Sky and the Starlets

Fiction by Frank Knebel

Chapter 5

Deputy Bill Harrison leaned his back against one of the pillars in front of the Armory and watched the milling crowd in the street. He removed his hat and his dark-rimmed glasses to mop his forehead with a blue bandana. Replacing his glasses, the studious-looking young man dabbed the back of his neck.

     “Good crowd isn’t, Sky?” he asked.

     Sky Ryder extended the shade of his hat brim with his hand and scanned the crowd that lined the streets in all directions. He smiled at the deputy.

     “Just like the circus come to town, Bill,” he answered.

     “Everybody’s havin’ a high old time,” added Sheriff Winchell standing beside Sky. He looked at Harrison. “Remember, Bill, it’s our job to make sure that they don’t have too high a time.”

     Harrison put on his hat and stuck his thumbs into the sides of his gunbelt.

     “Shucks. That shouldn’t be a problem. Everybody seems to be in a good mood.”

     Sky checked his wristwatch.

     “I wonder what’s keeping Reverend Andrews,” he said. “Summer and the girls were a little late getting over here, but they should be ready to shoot pretty soon.”

     Winchell looked at his own watch.

     “I wouldn’t worry, Sky.” He gestured toward the crowd. “He’s probably just having trouble getting through the all these people.”

     Sky smiled.

     “You’re probably right, Winch.”

     Deputy Steve Cooley threaded his way through the throng. For a big, broad-shouldered young man like Cooley it was slow going, but he finally reached his post beside Harrison.

     “Fine job for a Deputy Sheriff!” he muttered to his partner. “Helpin’ lost kids find their mothers.”

     Harrison grinned.

     “You’d better be content, Steve. I don’t think we’ll have any crime waves today.”

“Fix the door, Baynes,” the hooded woman ordered crisply.

     A sturdy-looking man drew a length of chain from his suitcoat pocket and walked briskly to the main doors. Like all the gang members he wore a sack-like mask that covered his entire face except for two eyeholes. The woman leader crossed her arms and regarded the bathing beauties and their escorts who had remained frozen in astonishment. She tapped the toe of her right foot.

     “Well, ladies,” she said impatiently. “Do I really need to say it? Hands up!”

     The women looked at one another. Summer laid her camera and purse on the makeup table and raised her hands in surrender. Those women who had anything in their hands put it down and followed her example. Amy set down the light. A short man in a cheap brown suit took her service revolver from her holster. A lean fellow of medium height disarmed Bonnie.

     The masked woman surveyed the line of prisoners with their raised hands.

     “That’s better. You all look so cute like that. It enhances the bustline, too, though most of you don’t need help there.”

     “I’m so glad you’re happy,” said Summer. “Now that you’ve got us like this, I hope you’ll tell us what you want.”

     “Oh, you’ll find out what we want soon enough.”

     Joan glanced at the line of gang members then at Summer.

     “They don’t want you, Mrs. Merrill,” Joan said softly. “I think they’ve come for us.”

     Diana gave a little gasp of realization.

     “It’s the plane crash gang!”

     The sound of clanking chains and the snapping of locks came from the front hallway. The man who had been told to secure the doors returned.

     “All set,” he said.

     The women looked. Chains had been threaded through the crashbars of all four sets of double doors and padlocked in place.

     “I don’t know what this is all about,” said Summer, “but you won’t get away with it. The Armory’s surrounded by deputies and one of the local ministers is due here any minute. If he tries to get in and finds the doors chained, the Sheriff will have this place surrounded in no time.”

     “Don’t worry about the minister,” the woman said. “He won’t be along for quite a while.” She turned to the remaining gang members. “Okay. Get to work.”

     “Let’s all gather round the tables, ladies,” announced the short man.

     He prodded Amy with the barrel of his revolver then pointed it toward the tables. Amy moved in the direction he had indicated. The lean man did the same to Bonnie.

     Virginia Gregory glared at Summer.

     “Well, Mrs. Merrill?” she demanded. Are we all just going to stand here?”

     Summer looked at the agent.

     “Well, Miss Gregory,” she answered dryly, “we have four guns pointed at us at the moment. If you have any suggestions, I’d be glad to hear them.”

