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Ralph! ” she said as the door
came open.  Then nervously she grabbed his arm, pulled him through and relocked
the door.  “ Oh, God!  I ’ m
glad you ’ re
here. ”  
Her back fell against it.
    Ralph
didn ’ t
know what to think of Katie ’ s strange
conduct.  Could it be, after all these years, he was about to have his dreams
answered?  Had she found something in him she liked after all?
    “ Listen,
Sheriff Ames has Bryce Herford locked up in his jail.  You should of seen him … he was like a wild man the way he pounced on that old man …”
    “ Herford ’ s
out, Katie.  I just saw him walking down the street. ”
    “ I
wonder how ...  It couldn ’ t have happened more
than twenty minutes ago. ”
    “ I
suppose Preston cooled down and came to his senses.  Those two have been
carrying on like that for years. ”
    “ They
have? ”
    “ They
have.  Bryce will threaten Preston, and Preston loses it after a time and has
him jailed.  Nothing ever comes of it.  Just two old men who ’ ve
been at each other ’ s throats for the past
forty years. ”
    “ Maybe
it ’ s
a game they play so Bryce can impress a new client? ” Katie said.   “ Only
this time it backfired on him. ”   But then maybe
Preston did what he did to frighten Katie.  If that were the case, it worked. 
She was still trembling.
    “ You ’ re
a client of Bryce ’ s ,
Katie? ”
    “ I
hired him for Yancey.  Not a good idea? ”  
She went to the end of the bar, rounded it and put the shotgun away.
    “ Everybody
knows there isn ’ t a decent lawyer in
all of Burr County, ” Ralph said.   “ If
there was maybe Sheriff Ames and Judge Samuels would have been put out of
business by now. ”
    “ Now
you tell me! ”
    “ I
didn ’ t
know you were looking.  But I ’ ll tell you who
I ’ d
get.  He ’ s
one guy Preston Ames and Judge Samuels hate to see come around.  And it ’ s
not that he ’ s that great a lawyer.  It ’ s
just that the people here that make up the juries like him so much.  They vote
acquittal every time.  He ’ s a real character. ”
    “ Does
this character have a name? ”
    “ Woody
Clampett.  He ’ s originally from Texas, as is the
case with most of the people around here, originally. ”
    “ Where
do I find this Woody Clampett? ”
    “ Terryville. 
It ’ s
located in the next county west.  In fact, I ’ ll
bet that ’ s
where they took Yancey, ” Ralph said, as if just
enlightened by a revelation.  “ It ’ s
all over town, what happened last night. ”
    “ You
really think that ’ s where he is? ” Katie said excitedly and sat a beer up for Ralph.
    “ It ’ s
the closest jail around, unless you want to travel near eighty miles in the
other direction. ”   Ralph took a long
drink of the beer.
    “ They
weren ’ t
gone long enough for that, ” Katie said.  “ The
s heriff ’ s
car was back over there at nine this morning, when I first looked down the
street.  How ’ d you know I was here, Ralph? ”
    “ I
saw you run across the street, from the s heriff ’ s
office.  I was going to tell you we got old Hank put under, just like you
asked.  Jessie Homes painted Hank on the marker.  We used a good sized
rock.  I didn ’ t think a cross was appropriate for
a horse. ”
    “ Why
not? ”  
She gathered a hurt look.
    “ Because
they ’ re
not saintly … if you know what I mean. ”
    “ I ’ m
sure Yance thought of Hank as being more than just a beast of burden, ” she said.  “ All
things bright and beautiful … All creatures
great and small … All things wise and wonderful … The Lord God made them all …”   Katie made her point.
    “ Well, ” Ralph said and rubbed a
hand over his clean shaven face.  “ I
have some new lumber, if it ’ s a cross you
want, Katie? ”
    “ No,
Ralph.  You did fine.  I do appreciate it … Yancey, too.  He said he ’ d settle with you when
he got out.  Would you like another beer? ”
    “ No
thanks,