They arrived in Bethel later that morning. They went directly up the street toward the sheriff’s office. There was a crowd in the street. Several were on horseback. One carried a noose. Sheriff Bidwell and his deputy, Sam, stood on the boardwalk in front of the office with rifles in hand.
“No one’s gonna do nothing to nobody, unless you’re gonna gun me down to do it.”
These words of Bidwell’s chilled Lee to the bone. He looked at Nate with a silent admonition to restrain himself. He obeyed.
They rode through the crowd.
“That’s his pardner. Get ‘im!” cried a man with a bruised face; Kalub O’Brian.
The crowd surged toward Lee. Nate spurred his horse between the crowd and Ranger. Bidwell fired his rifle into the air. The men fell back. “No one’s gonna do nothing to nobody!” Bidwell s