     “Just do what you’re told, Miss Gregory,” Amy said calmly. “This is no time to start anything.”

     The short man poked her in the back with his pistol barrel.

     “You’re pretty smart for a deputy,” he said mockingly. “That’s real good advice.”

     “It’s the only advice for all of you right now,” said the woman leader. She turned her head a bit toward Virginia Gregory. “I’d take it if I were you, lady.”

     The gang members grouped their captives near the tables: Summer, Virginia and Shirley on one end, Joan, Diana and the Miss Kermit contestants in the center, and Amy and Bonnie at the other end. The two women gang members took the bulging canvas bags they carried from their shoulders and overturned them on the table. One of them contained a large quantity of rope. Several rolls of two-inch wide adhesive tape, a sealed brown paper bag about the size of a small loaf of bread, and more coils of rope spilled from the other. Both women took up two rolls of tape. One of the women tore the bag open and divided the contents with the other woman. The shorter woman walked over to Joan, the taller one to Maura McCarthy.

     “There’s one here for everybody ladies,” announced the taller woman. She held up a black handball. “As soon as I give it to you, put it in your mouth.”

     The shorter woman went in one direction, giving handballs to Joan, Diana, Shirley, Virginia and Summer. The tall woman strolled the opposite way handing balls to Maura, Estrelita, Marianna, Copper, Carol, Bonnie and Amy. The prisoners looked gingerly at the balls.

     “Whut’ll we do, Amy?” asked Bonnie.

     The short man drew back the hammer of his pistol. Amy nodded at Bonnie and popped the ball between her teeth. With varying degrees of hesitancy, the others did the same.

     “Very nice, ladies! Very cooperative of you!” said the leader. She nodded to the women.

     With their hands empty of the rubber balls, the women began peeling tape from the rolls.

     “Jackson,” snapped the leader. “Help Arlene with the taping. I don’t want this to take all afternoon. And you, Jones,”--- She stopped and considered. “No, Jones. You keep the ladies covered. I don’t think you should be tempted by touching them.”

     The tallest of the four men was standing a few feet to her left.

     “Help Gloria,” she ordered him. “Baynes will keep watch.”

     The tall man pocketed his pistol and took one of the tape rolls from the shorter woman. Jackson eased the hammer of his pistol back and dropped the weapon in his jacket pocket. He took a tape roll from the tall woman and began taping over the ball in Bonnie’s mouth. The two remaining men kept their pistols pointed at the prisoners.

     When the man and woman had finished their taping of Amy’s and Bonnie’s gags, the woman sidled over to them. She put one hand to her chin and regarded them for a moment.

     “It’s unusual for a small town like this to have so many women deputies. And such attractive ones, too. Well, I think that women in uniform deserve a little something special.” She reached out and unbuckled Amy’s gunbelt, then Bonnie’s. Her voice hardened. “Take off your clothes, you two.”

     There were muffled exclamations from the other women. Amy and Bonnie looked at one another. The woman raised her voice.

     “You heard me, girls. Strip.”

     The chuckle of lean man could be heard through his hood. He wagged his pistol at them. Amy nodded to Bonnie began unbuttoning her uniform shirt. The woman took the handcuffs from the cases on the belts of both deputies.

     “And I think we can put these to good use, too. Jackson!”

     The short man had just finished putting tape over Carol’s mouth. He turned just in time to catch the first of two pairs of handcuffs the woman tossed to him.

     “Cuff the deputies when you finish with the gags.”

     Jackson wagged an acknowledging finger.

     “Right.”

     The woman strolled to the table, taking in the effect on the prisoners. The women whose gags were already taped or were waiting to be taped were looking anxiously at each other and fearfully at their captors. There were tears on Carol Hanes’ cheeks and wide-eyed Marianna Dale appeared to be close to crying. The woman dumped the gunbelts noisily on the table.

     “Just remember the advice of the smart deputy, ladies,” she said. “Nothing much will happen to you as long as you do what you’re told.”

     The women seemed reassured by this announcement. The leader ambled over to the part of the line where Summer, Shirley and Virginia were standing. Gloria had finished taping over Virginia’s gag. She and the tall man were starting on the Summer and Shirley. The leader put a hand on her chin again and studied the older women, glancing several times from them to the swimsuit-wearing younger girls.

