The Gun

The Gun

happyhugo

copyright(c) 3/27/09

Western, historical, romance

15,635 words

Readers score  8.11

Gunfighter decides on a different line of
work after taking out his brother's killers.
Over the next fifty years the gun continues
to take lives

I figured I wasn’t going to make it this time. I was hard and I had led a hard life. Lucky most of my time, I guess I had used it all up and should have quit this way of life six months ago. I was a cowpoke and gunslinger and had taken a job protecting some rag-tag cattlemen up north awhile back. They were good enough people, but they couldn’t pull together against the big outfit that was pushing them off their land. When the man that hired me died, the rest just up and caved.

At the showdown on the little dusty street where he had been killed, I was lying there alongside him. He was dead. I wasn’t. I wasn’t a whole lot alive either. The other side had got lead into me. One slug bounced off two of my ribs, breaking them. I was carrying another slug that had hit me as I was going down. It was lodged in my thigh. The ranchers I worked for were two damned afraid to come near me or their dead boss. I lay there for two hours until it was dark enough to drag myself to my horse. A kid helped boost me into the saddle, and only half conscious, I guided my mount out of town.

I was three and a half days into a four-day trip when my horse stepped into a gopher hole and snapped his leg. I had just been coming up on the backside of a water hole when it happened. I had to shoot the poor beast and crawl the last hundred yards to the rocks sheltering the water. I was feverish and miles away from any help. My leg was infected and every breath I took was pass-out pain from the smashed ribs.

I would have made it to my brother’s spread if this hadn’t happened. I was traveling cross-country and this wasn’t on any trail. It might be days before anyone found me or my body. I got a drink and made my way back into the shade of the rocks and I passed out.

I roused up when I heard voices. Unbelieving, one of them was my brother Curt’s voice. God how could I be so in luck. Maybe my luck wasn’t all gone after all. I raised up ready to make myself known when there was a gunshot and I saw my brother keel over. Reflexes took over and I palmed my piece, dropping the two men standing over my brother. They were going to put a couple more slugs into their victim. They died before they could. I crawled out to see how badly my brother was hit.

It was bad. Curt had been hit in the chest and was dying. He knew it and I knew it, but there was enough life left in him to recognize me. “Clarence? Clarence, it can’t be. Oh God, I’m glad to see you. You’ve got to do something for me. Listen carefully. My saddlebags are full of money. I’m coming home from a trail drive. Those men that shot me work for a man named Hal Downs. Most of the money is his, but he might not care so much about the money as he does something else. He wants my wife, Ada. He has bragged around that someday he will get her.”

Curt passed out and I didn’t know if he would regain consciousness. I crawled over to his bedroll and found his kit. Opening it up, a bottle of horse liniment fell out. I thought, “That just might save my life.” Just that minute the coffee pot boiled over, and I surmised that my brother had time to make camp before he was shot and I was unknowingly unaware of it all.

Curt could not have realized how bad off I was, for when he came to, he thought I was going to mount up and ride off to save his wife. I said I would stay for a bit. We went back over our lives. It had been three years since I had seen him. He had married and bought a little spread. We had kept in touch by him posting me care of General Delivery at various places where he knew I would be.

He told me that just as he was leaving with the herd, Ada had said she thought she might be pregnant. He had almost stayed home, but they needed to sell some of steers that were finally old enough. This Hal Downs had convinced him to drive his much larger gather with his own and would pay him extra if he would put the cattle into the same herd. Money was always short so Curt had agreed. He could see what was behind it all now. With Curt out of the way and dead, Downs would be free to go after Ada.

We relived our childhood and laughed about my having to fight so many times over my name of “Clarence.” Even Mom had admitted it had been a mistake to name me that, but she wanted us to have the same initials. Curt was two years older than me and bigger. I was smaller, just under five-ten, but I was quicker. Neither one of us regretted our lives. I had been everywhere and done whatever my fancy pointed to. Curt said his only regret was dying without seeing his Ada and maybe the little squirt--if there was one. His last words were, “Take care of her.”

The next time I looked at him, Curt was gone. I set about caring for myself. I had a mission, if you call it that. Sometime and someday my gun was going to collect the man that ordered my brother’s death. Staring at my leg, I finally did it. I took my knife and slit where the bullet had traveled from back to front and popped the bullet out where it lay underneath the skin just above the knee.

I had a gash almost ten inches long. The suppuration had killed a lot of the feeling or I wouldn’t have been able to do this. I poured the liniment onto the wound and the pain put me out once again. Coming to, I took the now cold coffee grounds and made a poultice and wrapped it up in my kerchief, soaking it all with liniment. I bound it over the wound with some piggin strings I pulled from one of the saddles.

I said goodbye to my brother. I left him just the way he had died. I checked the guns and made it look like a real gun battle. I didn’t have the strength to bury Curt or boost him onto one of the other horses. Hell, when I pulled myself onto Curt’s bronc, I nearly passed out from the pain of the smashed ribs. I sat on the horse and looked around at what I was leaving.

I went over, leaned down and untied the other horses and set them free. Eventually Hal Downs would come looking for his men. I wanted it to look like Curt had killed them and then had died from a bullet he had received in return. The killers’ horses headed for their home range and I let Curt’s horse drift along with them for a ways. A lot of this wasn’t planned, for I was in and out of consciousness and I must have been in this condition for several miles. The other two horses plodded along in the footprints they had made coming north.

Moon was up and suddenly I felt refreshed. I knew sometime I had to head west toward Curt’s spread while the Downs’ ranch was almost due south. Wide awake, I gently guided my horse to the right and nearer the hills that were coming down off a small butte. The other two horses followed for a hundred yards or so, and then turned back to the northbound tracks and retraced their way south toward home.

Just as the sun was coming up I pulled into the yard of a small, neat ranch house. I croaked, “Ada.” Nothing. As loud as I could. “Ada!” The door opened and a woman peered out.

“Who are you? What are you doing with Curt’s horse? Where’s Curt?” She was holding a rifle and it came up to cover me as she spoke.

I talked fast. “Ma’am, Curt’s dead. I’m almost dead and there will be some people looking for the money he had with him and I got it with me. You have to hide me because I killed those that killed Curt. I’m Curt’s brother, Clarence.”

I’ll give the woman credit, she got right to it. She led the horse into the barn which was about five times the size of the house. Easing me off the horse I sagged to the floor. Seeing how badly I was injured, she wanted to stop and give me some attention. “No, there’s no time. Drive the horse into the corral with the others and then drive the whole bunch out onto the range. Go east over the tracks I made coming in and leave them a half mile out. Leave the saddle on so no one will know the horse made it this far.

“You’ll have to walk back. Just say the corral bars were down this morning and you were looking for the horses. Where can I hide?”

Ada went over to the feed box and tugging it forward, lifted three wide planks and pointed to a hole about four feet deep. There were a few steps down to the bottom. “Nobody knows this is here. The only trouble is, you won’t be able to get out by yourself when I put the grain box back.”

“That’s okay. If I die down here, I’ve got some of Curt’s money on me. Now get those horses moving, please.”

I heard the rush of the remuda as it went pounding through the yard. An hour later, I would guess, Ada was back. She was sitting above me and talking through the floor. “Tell me about it. Curt is really dead?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I had some little time with him. His last words were for you and he sent his love. I am supposed to ask if you are pregnant. He said somehow he would know, even when he was on the dark side. Another thing, don’t trust Hal Downs, because he is the one that had him killed. He wanted the money and more importantly, he wants you. Eventually I will get him.”

“Yes, I understand. Oh I had such a bad feeling when Curt left. I’ve had a sinking feeling every day for the two months he has been away.”

I could hear the woman above me crying for her dead husband and for her unborn child. “Won’t you let me look at your wounds? What do you need done first?”

“I need water. I can hear some penned up chickens. Can you bring a pail of water when you feed them? Just open the floor long enough to pass it to me. If anyone sees you they will think you’re just bringing water to the chickens.”

“Why would Hal think to come here and so soon?”

