The Marshal of Denver

by Judge Rodriguez

John rises from where he is crouched and moves over to the pinned rider. “Now, why would you attack us? We were only trying to get my friend’s stuff back. Now you’ve gone and got your friend dead, and yourself almost as dead. So, what are we gonna do with you? Hm?”

  The man struggles weakly, trying to extricate himself from under the massive bulk of the animal for several moments, then gives up. “Can’t breathe,” he gasps.

  “Quan, please keep your rifle trained on him. If he so much as makes a wrong move, shoot him." John steps over to the horse and leverages himself into position to help lift the animal enough that its trapped rider can wriggle himself free.

  Once free, the man sits on the ground, head between his knees, trying to catch his breath. John reaches over and pulls the man’s revolver from under the edge of the horse. Looking the gun over, he sees that it is a ‘75 Trooper. “You were Army? You should know better than to attack like that.”

  The man looks at John, then at Quan, then back to John. “We thought you were messing with our herd, and yeah, I was Army. What are you going to do to me now?”

  “That depends on you.” John goes to his horse and grabs a length of rope. “Now, I am going to bind you, and we are going to take you to the town marshal in Denver. If there’s not one there, then we will take you to Oklahoma Station. You'll be held until this mess can be worked out. If you try to escape, we will shoot you.” The man nods and allows himself to be bound up. Once John is done binding his prisoner, he mounts his horse, holding the rope that the binding is attached to. He looks over to Quan, now mounted as well, and motions him forward. They make their prisoner walk to their encampment.

  The hour, the smell of burned gunpowder, and death always remind him of that night in Pleasant Grove.

  Chapter 13

  As they leave the Mexican restaurant, they hear a commotion down the street. They move to a side street to make their way back to the hotel when they are approached by five of the red-legged soldiers.

  “Hey, boy. That pretty little thing needs to come with us so we can show her what being with a real man is like.” The other four soldiers move to surround the couple, staggering and leering at them.

  Johnny pulls his Colt and puts it about six inches from the leader’s forehead. “Go away, or you die first.”

  The men stop moving, look at each other, smile drunkenly and continue staggering around to completely surround them. The look of surprise on all their faces as his Colt sings out is almost comical. The expression on the leader’s face as a smoking hole appeared in his forehead would be considered hilarious if the circumstances were different. His body falls back to lay twitching on the ground.

  The other soldiers look at each other and rush toward Johnny from all sides. His pistol rings out twice more, the first shot finding its target, the second missing by a wide margin. Liz’s derringer catches one of the soldiers off guard, and she misses the other shot. The two remaining soldiers make it to Johnny from either side. Knowing Johnny has several more shots left in his pistol, one of them draws his own, while the other draws his knife. Johnny meets the one with the pistol in hand and hits him in the side of the neck with the butt of his revolver. As the man falls to the ground, his gun goes off. Johnny meets the other man charging toward him, knife at the ready, with the butt of his pistol. He deflects the thrust, and quickly spins the gun, catching the man in the side of the head with the butt of his gun. Johnny hears a loud crack, the man’s eyes glaze over, and he falls to the ground, twitching.

  Johnny turns to Liz, only to see her lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Johnny rushes over and checks her breathing. Still alive. He picks her up and runs down the street to where he saw a doctor’s office sign reading “Dr. Elizias Bakker Family Physician” earlier. With Liz in his arms, Johnny kicks the bottom of the doctor’s door several times.

  The doctor, an aged, balding man answers the door in his bedclothes and sleeping cap. He takes one look at Liz, opens the door wide, and shows Johnny to the examination room table. Johnny gently lays his fiancé down and the doctor takes one look at her, then him and says, “Who are you to this young lady?”

  “We’re betrothed. I’m her only living family. Can you help her? Please?”

  The doctor ushers him out firmly and seats him down in the waiting room. “Family tends to find surgery distressing. I will do what I can.” He hurries back into the room, closing the door.

