“Get in, get in, but head straight into the store and take off your wet clothes and boots, or my wife will have words with ya.”
“Understandable, Reverend,” I replied.
We all filed in and took an immediate sharp right through the open door that led into the back area of the Tunstall Store. We all removed our boots and would’ve continued with our soaked clothes, but we heard a noise close to the main entrance. There we noted the shape of a woman building a fire in the stove that heated the front of the store.
Shutting the door to the stove, the light dimmed, but I recognized Mary Ealy’s voice the moment she spoke. “We heard you come into the corral, so I started this for you.”
“Much obliged, ma’am,” I said, placing my dirty boots against the wall under the back window.
“I see you picked up the store a bit,” Charlie said. “Last I knew, this place had been ransacked.”
Mary set the poker down and came toward us. “A shipment John made before he died finally came in. The doctor assisted Rob and Sam with restockin’ the shelves while Miss Gates and I cleaned the place up.”
She always referred to her husband as “the doctor,” and I never really understood why she didn’t call him Taylor or Reverend. But that was her way I supposed.
“Rob wants to open the store back up for business to help pay for all the work y’all been doin’. Problem is, with all that is goin’ on with the legal paperwork, well, he can’t open it up until after the spring term of court,” she said.
“He can only do that if McSween is acquitted of charges or found not guilty,” Fred pointed out.
“He will be,” MacNab said. “They’ve got nothin’ on him, and they know it. It’s Murphy and Dolan’s last effort to get some money to save their store. Mark my words, if McSween wins, they’ll have to close down.”
“God willin’,” Mary said. “I’ll leave you boys to dry off and get warm. There’s more wood and matches there by the fireplace. I reckon you’ll want to start that as well. I have some coffee on the stove in our room. I’ll bring you some shortly. Have you eaten?”
“Not since this afternoon, ma’am,” Middleton replied.
She eyed the large man with a small smile. “Well, we’ll see what we can do to remedy that. Please, get warm and rest a bit. Y’all been ridin’ in the rain all day, and that is hard enough without addin’ on all the other stress.”
Without waiting on a reply, she walked through the door that separated their apartment from the store and shut it behind her. None of us dallied in removing our wet clothes and putting on the driest thing we could find. While we did, I told the Reverend of McSween’s orders.
Once we were all decent, he opened the door to his apartments. “Mary, could you bring me the other lantern?”
I stepped into the doorway to see his wife at the small stove. She didn’t move a muscle. Instead, she replied, “Suzie has it. Miss Gates? The doctor requires the lantern.”
“Of course,” came the voice of the school teacher from the second room. A moment later, Miss Gates softly swept into the room, still in her dress from the day, her hair piled high on her head, and slippers on her feet. She crossed the room and handed the lantern to the Reverend who gave it to me. Noticing us, she said, “Good evenin’, gentlemen.”
Each of us replied in kind in our own unique way, yet as Suzie opened her mouth to reply, she stopped, distracted by the feel of someone tugging on her skirts. Standing there was the Reverend’s eldest daughter, Anna, her hair down and nightgown on.
“What are you doin’ out of bed, sweetheart? Come now, let’s get you back.”
“But it’s so dark,” Anna complained.
“We’ll light a candle,” Miss Gates told her as thunder boomed outside, causing the adobe walls to shake and the girl, no more than three-feet-high, to grasp Miss Gates’s leg. Bending down, Suzie picked up the three-year old and propped the girl on her hip. “Better yet, we’ll light two. How’s that sound?”
Anna nodded. “But why’s it so loud?”
“Oh, that’s nothing but our Heavenly Father and his angels bowling in Heaven, love,” Mary Ealy said, a metal candle holder in her hand, complete with a tall, lit taper snuggly fit into the center. “Ya see, you have nothin’ to fear.” She handed the candle to Miss Gates, who set Anna back down so she could take it. “Now go on back to bed, and Suzie will finish readin’ to you, all right?”
