Drew (The Cowboys)

by Leigh Greenwood

“Do you mean orphans?”

  “None of my brothers would have had a chance without Jake and Isabelle. Several of them would be dead by now. There are other boys out there like that, boys whose lives are hanging by a thread. Girls, too. I know I can’t help them all, but I want to give some of them the same chance Jake and Isabelle gave us.”

  “Are you sure? You might think differently when you have children of your own.”

  “Jake and Isabelle had Eden and it didn’t make any difference at all. Just think how many boys we can help in ten, twenty, fifty years!”

  Cole laughed. “Myrtle said you’d try to mother everybody. What are you going to do with the old people when they start arriving?”

  “They’ll make perfect surrogate parents for the boys. We can’t give them all the attention they need by ourselves.”

  “Okay, bring on all the orphans you want, on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m not an orphan, and I don’t need mothering.”

  Drew felt enveloped by something as close to perfect happiness as humans are allowed. “I’ve got other plans for you,” she said, giving Cole what she hoped was a perfectly wicked grin. She rode her horse up next to his and starting running her hands over his chest “I’ve discovered I have an inordinate fondness for the male body, yours in particular, but without all these clothes in the way. I think I’ll strip you naked right here and take cruel advantage of you.” She slipped her hand a good bit lower and hooted with laughter when Cole growled in frustration. She dug her heels into her horse’s side and was off at a gallop. “Beat you to the bed,” she called out over her shoulder.

  “The bed, hell!” her lover called after her. “If I catch up with you, a rock or a cactus patch will do.”

  Drew let out a yell of pure happiness as the wind whipped through her hair. She heard the sound of hoof-beats coming closer and laughed aloud. She had the faster horse, but this was one race she had no intention of winning. She had already won the only one that counted.

  Author’s Note

  Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show evolved from a kind of rodeo he arranged for a July 4th celebration for his neighbors in North Platte, Nebraska, in 1882. The following year he expanded his show to include Indians riding bareback, cowboys busting broncos, trick-riding, fancy roping, foot-racing, bison-riding, shooting on foot and on horseback, knife-throwing, and mock battles between Indians and scouts. The show was a sensational success and ended a triumphant season at New York’s Coney Island. Buffalo Bill quickly developed the general format he would use over the next twenty years.

  In each new city, the show would unload at the train station and parade to the exhibition grounds. Buffalo Bill, followed by the bandwagon pulled by six white horses, rode at the head of the line on a white horse, raising his hat to the cheering multitudes that thronged the sidewalks. Next came the Indians, feathered and painted, shrieking war whoops—Pawnees, Sioux, and Wichitas riding their barebacked, painted ponies. Next came a contingent of Mexican vaqueros in bright serapes and oversized sombreros. Annie Oakley rode in a special carriage by herself. Suddenly cowboys and scouts filled the streets, herding steers, buffalo, mules, and horses—filling the air with a cacophony of yelling, whip-cracking, neighing, braying, bellowing, saddles creaking, and horse hooves pounding. The Deadwood Mail Coach (bullet-riddled by Black Hills bandits) brought up the rear.

  The exhibition itself was fast and furious. No sooner had the band serenaded the spectators into their seats than the show tunes changed to a loud fanfare. Buffalo Bill and the other featured performers galloped into the arena and pulled up their mounts in front of the packed stands. As quickly as they came, they disappeared, leaving Annie Oakley alone in the spotlight. With pistols, rifle, and shotgun, she shot at standing, moving, and flying targets from every possible position.

  Then the scouts, cowboys, and vaqueros took over. Trick riders leaped from horse to horse, from horse to ground, and from ground to horse. They lassoed charging buffalo, swift-moving steers, and untamed horses. All joined forces in simulating a real Western roundup, cutting steers out of the herd, roping and branding them. The Indians and scouts put on a buffalo hunt, using blank cartridges and rubber-tipped arrows to “kill” their quarry. The Indians demonstrated their tribal dances, climaxing the demonstration with a war dance.

  Next the Deadwood Stage lumbered into the light. A band of Indians swooped down on the stage, but Cody and his scouts intercepted the charge and drove them into the hills. The bronc busters performed next. After that, the cowboys, scouts, and vaqueros rode steers, buffalo, even elk. The high point of the exhibition was a reenactment of the duel with Yellow Hand in which Buffalo Bill fought the Indian brave with guns, knives, and spears. The audience always cheered wildly when Buffalo Bill won.

  The Wild West Show toured Europe for the first time in 1887. The cast was enormous, featuring as many as 250 actors and many more animals. The Wild West Show performed to worldwide success until it closed in 1917.

  Annie Oakley joined the show in Louisville, on April 24, 1885, and retired in 1902. She was a star from the first, one of the greatest single assets the show ever had. The advertising rarely named performers, but after watching her first rehearsal, the business manager ordered seven thousand dollars’ worth of printing featuring Annie on billboards and in notices.

  Annie first gained notice for her shooting as a child by providing local hotels with game. Too small to carry a shotgun, she used a rifle. Chefs preferred her game because she was so accurate, she could kill squirrels, rabbits, and birds with a single shot to the head. Guests preferred them because they didn’t have to pick buckshot out of their food.

  By age sixteen, Annie had met and defeated Frank Butler, the man who was to become her husband and manager for the rest of her life. For three years, they traveled the vaudeville circuit, performing in theaters, practicing in hotel rooms, alleys, and back lots until she perfected the split-second timing of her act. When she joined the Wild West Show, she was only nineteen, stood just under five feet, and weighed one hundred pounds. Sitting Bull adopted her and named her Little Sure Shot.

  No woman in outdoor show business has been so long remembered. She was a consummate actress, with a personality that made itself felt as soon as she entered the arena. She entered bowing, waving, and wafting kisses. Her first few shots brought forth a few screams from the women, but they were soon lost in round after round of applause.

  She could shoot an apple from the head of a trained dog, shoot a cigarette from between her husband’s lips, hit a dime held in his fingers, and slice a playing card in two. After two clay pigeons had been released, she would leap over a table, pick up her gun, and bring down both targets. She could hit a dime tossed into the air from a distance of ninety feet. She was the most acclaimed marksman of her day. She never lost her skill and spent much of her retirement advocating that women learn to handle firearms and teaching them to shoot. She died in 1926.

  About the Author

  Leigh Greenwood is the award-winning author of over fifty books, many of which have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Leigh lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Please visit his website at http://www.leigh-greenwood.com/.