THE GRAVE 2

shug stepped down off the board walk and went to his horse the animal was a bit shorter than most, his mane hung down past the bottom of his neck and was matted and tangled. his tail was the same shape almost dragging the ground. shug started to mount but stopped and opened the envelope that slaughter gave him. in it was sheaf of green back bank notes. he did a quick count and saw it came just past four hundred dollars. he unbuttoned his shirt and slide the envelope in next to his belly. as he was butoning the shirt back a big rough looking man on the board walk spoke. "is that a injun pony?"his tone was beligerent. shug looked up at him and calmly said"yes, i guess he is, he belongs to a indian so that makes him one." "well injun get on that scrub and git outta town. we dont need your likes here,"the bully was going to throw his weight around. "you do as you wish shug , ill tend to this loud mouth." the sherriff stood in the door of his office, the long tom shot gun pointing at the bully. the bully slowley turnned his head and stared in disbelief at the shot gun.his mouth slammed shut. shug nodded at slaughter and reined his horse around to leave. behind him he heard the sherriff " ok big mouth, you have exactly one hour to clear the city limits. and dont ever come back." shug rode on out of town as he passed the cemetary he noticed the woman in black was sitting at the foot of his fathers grave. he stopped his horse and sat there a moment. then he rode over to the little fence and stepped down and tied the horse. when he walked up to the woman she slowly looked up at him. the veil had dropped and he realized this was a young woman about the same age as he was. " he was the only one who treated me honestly, he didnt look at me like a whore, he helped me almost daily. he was above other men."the young woman was tearful. shug stood there and didnt say anything. " i dont know what ill do now. i guess ill have to work at the hen house." she bowed her head. shug stood there and finally pulled the envelope from his shirt front. he took half of the money out without counting it. then he shoved the envelope back in his shirt front. he leaned down and layed the bundle on a flat rock on the grave" he will take care of you a little longer until you find a job. a honest job. dont let him down ok?" when she looked back up at shug he could see tears straking her face"i wont let him down. but i want you to know he never laid a hand on me. nothing but respect is what he gave me. i swear." "i believe you. ill be back here in a couple of weeks. ill check on you then" shug turned on his heel and went to his horse. he mounted and rode away to the north. the girl looked down at the stack of cash but didnt touch it, just looked at it. then looked up and watched shug ride off into the distance. " like father like son." she thought as she picked up the cash and stood.