Chapter 5

By the end of another month, I had a total of 22 brothels lined up as customers. That was bringing in $330 per week, and I was paying out $154 per week in wages to the men stationed in the brothels. Dammit, I was snowed under with paperwork, so I had to hire an office manager and a secretary. Still, I was making about as much as I had when I was going after road agents, and I was not getting shot at. What more could I ask for?

The answer to that was simple. I was about to die from boredom—that is what was wrong! I discovered that I could not handle this sitting at a desk all day trying to solve a bunch of detail problems. Thank God, my office manager was completely competent and was soon running the company for me.

I discovered that this office work might be safer than being on the road, but it was sure as hell not as much fun. I started taking off one day a week and going out with Ada to patrol some road or other just to escape the office. Well, by the end of three months, I was out of the office four days a week and just going into the office on Friday. Saturday through Thursday were spent on the road, and I was feeling a hell of a lot better about life in general. Not only that, I could tell that Ada felt the same way.

We actually caught the occasional road agent, and that was like having even more gravy on the biscuits. That money I pocketed and did not mention to the people in the office, so I was actually making more money now than before I started Harris Protection Agency. I had a ball up until winter hit with all of its foul weather. Ada and I were driven indoors for a lot of the time, and we were miserable. I did take her out on any day that was suitable, but there just were not enough of them.

Ada and I suffered through the winter and were overjoyed when spring came back around. We hit the road again, and things began to look up for us. Then things changed again in May. I received a telegram that a friend of mine on the other side of Ft. Worth was having trouble with rustlers going after his cattle. He wanted me to come out to see if I could do a better job of finding the gang than the local sheriff was doing.

This was like the granting of a wish—a chance to be a detective and do some good for a friend. My friend, Jed Hopkins, had heard about Harris Protection Agency and wanted to hire me. I did not need his money, but I could tell from the way the request was made that he wanted to make this a business proposition and not just a friend helping a friend.

I sent him word by telegram that I would come see what I could do, and I would charge my regular rate of $15 per week. I told my office manager where I would be and how to get hold of me if necessary, but I was making him the man in charge of the Dallas operation until I returned. He was delighted by that, especially when I gave him a raise in pay for his added responsibilities.

Ada and I left the next morning. I was pushing to get to Jed’s ranch before dark, but we did not make it. The weather acted against us, and we had to spend the night in Ft. Worth, so it was the mid-afternoon before we pulled into the yard in front of Jed’s ranch house. One of the many reasons I wanted to visit Jed was because I had known his wife Helen before they married. Dammit, if I had not been so shy, I would have asked Helen to marry me, but Jed beat me to it.

I could not say that I was still sweet on Helen, but I really prized this excuse to see her again. I rode up to the hitching rail and looped Ada’s reins over it. That was really unnecessary because Ada would not go anywhere without me once she had been saddled. Anyway, I went up to the front door and knocked. Man, I sure was not expecting the kind of greeting I got.

“State your business right quick, or I will blow your head off with this here shotgun.”

Thank God, I recognized that voice. “Helen, do not shoot. It is Bob Harris. Is Jed home?”

That produced a squeal of what I hoped was delight, and the door was opened. I was immediately swamped by a greeting of hugs and kisses, the likes of which I never expected. “Oh, Bob, thank God that you finally got here! I have been worried sick that you would not make it. Jed is out right now chasing some rustlers, and he is overdue to be back. Oh, Dear Lord, I hope nothing bad has happened to him!”

Well, that was a bit more information than I had been expecting, considering that I had not seen Helen in almost six years. Moments later, there was a young child’s voice heard from the depths of the house, “Mama, who is it? Is it okay for me to come out now?”

“Sure, Jenny, come on and meet an old friend of Daddy and Mama.” A girl of about 5 years old showed up and looked at me curiously. “Jenny, this here is Mr. Harris. He has come to help your daddy take care of the rustler problem.”

“Howdy, Miss Jenny? It is a pleasure to meet you at last. I heard about you, but I could never get over this way to say hello.”

“Howdy, Mr. Harris? Daddy said that you were a real good man with a gun, and would surely be able to get rid of them pesky rustlers. He has been right worried. I sure am glad that you are here.”

“Thank you, Miss Jenny. Yep, I plan to do everything I can to help your daddy get rid of them rustlers. I would of been here sooner if the weather had cooperated, but I hope that I can do some good now that I am here.”