“He would have expected the killers back about dark last night so when they didn’t return on time, he will be looking for them. He’ll find the horses and then he will most likely come here looking for the money. If he goes all the way to the water hole first, he might not be here before morning tomorrow. Otherwise you can expect him anytime.”

She got me the water and a thick slab of beef between two slices of bread. Later I also heard an exchange between one of the Downs’ riders and Ada. “Afternoon, Ma’am. Husband not home yet?”

“No, I expected him yesterday. I can’t understand it. He mailed me a letter ten days ago and told me when he would be home. I fear something has happened to him. Say, would you do me a favor? Would you round up my horses for me? They got out of the corral last night. Buck, the hired man, won’t be back from his usual bender for another day or two. I tried to find the horses on foot but couldn’t see them anywhere.”

“Gee, I can’t Ma’am. I was just passing by and Hal is going to be upset I took the time to talk. I’m really sorry.”

I heard him leave. Five minutes later Ada came into the barn. “Did you hear?”

“Yes, I heard. That rider was just scouting for Downs. He didn’t want to bring in Curt’s horse with the saddle on it. You’re doing fine. I don’t know as I could have bluffed like you did, knowing he is part of the outfit that killed Curt.”

“I feel like screaming. Curt is still lying out there all alone and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Look, maybe you could speed this up. Why don’t you go talk to the sheriff and tell him how worried you are. If someone can see Curt’s horse out there with a saddle on it, the sheriff will have to look into it. If you grained any of your horses, they’ll be looking for a bait about dark. Walk out there and call, maybe one will come up to you so you can ride into town.”

“It’s better than doing nothing.”

I dozed and then I heard some cautious footsteps over my head. I heard the steps go up the ladder to the hayloft and could hear some heavy rustling in the haymow above. Whoever was there was looking for a place to hide or sleep.

Suddenly I heard Ada speak to a horse as she led him onto the barn floor. I thought, damn, I hope she doesn’t speak to me. Then, “Buck, Goddamn you, get out of that haymow. This is the last time I’m going to put up with you. Get your duffle packed and get the hell out of here. You’re fired. When I need you the most you’re off in town drunk. The broncs got out and I had to look all over hell to find them. Curt will have to pay you when he gets home. Now git!”

I heard some mumbling and then silence. Twenty minutes later, which seemed like forever, Ada came back into the barn. “I’m going into town. I didn’t see the other horses that were in the corral, but the driving horse came to me. I’m taking the buggy. You’ll just have to stay where you are for a while longer. I think Buck was still drunk so I fired him. I can’t have him around with you here. You keep quiet now, until I get back.”


***********************

During the darkest part of the night, Ada led me into the house and fed me some soup while she looked at my wounds. She smeared some salve on my ribs and bound me up with a clean torn-up flour sack. She uncovered my leg and gasped in horror when she first saw it. I was pleased with it myself, though, for a lot of the putrefaction was gone out of it. The poultice of coffee grounds had pulled much of the redness out too. The only thing that Ada had she could make a poultice out of was some cooked carrots which she mashed. She said this would keep the wound soft and wet and allow healing by drawing more poison out.

You couldn’t say Ada was a pretty woman---handsome, maybe. She definitely had her head on and was entirely competent. She was wearing a loose dress, and you couldn’t tell yet she was with child. I felt really bad and wondered what she was going to do now, so I asked. “Keep running the ranch, I guess. You said you had the money that Curt got for our steers. That will keep me going for awhile.”

“You can’t use it though. How are you going to explain a whole pot of gold money? You’re supposed to be busted.”

“I thought about that all day. I’m going to write my sister back home to see if she has any ideas. You said the money was safe?”

“I think so, most of it anyway. When you go outside tomorrow, you look east to that pile of rocks about two hundred yards from the barn. I swung those saddlebags up on top. I thought it was going to kill me when I did it, but I didn’t dare bring them in with me.”

“Good plan. I couldn’t have thought of a better one. Nobody can climb up the backside high enough to look down so the saddlebags should be hidden just fine.”

Ada put me back into my hole before dawn. This time I had blankets, food and water. The hole was big enough to sit up and plenty of room to lie down. A most comfortable coffin to die in, too, if I was trapped here.

The sheriff and a deputy came by in the morning. Ada asked him to round up the horses for her. He wasn’t gone long and came back into the yard with a rush, trailing Curt’s mount with the saddle still on. They talked and asked about the direction Curt was to come in from. Soon he was on his way east. If the man was any good, he would soon pick up the tracks and back-trail them to the water hole. What he would find there would be debatable if Hal Downs had disposed of the bodies.

Ada came in and talked to me through the floor. “What am I going to do with you? You just can’t appear here, no horse or nothing.”

“Got it figured. Give me a couple of more days’ rest. There must be a wagon yard or freight yard in town. You can hide me in the buckboard or the buggy if it is big enough. Somewhere near the yard, I’ll ease out and if asked, say I hitched a ride on one of the wagons. It’s done all the time. I’ll be out on the street in the morning and when you come by you can hire me. I’ll swear I can feed stock, and you can say that after Buck, a cripple is still an improvement.”

***********************

The sheriff thought to take a horse with him. Curt was tied over a saddle when he returned. Talking to Ada, he figured that her husband was robbed and killed. The deputy had scouted around and found my dead horse and saddle and surmised whoever had ridden him had done the killing. I overheard all of this and I was thankful that neither the horse nor the saddle could be traced to me.

There was no mention of the Downs’ riders, so I guess Hal had been there at the water hole after I was. This was confirmed when Hal Downs rode into the yard looking for the sheriff, claiming that Curt must have made off with his cattle money. Feigning shock over seeing Curt tied over the saddle, he immediately offered help to Ada.

It was a wrong move on his part. Ada lit into Hal. “Goddamn you Hal, I would still have Curt if you hadn’t insisted he drive your cattle up the trail with ours. I don’t want to see your butt around here at all. Just stay off my place.” By this time Ada was crying. Hal was still trying to smooth things down, and it wasn’t working at all. When Ada threatened to run him off with her rifle, the sheriff told Hal he better leave.

The sheriff took Curt’s body into town with him to the undertaker. Ada said she would be in later to make the arrangements. It was nearing dark by the time they left. Ada came into the barn to feed the chickens. She was still crying softly. “Did you hear all that? If the sheriff wasn’t here, I was working up to shoot that bastard. Hal don’t know how close he came to meeting his maker.”

“I know and I feel the same way. Tell me what he looks like? I want to know, so when I meet him, I won’t mistake him for somebody else.”

“He’s tall and I guess the ladies think he is good looking. He wears fancy clothes and smiles too much. He’s tried to sweet talk me ever since Curt left with the herd. I wanted nothing to do with him then and I want a hell of a lot less to do with him now.”

“Ada, let me up out of here. You are going into town after dark. This will be a perfect time to get me into the wagon yard. I can be on the street and you can hire me tomorrow as we planned.”

“You’re not well enough, yet. Wait another two-three days.”

“I can’t. If you hire me early in the morning, I can go to Curt’s funeral. I want to be there when they put him down to rest. You can’t deny me that, can you?”

“Okay, you are right, no I can’t. I’ll feed you good and fix your dressings before we go, though.”

While she was doing this, I told her a little bit about the latest job of mine that had turned out so poorly. I said I had been going by the name of Charlie Wilkins up north. When I used my own name I used CW Collins, because I hated the name Clarence so much. Wilkins was my mother’s name and Curt carried it, same as me. Ada asked me if I had any money and I said enough. I shouldn’t need more than the dollar and fifty-seven cents I carried. It would see me through until I got back here.

“Don’t forget, there is five hundred in coin behind the steps in the hole you had me in. I also suppose you know about the insurance money that Curt and I both carry too, don’t you?”

“You mean the two and a half dollar gold coin he carried in his boot? Yes, I know about it. It’s dark now and we better get going. You play it safe. I don’t want to lose both of you.” Ada gave me a hug and said she was sorry when I winced. Broken ribs were just not meant to be hugged.

I debated whether to wear my gun or not. I finally decided I had better. I wasn’t the most popular person in some circles and you never knew when you might run into someone with a grudge.

