Chapter 5

I was up before the sun the next day so I dressed and went down to get started. There was a cafe in the hotel so I had breakfast there, tipped the waitress, paid my way out, and left.

It didn't take me long to figure out Dallas was still a big town even if it wasn't nearly the size it had been when I'd last seen it. I found a livery stable and rented a horse to ride around to do my shopping.

It turned out this was a damned good move because it seemed I had to ride all over the place to find a place that sold windmills. At least I found a good one when I did.

I made a deal for the windmill and for a bunch of men to come out and install it and a water tank so I could have running water in the house once it was all working. I also made a deal to have the place plumbed for the water and I learned they had water heaters which could be included. They worked from a small wood fire but according to the salesman it would all be fixed up so the hot water came out of a different spout as long as I had a fire under the tank.

What the hell, two thousand dollars sounded like it was cheap enough to have five men come out, drill a tube well, install the tank, windmill, and water heater and plumb it all into the house. I paid in advance and took off.

It didn't take me long to find a jewelery store and buy a diamond engagement ring and was wedding band. It was a lot cheaper than the well and hot water deal so I turned in the livery nag, hitched my team and headed back home.

I kept my eyes open on the way out of town but didn't run into any more robbers. I made good time on the road and it was barely five in the afternoon when I pulled off the road into a shady little spot and got ready for night.

After setting the mules up with their supper I cooked my own and brewed some coffee. After I'd eaten I cleaned the mules up for grazing the night away hobbled and then turned in for the night.

I must have slept for about four hours when something woke me. I opened my eyes and saw a man looking into my wagon from the front. He noticed I was awake right away and spoke up.

"Don't try nothing mister. I'm here to rob you all right, but you just move slowly and I'll leave you be after you give me all your money," he said.

Hell, he didn't even have a gun in his hand and I'd slept with my Superblackhawk in my fist.

"OK, mister, you've to the drop on me. Just let me get out of my bedroll and I'll fetch my poke and give you what I've got," I told him.

Naturally I was lying through my teeth. When I swung the blanket back I pointed the Ruger at him and fired before we said anything else. The bulled went in right under his nose and I'm sure the 44 magnum hollowpoints made a mell of a hess of the insides of his head. It must have because a large part of his brain and other things left via the large exit hole.

"God damn, Jeff, are you shot?" a voice asked from behind him. I popped out of the front with my pistol leveled and saw he had a partner with him. They were a stupid bunch is the best I can say for 'em. His partner didn't have his gun out either and I had mine pointed his way.

"Jeff can't hear you no more buddy, and it won't make you a bit of difference if you don't stand plumb still. I've got my gun on you already and you can die just like he did." I said.

This part was easy for me. Jeff's partner nearly shit himself, but he stood perfectly still. I had him remove his gunbelt and bring it over to me to put it on the wagon's seat.

When I got out of the wagon and tied a rope around his neck he started begging right away.

"You might as well shut your thieving mouth. I'll kill you right now if you don't. We're going to the next town that has a marshal and I'll be turning you over to the law when I drop off your friend's body." I said.

Even though I'd told him to shut up he started wailing and bemoaning his life of crime. He claimed it was all Jeff's idea and then he said they'd only made on good score and hadn't even had time to spend up the money yet.

When I asked him where their horses were he told me and added the money from their successful robbery was in Jeff's saddle bags.

"Good," I said, "We can turn it over to the marshal when we find one."

He pissed and moaned and told me he'd only told me about it hoping I'd take it and let him go.

"You fucked up by the numbers if that's what you were planning. In case you didn't know it there are honest folks around and most of them ain't too ready to make a deal with robbers. Maybe the next marshal we come to will be able to figure out who you robbed the money off of."

"He'll never be able to give it back cause we killed them before we left," he said, just making my point about the two of them being stupid.

"That's good you told me. I'm sure the marshal will want to know it," I said.

I tied the rope around his neck to the back of the wagon and then tied his hands behind him. After breaking camp and putting my things back into the wagon I hitched the team and took off, reminding the asshole I had tied up not to fall unless he wanted to be dragged all the way to the next town.

By the time we made it to town the sun was up. I pulled right up to the town marshal's place and a deputy came out to see why I had a man tied behind my wagon.

I told him the whole story and he got a little excited, but things calmed down when the marshal showed up for work.

After I relayed everything the ignorant survivor told me the marshal went to have a talk with him. He didn't even have to pistol whip him much to get the whole story, but the dumbass would have been much better off if he'd never mentioned it.

I turned out the family they had robbed had lived in town and apparently had been a well respected bunch. Things got complicated from there on though.

The only surviving member of the family was their eighteen year old daughter. She was called in for the details and when she got them she broke down crying. Naturally I tried to comfort her and settle her down.

She clung to me from then on. She was happy enough that I'd returned her money, but for a reason I'd heard before.

Apparently she'd though she would have to turn to prostitution when her money ran out. Now she felt relieved and she was looking at me like I was her savior.

The Marshal was prompt with his work and he called a judge in and they had a trial for Jackson, the remaining thief, before the day was out. I sat in for it with the young beauty to help her keep together. The defense attorney wasn't what you'd call a firebreather and it seemed he was just as happy to see his pro bono client found guilty. It seemed he took the pro bono publico title to heart, with it meaning for the public good and all and apparently he thought the public would be better off without this asshole. Hell, he even helped the marshal question the guilty party after the trial and the man told where the wagon and horses the family had been riding in were now.

I went along with the marshall and a couple of me to repossess the stolen stock and wagon and damned if we dindn't find the rest of the gang there.

We came away with the wagon and all supplies, the mules that had pulled it and four riding horses and tack they'd had trailing along for later use. We also cleaned out the cabin they'd been holding up in and collected several rifles and pistols and the outlaw's string of horses and all their tack.