“Come on, Bob, back to the kitchen for a bite to eat and a cup of coffee. I do not know when we will have supper, but it will be after Jed and the hands get back. After your snack, you can put your stuff in a guest room and take care of your horse.”

“Oh, please, Jenny, do not let Ada hear you call her a horse. She is a mule and proud of it. She has saved my life too many times to remember them all, and she is a treasured friend. Let me take care of her and then I will have that snack you mentioned.”

“Mr. Harris, can I go with you to put up Ada? I know the best stall for her. I am sure that she will like it.” Helen smiled and nodded, so I waved at Jenny to lead me to the barn.

Jenny and Ada hit it off right away, so I let Jenny do as much as she could for Ada. I finished up the job, and we headed back to the kitchen. There I had a cup of coffee and a sandwich to hold me until supper time.

Well, we waited and waited, but Jed still didn’t come home. Now, we were all worried, and I asked Helen if she knew which direction Jed had headed. She only knew approximately, and it was getting too dark to do any tracking. That left the only alternative—I had to wait until tomorrow before I could go hunting for Jed and the ranch hands.

Along about midnight, three hands showed up carrying Jed on a blanket. He was not dead, but he was close to it. He had been shot in the chest by a Sharps buffalo gun, and he was pretty badly torn up inside. The hands were so late getting Jed home because they had to bring him home riding in his saddle, and they had to move so slow that it took them hours to get home.

We shifted him to a bed and stripped off his clothes. Thank God that Jenny was in bed and asleep by now. An anxious 5 year old girl would have been more than Helen could have stood. Jed was awful weak because of all of the blood that he had lost and having so much trouble getting enough air with only one lung to work with. Frankly, I didn’t expect him to last until daylight.

Well, I was correct. Jed finally died about 4:00 AM. Of course, Helen was badly broken up about this, and I was not far behind her. We were dreading how Jed’s death was going to affect Jenny. Helen finally collapsed about half an hour after Jed’s death, and I carried her to another bed. All I could do was to remove her boots and cover her with a sheet—it was too hot for a blanket. I closed her door when I left and hurried to my bed, but I had one hell of a time getting to sleep.

About daylight, Jenny came bursting into my bedroom. “Mr. Harris, what is wrong with Daddy? He did not move when I kissed him good morning like I usually do. Mama is sleeping so hard that I could not wake her up, either.”

Dammit, why did I get stuck with this job!? “Jenny, I do not know of a good way to tell you this, but your Daddy has gone to join the Angels in Heaven...”

That was as far as I got. Jenny burst out into tears and jumped onto the bed with me. She hugged me, and, truthfully, I did not know that a 5 year old girl could have such strength. All I could do was to hug her back and try to calm her sobbing. She kind of surprised me by asking, “Was he shot by those damned rustlers?”

What else could I say? “Yes, Jenny, he was shot by a Sharps buffalo gun. There ain’t no way a man could live through that. Your Daddy was a good man, and we all are going to miss him.”

“Are you going to take his place and be my Daddy?”

Wow, that was a surprise. I did not know the best way to answer that, so I said, “That is something that your Mama will have to decide. Do not expect an answer real soon.”

This was enough to distract Jenny, and she stopped sobbing. “Why cannot Mama decide pretty soon? She has said nice things about you many times. I am sure that she would be happy for you to take Daddy’s place.”

Oh, God, was I lucky. Jenny had left the door open, and Helen came in just as Jenny asked that last question. She took Jenny’s hand and led her from my room after thanking me for talking to Jenny. My stomach said that it was time for me to get up for breakfast, so I got dressed and headed into the kitchen hoping to find some coffee.

That was where I found Helen with a cup of coffee and Jenny with a glass of milk. The cook was preparing breakfast as I sat down at the table. Helen fixed me a cup of coffee, and I sipped on that while the cook, Rosita, worked on breakfast. She had fixed the regular ranch breakfast, and Jenny was sent out to do her usual job of ringing for the hands to come eat.

A few minutes later, the three men trooped in, and all expressed sorrow at the death of Jed. Helen appreciated that, and breakfast was eaten in a very somber mood. When we finished eating, I asked for one of the hands to show me where the rustlers had been so that I could try to track them. Andy volunteered to guide me, so we left as soon as we could get our mounts saddled. Of course, I rode Ada.