‘...and I scratched his little head and I says, “Wut’s his name?” and the man looks at me and says “Jeff.” Jeff! The dog was called Jeff!’
The row of men standing on the platform are all looking at him with the same horrified, confused gawps.
The lawman fans himself with his hat. ‘Anyway,’ he says, the spark gone from his words, ‘for your most grievous crimes against the state, I condemn you all to death. Do you have any last words?’
‘I-’ stammers one man.
‘No?’ cuts in the lawman. ‘Good.’
He pulls the lever and the nooses snap tight.
Paddy Dobson
22nd September 2020