Christ, the pain almost killed me riding in the back of the buckboard. Give me a solid bronc to ride anytime. Ada pulled into an alley beside the wagon yard and I slid out the rear and I sat down near a tarp-covered freight wagon. Ada pulled out and across the street and hitched her horse to the tie rail. I could see plainly the building she entered from where I was sitting.

I was leaning up against a rack that had a harness thrown over it. It must have been a half hour later and I could see Ada standing in the door as it was held open by someone talking to her. After a few minutes she came down off the steps, untied the horse and drove away. I felt around and found a comfortable seat near the entrance to the big barn where I could hear several horses munching hay. I hesitated to go in the barn without asking.

The next thing I knew there was a lantern shining in my face held by a person standing behind the light. I could see another person with him and could see a star shining on that person’s chest. “Get up easy, fella, and make it slow. Keep your hand away from your iron.” I had fallen asleep and most likely been spotted by a swamper belonging to the yard. He had gone and rounded up the law.

I stood the best I could. “What are you doing here? Where did you come from?”

“I dropped off a wagon passin’ through. I got hurt a few days back and am trying to get to my brother’s spread. He is supposed to have a place close to here.”

“Who’s your brother?”

“Curt Collins.”

The deputy looked at me and then made a decision. “Come on over to the jail. I’ll find the sheriff and he can talk to you.”

“Am I arrested?”

“No, but the sheriff will want to talk to you. Come along.” I hobbled after him, out into the street and up to the jail. The deputy sent the swamper with the lantern to find the sheriff. When we arrived at the jail the deputy offered me coffee and said his boss would be right along.

I asked if the deputy knew my brother’s place and he admitted he did. That was the only question he would answer until the sheriff came in. The sheriff must have been in bed, for he was still tucking his shirt in when he came through the door. He started right in with questions. “Who are you and what’s your name?”

“My name is CW Collins and I’m looking for my brother. Can you tell me how I can get to his place? I was waiting until morning to ask around.”

“Where you from?”

“Last place was a little valley up near Timberfork north of here. I was signed on with some of the hill people, but I picked the wrong side. I got shot up some and was tryin’ to get to Curt’s place to mend up.”

“Well, fella, I’m afraid I’ve got bad news for you. Your brother got robbed and killed a few days ago. I just found him and brought him in this afternoon. The undertaker over at the furniture store is building his coffin right now and your brother will be buried in the morning. His widow was in earlier and made the arrangements. God this must be awful for you. Terrible for his widow too. You know her don’t you?”

“I knew he was married up. I never got to meet her yet. Her name’s Ada, I think Curt wrote.”

“You’ll meet her tomorrow. She is a fine woman. This is bad for her. The money they were planning on was stolen when Curt was done in. You got anything to help her out with?”

“Nope, not hardly. I could give her a hand though for awhile.”

“Well she’ll need it. Pick one of those bunks back there and sleep here for tonight. You got enough to buy your breakfast?”

“Just about if it ain’t more’n six bits.”

“You’re all right then. I’ll see you in the morning.”

*******************

I had a rough night, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it would have been sleeping in the hole where I was last night. I’d had enough of that place. My leg was starting to itch, so I guess that was coming along fine. I knew though, that I was going to be a little gimpy in the leg the rest of my life. I had too much muscle damage to expect otherwise. I saw the prices on the board when I went into the eatery to get fed and I almost backed out. I came away full and satisfied though, so guess the prices weren’t too far out of line.

I went over and viewed my brother and said goodbye to him, privately. Word got around town about Curt being dead and about me being here too. I was a figure of interest because people stared at me when I went back to the sheriff’s office to wait for the services. I pretty much was taken with the sheriff for he seemed damned decent. He was waiting when Ada pulled up in front of the funeral parlor. He helped her down and took the reins from her and told his deputy to take care of the horse.

He gave her the word about me being in town and led her over to the office and introduced us. He then stepped back outside to give us a few minutes alone. Ada’s eyes were red and I could see she was trying to come to grips with the loss of Curt. The unexpected for people was very often bad and seldom good and this was an example of it. She did have some concern for me. “I was concerned how this was going to work out and really worried when I saw the sheriff waiting for me.”

“It couldn’t have worked out better. I’ve been over and said goodbye to Curt already. People are really feeling bad about Curt being killed. There is going to be quite a crowd here and they all feel sad for you.”

“I know. This is really difficult. You don’t know how it helps so much to have you here to support me. I’m ready to go over I guess--ready as I ever will be anyway.”

There were some people watching us come out of the sheriff’s office. I escorted Ada across the street, the best I could. There were three women on the steps crying and one man gave me a hand up the steps. The services were held in a back room of the furniture store. The owner was the one who laid Curt out. There was only room for twenty people to be seated on benches. The space to the room and the rest of the store were filled with mourners for Curt, for he and Ada were well liked. The casket lay across a pair of sawhorses. Ada and I made our way to the front and a man met us and helped Ada sit.

He introduced himself to me as the mayor and said he was going to perform the services. The minister couldn’t get here from the next town. He commented that someday the town was hoping for a church and a minister to preach, but until then he was usually asked to fill in. Ada whispered that she had asked that the casket be closed, as she thought that was the only way she could get through this. The service was short and quiet although some sobbing could be heard behind us. A young teenage girl sang, “A Closer Walk with Thee” and then it was all over.

The deputy had Ada’s buggy brought around and we sat in it while some townsfolk loaded the casket onto a buckboard. We followed and made our way out to the cemetery. The mayor read over the casket as it was lowered into the ground. When it reached the bottom, he led us all in the Lord’s Prayer.

The mayor’s wife asked Ada to go round to her house as the town’s ladies were preparing a lunch for her before she went back out to the ranch. Ada looked at me, not knowing what to do. “Go along. I’ve got enough money for a beer and I’ll pick at the free lunch over at the saloon.”

I sat at a little table nursing my second beer when a man I recognized to be Hal Downs, came into the saloon. He was loud and set drinks up for the three punchers that were with him. Bringing a bottle, he sat at a table near enough to me that I could hear him talking. “I figured I hadn’t better go near Curt’s burying this morning. For some reason Ada is blaming me for Curt’s death. She’ll come around, though. She ain’t got no money and couldn’t even afford old Buck. She fired him yesterday. The rumor is she’s with child. I’ll do just about anything to get that woman. If I can get her, and I will, you can be sure of that, I can name the kid for my own.”

I thought to myself he wasn’t reckoning with me. I just might have something to say about that. I must have been staring at him for he said, “What are you looking at, Bum?”

“You, I guess. I heard you talking about bedding a woman that just put her husband in the ground. I can’t get around thinking anybody that low must have had something to do with her husband’s death.” As I said this, I got to my feet. “You most likely stole her money and thought that would put you in position to corral her.”

I was ready and waiting patiently for the explosion that would come from my words. It didn’t. One of the punchers was shaking Hal’s arm, trying to get his attention. Hal shook him off, but the puncher persisted. Hal turned angrily to his man. “What?”

“Hal, that’s Charlie Wilkins. You don’t want to mess with him. Even if you get lead into him, he’s not going to quit. I know of at least three times he has been near dead. He goes off somewhere to get well and then he comes back and reads from the good book to those that shot him. Leave him alone or at least let me out of here.”

Hal was saved from making a decision as the sheriff showed up beside me. “CW, Ada says she is ready to go home. I’m really sorry about you losing your brother. You know I’m still looking for the money Curt was robbed of. I’m going out tomorrow where we found Curt and see what I can find. If I could track it down, it would help Ada a lot.”

“It would, Sheriff. But watch your back when you’re out there. Those killers might not want you tracking them.” I was looking directly at Hal Downs when I said this.

Hal Downs about exploded. “What about my money, Sheriff? I lost a lot more than the Collins woman did.”

“If I ever find the money, you’ll get yours. In the meantime, I’m sure you won’t be starving. Why in hell didn’t you do something to protect your investment anyway? You’ve got a crew, why didn’t you send a rep along with Collins and the trail crew? Collins worked his ass off for his wife and came up dead for it. Personally I don’t feel sorry for you at all.”

“You say his name is Collins? What about him being Charlie Wilkins? He’s an outlaw and gunslinger.”

