Showdown in Cow Town

You have seen the movie, white hat verses black hat, good guy verses bad guy, each with a six-gun in a holster slung low on the hip, the town taking refuge behind saloon doors and store windows and empty wagons. A real showdown.

Black Hat held Cow Town in fear. The sheriff was six feet under and his replacement was one of Black Hat’s men. Law and order became lawlessness and havoc – booze and shootings and killings and stick-ups. Women, no longer safe on the streets, huddled in their homes. And the men huddled behind the women. Black Hat seemed invincible. Until White Hat rode into Cow Town on his white horse.

White Hat didn’t drink much and didn’t curse at all. Didn’t even smoke or chase women. Had Black Hat just ignored him, White Hat would probably have rode out of town the next morning. But he took exception to Black Hat making fun of his “sissy-white hat,” the hat his girl Molly had bought him. White Hat had steel in his spine, and told Black Hat his black hat smelled of sweat and grime. Besides, he didn’t like the way he and his gang held the town in fear; it was hard to get good service. Well you know what happened. Soon the two were facing each other on the street in front of the saloon. One-on-one. Showdown.

It was high noon and it was hot. The horses were fidgety, kicking up dust. A couple of youngsters fled in panic. Bulky barber and slim storekeeper and bald banker peered out their windows. Black Hat was confident, smirking, cigar stub in his mouth, real mean looking. No one faster. White Hat was a stranger, too dumb to know who he was up against. Didn’t have a chance and everyone knew it.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Black Hat goes down, pain and disbelief filling his face. Wasn’t supposed to happen this way; always the other guy bit the dust. White Hat holsters his gun, stares down at his motionless opponent, his black hat looking silly upside down in the dirt, and then challenges the rest of the gang of black hats. Seeing Black Hat laying in his blood took the nerve right out of them and out of town they galloped. White Hat mounts his horse and slowly rides out of Cow Town. An old man removes his hat, scratches his head and stares perplexed at the stranger riding off. The women come out of their houses, men close behind. The entire town sighs in relief, happy to be minus one bad dude.