     “I think that you ladies”--- she waved carelessly at Summer, Shirley and Virginia--- “should do the same as the deputies. Take off those clothes.”

     The tall man and Gloria finished with the gags and backed away. They moved to the table and began selecting coils of rope from the piles. The woman leader stepped closer to the three older women. With her left hand she undid the top button of Summer’s cowgirl dress while her right unbuttoned the top of Shirley’s beauty shop frock.

     “Don’t be shy, ladies,” she cooed. “You’ll all be seeing a lot of each other today.”

     She looked down the line of captives again. Amy Cole was down to her bra and panties. Jackson was cuffing her hands behind her back.

     “Quite a lot.”

Jackson tied off the last knot of Maura’s ankle bonds and held up his hands like a rodeo calf roper signaling that he was done.

     “Beatcha!” he said to Arlene.

     Arlene calmly finished her work on Estrelita’s ankle ropes.

     “I’ll bet you always finish early, Jackson.”

     “Hey!”

     “That’s enough, you two,” snapped the woman leader. She walked over between them and surveyed the scene.

     Four of the girls in swimsuits, Maura, Carol, Marianna, and Estrelita, were seated in the folding chairs, which now faced the center of the Armory floor rather than the mirrors on the other side of the tables. All four young women were thoroughly bound: hands behind their backs, arms looped against their backs and sides in several places and legs secured at the knees and ankles. The other women, Copper in her one-piece suit, Joan and Diana in their two piece suits, and all the others now reduced to panties and bras, stood on either side of the chairs. Their hands and arms were bound in identical fashion, but their legs were still free.

     “We’re looking very nice here,” said the woman leader. “Gentlemen. If you will please escort the young ladies to their places.”

     She nodded. The four men all crossed the room and stood in front of one of the occupied chairs. Arlene stood guard over Amy, Bonnie and Copper on one end of the rank of chairs, and Gloria watched Summer, Shirley and Virginia on the other. The leader stayed close to Joan and Diana. The men helped the young women to stand.

     “Now, I believe that the idea here was to take some photos of the girls posed around the stagecoach, wasn’t it?” the leader asked with mock solicitude. “So it’s necessary for you to get yourselves over there. We’ve been frightfully forgetful in tying your legs first; therefore you’ll all have to hop. I know this won’t be easy for you, ladies, but don’t worry: the gentlemen will see that you don’t fall. Please proceed.”

     She made a graceful gesture toward the coach. The four bound and gagged Miss Kermit finalists looked uncertainly at one another. Jones, the lean man, took Carol Hanes by the arm. He reached around her with his other arm and caressed her firm, shapely buttocks.

     “Come on, honey. You heard the boss lady.”

     With a muted squeal of alarm Carol began hopping. Seeing what had happened to Carol, the others quickly followed, the men holding them on one side to steady them.

     The woman leader laughed. She turned to her two henchwomen.

     “Let’s have the next shift.”

     Gloria prodded Summer, Shirley and Virginia to the vacant chairs. Arlene poked Copper and pointed to the last chair.

     “You too, Honey,” she said.

     The four women sat. Immediately Gloria and Arlene went to work binding their legs and ankles. As her ankles were being bound, Copper watched the Miss Kermit contestants being awkwardly herded across the Armory floor. Jones’ frequent attentions to Carol’s breasts and backside caused her reach the coach well ahead of the others. Her escort guided her to the large rear wheel of the stage. Maura McCarthy, being the tallest of the four, was backed against the same wheel next to her. Jones and Baynes took long ropes and began binding the two girls to the wheel. Jackson tied the shorter Marianna and Estrelita to the smaller front wheel.

     “Those poor girls!” thought Copper. A sudden sense of dread came over her. “I wonder what they have planned for the rest of us?”

     The woman leader watched the younger women being tied to the coach wheels. She turned to Summer.

     “I know that’s not exactly what you had in mind, Mrs. Merrill, but it’s kind of cute in its own way, don’t you think?”

     Summer looked away. The men finished and started back across the room. The tall man stood next to the leader and put his hands on his hips while the others took more rope from the supply on the table.