“A lot of men, swift with a gun, use part of their family name to protect their families. Curt told me all about his brother when he first moved here. As far as him being an outlaw, I never had any paper on him come through my office. You better walk soft Hal, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to do anything to rile him up if I was you.”

*********************

“What do we do now? I feel the heart has been ripped right out of me. I couldn’t have got through these last two-three days without you. Oh, CW, I feel so alone and empty.”

“You said you have a sister back in Ohio. Can’t she come out for a little bit? Surely she could leave her family just until you get over Curt’s death.”

“I’m the only family she has. She’s a spinster and works in a bank. She said one time she might consider a move out here. It’s such a long journey, though, and I don’t know whether she would or not. I’d love to have her come.”

“What’s her name and is she older or younger than you?”

“Her name is Annie Taylor and she is two years older. She hasn’t married because she doubts anyone would want her. She thinks she is homely and I guess I couldn’t call her pretty. I’m big, but she is taller than me by four inches. I’ve heard people refer to her as horsy. She sits behind a window in the bank all the time so people won’t laugh at how she looks. She has a heart of gold, though, and is always helping someone. Maybe if she got out here where there aren’t so many women she would have a chance to find a man.”

“Look, we have to get that gold into your possession legally, somehow. Well maybe not legally, but yours without knowing where it came from. If we could figure out how to get it to your sister, she could come here and say she was delivering your inheritance from your folks or an uncle or aunt or something. It could go right into the bank with no questions asked.”

“Well, let’s decide what to say to her. I’ll write. I’m going to run out of money soon. It won’t be long before any credit I had at the store will be shut down. People may feel sorry for me, but won’t for long if I can’t pay them back.

“How much money do you think there is in the saddle bags? I know Curt was hoping to be bringing home nineteen hundred or maybe a little more. He agreed to be the trail boss for two hundred and twenty dollars, but I don’t suppose Hal Downs will ever pay up. I will try and collect, though. At the least, I can embarrass him.”

Ada was the one to go into town to the post office. The post office was little more than putting a letter into a saddlebag and watching it go north on the stage. The mail that came in ended up in the general store and the store keeper held it for anyone that asked if there was anything for them. People who knew that they never would get a letter, made a ritual of asking anyway, always hoping, I guess. The town did have a telegraph for those that did business or needed to get a message off quickly.

My wounds healed up pretty fast, but as I suspected, I would always walk with a limp. It would be a couple months though, before I would attempt to bust any broncs or do any cattle roping. I could round up animals and move them somewhere, but that was about it.

I saw much of Ada. I could see why Curt had chosen her for his wife. I was half in love with her myself within a few days. I had never met a more pleasant or competent woman. Of course I wasn’t that familiar with women---good women, that is. I decided that when I got Ada settled with her money, I was going to be leaving. She would make out all right even carrying a kid. Already cowpokes were dropping around to see if they could give her a hand. Hal came once. Where others were welcome, she made it plain, he wasn’t.

Three weeks and two days after Ada had mailed off the letter to her sister a livery buggy pulled into the yard and the driver handed Ada a yellow telegraph slip. He whirled and left and we waited until he was out of sight. Anxious, she opened it. There was a lot riding on the message scribbled on the sheet.

There was the one word. “Confirm.”

Well, in a couple of weeks we would see. Ada was happy that night at supper. She was going to see the sister she hadn’t seen in years. And, yes if the plan worked out she would have enough money to get by until another bunch of steers were ready to be sold or someone she liked came along. The nineteen hundred dollars would help in both cases.

I wasn’t considering myself in the mix. Ada said, “CW, what about us? Or more to the point what about you?”

“What do you mean? I didn’t know there was any ‘us’ or ever can be.”

“I’ve seen you looking at me. I can recognize the signs as well as any woman can. You’d like to make love to me. Look, I know I can’t make a life for my child without a man around. I’ve got to find someone to take care of me. I can’t say I love you yet, but I would after a little more time passes. It has been over four months since Curt went away, and most of the time I can’t remember his face. I’d like you to have the first chance. I know I could make you happy.”

I was stunned. Here in front of me was a woman that any man would be proud to have at his side. I wanted her too, but ... But what? It just didn’t feel right, that’s what. And that was why I was spending my nights in the barn alone and she was not more than fifty feet away in her own bed.

I finally said something. “Ada, I don’t know why, but I can’t. When I get you settled and your sister is here, I’ll be off somewhere the same as I always am. You just deserve better than me, a wandering cowpoke that is too fast with his gun. That is why I use a different name, to keep from hurting my family. I want the best for you and I don’t see how you can find it with me.”

“You’re a foolish man, CW, but I had to ask. You don’t know how much I appreciate your being here with me. You are sure about this? I do have to find someone.”

“I’m sure. That is unless Hal Downs enters into the picture. If it was him, and you married him, you would be a widow again before he could finish his vows.”

“I hate him as much as you do. It never will be him.”

“I get the feeling that there might be someone. Do you want to tell me about it?”

“There is an Englishman, Steven Claiborne. He is a remittance man that owns that farm over east of my spread. He is some older than me, but always respectful and asks if he can do anything to help. He knows I go into town Saturday mornings. The last two weeks he has invited me for coffee in the hotel dining room. I haven’t encouraged him, but I haven’t discouraged him either. I will see him tomorrow morning, most likely. If you are sure about yourself, I might invite him for Sunday dinner. I could dress out a chicken.”

“You think that much of me to give me first chance? Ada, you’re a wonderful person.”

“No, it is you. You remind me so much of Curt sometimes. I was worried if we made a pair that I would think I was back with Curt and that wouldn’t be fair to you or to his memory either. CW, why don’t you find a woman and marry her? I’ll sell you this place. It’s big enough to make a living on. There is still the money of Hal’s. That’s yours as far as I’m concerned.”

“I don’t think anybody would have me for the same reason I gave you. Of course I could wait around and marry your sister.” I laughed as I said this. Ada looked at me strangely, but didn’t say anything.

It was foggy when I went to my bed in the barn. I lay there wondering if I had made a mistake by turning Ada down. I came to the conclusion I did love her, but that I hadn’t made a mistake. This decided, I turned over to go to sleep. Then it came to me. The night was perfect. It was probably going to rain. I would retrieve the saddlebags and bring them in from the top of the rock pile. I was going to need them shortly and God forbid someone saw me getting them.

I made myself a chore! I missed the rocks completely the first pass, but the fog lifted and although dark I got my bearings. It was a wonder I didn’t kill myself climbing up that pile of rocks in the dark. I was just about to give up searching for them when I slipped and my hand went down into a crevasse and there they were.

There had to be between twenty or twenty-five pounds of gold coins in the side pockets. It was dead weight carrying it back to the barn. I was out of breath when I got there and by this time it was pouring rain. That pleased me, for all tracks would be washed out. Hell, I thought, Ada might as well count it with me, so I went close to the side of the ranch house where I knew her bed was.

I spoke through the wall of the cabin. “Ada, let me in. Don’t show a light though until I come in.”

I stumbled when I went through the door and dropped my burden. It made a loud clunk when it hit the floor. Ada lit a lamp and checked the three windows the cabin sported. She and I figured we had as much right to this gold as anybody, but all that had happened sure made both of us uneasy. I knew now how a guilty man felt.

I shucked my slicker and Ada suggested I take off my wet boots. She built up the fire that was nearly out. I emptied the saddlebags onto the kitchen table. There were eleven rolls of coins and a sack of some more coins in a bag from one saddle pocket. The other pocket held two rolls only. We sat and looked at the money. This was more money than either of us had ever seen before. “Ada, there is another five hundred dollars out in the barn that I took out of one of the pockets. It most likely came out of the one with the two rolls. I think that must be Curt’s money too, for the cattle he sold. The other has to be Hal’s. Christ, Hal must be crazy over the loss of all of this.”

“Good. He lost his money when he had Curt killed, thanks to you. And he isn’t getting me either, thanks again to you. I owe you so much. Are you sure about the decision you made earlier?”

