Chapter 4

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing around Santa Fe, but that turned into visits to promising saloons. After all, how many tourist attractions can you fit into a town of that size? That evening was spent patronizing another of Hank's favorite bordellos, but then it was time to leave Santa Fe.

They flipped a coin, and that magical device told them to move east. Why not? A trip to Las Vegas in Miguel County might prove interesting. They were both riding in the buckboard and discussing the relative merits of the women they had met in Santa Fe when they heard gunshots up ahead. Hank urged Ada to move a little faster, and they came upon a not too unusual sight.

One person was lying on the ground firing a rifle at three people behind some rocks. Our two heroes would normally have inquired into the facts of the case before taking sides, but the three people began shooting at them. Hank immediately pulled Ada into the shelter of some rocks beside the trail and pulled his rifle from the scabbard. "Any bastard what shoots at me without so much as a 'howdy' gets shot at in return!"

Bill said, "I feel the same way. Let's see what's goin' on."

They crawled to the protection of some rocks closer to the single man, and Hank called out, "HEY, MISTER! WHAT'S GOIN' ON?"

"I DON'T KNOW! THEM BASTARDS SHOT MY HOSS, AN' THEN STARTED SHOOTIN' AT ME! I'M OSWALD OSBORN. WHO'RE Y'ALL?"

"WE'RE HANK PRESCOTT AND BILL JONES! WE'RE JUS' PASSIN' THROUGH! WANT SOME HE'P? WE DON'T WANT TO BUST UP NO PRIVATE PARTY!"

"SHORE! WELCOME IN! I KIN USE ALL THE HE'P I KIN GIT!"

"OK, MR. OSBORN, ME AN' BILL WILL TRY TO FLANK 'EM! Bill, ya take the left an' I'll go right. Please don't shoot at me lessen ya mean it!" The latter was said with a grin.

Bill immediately started to move to the left and Hank went to the right. There was enough cover that Hank wondered why the three men hadn't tried the same thing with Osborn. Osborn and the three others shot at each other sporadically, with no fervor behind the action on either side. Hank could understand Osborn trying to save ammunition, but what was going on with the other three?

He had gotten far enough around to see the three assailants clearly, and he was startled to see that the gunmen were children! They hadn't seen him, so he thought to take a chance. Hank waved his hat in the air and shouted, "DON'T SHOOT! LET'S TALK!"

One of the boys answered back, "WHAT CHA WANT, MISTER?"

"I WANTS TA KNOW WHY Y'ALL ARE SHOOTING AT MR. OSBORN!"

"CUZ HE MURDERED OUR FOLKS, YESTERDAY!"

"THAT AIN'T TRUE!" shouted Osborn. "I WAS HOME AT MY RANCH ALL DAY, YESTERDAY!"

"THEN IT WUZ SOMEBODY RIDIN' YER APPALOOSA WHAT DONE IT."

"COULDN'T BE! THIS HERE HOSS WAS IN THE CORRAL ALL DAY!"

Hank interjected, "BOTH SIDES STOP SHOOTIN', AN' LET'S TALK THIS OVER AFORE SOMEBODY GITS KILLED WHAT DON'T DESERVE IT!"

After a little more negotiation, the agreed to meet, and the three men walked up to where the children were lying behind rocks. Hank saw the reason for the desultory shooting by the children, they had one Winchester lever action and two single shot hunting rifles. None of the three was of the same caliber, so they were probably running out of ammunition.

Hank introduced the three men, and the children introduced themselves as Abner (12), Sarah (10), and Jenny (7) Smith. Abner was the spokesman. He said, "Some galoot, ridin' an Appaloosa, came up ta our homestead cabin yesterday an' talked for a while ta our Pa and Ma. Our folks got angry an' the galoot pulled his pistol an' shot 'em both afore they could do anythin'!" The two girls started to cry and Abner was struggling not to. "He rode off, an' he was laughin' when he did it!"

Hank asked, "Why didn't he shoot y'all kids?"

"Cuz we wuz hidin' in the barn, an' he didn't see us."

"Why did y'all kill Mr. Osborn's hoss?"

"That wuz an accident. I wuz aimin' at 'im."

"Well, why did ya want ta kill 'im?"

"Cuz I thought he wuz the galoot what shot our folks, yesterday. They both wuz ridin' an Appaloosa, an' there ain't that many in these parts."

"That sounds like what a 12-year-old would do. What are y'all doin' out here?"

"We got our folks in the wagon. We're takin' 'em inta town fer burial in the church cemetary. We seen the hoss an' figured ta git even. I'm sorry, Mr. Osborn," At this, Abner did break down and cry. Osborn took the boy in his arms and tried to sooth him.

"Don't worry 'bout it son, I kin always git a new hoss. We'll try to find the galoot what killed yer folks." The girls now joined in a group hug with Mr. Osborn.

Hank said, "Let's pull that there dead hoss out of the road. Mr. Osborn, ya kin ride in our buckboard, an' we kin all ride inta town with the kids."

"That's a good idee, Mr. Prescott, but I'll ride with the kids ifen they'll have me. I don't think they should be left alone."

It was a somber trip into town where Osborn made funeral arrangements. All 6 went to a restaurant for dinner (the kids hadn't eaten since the day before). As they were coming out of the restaurant, Sarah pulled on Osborn's arm and said, "That's him. That's the man what shot our folks. I recognize him an' his hoss."

Bill said, "Let me handle this." and stepped into the street to confront the man riding an Appaloosa. "Pardon me, sir, but I need ta speak ta ya fer a moment."

"Git outa my way, asshole. I ain't got time to fuck with ya!" and he continued to ride slowly past Bill.

Now, this was no way to treat a polite request, so Bill reacted in a more belligerent way. When the man drew even with him, Bill grabbed the man's leg, pulled the man's foot from the stirrup, and flipped him off his saddle and onto the ground on the other side of his horse. Bill slapped the horse's rump to make it move along, and it cleared the space between the man on the ground and Bill.

The fool on the ground tried to draw his gun while still on the ground. Under other circumstances, this would have been a fatal mistake, but Bill wanted the man alive to answer a few questions. Therefore, Bill simply put a bullet through the man's gun hand and shattered the bones to the point that no doctor would ever be able to put them back together.

The town marshal happened to be standing nearby and had seen the whole episode. He came up and remarked to Bill, "Shit, Mister, I'd of blown the galoot's head off. Why didn't ya?"

"Cuz I need some answers to a few questions, Marshal. This here galoot killed those kids folks in cold blood, yesterday, an' I wanta know why."

"In that case, I guess we better fetch the doctor ta stop the bleedin' afore I throw 'im in jail fer litterin' the street. His piss and shit sure stink, don't they."

The doctor applied a tourniquet and got the bleeding under control. He put a bandage on the hand, but commented that he would have to cut it off in the next few days if the patient was going to avoid gangrene. The marshal and Bill half carried the wounded man behind the jail where they pulled off his pants (he wasn't wearing underwear) and washed off the shit with a couple of buckets of water. They threw his pants in the trash and hustled the man into a cell.

It was at least two hours before the man regained consciousness. As they were waiting, the adults talked, while the kids were stuck in some chairs along the wall. Osborn said, "I like them kids and somebody is shore gonna have to take care of 'em. My wife an' me shore want kids, but we can't have none of our own. The doctor says it's cuz of that bad case of mumps I had when I wuz 16. Anyway, ifen the kids are willin', I guess we'll take 'em in."