     “Nice work, eh?” asked the tall man. “What do you think, Patricia?”

     The woman gave him a sharp backhand across the chest.

     “As soon as the girls are done, take these others over there too, Jarvis.”

     The man rubbed the spot where he had been hit.

     “Sorry,” he said ruefully.

     “Just take care of them.” she snapped.

     When the binding of their knees and ankles was complete, the four women were helped to their feet. Copper was alarmed to see that Jones was to be her escort. Despite his mask, Copper knew him from their meeting two days before.

     “Well, it’s that cute little blonde again!” he said, letting his index finger play along the neckline of her swimsuit. “I’m glad ya dressed a little nicer fer me t’day.”

     Since she could not spit in his eye, Copper mumbled something and turned away. Jones’ finger strayed into her cleavage. Copper glared at him and protested into her gag. He chuckled, removing the finger from her décolletage and putting his hand on her behind which he alternately rubbed and patted.

     “Yessir,” he whispered. “Mighty nice.”

     “That’s enough, Jones,” said the leader. “Get ‘em moving.”

     The four men helped the bound women begin hopping across the room.

Sky Ryder checked his watch again. Reverend Andrews was more than forty-five minutes late. The tall rancher wondered what the problem could be. He was about to ask Sheriff Winchell to send a car to the Kermit Community Church when he heard the sounds. Pop... Pop... Pop, pop, pop! Reflexively, he ducked to make himself a smaller target and stepped behind the concrete pillar to his left. When he looked out he noted that many of the people in the crowd had bent over and covered their heads or taken cover behind whatever was available. A few ex-servicemen were lying flat on the grass or sidewalks. Winchell, Cooley and Harrison were behind other pillars. Harrison had his hand on his pistol grip.

     “Where’d those shots come from?” yelled Cooley.

     There was a burst of childish laughter nearby. Harrison made a face. He took his hand from his revolver and pointed.

     “There.”

     Close to the blackened remains of a string of firecrackers, six thirteen-year-old boys were laughing at the sight of so many people scuttling for cover. When Sky, the Sheriff and the two deputies started for them, they let out a yell of alarm and tried to run. However, they ran while watching their pursuers behind them and failed to notice Deputies Al MacKeever and Ben Norris come around the corner of the building in front of them. After the collision, the converging deputies caught all six.

     “We didn’t mean anything, Sheriff,” wailed one as MacKeever took him by the collar.

     “Yeah!” said another. “We was just havin’ a little fun.”

     Winchell cast a steely eye on the boy he recognized as the probable ringleader.

     “We’ll just let your Dads have a little fun with you then, Jimmy Towers,” he said sternly. “And I hope you can laugh when they get finished with you. Start hunting up their fathers, Al.”

     Despite their genuine irritation with the now-terrified pranksters, the Deputies had to struggle to maintain their most severe expressions.

     “Right, Sheriff,” MacKeever replied, with a stiff and exaggeratedly formal salute. “Come on, you boys.”

     He and Norris dragged the miscreants away. Two men, their faces varying shades of red and purple, were already running toward the group to claim their boys. The level of wailing rose. The relieved crowd was now laughing.

     Sky looked at Winchell and laughed. The Sheriff smiled.

     “I hope they won’t be able to sit down for a week, the little---”

“How’s that, Miss Ryder?” Arlene asked as she pulled hard on the rope holding Copper to the folding chair. “Tight enough, I hope?”

     Copper looked daggers at the masked woman. Arlene gave the rope another yank. Copper yelped into her gag. Arlene tied a secure knot, then began working on further securing the blond girl’s feet. Copper looked around her with a sinking feeling.

     She and Summer, Shirley and Virginia had been made to hop across the Armory floor and halted about fifteen feet from the stagecoach where the four Miss Kermit were bound. The humiliating trip had been made worse for Copper by Jones’ constant fondling of her. The man’s hands seemed never to be still, groping, caressing, patting, pinching and roaming over her buttocks and breasts alternately. When the four women were in place, Arlene and Gloria brought four of the folding chairs over and placed them in a semi-circle facing the coach. They had been forced to sit and tied tightly to the chairs by the two women, Baynes and Jackson. Jones and Jarvis had unrolled a wrestling mat that had been left on one sideline and dragged it between the chairs and the coach.

