Chapter 2

Caleb thought about it some more and realized that his thoughts of abandoning Susan Wright were just sour grapes. The more he thought about her, the more he wanted her! Sober reflection revealed that he really did love her. He reasoned that she had been tricked into marrying Jethro Peevy, so he couldn't hold that against her. Shit, furthermore, he was no virgin, so he couldn't hold that against her, either. The trick was figuring out how to get rid of Jethro.

He could easily murder Jethro, but that would not help, because it would pit Susan and the law both against him. He could stand a disagreement with the law, but not with Susan! A dead Jethro was the only practical solution, so he would have to arrange a public duel. Dueling was a legal and accepted way of settling personal disputes in Texas, so that was the way to go, but how could he arrange it without getting himself arrested and thrown into jail before he had a chance to kill Peevy? That was going to take some planning and some luck.

Well, he could start out by beating the shit out of Peevy the next time they met. He would see what he could manage when he went around to his ranch tomorrow. Peevy was sure to be there with some muscle to back him up, so Caleb would ask Jake and Sam to go along to the meeting. He was sure that they would agree.

When he got back to the cabin, Caleb asked Jake and Sam to accompany him on the morrow, but he also asked what official position Peevy had in the county government. He learned that Peevy was one of the 3 county commissioners, and the one who seemed to tell everyone else in the clique what to do. The Army lieutenant, who was staying in the town's hotel, along with his 12-man troop, also seemed to do what Peevy ordered.

Wait a minute! The soldiers were staying in the hotel? That sounded fishy. Who was paying the tab? The US government certainly wasn't paying for common soldiers to live in a hotel! This was worth investigating. Caleb was pretty good friends with Henry Ackerman, who ran the hotel. Maybe he was worth talking to about who payed the bill.

That evening after supper time, but before Henry would have gone to bed, Caleb knocked at his door. "Henry, open up. It's Caleb Jackson. I need ta talk ta ya without rousing the whole town."

Henry opened the door and said, "Come in, Caleb. Man, I'm glad ta see ya. I hear ya got a might of trouble with the law." There was the usual shaking of hands and backslapping for a minute or two, then Caleb explained what had happened to cause the warrant.

"Hell, Caleb, I figured it was sumpthin' like that. Ya always did stick up fer yer friends. I remember a couple of times ya he'ped me outa some scrapes. Here, have a drink and a cigar and tell me what brings ya ta see me this time of night."

"Much obliged, Henry. I could use a drink! I'm here ta ask what ya know 'bout them soldiers living in the hotel. It strikes me as strange that the gov'ment would pay fer that kind of expense. Who do ya invoice fer the bill?"

"That's the strange part. I don't send no invoice ta nobody. Lt. Anderson pays cash, in advance, every week fer room and board fer 'im an' the troops. They eat in the hotel restaurant, so there ain't no problem, there. Now that ya mention it, it is strange. I ain't never heard of the gov'ment paying cash fer nothin'. Do ya s'pose he's a rich Damyankee what kin pay fer that outta his own pocket?"

"Well, I reckon that is possible, but I kinda doubt it. See ifen ya kin git the lieutenant's full name an' home address. Ifen ya kin, we kin check up on 'im."

They spent another hour reminiscing about the old days before the war, and Caleb finally took his leave, saying that he would check back with Henry in a couple of days to hear what he had found out.

The next day, Caleb thought he would let Peevy stew a little, so he waited until after lunch to ride to the Circle J for the confrontation. When the three men got close to the ranch house, Susan ran out the front door and yelled, "CALEB, LOOK OUT! IT'S AN AMBUSH! RUN AWAY, PLEASE!" Hardly had she said this when Peevy ran out and grabbed her by the arm. He swung her around and slapped her several times across her face and ample breasts, before dragging her back into the house.

Jake reached over and grabbed the halter of Caleb's horse before he could ride to Susan's rescue. "Hold on, dammit, Caleb. Ya don't want ta ride inta a trap! Come on! Let's go!" Caleb conceded the good sense in this, but was seething with anger the whole time as they rode back to the cabin.

