1865

by Cojacker Verdi

  It struck high noon. D.H. is hiding in his room getting his gun ready for the shooting. Then right on time the three people come that D.H. has been waiting for. All three of them are smart guys; all three of them have covered half of their face so no one would see who they are.

  All three of them got their guns out so they would be ready just in case something popped out. Less than a second later there was gunshot, and it hit right at the guns in their hands. All three of them are wondering where those gunshots were coming from, but they can’t see where it was coming from. The only thing that they can do is to leave without knowing who is doing it, but they will find out sooner or later.

  Right now everybody in the town is wondering who was doing that and thought to themselves that whoever the person is might be crazy and at the same time the bravest person on earth. One problem is that tonight those gangsters will come and raise havoc, but D.H. will be ready for them no matter what.

  All day nobody leaves their house or other buildings because everybody is afraid to death. All of them are afraid that there’s more gangsters outside waiting so they can shoot somebody, and nobody is crazy enough to go outside. Tonight everybody will be more afraid to death than before. But not D.H.-he’s ready for anything that will come popping out.

  One problem for D.H. is how he is going to get out of his room in the hotel and try to outsmart those gangsters. That’s one question that’s been bugging the heck out of D.H. for twenty minutes. Suddenly it popped out of D.H.’s head-this is going to be crazy-but the only option he has is going through the window from the second floor tonight.

  At six in the evening everybody is indoors, not crazy enough to go outside, and that’s D.H.’s sign to go outside. Lucky for him that no one saw him going through the window on the second floor and jumping down. Another question for D.H. is where’s a good place to hide so none of them will see him when they come in a few hours.

  D.H. hid somewhere between the barbershop and the mayor’s office. He got down on his knees to make sure none of them could see him and got his gun ready. Lucky for D.H. that he had extra bullets so that he would be ready for anything and for some extra help. So far this was the only safe place where he could hide so no one would see him, not even the locals.

  It struck eight o’clock in the evening. D.H. was about to leave, but then something started to happen. A few people started to come in the middle of the road. There are five men, but three of them are same ones from earlier today. Seems like those guys are ready to raise havoc all over Cold Creek, and D.H. is the only one that can stop them before they can go inside and hurt somebody.

  All five of them are starting to get their guns out and ready to shoot through the buildings so they can let everybody know that they are making their point-so none of them will think twice about messing with them. D.H. got out his gun, and there he goes starting to shoot them, and the gangsters don’t know where the gunshots are coming from. Everybody in the town is starting to wake up and are getting down under their beds so none of them will get hurt; they aren’t crazy enough to look through the window.

  Two of those gangsters got shot, so the other gangsters decide to pick them up and leave, so no more of them will get hurt. Then suddenly the gunshots start to stop, and everybody is happy to death that the gunshots have stopped. D.H. has no choice but to run to his hotel room so no one will think he’s the one that’s doing this.

  Morning came. D.H. didn’t sleep all night, to make sure that none of the those gangsters came back. But when it hit eight in the morning, D.H. knew that it was safe enough to go outside. The second that D.H. went outside, he saw no living souls outside for some reason, but he understood they were afraid since last night. The only place to go to get something to eat is the local restaurant at the end of town, so D.H. goes there.

  D.H. went inside the restaurant without any worries and was not surprised to see nobody inside the restaurant. He guessed that everybody was afraid to go out to eat. The only place where D.H. eats is at the back so he can see everything, and the only person that he saw was the restaurant cook.

  The cook was scared half to death to go near D.H., but D.H. made sure that he was friendly, so the cook went up to him and asked him for his order. D.H. ordered steak, mashed potatoes, and milk, and he got to ask this question but acted like he didn’t know anything.

  “What’s wrong? You act like you’ve seen a ghost or something,” said D.H.

  “All right, I’m going to sit down. Last night there was a shooting, and somebody was crazy enough to fight back at the gangsters here in this town and everybody knows right away that this person is not a local around here, cause they are more dangerous thatn any other gangsters in this country put together,” said the cook.

  “Maybe, just maybe, somebody is taking a stand to defend everybody in this town. Maybe it’s just that,” said D.H.

  “Well, maybe. But whoever this person is better have good backup, because that person needs it more than ever,” said the cook.

  The cook leaves all worried about what’s going to happen now. D.H. knows that he’s dealing with something else, all right, but he isn’t going to give up without a fight. Now he knows what some of those gangsters are doing around here. It’s best to ask around but not ask too many questions, because he really doesn’t want to cause any troubles.

  Three

  For the past few days everybody has been scared to go outside, knowing those gangster could come out anytime, raising havoc all over town after what happened with that shooting. Everybody thought to themselves that whoever pulled that crazy stunt with those gangsters must be the bravest man on earth.

  Right now in the middle of the day everybody is slowly going outside and having a little fun. Everybody seems to enjoy themselves having drinks with their friends-something that they haven’t enjoyed in a long time. At the same time everybody is being careful knowing that those gangsters are out there planning to do God knows what to them.

