48 Hours a Day

A woman milking a cow in a cowshed saw Wendy returning and immediately put down the milk bucket and ran over. Taking Wendy into her embrace, she sobbed, “Great, they said a strange oriental man kidnaped you. And Matthew is not there. I almost died of worry!”

Wendy tried to move her head away from her mother’s chest, and she glanced at Zhang Heng awkwardly, “Sorry...” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows, “It okay. Such is the nature of humans.”

“Oh!”

Wendy’s mother finally noticed Zhang Heng, immediately shoving her daughter behind her, a hint of alertness showing in her eyes. She probably did not know what to say, so she just stood there.

The scene was a little awkward. In the end, Zhang Heng broke the silence. “I have escorted your daughter back here safely. You’d better watch her and don’t let her run off anymore.”

This time, Wendy’s cooperation made Zhang Heng felt a little uneasy. Considering how she was prone to making an escape, he couldn’t help but worry that she would sneak out again. Initially, he wanted to ask someone to watch over her, but he did not have the manpower to fight against Cook Gang. Hence, he couldn’t afford to take out someone from this team to do such a thing.

“I didn’t mess around. I went out to find my father!” Wendy defended herself.

“Whatever, you just need to stay home this time,” replied Zhang Heng before giving Wendy’s mom a nod. “Excuse me.”

After that, he left with Radish without waiting for the answer from Wendy’s mother. As soon as Zhang Heng left, a beer carriage rolled into Lincoln County.

The coachman jumped out of the wagon, unloading barrels of beer, and some workers from the wagon. The barkeeper walked out and was a little surprised when he saw them. “Where is Bhagat? Wasn’t he the one delivering the beer before this?”

“Bhagat has been diagnosed with a bad case of measles. I’m his replacement for

now.”

“Poor boy,” the bar owner muttered with emotion, “I hope he recovers soon. Come on, bring the beer in. You haven’t had lunch yet, right? I have some food left in the kitchen.”

“That couldn’t be better.” The driver tied the horse and smiled, showing a row of yellow teeth.

The bar owner did not notice that the workers following the driver had gone a little pale. Even if he noticed, he would not take it seriously. Bhagat, the coachman who was working with him, had measles. It was understandable why the young man was in a bad mood.

After Zhang Heng handled Wendy’s affairs, he immediately returned to the sheriff and other people. From a distance, Zhang Heng saw the old sheriff cutting something with a knife. Zhang Heng then walked up to him, “Why, are you still a tailor?” “I’m no freaking tailor, but if you want Cook and his men to abandon the hunter’s cabin, you better pray that my tailoring is good enough.”

“Hmm?”

“The only thing that worries Cook around here is Major Wade and his hundreds of soldiers,” the sheriff said. “I plan to masquerade as Major Wade. If we are lucky enough, where the moonlight is not so bright tonight, Cook and his men would have poor visibility, and my plan might work. If Cook realizes that an army surrounds him, he will definitely not stick to the hut anymore. He would start to flee before his enemies get close.” “Sounds pretty good,” Zhang Heng said. “We better pray this works,” replied the sheriff.

“Any movement over in the forest?” Zhang Heng asked again.

“We haven’t spotted them for the time being. So far, only two kids wanted to enter the forest to do some hunting. Our men talked them out of it, but unfortunately, we can’t warn the county’s people. Once Cook and his men are here, I’m afraid no one will come out alive once they go into the forest.” “So, what’s your plan here?”

“We better get started early.”

That said, the night had passed, and there was no trace of Cook and his gang. And the next morning, Cook still hadn’t shown up. “What seems to be the problem here? Is there something wrong with the route you gave us?” the sheriff asked Zhang Heng. “The route... should be fine. There is still a day left before they get here. Although they should have arrived at their current speed, I’m not ruling out the possibility of accidents while on the way here. Let’s wait a little longer.” Zhang Heng said. If Zhang Heng’s horseback riding was good enough, he might have just wandered around, doing some investigations with a good horse. But now, there was nothing he could do other than to wait. Once this whole debacle was over, Zhang Heng planned to sharpen his equestrianism and the ability to shoot while on horseback.

Half a day had passed, and several miners and farmers had begun to grow impatient.

They only followed Zhang Heng here since they were afraid that the Cook Gang would attack their towns. With their departure, their town’s defenses would become weaker. The thing that worried them the most was that Cook’s men chose not to attack Lincoln County. Instead, they changed their route suddenly and headed towards their towns.

This outcome would undoubtedly be disastrous for those residing in those towns.

Fortunately, though, soon after sunset, the people who were keeping an eye on the woods rushed back to them on horseback.

Everyone felt really nervous at that moment. That could only mean one thing, and that was their target was finally here.

Sure enough, the ally shouted before he got off the horse, “The Cook Gang! They are here!”

The sheriff was startled, immediately asking, “How many of them are here? Is Cook among them?”

“I didn’t dare to take a closer look. They were very vigilant. After arriving at the hut, they began to sweep their surroundings. I was afraid of being spotted. So, I took a quick look at them from a distance and ran away.” The investigator added, “But I’m sure it is them because I recognized one. He was the one that forced us to kill Sheriff Harper. There are many of them, and they should be the Cook Gang. What should we do now, should we ambush them?”

“No, it’s too early now.” The old cowboy shook his head. “You have to wait at least for the sun to go down completely, and also to see how bright the moonlight is. Let’s fill up your stomachs first, put on your military uniforms, and get ready for battle. .”

After speaking, he pulled aside a tall and chubby guy, the person who’d be playing Major Wade tonight. Taking advantage of this time, the old cowboy once again told him what to do to the house. The people inside shouted.

“No, it’s too early now.” The sheriff shook his head. “At least we have to wait for the sun to go down completely. And also to see how bright the moon is at night. Let’s fill up our stomachs first. Put on your military uniform and get ready for battle. .”

After that, he pulled a tall and chubby guy aside, the man that was supposed to act as Major Wade tonight. The sheriff took advantage of the time left and reminded him what to say to Cook Gang later outside the hut.