For personal use and select distribution only © November 1998 by S.L. Snyder

THE DEPUTY
by S. L. Snyder

Timeline: July 1873


There was a knock at the clinic door and Michaela went in to answer it. Hank was standing there with a bleeding hand.

"Come in, Hank. What happened?" Michaela asked.

"Ah, I was pickin' up a glass and it broke. I thought it was just a scratch at first, then saw it was kinda deep."

"Sit up here. You'll need stitches."

Michaela cleaned the cut, put four stitches in his hand and wrapped it. "Don't get it wet. The bandage needs to be changed daily. You can do it yourself or come here. The stitches can probably come out next week."

"Thanks, Michaela. Will fifty cents cover it?" asked Hank.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'd rather come here to get the bandages changed, okay?"

"Yes, by all means. Either Colleen or I can do it."

"Thanks."

As Michaela started to clean up, Sully and Katie came in. "Hank okay?" asked Sully.

"Yes, he just cut his hand. You know, ever since he accidentally shot Daniel last September, he seems to be changing for the better. Don't you think?" Michaela said.

"Yeah, I do. He ain't been in as many fights and seems to be pleasant. Daniel says Hank's been civil to him and Hank's patched up his differences with Jake. He sees Jake's side now and knows that for the sake of his marriage, Jake needed to get rid of his interest in the Nugget. Preston said somethin' rude to Hank the other day and where the old Hank would'a hit Preston, this Hank just shook his head and walked away. I was standing with Loren when it happened and we were both surprised."

"I've heard that he's been nicer to his girls. He's giving them some say in the men they.....entertain. And to see him at church! That's close to a miracle!"

Sully smiled. "Are ya about ready ta go home?"

"Go home, Mama?" asked Katie.

"Yes. Let's get Brian and go home."

As they locked up the clinic, Daniel joined them. "And how are all of you doing? It don't seem we hardly get time to talk any more," Daniel said.

"That's true," Sully replied. "Ya spend too much time being sheriff or courting Mrs. Sheehan. We ain't seen ya out to the homestead in quite awhile."

"I agree," said Michaela. "Why don't you come for dinner tomorrow night and bring Anna Marie and Sarah with you? Brian would love to have Sarah out for dinner and we do miss you."

"Thank you, Michaela, I think we'd like that too. I'll ask Anna Marie tonight and let you know tomorrow. But I do have something I need to ask both of you. What do you think of Hank lately?"

"I think Hank's been changing since he shot ya," Sully said. "He ain't getting into fights like he use ta. In fact, Michaela and I were just talking that he's even walked away from a few."

"I think so, too. You know, the town council voted that I could hire a deputy. I been thinking I should hire Hank. He knows the area, the people, and just might work out good. What do you think?"

"You could always hire Hank on a trial basis. He really wants to be a lawman and if you give him a chance, he might surprise us all," Michaela said.


Hank, Horace and Loren were sitting in the café having lunch when Daniel walked up. "Would you join us, Daniel?" Horace asked.

"No thank you, Horace. Hank, can I have a word with you in private?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah," Hank replied. He got up and walked with Daniel over to another table.

"Things have been pretty quite at your place. I haven't had any complaints. Are things going okay?" asked Daniel.

"Things are going fine. Just trying to keep things calm there. Don't want no more trouble."

"That's good. It's been nice."

"Is that what ya wanted, Daniel?"

"No. Hank, the town is changing and growing. New people are coming in and when that happens, some bad ones come, too. I talked to the town council and got their okay to hire a deputy. I'd like to offer you the job," Daniel told Hank.

Hank looked very surprised. "Me? You're offering me the job?"

"Why not?"

"Well....I mean, I almost killed you."

"Did you mean to?"

"No, sir. I aimed bad and shot too fast. It's been a habit of mine."

"I agree. But you been trying to change that, haven't you? And I'm not the only one who's noticed. Plus, Mrs. Slicker has been teaching you to read....to me that means you're trying to better yourself. Right?"

"Yeah." Hank shook his head and Daniel could tell he was trying to put something into words, so Daniel waited for Hank to speak. "I thought a lot about what happened. I know you could'a charged me with trying to kill you and I know some don't believe it was an accident. I never shot someone by accident before, but I can also say that until I shot you, I ain't never shot someone who didn't deserve it....they were robbers....or guys who hurt my girls......or something like that. I ain't never thought much about it before, but since shooting you, I thought about it a lot.....I know I get hot about things and do things I shouldn't. I guess I wouldn't say this to anyone else.....well, maybe to Michaela or Sully....but it really bothered me."

"And so it should have, Hank. But it did some good, too. You have changed and that's good. After I decided to offer you the job, I talked to Sully and Michaela. They agreed you had been changing. You know the area, the town, the people. You'd have to learn not to think someone guilty or wrong just because they're a different race or something. I'd say before the town started growing, you wouldn't let someone like Robert E in the saloon, or would have been real bad to Jake about his wife, and maybe even killed Cloud Dancing. It ain't easy to learn tolerance, Hank, but I think you're getting there. I'd like you to take the job on a test basis. If it works, I'd make it permanent. What'd ya think?"

Hank looked up at Daniel with a slight smile and held out his hand, "I'd sure like to try, Daniel."

Daniel shook his hand, "Good. I don't expect us both to be working if we ain't got problems, but you'd have to be available if we had problems while I was on duty, which means someone else would have to bartender. We'll work out a plan so neither one of us would have all the bad times. One more thing, it does mean doing some reading of the law."

Hank laughed, "Already trying to get rid of me?"