Caleb was still angry after they had rubbed down the horses. He was pacing back and forth; if he didn't find some way to blow off steam pretty soon, his friends feared that he was going to have a case of apoplexy! Sam had a brainstorm and said, "Caleb, calm down. You can't help Miss Susan if you make yerself sick! 'Stead of fumin' like that, think of some way to rescue her from Peevy's clutches."

"Thank ya, Sam. That's jus' what I need ta do. But wait, what if she don't want ta be rescued? I need ta find that out afore I kin come up with a plan."

Jake asked, "Why don't we git somebody she trusts ta ask her? Miz. Jacobs is her friend; maybe she kin find out without causing a big whoop-ti-do. S'pose I ride over to the Jacobs place and ask her to look in on Susan. Ya know, check ta make sure that she's OK. Ifen she wants out, we kin come up with some plan to rescue her. How 'bout that?"

"That's absolutely brilliant! Kin ya go this afternoon? I'd feel a whole lot better ifen I knew fer sure how Susan felt."

"Shore, I'll go right now. I should be back in around 3 hours."

Jake saddled up and left at a brisk lope. Caleb couldn't sit still the whole time he was gone, but wasn't as distraught as he had been. There was considerable relief when Jake reported that Mrs. Jacobs would check on Susan first thing the next morning. Caleb had cut stove wood the whole time Jake was gone, so he was too sweaty to inflict himself on other people. He heated up a pan of water and took as much of a bath as he could manage and then washed his clothes. He had one other set of clothes that he put on while the others were drying. He didn't want to stink too bad the next time he saw Susan.

After supper, they played poker for a while, but all got tired of that after Caleb had returned his winnings to the other men for the third time. Caleb had perfected his poker playing ability in the POW camp; there had been nothing else to do. Jake suggested that they make a pilgrimage to the next town and find a saloon where Caleb could win some money to restock their larder. Caleb agreed after they heard from Mrs. Jacobs.

The next afternoon, all three men rode to the Jacobs place to hear the news about Susan. Mrs. Jacobs had talked to Susan, who was miserable. Susan was kept locked in her room and was not even allowed out to eat or to use the privy. Her meals were delivered to her and she had to use a chamber pot to relieve herself. Peevy had said that she was going to be kept locked away until she got over her concern for Caleb. Peevy had left for Laredo for a couple of days and was not at the ranch; otherwise, Mrs. Jacobs would have never been able to talk the guard into letting her in to see Susan. Susan wanted to leave, and Mrs. Jacobs said that this was probably the best time to break Susan out of her prison. By the way, Susan had bruises on her face and arms and acted very stiff and sore whenever she moved!

Caleb said, "Come on, boys, we've got to get her out of there right now!"

Jake cautioned, "Hold up, Caleb, and think fer a minute. If we go bustin' in there durin' the daytime, there's bound to be gunplay. Susan could git hurt. Let's wait 'til dark an' maybe we can sneak her out."

Mrs. Jacobs agreed, "He's right. Her room is on the ground floor with a window ta the outside. After dark, y'all could go git her out that way. Y'all might not even be seen ifen ya're lucky. Ifen y'all want ta, bring Susan ta stay here after y'all git her out."

Caleb backed down and said, "Y'all are right. I'm jus' so upset that I can't he'p runnin' off half cocked when it comes ta Susan. I know which room she's in; there ain't but one place she could be. Thank ya, Miz. Jacobs. I appreciate all ya done fer Susan an' me."

They rode back to the cabin where Caleb outlined a plan for rescuing Susan as soon as it got hard dark. When it was dark enough, they rode to the Circle J and hid their horses in a grove of trees. They slipped up to the house, and Caleb made his way to the window of the room where Susan was held captive. He tapped on the glass to arouse Susan, but he had no luck. He kept tapping until she finally came to the window. She looked out and saw Caleb. Susan almost squealed in delight, but managed to control herself. She unlocked and opened the window and said, "Oh, Caleb, I knew that ya would come ta save me."