“Yes.” Nothing more was said. I looked at the rolls of coins. I was pleased to see that the coins had all been circulated, so they couldn’t be recognized or traced. We debated whether to break the rolls apart and put them in a sack, but I said I thought they would travel better the way they were. We discussed what had to be done to get them ready to travel.

That done Ada looked at me. “CW, would you stay while I make coffee? I’ll put your boots near the fire so they can dry a little more. They are so wet now, you never could get them on.” I asked Ada, as we sat waiting for the coffee to brew, about her childhood and how she met Curt. Curious also, I asked her about her sister.

“I met Curt through Annie. He came into her bank and flirted with her. I told you she isn’t what anyone would call pretty. I’m not either, but I can pass so people won’t notice how homely I am. I think Annie fell for him in just the few minutes he was in the bank.

“Later we both were walking on the street and met Curt. After that he had eyes only for me. Annie was crushed, which I wasn’t aware of until after Curt had asked me to be his wife. I love my sister and if I had known I would have backed off. I can say that now, but I don’t know. I loved Curt and he did make me very, very happy.

“Annie has had the damnedest luck. Anyone that she is attracted to leaves for someone prettier. I’m hoping when she gets here things will change for her. She really would make someone a nice wife. Thankfully, she has never held my taking Curt against me. She has to change her attitude, though. If you ever saw a six-foot shrinking violet, that is my sister.”

Coffee was done and poured. “You know, I was intending to seduce you into my bed tonight. I’ve been without a man for four months and it is wearing on me. Then you made the comment you might wait around and marry my sister. I couldn’t do that to her again, take her man I mean. Now drink your coffee and get back to the barn before I change my mind.” She went behind the curtain where her bed was. I stamped into my boots and left my half drunk coffee sitting on the table.

Morning found us together in the kitchen again. Nothing was said about last night. We worked on getting the money ready to travel. Ada made canvas sacks for the rolls and sewed them inside a blanket roll, balanced so they would ride the horse’s rump and not shift or fall off. The bag of loose coins I put out in the barn with the other sack containing the $500. Quite a stash, but Ada deserved every penny of it.

I would be leaving in three days heading north for a rendezvous with Annie. She was coming in by stagecoach to a place that was agreed upon. Ada had explained all of this in the letter she sent. The telegraph message that had arrived said just what it meant. “Confirm” the date, time and place.

*************************

Ada made herself as attractive as possible and headed for town. She was hoping the Englishman was going to meet her and she would have a chance to invite him for a Sunday dinner. She was successful because when she came into the yard later in the day she was almost giddy. “CW, would you kill and dress out a chicken? I’m having a guest for dinner tomorrow.”

“Great. That’s good news. He really is interested then?”

“Yes, he is a little worried about you though. He knows you are Charlie Wilkins and is afraid you might be over-protective of your dead brother’s widow. Would you have dinner with us and put his mind at rest on that point?”

“I could. Ada, I have hesitated to ask, but could I have some of Curt’s clothes? Mine are just about wore out.”

“Oh my God, what was I thinking. Of course everything is yours. I just kept them around to remind me of him. It is time to let him go. Take them.”

Just before Ada’s guest was to arrive she came to me in tears. “I don’t have a decent dress to wear. My tummy sticks out too much for me to put on my good dress. I was so counting on him to see me looking nice.”

“He knows you are pregnant, doesn’t he?”

“Of course. That is what has made him so solicitous of me.”

“Put on your best dress and put an apron over your belly. What’s the problem?” This garnered the second hug I had ever received from Ada. Damn, I was going to have to find me a woman soon.

Steven Claiborne pulled into the yard at the duly appointed time. I was there to hitch his horse for him. The surrey he was driving was a beautiful piece of equipment. It had red wheels and was a shiny black lacquer. The horse wasn’t the typical driving horse either. Too finely boned for that.

He stepped down and I introduced myself. “I’m CW Collins. I’m pleased to meet you, sir. When I ain’t at home I go by the name of Charlie Wilkins.” I had cleaned up the best I could and was wearing some of Curt’s clothes so I didn’t look too native, I hoped.

“My name is Steven Claiborne. I’m pleased to meet you too. I understand that you have been protecting your sister-in-law against nefarious individuals. I hope you never put me in that category. ( I got the protecting and the sister-in-law, but the rest went over my head.) It is great when family stand together.”

Claiborne reached back into the surrey and pulled out the prettiest bunch of flowers I had ever seen. He also picked up a bottle with a little dust still on it. I never drank much of the stuff, but I knew what a bottle of wine looked like and I had heard that the older it was the better. This must be good, because it looked old enough.

Ada held the door open and Claiborne presented the flowers. I don’t guess this had ever happened to Ada before--flowers, I mean. Tears came to her eyes. She took them and smelled them and then kissed Claiborne on the cheek saying how beautiful they were. She was flustered though when he handed her the wine. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any glasses to serve this in. Would it be all right to wait until some other time to drink this?”

“Certainly, Madam. I’m sure we will have a chance to enjoy it later.”

The chicken was done to perfection and the year was far enough along in the season so Ada had dug some of her potatoes and carrots from the garden out back. When it came to a dessert, Ada had bought some dried peaches at the store and made a pie. It was delicious.

We had moved to a first name basis by this time and Steven acted especially pleased when the pie was served. “Ada, you do me the greatest honor by serving this pie. These peaches are from my own orchard if you purchased them in town. When I came here five years ago, I decided I wouldn’t be without my favorite fruit. I have three dozen trees that have reached maturity and I am ready to pick and start drying. I will harvest several hundred pounds from many, many bushels of peaches this year. This makes my day.”

Ada cleared the table and we set out to get acquainted. “CW, I am thinking you are Ada’s closest relative. I would like permission to call on her--court her, if you will. First let me tell you a little about myself. I am the third son of the Earl of Kenseth. I’m what some call a remittance man. In other words, I receive a remittance to stay away from England and never contest the title.

“There is little chance I would ever inherit, for there are my two brothers before me. In bygone days, heirs fought each other for the title even to the killing of each other. Then it was found to be easier to banish the least likely to inherit out of the country and pay a remittance to keep him from returning. Being here is by my choice, not because I have to. I do receive a stipend from my father’s sister, so I suppose I am that--a remittance man. If it did come to me, I would turn the title down, for I love it here on the half section I have settled on.

“My property is unique in that it can be 100% developed. It is well watered with rich soil and situated up against the butte, sheltered from the weather. I thought for a long time I would be content to do this all alone, but I find that I need someone to talk to and to share my vision with. Also there will be no sons to pass my efforts onto if I don’t marry.

“I have admired Mrs. Collins ever since her husband left with the cattle drive. She has managed this ranch, with competence and fortitude. The death of her husband has made her that much stronger. The light hasn’t gone out of her eyes. She has put her loss behind her and is ready to face the future. I’d like to be part of that future.”

“What about the baby she is carrying? Many men I know wouldn’t want to be a father to a baby conceived by someone else.”

“To me that wouldn’t be a problem. If we marry and the child is a boy, he will have all the rights of a firstborn as if he were conceived by me. If it is a girl, I’m sure she will be an image of her mother and I’ll love her as much as I will come to love Mrs. Collins, if given the chance. I am not looking for just someone to keep my house or go to bed with, but to walk out with me of an evening and take up my vision for her own.”

Steven had a way with words. I was impressed with his sincerity. He wasn’t trying to sell himself. He stated what he was--hoping it was enough to allow him the chance to court and wed this widow. Not only that, he looked us right in the eye as he said these things to show how honest he was. I believed him.

I glanced at Ada who was looking at me with a pleading look. I went formal. “Mr. Claiborne I need to go down to the south forty to see about some stock. I may be gone for quite a while. You may not be here when I get back but I hope to run into you frequently when you come to visit.”

Steven Claiborne had left when I returned. Ada was worried. “CW, do you think I’m good enough for him? Can I live up to his expectations? Oh he is so nice, I wouldn’t disappoint him for the world.”

“Ada, he has chosen you, not you him. He’ll be around a few more times before he asks you to marry him. Tell him your concerns, but don’t sell yourself short. Be yourself. That is what people love about you. You are open and honest. Don’t worry, he wouldn’t be talking like he did today if he wasn’t serious.”