Daniel laughed, too, then said, "I'll bet Matthew would be willing to help you understand some of it. He's studying to be a lawyer and sure has learned some good legal things. I'll let the town council know my decision and have Dorothy print it in the Gazette."

Loren and Horace had been sneaking looks at Hank and Daniel. They couldn't believe it when they saw them laughing and shaking hands.


Dorothy was standing just outside the Gazette when Daniel walked up. "Dorothy, I'd like to put a public notice in the paper."

"Sure, Daniel. What is it?"

"Beginning tomorrow, Hank's officially my deputy."

Dorothy looked at Daniel with raised eyebrows, "Are you kidding?"

"No, mam. Hank's changed for the better and I think he'd make a good deputy. So could ya please put it in the paper for me?"

"Of course. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Daniel smiled and nodded as he walked back toward his office.


A week later, Robert E and Jake were at the smithy as Robert E finished up some new razors for Jake. “Jake, do you know that Dolan fella that bought the old Jenkins place awhile back?”

“Yeah...kinda standoffish. Doesn’t seem to wanna talk too much.”

“Well, he went to Shantytown and hired Jonas to do some work for him. You know Jonas, he’s the one that helped ya with the changes you made to your house.”

“Jonas does good work. Teresa and I were real pleased with his work.”

“Jonas came to me yesterday and said Dolan’s refusing to pay. He told Jonas he wasn’t gonna pay and Jonas couldn’t do anything about it. Do ya think there’s anything we can do about it?” Robert E asked.

“Let me think on it,” Jake replied.


Jonas was helping Robert E a few days later when Dolan rode up. He came over to Jonas and handed Jonas the money he owed him, plus a little extra. “Here, Mr. Jonas, is what I owe ya and interest cuz it was late.”

“Uh...uh...thank you, sir.” Jonas said. Dolan got back on his horse and rode out of town. Jonas looked at Robert E and they both shook their heads. “I don’t understand. Why do you think he paid me?”

“Well, I think word got around and someone musta told Dolan to pay up.”


Later that day, Robert E went to see Jake and told him what had happened. “Did you tell anyone about it?”

“Yeah...I told Hank and he went to see Dolan."


Word got around to Daniel and he went out to see Dolan. “I heard that Deputy Lawson came to see you. I need to know what happened....if he hit you?”

“No, sir, Sheriff. Deputy Lawson didn’t hit me or anything else. He just explained that it weren’t neighborly not to pay someone ya hired. He said it didn’t matter what color a man’s skin was, that if the man did work for ya, ya owed him. He said word would get around that I didn’t pay and no one would help me if I needed help. He said Mr. Bray at the store might not let me buy on credit when I needed to. And the blacksmith might not shoe my horses or fix my wagon. Or the lady Doctor might not treat my family. Things like that. He said Colorado Springs was an honest town for all people and I hadn’t made a good start.”

Daniel smiled all the way back into town. He’d done right in hiring Hank! As soon as he got back, he went looking for Hank and found him lounging outside the saloon. Daniel walked up to Hank and held out his hand. Hank shook hands with Daniel. “What’s this all about?”

“Well, Deputy Lawson, I’ve come to tell you I think the best thing I ever did was hired you. I have to admit I was worried when I heard about Dolan, so I went out to talk to him. He told me what you said. I couldn’t have handled it any better. I know this town has a damn good deputy!”

Hank beamed at the praise, “Thanks, Daniel. I just thought of what you and Matthew been teaching me and I reckon the words came from the two of you.”

Word of Daniel’s conversation with Hank spread quickly throughout the residents of the area. There was a slow change in the way people treated Hank. The incident had gained him respect and he was enjoying his new found notoriety.


Sully and Michaela were sitting on the front steps of the homestead, having tea. Katie was in bed and Brian was with Matthew.

"Did ya have a good day today?" Sully asked.

"Yes. A few patients and lunch with Dorothy. She's very excited...she's almost finished with re-writing her book. And she's so happy with Cloud Dancing. She told me she had been remembering when Jake shot the Indian a few years ago. I was defending you and the Indians. She felt I should be defending Jake and that I had to decide what side I was on. She said she had such a narrow mind then and didn't know how I could remain on such good terms with her."

"She has changed. The woman who took years of abuse from Marcus and the woman who loves Cloud Dancing sure ain't the same. And she's brought a lot of happiness to Cloud Dancing. I didn't think I'd ever see him smile again, with his heart, since the death of Snowbird. She has brought such peace to my brother."

"Dorothy is still amazed that Cloud Dancing does not care about her.....appearance....since the operation. Jake was uncomfortable with it, Loren acted like it didn't matter, but she's sure it did. She knows.....what she is missing ....makes no difference for him. He has told her more than once he is sorry he was not there for her after surgery."

Sully put his arm around Michaela's shoulders and pulled her close, her head on his shoulder. "It is nice to know our friends have found happiness, the kind that we have."

She reached her hand up to caress his face and they enjoyed a kiss. "I never get tired of your lips," she whispered. They kissed again. They sat for awhile, in silence, looking at the moon.

"Did ya hear about Hank's having a talk with Dolan?'

"No. Is Dolan that new farmer?"

"Yes. Daniel told me that Jonas worked for Dolan and didn't get paid. Hank went to see him and with only words, convinced Dolan to pay. Daniel sure feels that this shows the town that Hank's a good deputy."

"Matthew told me Hank has really been working hard with him to learn about the law. He says Hank has asked some very good questions. I have always believed people can change, but I didn't think Hank could change so much."

Sully looked at Michaela with a smile, "Amazin', ain't it?"


The End

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