Chapter 18

"Boys, I got a nasty one fer y'all to straighten out." This was said by the captain as Ezra and Sean took seats in his office. "State Senator Oswald has been threatened and we can't put up with that. Somebody wants him to vote against a water rights bill when the vote comes up in a couple of weeks. Who ever it is has threatened to kidnap his 16 year old daughter, rape her, an' sell her to a Mexican brothel if he don't cooperate. We don't have nothin' to go on, 'cept the threat, itself.

"Oswald says he has to take the threat seriously an' he's goin' to vote against the bill ifen we can't find the extortionist before he has to vote. He has his wife and daughter with him in Austin, and Col. Jordon wants y'all specifically assigned to the job. Y'all'll report to Maj. MacGregor. Drop anythin' else ya're doin' and grab the next stage to Austin!"

Three days later, Sean and Ezra reported to Maj. MacGregor's office and were ushered in immediately. They saluted and sat in the indicated seats. "Well, boys, I'm glad y'all got here so quickly. The situation has changed for the worse. Yesterday, Senator Oswald's daughter was kidnapped right out from under our nose. We had two Rangers guardin' her at her hotel an' the Rangers wuz kilt an' the girl was snatched. We do have a witness, but he's so scared that we ain't got much from him, yet."

"Major, Sir, maybe Sean an' me could get soumthin' from 'im ifen we wuz to talk quietly to 'im somewhere away from Ranger headquarters."

"Ya may be right. OK, give it a try. I'll have 'im delivered here when we're through talkin'. Right now, he's bein' held in protective custody in a private room over the Ranger barracks. He's colored and he's 'bout as scared of Rangers as he is of the killers."

"In that case, it might be better ifen Ezra an' me jus' talk to him where he is. We can't take 'im to a saloon or no such place around Austin. Give us each a bucket of beer an' mugs an' jus' leave us alone with 'im fer a couple of hours. The beer should he'p 'im to relax an' tell us more."

"That sounds good. Report back here when y'all finish an' tell me what he says. Dismissed."

Sean and Ezra saluted and left to find their witness. Rastus Givens was sitting, rather morosely, alone in his room when there was a knock on his door. "Come on in, ya will, anyhow," mumbled Rastus. The door opened and Sean and Ezra came into the room with their arms full of beer buckets and mugs. Ezra kicked the door closed with his heel and they put the beer and mugs down on the table.

"Rastus, this here is Sean an' I'm Ezra. We got to ask ya some questions 'bout the murders and kidnapping ya saw, yesterday."

"Mr. Ezra, I done told them other Rangers and cops all I know bout what happened. Ain't nothin' else I kin tell."

"Ya see, Rastus, when there's Rangers killed, we don't give up 'til we know every smidgen of detail about what happened. We know ya ain't hidin' anythin', but it's awful easy to fergit sumpthin' or think sumpthin' ain't important unless ya go over it again and again. That's why we got to ask ya to tell us everythin' ya kin about what happened.

"To make it easier on us all, Sean an' me brung us all some beer to lubricate our throats while we talk. Surely, ya ain't against drinking a little beer with us?"

"No, sir, I ain't never against drinkin' a little beer, 'specially ifen it don't cost me nothin'."

"It won't cost ya a penny, Rastus. Here, ya have a sip of this first class beer an' we'll join ya. When you've wet yer whistle, tell us what happened, yesterday. Make like ya ain't never told the story afore an' tell us everythin' ya kin think of. Don't leave sumpthin' out jus' cuz ya think it ain't important; it might be jus' the detail we need to cotch the killers and kidnappers."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Ezra. Mmm, that's fine beer! I ain't never had no better!

"I work as a swamper at the hotel an' I wuz headin' up the back stairs from the kitchen with a slop-bucket to empty the spittoons in the hall. I was part way up the stairs when I heard two men talkin' to the guards at the Senator's door. I couldn't hear what was said, but I did get a good look at the two men.

"One was 'bout tall as ya, Mr. Ezra, and thin like a beanpole. He had black hair an' a face like a turkey. I swear, I could almost see his wattle. He wuz wearin' a plaid shirt an' gray work pants an' cowboy boots. He was carryin' a sawed off shotgun kinda behind his back an' he pulled it around an' shot the Ranger he was facin'.

"The other man was short an' stout; he looked more like a beer barrel than a man. His legs wuz so short that I first thought he was walkin' on his knees. He was wearin a brown shirt an' brown pants an' shoes like a store keeper. He was carryin' a shotgun like the tall man an' he shot the other Ranger in the gut. He laughed when the ranger started screamin' in pain afore he died.

