by M. Shaunessy
“Stay where you are!” John said wearily.
Bowing Eagle heard the explosion and aimed his bow at the jailhouse. He hesitated a bit, and lowered his weapon. He had good eyes as he saw the man in the white hat aiming his gun. Unfortunately, at his angle he could not see whom he was aiming at. He figured El Cato as he continued watching.
Fox never shot a man before only game and he was nervous. Even though he has nothing left to live for, he did not fear death.
El Cato and Paco laughed at him and said, “Amigo, you think you can shoot me with that big slow gun?” He quickly drew his Colt and fired at Fox. “Mine is faster Ha Ha.”
Fox fell to the ground, dead. Bowing Eagle was shocked. He wanted to shoot his arrow, but he had no target.
At the edge of town, Lightning Bear heard the shot and the explosion and knew it was El Cato. He told his men to follow as gallop towards the source of the commotion. He then saw John Fox, dead on the ground as the Mexicans laughed at his body. Lightning Bear was enraged. Even though he hated Fox for betraying the tribe, it was no way to honor him, by laughing after he was dead.
He drew the gun Jacob gave him. He never had any practice firing it before. He thought it would be as easy as shooting an arrow. He aimed and pulled the trigger. Missed. He tried again. Missed. He pulled once more and only heard clicks. It was empty.
El Cato looked at the oncoming onslaught of Indians and frowned. He told his men to evade and destroy the town. He looked back to Lightning Bear, aimed his Colt, and fired. Lightning Bear grunted and fell off his horse. He felt the bullet rip through his lungs as he crashed on the ground.
Bowing Eagle was now more horrified. His friend was now dead, and he could not do anything to help him. Anger started to build up in him. He wanted El Cato. He aimed his bow waiting for a clear shot.
The Mexican leader laughed and rode off to join the others. One of Jicarilla men saw this and stopped by Lightning Bear. Lightning Bear told him to forget him and to continue the fight. His eyes fell as blood trickled from his lips. Lighting Bear was dead. The Jicarilla warrior was angered, yelled in a war chant to his fellow Indians.
When El Cato got in range, Bowing Eagle aimed once more. Then suddenly the whole roof shook as he heard a deafening sound from the other side of the courthouse. It was an explosion that knocked him off his feet. His first thought was of Jacob. He wondered if he was all right, as he knew that he was in side. He saw fire and smoke bellowing from the west end and knew it will not be safe to stay on the roof, but he promised that he would keep an eye out for the sheriff or the judge.
Bullets flew every which way as Carl, ready with his Winchester in hand, took refuge in his ho-tel. He figured the sheriff’s men would handle it, but as he peeked out the window, he saw three of the hired gunmen shot dead by El Cato’s men, including Luke. Carl had counted there were about twice as many Mexicans as there were gunman, including himself.
Glass shattered above him as a bullet ripped over his head. Carl cursed to himself as the bullet hit the cubby where he kept the keys. The last thing he needed was to repair the damage to the hotel, even though gunfights like this are not that rare to happen in Clayton.
He peeked out once more and to his surprise, a tribe of Indians showed up and joined in the fight. The Indians armed themselves with bows and arrows as well as tomahawks. This perplexed Carl. Why would a pack of Indians invade Clayton at a time like this? Dumb Injins, he thought. This was not a gunfight; this was an all out war.
A body suddenly fell past the window as he knew it was a watchman that was posted on the rooftop. Carl cursed again. He then saw a Bandito galloping around the courthouse lighting a stick of dynamite. Moments later he heard another explosion.
“Carl! What happened now!?” Sara asked franticly.
“Court house got hit!” he replied, “Now git back to the bar! There’s no place for a lady up here.”
She pouted knowing he was right as she walked back to the saloon. Then two blast of gunfire scared the wits out of Sara just as soon as she pushed the door to the saloon. The shot took out a chunk of wall, just to the left of her. She screeched and immediately hit the floor in defense. This angered Carl as he readied his weapon, aim his gun through the shattered window, and shot the nearest Mexican bandito.
