Chapter 2

Jed rode back to Saddlers Gulch early the next morning accompanied by 3 riders for the Rocking KK. Yesterday's action was enough to make Mary insist on the escort for Jed. Nobody on the Rocking KK had successfully argued with Mary since she was 10 years old, so Jed had his escort, whether he wanted it or not!

Bidding the riders goodbye, Jed got started on his work week. The first thing he did after he returned the horse to the livery stable was put on a pot of coffee, and the second thing he did was sweep out the jail. The coffee was ready by the time he finished sweeping, so things were going well so far this week.

He sat at his desk, drinking his coffee, and looking through the latest stack of wanted posters. Jed had a good memory for faces, so he only needed to see a picture on a poster once to remember the face for years afterward. He didn't always remember why a galoot was wanted, but he had no trouble remembering that the man was wanted.

Everywhere Jed went that day, he told people about his brush with the Apaches on Sunday and warned them to be careful if they had to ride out of town. This action was the main topic of conversation around town that day, and people speculated about whether this meant more than usual trouble with the Apaches.

The speculation was further fed by the stage coach that arrived on Tuesday morning. This was festooned with arrows and the guard had an arrow through his hat. The coach had been ambushed on a particularly steep hill only 4 miles from town. Most people thought that this meant that an Indian raid into town was a distinct possibility. Every business owner made a point of having a gun handy at all times.

When the train arrived, the conductor reported that they had been attacked about 5 miles from town, but he thought that it was more harassment from a bunch of young braves just having fun, than a serious attack. That meant Indians to the south and to the west, not a good sign!

Similar incidents happened throughout the week, and Jed began to worry that the town was going to be visited by some troublemaking Apaches before much more time had passed. Nevertheless, he welcomed the chance to visit Mary Kelley when Sunday came. His escort showed up, and they rode to the Rocking KK ranch without harassment, this time. Jed and Mary sat on the veranda in the shade and enjoyed each other's company until time for meals. Dinner and supper were always full meals on a working ranch, no matter what day it was, and Jed welcomed the opportunity to eat foods he would never take the time nor trouble to fix just for himself.

Mary had set a date for the wedding to be held in the Methodist Church in Saddlers Gulch two weeks from this Sunday at 2:00 PM, with the reception to be in the Church yard right after the wedding. She had her wedding dress ready, and everything was set.

The town had gone all out in rebuilding the apartment in the jail to make it into a suitable place for a family. The building had been enlarged with new adobe walls. Partitions had been built from wood to rework the inside into two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a combination kitchen-dining room. A new wall had been put in separating the jail from the apartment and a formal office was now in place for the marshal to use for official business. It was really a fine place and something of a showpiece of civic pride! Practically everybody in town had made some contribution to the new home, and Jed knew that it was a token of their regard for him.

The wedding day finally came after a seemingly interminable wait, and Jed and Mary were married by the Methodist preacher. Jed knew that it was a social success when the Catholic priest attended the reception. After the reception, the whole town trooped to the new apartment and cheered when Jed carried Mary over the threshold.

A trunk of her clothes had already been delivered to their new home, so she was ready to begin living there with no pause to get settled. The ladies of the town had repacked the mattress and changed the sheets that morning, so the bed was ready for them as soon as they were ready to use it. Everything in the room was fit for newlyweds, they even had a brand new chamber pot donated by Cole Granger, the grumpy store owner!

Once Mary had caught her breath, Jed tenderly helped her remove her clothes, and Mary undressed him. They got into bed and explored each other's body as they embraced and kissed. Fortunately, Jed had some limited experience, so he knew what to do in their coupling to cause Mary a minimum of pain. They consummated their love several times that night, and the last few times, Mary was moaning and finally shouting her joy and pleasure.

The next morning, they were both a little sore, but they both had responsibilities that getting married only reinforced: his responsibility to take care of the town, and her responsibility to take care of him. They got up, and Mary fixed breakfast before Jed went on his first patrol. Jed was teased a bit by the men of the town about how surprised they were to see him able to walk this morning. Mary was visited by a number of the wives of the town to be caught up on the local gossip and made to feel a part of the community. All-in-all, it was a very propitious beginning to a marriage!

The next three days progressed in a quiet and uneventful manner, then it happened! Just at dawn, about 30 Apaches rode into town bent on mischief. They obviously didn't expect to accomplish much beyond counting some coup, but they certainly planned to "hooraw" the town. The people of the town were not amused and reacted violently, with as many aimed shots as they could manage.

Jed heard the noise just as he was finishing breakfast. He grabbed his faithful Henry and ran to see what was going on. The Indians were riding up and down the street shouting and firing arrows at anything that attracted their fancy. So far, nothing much had happened, beyond disturbing the peace. But, then, Cole Granger stepped out of his store in an effort to protect his prized display window--4 feet by 6 feet of glass in one panel. A very foolish Indian aimed an arrow at Granger and struck him in the chest.

Granger went down, as good as dead, if not dead already, and this turned the morning's fun into a deadly serious fight. Many of the townspeople had been watching and enjoying the spectacle, but, were shocked into reacting to defend the town. Virtually every man in town was now down at Main Street and was carrying his usual arms. Only moments after Granger fell, a great fusillade roared out at the hapless Indians.

With all of the gunsmoke generated by the shooting, it was difficult to tell how many Indians were killed and how many were simply wounded, not that it made much real difference, considering the state of Indian medicine. Any Indian with more than a scratch from a bullet, and some of those, was sure to die of infection, if he was not killed outright.

The Indians picked up their dead and wounded and rode to one end of the street. After some argument, two braves led the horses carrying the dead and injured out of town. The rest of the Indians seemed to steel themselves and charged down the length of the street. They were now yelling and firing arrows in deadly earnest on this trip, and the people of the town were firing back in equal earnest.

At this point, Jed joined in the shooting at the Apaches. Twelve Indians started the charge down Main Street; no Indian lived to reach the other end of the street! Most of the Indians had more than one bullet in his body, usually some combination of .22, .25, .32, .35, .38, .44, or .45 caliber. Furthermore, it usually was not possible to tell which of the many bullets had actually been the fatal shot. It didn't make any difference, the Indians were all dead, and the whole town had proudly contributed to the massacre.