"How do we know they aren't one of the Bull Prosecutors, Sheriff Saul!?" a man in the crowd shouted.

The sheriff propped himself upon a piece of wood that projected him over the others. "Every Bull Prosecutor carries a book on them that looks like a bible. What's the name, Tanner?"

"Lupi viri," a man who stood beside him replied. Ames was next to him.

The people muttered. All of them, the town's commoners.

"That's right."

"Those boys that hanged had one on them."

"Search them," Saul pointed at Bill.

My body shivered. I bent my head down to the ground. We had backed up to the wagon, and Karen stood fiercely before me. Her left hand held her gun, and her right was outstretched, covering me.

"It's going to be okay, Ron," Karen said.

Karen waved her hand at any that got close to me with her gun. Many thought twice about approaching us. Bill, however, toppled off his horse and struggled to get to his feet. His clothes wrestled off as men grabbed onto him, searching his pockets. Further, the townsfolk went into the wagon. They threw, with no discretion, empty cases of the medicine onto the ground.

"Blood!" one called.

"Blood," the others in the crowd whispered.

"The blood is from my friend who had been hurt. When we were out, we dropped her off at Yellowreach in the care of a doctor."

"Yellowreach? isn't that where those inbreds and that witch doctor live?"

The crowd muttered.

"So, both of them are consorting?"

"I met this man along the way. He is from the bar here. I just came here to get some supplies," Bill said.

"I don't believe him. He is dressed too fancy. He is one of them."

"We don't have any books on him. What about the next?"

"The deputy is guarding him. Is she one too?"

"No!" the bar dog shouted. "That man, Ron, stays here. He was coming home. The two of them are patrons of my bar, The Gentlemen's Den."

His words didn't seem to faze the blood-thirsty crowd. They continued to kick and punch at Bill. Bill struggled to protect himself as he now lay on the ground.

"Enough!" Saul shouted. "We will take Bill in for questioning. The other man's name, Ron, has been spoken for. None of the two have books. We can't risk killing everyone we see, otherwise, we could end up killing innocent people."

One deputy pushed away from the crowd, getting the battered Bill to his feet. Another rode his medicine wagon. Karen backed up slowly with me toward The Gentleman's Den.

"Ames, Tanner," Karen called, and the boy darted from the deputy to her. Tanner also came across.

The sheriff and the other deputies left with Bill. The crowd, however, had not dispersed. We had reached the steps. I turned to see the bar dog with a loaded shotgun in his hand. Women were peering through the windows from inside the den.

"You heard the sheriff. Let it go!" the bar dog shouted.

Some of the crowd, however, lingered.

"Ron, take Ames and go inside," Karen said.

I took the boy's hand and opened the door. Passing some women, I found a nearby window and peered out to see Saul, Karen, and the bar dog with guns held in their hands.

"Why doesn't he get to be searched too!?" one man in the crowd shouted.

"He isn't one of them," the bar dog responded. "Were you not listening?"

"Return home. If you cross the line, we will use deadly force," Karen said.

"The sheriff said not to let the innocent become a victim. Sate your hunger elsewhere. Don't let your life end pointlessly," the bar dog said.

The crowd deliberated among themselves, and after some time had passed, they scattered. I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the warm body of Ames next to me, staring through the window.

"Were you worried?" I asked.

The boy nodded his head.

I placed my hand in his hair and rubbed it.

"Me too."

The bar dog, Karen, and the other deputy entered. After seeing the bar dog, the women flocked back up the stairs.

"That was something. Does everyone want a drink? It's on the house."

"No, thanks," the short deputy with brown hair responded.

"What exactly was that all about? What the hell happened here?"

The bar dog slammed three glasses on the table and pulled out a bottle of whisky. "Come up to the bar."

Karen, Ames, and I walked to the bar while Tanner sat at the table.

"I am sorry about that, Ron," she said, grabbing a glass. "Things have been out —"

"Crazy since they found a man dead," the bar dog said.

"Yes," Karen said.

"Seen nothing like it in my life. The man's guts were spilled. It was telling what he had for breakfast. His right eye gouged out and his body was bitten as if he, himself, was a meal. It was the work of animals."

"Ron doesn't need further details."

"Well, those details got all this excitement. Those wounds look similar to that of an animal, but we were told something else by the sheriff. These Bull Prosecutors are now cannibals too? Whatever the case, now the town is just the same as the one who killed the man, savages."