Anna nodded again, even though she didn’t appear sold on the explanation about God and the angels bowling in Heaven. I wondered if I’d ever believed my mother when she’d told me the same story. I was in the middle of thinking about this when a knock came at the rear door to the Ealy apartments.
I looked to the Reverend. “Are you expectin’ anyone else?”
“No. Just y’all,” he told us.
Mary placed her hand on the teacher’s back. “Come, time to head to bed and hear Suzie read us a story,” she said, leading them toward the second room, closer to the front of the building.
“But who’s at the door?” Anna asked.
“None of our business. That’s for the men to take care of. Come now, into the room with you.” Mary shared a look with Miss Gates before she shut the door between them and the rest of us, including her.
“Mary, go with her,” the Reverend said.
“It’s my home, too. I’m stayin’ right here,” she replied, walking back to the stove.
“Strong-willed women...” the Reverend started to say.
“I like ‘em that way,” I told him, trying to relieve the tension. It was totally true, but it still didn’t work the way I’d wanted, so I added. “I’ll get the door. Safest choice for all of us.”
Doing so, I found Roy standing there, still in his military attire. “Twice in two days, this is getting—” I stopped, noting the look on his face and the blood on the front of his jacket. “Are you okay?”
“It’s not my blood,” he clarified, yet not answering my question fully.
“Good to know, but are you okay?”
He laughed lightly. “No, not really. But I will be. I have news, and I need a place to clean up. Can I come in?”
“Who is it?” Middleton said, looming over me from behind.
“How is that a safe spot to be, John?” I asked.
He ignored me, his eyes landing on Roy. “You again.”
Eyebrows raised, he nodded. “Yes, me again.”
“You don’t tend to bring good news,” Middleton said.
Roy pressed his lips together for a moment before saying, “I don’t bring it now either, but better you know than not.”
“He has a point,” I said. “Reverend?”
“You trust him?” he asked me.
“With my life,” I replied.
“Then come in, young man. It’s not safe outside. And you look a mess.”
Roy turned to me for the okay, and I gave it. We quickly ushered him into the store where he set his bag down and immediately began to remove his wet attire while filling us in. “Just before you all rode into town, Brady, Smith, and his troops did, too.”
“Without McSween?” I verified.
“Yes. McSween used the rain as an excuse to stop traveling. He, his wife, Leverson, and Chisum all stopped off in San Patricio. Alex told Captain Smith that he would come to Fort Stanton in the afternoon to surrender. Smith began to argue, but of course, Brady supported the idea. So, the two of them and the rest of the regiment pressed on to Fort Stanton.”
“Brady went to the fort?” Henry asked.
“No, he went home. But before he did, he handed his messenger some notes to deliver.”
“Any idea who they are for?” I asked.
“Yes. George Hindman, Billy Mathews, George Peppin, and Jack Long.”
“That sounds like the beginnings of a plan,” I said, sitting on a short stool. Selecting kindling, I began to put little sticks of wood into the fireplace. “Is there a way we can find out what they said?”
&
nbsp; “I already know.”
This stopped all the shuffling in the room.
“How do you know?” MacNab asked.
“I killed him and delivered them myself, after readin’ them first, of course,” Roy said, motioning to his bloody jacket as proof.
The still room was now so silent that I wasn’t sure anyone was breathing. Lightning flashed outside the window behind Roy, and I lit the kindling.
“What did you do?” I quietly asked.
Roy unbuttoned the top portion of his undergarments, exposing his chest before pulling his arms out. “Regulator Network men and women are quiet and fast. We carry a myriad of weapons. For example, I have a small six-shooter that fits in a pocket. The idea is to look harmless so no one gives us a second thought. We also carry knives we are trained to use.” He mimicked slicing his throat.
I blew on the kindling, watching as the flames began to take hold, considering this new information.
Fred set a small wash basin full of warm water and washcloth on the windowsill. “Here. So you can clean up.”
