Quit while you're ahead

Texas took a good look at the shot and shook her head, her body quaking and shivering at the thought. There was something unholy in her belly and she couldn’t afford this shot, she knew in the very core of her being that she was going to regret it and in a BIG way. She shook her head one last time and put the glass down.

“I-I can’t, I’m sorry, I’m gonna be GHGK–” Texas was struggling to keep her insides on the inside, her cheeks puffing out and her legs crossed.

Before things got violent, an old mountain lion stepped out of the crowd. It was an old pharmacist by the name of Doc Vaycay who had long since retired but was an old friend of the Stanton family. She’d been Texas’s pediatrician!

“Don’t worry folks, don’t worry!” The old cat fished something out of her coat pocket, “I’ve got just the thing. This helped Carol out back in the day too. Take this.”

She handed Texas a small tincture in a glass vial, and Texas popped the lid off and knocked it back. It tasted a bit like mint, and a bit like licorice and– Texas choked. She was about to vomit. She raced to the nearest outhouse and quickly voided her lunch before stumbling back out. She looked miserable, but remarkably enough she was stone cold sober again. She left the outhouse just in time for her Faker to rush in after her, clearly having been treated with the same elixir.

“Alright Vivian,” Texas said, clutching her head wearily, “What’s the last test? Let’s get it over with so’s you can find a new way to screw me outta victory.”

As she approached the center of the square, her Faker hobbled up behind her and wiped the spit from her lips. Seemed that both of the two had been through it, these trials were nothing to scoff at! Vivan shook her head sadly,

“Well I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but I’m afraid we’ve got only the last trial, and it’s guaranteed to end this one way or the other.” Vivian nodded towards Georgia, who immediately drew her pistol on the two. Both Texas’s hands went up. “It’s the test of Honor.”

“W-what’s going on here Vivian,” Texas asked, her body shaking, “Y-you can’t mean–”

Vivian continued, her voice solemn and stern, “At the end of the trial there could be no certainty reached, and if the whole of the town didn’t agree then the matter couldn’t be decided. In a final bid to uphold the law, Carolina stepped forward and proposed an ultimatum: Both Sheriffs should be shot, so that way they’d be certain that justice was upheld. And a true Sheriff would be willing to give her life to make sure that happened. When Carolina said those words, everyone including the criminal was moved. They gave themselves up on the spot, because everyone knew who the real Sheriff was then.”

The hammer on Georgia’s pistol clicked back.

“Now ladies, do either of you have anything to say? Or will we be burying both of you?”

This was it. Could Texas do it? What COULD she even do? Was the only true path forward to just stay silent? It felt wrong. But was this really what Mama wanted for a Sheriff?