Slocum 420 by Jake Logan

boys can handle things from here. You did real good by taking care of those two. Now take care of yourself before you fall over.”
    The driver’s smirk was tired and shaky. “I do feel like I’m about to drop. I just don’t wanna turn my back on anything else that needs done.”
    â€œDon’t worry about that. There’ll be more to do, and when you’re needed, I won’t have any compunctions about asking for help.”
    â€œThanks, Mr. Womack. Guess I’ll have that lie-down.”
    After the driver walked away, Womack looked over at Slocum and said, “He’s delirious.”
    â€œYou saw those two men,” Slocum replied. “Does it seem so far-fetched that something big attacked them?”
    â€œNo, but he’s imagining things where the rest is concerned. It was probably some crazed mountain man or trapper that lost his mind after being in them woods for too long.”
    â€œYou don’t think it was an animal?”
    Womack shook his head. “Any animal that would have torn those men up like that would have done so for a reason. It would have tried to make a meal out of those two or dragged ’em off somewhere to save for later.”
    â€œCould be the horses and cart scared it away,” Slocum offered.
    â€œCould be, but I’ve done some hunting and have found it takes a bit more than riding down a road to frighten anything other than a rabbit or deer. Something as vicious as whatever tore up those two would have stood its ground or stayed to protect its kill.”
    â€œA man, then. I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”
    â€œWhatever the hell it was, it don’t get to tear apart two of my men and live to see another sunrise.”

8
    It was early evening, and in a rare turn of events, nobody was leaving the mill. Instead of heading home or finding a saloon, the men covered in sawdust all gathered in the back of the mill, where Womack kept his office. There were almost enough bodies crammed inside those walls to fill the spacious building. Some men were even leaning against the saws themselves as if being around them for so long had robbed them of all fear of those plentiful metal teeth. They talked to each other in a low murmur, crossing their arms and shifting on their feet until Womack himself emerged from his office.
    The boss of the mill had to motion only once or twice to get the quiet he was after. Stepping onto an empty crate so he could look out at all the faces gathered in front of him, he gripped the lapels of his waistcoat and spoke in a booming tone. “First of all, I want to thank you men for staying after quitting time. I know most of you have families to get to and the rest have better places to be than here, so I’ll make this brief.”
    â€œAre them fellas dead?” one of the workers shouted. After he spoke up, plenty of others had things to say.
    â€œI heard they was mauled by a bear!”
    â€œI heard it was a band of outlaws lookin’ to shut the mill down.”
    â€œI heard that driver killed ’em on account of money he was owed.”
    â€œThat’s enough!” Womack shouted. “I don’t give a damn about what any of you heard or any stories that are floating around. The reason I called this here meeting is to tell you what I know for certain.”
    It took a few seconds, but the crowd simmered down and waited intently for the boss’s next words.
    â€œAll right,” Womack said. “That’s better. First of all, I’ll have you know that Doc Reece has seen to both of those men that were hurt and is doing the best he can for them. Dave Anderson is a tough son of a gun and it looks like he should pull through. Edgar Fuller was hurt much worse. As of now, he’s hanging on but things don’t look so good.”
    Slocum stood near the front of the crowd. Although he hadn’t known about how the two victims were doing, he