  Johnny hears the door locking and numerous jars clanking around in the room. Johnny reluctantly dozes in the chair, easily waking when he hears the door unlocking. He sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes, noting the rising sun beginning to shine through the east-facing windows. The doc must have been in there working on her all night. “How is she?”

  “Only by the grace of God is she still alive. Only by His will, will she continue to live. She is stable enough, but the surgery was quite intensive.” The doctor sits down heavily, and says, “Now that we can talk, I need to know what happened. I think it’s high time for some answers, young man.”

  Johnny looks at him warily. “If I were to pay you for your services in gold, would you hold your tongue?”

  “Boy! I am a doctor. I don’t care about anything other than the well-being of my patients. I want to know why I have been up all night pulling lead out of a girl’s body, and I want to know why, now.”

  Johnny rubs his face and notices he still has blood on his hands. “Can I wash this off first?” The doctor motions him to a washbasin close by and sits looking impatient at the obvious ploy to stall answering the question.

  Johnny finishes washing his hands, forearms, then face, and sits back down. “So, last night, as we were on our way back to the hotel, we were set upon by several of the Red-legs. They tried to take Liz away from me. They were drunk, so the two of us were able to fight them off, but most, if not all, died. We were just defending ourselves, but I doubt the Red-Legs will understand.”

  “First off, you’re not from around here, are you?”

  Johnny shakes his head in response.

  “Secondly, your fiancé cannot travel. She will need to stay here for quite awhile. You’re right, they will not be forgiving in the slightest. You should not be here. Her injuries can be excused as appendicitis and she can be hidden here as a family member of someone in town, but you need to be gone. That is, unless you want to hang.”

  Johnny looks at him incredulously. He has been hoping to be able to go into hiding with Liz, but now that doesn’t look like a possibility. He is unsure if he should trust this doctor. There were so many things that could go wrong here. Johnny shifts in his seat, suddenly much more uncomfortable in deciding what he will be doing. “How do I know I can trust you if I leave Liz here? She’s the most precious thing in my life.”

  “You have no idea how much I dislike those troops being here. They are drunks, rapists, and murderers. They are here at the behest of the government, so we have no choice but to allow them free reign. I hate what they are doing here, but we can do nothing about it.” He shakes his head, “I will protect her like she is my own departed daughter, if for no other reason than to deny them the opportunity.”

  Johnny scrutinizes the man, looking for any signs of duplicity. Not finding any, he asks, “How will I know when it is safe to return?”

  Doc Bakker shakes his head and says, “You won’t. You will need to tell me where to send her once she is well enough to travel. I expect the soldiers are going to be hanging about for awhile, if as you say, you killed several of them. They may garrison here all winter investigating.”

  Johnny rises from the chair and begins pacing around, thinking. Was it only yesterday that he was thinking that nothing would be able to separate him from the love of his life? That he reaffirmed he didn’t deserve to share in her beauty? Now he is being forced into leaving her behind? He hates to think of it. This is spiraling out of control faster than he could think. “Fine. I will leave her here until she can travel. I can leave enough money for
her care, if you wish. Just let me know how long and how much.”

  The doctor looked at him with a strange look on his face. “You still haven’t explained why you are in town. You have told me why you are in my office, but not here in Pleasant Grove.”

  “We were on our way west. We left our friend on his way to the Indian Territory. Now that I am having to leave, I think I will search him out and see if he wants to explore California with us.”

  “Where are your families? Surely, the two of you traveling together while not being married was not sanctioned by your parents? Or hers?”

  “My parents died of consumption and she never knew hers. We grew up together in an orphanage east of here. We were on our way to start a new life after the orphanage was burned down by soldiers, soldiers with red pant legs. We got revenge on the ones that did it, but weren’t looking for trouble. We actually just want to go somewhere and truly be left alone.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind a bit of advice, make sure I am the last person you tell that to. I happen to hate what those soldiers are doing and what they are turning us into, but ‘Vengeance shall be mine alone, sayeth the Lord.’ I have promised to keep your fiancé safe, and so I shall. I cannot abide what you have done in anger.” The look of disapproval in the man’s face is proof the man’s judgment. It appears the doctor is as disgusted in his actions as he is in the soldiers that have caused this recent trouble.

