48 Hours a Day

Three people who jumped alive not long ago turned their eyes into three bodies, hung under a wooden platform, motionless like salted fish dried by the wind, waiting half a day to make sure that they could not die again, naturally someone removed the rope from their neck and collected the bodies.

The drunk sheriff did his job and climbed down from the wooden platform, watching the lively crowd disperse, walking and talking about what had just happened, especially what the one-armed man said at the end of the day worried a lot of people, and couldn't even pay attention to the new Orientalist in town for a while.

Zhang Heng also took a rough look at the reward on the wall at this time. It was not particularly ideal. He could only pull the general out of the short man, and quickly wrote down the faces of several possible fugitives.

After that, Zhang Heng took the radish to the grocery store in town, and the person who was watching him behind him came outside the grocery store door, but he didn't see Zhang Heng coming out of the grocery store for a while. He was in a bit of a hurry. He wanted to look inside and was afraid of being discovered, and the guy's horse was still outside the grocery store, which should not suddenly disappear.

Just as he hesitated, a voice suddenly rang from behind him, "Is that you sneaking up behind me? ”

Zhang Heng also had some surprises after seeing the tracking.

Despite the other party's efforts to pretend to be an adult, he should be only eleven or twelve years old and still have a lot of freckles on his face, full of naivety. No wonder he didn't notice when he looked back earlier.

“Are you the sisters of those two cowboys? ”

“What cowboys... oh, you mean those guys, no, I had nothing to do with them, sir.” Girl said.

“Then why are you following me?” Zhang Heng stuffed daily necessities such as soap bought from the grocery store in the pocket next to the saddle.

“Allow me to introduce myself, I… My name is Wendy and my father is a rancher nearby. ”

“So?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.

“I saw you looking for a job, and here's the thing, about two weeks ago, my father went on a trip to talk about a business, and he said he'd be back in ten days at most, but as you can see, he's been out of time so far. ”

“Perhaps there was a delay on the road.” Zhang Hengdao, since the freckled girl in front of her had nothing to do with the two cowboys, Zhang Hengdao didn't have to make it difficult for her, so she turned around and was ready to take the radish and leave.

Wendy turned around and stood in front of him again.

“No, my father was always a punctual man, and there was a telegraph bureau in the town he went to, and he would certainly have sent a telegram to me and my mother if he had been delayed there because of some accident. ”

“And then what? ”

“And then he didn't do it, and we lost contact with him for a long time, and Mom and I were worried about his safety. ”

“I understand your concern, but shouldn't you go to the sheriff's office in town?” Zhang Heng changed direction and crossed Wendy with the radish.

“I spoke to Sheriff Trail, but Sheriff Trail sent a telegram to the town's police station, where he replied that my father had left six days earlier. ”

“So your problem is solved? ”

“No, of course not. I think they're lying, which is obvious. If my father left six days ago, he should be home by now, and he would have telegraphed me and my mom before he left.” Wendy followed Zhang Heng in an agitated path.

“But the sheriff said he had left. ”

“I don't know, I have a bad feeling what could have happened.” Wendy, “I told Sheriff Trail of my hunch, but he didn't believe me at all, just let me go home and wait, and the town's bailiffs were busy with other cases, and they wouldn't take the time to find my father. ”

“Where's your father's friend? Why don't you ask them for help. ”

“My family doesn't have any friends here, my mother is a Spanish immigrant and my father is half Apache, so you're not the first person in town to be isolated, and you won't be the last.” Wendy, “I know how it feels. I saw what you did when you first came into town, and I thought you were a tough guy, just like my father, so I wanted to offer you a job, sir. ”

“Help you find your father? ”

“Yes, I can pay you sixty dollars when it's done.” Wendy finished her nervous look into Zhang Heng's eyes.

This price… is basically about the same as an ordinary reward, and conforms to the kind of survey that Zhang Heng ideal, do not have to run back and forth work. Although the survey may take a while to leave Lincoln County, it should not be too big a problem for Zhang Heng, who has an excessively long copy time, and the other rewards basically have to leave town, which does not seem unacceptable.

But some things need to be clarified in advance, Zhang Heng stopped, “What if I accepted your commission, but then your father went home himself? ”

“In that case, I'll pay the right amount. ”

Zhang Heng nodded, “You may not really like hearing this... but what if something happened to your father? ”

“It's okay, I've considered all the possibilities myself," Wendy hesitated, "and I can pay you as long as I can prove that he's not really in the world anymore. ”

“Fine, I'll take the job.” Zhang Hengdao, "first pay half the deposit, then write a contract of employment, and tell me more about your father, and I'll come back to you as soon as it turns out. ”

Wendy sniffed the euphoria, but then she said, "Don't bother. Let's just leave together. I'll tell you about my father on the way, and I'll know the results in the first place. ”

“Wait, you said you were coming with me to find your father?” Zhang Heng frowned.

“Yes, don't underestimate me because of my age, I can help you a lot.” Wendy straightened her chest, “In addition to providing information about my father, there are many things I can do. I tamed lightning when I was 7 years old. My first horse, though she was just a pony at the time...”

“But you know we could be in danger this time.” Zhang Heng didn't want to be around with a tug bottle.

“Of course, that's why I paid you, or I'll go myself.” Wendy glared at her eyes and didn't understand.

“So... you just want to pay for a bodyguard? ”

“Yes, if that's what you want to call yourself. ”

“Goodbye.” Zhang Heng simply said, then took the radish in the direction of the hotel.

Wendy said behind her, “How about that 70 bucks, or 75, which is the highest price I can get, and if it's any higher, I'll go find someone else. Although the town doesn't like us, it won't cost me any money. As long as I bid high enough, someone will definitely give me a bodyguard. ”

“Go ahead, I'm not interested in being directed by a kid.” Zhang Heng waved his hand, his feet kept moving, "wish you a speedy recovery of your father, Wendy. ”