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The young woman settled back in her seat in anticipation of the long ride. She was already weary from the last leg and still faced three days until she reached her destination in California. The train ride from New York City had been an adventure of a lifetime, but soon the thrill had given way to boredom, especially after St. Louis. The flat land of the Midwest held no interest to her and it wasn’t until she saw the Rocky Mountains did she become excited again.
But, boredom was nothing new to Katie Long. All her life she had fluttered from one thing to another. She would take great interest, and genuinely so, in something new only to find it would not be long before she was tired of her latest endeavor and her curiosity was forcing her to look elsewhere for adventure. This was true of material things, as well as, people, especially men.
She knew she could have been married many times over, and her mother knew it, too, and reminded her every time they spoke, but no man could hold her attention long enough to propose. In fact, that was the main reason she decided to leave New York, as her reputation as a tease had led to men starting to avoid her, and saying unflattering things about her, sometimes to her face and sometimes behind her back. The few left who would take a fancy at her were no longer interested in marrying. They figured it was a waste of time with her and so they only wanted her for one thing. Katie may have had problems with commitment, but she prided herself on being virtuous. She would only give herself to her husband, and therein lay the problem; she was too fickle to marry. So, gathering her small savings she put her life in order and boarded the train headed for California. She was traveling alone but she was leaving her lonely life behind in the big city. It was 1882 and the West was wild, free and enticing to one of Katie’s nature. Besides, she had left New York in the nick of time. The police were investigating a killing where three men had their throats slit as they were sleeping. There was an eyewitness to the murders and he had fingered Katie.
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In the city she had left behind Detective Carl Souter had been called to the crime scene. His twenty-odd years on the force had left him callous and disillusioned. As the city had grown and become world renowned so had the crime. Gangs ran rampant, city officials and officers were being bribed or killed and more people were moving in by the minute bringing even more problems. To top if off, it was his dinnertime and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. His mood was such that it was not surprising when he arrived at the apartment building his stomach was not the only thing growling. To make matters worse he had to climb two flights of stairs.
As he entered the room, he recognized Officer Hamilton. He was a good man even though Carl knew he was on the take. It was not surprising with him trying to support a family on a cop’s wages. A family man either took money from one of the local gangs or moonlighted on a different job. He knew Hamilton didn’t have a side job as he was home every evening. So, there was only one other way he could afford a wife and three small children.
The officer was crouched over one of the bodies in the middle of the floor. Two other bodies were slouched in chairs at the kitchen table. All three had their necks slit from ear to ear. A bloody butcher knife was lying next to the victim on the floor. Detective Souter surmised it to be the murder weapon. A thin and scared looking man was talking to an officer in the bedroom.
“So, Ben, what’ve got here?” he asked as he turned his attention back to the body on the floor. Glancing up Officer Hamilton replied, “Looks like somebody really got pissed off at these three. We’ve got an eyewitness to the whole thing.”
“The thin guy in the bedroom?” Carl asked.
“Yep,” Hamilton continued. “He says it was a woman’s revenge.”
“A woman did all this?” Carl pondered as he arched an eyebrow with a mixture of surprise and sordid amusement. “They look like a bunch of scumbags anyways. The city’s probably better off without them.” He knew immediately he had spoken too harshly and regretted it. It was just that he was tired and hungry and now he would be lucky if he got home before midnight.
Hamilton ignored his insensitivity and continued detailing what was known. The three men were Harold Lester, Moby Baldwin, and Saul Aiken. They were longshoremen who were known to hang out at Miley’s Pub on the corner. Neither of them was married and each of them considered himself a lady’s man. The eyewitness was their friend Ned Troust. He was the lone survivor of a date tryst gone wrong. Carl listened closely to the story while observing a half dozen or so empty liquor bottles strewn throughout the room. They certainly explained the alcohol odor he had detected while climbing the stairs. He suppressed a smile as he mused that if it’s your time to go you might as well go out with a party. Once again, he hated himself for such thoughts, but his stomach was growling even worse with hunger, and it was distorting his thinking.
According to Troust, the four men had met a young woman at Miley’s. He had noticed her first and at the urging of his three friends had approached her and offered to buy a drink. She was reluctant at first but finally agreed to join him and the other men. They were all having a good time when Harold suggested they move the party to their apartment. She declined and was about to leave when Moby pulled a butcher knife and held it to her throat. He insisted she join them, and they all left the pub and came to the apartment.
Once inside they made her drink until she was quite drunk. Then they started taking turns with her. He was the last and when it came his turn to rape her, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Even though she was so intoxicated she hadn’t complained about the men having their way with her, he knew if she had been sober, she would have resisted and this made it rape. He would not have a part in treating a woman that way.
So, the other men took his place and kept going until the sun had come up the next morning. Finally, through exhaustion and alcohol they all passed out. Moby and Sam were still in their chairs at the kitchen table and Harold tried to make it to the couch before he collapsed in the middle of the floor.
