Chapter 17

"Y'all boys keep fergittin' that the world runs on paper. Why, ifen them 'Gyptians hadn't invented paper, we'd still be throwin' rocks at each other, 'steada shootin' modern bullets." The captain did like to wax poetic on occasion. "But, puttin' that there aside, we still got galoots to cotch, so that's what y'all need to do fer me right now. A couple of yahoos 'scaped from jail three days ago up in Simpson and the marshal has asked fer he'p in cotchin' 'em. They're real bad 'uns, so we need to git right at it. Ride up to Simpson soon as y'all leave my office. Dismissed!"

Ezra and Sean rode into Simpson late in the afternoon, so they weren't surprised that the marshal's office was already closed. "I swear to Goshen, looks like Jesse done gone home to supper."

"Yeah, let's grab a beer an' get some supper of our own."

They went into the nearest saloon and were surprised to see Marshall Thompson standing with his hands up and a cocked pistol pressed into his kidney. Without pause, Ezra slipped up behind the gunman and grabbed his balls by reaching between his legs. "Ifen ya want to keep yer fambly jewels, ya better put up yer gun afore I jerk 'em right offen ya!"

The gunman gulped and lowered his gun. He eased the hammer to half-cock and put his gun back in its holster. "Take it easy, man, I ain't done nothin'."

"Much obliged, Ezra. This here yahoo got the drop on me while I was talkin' to the barkeep. I ain't had time to find out what he wants."

"Honest, Marshal, it was just a joke. I had a bet with my friends that I could get the drop on ya."

"Well, suppose I let 'em pay ya off while y'all spend the night in jail. That sound fair to ya, Ezra?"

"Yep, it shore do. Come on, let's go!"

Later, at the marshal's office/jail, the conversation turned to the escapees. "Those two nearly killed my deputy when they escaped. They coldly beat the shit outa him long after he couldn't have stopped 'em from escapin'. He's goin' to be laid up fer weeks. That's why I asked fer he'p. Them yahoos kilt fer the fun of it an' it ain't safe fer just one man to go up agin' the both of 'em."

"We'll back ya all the way. Any idee where to start lookin'?"

"Yeah, we got ourselves a little patch of badlands, mostly swamp, about 5 miles east of town. That's where most of our bad 'uns hang out. The 'skeeters ain't so bad this time of year, so that's where I 'spect them two to be."

"Suppose we meet ya here 'bout 6:30 tomorrow an' we kin go look. We'll see ya after we eat breakfast."

"Hold on! Instead, y'all come by my house 'bout 5:30 an' eat breakfast with my wife and me. She'll be happy to see y'all, again, an' be proud to fix y'all some breakfast. We can leave from there."

"Why, thank ya, Jesse. We'll be right happy to git some of yer wife's fine cookin'. She makes some of the finest grits in Texas! We'll see ya tomorrow mornin'."

After breakfast, the three lawmen rode out of town toward the badlands. "There's an abandoned shack where they'll most likely be. It's on this side of the swampy area, so we don't have to wade through that. But the shack is on a little finger of land poking out into the water, so there is only one dry way in or out. We're lucky in one way, there are a lot of big trees, so there is some cover in case of shooting."

Sean said, "I've got a secret weapon. Ifen they're in the shack and won't come out, I got some dynamite. We kin blow the shack to hell, so they have to come out!"

Ezra laughed. "He's always got a trick or two up his sleeve. Never play poker with Sean, he'll skunk ya!"

Jesse laughed, too. "I'll have to remember that, both in fact. The dynamite and the no poker rule."

After a while, they came to the shack and saw two horses in a rope corral. Smoke was coming out of the chimney, so they knew that somebody was home. Jesse called out, "JAKE! SAM! THIS IS MARSHAL THOMPSON. YA BETTER GIVE UP. I GOT TWO RANGERS WITH ME!"

"FUCK Y'ALL, MARSHAL! IFEN Y'ALL COME ANY CLOSER, WE'LL SHOOT YA."

"That's Jake an' Sam, all right. I'm surprised them bastards warned us."

Sean shouted, "Y'ALL BETTER GIVE UP! I GOT SOME DYNAMITE AN' I'LL USE IT TO BLOW UP THAT THERE SHACK IFEN Y'ALL DON'T QUIT NOW!"

A gun shot was the answer he received. The three lawmen looked at each other and shrugged.

"I swear to Goshen, it looks like I'll have to use the dynamite. Looks to me like there's more cover on the right, so, Ezra, ifen ya'll blast away at the window with yer shotgun, and, Jesse, ifen ya'll shoot at the door with yer carbine, I think I kin git close enough to hit 'em with the dynamite. Y'all pour in all the fire ya kin and they'll have to keep their heads down. I'll put the first stick on the roof an' the rest agin' the walls. That oughta tear the place to hell!"

His two friends agreed to the plan, so they moved into position. Sean prepared the dynamite with 5-second fuses and lit a cigar to use to start the fuses. He slipped as close as he dared to the shack and signaled the other two to commence firing.

They fired into the door and window as fast as they could lever their weapons and Sean lit a fuse and tossed the dynamite onto the roof of the shack. It started to roll off, but Sean had timed everything to perfection. The dynamite exploded and blew a gaping hole in the roof. Roofing material rained down, both outside and inside the shack and there was a scream of pain from inside; one of the escapees must have been struck by a splinter.

There was a pause in the shooting as all three lawmen marveled at the noise and the result of the dynamite blast. They resumed shooting, though, and Sean prepared to cast another dynamite stick. This stick landed at the base of the wall just to the left of the window and produced a result just as satisfying as the first explosion.

A large hole was blown in the wall and there was more screaming from inside the shack as it began to collapse on the two men. The shooting didn't stop this time and Sean tossed in another dynamite stick. This explosion had no walls left to knock down, but it blew pieces of wood, large and small, in every possible direction. It also knocked over the stove and started a fire.

Jesse waved for a pause in the attack and shouted, "JAKE! SAM! Y'ALL READY TO GIVE UP, YET?"

This time, there was no response of any sort, so the lawmen cautiously made their way up to the shack. They were somewhat surprised to see two bodies with arms and legs lying at odd angles and pierced in several places by large wooden splinters. The fire was growing in intensity, so Jesse said, "I better check to make sure who these here yahoos are afore they burn up." He quickly went over to each body and looked at its face. "Yep, this here's Jake an' that there's Sam."

Ezra said, "Jesse, ya better get outa there. That there fire's startin' to get serious 'bout its business."

The lawmen stayed around and watched the fire burn itself out, "to make sure the fire didn't spread." They then leisurely rode back to the marshal's office/jail where they released the prisoners from the night before.

Sean said, "Look, Jesse, we need to get back to Laredo, so we'll say so long now."

"Much obliged fer yer he'p, boys. Say howdy to Capt. Johnson fer me, ifen ya please."

"Well, boys, y'all are getting' too popular fer yer own good. Tom Abernathy, over in Hickham county has asked fer yer he'p, again. This time, he's got a problem with rustlers that he can't handle by himself. 'Cept, this time, it's horses, not cattle, what's bein' stolen an' Ezra's reputation as a tracker is what's got 'im needed. Y'all kin leave tomorrow mornin'."