Page 319 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“Hey…where are you going, boy?” Cornelius shouted from the second-floor office. “You have work to do. Get back to it.”
Then Joey and Grover walked in the door.
“What are those two doing here?” Cornelius shouted. “Get out of my store, you two.” He picked up the gun from his desk and aimed it at Joey. “I’m gonna fix this situation for once and for all.”
In a panic, Felix shoved Joey hard to the floor and ducked down himself. The gun fired, and the bullet struck Sheriff Jackson’s left shoulder.
The sheriff winced, grabbed his shoulder, and gasped. Bonner let the gun slip from his hand, and it fell to the ground floor with a loud thud.
Still wincing, Sheriff Jackson drew his gun and aimed at Cornelius. “Bonner, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Joseph Sterling. I have three witnesses. And if that’s not bad enough, you just shot a Texas lawman.”
Cornelius huffed. “Merely defending my property, sheriff.”
The sheriff shook his head. “People are not property, Bonner. You clearly intended bodily harm. Now, come down here. You’re under arrest.”
Cornelius huffed, half-raised his arms, and clomped down the stairs, taking his time. “I should’ve aimed better.”
“I’ll get the deputy, and then the doc,” Grover said. He hurried out of the store and down the street.
Felix stood and pulled Joey into a hug. “That was a close one.”
“Your father was going to shoot me.” Joey whimpered, his voice shaking as much as his body. He held onto Felix for comfort.
“You’re okay, Joey. I have you.”
Sheriff Jackson turned to Felix. “You’d best go and fetch your ma, Felix.”
Felix looked at the sheriff, who still grimaced from the gunshot wound. “I’m guessing you will take Father to jail.”
The sheriff nodded, still holding his shoulder. He grimaced again, then said, “Cornelius won’t be able to run the store for a while. A long while.”
“Tell Pa we’ll be back,” Joey said.
The sheriff nodded, and Felix led Joey out of the store.
* * *
At the house, Felix shouted, “Mother!”
Hattie came into the living room. “Felix? I didn’t expect to see you.”
“Mother, Father has been arrested for the attempted murder of Joey and for shooting the sheriff in the shoulder. You need to go down to the store and keep things going.”
Hattie frowned in disbelief. “Your father did what?”
“He came to the ranch this morning and held a gun on the Sterlings and me. He threatened to shoot Joey if I didn’t come with him. Then he held a gun to my back until I was out of the house and on my horse. He forced me to come back with him. When Joey and Pa Sterling came to town and got the sheriff involved, they all came to the store. Pa went crazy and threatened to kill Joey. I pushed Joey to the floor and covered him. Father’s gunshot missed us and hit the sheriff’s shoulder.”
Hattie fell back into a chair. “I knew he was upset about your decision to stay at the ranch, but I never thought he would threaten anyone at gunpoint.”
After Joey and his mother had regained their composure, Felix walked with them back into town to the store. They discussed nothing on the walk. Everyone was still shocked by the events of the morning.
When they arrived at the store, Grover was waiting out front. He grabbed Joey and hugged him. “Everything okay, son?”
Joey pulled back to see his father’s eyes. “Yes, Pa. I can’t believe Mr. Bonner was going to kill me.”
“Thanks to Felix’s quick thinking, you were unharmed.”
Grover reached for Felix and pulled him in, too. “Felix, you saved Joey. Thank you.”
