MISTAKEN IDENTITY CHAPTER ONE Jay was drifting along aimlessly, after having helped drive a herd of longhorn cattle from Texas up to the railhead in Kansas. He had money in his boot, which he made from the drive, and though it wasn’t much, it was more then he usually had during many times in his life. All that he had was what he had with him, as he rode along the meager trail that he had been following all that day. He didn’t really know where the trail was taking him, other then that he was already in Texas and in time he would find a place to settle down at some ranch perhaps that would hire him, as a cowhand. He had his horse, a sure-footed gelding. A sleeping bag, a ground tarp and a poncho tied to the saddle behind him. He had in his saddlebags, a change of clothes and cooking utensils and some food. He had a Winchester repeater rifle in a scabbard and a six-shooter at his hip. He had never used it to defend himself, but he kept in practice just to be on the safe side, in case somebody tried to take advantage of him. He didn’t know if he was fast at drawing his gun, but he did like to think that he was. He was a very good marksman and he practiced his drawing almost daily, as there wasn’t much else to be doing at times. At the present time, he was headed back down into Texas for want of another place to go. He liked the open spaces and wished that he could have a ranch of his own. But he knew that something like that was out of the question, as it would take a lot of money to buy even a small place and how could a down and out cowboy like himself ever get the money to ever buy a place. But he could dream couldn’t he. He had to be satisfied with what he was. He was a drifter. Going from one job to another, as he was needed. He was a cow hand, as that was all that he had learnt to do since he was a young boy. And as a matter of fact, that was all he wanted to be as long as he could remember. His parents had been killed by Indians as they were traveling west in a wagon train, and he was taken in by others that had survived the raid. As they had traveled on to California, he had been left in the care of a Missionary in Kansas. As he grew older, he was able to earn some extra spending money in the town that the Missionary was in. He decided that he wanted to be a cowboy some day, so he bought a lariat and practiced with it almost every day. There were several larger dogs at the missionary, but they soon learned to stay away from him, as he would pretend that they were cattle and he was always trying to rope them with his lariat. Then the next thing that he wanted to buy was a cowboy hat. Everyday that he went past the store that sold hats in town, he would look into the window to see if there were any hats that he could wish that he could afford to buy yet. Then he saw it. It was the perfect hat for him. It was black in colour and had a gold rim around the edge and a gold head band. The leather neck tie throngs had a golden steers head to hold the hat in place. He just had to have that hat. Jay decided to go inside to find out how much it would cost and if he had enough money for it. As he walked in, he saw that there was another man that was being waited on by the only saleslady in the store, so he knew that he would have to wait his turn. The man was dressed up just like a cowboy, just like Jay wanted to be, but this man had on very expensive clothes. Jay walked over to the window and looked at the hat, as he waited his turn to ask the lady about it. As he waited, he couldn’t help but to hear some of what the man was talking about. “My boys will be driving about five thousand head of steers up this way this summer, to the railhead. So they’ll probably be in here looking for some new clothes when they do.” “Ok, Mr. Jacobs. I’ll see that they get a good bargain on their money.” “Take care of that young fellow and I’ll look around to see if I want to purchase anything more.” “Ok I’ll do that.” Jay had heard what the man was talking about. Here was a real ranch owner that was going to have steers driven all the way to Kansas from someplace. Wow, would he ever like to be doing that some day. “Can I help you young man?” the sales lady ask of him. Jay was so startled from his daydreaming, that as he turned, he dropped his lariat that he had been carrying. He had to pick it up, just as the man walked past him, and then he ask the sales lady if he could see the cowboy hat in the window. When she handed it to him, Jay walked over to a mirror and tried it on. It was a perfect fit and looked so good on him, he thought. He knew that he just had to have it. “How much is it?” “It’s twelve dollars.” “Oh, I only have eight dollars. Can I buy it and promise to pay you so much a week?” “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. Perhaps your parents can give you the other four dollars?” “No, I don’t have any parents. Thanks for letting me try it on. Maybe it will still be here when I get the other four dollars.” With a heavy heart, Jay started to walk to the door. As he started to push on the door, he stopped as he heard the older man call out to him. “Young man, one moment please. I couldn’t help but to hear what was going on. Why do you want that hat so badly, may I ask?” Jay stepped back from the door and turned to the man as he answered his question. “I just need it mister. Some day I’m going to be a real cowboy and I’ll need a hat to keep the sun off of me and there’ll be times when it’ll be raining. Well, all cowboys need a hat, everybody knows that.” “You said that you don’t have any parents. Where are you living now?” “I’m living at the Missionary, but I’m going to be moving out of there soon, as I’m going to be old enough to live on my own and then I want to get a job on some ranch and learn to be a cowboy.” “How old are you now?” “I’m going to be sixteen when school gets out for the summer and that’s only a few weeks away.” “I’ll tell you what young man. I could use a fellow like you as a helper on a Chuck Wagon, but it’s from my Ranch down in Texas. I’ll pay for your fare by Stage Coach to come down there when you get out of school, and put you on the payroll just like the other cowboys. You’ll be going on a cattle drive with them and bringing steers up here to the railhead. That’s when the job will end, but if you want to come back down to Texas, but on your own like the other fellows and I say that I was satisfied with your work, I’ll keep you on. And to top it all off, I’ll buy this here hat that you want so much, right now and take it out of your wages. How does that sound.” “Gee mister. That would be great. And you won’t be sorry, cause I’m a hard worker.” “Ok, let’s shake on that.” With that, Jay shook his hand and got the hat that he wanted. Also it was the start of his life as a cowboy.   CHAPTER TWO It had been a hot day, and evening was coming on and it looked like he was going to be camping out on the range again that night. This he didn’t mind, as he was used to that anyway, but there were high thunder clouds in the west with a darkening of the sky beneath them, and he had seen several flashes of lightening amongst the dark clouds at times. He knew that he was in for some rain during the night, so that he better prepare for a shelter from it. Fortunately he was on a high section of land and the slim trail that he had been following was cutting down through a rocky pass to the rather level ground below. But as he was going along, he spotted an overhanging part of the rock face of the cliff that would give him and his horse shelter for the night from the storm. This also turned out to be on a fairly large level bench of land and there was a small amount of water that was dripping down from above on the rock face and it flowed into a small pool before it overflowed and then continu.ed on down into the valley below. Here was a good place for his horse to get a drink and also water for himself for his evening meal. As he unsaddled his horse, he ground hitched it to a short log so that it could feed on any local grass in the area without going off too far, dragging the log if needed. There were lots of pine trees available, so Jay made up a bough bed for himself before spreading out his groundsheet and sleeping gear out overtop of it. Then he gathered enough firewood to cook his evening meal and to last for a while into the night. Also he would need enough dry wood for a fire in the morning to cook his breakfast as it looked as it surely was going to rain. After a meal of beans and sour dough biscuits, followed by his usual cup of hot coffee, he brought his horse in and tied it in under the shelter of the overhanging cliff. It was just starting to get dark and clouds had covered the sky and he could see and hear the approaching storm now. Also, he could make out some flickering lights of a distant town in the gathering darkness. A place he decided he would be heading for in the morning. Not being in any particular hurry, he figured that he should be there by about noon of the next day. He sat up and watched the storm approach as the first few drops of rain began to fall. Then with each flash of lightning, the sound of the thunder came closer behind it, as the storm moved closer until finally it moved on past. During this time, the rain had come down in torrents, subsiding only when the storm passed on by. Finally Jay got up and taking off his boots, he got into his sleeping gear for a nights sleep. In the morning, Jay once again tied his horse out for ground grazing. Then he set about to prepare a fire for his morning meal of bacon and hard tack and coffee. He was just about to but his bacon into the frying pan when he heard his horse shriek out in alarm and he looked up just in time to see a large mountain lion plunge down from above, narrowly missing the horses back, in an attempt to bring the animal down. In an instant, Jay dove for his rifle, which was leaning against a large rock, as at the same time, the mountain lion was preparing to make another attack for the horse’s neck and throat. The fact that the horse had been ground tethered to a log that had let him move with some freedom, had saved him from having had the lion land on his back and neck. Now the horse was on its hind legs in an attempt to save its self, but was hindered by the log that it was tethered to. The mountain lion was about to spring up onto the horse, but must have been confused by the movement of the log and hesitated for just a moment, and then heard the sound of Jay as he levered a slug into the chamber of the rifle as he was about to shoot the animal. In this instant the animal saw the hated man and gave out a snarl and turned and leaped down from the rock that he was on, just a split second before the lead slug hit harmlessly into the rock behind where he had been crouched and went ricocheting off into space with a buzzing sound. The animal was able to slink off before Jay was able to get off a second shot. Jay went over to calm the horse down and as he did so, noted that where the mountain lion had left, he had left his tracks in some of the soft muddy ground from the previous nights rain. Jay looked closely, as he couldn’t help but see that on the left front foot of the animal, the two right toes were missing. It was as if the Cat had been caught in a trap at one time. He led the horse in closer to the campsite, as they would be leaving as soon as he finished his meal.   CHAPTER THREE As he came down from the high country, Jay came across the wagon trail that would lead him into the town that he had seen the night before. At first he came across some outlying homesteads with tilled fields, where the owners were trying to eke out a meagre living, on both sides of the wagon trail. Then there were the individual cabins and closer in to the town larger homes appeared, some with picket fences in front of them. Then he passed a church with a steeple and beside that was a schoolhouse, that he was coming up to. Here, the children were evidentially being called back into the school after the noon lunch break, and Jay had to stop his horse for a while to avoid some of the children as they ran across in front of him on their way back into the school. They were being called back into the school by the ringing of a bell, which was in the hands of a woman teacher. The last student had past by him, and yet Jay still did not move on, as he was looking at the teacher, framed there just outside of the doorway holding unto the ringing bell. ***** Their eyes met, and she suddenly dropped the bell. She had never seen this young man with the black hat on the steel grey horse before, and she couldn’t figure out what it was that passed between them when their glances met, but it had caused her to have lost her grip on the bell, with the result that it went tumbling to the wooden stoop of the school house entrance. The bell had gone rolling along the wooden planks until one of her students picked it up and gave it to her as he passed her on his way into the school building. She was still looking at the rider on the horse’s back, as she herself backed into the school and closed the door. As she closed the door, she leaned against it with her body for support. For some reason she suddenly felt weak and short of breath, and then suddenly realized that a lot of the students had turned in their seats and were watching her. Sarah, for that was the teachers name, found it very difficult to concentrate on applying her teaching skills to her students in that one room schoolhouse the rest of that afternoon. For visions of a tall horseman with a black hat sitting on a steel grey horse, kept coming to her mind. ***** Not having