"They kicked open the door to Sen. Oswald's suite an' went in. That's when I got up an' ran down the stairs to hide in the broom closet. I wasn't in there 5 minutes when them two came down the stairs. The tall one was carryin' the girl over his shoulder. She was gagged an' her hands an' feet were tied. When they wuz by me, I looked out the door an' seen 'em through the window. They wuz puttin' the girl in the back of a buckboard and coverin' her with a tarp. I watched 'em till they drove off.

"I wuz so scared that I hid in the broom closet again 'til some rangers found me 'bout 30 minutes later. I told 'em what I seen an' they made me come here. Far as I know, nobody's told my wife where I is nor what happened. Also, I ain't gonna git paid fer the time I'm away from work."

Sean said, "Have another beer, Rastus. Ya done a fine job of tellin' us what happened. Kin ya remember anythin' else that'll he'p us find the kilers?"

"Thank ya fer the beer, Mr. Sean. I can't think of nothin' else to tell y'all gentlemen."

"Did ya see any scars on either man? Were their faces clean, or were they wearin' beards? Did ya see anythin' odd 'bout their hands?"

"Well, the short man had one of them pointy little beards what just covered the point of his chin. The tall man didn't have no beard, a-tall. Wait a minute, I did see sumpthin' else, the tall man had part, the top part, of his right ear missing, like it had been cut off in a knife fight. The short man had a finger on his left hand stickin' straight out, like he couldn't bend it. It was the finger next to his little finger."

"Rastus, ya're bein' a big he'p. Did ya see anythin' else?"

"No, Sir, Mr. Sean. I didn't see nothin' else."

"How 'bout the buckboard? Was there anythin' odd 'bout it?"

"No, Sir, Mr. Sean. There wuzn't nothin' different 'bout the buckboard, but the mule pullin' it was grey all over, 'cept fer a black spot on its right hip. I ain't never seen a mule marked like that, afore."

"How much they pay ya at that there hotel, Rastus?"

"I gits $1 a week, plus, sometimes, I gits a tip, Mr. Ezra"

"Well, then, this here is yer lucky day. There's a $10 reward fer he'pin' us find the killers. Here's yer reward." Ezra handed Rastus a $10 gold piece. "An' ya kin keep the rest of the beer!"

"Why, Mr. Ezra, that's damned nice to see! Now I don't have to worry 'bout not bein' paid by the hotel!"

Sean and Ezra returned to Maj. MacGregor's office and reported on their conversation with Rastus Givens. "A great job! We need y'all to give lessons on how to question a colored witness. Y'all got more than any of our other people who are supposed to know what they're doin'. We'll get out the description of the two men and the mule right away. We may have something by mornin'. Check back here and my secretary will give you what we have been able to find out overnight.

"In the meantime, y'all're on yer own. Y'all seem to work better that way, anyway."

As they walked out of the major's office, Ezra said, "I think better with a beer in my hand. Let's go get one after I drop the one I'm carryin'."

They wandered from saloon to saloon that afternoon and evening without accomplishing much beyond meeting a lot of the fine gentlemen who tended bar in Austin. Along about 9:00 PM, they decided that they could not face another beer and adjourned to the barracks for the night.

After a night of sound sleeping, they were up and about at daylight and had breakfast. They still had nearly an hour to kill before they could go by the major's office at 8:00 o'clock, so they spent some time talking to the post blacksmith. They discussed the mule with the funny markings and all agreed that they had never seen anything like that ever before.

At the major's office, they got little help on finding the men, but there was a lead on the mule. There was a report of such an animal at a livery stable on Everett St. Sean and Ezra grabbed some mounts and headed there, immediately.

The manager of the livery stable was not too keen on supplying information about his unusual mule, which he could not deny was standing in his corral. Ezra leaned on him a little and Sean soothed the situation, a la good cop-bad cop. This had the manager talking to Sean with considerable freedom, once they had banished Ezra to parts unknown.

Sean found out that the mule belonged to the owner of the livery stable and was rented out with a buckboard to anyone who needed such a vehicle for a few hours. Yes, the manager remembered the two men, one tall and one short, who had rented the buckboard and mule three days ago. He didn't know their names, but he could look them up in his records if Sean would bear with him for a few minutes. The two men styled themselves as Stubby Smith and Beanpole Jones and they fit the descriptions furnished by Sean.