No single cowboy had ever managed to get his hands on Fast Gun Cody. He was faster than everyone and everything every time. His crimes were notorious and famous and thought about very perfect. He had never left a trace behind after he had emptied safe once again. Washington became hopeless of it until Bret Adams appeared at their request. Bret was what you called a helper of the right side of the law. Although nobody knew that. He didn’t say much to nothing but enormously quick with his guns.
The awful trip was heavy for Bret and his horse Trigger. The snow had fallen deeply and the path was hard to see. Trigger walked on the touch which went well for him. He was a horse that could find his way blindfolded.
If necessary he also could talk and shoot. For that reason Bret always had a second rifle with him. Nobody knew that his horse could shoot and talk. Besides Trigger was very erg intelligent. Sometimes Bret thought his horse much too intelligent. The animal had a different opinion about a subject than his boss. The exhausting began to show with the young bounty hunter and he was very pleased that they had reached Porterville.
“We are there”, said Trigger.
“F..Finally. It w..was a..about t..time th..that we got th..there. To the o…office of the sh…sheriff”, said Bret.
“Ok boss”, said his horse.
He walked straight to the office of the sheriff. Bret slipped out of the saddle, hitched his horse and went inside.
Sheriff Miles Kennedy was working when the door went open. He looked up and saw Bret Adams coming in.
“Bret Adams? Sit down. Coffee?”, asked the sheriff.
Bret nodded and went to sit opposite him. The sheriff of Porterville noticed that the bounty hunter didn’t say much to others.
When Miles had poured in the coffee and sat opposite Bret again he said, “I know that you have trouble with talking so shall we play open card? I am not for nothing your uncle.”
“Al..Alright. Th…Th…This letter I got via W…W…Washington”, said the bounty hunter.
He got a letter from his inside pocket and gave it to the sheriff.
Miles read it and said, “I have here all the information about Fast Gun Cody. You must approach him with care.”
“W..W..W..Where is th..th..that b…b…bastard?”, Bret wanted to know.
“In Bookerville. I will send a telegram to the marshal there about your arrival. Just stay the night at our place. Your aunt Kate and cousin Lucy are there. Come along”, answered Miles.
Bret drank up his coffee and walked then along with his uncle. It had been years that Bret had seen his cousin. He was curious about how she looked like. Trigger walked along and thought, ‘Soon a nice warm bed of hay and rest till the next morning. Sometimes I have the feeling that Adams only thinks about his own stuff. Poor me!!!!!’ Bret got received with open arms by his aunt Kate, a sister of his father David Adams. The young bounty hunter hadn’t seen them since the day that his parents got buried.
With the needed information in his pocket Bret went into the hotel. The clerk at the reception desk saw him coming and got the register.
“Do you have a room?”, Bret asked slowly.
He said it slowly on purpose so that didn’t notice well that he had trouble with speaking.
“Yes sure. If you would like to sign here”, said the clerk.
Bret got the pen and signed. Here after he got handed over the key of his room. The bounty hunter went to his room.
After a warm bath the bounty hunter felt much better. Lying on his bed he read the given information about Fast Gun Cody. One thing was for sure: Fast Gun Cody wouldn’t make it to the new year if it was up to Bret. Even though it was just January 1874.
Bret had planned to everything to get his hands on that outlaw. It didn’t matter to him which method he had to use for. Everything was allowed by him according to the book which Bret Adams had written.
While Bret Adams was at the hotel Fast Gun Cody spent his time in the saloon. He was playing poker all evening and lady luck was on his side. He won the money amount after money amount. Because Cody won so much money his desire for the delicious gold yellow liquid began to get bigger.
At a certain moment he said, “I quit. I am going to give my thirsty throat a treat.”
The outlaw got up and grabbed his money together. Hereafter he went to the direction of the bar.
“Bartender, a liter of beer and hurry up”, he roared at Toby who slowly came walking to him.
Even though Toby wasn’t scared he didn’t want to have anything to do with Fast Gun Cody. Tales were being told that first he tortured his victims and made them dead laughing. Besides Cody had a black beard and mustache and his eyes were small and dark. Above that were dark eyebrows. There came also that he was nearly 2 meters tall and weighed 180 kilos. Cody drank his beer in one sip. When that had happened the outlaw let out such a hard burp that they feared for an earthquake. It caused a commotion in town. People ran hysterical into the streets and began to yell. Marshal Tom Taylor remained calm like he usually was. Calm he left his office and he walked to the saloon. When he looked into it he heard a loud laugh. The marshal went inside. Quite soon he saw the funny man. It was Fast Gun Cody who laughed about his own burp.
