Chapter 68

“Dad, these four girls all have the same last name. These two are sisters and these two here are sisters and the two sets of sisters are cousins,” Little Eli said as he then called them by name and introduced the girls to each of their dads, Joe, Jefferson, and Howard.

When they had all spoken, Micah got his dad’s attention.

“Dad, their uncle is Don Cowden. He was married to their daddies’ sister, before she passed. He even bought some cattle from their dads a few years ago. We’re having breakfast with these girls in the morning, if you tell us it’s okay, that is,” Micah said and smiled at Belinda.

He knew their dads would never say no to something like this.

“Good to meet you girls. Tell your dads we’d like to meet them. Don Cowden is one of the best men I ever met. He’s a partner of ours over at Pecan Ridge Cattle Company, in southwestern Indian Territory,” Eli told them.

“Are you really a U.S. Marshal?” Samantha asked as the girls stared at the silver star Eli wore.

“He sure is,” Ezra spoke quickly.

“Dad, they’re calling your name out in the arena,” Little Eli said as he jerked on Eli’s sleeve.

“Calling my name? For what?”

“Eli, me and Moses and Joe entered you in the adult pistol handling and rifling events,” Duncan said, grinning proudly at his friend.

“Duncan... ?”

“Come on, Dad, show’em what you got!” Caleb said loudly and the Bucks yelled in agreement.

“Yeah, Eli. Go show Texas how a U.S. Marshal out of Indian Territory can take on any man with a Colt 45,” Joe told him and grinned a big crooked grin.

“Folks, we have a real treat in store for you today. This tall Indian coming here is the daddy to four of the young men you just witnessed shooting their Colt Peacemakers. In about a minute or two, you’ll see an exhibition by the man who taught these six boys to master the Colt handgun.

“This is United States Marshal Eli Crow, himself a Cherokee Indian, out of Tulsa, up in Indian Territory. Some of you may have even read about him in the local papers. There’s been a few articles printed about him and his adventures along with his fellow lawmen partners.

“Marshal Crow rides Indian Territory for the Honorable Judge Isaac Parker, ‘The Hanging Judge’ out of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

“Marshal Crow, come over here and get ready. These two young men will attempt to time you with their Chronographic Timepieces. We have three entrants in the ‘fast draw and shoot’, and each of you will not only be timed, you will be required to hit as close as you can to the bullseye at forty feet. The entrant whose time is the fastest and hits closest to the small dot in the center of the bullseye each of the three shots, will win the prize.

“Marshal Crow, are you ready?”

“I reckon I am. I didn’t even know I was entered in this shooting competition until you called my name,” Eli said, glancing quickly over at where Moses, Joe, and Duncan stood by the rail fence, proudly grinning back at him.

“Please step up to this line and face the bullseye in front of you. These two young men are students at the university and will time you, one from behind and the other to the side of you.

“You will draw and fire three shots. You will do this three times in repetition, with an average of the three attempts taken as your score.”

“How do I know when to shoot?” Eli asked as he looked at the two young men on their knees near him.

“Just draw and shoot, we will time you upon reflex.” One of them told him.

Eli drew his gun and fired three shots so fast, the two young men weren’t even prepared.

He had to do it again.

“I’m about to draw,” he said, pulling his Colt, firing three rapid shots, hitting the dot with all three shots then turning to look at them.

The two young men were talking together as they looked at their timepieces, then they motioned to him that they were ready again.

Twice more, Eli drew and fired his Colt three shots, each time at a fresh bullseye. Each time wiping out the dot with the first shot, ripping the same hole larger with the next two.

While the young men were calculating his average time, Eli reloaded his gun the second time and put it back in his holster.

“Marshal, that was as fine a show of gun handling ability as we’ve ever seen in this arena. I believe you may be a tad faster than The Young Bucks, if in fact that is even possible,” the announcer told him, speaking loudly into his megaphone.

“I see we have an average time for Marshal Crow.

“What is your verdict, timekeepers?” He asked the students from the university.

“As near as we can detect, the average time is just under six tenths of a second.”

“Folks, did you happen hear that? United States Marshal Eli Crow drew his Colt and fired three shots, hitting the center dot on the bullseye each time, in under six tenths of a second, average time. That is an astounding feat of gun handling and marksmanship.

“We’re ready for another entrant as soon as one comes to the line...

“What’s that?” The announcer asked as he looked to his assistant, who was hurrying over to talk to him.

“Well, it seems the other two entrants have decided not to participate, after seeing Marshal Crow draw and fire. Marshal Crow, you are declared the winner by default.”

Belinda Blasingame, her sisters and cousins stood by the Young Bucks along the rail as they watched the two young men who had been entered in the adult fast draw contest walking off with their heads down.

“Those two are from Abilene. We saw them on the train coming over here,” she said, pointing to the outlandishly fancy dressed young men.

“Why are they dressed like that?” Pike asked.

The six Young Bucks looked them over good. The two young men were dressed much like the one who had confronted them down at the river near Crow Ridge a few years ago.

The young men were dressed in bright red, shaggy wool chaps, black boots with tall red, stove-pipe tops coming nearly to their knees. Their black pant legs were stuffed down into the red boot tops. Each wore a huge white hat and had spurs on their boots that jingled when they walked.

“They are what our dads call a ‘Texas Dandy’. Like a dude who dresses up in fancy cowboy clothes to draw attention,” Cecily Blasingame answered.

“Yeah, they always come to the horse races back home and try to get the men to let them put on a shooting exhibition between races. They’re nowhere near as good with their guns as y’all and Marshal Eli, though,” Abigail said, grinning at Caleb when she saw him sneaking a look at her shirt where it was unbuttoned at the top.

