Eli "Quickfeet" Buckholtz watched the man for some time with a smile on his face. His horse had floundered trying to ford the Rio Grande, and it was just funny. The horse would be okay, as soon as that townie stopped fighting and returned to shore. Soon the man, Henry Darling he was called, gave up and floated downstream a bit before grabbing a rock.
Eli tipped his hat back on his head and wandered down. The horse, freed from its troublesome burden, splashed its way back to the bank and shivered in exhaustion. Eli walked up to it and pat its nose before removing a length of rope (brand spanking new, he whistled to himself) and heading down the river. Once abreast of the man on the rock, he threw one end to the man, who grabbed hold. Soon, he was safe on the riverbank, lying on his back soaking up the hot Texas sun.
Eli gave him a few minutes, then knelt down beside him. He drew his weapon, and aimed it at the man's belly. "You about ready to go back to Rio Grande City, Henry Darling?" The man's head fell resignedly and he held up his wrists weakly.
As they returned to town on the stolen horse, Eli's mind began to wander. He couldn't place it, but he suddenly had the feeling that he, too, was a townie, and had never held a gun before. Never ridden a horse, never stared a man down from starting trouble. He shook his head and concentrated on the man.
Henry Darling spoke, stumbling over the words with a strange accent. "Look, shadow. You have my thanks for dragging my hide from the river, and for that, I won't kill you. But you have got to let me go." Darling paused, as if trying to get the taste of river out of his mouth. "I got a magic trinket in my pocket that will start fires, even in the rain, and you can have that. You could sell it for a ton more than you would get for me, enough to buy a car, er, a fast horse, that is." A hard jab with the gun in Darling's kidney and he shut right up for a moment.
"You're no shadow, are you? Are you working for Louis Garderose? Damn, you must have translated here. I missed getting all the shinies taking ye olde paradox express." Another brutal jab and Darling shut up and took to coughing.
They returned to town, Eli delivering the stranger to the sheriff. The strangers words echoed in his ears, and as he looked around, it seemed like the townsfolk were mere, well, shadows, of people. There was old what's his name, the barber. He knew that he should know the man's name, but couldn't recall it. He gazed about, recognizing these 'shadows' but nothing really standing out about them. They were just plain townfolk, his mind told him. Not really real.
This was crazy. He better find somebody who could tell him what was going on.