planned on staying around very long, but having been on the trail for quite a while, Jay decided to turn his horse in at the livery stable for a few days, inquiring about a place to stay during that time. The liveryman told him that there was a room that he could bunk down in at the back for a quarter more added to his horse livery fee. This fit his needs just fine so he agreed to it right away, and moved his gear into that place. Then he decided to have a meal at a local eatery before going to a bar to see what was going on in the area. At the bar, he ordered a sarsaparilla, as he had long ago decided that he was not going to let alcoholic drinks take over his life. Taking the drink to a corner table, he sat down and watched and listened. There was an afternoon card game going on, but the bets were low and it was a quiet game. His ears perked up when he heard one of the men mention something about a three-toed mountain lion, but nothing else was said about it. He heard another man mention as to how none of the large outfits were hiring at all at the present time and that work was scarce. Another one piped up fast to that remark that he had heard that the Circle C was looking for a top-notch ranch foreman that really knew his business to ramrod that outfit. “Hell, he’d have to be good, to control that bunch. The owners not there half the time and they do what ever they want when he’s gone from the place,” spoke up one of the players. “Yeah, and I hear that the place is starting to look kind of run down lately. It used to be a nice place. Too bad about his wife and all.” Then there was no more talk from the group as they started to concentrate on their game of cards. Then Jay watched as a lady descended a set of stairs from the second floor of the hotel. She stood at the bottom of the stairs for a while to observer the patrons in the barroom and then spotted Jay as he sat by himself in the corner of the room. He figured that more then likely she was one of the ladies that worked there during the evening hours; plying the patrons to buy more drinks and to accompany them to one of the upstairs rooms if things worked out that way. She slowly walked over to where he sat, and asked, “Mind if I join you?” “It’s a free country and there’s an empty chair there.” She got the bartenders attention and called out to him. “Bring me a coffee, Jake.” Then she turned her attention to Jay as she sat down. “Haven’t seen you around here before. Just get in?” “Just this morning.” “Plan on staying long?” “Few days perhaps. Not sure yet. Depends on which way the wind blows.” “The sheriff could always use a deputy from what I hear.” “No, my guns not for hire. It’s only for my own protection.” By this time, her coffee had been brought to the table and she stopped to drink some of it. “What about a bounty on a renegade mountain lion. Would your gun be for hire for something like that?” Jay’s eyebrows suddenly rose up and he sat upright in his chair. “This Cat wouldn’t by any chance have two missing toes would it?” “Why yes, how did you know?” “I heard one of the men at the card game mention something about it,” he covered up on what he really knew about the encounter that he had with the animal that morning. A bounty. Very interesting. “It must be a very dangerous animal to have a bounty on it. What did it do?” “It’s not what it did. It’s what they say that it does. They say that it kills just for the joy of it. When it kills they say that it only eats a small portion of the meat and then leaves the rest for the coyotes and vultures. People are staying close to their homes and taking their kids to school with loaded guns or keeping them at home.” She had finished her coffee and gotten up to leave. “It was nice talking to you cowboy. Perhaps I’ll see you in here tonight?” “I don’t think so. It’s not my type of place for night life.” “If you change your mind, look me up. The name is Jane.” “Ok Jane, my name is Jay.” She lifted her hand in a type of salute, and was off towards a back room behind the bar. I sat there for a while after finishing my drink, thinking things over then headed outside and looked down the dusty street till I spied the sign that showed me where the Sheriff’s office was and I headed off in that direction. The Sheriff must have heard my feet scrapping on the wooden platform in front of his office, as when I knocked on his door and entered, he was just removing his feet from his desk where he must have been having a snooze only moments before. “Sheriff, I’m hearing word around town about a bounty on a Wild Cat and I was wondering what the price was on it?” “The reward poster is right behind you there.” I turned around and read the poster. It was from the Cattlemen’s Association and the Town Council. The reward was for a total of $150.00 cash. I let out a soft whistle. “I haven’t seen you around these parts. You live near here?” “No, I’m just passing through. But I figure on staying a few days. That bounty reward kind of interests me. Don’t mind if I try and get that Cat, do you?” “Be my guest. And if you’re interested in settling down here, I could use a good deputy if you’re any good with that gun you’re carrying there.” “No, I’m sorry, but this guns not for hire. I may be for hire, but not the gun.” “There’s a difference?” As I walked to the door to leave, I opened it, and then turned to him and said, “Yes” As I left, I closed the door behind me. At the General Mercantile, I stopped to buy a spotting scope and some other things that I would need for several days out in the country in the area. I had decided that I was going after that Cat and I was going to get it one way or the other. I had stopped at several stores, buying things at each of them, even though I didn’t really need it, but to get the owners confidence and information about the Cat. I wanted to know where it had been seen and when it had done it’s killing and a pattern of it’s movements. I knew that people had begun to talk about me, as it was getting to be common knowledge that I was going to go out and get that Cat. I was asking too many questions to keep it hidden. Everyone was wishing me the best of luck. I realized that Cat had the area residents scared. I was sitting out on a bench in front of the Mercantile, going over a map that I had just purchased, when the school had let out and a lot of the children had passed me by. It was then that I suddenly saw her. She was walking on the other side of the street, carrying several books under her arm and a handbag. She was about to turn into a fenced in yard, which led to a boarding house, when an older woman met her walking in the opposite direction. She hadn’t actually seen me, until the other woman nodded her head in my direction. Then when she looked over, she suddenly dropped her books and some of the loose papers that were in them fell out. ***** “Oh my.” “What is it’ Sarah?” “Nothing, I just had a dizzy spell.” She stooped down to retrieve her books and the papers that had fallen out of them. As she was down there, she looked over across the street to see if he was still looking at her. Yes, he’s still looking. Oh my, I feel like a fool. First the bell and now my books. He must think I’m a real klutz. I’ve got to get inside before anything else happens. “Well Sarah, don’t you worry about your school children? That man will get that mountain lion and we won’t have anything more to worry about.” “I’m sure he will. He seems like a nice man.” “Yes he does, doesn’t he?” “Bye, Mrs. Thompson.” I had to give him a quick glance as I turned to go into the boarding house and up to my lonely room for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I knew already that I was going to have a hard time falling to sleep tonight. What’s come over me? How can just seeing a man have such an effect on me like that? I’ve got to put him out of my mind, but how? ***** I watched the young lady until she went into the boarding house and then a few minutes later, as I folded up my map, and gathered up my things, I happened to glance up at the upper window of the boarding house and saw the curtains moving slightly. I knew that I was being watched as I walked towards the livery stable, I could feel that there were eyes following me.   CHAPTER FOUR THE HUNT   The next morning I had my horse saddled and gear packed and was waiting outside of the eatery for it to open so I could have a hearty breakfast and be on my way. The town was just starting to stir as the waitress opened the door and I went in and sat down at one of the tables. After she had taken my order and the cook had prepared it, she brought it over to me. “You’re the fellow that they say is going after that mountain lion, is that right?” “I guess that would be me.” “When you go, the cook wants to give you some of his special beef jerky, for the trail. No charge and he hopes you get him, where others have failed.” Later as he rode out of town he noticed a sign that said, “Welcome to Clarkson, Texas” Then at the bottom corner was another poster, announcing the event of a shindig that was coming up a little more then a few weeks away. As he rode on, he thought to himself that he just might like to stick around for a while. Perhaps he’d be able to see that schoolteacher at the doings that they were going to have there. He wasn’t really in any hurry to go any place. As he rode, he passed the place where he had camped the other night, but farther down in the valley. Instead of following any particular trail, he was scanning the sky, until he saw what he was looking for. Buzzards, a group of them soaring on the up drafts. He headed his horse in their direction. When he got close to where they were, he saw more of them take off from the ground. He rode over to that spot, knowing full well what he expected to find there. Sure enough, it was the carcass of an antelope. He got off of his horse to look for signs on the ground, as to what had caused the death of the animal. There it was, the unmistakeable paw print of a three-toed Mountain Lion. This animal had probably died only hours after Jay had seen the Cat when it tried to attack his horse. There were other signs of coyote and wolves there also, having come to get their share of the lions kill. Jay figured that he now had a lead on that lion and the direction in which way he was headed, from past killings. He travelled for days, scanning the skies, often with the use of his newly purchased scope, for signs of gatherings of Vultures. He knew that he was close on the heels of the animal by the freshness of the kills that he came across. He saw a pattern evolve, where the Cat would kill early in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. Also that it had a territory staked out, which seemed to circle around the town of Clarkson by some distance. He had seen this when he had marked confirmed killings on the map that he had bought in town, and what he observed himself as he followed the Cat’s trail of killings. He hadn’t yet seen the Cat, and at the present time he was in an area that had brought them close to the town, so he decided to spend the evening there instead of out on the trail. He needed some supplies, so he would continue on again in the morning. Jay was coming close to the town from the opposite side from where he had come into it before, and the dusty road he came across followed a tree-lined creek as it meandered into the town. Suddenly his horse snorted, as if trying to clear it’s nostrils of something and stopped and acted jittery. “What is it, Boy?” Jay could hear a group of boys swimming in the creek up ahead, but from experience with his horse knew that there was trouble up ahead also. There was a light breeze blowing in his face, so as a precaution he removed the rifle from its saddle boot and removed the safety, so that it would be ready to fire at a moments notice. Jay wrapped the reins around the saddle horn and urged the horse to go on, even though it was reluctant to do so. Soon he was able to see where the boys were swimming in the creek. There was a widening of it and there were two of them in the water and one on the far bank. Farther downstream he could see a plank bridge that he would have to cross over to get into the town. He could only see glimpses of the boys, as he wasn’t yet close to them and the brush along the creek hid them from view most of the time as he headed in their direction. Then the brush cleared and he could see that the boy on the bank was going to dive into the water, as one of the others in the water suddenly yelled out in alarm, “Jeremy, look out!” At the same time Jay saw the danger also and his instincts took over immediately. It was the Mountain Lion! It had been crouching low in the large low overhanging limbs of the tree where the boys had been swimming, waiting for its chance to make its kill. The boy didn’t even have a chance to react to his friends scream, as the Lion leaped downwards from the tree where he had been waiting, but before he even cleared the tree, Jay had him in his sights and had squeezed the trigger and knew that he had made his kill as the Cat suddenly fell in mid-air, instead of continuing on with his leap unto the unsuspecting boy. Jay watched for a minute to make sure that the Cat did not move before he urged his horse on and crossed the bridge and got to where the boys were by that time looking down at the animal. “Gee mister, that was sure some fancy shooting. He would have killed Jeremy if you hadn’t come along.” “I imagine that he would have.” “Is that Old Three-toes, mister?” “I’m wondering that myself. Let’s have a look see.” With that Jay pulled the left foot out from under the body of the Cat, and had a