Chapter 6: A new job

That first night with Leah was all that I had hoped for. She was enthusiastic, but totally inexperienced. I had fun teaching, and Leah demonstrated that she had fun learning. Yes, we were noisy, but we heard no complaints from our elders. We "slept" until nearly noon, and Anna had a big grin on her face that turned into a laugh when she saw Leah walk into the room. Anna assured Leah that her pain between her legs would soon pass, and she would probably never be bothered by it again.

We ate a mixture of breakfast and lunch, and I got out as soon as possible when Leah and Anna began talking "woman" stuff. I headed for Aaron's shop and spent several happy hours helping him with some of his repair jobs. I had a couple of days off because I was not due to start my new job until Monday. Truthfully, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed repairing guns. I was going to have a significant gold reserve pretty soon, so I debated asking Aaron if he could use a partner.

Two more happy days at the gun shop and two more happy evenings with Leah, and then I finally learned what was so special about Saturday. The Schwartzes were as Orthodox as it was possible to be in Tucson, Arizona Territory, in that era; therefore, they did no work from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. That included Anna not cooking. On Friday, she fixed enough food to carry the family through Saturday with sandwiches and that sort of thing, but the Sabbath was spent in prayer and quiet contemplation. There was a rabbi in Tucson, and he held a small service in his home. They attended that, but they walked to the service for religious reasons.

I went with them, more out of curiosity than anything else, but I went fully dressed. That meant that I wore my guns under my dress coat. I did not say anything to the Schwartzes about wearing them, I just did it because I felt better dressed that way.

Leah was happy that I joined them because that gave me an opportunity to meet beforehand the people that she and her mother were inviting to the wedding. I was surprised when I was asked to wear my hat throughout the service since I did not have a yarmulka, the prayer cap for men. Of course, I was surprised, but I waited until we got home to ask Aaron about it.

Unfortunately, none of the service was in English, so I did not know what was said; nevertheless, I was impressed by the demeanor of the people there. As we walked home, Leah gave me a rundown on what had gone on.

We had a light snack when we got home, and I had my discussion with Aaron about the hat issue. He was impressed when I said that, now that I understood the significance of it, I thought that I should have a yarmulka of my own. Leah promised to knit one for me and have it ready by next Saturday. Anna and Leah fixed dinner after sundown that night, and it was a gala affair. The Schwartzes made no effort to convert me to their religion, but were very happy that I was so accepting of their beliefs. I did not say so, but I was a "sort of Methodist," so I could be tolerant of anybody who did not push me too hard.

That evening, I asked Aaron about the possibility of joining him in his business. I said that I would be willing to buy in as a very junior partner. I told him that I was looking for some work that would not require me to be away from Leah the way bounty hunting would demand.

Aaron offered me an even better deal: "Joe, I know that you already know much about guns, but I do not know how much you know about dealing with people. I propose that you come to work as my apprentice. We will count the fee normally charged to a new apprentice as Leah's dowry. No cash will actually change hands, but we will have satisfied all of society's requirements. How does that sound to you?"

"Boss, I do not know of a better offer. I will take you up on that offer as soon as I finish with my commitment to the stagecoach company, if that is okay with you."

"Oh, I am quite happy with that. I am sure that Leah will feel the same way. I will make you a full partner when you are ready, and you can take over the business when I am ready to retire. Let us go tell the women of our agreement; they certainly deserve to know of it."

Both women were ecstatic over the agreement, and Aaron said that he would take care of the legal paperwork as soon as he could arrange a meeting with his lawyer. Leah was especially happy, and she wanted to adjourn to our bedroom for a more intimate celebration. You can imagine how much I argued with her!

When Monday came around, I went to the stagecoach coach office to let them know that I was ready to start working for the company. Mr. Armitage was glad to see me—there had been a robbery on Saturday. One passenger had been killed and another one raped, so he could hardly wait for me to get started. I did not dawdle, but headed directly for the place most likely to be hit on Monday.

Unfortunately, I was too late to prevent the robbery, but I did get there in time to kill one of the bandits as they were leaving. There were no deaths or rapes this time, but I was pissed off at myself for being late to the scene. At least, there was one bandit who had made his last robbery!

Tuesday was generally an off day for the bandits, so I headed back to Tucson. I did want to report the results of the first battle with me as a company employee, and I wanted to collect my $60. It would be a help in paying for the wedding ring I was getting for Leah.

I spent Monday night with Leah and headed for the next robbery site I expected for Wednesday. It was close to Phoenix, so I needed the extra travel day, and I still had to hurry to be there on time. I damned sure did not want to be late for this robbery!

I spent that night on a pile of hay in a livery stable—I did not like the looks of the town's hotel. I had plenty of jerky and pemmican with me, so I did not pause for breakfast. My horse was pretty damned tired by the time I got to the expected site for the robbery, but I seemed to be ahead of the bandits. I found a good place for my horse and for myself and settled down to wait for the bad guys to show up.

They were a little late, and I was beginning to wonder if I had guessed wrong, but they eventually showed up before the stage got there. I made a point of staying out of sight while they got ready for the ambush. The bandits pushed a few moderate size rocks across the road and took up their positions. Those rocks were not very big, but they were large enough to be a danger to the mules and the wheels of the stagecoach.

There were six bandits in this gang, and I did not recognize any from earlier robberies. That really meant nothing because they were all dressed pretty much the same, and I was never close enough to see the face of a live bandit. What it did mean, though, was that the bandits had no trouble recruiting for the gang. These men were mostly farmers who worked very hard in the spring and fall, but were pretty much at loose-ends during the peak of summer. Therefore, they became bandits out of boredom as much as anything else.

Sure, a big robbery would net them enough to live in what they considered to be luxury, but that was not the main purpose for turning to banditry. The chance of being killed was something they were willing to face. Young men always assumed that it would be somebody else who was unlucky enough to be killed. The thrill of shooting and being shot at was too much to miss out on!

Anyway, it was only a short wait for the bandits until the stagecoach showed up. I did not need to have any testimony about the fact that I was fighting the bandits since I was now a company employee. Therefore, as soon as the bandits started to make aggressive moves toward the stagecoach, I started shooting. They had no idea that I was behind them, and they panicked as soon as their first man fell.

I was safely ensconced among the rocks, so they could not get a good line on me. I was lucky, and there was enough breeze to blow the powder smoke away reasonably quickly. For that reason, the bandits were having some trouble identifying where I was hiding. I picked off a second man with my rifle before they found my general location and began shooting in my direction.

Most of them still did not know exactly where I was, but I was fully aware of their exact locations. The result was that I could shoot them fairly easily, but they could not shoot me unless they got very lucky. A man whom I assumed was the leader spotted me first; I guess that was why he was the leader! Anyway, the bandits were forced to ignore the stagecoach and to concentrate on me. An assessment of the relative dangers made that the obvious choice.