2019s hand. Then back to his face. \u201cCareful, stranger,\u201d he said evenly. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t concern you.\u201d The cowboy didn\u2019t move. Didn\u2019t blink. Only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}