He looked back to his wife and asked, “You alright?”
She looked back to Carl and nodded. She then crawled on her hands and knees back to the bar.
A minute has passed and from Carl’s ears, it seemed that the gunshots were diminishing. He was not sure if that was good or bad. He took a one more peek. He saw the Indians with their tomahawks chopping the banditos like meat. However, the Mexicans were shooting them one by one. He did not see any more hired gunman. He figured El Cato and his men as well as the Indians finished them off. Carl wondered if this would ever end.
At the end of the street where the courthouse is, Carl saw El Cato and his brother stop in front of the door. He wondered what the Mexican was up now.
One of the doors of the courthouse swung open. Gray smoke bellowed out and so did Jacob, carrying the judge. He coughed and hacked, the he looked up to see El Cato and his brother aiming their guns at him.
Grinning from ear to ear, El Cato said, “Hola Amigo. We got to stop meeting like this. Now my question is, is he alive?”
At this point Jacob was pissed off at El Cato and was not sure what he was thinking of doing. He could kill him, but holding the judge with both hands seemed impossible to access his knife.
“Yes, but he needs medical attention,” he replied sternly.
“What a coincidence!” El Cato said as he aimed at the judge’s heart, “I can ease his pain real quick.”
“You son of a bitch,” Jacob said arrogantly, “You can’t do that!”
“You know you’re right. I might kill you too, and we can’t have that,” said El Cato, “Why don’t you put him down and step away. I got a judgment of my own to do.”
Bowing Eagle looked down, saw his friend with El Cato, and wondered how the scene was going to unfold. He pulled his bow, aiming at El Cato’s dark heart now that he had a clear shot, but he hesitated. Perhaps Jacob could talk some sense into the bandito.
Jacob looked at his advisory’s eyes and replied, “No. It’s not right. You want to kill him; you got to kill me first.”
“Alight, Paco matarlo,” El Cato ordered.
Paco hesitated as El Cato repeated his order.
Paco cocked the hammer back on his gun, as Bowing Eagle adjusted his aim. The arrow was now in insight of Paco’s heart. In addition, as if time slowed down for the apache Indian, he fired his arrow. The arrow flew through the air and hit Paco’s chest. Paco grunted and fired his weapon completely missing Jacob’s heart, but it hit his shoulder causing him to drop the unconscious judge on the ground. Paco slumped forward, and then slid off his horse.
Jane and Gabe stopped, saw this while they were fleeing to the station, and cried in horror. Jane fearfully turned and ran back to the courthouse as Gabe tried to restrain her.
El Cato was enraged. He looked up and saw Bowing Eagle reloading his bow. Jacob glanced up as El Cato aimed and fired at Jacob’s friend. Bowing Eagle seemed to disappear from view and this angered Jacob. Like lightning, Jacob took the knife out and flung it at El Cato, blade in hand. The knife pierced right in his throat. Blood spew out as El Cato gargled as he tried to grab his throat, but he fell off his horse and landed on the ground dead.
Jacob sighed in relief even though he felt great pain in his shoulder; he knew it was all over. He looked up at the roof of the courthouse and wondered if Bowing Eagle was ok as she saw the smoke spew from it. Jane and Gabe ran over to him. Jane hugged and kissed him like never be-fore.
“Oh my god Jake,” she said frightfully, “I thought he was going to kill you.”
“I know,” he replied, “Me too.” He looked to his brother and asked, “You ok little brother?”
Gabe nodded, “Yeah that was some knife throwi
ng.”
“Not really, I was aiming for his shoulder,” he replied as he slightly smiled.
“Oh my God, Jake you‘re bleeding,” said Jane looking at his shoulder. She took off her Habit tore the stitched and tended to Jacob’s wound. She wrapped the black cloth around his shoulder and his forearm and knotted it. She then looked down at the judge and asked, “Is he ok?”
They all followed her gaze as they heard a grunt from him.
Jacob knelt down and asked, “Judge? You ok?”
Marshall opened his eyes and replied wearily, “Judge? What’s a judge? Who-who are you?”