"You mean to say, Saul?" Karen asked. She put her drink to her lips.

The bar dog took his shot and looked the other way. "I am only saying what I see."

I finished my drink. "I don't get it. A dead man caused all of this?"

"Yes," the bar dog said.

"What's going to happen to Bill? He has done nothing wrong."

"I am sure he would be okay," Tanner said. "Saul will have to go through procedures."

"Procedures?" the bar dog chuckled. "We nearly might have all been killed."

The dynamite.

"My horse!" I stumbled to my feet.

"It scampered off in the confusion," Tanner said.

"I can get it for you, Ron," Karen said. "It's best you stay here for now."

She adjusted herself and headed towards the door.

I stumbled over my words.

"Watch Ames for me, and keep the others safe, Tanner. Don't leave in case they come back."

"Sure, sure," Tanner responded.

She opened and exited through the door.

The bar dog poured another round for himself. "You okay, Ron?"

"Yeah," I looked at the door. "I think I am okay."

Would Karen look in my saddle? Would the town be looking for a book? I bit my nail. How would I explain that to anyone? It isn't like I am some miner. Then they would know it was me if anything happened around the southerner. Wait, how am I supposed to do this without Bill?

"You don't look okay." The bar dog poured alcohol into my glass. "You sure I can't get you anything, deputy? I got water too."

"No, thank you."

The boy skirted from me over to the window, staring off at Karen.

"He treats her like his mother," the bar dog said.

"Yeah, that's her relative," I said.

"Oh," the bar dog replied.

"I am sorry. I know I said to you when I saw you, I would have the rent money and accommodation fees ready. Things didn't go too well. I got robbed along the way back home."

"It's fine. Staying alive right now is more important."

"I thank you, I just feel like we are a burden to you," I sipped the remains of the alcohol in my glass.

The bar dog whispered, "I have got something for you." His eyes focused behind me.

"What do you have?" I asked.

"A letter. Here, read it, but I believe this is one that you might want to keep to yourself."

I nodded. I wiped my hair. The bar dog got a piece of paper; he put ink onto the counter, dipped and wrote upon it before handing it to me.

Be quiet, not a sound, not a whisper. He can hear us well. Don't look back either; just drink like normal. The sheriff framed those two men outside. Wolves killed the man that died. He has been using it as propaganda, saying Bull Prosecutors did it to justify wolf attacks. Two innocent men lay on that stage, hanging for no crimes they committed. He planted it on them, and now your friend Bill will die the same way.

I folded the paper in my hand. I couldn't let Bill die, but I didn't know what to do. Karen couldn't know anything about this. If she did, she wouldn't stand for it. Karen wasn't the type of person to stand for injustice. Even so, what was going to happen?

I wrote on the back of the paper. Did they kill any of the prisoners?

The bar dog shook his head from left to right. "Can I get you another drink?"

"Yeah sure."

The bar dog poured the liquor into my glass. "They have killed no others."

What the hell had I gotten myself into? I was out of my lead here. Without Bill, I felt so naked. At least the southerner was still alive. But how would I rescue them? Bill and I had not even established a full plan. We were to observe first. Can't I do anything at all, right?

I flipped the paper over to where there was still some space. Why would the sheriff tell such a big lie, and why do the people believe it? Why were both the bank manager's body and another dangling outside?

The bar dog read the question, took the paper, and wrote. When he was done, he placed it before me.

Why do you think so, Ron? To control the people around him. He has been feeding them lies from the very beginning. The people saw the two as their oppressors when Saul was gone. One promised them hope with a bladed tongue, and the other showed them what they could have, but not afford. You saw that this small uprising gave them power, and Saul capitalized on it. It just takes some minor digging and not giving into fear to know the truth.

The door swung open. I turned to see Karen, and I folded the paper in my hand and gave it to the bar dog.

"I found him, Ron," Karen said.

"The horsewas spooked and ran on the outskirts of town. Sorry, I took so long."

The boy moved toward her, and Karen held his hand. "Thanks, Tanner."

"It's no problem. I will be here for the night, just in case. Are there any available rooms?"

"Yes, I have a few," the bar dog replied. "Let me show you."

"I am going to the room. You can come when you're ready, Ron," Karen said.

The bar dog came out from the bar and whispered to me. "Come out late tonight and we can finish talking about the payment of your bills."

I nodded. The bar dog and Tanner entered the hall as his keys rang across the room.

I finished my drink, got up, and headed toward our room.