Chapter 4

"Ya wanted to see us, Cap'n?" Ezra asked as he and Sean walked into Capt. Johnson's office.

"Yeah, I got a little job fer y'all."

"Thank God, Cap'n. Sean an' I been sittin' on our tailbones for over four hours since we got back from that last little jaunt ya sent us on an' we're gittin' a little stir crazy."

"Y'all are crazy, no matter what! But, to business. There's been a rash of stage robberies between here and Frontline, an' I want y'all to put a stop to 'em. It looks like Mexicans are hittin' the stages and cuttin' back across the river. Now, you know that I can't officially send y'all across the river, but... Well, use yer own judgement. Check with Bignut Stage Line for details afore y'all leave."

"OK, Cap'n. Come on, Sean, afore ya take root."

They stopped off at the stage office and got the details on the robberies. There was no particular location that the robberies took place nor any pattern to the robberies, except that the bandits spoke Spanish among themselves and had a strong Mexican accent when speaking English. The language business didn't really prove anything, since the language thing would be easy to fake in that part of Texas. The only thing that really pointed to the bandits being Mexicans was that they didn't bother with masks, and Texans usually used them. Other than than, they could be anybody.

Sean and Ezra decided to follow the stage and see if could trap any bandits that way. No robberies ever happened within 10 miles of Laredo, so they figured to start looking beyond that point. They had already missed the stage leaving from Laredo, so they rode out to meet the one from Frontline. They saw the stage when they were about 25 miles from Laredo and watched it pass. They set off at a fast lope after it and caught up at the next relay station.

Ezra talked to the station agent (foreman) while Sean talked to the driver and guard, "Don't get upset with us follerin' ya, we're tryin' to git a line on the bandits that have been botherin' y'all. Ezra and I are hopin' to cotch some bandits in the act so we kin foller 'em back to their hideout. If you get held up, don't put up too big a fight; we want some live ones to foller."

"OK, Ranger, ifen you say so. I hope you cotch 'em soon, afore somebody gits kilt."

The stage rolled out with the two Rangers following a discrete distance behind. They got about four miles down the road when the Rangers heard a gunshot. They pulled into cover and watched the holdup in progress; there were three bandits and they were, indeed, dressed like Mexicans. There was nothing in the express box worth stealing, but they did relieve the passengers of some pocket cash, three rings, and a couple of watches. After the robbery, the bandits rode west toward Mexico, with the two Rangers in pursuit.

Ezra and Sean didn't want to get too close for fear of being seen, but they did want to stay close enough to be sure they didn't loose track of the bandits. The bandits rode directly to the Rio Grand and crossed at a ford the two Rangers weren't familiar with. "At least we got one good thing from today's work, we learned of another safe ford." remarked Sean as they let the Mexicans get completely across the river before following.

The trail of the bandits was easy to follow as they turned in the upstream direction. The two Rangers were intent on following the trail, so they weren't as alert as they should have been. A bullet whizzing between them woke them up to the presence of eight horsemen in Federales uniforms charging at them from their left and shooting pistols.

"What the hell? Come on, Ezra, let's lose these idiots."

Their horses jumped to their fastest speed and headed upriver to a well known ford. The Rangers weren't worried about being hit, except by accident, as the Federales were firing while their horses were at a dead run. They felt reasonably safe as long as they could stay at least 30 yards ahead of their pursuers.

They came to the ford and crossed to Texas as fast as their horses could move through the shallow water. The Mexicans gained on them during this crossing and didn't stop at the river. The Rangers made up their lost ground as the Mexicans were forced to slow as they crossed the river. Ezra said, "Well, pardner, it looks like we got a fight on our hands. Let's head for that line of trees."

They rode into the tree line and dismounted, grabbing their carbines as they did so. They let the Mexicans get to within 50 yards and opened up with a withering fusillade, levering in a fresh round as fast as they could fire off the previous one. It didn't take long to use up the bullets in the magazine when shooting that fast, but, fortunately, the Winchester was fast to reload. They managed to drop five of the eight pursuers, mostly by hitting their running horses, rather than hitting the men, but it made no difference since the charge was broken. The three uninjured riders immediately turned tail and headed back to the river, accompanied by one uninjured, but riderless, horse. Ezra and Sean let them go; the day was won so there was no point in further shooting.

The Rangers recovered their horses and went out to look at the men they had downed. Sean spotted it first, "Ezra, look at those boots! These aren't Federales, they're Anglos dressed in the uniform. This here is gittin' crazier and crazier." The pseudo Federales were, indeed, wearing Texas-style boots that most Mexicans couldn't afford nor have reason to wear. The men were not carrying any identification, apparently depending on the uniform to convince anyone who saw them that they were legitimate Federales. The Rangers took any valuables that the fake Mexicans had, along with their guns and ammunition, before returning to the Ranger office in Laredo.

"Cap'n, what's goin' on here? We were ambushed by 8 Anglos dressed in Federales uniforms on the Mexican side of the river. Sean an' me would be dead if it wuzn't fer our good luck and their stupidity. Is there sumpthin' we should know about?"

"Not that I know of, Ezra. If there was anythin', I'd tell y'all. It may be that there is a whole lot goin' on that we don't know about. Could it be that somebody is tryin' to manufacture a border incident and start a war between Mexico and the USA? If they wuz, that could explain a lot! I never thought of that afore; I think I'll kick the idee up the line and see what they think in Austin. Meanwhile, y'all look out fer yerselves. If it is a big deal, y'all could git kilt real easy."

"OK, Cap'n. Thanks fer yer concern. We'll be careful. Ya want us to keep after these road agents?"

"No, Take some time, instead, to look around and see what y'all can nose out. Just ridin' around, y'all may spot sumpthin' important. Call it a freelance job for the next couple of weeks. If y'all find anythin', let me know right away!"

"Yes, sir, we'll take off first thin' tomorrow mornin'."

That evening, Sean and Ezra spent a lot of time on the barracks veranda smoking cigars and talking about the situation. Ezra said, "Maybe we should wear a disguise so folks won't know we're Rangers."

Sean laughed, "Ezra, yer idee of a disguise is to wear a different hat. We don't need no disguise, we'll be fine just the way we usually are."

"Yeah, I guess ya're right. What should we be lookin' fer, anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe a bunch of men who shouldn't be where they are. Or maybe somebody tryin' to hide sumpthin' that would be perfectly normal in plain sight. We'll just have to wander around an' see what we kin see."

They decided to start out by going south along the Rio Grand for a while and swing in a big arc around Laredo until they hit the river again, then they would cut south again toward Laredo. They figured that this part of Texas was populated enough that they could stay in towns and not need to camp out, so they wouldn't need a pack animal.

They left early in the morning and rode along the river without seeing much of interest until they got about 20 miles south of Laredo. They saw a rather large dust cloud in the distance southeast of them, so they angled toward it. They were riding along at a gentle lope when a voice called out to them, "Where the hell do ya yahoos think y'all are goin'?"

"Nowhere in particular till we get to Brownsville," answered Ezra to a rider just out from some trees to their left. "Who wants to know?"

"None of yer damn business! Jus get yer asses back on that there road about a mile west of here. An' stay on it!"

"OK, don't git yer bowels in an uproar. It don't make no never-mind to us!" called Ezra as they angled back toward the river.

Once out of sight of the surly character they had just met, they stopped and considered what to do. "He sure do need a lesson in manners, don't he?" commented Ezra.