     Arlene made a running noose in a length of rope and looped Copper’s already bound ankles. She tightened the noose, then ran the free end under the seat of Copper’s chair and out the back side. When she pulled on the free end, the girl’s feet here forced back under her and the chair. Copper groaned into her gag as the woman pulled the line taut, then anchored it by passing it around both outer stiles and tying it off. The other women were bound to their chairs the same way.

     Patricia, the leader, watched the work progressing. Arlene and Jackson finished their tying first.

     “Okay, you two,” said Patricia. “Do the deputies’ feet and bring them over.”

     They recrossed the room to the makeup tables. Joan, Diana, Amy and Bonnie were the only prisoners left. Amy and Bonnie were made to sit in the two remaining folding chairs while their knees and ankles were bound. When this was done, the deputies were hauled to their feet and forced to hop across the room. Gloria and Baynes finished their work on Summer and Virginia returned to the tables. They put Joan and Diana into the chairs and began binding their knees and ankles. Arlene and Jackson had the two bound deputies hop to the edge of the mat and stopped them. They remained standing as Patricia strolled around the circle of captives.

     “You know, girls, I think that a few photos of this would really do wonders for attendance at Wild West Days. Just think of all the men who’d come to see something like this. We might even be able to have it declared a rodeo event: girl roping! Yes, I can see some great possibilities here.”

     She slowly walked down the row of Miss Kermit contestants, all bound to the wheels of the stagecoach, looking each girl over from head to toe.

     “And you’ve all done a fine job of choosing your swimsuits for the pictures.” She pulled on the shoulder strap of Marianna’s yellow suit. “This is such a nice color for your skin, dear.” She continued to Estrelita. “And I love the contrast of the white suit against your dark hair and complexion, Sweetie.” She took a few more steps to Maura and Carol. “Blondes in light blue and black. I like the idea.” She pointed to Maura’s black high heels. “Too bad you couldn’t find any matching shoes.” She wheeled to Copper tied tightly in her chair. “And red suits your fiery disposition so well, Miss Ryder. A very fine choice, on your part.”

     She stood among the women and turned round slowly so as to address them all.

     “You’re all quite lovely ladies. Even the deputies here.” She stepped to Amy and Bonnie.

     “Jones!” She said sharply.

     The lean man took a step forward.

     “Let me have your knife.”

     The man hesitated. He rubbed his hands uncertainly on his pant legs.

     “Well, ma’am, I don’t know if...”

     “Don’t try to pretend that you don’t have it,” she snapped. “Let me see it.”

     Jones took his knife from his pocket and, after another hesitation, opened the blade. Patricia took it from him and strolled back to the women bound to the stage wheels.

     “There’s only one thing I can think of that would make these pictures more attractive.”

     She held up the knife, its point toward the ceiling. The bound girls mewed frantically into their gags. They struggled wildly and their eyes grew wide. Carol and Marianna shook their heads.

     Patricia lifted the right shoulder strap of Carol’s suit enough to slip the blade under it and began to saw. In a moment, the fabric parted. Patricia moved the blade to the other strap and cut it as well. She turned to Arlene.

     “Peel it down.”

     As Patricia moved on to Maura, Arlene put both hands into the edge of the cups of Carol’s suit and peeled the material from her breasts. The blonde shrieked in dismay as her breasts fell free. Patricia paused momentarily between cutting the two straps of Maura’s suit.

     “Nice pair,” she commented.

     They continued with the other girls in turn. Within a minute, all four were bare-breasted.

     “Let’s not forget our girls in uniform.”

     She cut the bra straps of both Bonnie and Amy. When Patricia moved on to Copper, she looked at Gloria.

     “Help Arlene finish with the Deputies.”

     Gloria nodded. While Arlene unhooked Amy’s bra, Gloria did the same to Bonnie. The brown-haired beauty wailed into her ball and tape gag as her breasts were exposed. Amy shook her head gently and tried to hum something comforting to the dispatcher, but Arlene and Gloria interrupted by lowering her to the mat. They laid Amy on her side then placed Bonnie facing her. The two pushed the deputies close together and bound them together face-to-face.