Ned said he was asleep on the couch when he felt someone grab his hair. He had always been a light sleeper and had not drunk as much as the other men had. Someone was trying to jerk his head backwards when he came to his senses and reacted by pulling away. He swung around to find the woman holding a blood drenched knife pointed at him. Without thinking he punched her in the face causing her to drop the knife. It was after that he turned and saw what she had done to his three friends. He screamed in horror and turned back to her, but she was already bolting out the door.
“Hmm…you believe this guy?” asked the skeptical detective.
“Yeah, I guess so,” replied Ben. “Besides, it’s late and I want to go home.”
Detective Souter knew a set up when he saw one, but Ben was right. It was late, he was still hungry and if there was a grain of truth to what had been told then those three men got what they deserved. But he was sworn to uphold the law and the law said this was murder. So, as much as he hated doing so, he approached the thin man and introduced himself.
“So, any idea who the woman was that did all this?” he asked trying his best to look as if he really cared.
“Oh, I know her,” came the man’s reply. “She lives four blocks away and we’ve seen her lots of times at Miley’s.”
“You got a name?”
“Katie Long. That’s who did this, Katie Long.”
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Katie looked out the coach window and watched the scenery drift by. She toyed with the necklace her mother had given her on her fifteenth birthday. It was a family heirloom handed down for three generations. Her mother was going to wait until she married to give it to her but she realized her independent daughter might not get married anytime soon. So, she gave it to her early with the faint hope that it might stir her to be more ladylike and less boorish with the men who wanted to court her.
She was now five days into her eight-day cross country trip. The train would take her to San Francisco and from there she would catch a stagecoach to Red Bluff. This was her final destination as it was the home of her uncle and his wife. She looked forward to starting a new life in the west. Her mother had begged her not to go but she knew she had to leave. Life had become too complicated in New York, and she yearned for new things to do and new friends to make. She assured her mother she could be reached by telegraph and was only a week away by train and would come whenever she was needed. In fact, she told her mother to come out west and see her, but she declined as she was deathly afraid of being raped and scalped by Indians. Katie smiled to herself when thinking of her mother’s comment knowing she had seen a twinkle in her eyes at just the thought of some heathen brute having his way with her. Even older women could still have their fantasies.
Katie breathed a sigh. She had made some small talk with some of her fellow passengers but mainly kept to herself. This was going to be the new her. No longer would she be a flirt and a tease. She had learned her lesson with the last man in her life. He refused to take “no” for an answer and relentlessly hounded her to become Mrs. Ned Troust. There was no way she ever could see herself tied down to a man like him. Oh, at first, she found him charming enough, just as she had every man when she first met them. But it was not long before she tired of him and his awkward attempts at romance. She had been courted by better, and she definitely had been wooed by men far more handsome. Ned was not creepy looking, but he was close. Too close for Katie.
She thought her telling him straight out there was no future between them would have been enough. But he was not discouraged. He could only think of the times she had been nice to him and had even let him buy her a drink. What he failed to realize was Katie would let any man buy her a drink. It was nothing special to her. The less she had to spend herself the more she could save. It had worked as she was able to save enough to leave New York and move to the West.
Ned didn’t give up. He became quite annoying with his advances and Katie finally broke out yelling in a fit of anger at his thickheaded attitude. She called him every vile name she could think of and he just stood there smiling as she ranted and raved. When she finally stopped to catch her breath he said, “I love you Katie, and I wanta marry you.”
She was aghast at even the thought of becoming involved with such a dull-witted and ill-mannered man. His proposal made her even angrier and she slapped him before she realized what she had done. He stopped smiling and glared at her. She started to apologize but he told her she would be sorry and stomped out of the room before she could say a word.
This was her one regret in leaving New York. She had allowed Ned to control the situation until she reached a breaking point. This was not like her as she always prided herself as being the one in charge. But he had kept pushing until she had to push back. It saddened her, more at her weakness, than at how Ned must have felt. She was convinced he would get over it as there were plenty of women in the big city. Surely there was one who would fall in love with him. He was harmless enough and Katie wished him well. She didn’t know of the brutal murders and how Ned had implicated her in the crime. As far as she was concerned, she would never see his face again.
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Ned Troust threw away the last bloody rag he had used in cleaning the apartment. The coroner had removed his dead friends’ bodies and now he finally had time to think about what had happened and to make his plans for the future.
He was convinced it wasn’t his fault. It was Katie’s. If she had not treated him like dirt none of this would have happened. He had never fallen for someone like her. No one had ever been as kind to him as she had in the beginning. She was definitely the best looking thing in the neighborhood and he became convinced they were meant to be together. So, he was devastated when she turned down his marriage proposal. How could she lead him on like that? He thought they had more going than that and so he kept pressing her. Why did she have to get so angry? Why did she have to slap him?
