Whiskey & Women

The Watcher (Clarissa Kilpatrick)

I heard the gunshot as it cracked, shocking the saloon. There was a silent moment, right after the shot, when we all stood quiet, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone to cry out, or run, or scream. Oakton is a relatively quiet town, well the town excluding the saloon. After the moment of silence, the other women gathered to the back of the saloon or went to the second floor to be safe. I chose to stand next to the bar, ready to duck if there was another shot.

“Clarrisa!” Cherry barked from behind me. “Watch out, let me deal with this. I swear, I won’t be hav’n any trouble this night with lousy drunkards, not on my watch.” She growled out the last part, which was at odds against her sweet face and a head full of ringlets, completed with a bow.

I backed off, completely entertained by this side of Cherry. I always liked to see her no-nonsense attitude, because I could relate to it. The men in the saloon became instantly excited by the gunshot, and some of the more stupid ones, felt the need to pull their own guns out, theoretically trying to prove their masculinity, I guessed, but only managing to look like pompous goats. I watched as she made her way to the front of the saloon, telling off the men as she went, to put their guns away or they wouldn’t have the finger’s to use them with.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of Ivy’s regular make his way around the riled-up group of men. I thought his name was…Charlie. I never did like Charlie. Well, I never had much respect for men period. But Charlie was different. I’m a good judge of character, so when I tell someone that something is off, people usually listen to me. And something did seem off about him, like he was hiding something. Something dangerous. To me, he looked like a cat, ready to pounce on his dinner.

I looked around the Saloon, to see if Ivy was watching. I spotted her quickly, up on the third floor, leaning over the railings next to the other girls. She was watching Charlie weave his way around the large room quickly. She looked thoughtful, and a little concerned. I turned back to see where he had gone, but he disappeared.

“Looking for someone?” a deep voice beside me. I jumped. I never did like surprises.

I looked at the man standing beside me and recognized him as one of Charlie’s friends. He was new to the saloon, I had seen him come in with Charlie earlier in the night. I took in his medium length, sand-colored hair and shallow brown eyes. He wasn’t very tall, just average height, and there wasn’t anything intriguing about his features. They just seemed cold, calculating. He gave me the shivers.

He smirked. “See something you like?” he asked.

I decided right away that I didn’t like him. So I gave him my best imitation of his smirk, but managed to make it rude and insulting. I was very proud of myself.

“That depends”, I said.

“On what?”, he asked, as if he’s only amused by my attempts to scare him off. It only fuels my anger.

“On whether I like spineless goat-men who like to stick their nose into other peoples business”, I replied proudly.

If I thought his eyes could become any colder I wasn’t disappointed. He grabbed my upper arms, adding fuel to my anger. I didn’t like being touched without permission. His fingers squeezed painfully, I would have bruises. His eyes clouded over, as if he was possessed. “You should know about poking around things that don’t concern you”, he whispered roughly. “I would watch myself If I were you. You know the story about the curious cat.” It wasn’t a question, it was a warning.

I managed to roll my eyes through the fear. "If I had a penny for every time I heard that...."

His eyes turned murderous. Just when I thought my arms would fall off from lack of feeling, I heard a voice off to my left. “Excuse me, good Sir, and lovely Miss, could I bother you for a bit of drink.” I looked over to the source of the voice to see a tall dark man with bright green eyes. “You see”, he continued to explain, “our gracious barmaid has gone to greet our brave Sheriff, and I’m afraid we’ll be waiting a bit too long for my taste.” He looked at the two of us expectantly, a large cheesy grin on his face. Billy released me roughly, and I stumbled backwards. My new “friend” reached out to steady me, but I caught myself and waved him off. I turned around and looked to see where Billy ran off to, but he had already disappeared. I decided that it doesn’t matter, as long as he’s gone. Good riddance.