     Baynes and Jackson sat lightly on the edge of a table watching intently as Patricia peeled down the cups of Copper’s swimsuit and removed Shirley’s bra. Before moving on to Virginia, the leader looked over at them.

     “Don’t just sit there, you two. Finish up with our actress friends and get them ready to go.”

     Jackson picked up the towel that Estrelita had dropped on the table and tore several pieces from it. The two men placed the pads over the eyes of Joan and Diana and taped them in place. They looked over for a moment at Virginia Gregory’s noisy reaction to having her bra removed. Patricia moved on to Summer.

     “Arlene, when you two have finished with the deputies I want you to take over with our two little starlets. Baynes and Jackson have other work to do.”

     Arlene was kneeling over the two helpless deputies who were now bound tightly together from their shoulders to their feet.

     “How’s it going, girls?” Arlene whispered to Amy and Bonnie.

     The two were barely able to turn their heads to look at Arlene.

     “One last thing. Even though your mouths are taped, I want you two to make like you’re kissing. Come on, press your lips together.”

     The two deputies had little choice. When their faces touched, Arlene ran a rope around the back of their necks and tied it off to make them hold the position.

     “Aren’t you a cozy little couple?” she said mockingly as she rose.

     Having already cut the shoulder straps, Patricia was pulling off Summer’s bra. When the dark-haired rancher did not react in outrage, Patricia paused as though puzzled.

     “You’re either a pretty tough customer or you don’t mind showing your boobs, Mrs. Merrill,” the gang leader said. She tossed away the bra, put her hand to her chin and studied Summer for a moment. “Which is it, I wonder?”

     Summer returned her gaze for several seconds, turning away only when her attention was drawn to another burst of violent struggling from Virginia Gregory. The agent was very soon winded by her efforts and sank back into her bonds, breathing hard and glaring. Patricia laughed.

     “Quite a way to earn your ten percent, isn’t it?” she asked, then laughed again.

     Some of the men chuckled. Patricia checked with Arlene and Gloria who had been busy with some sort of tying job on the now standing Joan and Diana. Arlene waved.

     “Bring ‘em, boys.” She swung her eyes around the circle of bound captives. “You’ll probably be glad to know that we’re almost done here, ladies.”

     Jackson and Jones crossed to where Arlene and Gloria held the two bound and blindfolded starlets, hoisted the actresses over their shoulders, and carried them across the room. Baynes reappeared from the main hallway. He now wore a set of white coveralls and carried his dark suit over his arm. The tallest man of the gang, Jarvis, was at the back door holding it open just enough to look outside.

     “Dugan’s here,” he announced.

     “Just in time,” said Patricia.

     The two henchmen put Joan and Diana back on their feet inside the circle. Arlene and Gloria held the two bound blondes as the other bound, helpless, bare breasted and goggle-eyed captives looked on. They could see that the extra ropes applied to the actresses consisted of belts of rope around their waists that supported double lines of cord between their legs and pulled tightly against the women’s pubic mounds. Patricia nodded to Arlene who undid the hooks of Diana’s bikini bra while Patricia herself cut the shoulder straps of Joan’s suit and pulled it off.

     “An inspiring sight, don’t you think, ladies?” asked Patricia. “Maybe someday they’ll be able to put something like this in the movies, a kind of update of The Perils of Pauline.”

     Jarvis swung the back door open to admit a large laundry cart on wheels pushed by a powerfully built man in white coveralls. The man just finished putting on a hood similar to the other gang members as he entered. He wheeled the cart directly toward the circle of women. Patricia turned to Summer.

     “If you haven’t guessed by now, Mrs. Merrill, Miss O’Connor was right: we’re after Kermit’s two honored guests of the week. They’re now going to be our honored guests.” She paused. “For a little while anyway.”

     Dugan and Baynes unloaded some towels and sheets from the cart and dumped them on the floor. Next they unfolded a couple of clean-looking sheets and, aided by Arlene and Gloria, wrapped up the two bound and helpless actresses. They then lifted the two prisoners and placed them carefully into the cart. The women threw the laundry items on the floor back in the cart to cover the prisoners.

     “You two know what to do?” asked Patricia.

     Dugan nodded.

     “We’re taking Gloria and Ahlene too, ahen’t we?” he asked.