Caleb’s face turned blood red when he looked up and saw her looking right at him with a smile.

He turned and faced the arena as he stood next to the fence with his hands gripping the top rail. Abigail nudged him with her elbow as she placed her left hand over his right hand and leaned closer, letting her shirt drape open even more.

Caleb’s eyes never left hers as they stared at each other from no more than a foot apart. Then Abigail let her eyes flicker down to her open shirt front, smiling at him as she raised her eyes to see him still looking down.

“Caleb, you are SO cute,” she whispered as she laced her fingers over his where he still clutched the fence rail.

Caleb spread his fingers to let her fingers slip between his as they stood grinning at each other.

“Abigail, you make me feel funny all over,” he said, as he finally managed to gulp enough air to get a few words to come out.

“Caleb, you make me feel good all over. I wanted you to look at me. Please don’t be embarrassed.”

“Do you and your sisters have boys you like back home in Abilene?” He asked, still looking her eye to eye.

“No, our dads told us we’re too young, and I’m glad we don’t now.”

“Me too!” he gasped and grinned at her.

“If I give you our mailing address, will you write me when you get home?” she asked as she leaned close to whisper. She knew he could see down her shirt, and she shivered as she felt his warm breath when he sighed deeply against her neck.

“I will. Will you write me back? I’ve never written a girl,” he answered, his voice barely a trembling whisper.

“I’ve never written a boy either, Caleb, but I already want to write you a long letter.

“Look over there at Sam, she’s letting Ezra get an eyeful down her shirt too,” Abigail said, nudging Caleb with her elbow again.

He turned to look at Ezra standing beside him. Ezra looked like he was in shock. His eyes were locked wide open and his mouth was too as he gazed down at Samantha’s open shirt front.

“She and Belinda are a year older than Cecily and I, but ours is just as big as theirs are, don’t you think so?” Abigail whispered, her face just inches from his neck.

“Uh, I reckon. I mean, yeah, I guess.” He stammered.

“Caleb, you are so cute. I hope you don’t forget about me when you get back home. I’d like to see you again one day. I’ll write you each week and we’re gonna have a telephone installed next year. Maybe we could talk to each other now and then when we do.”

“I’ll never forget about you in a hundred years, Abigail. I’d like to talk to you too, but I never talked on a telephone. We read all about them though and Dad thinks we may have one in a year or less.”

“Our grandmother lives in town and she let us talk to our aunt in Dallas one day. That was so amazing to us.”

“We got a telegraph at the depot not far from our ranch. Do you have one close by?” He asked, looking up from her shirt to see her smiling at him.

“YES! We have one not far from our ranch outside of Abilene. We’ll ask our dads if we can send you telegraph messages.”

“I reckon Ezra and Sam will be sending them too, the way they’re looking at each other and he’s drooling down his chin,” Caleb grinned.

“Caleb, you, Ezra, Micah, and Pike will all be getting telegraph messages. My sisters and I have already decided that we like all of you. We found out from Pike that Eli and Isaac already have girlfriends, but we liked all of you first anyway and I’m so happy you like me special,” Abigail whispered just as Little Eli tapped her and Caleb on their shoulders from behind.

“Here come our dads. Caleb, pull your head up out of Abigail’s shirt!” Little Eli told him, laughing when the two jerked apart.

“I bet all of you brothers have so much fun, just like me, my sister, and cousins do,” Abigail said as she looked from Caleb to Eli. Both of the brothers were still laughing.

“We sure do, Abigail. If you and your sister and cousins lived closer, we could all have a lot more fun,” Little Eli told her.

“We’re gonna write each other, Eli, and we want to send telegraph messages back and forth too,” Caleb said as he lifted his hand, holding Abigail’s clenched hand in his.

“You two make me wish Kit was here,” Little Eli told them as they all stood when their daddies walked up.

“Who is Kit?” Abigail asked Caleb, leaning close as they stood, so he could see down her shirt.

“She’s the girl Eli is sweet on back home. You and your sisters would like her. Her sister Ruby and our other four sisters are all about the same age as y’all and we have so much fun.”

“Is Ruby the one Isaac is sweet on?”

“Yep.”

“Who are you sweet on, Caleb?” Abigail asked, smiling a cute, sneaky smile before she put her face next to his neck and inhaled deeply.

“A pretty little Texas cowgirl I just met today by the name of Abigail Blasingame, from over in Abilene,” he drawled with a big grin on his red face.

“Caleb Crow, I have never kissed a boy in my life, but I almost kissed you when you said that. You are so cute when you smile that way.”

“I never kissed a girl either, Abigail. I wouldn’t know how and I’d be so scared, I’d probably bite your lip or mangle it even worse, if I tried.”

“Let’s take your dads over to meet our dads. We need to make plans to spend as much time together as we can before we all go back home,” Abigail told him, squeezing his hand.

There was no way she, her sister, and cousins were about to let these handsome Young Bucks get away. They didn’t get a chance to meet many boys their age and they sure wanted to know the Young Bucks from Indian Territory a lot better.

“Dad, let’s all go over and meet the Blasingame girls’ dads. Their dads like to bet on horses and I think my brothers would like to spend more time with their daughters, too,” Little Eli said loudly as he looked up at his dad.

“Let’s go then. I wanted to meet them anyway, since they know Don real well,” Eli said as he looked down the line at his three sons and Pike, all holding hands with a girl for the first time.

These Blasingame girls reminded him a lot of his own daughters, and those hot-blooded young redheads, the Halloran sisters.

Eli looked up to see Moses looking at him with a knowing smile.