look. Sure enough, there were two toes missing. He had gotten Old Three-toes after all. Knowing that his horse would not go for having the animal on his back, Jay, with the help of the boys, made a crude travois to put the animal on, to pull it into town as far as the Sheriff’s office. On the way, the boys shouted out to everybody around. “He got Old Three-Toes” “He saved Jeremy’s life.” “He killed him with one shot when he was going to jump on Jeremy.” “He shot him right thru the heart in mid-air.” Over and over they would shout to the people, until they got to the Sheriffs office. By that time, there was a large crowd gathered to look at the animal and to make sure that it only had three toes on its left front foot. When the Sheriff heard all the commotion out in front of his office, he came out and saw Jay just getting down from his horse, but did not see the animal because of the crowd in front of it. He looked over to Jay and asked? “What’s going on here?” “I just brought in your Mountain Lion, and I’m here to claim the reward on the bounty that you’ve got posted inside there, Sheriff.” By this time the crowd had parted and he was able to walk over and bend down to inspect to see that the animal only had three toes on its left foot. “By golly it’s him alright. Come on into the office.” Jay, after retrieving his rope, tied his horse farther away from the dead animal and then went into the Sheriff’s office. When he got inside, Jay saw the Sheriff sitting at his desk writing something on a large piece of paper. He took a seat in a convenient chair until he was finished, and then the Sheriff slid it over to him and said, “You take this over to the bank any time, and they’ll give you the five hundred dollars reward money that’s coming to you. You deserve it, from what I hear the talking about out there. Saving that boys life and all.” Jay took the paper, looked it over, and folded it and put it in his shirt pocket. “Thanks Sheriff. I was tracking his movements, but didn’t know that he had heading into town ahead of me. That was just luck that I spotted him when I did.” Suddenly the door opened and young Jeremy came in followed closely behind by his mother, with her hand on his shoulder. “That’s him, Mom. That’s the man that saved my life. He’s the one that killed the Mountain Lion.” “Hush now, Jeremy. Excuse me Sheriff, but I’d like to have a word with this young man if it’s all right with you?” “No problem at all Mrs. Reynolds. Go right ahead.” “Young man, I’d like to thank you for saving my son’s life. In appreciation, I was wondering if you would be so kind as to come and have dinner with us tonight. I assure you that the food will be much better then the eatery where you have been eating since you came into town the other day.” “Well, I don’t see how I can turn down an offer like that. Where is it that you live?” “Oh, you can’t miss it, it’s the boarding house just down the street on the other side. Dinner is at six, and we’ll see you there at that time then.” As she was leaving, she said to the Sheriff. “And Tom, you try to be there on time also for a change.” “Boy, you’re sure a hero in that kids eyes.” “I’m glad to know that he can still see. One minute later on my part and he’d have been that lion’s dinner for the evening. Speaking of dinner, I’d better get over to the livery stable and look after my horse and clean up myself so I’ll have time to get there by six.” “That’s where I stay, not being a married man myself, so I have a bit of time to look after that animal you dumped out in front there. I heard one of the ranchers was interested in the pelt, so you may have a bit more money coming your way for the carcass later on.” “Isn’t that where the school teacher lives?” “Sarah Johnson. You met her, did you?” “I just saw her twice from a distance. Never talked to her.” “Well, you’ll be meeting her tonight. She’ll be sitting at the same table with us at suppertime.” As the two of them left the office and jailhouse, there was still a crowd gathered outside looking at the dead animal. Jay left the Sheriff and went to the stables and tended to his horse and then went to the room at the back that he had rented and cleaned himself up and put on a better set of clothes that he always kept for special occasions. As he closed the door to his small room, he was tempted to leave his gun belt and gun behind, but then decided not to, as he felt that he would feel naked without it strapped to his waist. He snapped the lock to the door, and made his way out of the stable. Out on the street, he liked the way that he felt in the new outfit that he had on. He had bought it while on the cattle drive that he had been on. He and another cowboy had bought identical shirts. Flannel red with dark blue jeans. A lot of the guys on the drive said that they looked as if they could have been twins. Jay made his way along the street till he came to the General Mercantile. He looked in thru the window at the clock hanging on the wall behind the counter and saw that it said that it was a quarter to six. He had a bit of time before he was expected to arrive at the boarding house, which was not much more then just across the street. Leaning against the porch railing, he watched the people as they moved on past him. He was surprised when two cowboys took a particular interest in him, and he tensed up, just in case, when he heard one say to the other in hushed tones, “Isn’t that Vern there?” “Sure looks like him.” “Wait till the Kid hears about this.” “Yeah, he’ll be down here fast, and so will his brother. There was more said, but Jay was unable to hear it as they moved on down the street. Looking at the clock once again, he saw that it was five minutes before six, and time to walk across the street to the boarding house.   CHAPTER FIVE When he got there, he knocked on the door and Jeremy opened the door and let him in. “Ma, it’s Mr. Weston, he called out to his mother, who was in the kitchen. “Have him set down in the parlour and then go up and tell Miss Johnson and Miss Arnolds that supper will be on the table in a few minutes. As he did this, Jay took the time to unfasten his gun belt and set it down on the table next to the door where he came in. He heard Jeremy go up the stairs and knocked at first one door and then another, calling out that it was suppertime at each one of them. When he got back down, the front door opened and the Sheriff came in with another man that he introduced to Jay as Bill Jones, the man that looked after the local feed store. As the men were sitting in the Parlour talking, Jay asked the Sheriff if he had ever heard of a cowboy by the name of Vern and also The Kid. “Why yes, I have Wanted Posters on both of them. The Kids brother also. There were three brothers that had a gang and then one of them got killed. Why do you ask?” “I was just mistaken for that Vern fellow just now, I think.” Come to think of it you do look a lot like him, this Vern fella, especially with that shirt you have on now. I think Vern may have been killed in a bank hold-up, but if the Kid doesn’t know that and he comes here looking for him and finds you, thinking it’s Vern. Well, you could be in for a lot of trouble. If I were you, I wouldn’t be wearing that shirt for the next while, until he’s caught. Your life could be in danger.” It was then that there was a call from the dining room that they should join them there, as the table had been set with the evening’s meal, and the ladies had arrived from upstairs. As Mrs. Reynolds placed Jay across the table from Sarah, she introduced her to him and also to Betty Arnolds, who was seated beside her. Once again, Jay and Sarah’s eyes met and they held unto that gaze longer then was necessary. Someone had asked both of them to pass him or her a certain dish of food, and neither had heard what had been said until it had been repeated again. A lot of the talk centred around the fact of how Jeremy’s life had been saved by the slaying of the Mountain Lion just at the appropriate time and how if it wasn’t for Jay coming into their town, things would have been different now. Then it was time for tea to be poured and as Jay lifted the teapot to fill Sarah’s cup, which she had lifted for him to fill, just as he started to pour the tea, she suddenly dropped the cup and it hit the table and broke into several pieces. “Oh no,” she cried out, “Not again, no, no.” Then she suddenly pushed her chair back and it tipped over as she got out of it as she raced over towards the stairs and went up them as fast as her feet could take her and she turned at the top and the ones at the table could hear her door close as she closed it roughly behind her. “What the devil got into her,” the Sheriff remarked. “Never mind now, Tom. She’s probably upset about what happened to her student today.” As Jay filled his own cup and later touched the cup to his lips, he had his own thoughts on the matter. This was the third time that they had seen each other, and it was the third time that she had dropped something in front of him. He had to send her a message. But what could it be? Then he saw some roses in a vase in the centre of the table, and three of the petals had fallen to the tablecloth below. He then saw a writing desk at the end wall. Going to the writing desk, he found a notepaper and a pen, and wrote the following note. Miss Sarah Johnson. Bells may slip from ones grasp, Books may fall from ones arms, Tea cups may fall from ones finger tips, Rose petals may fall from a flower, But love can go on forever, burning bright, alive and anew. When it begins to fade it can be fanned to flare up again, As if it had not faltered at all. I’d appreciate it if you’d save one dance for me at the local event next week, if you plan on attending. If ever there is a time that I have to pick you up, I promise you, I will not let you fall. Jay Weston.   He then went over to the flower vase and picked out one of the best roses and pinned it to the note and told Mrs. Reynolds to see that Sarah got it after he left. Thanking her for the enjoyable dinner, he went over to his holster and picked it up and was about to open the door to leave, when the Sheriff stopped him. “Jay, before you go outside, I’d advise you to strap that gun belt on to your waist. And also don’t do it right in front of the door. You’ve got to start to take some precautions in case The Kid comes looking for you.” As he was putting on the gun belt, and checking the action of the gun to make sure that it was free, the Sheriff added. “I think I’ll walk down to the livery stable with you. It’s time I did my rounds anyway.” ***** After they left, Mrs. Reynolds went up to Sarah’s room and knocked on the door. When she found out who it was, Sarah invited her in, and she found her on the bed, in the aftermath of a crying spell. “Sarah what is it?” she ask as she went over to the bed to be by her side. Why are you crying so?” “I don’t know. Every time I see that man I’m always dropping something. First it was the school bell. Then it was my books. Now it was the teacup that I dropped and broke. What’s it going to be next?” “I’ll tell you one thing that you don’t want to break, but you better read this first. He wanted me to give it to you when he left. I couldn’t help but to read it, and I’m glad that I did.” She then took the note and rose from behind her back, where she had it hidden from view and gave it to Sarah, who sat up on the edge of the bed to read it. “Oh my gosh, he wrote this?” she asked, holding it in front of her, in trembling hands in such a way that a tear drop fell on it from her eyes. “I saw him write it, and then he gave it to me, to pass it on to you.” “Oh my gosh,” she said again, as she suddenly held the note and rose to her bosom. “I feel so strange. Like the first time I saw him in front of the school, on his horse.” “That’s when you dropped the bell?” “Yes.” “And then the next time that you saw him, you dropped your books. Then tonight was the third time that you happened to see him, and you happened to drop the tea cup and broke it?” “Yes, when will it all end?” “Hopefully it will never end. Oh, the dropping of those items were just accidental things that happened. It was what happened in your heart when your eyes met that really counts here. You’ve been properly introduced to this young man, and he’s asked you to save a dance for him, which is the same as asking for a date.” “But you said something about my breaking something, what was that?” “Sarah, that young man is in love with you, and I’d hate to see you break his heart.” “Oh, I won’t. He’s been on my mind ever since he rode into town. Then when I heard that he saved Jeremy’s life, I was so overjoyed for your sake.” “Yes, it was a miracle that he came along just when he did. In fact that was the second time that he came along at a precise time to touch someone’s life, if you stop and think about it.” “Yes, it shows how the life of one person, can change the lives of those that that person comes in contact with.” “Truer words were never said, Sarah. Why don’t you freshen up and come down and join me for a cup of tea. I think we could use a mother, daughter type of talk here. “Ok, I’d like that. I’ll be right down. I need to talk to somebody.” ***** Down the street, the Sheriff and Jay came across a drunk cowboy, slumped against a hitching post, so he asked Jay to help him to get him back to the jail so that he could let him sleep it off there in one of the cells till the morning. When they were in the office, the Sheriff asked him once again if he’d consider the job of being a deputy. “No thanks, the towns too crowded for me. I need the open spaces.” “What’s your plans then?” “I thought I’d go out to the Circle C and see about that Foreman job that I hear the owner wants filled. I’m kind of young for the job, but I’ve got a lot of experience with cattle and I’ve been around several ranches all my life. I figure that I can handle the job as well as anyone can.” “I bet you can. I’ll write you out a recommendation, that you’re clear as far as I’m concerned and that you’re the one that got rid of our Mountain Lion problem. That will go well with Old Charlie up there.” After getting the letter that the Sheriff had written out, they were once again headed for the livery stable. This time, they stopped in at the two bars that the town had, so that the Sheriff could be sure that everything was all right. Many of the men congratulated Jay for getting the Mountain Lion, saying as to how good a shot he had been to have gotten it in mid air and to have shot it right through the heart, at such a distance. Others thanked him for having saved the life of the young boy, Jeremy. These words meant more to him, than to hear of how he had killed the lion. At the stable, the Sheriff shook his hand and wished him good luck at his job-hunting at the Circle C the next day, and said good night to him.     