Chapter 8

We reached Carlsbad without incident and picked up the wanted posters. I no longer looked so young, so I did not attract attention for that reason. My voice had deepened, so that was no problem, either. We spent a day in Carlsbad, but did not find any action. We left for Las Cruces without delay.

Las Cruces was a bit more interesting. We found two men that we arrested. Interestingly enough, neither one wanted to fight, so we didn't have to kill anybody. Actually, I was glad, because I was no longer so anxious to prove that I was as good as the next man. These two brought us $55, so we were off to a good start.

There was nothing else for us in Las Cruces, so we headed west. There were so few towns through here that it looked like we had made a mistake. We were saved from a complete fiasco by a small band of Mexicans who were holding up a stage as we caught sight of them. There were seven Mexicans standing around a coach with their guns drawn. This did not look like a good place to try another cavalry charge, so we halted about 100 yards away and dismounted. We took our Winchesters from their scabbards and moved up to some large rocks where we could find a steady position to shoot from.

Both of us were good shots at that range, so we were able to knock down four of the bandits before the other three were called away on urgent business elsewhere. When the three Mexicans left, one of the women picked up a gun and methodically shot each of the bandits in the ear. This made something of a mess, but it insured that they were dead.

We rode up to the stage and found that the driver and guard were dead. There were two men and two women passengers, and, fortunately, one of the men knew how to drive a six-mule team. We helped the passenger/driver to the box. The bodies of the driver and the guard were tied to the top of the coach and the dead bandits were tied to their horses. We made quite a parade as we traveled back to town to the stage office. The passengers were put up in the hotel until a new driver and guard could be found. We collected a $100 reward for killing the four bandits, and made an additional $63 from selling their mounts, tack, and guns. A very profitable day, overall.

We rode on to Lordsburg, but found nothing of interest. Shit! NMT was not as profitable as I had hoped. We decided to head north to see if we could find anything. Maybe we could find something by heading toward the gold fields around Santa Fe.

I swear, this was going to be my last trip to NMT. Here we were, almost to Santa Fe, and we've only made a total of $95 on this leg of the trip. Surely, we will start finding people pretty soon. This lack of action is driving me crazy, both because I want the money and because I was the one who wanted to go to NMT. I hate to look foolish, and this trip is sure making me look that way.

Maybe the town of Fatima with offer us something to work with. We went into the first saloon we came to, and found it empty, except for the bartender. "Howdy, Gents. What can I get my first customers of the day?"

Jeff said, "We'll have a Mexican beer, if you please. Where is everybody? I've never seen a place look so dead."

"Here ya are, two Mexican beers. That'll be 24 cents ... Thank you ... Everybody is out hunting for gold. A new strike was reported off in the hills west of here two days ago, and practically the whole town took off. Oh ... Here come some more customers, so I'll have ta tend ta them. Take any seat in the house. It ain't like we're hurtin' fer space."

We sat down near the front door and sipped our beer. "Jeff, did you see what I saw? Those look like the Hallet twins. If they are, they are worth $750 a piece."

"Yeah, and that other galoot is Jacob Ooslert. He's good for $600. I wonder what they are doing here and if there is any more of the gang around."

"I've got an idea. Trust me." I went out the front door and looked up and down the street, trying to find any more horses. None were to be seen, so it looked like these three are the only ones. I went back and sat down. "I don't see anybody else, so it should be safe to hit these three. I'm going to move so that we can get them in a crossfire. HEY, BARKEEP, WHICH WAY TO THE JAKES, IF YOU PLEASE?" He pointed to a door which was in a very convenient place for my plan.

I went to the door and opened it. I stepped part way through so that I could dodge behind it if things got out of hand. I turned around and drew my revolver from my boot holster. "DUCK OUT OF THE WAY, BARKEEP! YOU THREE MEN ARE UNDER ARREST! KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR GUNS AND I WON'T SHOOT!"

All three of the galoots at the bar tried to duck and reach for their guns at the same time. That just doesn't work well when you gun is at your thigh. Try it sometime. I fired one shot into the floor between Ooslert's legs. He froze while the other two slowly raised their hands. Ooslert pretended to raise his hands, but he pulled a hide out gun from his waist beside his backbone. That was the signal for Jeff to shoot. He put a bullet into Ooslert's side; it was a dead man's hit, because nobody could survive that kind of wound. Ooslert fell to the floor, and the other two protested that they were not reaching for a gun.

Jeff kept them covered while I took their guns and patted them down for additional guns and knives. Man, those Hallet twins were a walking arsenal! I asked the bartender, "Which way to the marshal's office, if you please?"

"His office an' the jail are in the next block, that way. Man, that was a slick capture, y'all are good. The problem is that the marshal did like most everybody else in town an' took off fer the gold fields. No tellin' when he will be back."

"Well, I guess we will just have to lock up these men by ourselves. We'll be back for the one on the floor. If he wakes up, ask him to wait on us. We'll be back with some laudanum."

Jeff and I marched the two twins to the jail and locked them in a cell. We found the keys hanging on a post, so there was no problem getting the cell door open. Just in case, I carried the keys with me when we went back for Ooslert.

Well, things were a lot simpler than I had expected. Ooslert had died while we were at the jail. We stuck the weapons we had piled on the bar into our belts and dragged Ooslert to the jail by his feet. We threw his body into another cell and tried to figure what to do next.

We had to wait a week for the marshal to show up. We ate our meals by breaking into a restaurant and cooking for ourselves and our prisoners. We figured to pay for the food when the restaurant owner finally showed up.

The marshal came into his office and was surprised to see us waiting for him. Jeff said, "Howdy, Marshal. We're bounty hunters, an' we've got three men here we need receipts fer. Two are alive an' one is dead. We'd like fer ya ta he'p us out, ifen ya please."

He had to hear the whole story, but he eventually wrote out the receipts for us. We were happy to leave Fatima, but it sure was a profitable visit. We figured to cash in our receipts when we got to Santa Fe. That $2,100 bounty was going to let us get home a little sooner than we expected.

We did our business in Santa Fe and left for home. Since we were so far north, I wanted to go by Amarillo to check in on my favorite gunsmith. I didn't buy anything but some ammunition, but we had a pleasant conversation.

We got home nearly a month earlier than usual, but everybody was glad to see us. I had trouble recognizing the house. There were three wings added to the original house. One was for John and Ann, and they were already living there. Another was earmarked for Martha and Jeff, and Martha was already using it. The last one was for me, and I moved in that first night. Ma kept her room in the old part of the house; she said that there was too much sentimental attachment for her to want to move.

Each wing had three bedrooms, and Jeff was assigned a different one from Martha. I wondered how long he would be in that room by himself. Now that Jeff was home, Martha wanted the wedding yesterday, if not sooner, but Ma made her agree to contain herself until the preacher was in town Wednesday of next week. I'll bet that is going to work! Ha!