“Oh, I hope so. I know I can make him happy if I get the chance. You didn’t mind what he said about giving the baby his name and fathering it as if it were his own did you? It being conceived by your brother, I mean?”

“No, and that would be what Curt would want, I’m sure.” I was happy for Ada and also more than a little sad for me. I guess it was time for me to settle down. I had a close call over this past shoot-out of mine and just might not survive the next one.

*****************

I left and headed north before daylight Tuesday morning and I promised to be back by Thursday evening. I was to meet Annie as previously planned. By looking at me and my horse you couldn’t tell I was carrying thirteen thousand in gold coin. That twenty pounds of dead weight was very tiring on a horse, so I loped along fairly easy. I was headed cross-country and hoped I didn’t run into too many riders on the way.

Wednesday morning I turned into town and put the horse in the livery and asked which hotel was best. I got me a room at the only hotel and went out and sat on the veranda. At noon the stage pulled in front of the hotel and unloaded its passengers. She was there. You couldn’t miss her. Six feet tall or maybe more if she stood straight. She had on traveling clothes so you couldn’t tell what her shape was. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, her nose was overly large and her mouth was wide.

I thought to myself, “Christ I’m looking her over the way I would a horse. If she was, I’d want to be looking at her teeth.” Annie stood there with her traveling trunk at her feet. Nobody went near her. I ambled off the porch and down the steps and threw the trunk onto my shoulder. “Lead on Ma’am. I assume you are staying here tonight and going on tomorrow. Headed for the fair town of Foxtrot, maybe? Go right in the door and get yourself a room. I’ll carry your trunk for you.”

“Thank you Mister. Your name would be?”

“Just call me CW, Ma’am. Names don’t mean much out here in the west.”

I saw a look of relief and I did see her teeth for she gave me a little smile. I followed her to the desk and with luck she had the room across from mine. I watched the hall and when there was no one that could see me, I ducked into her room with my blanket roll.

We hurriedly stripped the coins out of the rolls and dumped them into the empty bank bags with the logo of the bank where she used to work. These that she had brought with her, we felt important to our plan. Lifting the false bottom of the trunk, we placed the filled bags in it and put her clothes back on top. Cautiously, I went back across the hall and stood with my door cracked so I could watch that no one went into her room.

Annie went down to the desk and asked if someone could deliver a note to the Wells Fargo bank. Twenty minutes later a gentleman came down the aisle and knocked on Annie’s door. He had a good-sized satchel in one hand and a little portable writing desk in the other. An hour later he came out and went down the hall. He was carrying the satchel and it looked like it had some weight in it.

After he was out of sight, I knocked on Annie’s door. Annie was smiling a welcome. “The bank business is all tidied up. The accounts are just the way Ada wanted them. Working in a bank as I have been, I knew just what was needed to get things completed in such a short time.”

Then she started right in asking me about Ada and how she was doing. “Annie, she is fine. She is getting over my brother’s death pretty well.”

When I said this, tears came to Annie’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. You must feel as bad as Ada does. That was so thoughtless of me.”

“Don’t bother yourself. Now I’m more interested in you. What are your plans? Are you going to stay out west here?”

“I guess so. I sold everything back in Ohio. Ada thinks I might even--what was the word--oh I remember, corral a man. I think it is hopeless though. Every man looks at me and then runs the other way.”

“Feeling sorry for yourself?”

“Wouldn’t you if you looked like I do?”

“Well if you don’t like how you look, change it.”

“Yeah, how?”

“Listen to me. I won’t mean to, but I might say something to you that may hurt. Get beyond that. First think back to when you worked in your bank. I bet there was some woman that came in that wasn’t pretty or beautiful, but everyone enjoyed being around her. Why? It was the way she acted, not how she looked. Now about you. Ada said you were a huge shrinking violet. She meant it in a loving way, though I can see what she meant.

“You got off the stage and stood there looking scared and timid. Think what would have happened if you had looked at me on the porch and smiled and asked if I would help a lady in distress. I couldn’t refuse unless I was a total jerk.

“Another thing, get rid of that bun. You look as if you have luxurious hair. If you don’t like it long, cut it. Bring it forward to the sides of your face. That will diminish some of your facial features.”

“You mean my big nose don’t you?”

“Yes, but you mentioned it, not me. Another thing, stand up straight, stand proud and smile like you own the world. Be confident even if you don’t feel that way. Also you are wearing so many clothes, I can’t tell what you look like. Your shape may be terrible or out of this world. Either way someone out there is going to think you are just what he wants. He at least will need a hint and he won’t know until you give him one. I saw your dresses in the trunk. There isn’t a bright one in the whole bunch. When you get to where you can have some dresses made, ask the dressmaker what would look good on you.

“Ada has some money now, ask her for some if you don’t have any of your own. She loves you and can’t wait to see you. She does want someone for you. Women are scarce out here. This is the place you can find a mate. Maybe even love.”

“What happens if I do all those things and still nobody wants to be around me?”

“I’ll tell you what. You do half of what I said and I’ll squire you to the first dance that is held after you get to Foxtrot. That will get you out and into circulation. You will be dancing continually. If someone asks me if he can take you home, it is because he wants to kiss you.”

“Do I have to go with him if he asks? What if I want you to take me home? Would you want to kiss me?”

“I definitely would. The second dance would be up to you. Remember I may be looking for someone as well as you.” Annie blushed when I said this.

We talked a little about Ada’s problems. I told her that Ada already had a man interested in her. Annie stamped her foot in frustration. “You see what I mean. My sister is always able to get a man to love her even when she is pregnant with someone's child. It makes me so mad and it is so unfair.”

“Annie, I turned your sister down and it wasn’t because of the baby either. She is just better than me. I had the feeling that I was going to meet someone someday that didn’t care that I had to kill a couple of men while doing my job. I killed the men that shot my brother and someday I’m going to kill the one that ordered his death. You think you are lonely, hah! I’d like to change, but how can I? No one would want me after they found out I have killed four men.” I went back across the hall leaving Annie looking after me.

Annie was leaving on the stage the next morning and I was going to shag cross country by horseback. Annie was going to leave a bank draft from Wells Fargo with the general store owner when she got to Foxtrot. He was the one that did the banking for the town. I’m sure he would be glad to see Ada’s bank draft, as he had been carrying her and her credit had to be near the limit. Annie promised to get the livery to bring her out to the ranch.

I lay down to sleep right after supper. All of a sudden, I got this uneasy feeling. I tried for an hour, but finally gave up and checked out of the hotel. My horse had seven or more hours of rest and should be back up to peak. I couldn’t say the same for me, but I was ready to go. I loped out of town and then I kicked that horse in the ribs and started to make time. I found the trail I had come up on and retraced it.

I rested my bronc for ten minutes or so every hour and then I was in the saddle again. Nearing the ranch come mid morning, I was halfway down the butte and still a mile from the ranch. I noticed dust out in the valley two miles from the house. Again I was hit by that uneasy feeling. That dust out in the valley was on a direct line with the Hal Downs’ ranch.

I just hurried that horse along and slid into the yard shouting for Ada. No answer. I ran into the house. There was a chair tipped over and a broken cup on the floor in the corner. There was a dish cloth that had some blood on it thrown in the corner of the sink. I ran out and grabbed my rope heading for the corral. Ada’s buggy was beside the barn. Before I got there I read the tracks of another wagon in the yard. There were some scuffle marks around where it stood. I got one good print of Ada’s boot and several of one with spurs on it.

I looked for the best horse that Curt had owned and with the first cast my rope dropped over its head. I dragged him back to where my mount stood heaving with tiredness. I almost mounted up as soon as I had re-saddled, then I thought I might need a rifle.

Curt owned a Henry and an old Sharp’s .50. If I was going to get into a close-up gun battle, I needed the Henry with its magazine full of shells. I opted for the single shot .50. If it shot as true as most of them, I was good for almost five hundred yards. That is what I jammed into the scabbard. I was just getting that pony up to speed, when I met Steven Claiborne on his way to see Ada. I stopped long enough to tell him what I suspected and why. He turned and followed me off the road and down into the valley.