  “How much money do you need to keep quiet and to help Liz?”

  “Fifty dollars ought to do it. I will not charge you for the time, but will only charge you for the medicine and food. If the Lord wills it, she will be able to travel in a week or two’s time.”

  Johnny sighs, and stands. “I will bring the money here as quickly as I can. Thank you for what you have done. I hope she wakes up before I leave.”

  “Leave a message and I will relay your words. In case someone asks questions, we cannot have anything written down.”

  “Tell her what we talked about, that I am on my way back to Josh, and to meet me at Ma’s. Also tell her that I love her very much and want to spend the rest of our lives together.”

  “I will.”

  Johnny leaves the doctor’s office, and taking to shadows, worked his way back to the Hen’s Roost. Once he gets back into their room, he gathers their things into two separate bags.

  Downstairs at the front desk, the clerk asks, “Checking out?”

  “A messenger came to us in the night and let us know of a family emergency out by Dodge City.”

  “It will be twenty dollars and I pray that things turn out for the better for you.”

  After Johnny pays, he leaves and goes to the stables. He pays the stable-boy for the care of their horses, and saddles the both of them. When he makes it back to Doc Bakker’s office, he weighs the amount of money left in their combined purse. About half of it is left. He removes seven of the coins, and puts the rest back into a saddlebag.

  Once he enters the doctor’s office, he notices a change in the demeanor of the older man. Before leaving, the man was notably aloof, an obvious sign of his judgment of the younger man’s actions. Now Johnny notes the man appears to have warmed considerably. I wonder what happened, what’s changed?

  As he steps inside the waiting room, Johnny is struck with how cheerful the office seems now that it is well past daybreak. Doc Bakker looks at him and smiles. Johnny is struck by how similar he looks to Liz. “Hello, Johnny, I am glad to see you here so soon. We need to get you on your way. However, my granddaughter is awake now, and needs to speak to you before you leave.”

  Now Johnny is more than a little intrigued. What could have happened that would make that judgmental, surly old codger change his tune to be as friendly as he is now? Fighting down his curiosity, Johnny walks into the examination room to see his fiancé sitting on a couch, sipping what appeared to be a hot cup of tea.

  She takes one look at him and smiles in genuine pleasure. “Hello, my love. Grandpa told me what was decided. I can’t say I am happy about it, but I know that it is needed.”

  “Why do you call him that? Just now he called you his granddaughter, and you just called him grandpa. He said he would treat you like his departed daughter. Why are you calling each other that with me around?”

  “He actually IS my grandfather. He asked me about my family and figured out the details. From what he said, he is actually my ma’s father. They stopped talking when she told him about her relationship with my pa. He didn’t approve of my pa, being a fur trader or their relationship at all. When both my parents were killed by that mountain lion, I was too young to know about him and was taken to the orphanage. He said you told him everything that happened there. He’s not too happy about our engagement, but is content with what I told him how you treat me. He says he can tell by lookin' at ya, that ya love me.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Johnny is stunned by the revelation. “You mean he actually is your grandpa. Of all the wonders.”

  “Yup. Sure is. I was just as surprised. Ma and Pa never said a thing, but then they died when I was six anyways.”

  Johnny staggers back into a chair, stunned by the implications of what she just said.

  “Isn’t it wonderful? He’s the family I have always wanted.”

  “Is he going to keep us from getting married?”

  “No. He has no say. He’s not happy about it, but isn’t gonna fight it either. We’re of age, so we can decide for ourselves.”

  “Do you want to get married right now? I can go find a ring and a parson.”

  “No. I don’t want to get married until you let go of your anger at God. I will not be married to an atheist.”

