Chapter 14

Caleb's life settled into a comfortable routine with Susan. She was now bulging in the belly to the point that she could hardly walk, and her mother was spending most of her time at the Circle J supervising the usual household chores. Caleb had the good sense to stay out of the way of the two women and let them run the house the way they wanted to.

On the other hand, Hank Smith was doing such a good job as foreman that Caleb figured that, most of the time, he was excess baggage. This left Caleb free to function in his other job as a federal marshal. Since he reported directly to Judge Hughes in Austin, and Hughes was the chief federal judge in Texas, Caleb's territory seemed to range all over the state. Mostly, he was sent to pick up fugitives who had escaped from jail while awaiting trial.

As a case in point, a certain Mr. Joshua McBride had escaped from jail in Laredo and was reputed to be headed for El Paso. Caleb was the nearest federal marshal who was not otherwise involved in a case, so Judge Hughes sent him after McBride. McBride was accused of kidnapping teenage girls and selling them to brothels in Mexico, a very profitable business if the perpetrator was ruthless enough, and McBride was! There was no question of McBride's guilt, the trial was just a formality before he was hanged.

McBride had killed the turnkey during his escape, and, to add insult to injury, had left a note admitting to the charges against himself and daring the authorities to try to catch him again. A large reward had been offered for McBride, so there were several bounty hunters also on his trail. As an officer of the court, Caleb was not eligible for the reward, but this did not impede his own efforts.

Caleb did not ride all the way to Laredo to begin his search, but, rather, rode directly west to intercept the road between Laredo and El Paso. Once he reached this road, Caleb stopped at every saloon he came to, asking if anybody had seen McBride. McBride had, indeed, passed through and was a few days ahead of Caleb. Caleb also found out that he was not the only one asking about McBride, at least 3 other men had also expressed an interest in the whereabouts of McBride.

It was reported that McBride did not seem to be in any particular hurry, so Caleb was confident of catching up to him before he got to El Paso. Caleb figured that anybody as arrogant as McBride would ride at a comfortable pace, but even he would not stop at every saloon on the route, so Caleb starting skipping a few of them, himself. This meant that he could move faster and catch McBride even sooner.

At one point, Caleb found out the kind of man he was chasing by an event taking place in a saloon only a few miles ahead of him. A man, probably a bounty hunter, had accosted another man fitting McBride's description in a saloon the previous day. A gunfight ensued, and the first man was wounded in the shoulder. He fell to the floor and lost his pistol in the process. The second man, presumably McBride, calmly reloaded and holstered his gun, then took out his bowie knife and slit the other man's belly open, insuring a slow and painful death! He then paid for another beer and drank it while he watched the man on the floor slowly expire. The town didn't have a marshal, so McBride was safe on that quarter. After he finished his beer, he walked out to his horse at the hitching rail and rode away, north, toward El Paso.

Caleb heard about this the next day as he stopped for his own beer and inquired about the strange stain on the barroom floor. The bartender told the story with great relish, and Caleb knew that he was getting close to his quarry. He felt that he was sure to catch up to McBride in only one or two days.

The second day following the conversation about the floor stain found Caleb stopping at a saloon for a beer before looking for some supper. Caleb hitched his horse to the hitching rail outside the saloon and meandered in. He followed his usual practice of looking around over the "butterfly" swinging doors before actually entering the room. Damn! There was McBride leaning on the bar with a beer mug in his right hand. In his right hand!?! Caleb looked down and saw that McBride had his gun holstered for a left handed draw.

Could that be why he was so deadly in gunfights? Most people reacted to a motion of the right hand when engaged in a duel, so McBride would certainly have an edge if he used his left hand to draw. Caleb used a cross draw, so his pistol was also holstered on the left, and he found this slight difference had occasionally worked to his advantage. Since Caleb used the heavy Remington .44 caliber Dragoon pistol, he used a shoulder holster for his cross draw set up. This further confused the issue, since it went so heavily against most people's habits. Thus, Caleb entered the saloon fully primed for trouble.

McBride was standing well away from anybody else leaning against the bar, so Caleb would not have the excuse of a crowd to justify pushing in next to McBride. Nevertheless, Caleb walked up to the bar and asked for a beer. He had situated himself to the left of McBride with no one between them. Caleb held his beer in his left hand in such a way as to partially conceal his gun. He turned to McBride and nodded his head in greeting. McBride looked him square in the eye and nodded back.

Caleb said, "Good evenin', sir. Do ya think that tomorrow will be as nice as today?"

"Prob'bly will. It shore don' look like rain any time soon."

The two men carried on a meaningless conversation until Caleb had finished his beer. Caleb set his mug on the bar and suddenly pulled his pistol and cocked it at the same time. McBride tried to react, but Caleb had caught him completely by surprise. Caleb stuck the gun muzzle in McBride's belly and said, "Mr. McBride, ya're under arrest. Please come quietly."

McBride had never before been caught in such a situation, so he froze in position. It was a bit awkward, but Caleb managed to relieve McBride of his gun without letting up the pressure of the pistol pressing on his gut. Caleb said, "Mr. McBride, I must warn ya that I am a very good shot. Now, I'm gonna back off a bit, an' I want ya to lay yer bowie knife on the bar. Nice an' easy, ifen ya please."

McBride carefully pulled the knife from the sheath at his belt in the back and laid it on the bar. Caleb said, "Much obliged, Mr. McBride. Now, I want ya ta back away fer 3 steps and take off yer boots. Ya kin sit on the floor ifen ya need ta."

When McBride took off his left boot, a derringer fell to the floor. When he took off his right boot, a sheathed knife was visible strapped to his ankle. Caleb said, "OK, remove that sheath from yer right ankle an' drop it on the floor. Then ya kin scoot back a couple of feet an' put yer boots back on." Once McBride had his boots back on, Caleb said, "OK, now lean with yer hands on the bar an' yer feet back about 4 feet and spread about 3 feet. I want yer weight on yer hands."

After McBride had assumed that position and was looking very uncomfortable, Caleb retrieved the two knives which he slipped under his belt and the derringer which he dropped into his pocket. Once this was done, Caleb was surprised to hear general applause from the men scattered about the saloon. The bartender even remarked, "Well, Marshal, that was cleanly done! I ain't never seen a man disarmed more slick than that. Ya're a real artiste!"

Caleb smiled and said, "I thank ya, sir, fer the compliment. Now, kin ya tell me how ta find the town jail?"

The bartender was about to answer when a man came rushing through the door and asked, "What's goin' on here. I heard that there was a ruckus."

The bartender said, "It's OK, Jim. This here is a federal marshal what's just arrested a man. He wuz 'bout ta come down ta yer place."

The marshal said, "Howdy, I'm Jim Witty, the marshal of this here town. How kin I he'p ya?"

"Howdy, Marshal Witty. I'm Caleb Jackson, a federal marshal, and this here prisoner is Joshua McBride. He's wanted in Laredo fer white slavery of young girls and fer murder. Kin I lock 'im up in one of yer cells fer tonight?"