Steven, with his thoroughbred, kept pace with me and we just trailed along at a good clip. The wagon, which I assumed was a buckboard, never deviated from its direction at all. It was going to bypass the Downs’ headquarters so maybe this wasn’t Hal at all. It didn’t matter because Ada was coming back with us. It was only an hour to full dark when I could see some rough country ahead of us.

I pulled up and turned to Steven. “He’ll be stopping soon to rest his horses. I think we should swing wide around him and come in from the sides. This may be where he plans to cause Ada some mischief, so we’ll hurry right along. Be prepared for some sort of ambush if he has spotted us already.” Steven went left and I went right.

I was the one caught in the ambush, not Steven. I was easing around a thorn thicket when Hal spoke from my right side. “I guess this is as far as you go Charlie. This is some day for me. I get me the woman I’ve always wanted and I get to kill Charlie Wilkins. You might as well come up to the fire about fifty feet ahead. Get going. Keep your hands high away from your gun or I’ll drop you right here.”

I hadn’t seen him and I hadn’t seen the fire before he caught me. Ada was sitting near the fire with her hands and feet bound. The fire he had built was very small and I wasn’t surprised I had missed it. I had been caught and I was chagrined how it happened. I just wasn’t as sharp as I used to be. I’ll just have to give up my way of life and settle down. Ada looked on me with horror as I came into camp with Hal’s gun covering me.

“Oh CW, I’m so sorry. I was counting on you to find me. You must have got home early to be here so soon.”

I decided to distract Hal if I could. “Ada, don’t worry, help is on the way. I left Annie a note at the ranch. I met her and she was able to transfer Hal’s money into your bank account with no trouble at all. You know, I think I want to marry your sister when we get home. That way we all will be living right close together. You and Steven and me and Annie. It’s too bad Hal won’t be around to see how happy we are.”

Hal was laughing as I carried on as if I was in no danger. I paid no attention to my captor.

“A man makes some mistakes in his life. The worst one Hal made is when he laid eyes on you and had Curt killed to get you. He lost his cattle money and now he is going to die.” I had been watching Ada’s eyes while talking to her. When a look of gladness came over her face, I knew that Steven was somewhere, but I couldn’t see him and neither could Hal.

“Ada, tell Steven to kill Hal, and stop wasting time.”

Hal started to say I was bluffing when Steven said, “I’ll do it.” It got busy right then. Hal whirled towards the voice, I threw myself sideways palming my gun and then there was gunfire. All three of us got off shots. One bullet went forever gone, though only God knew where. The other two went into Hal, who was now lying on the ground.

I stepped up to kneel beside him as he was fading out. “Just so you know Hal, I killed your two men after they shot Curt. I spent an hour with him before he cashed out. I took the money and Ada has it safe in the bank now, and it is free and clear. Your death was coming the minute you sent those two after Curt.” I could see I could stop talking because Hal wasn’t listening. Steven had untied Ada and she was clinging to him.

We spent the night there in the rough country. Morning time we loaded Hal into the buckboard. Steven tied his horse to the back and I headed out for town and the sheriff, while they came along slower behind me.

On the trail, I didn’t give much thought to Ada, Steven, or that body I had helped take the life out of. I had done that before in other places. I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to look ahead and to Annie who I knew was coming into town today.

God, what a woman to mate up with. I hoped she would have me. I’d have to work fast though, because she was a powerful lot of woman and others would see eventually what I saw. She would be someone to work along side of. Then I chuckled, she might be someone a person had to run to keep up with so he could walk beside her.

I stepped down in front of the sheriff’s office. He was in. “Sheriff you want to get on your horse. Steven Claiborne and Ada Collins are bringing in Hal Downs in a buckboard. He’s got two bullets in him, one of them mine, and he’s dead. They’ll give you the details. I need a drink. I’ll be in the saloon if you want to ask me any more questions later.”

The stage pulled in at the same time that the buckboard pulled up in front of the furniture store. I couldn’t have planned it any better myself. Everyone in town went down to look at the dead Hal Downs while Annie stepped down from the stage and into my arms.

This surprised me, no end. Nobody had come off a stage before and hugged me. There was more. “CW, if you don’t mind, I don’t want to wait until you take me to a dance so I can kiss you.” That was an invite if I ever heard one. I looked to see if she was serious. She was!

I heard Ada behind me a few minutes later. “Annie, what are you doing? You can’t stand in the middle of the street and kiss someone. What will people think?”

“I don’t know, Sis, but is it any worse than having two men fighting over you and one of them ending up dead?”

******************

From the hole underneath the barn, I withdrew one of those twenty dollar gold pieces. I gave it to the new preacher in town for performing a double wedding. Ada and Steven went away on a trip to New Orleans. Annie and I, well we just wanted to get acquainted--real acquainted if you get my drift. By the time Adelaide Collins Claiborne met the world, Annie declared we should be picking names, too.

Life was good. Ada had pulled a fast one on me. She had directed Annie to deposit those thirteen rolls of coins okay, but she split them. The eleven that belonged originally to Hal Downs went into an account for CW Collins. That was either me or my brother, but he was dead and Ada claimed it wasn’t hers. Sometime later I laughingly said to Annie, “You married me for my money, because you are the one that arranged the deposit.”

It made her mad. When she was mad you knew it. No shrinking violet now, this woman I married. My blanket roll was tossed at me as I ran and when meal time came around it was bread and milk. My fifth meal of this and a million apologies later, she slapped an account book down on the table hard enough to bounce my bowl upside down. “Look at that!” she demanded. “I sold the family homestead back in Ohio and it was mine to sell. I could have got by just fine. I didn’t need you.

“And look at this!” She slapped a deed down on the table by the account book. “That’s two hundred acres of timber over north of here. When the railroad comes this way, that iron is going to be laying on my trees--that timber is almost priceless to the railroad now and worth more as long as there are trains. I don’t want to hear anymore about me marrying you for your money ever again!”

I stared at her with open mouth. “And look at this!” She slapped our marriage certificate on the table. “I know money and I know value and you ain’t money. Now come to bed and show me how valuable you are.” There is a time to talk and a time to do. I was done talking. Nine months later our second son was born.

Steven Claiborne was the one that talked about vision and he had his share. More than his share, really. He was always looking to the future. I ran beef cattle and with his help did mighty well at it. He showed me how to upgrade my stock and when the stockyards started buying beef by the pound instead of by the head, I was getting a premium price. The other ranchers were just getting by. The bad years I had hay stacks to feed my stock until they could scratch through the snow and ice and find browse again.

Steven had cows too, but he had milk cows. He brought a big black and white breed over from the fatherland called Holsteins and a smaller breed called Jerseys from some island. The Holstein udders held quantity and the Jerseys had quality. Together, the milk made a wonderful cheese. He had his orchards too. Peaches and plums. He tried apples which didn’t do too well until something called Macintosh came along. God, they were good. He filled one railroad car full of pecans and sent them off. When he showed me what he got for them in Chicago, they were worth more than a freight train load of beef.

The Claibornes started their family with Adelaide. She was more Collins than Claiborne, but people forgot that after awhile. Except me--she was my favorite even over my own. Two boys and then another girl followed.

Annie and I, we started with a boy and then another one. Then Annie produced a girl and when we had another boy, we started saying we had enough. Saying and doing is different than being, and along came another girl. Over time the kids of both families decided that they didn’t like me to be referred to as CW so I took up the name of Charlie again. We all had a happy existence. There were always kids set up to the table and often there were as many Claibornes as Collins at ours and the reverse at theirs.

*************************

The year Adelaide was twenty-one we all packed up and went to England for a month. Steven wanted us all to see his home where he grew up. It was time for his family to meet their English cousins.

The Earl’s manor house was a huge pile of brick and stone with additions here and there of wood. It was as gloomy inside as it was ugly outside. The only thing beautiful were the grounds surrounding the buildings. Adelaide created quite a stir. She was telling her cousins about how her Dad and her Uncle Charlie had rescued her mother from the bad man Hal Downs.