“What is so funny?”, Tom asked smiling.
The outlaw stopped with laughing and answered, “I just let go a little burp. That’s all. There is nothing against that, is there, marshal?”
The marshal asked, “No, not that I know but how much beer did you drink to produce that burp?”
“Oh, a liter of beer”, Cody said very amused by all the unexpected attention.
“Not more? I thought that there was an earthquake busy but it was only your modest little burp. It will be difficult to tell the people that it was nothing. Have a nice evening yet”, said Tom.
He left the saloon. The outlaw began to laugh loud again but kept it very decent for the rest of the evening. For his doing then. When the marshal had explained what the matter was the peace returned again. Bret had fallen asleep already and had noticed nothing of ‘the earthquake’ which was present for a second was in Bookerville. You could even fire a cannon next to a sleeping Bret Adams and then he just would turn around and sleep through.
The next morning someone said to Fast Gun Cody, “Bret Adams is looking for you.”
“Bret Adams? That bat who can’t get out of his words? Don’t make me laugh. I eat him raw. I am not afraid”, Cody laughed false.
Quite soon Bret came into the saloon.
The outlaw saw him coming and asked mocking, “L..L..Look w..who we h..have th..there?”
Bret looked at him and reacted cool with, “Y..You m…m..might be b..b..better w..with sh..shooting but y..you c..can n…ne..never outdo m..me w..with m…my sp…speech d…disorder.”
Everybody began to laugh and Cody became angry with the bounty hunter. He wasn’t used to be put on his place. Even more, that has never happened before. His hate against Bret became bigger than ever. Bret knew that there was a cell punishment at shooting in the salon and walked calm to the bar. He pointed at a whisky bottle and nodded. The barkeeper poured him a glass.
“That outlaw is here six days already. It seems that eh is bothering the convent close by with his need for drinks”, told Toby, the bartender, softly to Bret.
The two knew each other for years and more than once Toby had helped Bret with very liable information. Bret got a pen and paper and wrote down: ‘Where is that convent?’ Unnoticed he slid it to Toby. He explained exactly how he had to come there. Silently Bret left the saloon after that and he mounted on Trigger.
“T..To th..the c…convent”, Bret said to his horse.
Trigger began to walk and thought, ‘If he doesn’t start to smoke on the way. It is just fatal for my lungs.’ Bret had the habit to smoke a cigarette on his way. Trigger wanted him to stop with this but the bounty hunter always ignored him what that concerned. Bret had more habits which his horse hated. Bret thought that Trigger was quite exaggerated because he was just a horse and no human being.
The bounty hunter rode close by the convent. At first sight there was nobody around. Though there was danger for Bret somewhere. He didn’t know that himself yet. But he would notice that soon enough.
Bret stopped his horse to roll a cigarette. He got his tobacco and rolled handy a cigarette.
“Boss, smoking is bad for your health”, said Trigger.
“N..Nonsense. You are j…jea..jealous be…because y..you can’t smoke”, Bret reacted absent.
Trigger whined and reacted, “Fortunately not. Now is at least one of us healthy in his body.”
Bret didn’t react to the reaction of his horse. Like usual the bounty hunter only listened with a one fourth of his ear to the comment of Trigger. He smoked his cigarette with pleasure but this pleasure didn’t last long. Fast Gun Cody had gotten him in sight and was determined to kill him. The outlaw laid on a rock and looked through the sight of his rifle. To his great joy he got Bret in his eyesight.
He said to himself, “Now I blow that brat away. He has made my life long enough a misery.”
The following moment Cody shot a bullet and the bullet hit Bret in his right side. He fell down on the neck of Trigger who understood at once what had happened. On his instinct the horse walked to the convent. Meanwhile Bret had lost his consciousness. From the outlaw was no track to be found. At the convent Trigger knocked at the door and he pulled the bell. Two nuns answered . Trigger dropped his boss from his back.
“Nun Anna, he is injured. Help me carry him inside”, said nun Linda.
Carefully they lifted up Bret and they carried him inside. Trigger just walked on after them. He followed his boss everywhere so now too.
