Chapter 2

Ethel bid farewell to the Flying H ranch and her friends there as she left to catch the train to Philadelphia. Jim drove her to the train station in the town five hours away. For someone familiar with the cities of the East, towns certainly were far apart in this part of Texas.

Jim did not wait around for the train to leave, since he had so far to travel to get home that night. This particular railroad only ran as far east as Austin, so she bought her ticket for that city and sat in the waiting room for the train to arrive. She boarded the train, and they started out pretty much on time. They would not arrive in Austin until the next morning, so Ethel found as comfortable a position as she could and went to sleep, even though it was not dark yet.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but it was now past sundown. There was a disturbance in the coach which woke her up. A man was standing at the far end of the coach, and he was shouting something unintelligible. Most people in the coach ignored him until he pulled a gun and shot a hole in the roof. The crash of the gunshot woke everybody up.

The man continued to shout in a language nobody could understand, and he waved the gun around as if he was crazy. Suddenly, he pointed the gun at the woman he had been sharing a seat with and pulled the trigger. He shot her in the chest and she lived no more than a few seconds. A man a few seats away pulled a gun, but the crazy man shot him before the first man could get his gun into position.

The crazy man then started staggering down the aisle brandishing his gun at every passenger he passed. As he got close to Ethel, she decided that the man was too dangerous to let him wander around like that. So fast that no one saw her do it, she drew her gun from her waist where she had been wearing it all day and shot the man between the eyes.

He flopped on the floor of the coach and everyone looked to see who had shot him. They saw Ethel still holding her gun while she sat there stunned. She had never shot a man, before! To her surprise, everybody in the coach began to applaud. This broke her out of her daze, and Ethel smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Somebody got up to find the conductor. He came into the coach a few minutes later and walked up to Ethel. "Thank ya, Ma'am. I do appreciate the way ya took care of that there crazy varmint. I'll git a porter ta clean up the mess. Is there anythin' I kin do fer ya?"

"No, Sir. I am fine. By the way, what time is it? I have been sleeping and I wonder how much longer before we reach Austin."

"Well, Ma'am, it's just 4:27 AM, an' we're due in Austin at 6:32 AM, soz we gots just over two more hours afore we arrive."

"Thank you, Sir. I think that I will return to sleep, if you don't mind."

The conductor smiled, tipped his hat, and walked back toward the baggage car to roust a porter to remove the body.

They arrived in Austin remarkably close to the scheduled time, so Ethel found a porter to collect her luggage and deliver it to the hotel near the station. She tipped him overly generously and registered for a room. She was amused that single women were required to pay in advance. This actually fit into her plans, so she did not quibble. A porter took her luggage to her room, and she changed from her dress to the men's clothes that she had altered to fit her better. She had kept the clothes loose so that they would conceal her female attributes, namely, her wide hips and her prominent breasts.

She put on some underwear that she had made for the occasion. She had made a band for her breasts so that they would be supported and not flop around as she moved. She was afraid that the flopping breasts would give her gender away. She had also had constructed a sort of diaper that would keep the trousers seam from rubbing on her pussy slit. She had gotten very sore on several occasions by riding in the men's trousers until she had thought of the underpants. When she finished, she looked every bit the young man of about 16 or 17 years old. Her woman's facial features could be taken for those of a boy who still manifested some of his "baby fat." She thought that this might actually help by keeping her out of some unnecessary fights.

One of the things that she had done before she left the Flying H was to talk at length with the ranch hands to learn what a young man did when he was not working. The information she received was that they spent most of their free time in a saloon, talking and drinking beer. Some played cards, either faro or poker, but they usually stayed away from faro because it was too easy to be cheated. She was happy that she already knew how to play poker, since her father had been a poker addict and had insisted on teaching her how to play so that he could play on Sundays when her mother would not let him go to the saloon.

She also learned that the saloon was the best place to pick up the local gossip. The bartender was usually the best source, but almost anybody might spill something juicy. Another good place was at the poker table. Her reason for wanting to look like a man was so that she could visit saloons to pick up gossip and possibly find out where Archy's six murderers might be hiding.

She put on her pistol, and left her room for breakfast. This would be her first big test of whether or not she looked enough like a man. Her long hair was not a problem, but she did remember not to brush it, so that she could look more unkempt, the way a man would.

Her first foray into the world of men was to the hotel restaurant. The hotel restaurant was truly a high class place that had a separate area for women who wanted to avoid the common male crowd. She avoided that and sat in the main area occupied by the male patrons.

The main thing she noticed was that the men drank more coffee than women usually did, but there were a few exceptions, so she did not stand out for that reason. She ate a hearty breakfast and was pleased that it only cost 15 cents. Her money would last quite well at that rate.

Ethel's next step was to go to a gunsmith to purchase a .44 caliber pistol. She wanted more stopping power than she could get from her Colt Navy. From what she had heard, a big man would keep coming at you after three or four hits in the body with the Colt Navy, but only one shot anywhere on his body with a .44 would stop a man.

She was very lucky in her choice of a gunsmith. This man had a great variety of guns in stock and was partial to Smith & Wesson's top-break style of frame because it meant so much faster reloading than one could manage with a Colt. He had both a .44 and a .45 in stock, and recommended the .44-40 with a companion lever action Winchester rifle. He was able to outfit her with a pair of Model 3 American S&W pistols in .44-40. He was an excellent salesman on top of everything else, so he convinced her to wear a pistol in the crossdraw position and a pistol on her thigh. Most opponents would be expecting her to go for the thigh mounted pistol, so she would pick up a valuable edge that way. Upon reflection, she agreed with him.

While she was there, she also bought the recommended Winchester in the saddle carbine short barrel configuration. She also bought a Winchester lever action shotgun in 12-gauge (the only size available) and enough ammunition for each gun. She took the two pistols, but left the two long guns and most of the ammunition at the store until after she had a horse to carry it on.

A horse, saddle, and tack were her next purchases. She got them all at the same livery stable and saved some money on a package deal, though that was not a major concern of hers. While she was about it, she bought two oversize saddle bags; she planned to keep her money in one of them.

Speaking of money, she asked around town, yes, even in saloons, for a reliable bank. It took several hours of asking, but she finally found one with very good references, so she took the bulk of her gold there to deposit it. She made arrangements to have the credit transferred to her bank in Philadelphia when she asked for it. She kept back $2,000 and deposited the rest. The bank was delighted to get that much gold at one time.