Off in the distance Stella Flycatcher could see a dust cloud rapidly approaching the livery.
"Daddy,who are those men in black riding black horses?"
Mr Flycatcher didn't answer his daughter immediately.He watched while A tall gaunt woman dressed in black from her boots to her bonnet dismounted and tied her horse.
Afterwards 6 women and 7 men dressed in similar attire dismounted and tied their horses to the posts.Then they formed a line,with the tall woman and her husband in the middle,and marched as one towards the livery.
You could hear the thump of their boots as they all stepped forward in unison.
The tall woman and her husband entered the building while the rest of the gang stood guard outside.
Stella whispered"MY Gawd,its Doc Fenton and her Sterilizer gang."
Mr Fenton pulled back his long coat,revealing the gunbelt and 45 strapped to his waist.You could also see the pockets inside his coat holding castration knives,bottles of alcohol and cloth and compresses.
Doc Fenton looked over Ken with a cold cruel eye.She had the eyes of a rattlesnake and Ken got the shivers.
She nodded at her husband and he plunked a Websters dictionary on the counter .It was open on the page where "MULE" was listed
mule1 Pronunciation Key (myl)
n.
The sterile hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, characterized by long ears and a short mane.
A sterile hybrid, as between a canary and other birds or between certain plants.
The man in black spoke in a soft gravelly voice
"Jeb,its come to our attention that youse got a non sterile mule.It aint natural"
Outside the shop his words were echoed by the 12 men and women
"It aint Natural"
The man in black continued
"we're giving you till noon to bring the mule in for treatment,after that we're comin to get him"
Doc Fenton stayed silent,but her skilled hands were flexing and unflexing,like a pianist getting ready to play Beethoven on that mules back end.
Mr Fenton tipped his hat to Stella "G'day Maam" and left the livery
Doc Fenton put her trembling hands back in the pockets of her petticoat and exited.
Stella and Jeb Flycatcher watched while the Fenton Gang rode off in a cloud of dust.