CHAPTER SIX The Circle C Ranch As he rode up to the ranch house. He saw several men working in the corral and a few others just lazing around, apparently not working at anything. As he dismounted, he nodded to them, and then tied his horse to the hitch rack and strode to the front door of the sprawling ranch house and knocked on the door. A scruff voice called out to him to come in, so he opened the door and went inside, closing the door behind him. His eyes had to adjust to the dimness of the light inside, but then he saw an older man seated at a desk at the farther side of the room, with his back to him. As he turned around to face Jay, he saw that the man had a full-faced beard and moustache. “What can I do for you, son?” “I hear that you need a foreman, and I’ve come to apply for the job.” “Kind of young for a job like that aren’t you?” “Not necessarily. I’ve had experience, as I’ve worked at different ranches since I was 16 and can handle myself. I have a note of recommendation from the Sheriff in town here.” As he said this, he reached in his pocket and produced the note and walked over and handed it to the man. After reading it, he said, “So you’re the one that got Old Three Toes. I heard about that last night from one of my men. By golly, I would have loved to have seen you bring him down. That must have been some shot. Right in mid-air at that.” He paused for a while, as he looked Jay over. “Can you handle that six shooter on your hip in the same way?” “I’ve practiced with it some.” “Ever killed a man with it?” “No, I’ve never found it necessary to use it for that. It’s there for my own protection, in case it’s necessary though.” “Let’s go out back and see how good you are with that gun.” As they went out the back door, the old man picked up an empty whiskey bottle and when they were a distance from the house, he stopped and got ready to throw it into the air. There were several men out there, and they gathered around, in anticipation of what was going to happen. “When I throw this bottle up in the air, I want you to draw and shoot it. Ready?” “I’m ready.” The bottle was tossed high into the air, but it came down unbroken, as Jay had not made any attempt to drawn his gun to shoot it. Disappointed, the old man had one of the others go to fetch the bottle as he turned to Jay and asked him, “Why didn’t you draw and shoot it?” “I would have, but you tossed it right over the path to the outhouse, and if I had shot and broken it, the glass splinters would have come down right on that path. Then there would be people like you that would get serious cut feet because of it going out to the outhouse at night in their bare feet. I wasn’t going to take a chance on a shot like that.” “By golly you’re right. Let’s throw this one over towards the dump this time.” This time, as the bottle was rising and it was at its full speed; Jay drew his gun and fired in two quick successive shots. The bottle burst and there was another smaller burst, which was hard to see. “What did you do? Miss with the first shot?” “No, I hit it. The second shot was for the cork in the neck of the bottle.” Jay then levered a shot into the ground, at about the spot where the cork had landed. “You’ll find it at about that spot right there.” Once again, the old man had his hired man to go and get the object for him. When he returned, he handed him the cork that had been in the bottle, with a bullet hole thru it and a bit of glass still attached to it. “Well I’ll be darned,” was all that the old man said. “He’s right“, one of the men said. “I did see two things get hit up there. First the bottle, then there was something else. It had to be the cork that he hit with the second shot, while it was still in the broken neck of the bottle.” “That sure was some shooting,” said another. “Young man, let’s go back inside. We got some talking to be doing.” Once inside, the old man sat down at his desk, and motioned for Jay to sit down in a chair in front of it. Before Jay sat down, he reloaded his gun. “I liked the way you handled yourself out there, Jay. You used good sense in not shooting at that bottle the first time. As of right now you’re my new foreman. The bunkhouse out there has eight rooms and the first one is yours. Each of the others is shared by two of the other fourteen hands on the ranch. Each of the doors faces the cookhouse where they get their meals. There are two stable men and a cook and a helper. Plus a cleaning lady and maid that works in the house here. They’re all under your command. I’m too old to have anything to do with running this place anymore. Is that understood?” “Yes sir. I understand. Is your land all fenced in?” “It’s supposed to be, but these men are too lazy to keep checking it to keep it fixed all the time. From what I hear and see, it needs fixin bad.” “What’s the situation about supplies for the ranch?” “See what you need, and I’ll let the different stores in town know that you can charge things to my account for the ranch, as long as it seems reasonable. Step out of line, and I’ll know about it fast enough.” “There’ll be no trouble in that way, I’ll assure you.” “Good. Any major things, check with me first. Let’s go out front, so I can let the boys know that you’re their new foreman.” After ringing a large bell at the front of the ranch house, the men that were there, came and he introduced Jay as their new foreman. Jay told them that he wanted them to tidy up their bunk house, as he was going to be inspecting them and wasn’t going to go for a lot of untidiness around the place. “I want you to divide into two groups of five each. Two for fence repair and three for getting our stock and those of the neighbours on the proper side of the fence. You’ll all carry fence repair tools with you, and change over if you want to. If you cut a fence and it needs repair, mark it with a white strip of cloth that you’ll be taking with you. One group will head east and the other will head west. Don’t come back until you meet up and the job is done or Friday afternoon… Then you can go to that shindig that they’re having in town on Saturday.” This brought a whoop of cheers from the boys, as they were all in favour of going to that outing in town on Saturday. “You’ll be heading out right after breakfast tomorrow morning. Today being Monday, you’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so get your gear and what you need together today, and I’ll see that the cook has your grub ready to go with you in the morning. The other four that don’t go out on fence duty will be doing work around the Ranch area getting this place back into the shape it’s supposed to be in. I’II let you decide who’s doing what this time, until I get to know you fellows. That’s my orders for now.” With that the men left, talking amongst themselves. Charlie told Jay that they had best to go over to the cookhouse to meet the cook and the others over there and get something to eat. As they were sitting there eating, Jay saw a map hanging on the back wall of the dining room, and asked him about it. Charlie told him that it was a map of the entire rangeland that belonged to him. “Does it show the fence line on it?” “Why yes, and the line cabins too.” “Is that where the boys will be sleeping while they’re out on this job I sent them out on?” “More then likely. They’ll work back and forth from there, like they usually do when there’re out there working the cattle or mending fences like they’re supposed to be doing.” “Seems to me that you have more hands working here then you really need. Is there a reason for that?” “No, it’s just the way it’s worked out. I guess a few drifters came in but aren’t really on the payroll. As I said before, you’re in charge, so you do what you think is proper. If I don’t think that you’re doing a good job, then I’ll have to let you go.” “I understand that. After they’re out there for a few days, I’m going out to check on them. Right now, I want to see your stable men about where you keep your supplies for the fences and tools for the men to mend those fences. I want them ready for them this afternoon yet.” “Ok Jay, you’ll find them over in the stable barn or chicken coop or one of the other livestock buildings out there. They have sleeping quarters in a small building set back behind the barn a bit.” When Jay found the stable men, he told them what he needed in the way of tools for the repair of the fences and that he wanted two pack horses with pack sacks for the next morning set to go with each of the groups. Jay went back to talk to the cook, to tell him to draw up enough supplies for each group for the time that they would be out on the range, and have it ready to be put onto the pack animals. By this time, the four cowboys that were going to stay around the ranch had come to see him, and he appointed different jobs to them to keep them busy for a while as he himself gathered his thoughts as to whether he had covered his tracks correctly. The next morning, after breakfast, Jay saw to it that each group was outfitted correctly and he gave them his last instructions. What he didn’t tell them was that he would be checking in on them, some time during the week to see how they were doing. After they were gone he checked out the bunkhouse to see how things had been left and wasn’t too satisfied with what he saw. When they returned, he would have to let them know that how they lived, would reflect on the type of work they did. If they wanted to live in a pigsty, then they would have to move out and find work in a pig farm instead of a cattle ranch. He was going to tell them to either shape up or get out, and he’d be the judge as to whether they were doing it. CHAPTER SEVEN Jay figured that the ranch was over staffed as it was and the lose of five or six of the ranch hands would be of no consequence to the running of the place as far as he was concerned. He had the remaining hands each doing necessary jobs that would keep them busy for many days on end to repair things that had been left undone much too long around the place. Then on the second day, he had Slim, a seasoned ranch-hand saddle up with him and they started out to check on what the others had been doing. It didn’t take long to find out that not all the cattle of the neighbouring rancher had been driven back over to his side of the fence. The fence itself had been repaired, and Slim told Jay that in his opinion that a lot of the cattle had been driven over, by what signs he saw, but that others had not been done so. It was early afternoon when they rode up on a rise of land and saw the line cabin down below them at a distance. There were three horses tied at the hitch rail and smoke was drifting lazily out of the chimney. A little farther on, they could see two men and their horses; apparently busy mending the line fence. “Looks to me like some of the men decided that they needed a break, Slim. Work must be getting to be too hard for them.” “Seems that way doesn’t it.” “Let’s ride slow and quiet down there. Keep under cover of those trees there and then walk that short distance to the cabin so that they don’t see us. I want to find out what they’re doing in there before I talk to them.” We were able to get there without being able to be seen, or to have the horses to have given our presences away. Sticking close to the cabin wall, we were able to hear what was going on inside. They were seated at a table in the centre of the room, playing cards. The one window that I was able to look into was open and it gave me a view of the layout of the room and the players, without being seen. The front door was slightly open and to get into the position that I wanted, I had to circle all the way around the building to get to the other side of the door, without being seen. I put my finger to my lips in a sign for Slim to be quiet as I did so. When I was once again in the position that I wanted, I cautiously peered into the doorway and saw what I wanted to see. There was one of the men holding onto his hand of cards, in such a way that I could easily see them. He was holding an Ace of Spades and below that was the King of Spades. I once again motioned to Slim to stay his ground, and then I quickly drew my gun and in one motion pushed with all my might against the door, as I levelled a shot at the cards that the cowboy was holding. I knew my shot was true, and the King of Spades card would have a hole where his heart would have been. The noise of the gun going off in