  Johnny shakes his head. “Then we will never get married, because man created god so they could steal from everyone else.”

  Liz directs her gaze out the window and stares into space for several moments, apparently musing. “When I can travel, I will meet you at Ma’s in Springfield.” Feeling dismissed, Johnny stands, and gives her a kiss goodbye. When he steps out of the room, he is approached by the doctor.

  “So, I see she told you about the wonderful news. I will make sure she is safe. Doubly so, since she’s my only living family. You, however, I am not going to be able to protect. She should be able to travel in a week or two. She told me about Ma’s, and by the grace of God, we will meet you there in a month’s time.”

  “Where would you like me to leave her horse and her other things?” Johnny asks, trying to avoid the subject of faith.

  “Tied up with mine around back. It was God’s will last night that I decided to sleep here rather than at home. My granddaughter would not have survived the night had I not been here. You have my thanks for your attentiveness to her, and my eternal gratitude for our reunion. I still don’t think you two are right for each other, but it is obvious that the both of you love each other deeply, so I will not keep you from getting married. Plus, any objections I make won’t make any difference, will they?”

  Johnny smirks sardonically. “Not. One. Bit.” The two men look at each other with respect, albeit a wary respect. Their connection strengthens, because of the young woman in the other room.

  “Where to now?”

  “Injun territory. We have a friend there that will be helpful. In fact, he may be able to help us hide there.”

  “Be careful. Things are tense all over. Go. May God watch over you as you travel.”

  Johnny does his best to hide his discomfort as he turns and makes for the door. Why does this idiot keep talking about God as if he’s real? Does he really believe what he just said is a blessing? As Johnny makes it outside and approaches the horses, he hears the town waking up, starting to really get its steam going.

  He leads Liz’s horse to the rear of the building next to the doctor’s palomino and removes the tack and saddle. He sets the equipment next to the doctor’s in the tiny shed that is dedicated to it. After he moves Liz's carpet bags into the waiting room, he moves to say goodbye to his f
iancé. As he approaches the door to the examination room, Johnny hears voices and pauses to see if he is intruding.

  “No, Grandfather. I will not change my mind.”

  “Your mother was just as stubborn. I don’t understand what you see in him. You’re young. You don’t know what you want.”

  “I may not be as experienced as you, but I know I love him, and will stop at nothing to spend the rest of our lives together.”

  Johnny hears the creaking of the chair and what sounds to be steps coming to the door. He knocks, and without waiting for a response, enters.

  He is presented with a scene that will forever be burned in his memory. Liz is propped up by pillows, appearing to have stopped mid-sentence in talking animatedly. The doctor is standing, reaching for the door handle.

  “I just thought I would let you know I’m leaving.”

  Setting her cup on a stand by the couch she is on, Liz reaches out to him. He moves to her, taking her hand, and she pulls him to her. Johnny can tell she is using the last of her flagging strength to pull him into an embrace, so he obliges and returns the hug. He kisses her forehead and she caresses his face drawing it into giving her a deep, lingering kiss on the lips.

  Breathlessly, she whispers, “I love you. Godspeed.”

  He mumbles a reply, and weak-kneed, stumbles through the door. Not wanting to be rude, he throws a wave good-bye to the doctor, and leaves the small pouch of coins on the table where the doctor has left a Bible.

  Johnny leaves the office with a mounting fear that this will be the last time he will ever see either one of them alive again. He leads his horse over to the town well and fills all his canteens. With a sigh of determination, he mounts, turns his horse south, and rides to the lands of the savages. He hopes he can find his best friend and bring him back to civilization.

  Chapter 14

  John and Quan ride back into camp about mid-morning to be met by the welcome sight of several wagons full of equipment and a herd of thirty beef-alo. John tosses the lead rope of their prisoner to Quan and rides on ahead to see who has arrived. As he comes up to the wagon, he hears Red-Feather call out, “Da’anzho, my friend! We need to talk!”