Roy appeared relieved even though he shivered in the cold of the room. “Thank you.” He wrung out the cloth and began to wipe down any exposed skin. “I’ve just never had to help a Regulator to this extent before. We’re trained, sure, but puttin’ into practice is different. Thus, I’m a little shook up.”
“Understandable,” I said, trying not to gawk at this new Network information while I selected a few logs and set them into the fireplace.
He gave me a sad smile when I turned about. “You didn’t know, did you? That’s why you sent Ben to find me.”
“No, I had no idea you were trained assassins,” I confessed.
“Don’t worry. Ben is still useful. But he can’t be sent away for trainin’ at this point and still be useful for the war.”
“I’d not want him sent to be trained. Ever.”
“Noted,” Roy replied, wringing out the cloth and setting it aside before grabbing his bag.
The Reverend handed Roy a warmed towel to dry off with. “What did you learn from the letters?”
Roy used the towel to dry off before pulling out a dry change of clothes that told me his bag was like ours, spelled to keep the contents dry. It also had something embroidered on the side, and as I attempted to see what it said, he began to dress while answering Middleton’s question. “The letters to each deputy told them to meet him at the Murphy/Dolan Store at eight o’clock and to come armed because they are going to arrest McSween as he comes into town.”
Middleton looked to me. “Now what?”
“We go through with the plan,” Charlie told him. “Right, Billy?”
“We should take positions to make arrestin’ him impossible,” I said, looking to MacNab.
With a nod, MacNab sat on the chair by the fire. “If we put enough Regulators around him, we’ll outnumber Brady and his deputies, and it would mean we’d probably be able to get McSween to Fort Stanton alive.”
“That could work,” Roy said, toweling his blond hair.
“Or they could just shoot us all,” Middleton said.
“Brady wouldn’t allow that,” Reverend Ealy said.
“What he allows and what Scáthach compels her minions to do are two different things,” Roy said, putting his boots back on.
“He’s right,” I replied, fanning the flames of the fire, relishing in the heat on my skin. “He may not be one of her monsters, but she can get into their heads.”
“How do you know that?” Roy asked, putting things into his bag.
“She got braggy and told me,” I replied, and focused my eyes on Roy’s bag, the initials becoming clear. They were familiar somehow, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen them. I shoved that thought into the back of my mind and focused on Reverend Ealy, who’d stepped up.
“Well then, you all best get warm and make plans. Let’s get some coffee for you boys, especially you...?” He let the sentence hang, hoping Roy would give his name.
“I was never here,” he said, pulling something small from his bag. “You can’t tell a soul how you know the information I gave you, and you can’t tell anyone you saw me. Understood?”
Everyone looked at one another, confused.
“Regulator swear,” he said, putting his hand out—a flat, round piece of honeycomb calcite in the palm of his hand. Seeing as it was what we used for bahvah-lamps, we all understood this stone held magic, thus making this an official and binding promise.
The seriousness of this made the air feel heavy, yet no one hesitated to place a hand on Roy’s or another Regulator’s and swear to keep Roy’s secret.
“Thank you,” he said, putting the calcite into the pocket of his pants. Grabbing his raincoat, he put it on. “I must go. If I learn more, I’ll make sure you know.”
Unsure what to say, we all shook his hand, and he disappeared into the night. Mary brought us coffee, and we worked on our strategy to protect McSween. Little did we know our plan would be useless.
The next morning, I woke after sunrise, the rain/sleet mix having ceased not long after Roy had vanished into the night. However, that didn’t stop the day from holding a damp chill. Even though sunlight lit up the room where we all slept, it was cold.
The only one awake so far, I put more wood into the stove causing the two others near me to roll over and grunt at the disturbance.
I glanced toward the back of the store to see Fred kneeling in front of the fireplace in his long underwear, adding logs to the fire. I was about to head toward him when the clip-clop of horse hooves outside got my attention. Staying low, I peeked out one of the front windows to see Sheriff Brady riding by toward the west end of town.
Fred quietly walked up behind me. “It’s half past seven. We better wake everyone up.”