the small cabin was deafening, and the occupants were so surprised that two of them were knocked to the floor, as they sat in their chairs. They weren’t wearing their guns, so Jay knew that he had nothing to fear in retaliation from them at the moment. “What the hell.’’ exclaimed the one still sitting at the table, as one of the others were heard to mutter out the word “damn it,” as he hit the floor. Surprisingly, the one that was holding the cards that were shot at, was still holding the cards as he slowly got up, steadying himself with the help of the table. As he did so, he kept looking at them and then at Jay, who was still holding his gun, levelled at the three of them. Then as he returned his look to his cards and then to Jay, he yelled out at him. “What did you do that fer? I had a perfect hand, and now you went and wrecked it fer me. Besides, that was the only deck of cards that we have here, and you ruined them.” By this time, Slim had come into the cabin. “Slim; take those cards from that fella and hold on to them for me.” Then he spoke to the others that were there. “You were sent out here to do a job, and Slim and I find cattle that belong to the neighbouring ranch still on this side of the fence line. Then we come in here and find you playing cards in the middle of the day. In case you don’t know it, a cowboys job starts at dawn and ends at dusk, or unless otherwise decided on.” Jay motioned to Slim to bring the cards over to him as he holstered his gun, and then he looked them over. Besides the Ace and King, there was a Jack and 10 of Spades that also had the bullet holes thru them, but more to the side. The other three cards were unmarked. “That was quite an impressive hand, I must say. We’ll just have to nail one of these cards at each of the line cabins and at the main bunkhouse permanently, as a constant reminder as to what has taken place here right now, to let all you fellows know that you follow the rules, or get out. Now you’re going to have to back track and herd those animals all the way up here, so you don’t cut the fence. I’ll have the fence line guys cut in a special gate for getting those strays across, and at the other line cabins also.” As they started to pick up their things, he added. “You better plan on sleeping out on the range for the next few night or so, to get those strays rounded up and over where they belong. You’ll be hard pressed to be able to make it for Saturday nights hoe-down from what I can see from here.” Then he told Slim to find some fasteners to securely fasten the Ace of Spades in a predominate place in the cabin, as he looked around the place himself, to familiarize himself as to what was there, both inside and outside in the surrounding area. It wasn’t long before the three were packed up and mounted and rode off to do the job that they were supposed have done properly in the first place. Then Jay and Slim walked back to where their horses were ground tethered and rode off to where the two were mending the fence. When they got there, one of the men said, “We heard a shot. What was that all about?” “I’ll let Slim tell you all about that later. Right now, I just want to say that you’re doing a good job, from what I saw as we were riding fence. But I want you to build a sturdy gate here, with short wings on each side for driving any stray steers across. Also one when you get to the back line cabin. I’ll have the others do the same on the other side of the range. That way, there won’t be any need to cut fence lines to get stray cattle across if we find them from now on.” “Sounds like a good idea, remarked one of the fence menders. There’s still going to be a lot of Circle C stuff over on the other side of the line, you know.” “Yes I know, but I’ll have to have permission to be over there to drive them back over to this side. I’ll let Charlie work that out with his neighbour. I don’t get paid for doing that.” Turning his mount, Jay rode over to where Slim was squatted down, smoking a pipe as he held the reins of his horse. “Slim; tell these fellows what happened at the cabin just now, so they’ll know first hand what went on and why. Then you can catch up with me. We’ll head back to the ranch, and then check the line cabin on the other side of the range tomorrow morning.” “Ok, I’ll just finish my pipe here and then I’ll take care of that and catch up with you.” The next morning, Jay saw a couple of the men in front of the bunkhouse looking at something on the wall, and then realized that it was the card of the King of Spades, with the bullet hole thru his heart. When they saw him, they immediately disappeared into the bunkhouse. Jay was headed to the cookhouse for his breakfast. As Jay was dishing up his own breakfast at the serving counter, the cook called out to him. “Jay, I hear you’re still taking practice shots at objects. Now its cards that people are holding in their hands, is it?” “Just doing it to draw a line. Cookie” “How’s that, Jay?” “When you work for Charlie, and that means for me also, as his foreman, there’s a time for work and then there’s a time for play. When there’s serious work to be done, don’t let me catch anyone goofing off and playing when they’re getting paid for it. That just doesn’t sit right with me. It never has and it never will.” With that, Jay left the cook mumbling to himself as he took his plate and coffee mug and sat down at a table to have his breakfast. Just as he had finished his meal and was drinking his coffee, Old Charlie came in and sat down across from him. “I heard that you were back Jay. How were things yesterday?” “Well, I had to lay down the law to a few of the fellows on the east side while I was out there.” He then went on to tell him what had happened, and how he had handled it. When he heard that, it got a chuckle out of old Charlie. “Good. Glad to hear it Jay. That will put them all into line. That’s what they need around here, someone like you to show them who’s boss. I used to have that spunk like you do, but I’m getting old and can’t handle them anymore.” “There’s certain things I can’t do though.” “What’s that, Jay?” “You’ve got stock over on the other side of the line, and I should have permission from the owner over there to be there to get them to drive them over here. I wouldn’t want any of our men to be charged with cattle rustling.” “Yes, I see what you mean. It would help it some if Bill Barnes’s men would help in separating the cattle for us also, I suppose.” “That would really be a help, if you could arrange that. Same with over on the west side and up on the north range later on.” “Yea, we’ll have to take them on one at a time. Barnes will probably be in town this Saturday for the hoedown, same as Bill Teele. I can talk to both of them, and introduce you to them. Barnes will be no trouble, but that Teele is an ornery cuss. You’ll just have to wait and see what it takes to deal with him, when the time comes.” “Well Charlie, I’m headed out to the west side today, to see how that group is doing. I sent Slim out earlier this morning to let them know that I was coming. That way I won’t have a repeat of what happened yesterday. I’ll keep an eye open on how many steers they missed, and how far they’ve gotten, and what the line fence is like. I’m good at reading trail signs, so I can tell what’s been going on without them even telling me.” “It looks like I hired myself a darn good foreman, when I hired you Jay.” “I just do my job, sir. I’ll see you when I get back.”   CHAPTER EIGHT As I rode fence, headed for the line cabin, I saw the fence was well intact, but that it had been done not recently, but long ago. Also, there were none of the B-T steers on this side of the line. There was an occasional makeshift gate set-up made up, and I could see where cattle had been moved back and forth at one time, but none recently. Another thing that I noted was that there were a few steers close to the fence line, and on the other side were young heifers that had been recently branded with the B-T brand on them. Those on this side, not far off were apparently their brood mothers. It was late afternoon when I finally saw the line cabin in the distance. There was smoke curling up from the chimney, so I knew that whoever was in there must be preparing their dinner, as it was too warm to require any heat for warmth. As I came closer, I saw that there was only one horse in the corral and I recognised it as the one that Slim rode. As I rode in closer, I saw him open the door and walk with a pail towards a stream that was close by and stoop to fill it. Then as he rose, and was about to return to the cabin, he heard me coming and shaded his eyes against the brightness of the sun to see who it was that was coming. Apparently realizing that it was me coming, he took the pail of water into the cabin and then came back out again, just as I arrived there. “Howdy Jay. I figured it was you coming. Meal about ready as soon as you take care of your horse. Figured you’d be here about now.” “Ok, I’ll be right in.” As I unsaddled, this time I did so inside of a small barn that had a haymow up above it and six horse stalls. Then I put my horse out into the corral, making sure that it had some oats and there was water there. After washing up at an outdoor washstand, I entered the cabin and found that Slim had the meals already set and ready at the table. As we ate, Slim told me that he hadn’t found anyone around the line shack area, so rode up north a ways to see if he could find any sign of the crew that were to work that line fence. “They must be up at the north line cabin, he said. Looks like the B-T gang have been repairing our fence for us.” “Yes, and it looks like they’ve been branding some of the Circle C heifers that they found over there while they were at it, rather then drive them back over to this side with their mother steers.” “Not much that you can do about that now.” “That’s what I figure. But the line fences will have to be monitored. From what I can see, the ranch is over staffed and I’m going to have to trim it down. I figure that if I put two hands on each of the east and west line fences with you in charge of them and I have four at the ranch, that’s all that’s needed.” “Sounds good to me. I could work out of the north line cabin. It’s set up a bit like this place, but also has a bunkhouse separate from the main cabin. It used to be the original ranch house from what I understand.” “That’ll be good. That way I’ll know where I can get a hold of you if I need you.” The next day, we headed up to the north line cabin. It was no use following the west line fence now, so we cut across country so that we could come onto the section where we would come to the northern fence line. This section bordered unto the Double T ranch, owned by Tom Thompson, from what Slim told me. It was very hilly country back in here, and travel was a bit slower and also we could see that the fence had been repaired often. Any cattle that we saw all had the proper brands on them. Evidentually the crew on this line fence were doing their job. When we got to the north line cabin from the high country in that area, we found one of the group there. Seems that he had sprained his ankle and was left behind with a splint on his leg to cook for the others while they were out doing the work on the fence and checking the steers. As Slim was tacking up the remaining card, with the bullet hole in it, he let the cowhand know what it was about, so that he could tell the others. Then after we had a meal, we decided to head back to the main ranch house, as everything seemed to be under control. Jay was glad to be heading back to the main ranch, as it was getting close to Saturday, and he was anxious to be seeing that teacher again. Why he might even be holding her in his arms, if only on the dance floor. After he got settled in, back at the bunkhouse, he went to see the boss at the main house. After telling him what had happened concerning the card game, he told Charlie that he felt that they should trim down some of the excess cowhands that he had working for him. “I agree with you, Jay. Some of these guys just drifted in here, and aren’t really on the payroll. I’m not sure if I mentioned that to you before or not. You do as you see fit. I’ll leave it up to you.” “Ok, I’m going to have two men at the east and west line shanties and Slim at the north cabin, so they can do line fence duty and keep an eye on the cattle.” “That sounds like a good solid plan.” “I’m going into town tomorrow, to line up some supplies for those places, so next week they can be hauled up there.” With that, Jay left the old man, and checked out things at the ranch to see what was available there, and what he would need to order in town the next day for the different places, to stock them up for the men that would be settling in there. The next morning, as he rode into town, he noticed that the schoolhouse was closed up, and there were no children in sight around it. Then suddenly he realized that it was probably due to the fact that the summer holidays had probably started for them. Then he wondered if the schoolteacher was still in town, or whether she had taken off to go away for the summer to some other place. As he continued on into town, he noticed that there seemed to be more people around and horses at the hitch rails, especially at the local bars. Perhaps it was due to the upcoming rodeo and picnic planned for the next day. Going into the feed store, he spent quite a bit of time in there, placing an order for what he needed, to be picked up the following week. Then he went into the supply depot and did the same. Next stop for him was the General Mercantile. As he