For the Love of a Woman

by Orrin Russell

  It took him no longer than half a minute to tell his story. Details were sparse. He’d told it too many times already. They ordered him a shot of whiskey at the lower level and they drank in somber silence.

  ‘Hell, Balum,’ said Chester. ‘I’d say you could use a few more of those.’

  ‘One’s enough. I’ve got to be riding.’

  ‘Riding? Where the hell you riding to?’

  ‘Cheyenne.’

  ‘Balum, you need a bath, a good night’s sleep, a shave...hell, you need rest. Right here you’ve got all that, plus me and Daniel here to drink with you. What could be better than that up in Cheyenne?’

  Balum set the empty whisky shooter on the bar and looked at his two friends. ‘A woman by the name of Angelique,’ he said, and a smile grew and stretched across the lines of his blood-streaked face. A smile he had been too long without.