Bret was long enough unconscious to be operated. He woke up in bed and blinked a few times with his eyes. He didn’t know where he was or what had happened.
“You are finally again in the land of the awake ones. What is your name?”, asked nun Linda.
The bounty hunter looked at her amazed and is this heaven? God, let it be true.’
“Can’t you talk?”, she asked.
Bret realized now that he was still alive and asked the nu, “Y….Yes. W…W…Where am I for G…G…Goodnessake?”
The nun looked a bit shocked at him by the use of language and said strict, “You are in the convent so mind your language!”
She left the room. Bret tried to sit and looked around the room. The idea that he would ever end up in a convent was never happened in his naughtiest dreams.
The life he led was far from that of a monk. He loved to smoke and drink and was also very handy with handling the card game. But the women also could enjoy him. He was wondering where his horse was. Even though, Trigger was smart and clever enough to go his own way. His horse on his turn was worried about his boss. He thought, ‘That guy is busy with tumbling with a nun or 3. That is really something for Adams.’ Trigger knew that Bret was very well in the market to win a woman for himself. At this talent Trigger was often very jealous. It was very seldom that Trigger met a mare who fell for him. And when he saw one this one was already taken. If this took place he was unenjoyable for days.
When Bret once had discovered that he and Trigger were at the convent he adjusted his rough way of talking. The bounty hunter made as usual a lot of impression at the nuns.
After his recovery Bret heard that the nuns often got bothered by Fast Gun Cody.
Mother Superior asked Bret in the office, “He hangs around here a lot. He must have shot you down. Do you know him?”
“Y..Yes. He k....killed m..my p…parents”, said Bret.
He felt that Mother Superior thought that he wasn’t completely 100%.
“If y…you d…don’t m…mind I l…leave n…now”, stammered Bret.,
“I don’t mind as long as we are released form that bandit”, Mother Superior sighed.
He got up and left the office.
The bounty hunter grabbed his stuff together and left without making a sound. He had an urgent need for a cigarette. In the convent it was forbidden to smoke and Bret started to get and show serious withdrawal symptoms. He knew that Trigger would find this very good news. But he was the boss and not Trigger.
At the moment that Bret wanted to mount on he heard a voice saying to him, “Wait for me.”
The bounty hunter turned around and saw to his stupid amazing his cousin coming.
“L..Lucy, w..what a…a…are you d…d…doing h…here?”, asked Bret.
“I came after you. Life in Porterville is so boring”, said Lucy.
She looked at him with a determined look. Bret thought, ‘Damn more problems. How do I get rid of her?’
“Y..You c..can n..not g..go along w..with m…me”, he said moody.
“Why not then? You ain’t much older than I am. But I will go my own way”, Lucy said angry.
Quickly she rode away. The bounty hunter hardly had time to react.
“Are we still going or are we staying here?”, asked Trigger asked after a while.
Bret said nothing and mounted on.
Het animal said to himself, “Adams is again in a nice mood so to ear. That will become a cozy trip again.”
Bret said nothing when he was moody. That was usually when something wasn’t going his way. Recently that was usually the case.
Lucy rode around without knowing where she was going to. It was clear that she totally didn’t know the area. Suddenly she stood eye to eye with someone. It was Fast Gun Cody. He blocked the way for Lucy with his big body.
“Go aside fatso”, said the girl.
Cody said insulted, “Nobody calls me a fatso and certainly not a cheeky gal like you.”
Lucy noticed that the outlaw had bad meanings with her. He pulled her off her horse and dragged the poor girl along with him.
Lucy screamed as loud as she could but Cody said laughing very mean, “You can scream as loud as you want but no one will and can hear you.”
In his shelter he threw her down on the ground. The following moment Cody went to rape his victim. Finally Lucy knew to eliminate him by biting hard in his private parts. The outlaw screamed it out to the pain. Lucy couldn’t get away because Cody had bolted the entrance.
In the time that Lucy was with Cody Bret reached a peace giving prairie. He had the need to rest a while together with Trigger. Calm Bret looked over the lonely spread. He sunk away in very deep thoughts. Dreamy he remembered the ranch where he lived with his parents before they got killed by Fast Gun Cody. Mainly by this Bret had become a bounty hunter. Another reason for this job was that he could shoot faster than talking. A shot at his hand made sure that Bret came with both feet in the present again. A moment later the bounty hunter got a smack on the back head by Fast Gun Cody.
