Thistle and Twigg by Mary Saums

was already sweltering hot. Jane got a pitcher out of the refrigerator and poured us each a glass of iced tea.
    “Now about Cal,” I said. “I know what you’re thinking. You act like he’s some poor lost soul. You watch him, Jane. You don’t know him like I do.”
    “I got the impression you didn’t know him personally.”
    “Well, I know
of
him. Everybody in town does. He’s been causing trouble and raising Hades ever since he was a boy Been in jail so many times they nearly named the new jailhouse after him when it was built. He killed a man, you know.”
    Jane looked shocked. She set her glass down. “No, I didn’t,” she said. “How long was he in prison?”
    “Oh, only one night. And not prison, just the local lockup. Several witnesses in the bar where it happened said it was self-defense. Some guy had been drinking all night, went nuts, and Cal happened to be closest to him. One of the witnesses was a judge. Cal’s daddy was still alive at the time, too, so he had money to spring Cal. I believe that was in 1969.”
    “But it
was
self-defense, you say? He was completely cleared?”
    “Yes. From then on, he has stayed out here in the wilderness by himself.”
    “That’s sad.”
    “No, it’s not,” I said. “He chose to live like he does. His family had all the money and influence in the world. He could have had any one of a hundred different lives if he wanted. But no, he wants to live like a wild animal. A recluse is what he is. He’d rather die than sit down and have a human conversation with somebody.”
    “Actually,” Jane said, “I found him quite an amusing conversationalist. Interesting. Honest.”
    That was when she told me he showed up drunk on her doorstep in the middle of the night. I could not believe it. The man showed her exactly what a sorry sot he was and she calls him “amusing.” Jane really is a little out there sometimes. I knew right then I’d have to watch her back for her since she didn’t understand what kind of dog Cal was. It’s a good thing she’s got me to help her whenever she’s not thinking right.
    She did pretty well when Daniel questioned us again. We had a little test runthrough in a way, since Daniel had patrolmen take a statement from each of us at the same time, in separate rooms, before he came in and did the same thing again himself. When he was leaving and we were all standing on her front porch together, he asked her again about times, when were she and Cal at the range together the day before, what time did she last see Cal, when did she hear the shots in the night, and when did the two of us get to the range that morning. He didn’t ask her sneaky like Columbo either, just straight out so he was sure he had everything right in his head before he left. It was nigh on twelve o’clock before I was finally free to go.
    T
HE LAST THING SOME FOLKS MIGHT WANT TO DO AF -ter seeing a dead body is buy a gun. Well, I did. When the police finished questioning me, I went home, took a shower, and then puttered around the house awhile. Every time I walked through my living room, my eyes went straight to the table where my new Israeli bullets lay. I thought,
What am I waiting fan a killer to come into my house? When I’d wish I’d bought a gun while I still had the chance?
    No, sir, I was going to be prepared. It was high time I showed a little gumption and started taking charge of my own defense. I smiled thinking how Jane’s knowing how to shoot so good had already been a positive influence on me.
    I wasn’t about to buy a gun from Harvel Wriggle after the way he talked smart to me that day I bought my bullets. He wasn’t the only game in town, not by a long shot. I put on some fresh makeup and headed downtown.
    I love the town square. Usually I take my time going around it, talking to folks, but it was already almost three o’clock in the afternoon and too hot to dillydally. I pulled my car into an angled space in front of the courthouse and walked a