went inside, he was fumbling in his pocket, not paying attention to the saleslady, when he suddenly dropped something from his pocket, without noticing it. He had his body partly turned from her, so she did not see who it was, but she said, “You dropped something, sir.” As he turned to pick it up, the list of things that he wanted to order, he said, “So I did, thank you.” It was then that he straightened up, and saw that it was Sarah, the schoolteacher or rather the saleslady that had spoken. “Golly, it’s you. What are you doing here?” “I’m working here part time while school is out for the summer. I see I’m not the only one that drops things.” “By no means. This is a list of things I want to order for pick-up next week. It’s for the Circle C Ranch. You don’t have to get things out right now, just set them up when you have the time and I’ll have them picked up on Tuesday of next week at about noon.” “I’ll see that the order is filled Jay. I heard that you got the foreman job out there at the ranch. I was very happy for you.” Then there was a ruckus out on the street, as someone called out. “Vern, or Jay, whatever name you’re calling yourself, come on out here. I got a score to settle with you.” “What the,” was all Jay could say, as he turned to see who it was that had called out the name Vern, and also his own name. Then through the glass window of the front of the store, he saw a young man, slightly older then himself, standing in the middle of the dusty street. “Jay, what is it?” “I don’t know. Stay inside here, while I go out and find out.” Jay walked to the door, and cautiously opened the door and walked out to the street. “I’m Jay, what do you want?” “It’s no use pretending you’re somebody else, Vern. I’d know you anywhere. You killed my kid brother, and now you’re going to pay for it.” Unknown to Jay, Sarah had not stayed inside the store as he had told her too. She had slipped out, and was standing steadfast against one of roof support posts of the veranda of the store. She was watching what was going on between the two of them. “If you’re talking about the Vern that was on the cattle drive with me, we were good friends, and we parted when we got to Kansas.” “Nice story, but that’s where you killed my brother, a few days after you got there. And now I’m going to do you in.” “You’re mistaken. I’m not Vern. The Sheriff told me that he was killed up north of here, trying to hold up a bank.” “You’re not fooling me Vern. Some other fella’s spotted you and told me where I’d find you.” “I’m telling you the truth.” “Well, I don’t believe you.” Jay watched as he suddenly went for his gun, but all of his training and thoughts in the past had prepared him for just such a moment. He knew that it was his life or that of his opponent, in the dusty street, so as he quickly side-stepped, he drew his own gun and levelled it and squeezed the trigger, as he saw the gun of the other person had cleared the holster, but it was not levelled when the gun bust into flame from it’s nozzle. The reason being, that the person that had a hold of the gun, had just been shot through the heart, by a single bullet. He froze for a moment and then his knees buckled and he fell, face forward into the dusty street. Suddenly, Sarah called out sharply, “Jay, behind you.” Instinctively, Jay twisted around and threw himself to the ground, while he searched for the reason for the distress call that he heard screaming in his ears. It didn’t take him long to focus in on two men that were poised with drawn pistols to shoot him down. As he rolled, with his gun extended above his head, he let out two shots, both of which he knew had hit their marks, but one shot of theirs had kicked up some dust in his face. The other one, he did not know where it had gone to? As he got up on one knee, he held his gun in readiness as he tried to rub the dust out of his eyes. As he was finally able to see, he saw the two men that he had shot laying there motionless. Then he looked around for Sarah. For it was her voice that he realized that he had heard screaming out a warning for him to look behind him, and which had saved his life. Then he saw her. She was laying face down on the veranda of the store front. He got to her just as other people were coming from all around to see what the shooting was all about. Sarah was laying there motionless as he got to her. He gently turned her over, and saw that there was blood soaking her blouse at her upper arm and shoulder. Picking her up, he immediately pushed his way past the crowd that had gathered and he moved towards the doctors office. Just as he was about to enter the office door, which some one had opened for him, the Sheriff came along. “It was the Kid, Sheriff. There were two others that tried to shoot me in the back. Stray bullet must have got Sarah.” “Ok, look after her, and I’ll take care of the bodies. I’ll need a report from you later.” Then I took Sarah in to the doctors office, and he told me where to set her down and had me wait out in the waiting room. Soon I was relieved to hear her talking to the doctor, so I knew that she was alright. Later she came out wearing an arm sling and a bandage on her left arm. “There’s my hero. You said you wouldn’t let me drop, and you didn’t. I’m glad I disobeyed your order about coming out there. If I hadn’t, they would have shot you in the back.” As I walked back to the store with her, I stopped her and looking at the arm sling I said, “Will this keep you from being able to dance with me.” “Well, let’s put it this way. Perhaps it will keep me from dancing with nobody but you.” “That sounds very interesting.” I was just about to give her a hug, when I heard the Sheriff call out to me, as he was headed our way. “Jay, can I see you down at my office right away.” “Sure thing.” I said good bye to Sarah, as I got in step with the Sheriff, not saying a word to him, till we got to his office. “What’s up.” “Those guy’s that were trying to kill you.” He was shuffling through a bunch of papers that he had removed from his desk drawer as he was talking. Then he pulled out one, then two more from the pile, before returning all but the three to the desk drawer and closing it. “Those three were all wanted, with a price on their heads. Dead or Alive. They’ve all got a price of forty grand on them. They’ve been robbing Trains. Stage Coaches and Banks all through the west and that’s why the reward is so high. I’m authorized to pass it on to you, as having brought them down. That is, as soon as I get the proper paperwork sorted out and sent out and a confirmation comes back to me. Then it’ll just be a matter of the money being sent here to the bank in your name, for you to do as you see fit with it. “Well I’ll be darned. First a Three Toed Mountain Lion and now this. What’s next.” “I’ll tell you something, that you might think about. You just got yourself a job as foreman on the Circle C Ranch and I know that you’re kind of sweet on that Miss Sarah gal. Well, Old Charlie would just love to sell that ranch of his, and move east to be with his relatives, and a hundred grand would sure look mighty tempting to him right now.” Jay was doing some figuring of his own. Another twenty thousand and a good herd to drive to market next year, and he could get some more good breeding stock. He could have the ranch paying for itself. And as the Sherriff had said, there was Miss Sarah. Then the Sheriff continued. “Yes sir, It would do me good to see you and that young lady get hitched and move into that ranch house together and raise a nice family.” “Hold on now, I hardly know the lady. She’s probably got other guys that she’s dating.” “Not by what the talk is around the supper table is almost every night. Since you were there the last time and left to take on that foreman job, she keeps asken if I’d seen you around town almost every day.” “Maybe I better see how she’s making out. I never did find out how bad she was hurt?” “Why don’t you ask her to go to the picnic with you tomorrow. There’ll be lots of food that you can buy there, and there’s going to be some entertainment also.” “Thanks, I’ll do that.” Leaving the Sheriff’s office, Jay went to see Sarah, and found her back at work behind the counter at the Mercantile. “How are you, Sarah?” “I’m all right. Just my arm is a bit sore, where the bullet went through. Luckily it didn’t hit any of my bones, the Doc said.” “That’s good. I want to thank you for warning me of those two fellows behind me. They would have gunned me down for sure if it hadn’t of been for you being there and warning me.” “Good thing I disobeyed your order of staying inside. Even though it almost got me killed, but the important thing is that we’re both alive.” “Yes, and that’s why I’m here. I was wondering if you’d join me for that picnic that’s going on here tomorrow. “Why I’d love to Jay. Thanks for asking me.” “Good. I’ll see you in the morning then, around about eleven.” With that, Jay left the store, and went down the street to where he had left his horse at the water trough hitching rack. There were many people now that he noticed that nodded to him, or that he saw that pointed him out to others as he saw, from the other side of the street. It had been a long day and he was anxious to get back to the ranch, so once outside of town, he decided to take a short cut, rather then take the travelled route back to the ranch. CHAPTER NINE As he neared the ranch, he saw a buggy that must have recently left the ranch, moving off in the direction toward town. Going directly to the stables, Jay had one of the ranch hands look after his horse, and then went to the wash stand to wash up. After he was cleaned up, he went to the cook house for his evening meal, and it was there that his boss found him and sat down across the table from him to talk to him. “Jay, I had some visitors today, and they said there was a gun fight in town, and from what I gathered, it sounded to me that it was you that was in it. Do you know anything about it?” “Yeh, it was me. I got jumped by a fella that thought I was somebody else, and I had to shoot him or else he was going to kill me.” “They said there was three guys that were killed by this one guy all by himself.” “There were two more behind me, that were going to shoot me in the back, but I was warned by a friend that they were there just in time.” “You were lucky. What is the Sheriff doing about it.” “Nothing, I’m not being charged. It was a case of self defence.” “That’s good. These fellows that were here, want to buy the ranch, and I want to sell, but I don’t like the price they’ve offered me, but I think I’ll have to take it.” “How much did they offer you, if you don’t mind me asking?” “They said they’d give me Eighty thousand for the place.” “If you wait for just a while longer, I’ll be able to give you One hundred thousand for it.” “What do you mean. Where would you get that kind of money?” “Those three men that tried to kill me, all had prices on their heads, and the Sheriff said that I’d be getting the reward money for them. As soon as I get it, I’d like to buy this spread off of you.” “Well I’ll be darned. It would do me good to sell it to someone like you, rather then see it go to some eastern outfits. “It’s a deal then.” “It sure is.” And they shook hands across the table. As the two of them sat drinking coffee together, Jay told Charlie of how things had gone since he had come to town and he had met this nice school teacher, and how she had saved his life. Of how it was that he must have been mistaken for another person, and it was because of his fast draw and good marksmanship that saved his life. But now others would be coming to try their hand at trying to prove that they were better then him. “What are you going to do about that Jay?” “There’s only one thing that I can do.” So slowly Jay stood up and unfastened his gun belt and coiled it up and set it down on the table before setting down again. “I just won’t wear a gun anymore. I’ll settle my disagreements in other ways.” “That’s a wise choice Jay.” The next morning, as Jay rode into town with the others, he decided to leave his horse at the livery stable. He figured that it would probably be evening before he would be returning back to the ranch. All the other cowhands from the ranch would be going on to where the rodeo was set up and be getting under way soon, but first they’d be stopping for a drink at one of the local bars. They’d just been paid, but chances were that by the end of the day, most of them would be broke for the rest of the month, till their next payday. That’s the way it was with cowboys, when they had a chance to get into town on a payday. Walking down the planked boardwalk of the store fronts, Jay came to the first bar and as he still had lots of time before he had to meet Sarah, he decided to go in and get a sasparillo drink. It was fairly busy inside, considering that it was still early in the day, and Jay saw several of the boys from the ranch inside. As he stood at the bar, after having ordered his drink, a cowboy at the far end of the bar, who had evidentially been in town the previous day, suddenly spoke up. “Well, well. If it isn’t the lucky cowboy that shot three men yesterday. And two of them just because of his pretty girl friend warned him just in time. Well let’s see what you can do with a fella that really knows how to draw a gun.” Then someone mentioned that he wasn’t even wearing a gun. “Oh, so you’re not packing a gun today. Well, we can fix that.” Going over to another friend of his, he got a gun from him, and went to the bar and slide the gun along the bar. As it slide along, it hit several drinks, knocking them over, until it stopped