When Bret came round he saw how bad his hand had bled. Very slowly he came up and he blinked a few times with his eyes. The he saw next to him a girl lying. The bounty hunter saw at once that she was quite upset. The fact that he wasn’t alone amazed him quite a lot. In this part of the west was hardly a human being to be found. The amazing of Bret became even bigger when he recognized the girl.
“Bret, help me. That dirty clodhopper has raped me”, Lucy said sobbing.
“S…S..SST”, Bret just said.
The girl stopped with crying. Both sneaked away to outside. The outlaw was really nowhere to be seen. This was for Bret and Lucy a big advantage. Outside stood their horses waiting loyally. Bret helped his cousin on her horse and mounted then on Trigger.
For a moment the bounty hunter looked at Lucy, then around him and said then, “Co..Come on. W…We g…go t…to S…Silky T..Town.”
They gave their horses the spurs.
After Bret and Lucy had escaped from the claws of Fast Gun Cody they went to a friend of Bret’s. This friend was a pensioned scout who had been a cattle driver or years. In case of emergency the young bounty hunter always could count on him.
“Where does that friend of yours live?”, Lucy asked after riding a while.
“N…N…Not f…f..far f…from h…h..here”, Bret said while he constantly looked around him.
He knew that there was danger everywhere and that made sure that he had more difficulty to get out of his words that usual.
After riding a quarter of an hour the twosome reached a house at the edge of Silky Town. From the light that burned in the living room Bret saw that Jack Lewis was still up.
“W..W..We are h…here”, Bret said and he dismounted.
He hitched Trigger and helped his cousin off her horse. Lucy hitched her horse too. Bret knocked at the door. When the door went open the bounty hunter saw Jack standing.
“Look who we have there? If that isn’t Bret Adams. Come in”, he said laughing.
Bret and Lucy went inside.
“Sit down boys. Do you want coffee?”, asked Jack.
Bret nodded and Lucy said, “I would love to sir.”
“Just call me Jack. Who are you?”, asked Jack.
“Lucy Kennedy, a cousin of Bret’s. We have escaped from the claws of Fast Gun Cody”, she answered.
“Bret, can you come along to the kitchen?”, asked Jack.
Bret got up and walked along with him.
In the kitchen Jack asked while he made coffee, “Do you happen to be hunting at that outlaw?”
“Y..Yes. Th…That b..b…bastard h..has k…k…killed m..my p…parents. L…Lucy is r…raped b…by him”, nun Bret answered excited.
“Bret, first become calm. You stay sleeping here tonight. Cody is too dangerous to get him alone. I will help you”, Jack said quiet.
When the coffee was ready the men went back to the living room where Lucy still was.
“He won’t find us here, will he?”, was her bit scary question.
“Here? I don’t think so. While you drink your coffee I will put the horses up in the stables” said the scout.
He left them alone for a moment.
Bret said, “H..He is g…going to h…help m..me to g..get C..C…Cody. Y..You st..stay h..here.”
“No way. I go along. I want to get my hands on him as much as you do”, Lucy said insurgent.
“W..We k…know him. Y..You d..d..don’t”, said Bret.
He knew what his cousin was like. He sighed deep and drank silently his coffee. Lucy didn’t say anything either. Jack came into the room and felt that something had happened.
“J..Jack, t…t…tell L..Lucy th..that s..she m…must s..st..stay h..here be..because she w..won’t l…l..listen to m…me”, said Bret.
“Lucy, it is too dangerous for a young lady to go after an outlaw. I understand your point of view but for security reasons I request you to stay here”, Jack reasoned.
Lucy nodded.
When Lucy was sleeping Jack said, “Your cousin is very self-willed.”
“At h..home s..she w..was m..m..much w..worse. Often s..she w..was w..with m..me”, said Bret.
He rolled another cigarette. This hunt lasted too long for his sense.
Jack recognized that and said to him, “Bret, Fast Gun Cody is as good as dead. Believe me.”
Bret knew hat too but it didn’t made him much more relaxer.
After a good and long night of rest Bret could think clearly again. He clearly looked wide-awake. The bounty hunter came freshly shaved downstairs into the kitchen. Jack had already made up a plan to kill Fast Gun Cody.
“Slept well Mr Adams?”, Jack asked teasing.
“V..V..Very g..good M..Mr L..L..Lewis”, nun Bret answered with laughing eyes.