The trio looked at each other perplexed. Then Jacob realized that he must have amnesia, from when the bust hit his head. He needed a doctor as the judge fainted once more.
Carl and the other town folk came out to them. They saw the fire as Carl ordered the locals to fetch some buckets and water from the tower. Jacob forgot about the fire and told Gabe and Jane to help. Carl told Sara to fetch the local doctor for the judge. She acknowledged and scurried off. It took the town’s folk about an hour to subdue the fire with the help of Jacob, Gabe and Jane.
The local doctor ran out as fast as he could with Sara. He was tall thin gentleman with jet black hair and mustache to match. He carried his dusty black bag over and saw the chaos. He tended Judge Marshall first. He took out a roll of bandaged and began to work. He told Sara that he needed to lie down on a soft bed. She acknowledged and helped him bring the judge back to the hotel.
As the smoke residue floated to the sky, Carl came over to them and they surveyed the after-math. What a mess Jacob thought. Carl looked to the trio smiled and patted Jacob on the back.
“You three look like you need a beer,” he said slyly.
The three chuckled and laughed lightly as they accepted his proposal, except Gabe.
“Not for me.” He said as Jane and Jacob looked him a bit surprised, “I think I learned my lesson. No more beers. It’s unhealthy.”
The couple laughed at that comment as Carl just smiled knowing what Gabe’s been though. They then heard rustling noises coming from the courthouse. They turned only to see Bowing Eagle stumble out from the side. They all ran to him as Jacob noticed that he was injured. His shoulder was bleeding too.
Jacob smiled at him and said, “You ok? You look you need a doctor?”
Bowing Eagle shook his head and replied, “No, I’ll be fine.” He looked at El Cato’s body as he saw the knife was plunged in his neck. “You would make an excellent warrior Jacob.”
They laughed once more at the Chiricahua’s remark.
Bowing Eagle smiled and said, “It looks like my work here is done. I must now return to my home.”
Jacob held out his right hand in gesture of friendship as Bowing Eagle shook it. He then said, “Thank you; for everything.”
“You are most welcome,” replied the Chiricahua warrior as he turned to Carl, “I hope both of our people would live in harmony now.”
Carl looked at the Indian not sure what to respond then said, “Only time will tell.”
Bowing Eagle nodded and walked off to his horse, which was waiting for him by the hotel. The trio watched as he mounted his stead waved good-bye and rode off out of town. The others waved back. Jacob wondered if he‘d ever see him again. Only time will tell.
Chapter 16
The Reward
The smell of bacon filled the room as Jane and Gabe entered the saloon. Jacob told them, as they were in the lobby that he had had to telegraph Uncle John telling him that they were sorry and unable to come to Frenso. They made a decision last night. They had enough of the western culture and just want to return home. It was not as they had enjoyed it, it was just they were not ready for it as they had thought; pretty much it was too rough for them to handle.
“Ok so, you still gonna tell me what the surprise was then?” Gabe asked.
Jacob sighed and replied, “Uncle John brought a gold mine in the nearby mountains and he wanted to share it with us by helping him mine it out.”
“A gold mine! And we’re going back home?!” Gabe exclaimed. “I think that smoke you in-haled got to your brain!”
“Then are you saying we should continue with our trip?” Jacob asked.
“Jacob honey,” Jane said interrupting them, “I wanna go home. Please.”
Jacob nodded in agreement and said to Gabe, “I’m going to take Jane home. If you want to go on, you’re free to do so. You’re a grown man Gabe, I’m sure you can make any decision you want.”
“Really? I can do whatever I want?”
Jacob nodded and said, “Just be sure you’re not in jail while you’re doing it.”
“You’re serious about this aren’t you?”
“Gabe, I can’t baby sit you all your life. I think that from your experience here, you can handle whatever life throws at you. You earned it.”
Gabe smiled at him, and then it faded, “You know, it’s not going to be fun traveling without you Jake…And I don’t want to go on by myself, I want you come along. Not because you always look out for me, it’s because, you’re my brother, my family. Both of you are, but if you want to go home, and miss out on all the fun and excitement we’ll have, then I’ll come home too. I mean what good gold is when you can’t share it with the people you love right?”