With groans and curses, the men woke and took turns peeing out the back window before getting dressed and collecting the supplies we’d come to town for. Once we’d finished, I lightly knocked on the door that separated the store from Ealy’s main room. It opened to reveal the Reverend and his wife already dressed and ready for their day.
“Mornin’, Billy. Coffee?” Mary asked.
“Thank you, that would be great.”
As she prepared coffee and breakfast, the rest of us took the supplies we’d gathered the night before and loaded up our horses with them. By the time we’d finished, food was ready. We’d just sat down to eat when a knock came at the back door, and this time, I recognized the pattern.
Standing up, I set my coffee mug down. “Roy’s here.”
“Is he ever not at the back door?” Ealy asked in jest and opened it. “Morning, R—”
But standing there were three men. Roy, Sam Corbett, and Rob Widenmann.
“Good mornin’, Dr. Ealy,” Roy said before looking to me. “Billy, we have a problem and only minutes to make a decision.”
And we’re sure they’re coming this way?” Middleton asked.
“I heard them discussing it over breakfast at The Wortley,” Roy said. “They plan to kill McSween as he enters town and make it look like self-defense, just like with John.”
“Then this is our only chance to stop it,” Rob Widenmann said.
“Hindman is mine,” MacNab growled.
Middleton huffed out a laugh. “You are claimin’ the crippled man. You don’t think much of your skills then I take it.”
“Oh, it has nothin’ to do with my confidence with my gun. I am not lackin’ in that department,” MacNab said with a wink and a grab of his belt buckle.
Fred laughed at the double-entendre, but when Middleton glared at him, he shut up.
I tapped MacNab with my elbow. “Some past grievance to share, pretty boy?”
“Nope. Just got a score to settle from when we be livin’ in Texas.”
“Good enough for me,” Henry Brown said.
Movement to the right caught my attention. Glancing over, I saw Sam Corbett hand Rob a tin bowl. Punch, Tunstall’s bulldog,
began to do circles in excitement, and I understood. Widenmann was going to feed Punch to keep the pup from giving us away when the time came.
Checking my guns, I glanced out the window and saw George Peppin walking by, real close to the store, followed by Jack Long to his right and a few steps behind. Both wore long coats and carried rifles. “Shit! They’re early! Go, go, go!”
No one hesitated but me. They ran out the back door into the corral, and I went to the window. There were five of them, as Roy had said. After Long was Hindman. Not only was he in the middle of the group, but he was walking down the center of the road. Brady was after him, jogging a bit to catch up, with Billy Mathews bringing up the rear.
Taking no more time to watch, I ran out the door behind the last of the group, leaving Sam, Suzie, and the Ealys inside. Exiting, I noticed Punch’s attention was focused on Rob, who held the dog’s food near the storage shed to my left and that all the boys to my right had taken places at the corral door.
Blood pumping fast, I barely felt the cold wet of the morning, even standing in the mud by the corral door taking aim. Brady had already passed the door, but without a building to our left, we had a wide range of view. Once I was in place, MacNab whispered, “Now!”
Six shots went off, shattering the morning stillness. A single shot hit George Hindman, who lurched forward a few steps before collapsing in the road. Brady took multiple hits. One to the head, as well as a few to his back and left side, causing him to fall into a sitting position. With my abilities, I heard him say, “Oh dear,” before he fell over, likely dead.
Jack Long took a hit but still ran for safety near the Torreon. George Peppin and Billy Mathews ran for Lola Sisnero’s house for shelter. We fired on them but missed, one of us accidentally hitting John Wilson in the buttocks while he worked in his garden. With a yelp, he threw his hoe in the air and hobbled out of the line of fire.
“Damn it, poor Wilson. Hope he’s okay,” Big Jim said.
“Is that my carbine Brady has in his hand?” I said, recognizing my rifle. “It is! Son of a bitch...”
“Water!” Hindman called out from the road. “Help, someone!”
The Curse of Billy the Kid: Untold Legends Volume One Page 26