“Breakfast is ready for you. Lucy is still sleeping, isn’t she?”, asked Jack.
Bret nodded and sat down. He wasn’t used to having breakfast and only took a cup of coffee.
“W..W..What is y..y..your p..plan?”, asked the bounty hunter.
“We just hunt Cody into death. I know that he is in town. You are going to watch him in the saloon. I do that outside. As soon a she comes out we fire at him”, Jack explained.
“C..C..Cody is b..b..busy w..with his l..last d..day on this e..earth”, laughed Bret.
He rolled a cigarette.
Jack smiled and said, “You smoke too much.”
“N..Not t..true. Th..This is th..the f…first one s..since m..my l..leave..f..from th..that c..convent. C..C..Cody s…shot m..me d..down”, Bret protested heavily.
“Don’t bite so much. You haven’t changed nothing because I still can get you mad easily”, said the scout at the reaction of Bret.
Bret didn’t say anything anymore but got up and went to the saloon.
From where Bret sat he easily could see who went into the saloon and who out. He knew that Fast Gun Cody was always alone but also very deadly. Cody always did his own way whereby often deadly victims were resent. It didn’t matter to him who that was or were. Bret had set his mind on the plan to eliminate Cody. Once and for all. It wasn’t him even about the reward which was on the head of Cody. That was the reward of $ 65.000 dead or alive.
By closing time Bret left the saloon. By the entrance he bumped into a nun.
“S…S..Sorry s..s..s..sis”, he said very stammering.
“Bret Adams! What are you doing here?”, the nun asked him very amazed and surprised at the same time.
“Eh I am a…after F..Fast G..Gun C..C..Cody”, said Bret.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the nun.
He swallowed a few times and asked then, “M..M…May I b…bring y..you to th..the h..het h..ho..hotel?”
“I would love. So there still are gentlemen in the Wild West”, said nun Linda.
Arrived at her hotel room the nun asked tempting, “Are you coming in or not?”
The bounty hunter smiled and followed her inside. Because he was a man of action Bret closed the door and he took the nun into his arms.
Nun Linda looked into the dark eyes of Bret and said, “Kiss me.”
The bounty hunter didn’t have to hear this twice. He gave her a kiss like she never had before. Slowly they went to the bed where they made love like never before.
By the time that it became light laid the nun in the arms of Bret. The bounty hunter was awake first and looked at the sleeping nun.
He thought, ‘Now I know for sure that there is a God. This is really a super gift from heaven.’ Suddenly Bret heard hard footsteps on the hallway. He got dressed quickly. Carefully Bret opened the door and he saw the outlaw coming. Bret grabbed his hands to kill Cody with both hands and did that too. Cody was so amazed to see the bounty hunter that he forgot to shoot back. The outlaw fell down for never to get up never again. By the noise the nun woke up. She understood what had happened.
“How dare you to shoot dead my own flesh and blood brother? Don’t say anything because you can’t get out of your words anyway”, nun Linda said angry.
Suddenly everything became clear for Bret. He didn’t rethink for a moment and shot the nun dead. Nun Linda had pointed a pistol at him.
After a while Jack and the sheriff came.
The servant of the law saw the two bodies and said, “It was self-defense. I do want to have your statement. For my concern you write everything down. Jack told me about your speaking disorder.”
Bret nodded and looked away from Jack. The bounty hunter knew exactly what he was going to say.
In the house of Jack Bret wrote down everything that had happened. After that he brought the statement to the sheriff.
“S…S…Sheriff, h..here is m…my st..st..statement”, Bret said nervous.
The servant of the law got the paper and said, “Here is the reward for catching Fast Gun Cody. Sixty-five thousand dollars. You earned it fair and square.”
The bounty hunter accepted the cheque. Here after he left the office. The killer of his parents was dead and that gave Bret more satisfaction than making love to a whole nun choir.
Jack asked, “What are you going to do now that outlaw is out of the way?”
“I d..don’t k..know. M…M…M…Maybe I w..will r..ret…retire”, Bret answered dry.
“You retire? You are only 14 years old”, reacted the scout.
“N…N…N…Not tr..true. I am m…m..m..much o..older. M…My age is 22”, Bret said very excited.
“Bite!”, said Jack.
Bret didn’t say anymore.
While Bret didn’t know yet what he would do or where he was going Lucy did. She travelled back to Porterville. Lucy had clear enough of the wild life which Bret led.