Chapter 3

"Wait a minute!" I thought. "This is impossible! No patent application was filed in 1857 for a breech-loading rifle by somebody named John Akers. This can't be my past! Where and when am I?"

I had no time to think about that, now. A customer walked in and damned if he didn't want a copy of the modified shotguns we had used at the church against the Comanches. I thought for a moment and quoted him a price for the weapon in 16 and 20-gauge. He thought for a moment and agreed on 16-gauge. I told him it would be ready in 3 weeks and he paid a deposit. Maybe I ought to go into business manufacturing these modified shotguns. I'd think about it.

Meanwhile, we had a big problem in Zuni. So many people had been killed during the Comanche attack that the town was dying before my eyes. The owner of one of the general stores had been killed, along with his whole family. The barber had been killed and so had the Catholic priest. The vet had lost a leg and was talking of moving back to his relatives in Maryland. And so it went. People dead or moving away, there was a question as to how long Zuni could last.

I talked to Amy and Arthur that night at supper and Amy remarked that she would like to be able to return to her old home about 8 miles northwest of here. I did a double take and asked, "Was it Col. Pike who drove you off your place?"

Arther blurted out, "Ya're damned right. That bastard wuz the one we wuz ruined by."

"Arthur, come Sunday, why don't you and I take a ride up there and look the situation over."

Amy insisted, "I want to go, too! I brought the subject up."

"Amy, the trip could be dangerous. Are you sure you want go?"

"Yes, I do! I want to see what that galoot has done to our house."

"OK, we'll leave early Sunday. We can get there before noon if we try."

I needed a model to go with my patent application, so I took time out to convert one of my 16-gauge shotguns to a rifled barrel. I planned to take it with me on Sunday. I had Amy make up some slug ammunition for me while I worked on other jobs, including the modified shotgun that had been ordered a few days earlier.

Sunday we started out and made very good time. We reached the house about 10:30 AM and Amy went in to look it over. Arthur went to take a look at the outbuildings and I took up station as the lookout. We weren't there long when I saw a rider appear on the horizon. He rode toward us and then spotted our horses and me standing near the veranda. He jerked his horse around and rode off as fast as his horse could run.

I went into the house and told Amy that we had been spotted. She said, "I'm not surprised. Col. Pike has constant patrols roving what he likes to call his empire. We'll have visitors pretty soon. Please go tell Daddy."

I went out and found Arthur and we considered how we were going to handle this confrontation. We decided that he and I would meet the callers out on the veranda while Amy covered us with the new rifle from inside the house.

We sat on the veranda and ate lunch while we waited for the visitors. Amy said that the house was just as they left it. It looked as if nobody had been inside since they left; her only complaint was the "heavy" layer of dust to be found everywhere. She was ready to move back in, if she had her choice.

We had a pleasant half hour after we finished eating when six men came in to sight riding toward us at a fast lope. Amy took up her position inside the house with the rifle and Arthur and I stood on the veranda to await developments. The men came pounding up to us and halted in such a way as to throw dust on us. I looked the apparent leader in the eye and laughed.

This was intended to get him angry and it did. He yelled, "GIT YER STUPID ASSES OFFEN COL. PIKE'S PROPERTY AFORE WE BLOW 'EM OFF!"

Arthur said, "This ain't Pike's property, it's mine, an' I got the papers to prove it."

"Them papers won't do ya no good ifen we pump ya full of holes!"

I said, "I don't think that you could find an army big enough to drive us off, now that we're here. You tell the colonel that he better leave us alone or I will personally blow his guts to Mexico!"

Their spokesman snarled, "Ya jus' signed yer death warrant with that talk!" and reached for his gun. A shot rang out from within the house and the idiot's head went one way while his lower body went another. The slug from the rifle within the house had caught him about heart-high and cut him in two.

Arthur and I pulled our guns and shot at the remaining toughs. We had the advantage of knowing what was behind us, so we didn't have the momentary shock of trying to comprehend the situation. Amy had reloaded and got off another shot which put a big hole in another rider. Only one of the toughs was left alive at this point and he expected to die pretty soon.

I held up my hand and cried, "CEASE FIRE!" Amy and Arthur reloaded, but stopped shooting. I, too, reloaded quickly while talking to the last rider, "Very slowly and carefully drop your pistol on the ground if you want to live!" He did that, so I commanded, "Now tie your friends to their horses and take them back to the colonel. Tell him that we will be by to visit him in a couple of days and we expect to be paid for the grief and loss that we have suffered by his actions. Tell him that if he doesn't pay, we will kill him!"

Arthur was as surprised as the tough at those words, but didn't say anything. I asked Arthur, "How much stock did you lose by the colonel's actions."

Arthur replied, "Four horses, two mules, a milk cow, an' 11 chickens from the house area. I had nearly 200 head of beef that I 'spect Pike stole, too."

I said to the tough, "Remember those numbers. That's what we expect to collect for when we see the colonel in two days."

The tough finished gathering up the bodies and body parts and tying them to their horses. I commanded, "Now, get out! NO! Leave the guns where they are."

I said, "It looks like you will be staying here a few days. They won't be back before tomorrow. I'll go to Zuni right now and gather some supplies so we can stay here for a while. Arthur, I'll leave word at the livery stable that you have resigned and that we will return the horses in a few days. If I hurry, I can be back for supper. I'm leaving now."

I rode to Zuni as fast as I could and stopped by the livery stable to explain about Arthur and the horses. I went by our house and gathered some supplies and stopped at the cantina to leave word with Jesse about what was going on. I rode back to the ranch as fast as I could and got there before dark.

Amy fixed a good supper from what I had brought and we slept well that night. The next morning I suggested to Arthur that I ride around the ranch and see what I could find. He gave me a general layout of the area, including the location of Pike's ranch house. I asked his brand and he answered, "It's the Rockin' W. Pike uses the Circle P, so he would have a hell of a time smearing my brand into his."

Arthur and Amy agreed to hold the fort and I left to see what I could find. This was great cattle country, so there was no wonder that Pike wanted it all. His problem was the way he was trying to get it. I rode over some rolling hills and spotted a cattle heard grazing in a field. Upon closer inspection, I saw the Rocking W brand. I made a rough count of 150 to 200 head and rode back to Arthur with the good news.

I hadn't gone far when I saw three men chasing me. I sped up and made a run for the ranch house where I could have the support of Arthur and Amy. Suddenly I saw an arroyo I hadn't noticed before. It was right in front of me and I was going to have to swing either right or left. It made no difference-- whatever way I went, the chasers would catch me. I had no chance to escape! I rode as close as I dared to the edge of the arroyo and dismounted. I dropped the horses reins and knew that he would stay ground hitched until I came back.