  D.H. is at his hotel room planning his next idea to see who is on the right side of the law. For a person that grew up on a farm, he knew a lot about telling right from wrong. At this moment for D.H., it’s best that he gets to know everybody, to see what kind of people they are and to figure out why these gangsters are different from other gangsters.

  So far it’s going to be very hard to see whose side is on the right side, because everybody is scared half to death to go outside. But D.H. needed to get some answers on these gangsters. The best thing to do is to watch everybody in the village one by one without anybody knowing. He has to be careful at the same time and start right now, since a few people are already outside.

  Carefully, D.H. went outside without anybody knowing what he was going to do. But to play it safe, it was best to leave his gun in his room so he wouldn’t scare anybody. The first person to see is the cook, since he owns a restaurant and talks to everybody. So he’s the first pick of the day to see what kind of information he has. At the same time D.H. is kind of hungry, so he’s going there to get something to eat.

  Before D.H. could even go inside the restaurant, he saw one of the gangsters eating inside the restaurant. He doesn’t want to eat at the same place with gangster. The only thing to do is to walk away and pretend that he doesn’t know anything. There’s go to be a good reason why that gangster is so close to the town. Maybe he’s spying to find out who shot them that night. D.H. has to be careful.

  D.H. went back to his room, got his gun out, and put it where all cowboys do-near his waist-just in case. Luckily for D.H., he stayed relaxed so no one would know what he was doing. Besides, this is the Old West, he thought to himself, and he needs his gun. Now he goes back to the restaurant to see if he can get some answers before all havoc breaks loose.

  Everything seems like normal. That gangster is just eating his meal, with not a care in the world. This very strange, but D.H. makes sure that the
gangster won’t know that he’s following his track. Also, the last thing that he wants is somebody getting hurt, because D.H. has a good soul inside of him and this is what God sent him to do-to help people.

  D.H. ordered his meal and calmly finished it without any trouble. The gangsters is seated all the way in the front, and D.H. is seated all the way in back so he can keep a close eye on him. So far, the gangster is minding his own business, but at the same time looking for some answers about the shooting a few nights ago. The gangster wants revenge on the person who tried to kill them.

  It seems like the gangster is going nowhere, so the best thing to do is to leave Cold Creek for now but come back later to get some answers about the shooting. D.H., on the other hand, decided not to follow him, because odds are he’s going to look behind him and get his head blown off.

  It looks like nobody knows who that person is, by the way everybody is acting. When the gangster stepped out of the restaurant, not even the cook knew who it was, so the cook is out because he didn’t know that gangster. D.H. doesn’t know how lucky he is that the gangster doesn’t know what he looks like, but D.H. has to be extra careful next time so no one will know what he’s doing.

  Every day for the past week, D.H. interviewed everybody in the whole city. It seems like everybody felt relaxed and not bugged at all; nobody suspected what D.H. was doing . Right away, everybody is marked clean. Nobody is helping the gangsters out. So right now it’s between the gangsters and D.H.-nobody else.

  One problem still remained. Why are these gangsters raising havoc here is this town, and what makes these gangsters different from other gangsters?. D.H. is going to get some more answers, but at the same time he’s going to be careful about what he’s going to do. The last thing that he wants is for somebody to suspect what he’s going to do.

  In the nighttime D.H. hasn’t gone to bed yet. He’s trying to put the pieces together here in Cold Creek. Suddenly, D.H. heard something outside. It sounded like something dropped, and it came from downstairs. He decided to investigate before anything got stolen.

  D.H. got out through the window and jumped from the second floor. Luckily for him, the person who was making all that noise didn’t see him. Whoever that person was started coming near him. The only place that he could hide was the side of the building. That person started to come closer and closer. D.H. jumped the guy and managed to hold him down.

  “All right, I’ll talk, whoever you are, but please don’t hurt me,” said the stranger.

  “Who are you? What’s the meaning of all this racket you are making down here?” said D.H.

  “My name is Butch Sundown, and I’ve got some information about your case, D.H.,” said Butch.

  “How did you know my name and what I’m doing?” said D.H.

  “Never mind that. It doesn’t matter how I know. Don’t worry. I’m the only one that knows. I won’t tell a soul,” said Butch.

  “All right, and thank you for helping me out. Now please tell me,” said D.H.

  “Tonight is the only night that I’m going to help you, and you will never see me again. The reason why those gangsters are after this town is because there isn’t much law around here,” said Butch.

  “It could explain why everybody is afraid to speak out, but I got to ask one question….Why isn’t there any sheriff around here to uphold the law?” said D.H.

  “Like you said, everybody is afraid. But the government doesn’t have much law around here to help the good people of Cold Creek,” said Butch.

  “Yeah, I see. Thank you for telling me. You may go now, and don’t worry I’ll pretend that I never saw you before,” said D.H.

  “Thank you. I won’t forget about this,” said Butch.

  Butch calmly but carefully left Cold Creek, and nobody ever heard from him again, not even D.H. D.H. finally had some answers about what was going on and why everybody was so afraid. There’s got to be some law here in Cold Creek, D.H. thought to himself.