     “Right. Get going.”

     Dugan and Baynes rolled the cart back to the rear door, the women following. Jarvis checked the area and nodded. They rolled the cart outside, snatching off the hoods as they left. Jarvis watched for a few moments then nodded to the women. They also removed their hoods as they hurried out the back door. The sound of an engine starting came from very nearby.

     Patricia folded the blade of Jones’ knife back into the handle. She strolled sinuously to where he stood and dangled it from her fingers.

     “This came in very handy, Mr. Jones,” she drawled. “Thanks for bringing it along.”

     “You’ll find I’m a very handy guy to have around,” he replied. He took it back and slipped it into his pocket. “Very handy.”

     He started his arm up as though to embrace her. She put both hands to his chest and pushed herself away.

     “I’m sure,” she said. “Now you and Jackson get lost.”

     Jones stood in apparent uncertainty for a moment, trying to decide how to react. Jackson stepped over and took him by the sleeve.

     “Let’s go Jonesey,” he said.

     He led the other man to the back door. As Jarvis opened it, the men turned their faces away from the prisoners, removed their hoods, and slipped out the door.

     Patricia looked around the circle again.

     “This has been a very pleasant morning with you ladies. I hope that the pictures of this, if they take any, won’t find their way into the local press. They could be highly embarrassing, especially to your police protection. But, on the other hand as I said, they could sell a lot of tickets for Wild West Days.”

     She walked quickly across to the back door. She and Jarvis turned their backs to the women, took off their hoods and exited the building.

“There he is, Sky,” said Winchell, pointing to the corner across from where he and Sky Ryder were standing.

     “It’s about time,” said Sky. “Summer’s a pretty calm gal, but I’m surprised she hasn’t come out here raising Cain and wanting to know where he is.”

     Winchell chuckled and stroked his mustache thoughtfully as Reverend Andrews picked his way through the bustling crowd moving up and down the sidewalks and street. There was sweat on his forehead by the time he reached Sky and the Sheriff.

     “Good morning, Sky, Sheriff,” he said with a nod to both men as he climbed the last step to join them. “I’m sorry I’m so late, but there was an emergency call at the church this morning and I had to stay for a while.”

     “What kind of emergency?” asked Sky.

     Andrews shrugged ruefully.

     “I don’t know. Someone called saying they needed to talk to me right away, some kind of spiritual crisis he said, and asked me to stay. I told him I was already running late, but he begged me to wait for him and that it would take only a few minutes once he arrived. But he never did arrive. Mrs. Merrill must be frantic.”

     “As a matter of fact we haven’t heard anything from her,” said Sky, looking suddenly concerned.

     Winchell grinned.

     “Come on, Sky,” he said jokingly. “You know how two women can talk. Well, there are twelve of them in there. Can you imagine it?”

     Winchell turned to Deputy Harrison.

     “Let Reverend Andrews in, Bill.”

     The studious-looking deputy reached the door just ahead of the minister. He touched the brim of his hat in salute and pulled on the door. The edge of the door swung away from the frame by a couple inches then stopped. Harrison tugged harder but the door did not move.

     “Sheriff,” he called. “The door’s stuck!”

     “Stuck? Are you sure?”

     Winchell and Sky stepped closer.

     “This is the same door everybody used earlier.” Harrison pulled on it again.

     “Try another door,” suggested Andrews.

     Harrison moved to the next door and pulled with the same result. Winchell tried another door with the same effect.

     “Try all the doors!” he ordered.

     Cooley joined Harrison in trying more doors. Winchell moved in the other direction. None of them would open. Sky tried the first door again. When it stopped he pressed himself against the door next to it and put his eye to the opening.

     “Winch!” he cried. “These doors are chained!”

     Winchell acted quickly.

     “Bill, come with me. We’re going to try the back door. Steve, you get to your car and call for Harry and Andy and Al and Ben. There’s something wrong here.”

     Cooley dashed for his patrol car. Winchell and Harrison disappeared around the corner of the building. Reverend Andrews turned to Sky.

     “What can it be, Mr. Ryder?” he asked

     Sky shook his head slowly.

     “I don’t know, Reverend. But whatever it is, it has something to do with those two girls.”

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