Little Details

[AnotherOldGuy]

This thread is not a role play, but instead is the FAQ for the role play "A One Horse Town".

• Do not subscribe to this thread.
• The details here will often be short and out of context and will mean little to you unless you arrived at them from a specific point in the IC or OOC thread.
• If you did arrive here from the IC or OOC and something still doesn't make sense to you, PM me and I will attempt to clarify.

Posts in this thread:

• #2 -- Flashback to when Taylor got shot by his own gun.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

Below is an excerpt from a post in the Personal Thread "Wanna-be Deputy". The PT is an exchange between Sheriff Matthew Taylor and Evan Williams, who wishes to be Deputy; but the except below is Taylor's flashback, in which he recalls getting shot.

Taylor had reloaded his .45, using the ejector to kick the still smoking cartridges out into his shirt pocket, eliminating the need for picking them up. They were warm -- almost hot -- through the cloth against his chest and reeked of gun powder, but it was still better than leaning over when his thigh was aching the way it was now.

He didn't understand why the simple act of shooting his Colt so often brought back that painful day when he was shot by his own weapon. The man coming at him with the ax had caught him off guard. He hadn't recognized the man at first; the only thing he'd recognized was the gleaming edge of the blade held above the shoulder, ready to swing downward as soon as the range was closed.

Taylor's first reaction had been to quickly begin ejecting spent shells from his weapon, but he'd only filled one chamber by the time he had to dodge the descending hatchet. He lost his balance on the rough ground and fell and -- to his dismay -- lost his weapon. He found himself dodging the crazed man as profanities and accusations were spat at him.

Some time during the melee, Taylor came to realize who the man was. Taylor had defended an accused rapist and gotten him acquitted; this man was the father of the victim! Taylor tried to calm the man, but for the most part all he could do was bob and weave to keep from getting gutting like a pig or beheaded like a stew chicken.

Suddenly, he was falling backward again ... and when he rose, he was looking at his own weapon. The man had the Colt leveled at Taylor's skull as he pulled back the hammer and squeezed the trigger as he growled, "It's your fault, too. People like you."

The gun clicked harmlessly. The man's face lit up with a surprised expression as he stared at the Colt. He pulled the hammer back again and -- as Taylor rushed quickly -- pulled the trigger once more ... and then repeated again, the gun beginning to waver in his hand as he panicked.

The fourth click was accompanied with an explosion of powder, sending the lead slug through Taylor's thigh and dropping him to the ground. The future Sheriff doesn't remember much of what happened next, except for the part where he repeated again and again that he himself had fired the gun, not the despondent father. No one believed him at the time of course, but in the end the man took his own life with a shot gun blast below his chin so it didn't really matter anyway.

Taylor decided then that defending people -- whether guilty or not -- wasn't the part of the law he wanted to be a part of. He spent a little time as a Prosecutor, and then, of course, found bounty hunting and ultimately the job of Sheriff. He was happy with what he did now, even if every day brought the possibility of getting shot, or hacked up.​