Chapter 8

We made it back ta Austin afore the weather got too damned cold, thank God! Ta tell the truth, Austin is as far north as I want ta be when winter comes! When it comes ta seasons, I figure God made three of 'em, but Satan made winter.

Nevertheless, I still was a kid when it came ta presents, soz I was right happy when Christmas/New Year came around. Most people what went ta church right regular-like had switched ta givin' presents at Christmas, but there was still lots of folks what counted New Year as the day fer handin' out gifts.

Alice was a regular church goer, soz we did our gift givin' at Christmas. I got each of the women a warm stole, but the two pistols I gave ta Sam took the prize fer the day. Sam was practically jumpin' out of his skin when he got a good look at them two pistols. He made a point of showin' Annie an' Alice how the double action worked, an' how easy it was ta reload them nine cartridges in the cylinder. The women thanked me, too, fer givin' Sam such a useful gift.

I received a new pair of boots from the women. I teased them 'bout which one was givin' me the right boot an' which one was givin' me the left boot. They was a right nice pair of boots, an' I really appreciated them. Sam gave me a new bowie knife what was a handy thin' ta have, since my old knife was wearin' out. All-in-all, it was a right nice Christmas.

I wore my new boots ta church, the women wore their new stoles, an' Sam just had ta wear his new guns. His coat covered the guns in their crossdraw holsters, so they didn't draw any adverse comment, an' Sam didn't git inta no fights with the real sanctimonious types.

Of course, I never went anywhere without my guns, either, soz both of us was well armed that day. We didn't need the guns that day, but it sure was better ta have them guns an' not need them then is was ta be the other way around. In our business, we couldn't afford ta take silly chances, even ifen we could read minds. Ya never knew when somethin' might slip by.

Anyway, Sam an' I lazed around the place storin' up all of the rest that we could stand. The first sign of warm weather had us down ta the courthouse pickin' up a fresh set of wanted posters. We was out on the road two days later, an' believe me, we was glad ta git out of the house. Talk about a case of cabin fever! We'd had all of the indoors we could take, an' the women had all of the restless men they could take!

We both had the same hunch ta head toward Dallas. The wanted posters had triggered the feelin' in both of us, even though we didn't know at the time just who we needed ta be on the lookout fer. That meeting with Archie Klingford was enough ta convince both of us that our hunches were not ta be ignored. There was a couple of galoots worth $500 each, an' we hoped ta spot one of them.

It was early in the spring, an' the road agents must of been right hungry, 'cause we met our first one only a few miles from home. A rifle bullet from what sounded like a Spencer passed right close ta my head. Ifen I had not been payin' attention ta my surroundin's an' listenin' out fer hostile thoughts, that bullet would sure as hell have hit me between the eyes. But I had just enough warnin' ta duck as the trigger was pulled, an' the bullet missed me, but it snagged my hat brim.

Sam was alert, too, an' he had one of his new pistols out an' blastin' away afore the sound of that rifle shot faded away. The result was one dead road agent. Sam did have the presence of mind ta shoot the galoot in the chest, soz we had a clear face ta use fer identification. We was both right happy that he had shot the man where he had, 'cause he was worth $40.

We took what we wanted from the body, including $30 in gold an' silver. This guy must of just come out of winter quarters ta have so little on him, but we didn't complain too much when we found that he had a new hat what fit right well on Sam's head. A hat of this quality cost around $10, so we figured that we could live with the little bit of cash that we recovered. The body was turned in ta the marshal in the next town we came ta, soz we were ready ta collect our bounty at the next county seat.

The next day, we ran inta two road agents what was workin' together. They had a smart deal goin'. One man rode out ta confront the victims while the other one stayed back in the bushes ta cover the first man. We'd of been caught, too, ifen Sam hadn't picked up the thoughts of the cover man. I was busy with the man we could see, soz it was Sam's job ta cover me.

Anyway, the first man rode out into the middle of the road an' demanded that we stop. Of course, we did stop. Who wouldn't, starin' inta the muzzle of a Colt Army conversion. I mentally told Sam ta take care of the cover man, 'cause I wanted ta try somethin' with the man facin' me. By now, I knew that I was so damned fast with my gun that there wasn't nobody who could keep up with me except, possibly, Sam.

As soon as I saw the drawn gun, I reacted. I pulled my gun an' fired a shot, not at the bandit's chest, but at his gun. My idea was ta git in the first bullet an' knock that pistol off line afore it could be fired. I willed my bullet ta hit the cylinder, hopin' that that my bullet would jam the gun so that it couldn't shoot. My second bullet was put into the road agent's chest over his heart.

I ain't sure exactly how it happened, but the gun exploded when it was hit by my first bullet. He was usin' Henry rim-fire ammunition, an' that may have been what caused his disaster when my slug hit his gun, but the explosion of the gun tore his hand ta pieces. He would have died from loss of blood from the artery in his wrist ifen I hadn't already killed him with my second bullet.

Anyway, I had proved what I was lookin' for; namely, that I could shoot a bullet into a gun an' stop it from shootin'. I just hoped I never had ta do that ta try ta save a life, 'cause an explodin' gun wasn't nothin' ta be complacent about!

Neither one of these two galoots was on a wanted poster, but we did pick up nearly $50 in gold an' silver between the two, an' we had their stuff ta sell. Overall, it was worth about $100, so we didn't come out too bad. We did salvage the cover-man's gun 'cause Sam had shot him in the chest an' nothin' was lost.

A cold wind came up durin' the night, so we spent the next day rotatin' from one ta the next of the three saloons in town. Damned ifen I didn't switch ta sasparilla afore too long. It wasn't so bad when I cooled it down, an' I was afeared of drinkin' too much beer. I didn't want it affectin' my judgement, but that sasparilla sent me ta the jakes nearly as often as that much beer would have.

I'd been teachin' Sam ta play poker, an' I had admonished him not ta use his mind readin' skills ta give him an edge in the game. The day started ta drag a bit, soz he an' I joined in on a game what was penny ante an' limited ta table stakes. We had some fun fer a while, an' we lost about as much as we won while bein' very careful not ta cheat.

However, the game broke up after a couple of hours, so we moved on ta another saloon where there was more games goin' on. There was three games, an' I swept through the minds of the dealers ta find out if any of them was cheatin'. Ha! All three of them was cheatin' as much as they thought they could get away with. I also found out that they was all partners an' would cover fer each other in case of trouble.

Not only were they carryin' the usual Colt Navy conversion in a thigh holster, but they had an S&W .32 caliber hideout gun in a boot an' a derringer on a spring device up their sleeve. Shit, these galoots were lookin' fer trouble, it seemed ta me. Sam wanted ta sit in on a game an' expose the cheatin', so I agreed ta go along because I was lookin' fer a way ta fight boredom. I had already drunk all I could hold, soz I had ta try ta dry out afore I drowned!