Chapter 2

Josh had found a good route from Smithville to the first danger point out of Santa Rosa. He arrived in plenty of time get set up in his observation post. He was able to get there so early and easily because, in a straight line, Santa Rosa and Smithville were a little less than 15 miles apart, even though they were 20 miles apart by the stagecoach route. Josh could get to "DP5" from Smithville in about 3 hours without overstraining his horse and he didn't have to be there before 10:00 AM.

John Randall, his boss, has asked Josh to keep a written record of where he found bandits, or sign of bandits, so that he could plan for them. Josh had decided to call the danger points "DP1" through "DP5" to save himself some repetitive writing. Josh wasn't lazy, but, when it came to writing, Josh was always on watch for shortcuts.

DP5 was in an area of high brush and some trees, so the observation points were somewhat restricted. He had to sit on his his horse to see over the brush, and this was not easy on the horse, but there seemed to be no alternative. Josh could see enough of the road to be able to keep track of the stagecoach as it came through here, but the area didn't seem to him to offer much to bandits. Maybe it was the shade from the trees that attracted them to this stretch of road. Whatever it was, this was where he needed to be. The stagecoach came barreling through on time and there was nothing to impede its run, so Josh headed for DP4.

DP4 was a little more attractive to Josh and his horse. There was less brush here than at DP5, but there were some hills with gullies which provided hiding places for bandits. Josh did a quick ride-through before the coach arrived to make sure that the gullies were clear as far as he could see into them from the road. He then took his place on a low hill where he could see most of this stretch of the road. Josh was able to dismount and give his horse a rest while he stood guard at the "military crest" of the hill. This gave him a commanding view of the road without silhouetting him against the sky. His position gave him some protection from attack but nothing like at DP1. Josh moved on to DP3 after the stagecoach had passed.

DP3 was much like DP4, and Josh handled it the same way. As with DP4, Josh moved on after the coach had passed. DP2 was something like a combination of DP3 and DP1: there were large rocks on the hills and a lot of brush around. Josh thought that this was the best spot to stage a robbery of the coach, since there were plenty of places to hide in wait and much debris around to use to force the stagecoach to stop. The major problem from the bandit's point of view was that the sinkholes and quicksand forced them to stick to the road for a quick getaway.

Once the stagecoach had passed, Josh followed his safe route to DP1 to wait for the coach. He settled himself in for a comfortable rest after the strain of picking his way over dangerous ground and reached for a cigar. He watched a couple of wagons of freight pass below his vantage point, as well as one rider who aroused his suspicions but kept on going without pause. Soon, the coach had passed and Josh was ready to return to Smithville, this time without being so tired.

He got back to town before the coach and was waiting at the terminal when they pulled in with a flourish, the guard tooting his large horn for the mere peasants to clear the way for the elite. Josh couldn't help laughing at the big grin on the guard's face as he put the horn back into its holder. Josh had already picked up his bounty from the paymaster, so, when the necessary business had been taken care of, the three adjourned to the saloon for a quick drink before supper; Josh paid.

The next three weeks were relatively quiet; no robberies were attempted and Josh was beginning to wonder how much longer he was going to have a job. It was a Thursday and Josh was just arriving at DP2 to wait for the stagecoach from Santa Rosa when he saw a wagon broken down and blocking the road from both directions. The only person in evidence was a woman who appeared to be sitting on the ground, crying. As nearly as Josh could tell, this was not a set up for a robbery, so he went down to see what he could do to help clear the road.

He found a young woman who was, indeed, crying, and Josh couldn't blame her. The right rear wheel of the wagon was smashed and lying in pieces under the wagon. The coach was due soon and there was no way to move the wagon out of the road before the coach arrived. The wagon had just rounded a somewhat blind curve before it broke down and there was a good chance that the stagecoach driver would not see it in time to avoid a collision. Thinking fast, Josh hobbled his horse in the middle of the road where it was visible for about half a mile. This gave the driver plenty of room to stop before crashing into the roadblock and Josh hoped that they would see that it was his horse and not a robbery stunt.

Josh then walked back to the woman, squatted down, and asked it he could help her. She looked at him and started crying even harder! This took Josh aback some; he knew that he was not handsome, but he didn't think that his looks were so bad that they would cause a woman to cry. "Ma'am, I'm Josh Murdoch. Please stop crying and tell me how I can help you."

The woman looked at him, again, and forced back her tears. "I'm sorry, Mr. Murdoch. It's just that you are the first person to offer to help me in weeks. I was just overcome with happiness!"

"That's OK, just tell me what I can do first to help you."

"I"m Alice Wilkerson and I'm not hurt. I hit a rock and broke the wheel on my wagon. I have a spare wheel, but I'm not strong enough to put it on by myself. Can you help me?"

"I'll be pleased to help, and there'll be a few more men along in a few minutes to help, too. Where's the spare wheel?"

"It's tied to the wagon on the other side. I'll show you."

At that moment, the stagecoach guard came trotting up. "What's wrong, Josh? We say your horse and figured that it was a signal for us to stop."

"You're right, Sam. This lady's wagon wheel broke and she can't move her wagon out of the way without our help. With you and Joe to help, and anybody else you got for passengers, we can change to her spare wheel and move out of the way so you can get by."

With the stagecoach crew and a couple of the men passengers, it took only a few minutes to replace the broken wheel and move the wagon so that the coach could continue its journey. "Miss Wilkerson, I'm through working for the day, would you like for me to drive your wagon into Smithville for you?"

"Oh, Mr. Murdoch, I'd be so grateful if you would do that. This has been such a trying day and I'm at my wit's end."

Josh helped her into the wagon and tied his horse behind. He climbed to the driver's seat beside the woman and put the two mules into motion.

"Since we're going to be side-by-side for a few hours, please call me Alice. I am really grateful for your help. May I call you Josh?"

"Please do! It's not often that I get to help a lady in distress and I was glad to do it, as were the other men who helped. How do you happen to be out here in the middle of nowhere all alone. It's not safe, particularly for a woman, to be alone. Where's you gun?"

"I don't have a gun; I had to sell it to buy food. It wasn't much of a gun, anyway: it was the musket my granddaddy brought back from the big war. Do you really need a gun out here?"

"Yes, Alice, you really do need a gun when you travel in New Mexico Territory. As you can see, I wear two pistols and I carry a carbine on my horse. And they're not just for show! We must get you a gun before you go any farther! How did you come to be out here alone, anyway?"

Alice explained that her parents had been farmers in south Alabama, but Reconstruction had ruined them, financially, so they had decided to try going to California. By selling their farm, they had scraped up enough money to join a wagon train headed to Los Angeles. On the way, her parents and a brother, along with most of the wagon train, had died of cholera. She had no place else to go, so she was continuing the trek to California.

Josh sympathized with her plight and suggested she stop over in Smithville to recover and get her bearings. He pointed out that there was no way she could continue her journey through the Arizona and California deserts alone, she had to be a part of a wagon train. She could wait in Smithville until one came along that she could join. In the meantime, he would help her find a place to stay and a job to keep body and soul together.