Blackthorne--Review: Part III

Blackthorne

Cimemagenics 21-25

Review--Part III

“My gratitude swells as I read your positive responses to this

review of all that came before--so it continues. As a sidebar,

I am quite busy writing an actual Western screenplay, requested

by a successful actor friend as a future role for him.”--Glenn

Twenty-One: Warning--Buck returns to Millie’s room upstairs, &

begins to get dressed, asking: Who was that tinhorn? Millie is

silent for a moment, then says: Just ride on, back to nowhere, or

wherever the hell you came from. Buck explains that: This town

is my last stop; life has run out of rails. I’m done with running.”

Millie responds: Then you are probably a dead man; can’t you

hear the guns cocking all over town? That was Cash Bronson’s

little brother that you just tossed out of the window like a sack

of sour goat shit. Buck is told that Bronson is the main king pin,

the hairy bear in that town, & he will retaliate for this insult. Lulu,

the blond prostitute he had cold-cocked was Paully’s “girlfriend”.

Paully mostly stayed at the saloon, pretending to be the manager,

whoring, drinking, & gambling. Cash had a huge ranch, the Triple

B, a few miles out of town. No one stands up to Paully, for fear

of his two brothers. Buck shrugged. She asked: Haven’t you

heard about Thor?

Twenty-Two: Dead Time--Millie warns Buck about Thor Bronson,

the eldest son; slippery fast, & rattlesnake mean: He’s killed over

20 men in gunfights, & he’s never had a scratch on him. Buck

seems unimpressed. As he is leaving, he turns & asks: Sweet

Millie, will you remember me?  “Hell no,” she replied,”I like you,

& you’ll probably be dead inside of a week.” He walks out, leaving

5 silver dollars on the dresser. She watches him from her other

window, standing there naked & weeping. 

Twenty-Three: Errands--Buck stopped at Wallace’s General Store;

they were still busy, so there was no sack of provisions hanging

from his saddle. He could see a barber shop two blocks down. He

notices a lot of crowd buzz at the front of the CHINA DOLL. He slips

his .50 caliber Sharps out of its scabbard, cradles it over on arm &

heads off for a shave & possibly a bath. Most people didn’t really

pay much attention to him; this made him uneasy. At the end of the

first block, in an alley, two Mexican whores had set up shop in front

of a red tent. They waved at him. Buck enters Barnes’ Barber Shop,

& as the barber stood up, he asked: Whooa--what is that lethal

smell? Buck replied: Buffalo blood, beer & pussy. The barber

frowned: Thanks for sharing.

Twenty-Four: Shave & a Haircut--Barnes introduced himself, &

had Buck sit in a swivel chair. He opened his front door a bit,

staring back at the pungent stranger. Cheewa came padding in.

Barnes said, “I don’t hold much with dogs in my shop, but Buck

insisted that his dog stay by his side. Barnes agreed. As he steamed

Buck’s face, & began to clip off the salt & pepper beard, he asked

if Buck knew anything about the gun shots that had happened earlier? 

Buck replied, “ A couple of men got to scuffling over one of the whores”,

in the saloon. Barnes complained that a couple of men a week were

killed or injured in the CHINA DOLL, Buck asked: Does this chicken-

shit town have a sheriff? The barber replied: Yup, his name is  Joe 

Hop, & he’s got a badge & everything; but it seems that he & Bronson

have some kind of arrangement--with the sheriff mostly staying out

of the saloon. “So does Bronson write law & dictate policy?”  Barnes

replied thatIt has nothing to do with laws, & everything to do with

power.  Buck shrugged: What the fuck--there’s a Bronson in every

town.

Twenty-Five: Advice--Buck asks why the town hasn’t just hired some

“regulators” to run Bronson off. It seems Bronson is now too entrenched,

has too much money & land, & a private militia of gunsels to enforce

his will. “Is the sheriff a bought bully for Bronson?” But there is no simple

answer--Hopp is a tough law man; he’s tamed several other towns in the

past. He has been in Blackthorne for about a year. The previous two

sheriffs did not fare well--one was back shot, the other just went fishing

& never came back. Buck inquired about the Bronson brothers. “Why

do you want to know?” Barnes inquired. “I think I just tossed Paully

out of a two-story window, & I’m expecting trouble.” Barnes said:

Be smart, ride on. Buck was silent. Barnes then explained that Bronson

had shown up in town a decade earlier, with a satchel full of cash, &

six men as companions. “My son tells me I talk too much; did Bronson

send you to shut me up? Buck smiled: Well shit-fire, it will be a hot old

time in the town when this wicked-ass Jefe & I finally meet. 

Glenn Buttkus

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