right in front of Jay. Jay looked at it, with it’s handle turned to him, and his drink right beside it, just inches away. He heard and saw groups of men move out of the line of fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cowboy poised and ready to draw, about fifteen feet away. Both of Jay’s hands were on the edge of the bar. The slightest wrong move and he was a dead man. Then he knew what it was that he had to do. All in one motion, he picked up the glass of soda drink, as he hurled it into the face of his opponent, and at the same time his body was in motion to cover the distance as the man’s gun was starting to come out of his holster. The man’s left arm instinctively came up to protect his face from the thrown glass, but the soda water got into his eyes, blinding him, and the glass caught him across the bridge of his nose. Within seconds, Jay’s left hand came down hard on his right gun hand, causing him to fire his gun even before it fully cleared his holster, the bullet going harmlessly into the floor. Jay’s right hand was curled into a hard fist that he used to punch the fellow right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As he fell to the floor, he grabbed Jay by the shirt, ripping it slightly. Jay was just removing the gun from the cowboys hand, when suddenly the Sheriff came barging in through the bat-winged doors. “What’s going on in here? Oh, it’s you Jay. I might have known there would be trouble if you showed up in town today. What happened?” “He tried to make me draw on him.” The Sheriff looked and saw that Jay wasn’t wearing a gun. “Where’s your gun?” “I wasn’t wearing one. He slide one along the bar, and wanted me to pick it up and shoot it out with him.” The Sherriff looked at where the gun was and saw the glass on the floor and the wet shirt and figured it all out. “So you decided to beat him up instead, is that it?” “I had no reason to shoot him. It has to stop some where, so it may as well be right here.” “Good thinking Jay. There were lots of witnesses here, so word will get out that you’re not a gunslinger, and you’re not carrying a gun anymore. I don’t think you’ll have any more trouble. I’ll lock this fella up for the week-end and then let him go with a stiff warning to get out of town and not to bother you again.” “Thanks, Sherriff.” “Oh, by the way, I got word by telegraph this morning, that confirms that the reward money is on the way to the bank in your name, but has to be co-signed by me and the bank manager.” “That’s good news. Charlie has agreed to sell me the ranch at the price you and I had talked about. There was a group from out east there yesterday wanting to buy it.” “I heard about that, that’s why I put a rush on seeing about this reward money. Well, it looks like this fella can walk to the jail now, so I’ll take him and lock him up and let him cool off for a few days.” When Jay went back to the bar, he saw that the gun that was slide along the bar was still there. He picked it up and walked to the end, and handed it over to the fellow that it belonged to, saying to him, “When you talk to your friend again, tell him he was lucky that I picked up the glass, instead of the gun. I wouldn’t have killed him, but he wouldn’t have been able to use his right hand the rest of his life if I had picked that gun up.” Going back to his place at the bar, Jay was going to order another drink when he heard his name being called out from behind him. It was Slim, who was sitting at a table just a short distance away. “I’ve got a drink here for you Jay. I ordered it for you while you were talking to the Sheriff. Figured you could still use one after that little skirmish you had there.” Sitting down at the table with Jay, they started to talk. “I noticed that you weren’t wearing your gun when we rode into town today and now this guy comes along and wants to have it out with you, saying something about a gunfight yesterday. What’s going on?” Jay told him what had happened, and then adding that he had decided that it was best if he did not wear his gun anymore, as it would just be a continuation of episodes of what had just happened just now. “When you’re good at something, there’s always someone that wants to prove that they’re better then you are. And when it comes to guns, it’s a case where somebody’s going to get killed, just to prove it.” “You could have dropped him easily.” “I saw that. Then it would have been that much harder for me to not wear a gun, as there would be somebody else trying to prove he was better then I was.” “Well that guy is going to have a lot of trouble living down the fact that he went up against a fella that beat him with a glass of sasparilla.” That put a smile on Jay’s face. “By the way Slim, you’re going to be stepping into my job as foreman a little later on.” “What do you mean by that? Are you leaving the ranch?” “No, I’m going to be the new owner. Charlie is selling out, and I’m taking over.” “Well I’ll be darned. I didn’t know that you had that kind of money to take over a spread like this.” “Let’s say that certain things came into play that made it possible. Don’t let any of the others know about it, as there are some of them that will be having to move off the ranch when I take over.” “I can understand your reasoning. I won’t say a word, and congratulations. Thanks also for keeping me on, especially as your foreman.” “Well, you know your cows, and there’s a big job ahead. I want the ranch divided in half. The good steers on the one side for breeding and the other side for sending off to market next year. I’m going to be looking around to be buying some good breeding bulls, beside what we have there now.” “I can see where you’re leading up to Jay, and it’s something that the ranch has been needing for a long time. In fact you’re what this ranch has been needing for a long time. Too bad you’re not bringing along a woman with you.” “Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot about Sarah.” Looking up at the clock on the wall, Jay saw that it was eleven-fifteen. “I was supposed to meet Sarah fifteen minutes ago. Sorry, but I have to rush.” As Jay went out the door, Slim sat there and thought to himself that perhaps there would be a woman at the ranch once again after all.   CHAPTER TEN When he neared the boarding house, Jay crossed the street and saw Sarah sitting with Jeremy on the front veranda. As he got up on the veranda, Jeremy left and he sat down on the seat that he had been sitting in. “I’m sorry I’m a little late Sarah. I was talking to one of the ranch hands at the Golden Nugget and didn’t realize that it was getting so late.” “From what Jeremy tells me, he heard that you were doing more then just talking and I saw the Sheriff passing by here on his way to the jail with a fellow by the scuff of his shirt collar, while he was holding his stomach as he was half doubled over with pain. And now you come along with a tear in your shirt sleeve.” Jay looked at Sarah, and he could see that she was possibly turning away from him. “Sarah, let me explain.” “What’s there to explain. You come into town, and first thing you have to do is stop in for a beer or a whiskey like all of the others around here. Meantime, I’m getting myself ready for this wonderful picnic that I’m supposed to be having with this nice man that’s come into my life.” Sarah paused for a moment as she drew out a tiny kerchief from her wrist band and dabbed at her eye with it. “Then I hear this shot being fired and I think to myself, gee I hope that’s not Jay being shot. Then when you didn’t come on time and I heard you were in a fight, and then I saw the Sheriff with that man, I figured that you weren’t the type of man that I wanted in my life. Then I thought that perhaps you did maybe kill that other fellows brother and he had a right to come after you. Then I almost got killed myself for saving you from those others.” Jay saw that she was almost in tears by this time, as she once again pulled out her kerchief and dabbed away at her eyes with it. “I think that perhaps it might be best that you just leave.” With that, Sarah got up and was turning to go into the boarding house, when Jay caught her by the arm. “Sarah, please wait and let me explain something to you. Please sit down again.” As she did so, Jay turned in such a way that he was facing her. “I’ve never been a drinking man, and when I went into that bar, it was to get a glass of sasparillo. I was confronted with a cowboy to a dual. I had the choice of going against a six-shooter versus the same, which he had slid along the bar to the front of me, to where my drink was sitting, which was that glass of sasperillo. I decided on the glass of sasperillo to his face, with a punch to his gut for good measure instead of using the gun. You see, I had decided to hang up my gun as of last night. That’s why I’m not wearing it now.” Sarah looked and saw that he wasn’t wearing a gun, and then looked into his eyes and said, “Oh, Jay, I didn’t know. That’s wonderful.” Just then the Sheriff happened to walk by and called out, “Hey, Jay have you told Miss Sarah about who the new owner of the Circle C Ranch is going to be yet?” Then as he walked on by she said, “What was that all about, may I ask?” “Oh, it’s nothing definite. Old Charlie wants to sell, and I have some money coming my way that will take care of it, so I told him that I wanted to buy the ranch. That’s why I was late. I was talking to Slim, one of the cowhands, about making him a foreman later on.” “Then you really didn’t kill that fellows brother after all?” “No, he had mistaken me for another guy. I tried to explain, but he wouldn’t listen, and drew his gun, and I had to protect myself. I didn’t want to shoot him, but he left me no choice. The same with those other fellows, after you yelled at me that they were there. It was either me or them.” “Yes, even I saw that.” “Then the Sheriff told me there was a reward out on all three of them. I’ve always dreamt of having my own ranch and now I can do it. When I got back to the ranch, I realized that there would be others now that would try to prove that they are faster then me, so I decided to take off my gun. Especially when it came so close to getting you killed. That ranch house is a big place, and it needs a woman’s touch in there.” “Why Jay, is that a proposal?” “I don’t know what I would have done if that bullet would have killed you. Just a few inches farther over and you would have been dead.” “You didn’t answer my question. You said that the ranch house needs a woman’s touch, and I ask if that was your way of proposing to me, of getting me to marry you, so that you could have a woman there to look after things for you.” “Heck Sarah, that ain’t the only reason that I want you there. I fell in love with you ever since I first saw you, when I rode into this town.” “Well, that’s different, but I’ll just have to make you wait for your answer for now. Right now, we have a picnic that we were going to go to, and before we go to that, I’m going to have to mend that shirt of yours. You just wait here while I get my sewing basket and I’ll mend it for you. After she had mended the tear that was in the lower part of his sleeve, that she was able to take care of without having him remove his shirt, she told him, “There, now we’re all set to go to that picnic.” “Not quite,” remarked Jay, “there’s one thing that I want to take care of first.” “What’s that?” “It’s this.” With that, he put his arms around her, and lowered his face to hers, and placed his lips on hers. It was a tender kiss, and it held a lot of meaning to it, and Sarah’s heart suddenly began to beat quickly. “I wanted to do that yesterday, and then you were almost taken away from me. I decided that today I wasn’t going to take any chances on not being able to kiss you. Now I’m ready to take you on that picnic.” As they walked along, down the boardwalk to the edge of town where the picnic grounds and rodeo were taking place, Sarah had her good arm cradled in Jays arm. They were greeted with nods and spoken to as Miss Johnson and Mr. Weston or simply as Sarah and Jay, no matter where they went. Jay saw that many of the men noticed that he wasn’t wearing a gun, but none made any comment about it. Most were concerned with Sarah’s arm and if it was healing alright. No-one made any mention of the gun battle, either on the street or in the bar that morning.   