  Right now, D.H. is known in and around Cold Creek and he knows everybody. But he can’t take the chance of everybody knowing what he’s going to do with those gangsters. Luckily, there were no Indians around in this part of the land for some reason.

  The best thing to do now is to find out where those gangsters are hiding out. D.H. knows how to take them on one by one, but Cold Creek is a big area, and so far, D.H. doesn’t know where to start to find them. D.H. will start tomorrow night when everybody is asleep and no one will know, but right now he needs some rest. Tomorrow night D.H. will be on a lookout.

  The next night came. D.H. had stayed in his room the whole day, minding his own business but spending a lot of time thinking about where to get started. He decided that the best place to start was North Cold Creek, because D.H. remembered that those gangsters he shot that night went north, so maybe that’s where they were. He hoped that there weren’t any surprises tonight like what he did to those gangsters that night.

  Luckily for D.H., everybody is sound asleep so no one will give him a hard time about tonight or what he is going to do. D.H. looked everywhere. On the first places north, west, east, and south, the only thing that the could find was mountains. So far, D.H. didn’t find anything, not even campfire, to show where those gangsters went. So the best thing to do is to go back to town so no one will think that he left.

  Four

  Since D.H. didn’t find anything last night, he wondered where those gangsters came from. Sooner or later he’s going to find out that somebody watched and followed him last night. Luckily for D.H., the person didn’t see what he looks like, so he’s safe for now.

  It’s high noon in the Northeast Country five miles from Cold Creek. There’s a meeting here with all of the gangsters. The leader of the gang is Thomas “The Killer,” one of the most dangerous as Jesse James.

  Right now, Thomas “The Killer” is pretty angry about what happened a week ago-about the shooting and that his men didn’t do the job. So far, nobody has said a word, but somehow he always knows these kinds of things. So it’s best that he do most of the talking, since none of them is crazy enough to outsmart him.

  “I heard what happened last week. Right now, I’m pretty angry-enough to kill each and every one of you guys. Now start explaining. Who was this person that’s crazy enough to take use on?” said Thomas.

  “We don’t know. It’s got to be somebody new, `cause nobody in that town is crazy enough to take use on, and all three of us know that it isn’t Indians,” said Outlaw 1.

  “Yeah, I know that it isn’t the Indians, `cause there isn’t any Indians around here in Cold Creek. Guys, don’t tell me something that I do know; tell me something I don’t know. But I know for a fact that it’s somebody new, all right,” said Thomas.

  “That’s all we know, Thomas, `cause everybody in town already knows us and isn’t crazy enough to take us on,” said Outlaw 2.

  “You’re not getting any disagreement on that subject. All right, here’s the thing. We are going to get some new people to join us. They will go down there to do some investigating, and no one will know our plan,” said Thomas.

  “That’s a good idea, but one question. Who do we know that’s willing to join us? Everybody in the whole town knows us pretty well,” said Outlaw 3.

  “Good question. I’m way ahead of you on that. I already hired somebody to do the job. His name is Frank Lopez,” said Thomas.

  All three of the gangsters looked behind them and saw Frank Lopez; all three of them had to admit he looked very dangerous. Frank knew right away that he could easily take all three of them on.

  “You know what to do?” said Thomas.

  “Yes,” said Frank.

  Frank got onto his horse and rode all the way to Cold Creek. Not wasting any time, Frank started to look around and decided to go to the post office to check the mail for anybody that was getting outsid
e mail.

  He was inside the post office when suddenly D.H came inside. He didn’t notice Frank and calmly got his mail. But then Frank notices the letter and that it came from Fort Worth, Texas. Frank thought to himself, Why would somebody get a letter all the way from Forth Worth, Texas? He decides to follow this person.

  Calmly following D.H., Frank pretends that he’s minding his own business and follows D.H. without any trouble. D.H. went inside the restaurant and so did Frank. They sat across from each other. Without any trouble Frank read the letter, and D.H. had no idea that he was sitting across from a gangster.

  It turns out that the letter is nothing. He decides the best thing to do is to order something to eat so that the person won’t know what he’s doing. Frank wants is any surprises. Luckily for Frank, there aren’t any wanted posters with his face on them. He doesn’t want to blow his cover.

  Frank checked everywhere in Cold Creek, and nobody knew who the son of a gun was who did that shooting last week. He decided to do a shooting that evening so everybody would know not to mess with them ever again-not even the mysterious person, whoever he is.

  Nighttime was coming near, and that was usually a sign for everybody to go inside. Little did they know that there would be hell happening tonight. Even D.H. doesn’t know; it’s going to be a very big surprise for him also.

  At eight in the evening all four of the gangsters got onto their horses and rode as fast as they could all the way to Cold Creek. They made it to the middle of the town, pulled their guns out, and started to shoot right through the buildings to get everybody to wake up. In less than a second everybody woke up and knew that it was those gangsters.

  Ten minutes passed, and those gangsters finished shooting and left. Everybody made sure to not to follow them again. Even D.H. woke up from all the gunshots. He wasn’t going to give up that easily, but it was a miracle that no one got hurt from all this. If there was only a way that D.H. could get some help, even from the Indians would be great.