(Page 1 of 2) Sheriff by William Quinn
 (2 ratings)
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SUMMARY: Short - A Sheriff must deal with a trouble maker. Donnie brushed the dust off of his favorite pair of brown leather boots. They had been a gift from his mother, right before she left him. It still hurt to think about that, so Donnie pushed it from his mind. There were other things that needed his attention.
He had just gotten word early today that someone had been abusing a girl by the name of Julie Swanson. Someone he knew. Donnie didn't take well to people busting up girls in the first place, made him angry. And knowing the guy that did it just made things worse.
Donnie shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then smiled up at Todd. "Thanks for the information."
Todd stood before him, a lanky young kid with a mop of brown hair on his head. He seemed a little nervous, as he should be. He had just divulged the whereabouts of the lout that had been abusing Julie. "You didn't hear that from me."
"Of course not Todd," Donnie said. "Tommy won't hear you ratted him out from me." He put his hand out to the fence that marked the end his jurisdiction. Todd had insisted on meeting all the way out here, just to be sure no one overheard what was said.
He was a good kid at heart, just afraid of repercussions if things went sour. Tommy was big, not the sort you would want to mess with ordinarily. Donnie didn't like getting it with Tommy, they had a history. Donnie was in a mood however.
"I best be getting on, the boys are gonna wonder where I got off too before long." Todd said.
Donnie nodded at him, and then watched as Todd warily wondered back off towards his usual haunt. Thinking idly, Donnie toyed unconsciously with the Silver Star pinned to his shirt.
Duty weighed heavily on his shoulders. He had thought Tommy was a decent guy, if a little rough around the edges. Not usually the sort to act unless someone provoked him.
Still, things had to be dealt with, and it was up to Donnie to do it. So he slowly started making his way towards the Old School House.
It wasn't a terribly long walk, even at Donnie's slow pace. Once he started getting closer, he started to notice more people hanging about than ordinarily did in these parts. Word had obviously somehow gotten around that Donnie was coming in to deal with Tommy. Donnie just hoped that word hadn't reached Tommy yet.
He caught view of his prey ducking behind the School House, and then threw himself to the ground as a shot came from Tommy's hiding spot. A collective intake of breath could be heard from the onlookers. No one had suspected it to go this far.
Donnie growled to himself as he rolled away. He jumped up to his feet and rushed towards the Old School House as fast as his legs would carry him. He almost made it when something hit him in the chest. His legs flew out from under him and he landed on his back. Shock quickly fueled his anger as he realized that Tommy had actually hit him.
His hand came away from his chest clean, his Silver Star lay dented and half buried in the sand beside him. Donnie let his hand drop to the ground and lay motionless, breathing as little as possible in attempt to steady his chest movements.
Somewhere off to his left he heard the sounds of a girl crying, then tentative footsteps to his right; in the direction Tommy had been holed up.
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