Jacob smiled at his brother, “Right.”
That was last night. Jacob left the hotel and headed towards the train station to send that telegraph. Gabe and Jane sat down at an empty table as Sara walked over to get their orders. They wanted eggs and bacon and told her that Jacob would join them later.
When Sara brought their plates out, Jacob entered the saloon. Jane noticed he had a sad expression on his face and knew something was wrong.
“Jake?” she started, “What happened? Was there a problem with the telegraph service?”
“No,” he replied sadly, “Aunt Linda sent a telegraph to me saying that… Uncle John died.”
Jane gasped at the news and said, “Oh my god!”
Gabe’s mouth dropped, not believing the news, and then asked, “How did he die?”
Jacob frowned and replied, “He…he died in a mining accident a few days ago.”
“Oh my god,” Jane repeated.
Soon their appetites diminished. The brothers knew Uncle John since as long as they could re-member. They were saddened about the news. Their uncle was like a second father to them. He had always played games with them when they were young, and now they will never play with him again. They sat silently for a few moments, remembering their uncle.
They heard footsteps walking towards them and a voice called to Jacob. They turned their heads and saw two men. One was a short pudgy character dressed in fine clothing. The other was a tall man wearing a leather coat that had a tin star on it. Jacob read it: U.S. Marshall of New Mexico. He wondered what a U.S. Marshall wanted of him. Then he remembered that they were still wanted for robbing the train a couple of days ago. Butterflies entered his stomach, as he did not know what else could go wrong. Perhaps the news did not travel that far, perhaps the El Cato incident would over shadow theirs. He took a deep breath and hoped for good news.
“Yes, can we help you?” Jacob asked unsurely.
“I’m U.S. Marshall, Marcus Downs. I heard you took down a known felon by the name of Jose Contreaues, aka El Cato.”
Jacob nodded, “I-I did sir. But I-.”
Downs then motioned to the short man next to him as he produced a burlap bag and placed it on the table in front of them. It was a moneybag from the local bank. The trio looked at in awe, but was confused about it.
Marshall Downs continued, “The owner of local bank, Mr. Hull here, would like to thank you for stopping that mad man. You know there is a five hundred dollar reward for him, dead or alive, as he is wanted in three states. You all should be proud, you did this state a good service. A great service in fact we are going to cover up that little incident on the Santa Fe from Albuquerque a couple days
ago.”
The butterflies in Jacob’s stomach faded away as now he was relieved to hear the news.
“Thank you, I mean, well you’re welcome, but-,” Jacob said. He stopped and looked at the mo-neybag, then to Jane and his brother. He then looked back to Marshall Downs and said, “We can’t accept this.”
Downs had a confused looked on him and said, “But you earned it sir.”
“I know, but, our intensions were not to apprehend or kill El Cato,” he said, “We were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Hmm,” Downs nodded, “Well, I like you Mr. Jones, you’re an honest man. I tell you what, that money is now legally yours. Even though your intensions weren’t there, your hearts were.”
“Jake honey?” Jane said as he looked to her and to Gabe.
Five hundred dollars was a lot of money that they can use. Jacob can afford the dream wedding that he and Jane had planned, perhaps buy a home and settle down.
Jacob smiled politely to Marshall Downs and said, “Thanks.”
“No thank you,” He tipped his grey cowboy hat and said, “Well, I must be off. It was nice meetin’ all of ya.”
Jane then asked, “Excuse me? What will become of Judge Marshal?”
Marshall Downs nodded remembering him and replied, “Well, the doctor examined him and I am afraid he does have amnesia. He said did not know when Judge Marshal’s memory will return. He was hit pretty bad on the noggin and will be spending a long time in Albuquerque Insane Asylum until he starts remembering what happened last night. As for his crime for defrauding the United States Commerce department, which is a serious federal crime, he cannot appear in court being in his current condition and all. Well, I have bad guys to find and apprehend, have a good day folks.”