Chapter 1

John Shiply was leaning on the bar in his favorite saloon, nursing a beer while he tried to plan his next move. The bartender said, "John, I hear ya had a fallin' out with the sheriff. What ya gonna do, now?"

"I ain't real shore, Abner. I guess we'll move on ta California. There ain't nothin' aroun' here fer an honest man ta do."

"I heard of sumpthin' what might interest ya. I hear tell of a wagon train in Austin formin' up ta head fer California, some place called San Diego, I think. They're looking fer experienced Injun fighters ta be their guards. Ya think y'all might be interested in that?"

"Yeah, that sounds better than anythin' else I've heard of. Much obliged, Abner. I'll ask the others what they think. It's a 3-day ride under the best of conditions, and there's some Injun activity between here and there."

"Well, from what I hear, it'll be 2 weeks afore they're ready ta leave, soz y'all gots the time ta git there."

"The others ought ta be here pretty soon. They're over buying the .44 Dragoon Colts we need ta replace the ones we had ta turn in when we quit the militia. At least, we got ta keep them special repeatin' rifles we bought ourselves... Here they come now. Talk ta ya later, Abner."

The six friends came into the saloon and sat down at a couple of tables they pushed together. Abe asked, "Y'all all want beer? I'll git it." Abe went to the bar and placed the order for 7 beers.

A cowboy standing at the bar turned to Abe and asked, "Who's the woman what came in with y'all. I ain't never heard of no woman comin' inta a saloon, afore."

"Don't say nothin' ta her about it, ifen ya know what's good fer ya. That there woman is Cock Cutter. She ain't nobody ta be messin' with."

"Shit, man, much obliged fer the warnin'. I'd hate ta have mine cut off over a little misunderstanding."

Abe grinned and nodded as he paid for the beer and carried the mugs to the table. "Here ya go, Miss Abigail. The rest of y'all kin reach fer yer own."

John said, "Abner just told me 'bout a wagon train formin' up in Austin whats lookin fer guards fer a trip to California. It sounds ta me like the kind of thing we need. Y'all want to ride all the way ta Austin on what might be a wild goose chase?"

This prompted a lot of discussion, but a consensus was finally reached. They would leave for Austin early on the morrow, on the off-chance of landing the job. Abigail pointed out that there sure weren't any prospects for a job around this town. She finished her beer and left with Jerome to round up supplies for the trip.

The next day, they started out toward Austin just at dawn. They had gone about 10 miles when they saw a cloud of dust and heard some shooting. Abigail shouted, "LET'S GO. I WANNA GIT ME SOME INJUN COCKS!" and charged off toward the dust cloud. The men couldn't let her go alone, so they sped up to catch her.

Before long, they saw the classic battle formation of the Comanches: horses racing around in a circle while the Indians shot their arrows at the defenders. Jerome unfurled their battle flag, a stylized severed nose dripping blood, as they raced to catch Abigail.

Abigail was no fool, so she slowed down when they got near the battle. The defenders appeared to be 3 covered wagons in a line with several White men, women, and children, hiding under the wagons. They had been attacked by 9 Indians; there did not appear to be any casualties on either side at this point in the battle.

John surveyed the situation and ordered, "PISTOLS AT THE READY! FIRE AT WILL! CHARGE!"

They had almost reached the Indians when they were spotted. The Comanches were getting ready to defend themselves with their lances when one of the warriors pointed at the flag. Several of the Indians yelled, in Comanche, "Cock Cutter!" This was enough to unnerve the Comanches and they fled the scene as fast as their horses could carry them.

John called a halt to the charge and they all broke into nearly uncontrollable laughter. One of the men shouted from under a wagon, "WHAT'S SO ALL-FIRED FUNNY?"

John rode over and said, "Didn't ya see them Injuns run when they recognized who we were? That there woman is the famous Cock Cutter and them Comanches knew it. They was afeared that she would cut their cocks off. That's why they ran." The men laughed, the women gasped, and the children looked bewildered.

John asked, "Who y'all be?"

"We're headed ta Austin ta jine a wagon train whats headed ta California. What about y'all?"

"We're headed fer the same place. We're looking fer jobs as guards."

The man said, "Y'all shore gits our vote!" This remark produced some cheers from the other people with the wagons. "Would y'all be interested in ridin' along with us. We could use the help, an' the train ain't goin' nowhere 'til we gits there."

John looked around at his people, who all nodded assent, so he said, "Shore, we'll be happy ta ride along with ya." John introduced himself and the rest of his people.

The man from the wagon said, "I'm Josephus Williams. The wagon train will wait cuz I'm the one what's payin' fer it. Y'all are hired ta be our guards ifen ya're willin' ta work for $1 a day and found (food and other supplies), startin' with today an' runnin' 'til we gits ta California."

John said, "That sounds fair ta me. Ya got yerselves some experienced Injun fighters as guards. I'd like ta talk ta ya 'bout yer plans fer the trip, but we ought ta be on our way, in case them damned Injuns decide ta come back."

That evening, Abigail held a cooking class. She started showing the women how to fix the food their men liked without beating themselves to death doing it. Abigail won over the women with that exhibition, and they became very good friends. This was a revelation for Abigail, who had never had the opportunity to talk to women about the things women liked to talk about. This went a long way toward removing the chip from Abigail's shoulder.

John spent some time talking to Josephus about his plans for the trip. Josephus planned to head for El Paso. There was a trail through southern New Mexico Territory and on to California that missed most of the mountains, though there were some high hills and desert along the way. He expected a lot of trouble from Comanches and Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches. He didn't expect much problems with the desert until the wagon train reached California. Water wasn't expected to be a problem as long as they stuck to the marked trail, which ran from water hole to water hole. He also had been warned of sink holes and quicksand in New Mexico Territory.

Josephus expected to have about 50 wagons in the train. He had not yet hired a wagon master or a scout, he expected to find them in Austin or El Paso. He really didn't expect to need either one until they got to El Paso, so he wouldn't worry about that for a while.

A joyful surprise to John was the presence of a 2-pounder cannon being pulled behind Josephus' wagon. Josephus Williams had been in the Army as an artillery officer, so he knew the value of cannon and how to use it. He had an ample supply of powder, round shot, and cannister for the cannon, so John was much encouraged by his new employer.

The great thing about the 2-pounder was that it was small enough to be fired from under a wagon, so it could be more easily protected from charging Indians. John's only regret was that they had just the one cannon; he would have been happier with an entire battery of them.