All the kids knew the story and had made a little skit out of the episode. They played it out with positions and sound effects as well as they could. Then they started bragging about me being a bad man and how I had killed the men that had killed my brother and had killed two other men in gun battles. The English cousins of course didn’t believe any of this so Adelaide came in and got me.

“Uncle Charlie, bring your gun and a box of shells, please.” She explained to the cousins that I never traveled anywhere without my gun.

“Addie, if you want showing off, you’re going to have to do it yourself.”

“Thanks, Uncle Charlie, I’ll show these stuffy men and prissy women something.” She went up to her quarters and came down wearing jeans and a chambray shirt. She had put on a Stetson with a chin strap and her riding boots. I had taught the girl and I knew what was coming. Steven was smiling and Ada was just shaking her head at her daughter. Our crowd was giggling and horsing around with one another while waiting for the show.

Adelaide had a full figure that wouldn’t quit and she knew it. Those high heeled cow boots did things for her tight jean-clad legs and what was above them. By this time there were forty some odd persons, kid and adult, waiting and never knowing what was coming. Addie came out putting the cartridge belt and holster around her hips. She leaned down facing the crowd and tied the holster down. I thought an old geezer’s eyes were going to pop out of his head. Addie was going a bit far, but it was her show. She loaded the weapon with shells and holstered that gun.

While all this was going on, my oldest had set up a target, far down the lawn. It was back-dropped by some raised flower beds so there was no danger. Addie never gave any warning. One minute she was talking and the next she had that gun in her hand and was firing from the hip. God what a racket. We were close to the building and the sound from that .45 was bouncing off the walls. I guess these people didn’t know guns much.

Minny, my youngest, ran down and changed the target. Everyone was curious to see if Addie had hit it. There were five holes in the paper. The Earl’s eldest son, a pompous little twit, said, “You missed one. That’s what they call a six shooter isn’t it?”

Addie replied, “Back where we come from it isn’t always wise to fire your gun empty in case the man you just killed has a sidekick. I guess it is safe enough here.” At that she fired the last shell. She was standing sideways to the target and fired across her body. That one wasn’t dead center, but it did clip the edge. Addie showed she was almost as good with her left hand when she did a border shift, firing first with one hand and shifting the gun to the other and popping the last two from the other hand.

And she got dirty. She explained, “If you have more than one gun firing at you, you want to make as small a target as you can of yourself.” Gun loaded, she threw herself sideways onto the ground, rolled over a couple of times, fired two times, rolled once more, fired two shells and then bounced to her feet before firing the last two from a crouch.

Addie loaded the gun one more time and holstered it. Jake, my oldest, shouted, “Addie, up!”

Addie whirled and looked up to see the airtight (can) that Jake had heaved into the air. She hit it twice before it bounced on the ground, and she hit it twice more, bouncing it down the lawn. I had never seen her do this before myself. It must be something she and Jake had worked on. That concluded her demonstration, but not the questions that followed. I don’t know what those Brits thought of their American cousins, but we were something to brag about, I guess.

**********************

That visit was the last time we were all together as a family. Adelaide caught the attention of one of the guests at the Earl’s that day. He caught her attention, too. She decided to stay in England when we returned to the states. She honeymooned with her husband a few months later, spending it here with us. He was an engineer who worked for the British government. Addie followed him to the far-flung edges of the empire that was beginning to crumble.

Before leaving I presented her with my gun that had killed the men that had done in her biological father. My gun that I had always had with me. Little did I know that she was going to use that gun in Canada, saving her husband from a robber in the gold camps.

We had sadness and losses through the years. My oldest girl and Ada’s youngest son were visiting Adelaide in England when her husband was home with his folks. We received a cable that they had booked passage home on a wondrous new passenger ship named the “Titantic.” This brought about the decision to have a cemetery for our two families. We raised a monument to the youngsters and hoped they were near each other in their last moments. We moved my brother Curt’s bones, what few were left after all these years, into a prominent location. Hal Downs, who didn’t even have a marker was there, too. This was the closest he ever got to Ada. He was bad, but we owed it to him because he was the one to bring us all together, so he got to lie with us.

My middle son Tim went off to France in the big war and some day his bones will come home and rest with us in front of the monument with the flag on it. The most wrenching of all was when Annie left me in the influenza epidemic of 1918. She was my light and my life and walked by my side for so many years, but no more. She is always there with me in my thoughts and a man couldn’t have loved a woman more than I loved her.

Steven tried politics, but after two terms in the state senate, decided that there was too much corruption for him. He came home and continued to guide us gently forward as the country went berserk in the late 1920’s. He died in 1928, and never saw what he had warned us about.

Adelaide came home the year she was fifty-one. Her husband had been killed while building a dam in New Zealand. Ever with him, she was there at his side and was holding him when his light went out. She and her husband had never had children--this by their own choice. They never had time she claimed. And yet she followed him across every continent loving him as well as protecting him. I think she felt about him the way I felt about Annie.

I learned more about what my gun had been up to. I knew about the one life it had snuffed out in Canada for it was reported in the papers. Addie said she had used it in Africa, when the blacks had attacked a white compound where she and her husband were living. She said she was actually sorry about what happened, for the blacks were in the right, but she had to defend herself and her own. One more dead and she would have killed as many people with that gun as I had.

Addie made her life with me which I was grateful for. Always close, for some reason, Addie seemed more mine than Steven’s. Why, I don’t know, it just worked out that way.

Ada was beginning to fail. The family said she was starting to forget things. I was having more and more trouble getting around, myself. That shot-up leg was giving me a lot of pain and sometimes I wondered if it was worth it to try to stand up. The family planned on going up to Chicago to some fair or something. I said no, I wasn’t going. I was asked if I would look after Ada for the two weeks they would be gone. That was okay, I could do that.

Steven had built Ada a rambling big ranch house and I had built Annie the same to contain all the kids and eventually the grandkids. The little ranch house where Ada and Curt had set up housekeeping, I had kept up for guests and such like. I had enlarged it a little and added the second bedroom. It was decided that Ada and I would spend the time there while the family was off to the fair.

The first night after supper we sat on the steps watching the stars come out. I put my arm around Ada. It was so peaceful and I felt so close to my brother’s widow. It was like all that had passed in the last fifty and more years, had gone away and never happened. “Come, Curt, come to bed, we have things to do in the morning.” I followed her into the house and into her room.

“Not much fire left in either one of us, is there Clarence?” I reached over and turned on the light and looked at Ada. She was laughing at me.

“You knew I wasn’t Curt?”

“Of course I knew. Look, we have a couple of weeks to make up for wondering what it would be like when I offered myself to you so many years ago. Let’s enjoy it as best we can. Being almost eighty is going to slow us down some, but I think we both can make do.”

In the morning we had breakfast and Ada put together a picnic. I loaded her into the Model T Fliver and we headed for the water hole where I had killed the men that had killed Curt. We spent a few hours there communing with the past, before heading home. Sometimes we talked, one word after another, and other times we sat silent. Both of us had full and complete lives apart. We conjectured what it would have been like if I had married Ada the time I turned her down. These two weeks cemented the bond that we would have had together if things had been different.

Ten days later I was standing beside her grave as she was lowered into the ground.

Epilogue

That gun wasn’t done killing yet! It was a time of bank robbers. Prohibition was in full swing. Many claimed they were Robin Hoods, but mostly they were thugs. Sure I suppose some of them spread a few dollars around to poor people, but many didn’t. Adelaide was keeping house for me now. We heard a car wheel into the yard and around behind the barn. Two men came to the door and when Addie opened it, they shoved a gun in her face.

“We are going to hide out here for a few hours. The coppers are out looking for us. We killed a bank teller, but you won’t get hurt if you do just as we say. We might even give you a little money when we leave. Make us some coffee will you?” He laid his gun on the table and looked around the room. The other one hadn’t even got his gun out.

They could hear Addie making coffee. I figured they had less than five minutes to live. Oops, I should have made that four. When she turned around and came through the door, the hammer was already falling and both of them were dying. I reached for the telephone.

I had that gun buried with me. I figured it had done enough killing.

The End
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