Chapter 1

Man, was Caleb glad to get back to Texas. The coldest he had ever been in his life was that winter of '64-'65 he had spent in the New England POW camp. He didn't know how those Damyankees could stand it; no wonder they were so fucking mean! His troop of Texas cavalry had been ambushed by a whole company of Union cavalry and it had been a case of surrender or die. Caleb was no fool, so he had surrendered, though sometimes he'd wished he hadn't!

It was mid-fall, now, and Caleb was headed for his ranch near Laredo. He'd had to leave it empty when he joined the Confederate Army in 1862, but he knew that everybody knew that it was his, so he knew his neighbors would make sure nothing bad happened to it while he was gone. He was proud of the Circle J, and he meant to get it back into operation before next spring. For one thing, he would need the money to fix up the house for his new wife. Susan Wright had promised to wait for him, and he was anxious to see her.

He had noted that Texas was in a mess, but, at least, no major battles had been fought in this area, so that destruction had been avoided. However, Carpetbaggers had already started to show up, and that kind of trouble was brewing all over the South. On top of everything else, brigands were everywhere. It was not safe to ride alone anywhere outside of a town. If you weren't carrying some sort of gun, you were a damned fool and just asking to be robbed, or worse. No woman could go anywhere alone, even in town; the world had gone to hell in a handbasket

Caleb was carrying two US Army Remington .44 caliber pistols on his saddle and one at his waist in a cross draw holster. It was unusual for one man to have so many of the highly prized Remingtons, but Caleb was unusually skilled at poker, and a man's pistol was often his wager of last resort. He had lost his LeMat when he was first captured, and he now felt that the Remington was a much better weapon. It would never do for a "quick draw" contest, but for accurate shooting and great stopping power, it was impossible to beat.

Caleb was nearing his ranch when he heard shooting. He sped up his horse to rush to the scene of the shooting and found two men hunkered down in a roadside ditch and under attack by 4 men on horses. Caleb recognized one of the men in the ditch as a neighbor, so he knew immediately which side he was on. The men on horses were gathered on the road near where Caleb was traveling, so they were almost within range as they came into sight.

The men in the ditch were not shooting at the moment, so Caleb was not likely to be shot by his friend if he acted quickly. Caleb drew one of his saddle pistols and inched closer to the men shooting from their horses. He was within comfortable range and the 4 men had not yet noticed him. Caleb took careful aim and shot one of the men between the shoulder blades. He had badly wounded the second man before they realized their assailant was behind them. Apparently not being the fools that Caleb hoped they were, they rode away as fast as their horses could carry them, leaving behind their dead companion lying in the roadway.

Caleb holstered his pistol and shouted to his friend, "JAKE, IT'S ME, CALEB JACKSON! DON'T SHOOT, I'M COMING IN!" The men in the ditch stood up and waved Caleb in.

Caleb stopped long enough to make sure that the man lying on the road really was dead. He rolled the man over onto his back and was startled to see a deputy sheriff's badge pinned to his shirt. "Oh, shit! What's going on? I know that Jake is honest. This must be a mistake!"

He rode up to Jake and they greeted each other as two friends would who hadn't seen each other for years. After a few minutes of back slapping and hand shaking, Jake introduced his friend as Sam Whetstone. Caleb couldn't wait any longer and asked, "What the hell's going on that y'all were in a gun fight with deputy sheriffs?"

"The bastards were trying ta arrest me fer not paying my property taxes."

"What the hell's 'property taxes'?"

"Since the war, some new politicians have taken over and put a whole lot of new taxes in. There's a tax of 10 cents an acre on all the property in the county. They foreclosed on your property last month and sold it at auction. One of the politicians bought it and is living in your house for the last couple of weeks."

"Shit, I'll kill the bastard ifen he don't git out right away. I plan ta marry Susan Wright an' we need the house ta live in."

"Oh, hell, Caleb. I thought ya knew. Susan is already married. She married the politician what bought yer house."

"Now I know I'm gonna kill that bastard."

"Don't do that, Caleb, or ya'll be in the same fix me and Sam are in. We're both wanted fer murder an' there's a price on our heads. Sam wuz my foreman, an' we shot one of the men what came to evict me. I don't know which one of us actually killed him, but both our names are on the warrant."

"I don't give a shit! Ain't nobody gonna treat me like that. First off, though, where's yer hosses. I'll git 'em fer ya."

" We ain't got no hosses no more. Them bastards shot them soon as they seen us."

"Well, y'all take that there hoss the deputy wuz ridin'. He shore as hell don't need it no more. Take his gun an' anythin' else ya want; he won't miss 'em. So long, Jake, Sam. I'm headed fer my ranch."

"Wait a minute an' let us go with ya. Ya're gonna need all the he'p ya kin git pretty damned quck ifen ya go through with what ya say."

"OK, boys, come on; an' I'm much obliged to y'all. I do need all the he'p I kin git."

They rode to the Circle J, up to the front porch. A man was standing at the front door. He looked at the men as they approached him and said, "Who are y'all? What are ya doin' here?"

"I'm Caleb Jackson an' this is my ranch. Who the hell are ya?"

"I'm Jethro Peevy, an' this is my ranch, now!"

"Like hell it is. Git ofen my property, or I'll blow ya ta hell where ya belong!"

Just at that moment, a woman walked onto the porch and said, "Dear, who are ya talkin ta?" She looked Caleb in the face and screamed, "OH MY GOD! NO! IT CAN'T BE! CALEB, THEY TOLD ME YA WUZ DEAD!" She leaned, sobbing, against the door jamb.

Caleb said, "Susan, How could ya do this ta me? Ya were 'sposed ta wait fer me ta git back from the war."

"Oh, Caleb, I thought ya wuz dead. Jethro told me ya wuz. I didn't know. How could I?"

"Jethro, ya're in luck. I ain't gonna shoot ya with Susan standin' there. But I'll be back in three days, an' ifen yer still here, I will shoot ya, even ifen Susan is standin' right beside ya. Now, I'm gonna git one of MY hosses fer my friend to ride. Don't try ta stop me, or I'll shoot ya afore the 3 days are up."

They rode to the corral and Caleb selected a horse with the Circle J brand on it. He told Sam to pick some tack from the barn and they would ride on away from the ranch.

Once they were well away from the ranch house, Caleb led them to an old cabin where they would not likely be disturbed. Caleb waved them into the shack and to a seat. He got the "fixins" from his pack and built a small fire to heat water for coffee. "OK, Jake, while we're waitin' fer the coffee, tell me what's been goin' on 'round here while I wuz gone ta war."

Jake said, "The US Army came around one day and arrested all the local county officials as traitors, from the sheriff to all the county commissioners, an' everybody in between. The captain what was leadin' the troop then installed some civilians from Yankee-land to take their places. They wuzn't here a whole day afore they wuz makin' all kinds of noise 'bout punishing us rebels fer causin' so much trouble.

"One of the things they did was slap a tax on all property. Course, the tax had to be paid in Yankee dollars, an', course, we didn't have none. They wouldn't take our Confederate money, soz there wusn't no way anybody could of paid, even if we wanted to.