CHAPTER ELEVEN After they had a picnic lunch of roast beef that was being barbecued right off of an open fire, Jay suggested that they stroll down past the games of chance that were set up in one area. As they came to a new concession called Spill the Milk, where there were six small wooden milk bottles piled up on top of each other. These milk bottles resembled bottles that were now appearing in large towns and cities across the country to deliver milk to people into their homes. The idea was to knock as many bottles off of the upturned barrel, with three baseballs and you could win a prize. Sarah suddenly stopped, and looked at Jay. “Seeing as to how you’re good at throwing things, let’s see if you can win a prize for me.” Jay looked the booth over, and saw all the different prizes hanging there, and stepped up and put down the required coin, and ask the attendant what it would take to win a teddy bear. “You’d have to knock all six bottles off of the barrel, sir.” “All six.” “That’s right.” “Alright, get ready to get one teddy bear down for my lady friend.” As the attendant gave Jay the three ball, he moved out of the way, and Jay took off his hat and gave it to Sarah to hold for him. Then he got ready to throw the first ball. A group of people had already stopped to see how well he was going to do at knocking down the bottles. With the first throw, four of the bottles went flying off of the barrel. Already he was due for a small prize. With the next ball, another bottle went flying off over the rim of the barrel. There were more people gathered, as some were calling others to see what was happening. Sarah moved up closer to Jay as he was about to throw the last ball. She put her free hand on his left arm where she had sown his shirt sleeve and looking into his eyes, she said, make it true like all the other times. Then she stepped back and he wound up and threw the ball, knocking the milk bottle off of the barrel. The crowd there let out a cheer, and the attendant reached up and got down a brown teddy bear to give to Jay. “Thank you, sir.” More people wanted to try his game now. Jay gave the Teddy Bear to Sarah by tucking it in, nestled in on her arm sling, as if she were carrying a baby. “I always wanted a Teddy Bear. And now I have one. I’ve already got a name for him.” “And what would that be?” “His name is Jason. Named after the person that won him for me.” Later they walked hand in hand, as they watched some of the local children in some foot races, and there were many other activities for them to watch. Some that they were able to participate in. Then they watched some of the activities at the rodeo that was taking place all afternoon. Then as the Sun was starting to set, they had a supper of roast beef at the picnic grounds that was set up now for this occasion. As the sun sank below the hills and cliffs to the west, the skies gave a colorful spelendour, as the sun etched the clouds in a variety of colorful hues. Torches were lit, and there was an area set aside for western style dancing and a group of local talented men were busy as they sat on hay bales, tuning up their musical instrument, getting ready for the dancing which was soon to begin. People began to come in groups, bringing their families and seating themselves on the hay bales that were provided around the dancing area or on blankets that they had brought themselves. Then a young lady came around and gave Jay a dance card that he was to have filled out with any of the ladies names on it that he had or would have filled out for each of the special singles dances for the night. Getting a pencil from her handbag, Sarah took the card from Jay and wrote a name in each of the six spaces provided for the special dances, and then handed it back to Jay. He looked at it and saw that she had written her name in all six spaces provided. He reached out his hand across the table, and clasping hers, gave it a light squeezing and said, “We’ll have to see if this young angel will still be able to dance with one broken wing.” “Oh, I’m sure that you’ll keep me from falling down.” It was then that Jay saw the Sherriff and the Doctor slowly walking in their direction. As they came to their table, the doctor ask Sarah how she was feeling? “I’m feeling good. There’s still some pain, but it’s not too bad.” “Well, if you do any dancing, don’t overdo it, and Jay, I hear that perhaps we may have a new ranch owner coming to stay in the area. I hope that’s going to happen. How’s it working out in that respect?” “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m working on it right now, but I wouldn’t exactly call it work. I’d call it very pleasurable.” “I don’t understand what you mean.” “Come on, Doc. Lets go and get something to eat, and I’ll explain to you what it is that he’s referring to, if you’re such a num-skulled idiot that you can’t figure out as to what’s going on here.” As the Sheriff gripped the other mans arm, leading him away, he turned and gave a wink in Sarahs direction. As Sarah looked over to Jay, she could see that there was a broad smile on his face as he watched the two of them walking away. Then the musicians started the music going and the dancing began. At fist there was a line dance and some of the families and their children all got up and formed a line and danced around the dance floor, one behind the other, all having a gay old time. Then there were several square dances as more people started to gather around the dancing area. Then it came time for the first singles dance, which was a Texas Two Step dance. It was here that Jay guided Sarah to the dance floor area and as the music started they got in the rhythm of the dance. They were doing very well, until close to the very end of the dance, that Jay realized that Sarah was stumbling somewhat on her feet. As he took her arm and led her back to their table, Jay said to her, “I think we better forget about the rest of the dances. I don’t think you’re quite up to doing that much exercise just yet.” “Oh, don’t be foolish Jay, I’ll be alright. I was just a little dizzy that was all. We still have five more dances to go.” There was a variety of several more dances that went on before another singles dance was called for. This was another Texas style dance, but with a much livelier step to it. It was just past the halfway part of the dance when it happened. Jay felt Sarah’s body suddenly go limp in his arm and he was able to grasp her before she fell to the ground. Fortunately they were at the edge of the dancers, and people in the area gave out a frightening cry as they saw what was happening. Jay had a hold of her, as he half dragged and half carried her to one of the hay bales at the side of the dance area. As he did so, a couple that were sitting there got up to make room for her. Jay sat there with Sarah’s head cradled on his shoulder, as evidentually she had fainted from the exertion from the dancing. Soon, who should arrive, but the doctor. “I told her to take it easy,” he said as he immediately took her hand and felt for her pulse and took out his pocket watch from his inside vest pocket and stood there for a while to see that she would be all right. Then someone came along with a moistened cloth that he was able to put to her forehead and soon she regained consciousness. “Wha what happened.” she stammered, as she sat up a bit. “You fainted, young lady. I told you to take it easy and you wouldn’t listen. Well right now, I’m telling you it’s time for you to head home and get some rest for a good week. No going to work, and that’s an order.” “You heard what the Doc said Sarah. I’m taking you home if I have to carry you there.” “I’ll be all right in a while Jay. But where’s my teddy bear?” “Here it is, said a lady from those gathered around them. I picked it up when it fell to the ground and was holding it for you.” “Oh thank you so much,” she said, as she took it from the lady and tucked it back into the folds of the arm sling, supporting her left arm. CHAPTER 12 Jay hadn’t been to town all the next week, as he had a lot to do around the ranch. Charlie, the owner had signed a tentative agreement with him, that he would be selling him the ranch, just as it stood as soon as the financial arrangements were settled. He had dismissed those that were involved in the card game at the line shack the week before. Only one had been an actual employed cowboy of the ranch and the other two had just been drifters. There were a few other drifters that were there at the ranch, and Jay told them to move along to new territory as they weren’t needed there at the present time. As he was debating as to when to move into the main ranch house, Jay had a talk with Slim. “Slim, when I move out of the bunkhouse, you can take over my place as foreman and move into my quarters.” “If it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon stick to our original agreement and I move up to the northern line shack. I can see the main ranch house from up there and you can put up a white flag and I’d see it and know that you need me down there. My job is to look after the herd and those boys at the line shacks and I can do it best from up there.” “You’re probably right at that. I can handle things down here all right and not have to worry about things on the range so much at that. Good thinking, Let’s do it that way then. You can move up there anytime you wish and let me know what you need to stock things up as you go along.” Slim pulled his hat down a bit to shade his eyes from the sun and gazed over Jay’s shoulder. “Looks like a rider coming in from town. Seems like it might be one of the horses from the town stable. Don’t recognize the rider though.” As Jay turned around to look, he said, “Why it’s Sarah. Sarah Johnson!” They both stood there as she rode up to them, Jay with a big grin on his face. As she reined the horse in, Slim grasped the reins at the bridle and held the animal still as she sat there in the saddle looking down at them. “Hi Sarah, nice to see you. What brings you out this way?” “Hi Jay, you to Slim. The Doc said I was all well now and I could go out and get some exercize, so I thought I’d take a ride out this way.” “I didn’t know that you could ride a horse?” “You didn’t ask me. There’s a lot about me that you don’t know. Like the fact that I grew up on a farm and my mother carried me in her arms while she rode a horse, before I could even walk.” “Well get down, and we’ll go into the cook house and have a coffee and you can tell me more. Slim will look after your horse for you.       After she dismounted and Slim led the horse away, she said, “Jay, the Sheriff told me to give you this letter as soon as I got here, when he found out that I was coming out this way.” With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded envelope and handed it to Jay. Taking the envelope, Jay opened it, and read the short letter that was written to him inside of it. “Not bad news I hope?” “No, It’s good news. It confirms that the money is there for me to be buying the ranch.” Just then there was a call from the ranch house and it was Old Charlie, waving them to come over to see him, where he was sitting on the front veranda. When they got closer, he spoke out. “Is this the young lady that I’ve been hearing so much about, Jay?” “This is her Charlie, Miss Sarah Johnson herself.” “Well, I hope it’s going to be Mrs. Sarah Weston one of these days. With you taking over the place Jay, it sure could use a woman’s touch in here and Sarah you look just like the type of woman that I know my late wife would have wanted to take over the place in here. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around.” Going inside, he showed Sarah the spaciousness of the sprawling ranch house with the main room having a stone fireplace on each end wall. It’s kitchen and lower bedrooms that had their own doors to the outside with a covered patio which was landscaped with assorted cacti, some which were in bloom at the time. Each room had it’s own handcrafted furniture done to perfection by skilled craftsmen. The thick log walls were well chinked and solid and where space was available either pictures or Navaho blankets covered the walls. Sarah could see that there were ample coal oil lamps for illumination at night time. Each window in all of the rooms was placed in such a way that it took advantage of the scenery outside, whether it was near or far away. Each of the four upper bedrooms had their own balcony with double doors to allow ample cooling during warm summer nights. Then Jay took her on a tour of the barns and the rest of the ranch buildings, until they came to the cook house, where they finally were able to sit down and have that coffee that Jay had spoken about earlier. “Sarah, you haven’t told me what brought you out here yet?” “You’ve kept me so busy showing me things that I haven’t had time to tell you yet.” “Tell me what?” “Yes” “What do you mean, by that.” “Yes, I accept your proposal. I’ll marry you, Jay.” “You will. Oh, that’s wonderful. I love you Sarah and I’ll make you as happy as I can.” “I know you will Jay. I love you too. But I want you to know that I decided to marry you before I came here. I wanted you to date me first. I came here to tell you that I would marry you, not to see what this place was like. I wouldn’t have cared if it was a run down old shack of a place, I was still going to marry you. But I can see where it needs a woman’s touch. Not in the needs of the building itself, but in the needs of the man and the woman and the children that will all be living in it later throughout their lives. That’s where the woman’s touch will be needed. That’s where I’ll be needed. Right there at your side.” “But there’s another thing that I want to say. I have a love for horses and after my parents died a few years ago I inherited the farm that they lived on and I sold it. I invested the money, till such a time that I would have it to put it to good use. Is there a possibility that we could use it to bring in some good horse flesh and breeding stock and run them on this range with the cattle?” “Sarah, the upper back end of this range would be just the place for them. We’d have to add a bit of height to the fence line to keep them from jumping over it, but that wouldn’t pose a problem. Slim would be back there in the line shack and he could keep an eye on things and there would be winter feed for them up there, as well as down here on the lower end of their range. You’d be able to see your horses right out of the back window of the kitchen on their own range up there.” “Oh this all seems to be too good to be true. Tomorrow I’ll have to give in my resignation to the School Board, as some day soon I’ll be a ranchers wife and I’ll be much to busy to be a teacher any more. With that, Jay got up and went around the table and as Sarah got up also, they put their arms around each other and kissed very passionately.

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