That was the last straw. With the slap he realized she had been playing him for a fool. His love for her quickly turned to anger and resentment which led to fury. If he couldn’t have her then he would make sure no one else would either.
His three friends had given him ample opportunity to plot his revenge. They were present when he proposed and saw the whole scene including her outburst and humiliating slap. In fact, it was only at their urgings did he even approach her about marriage in the first place.
After quickly leaving Miley’s, he went back to the apartment and opened a bottle of liquor. It was not long before his friends joined him. They were laughing and poking fun at him and he just let them go on even though he was dying inside.
Harold opened another bottle and cackled, “Man, you oughta saw your face when she smacked you!” Moby down a mouthful and hollered, “Yeah, you sure got that little lady wrapped around your finger all right!” Saul chimed in with, “Maybe if you asked real nice again, she’ll give in this time.”
They kept drinking and getting drunker. Usually, Ned would have joined in, but he was hurting and in no mood to party. He had been convinced Katie felt the same way he felt and now, not only was he humiliated in front of his friends and everyone else, but he was emotionally devastated. As his friends kept drinking the liquor made their tongues looser until Moby revealed they had bet amongst themselves, and he had won the pile. They had not wagered as to whether she would accept his marriage offer as they all figured she wouldn’t. Instead, they had bet how long it would be before she slapped him. Moby’s time was the closest.
When Ned heard this, he was outraged. That’s when it came to him. He knew exactly what he had to do to get revenge. His friends would have to give their lives, but they had proved themselves hardly any friends at all. They only liked him because they could make fun of him.
So, as they slept in a drunken stupor, he found the butcher knife and slit Moby and Saul’s throats while they sat at the kitchen table. Harold awoke and stumbled to the middle of the living room when Ned caught him. One swift stroke and he fell to the floor gurgling from the opening in his neck.
After surveying the scene Ned went out into the street yelling for help. He tried to be as convincing as he could and it appeared the cops bought his story. Now, he could work on his testimony as he knew he would be the prime witness at her trial once the police found and arrested her. He didn’t know at the time she had already left for California.
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Almost three thousand miles away, on a farm in the county, a tall shadowy figure tiptoed through the farmhouse as the lady of the home busied herself peeling potatoes. She had her back to him and never noticed when he climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Once there, he eased the door open, being as quiet as he could, and made his way to the dresser. Gently sliding the drawer open, he placed the envelope back in its original position and quickly closed the drawer.
When he returned to the bottom of the stairs, he glanced to make sure the woman was still busy and not looking before walking as silently as he could across the room and out the door. Once outside, he rushed to the barn and started making plans based on what he had learned from the letter he had secretly read.
In the house, the woman stopped and looked as if she had heard something. She had sensed something, but not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she shrugged her shoulders and went back to work.
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On the eighth day out, Katie arrived in San Francisco. She thought it was a beautiful town with its rolling hills and nearby ocean, but the size of it in no way compared to New York. But she didn’t tatter long as she wanted to get to Red Bluff to see her uncle and his family. It had been ten years since he had left the East Coast, and she was anxious to renew his and his wife’s acquaintance.
Also, she had a secret desire she hoped to fulfill on the way to Red Bluff. She could have easily made the trip by train but chose the stagecoach instead. It would not be as comfortable but this didn’t matter to her. She was looking for adventure and had in mind exactly what she wanted to see.
Back in New York she had the opportunity to read different pamphlets about the Wild West. In one she read about the notorious outlaw who was call “Black Bart.” He wore sacks and linen to hide his identity and robbed stagecoaches in northern California. The more she read about him the more intrigued she became. What struck her the most was how polite he was when he was taking the stage’s payroll and how he always left written poetry behind after leaving the scene of the crime. He never robbed the passengers, and so, according to the pamphlet, he was hated by Wells Fargo and loved by the public. After all the men she had come to know in the big city, Black Bart was someone totally different and the mystery surrounding his real identity excited her to no end. All she knew was this was a man she had to meet.
She had been traveling a couple hours when she heard the stagecoach driver shout and then there was gun fire. There was another gunshot and then the coach came to a standstill after someone shouted “Whoa!” Her eyes widened first out of fear and then out of anticipation of actually coming face-to-face with the “polite” bandit. She hadn’t expected shooting, or at least hadn’t thought about it, and shrunk back in fear until curiosity overcame her need for caution.
A deep mellow voice ordered everyone out of the coach. There were two other riders besides Katie, an elderly man of small stature and a young girl who Katie had taken to be his granddaughter. When they hesitated to follow the order given to exit the coach the door was slung open and the robber yelled again for them to get out.
Katie was the first to step out and she turned to help the little girl down the steps. When she turned she was staring at the end of a gun held by the bandit. He was quite tall and lanky and had his face completely covered with a homemade mask made out of linen, possibly bed linen that he wore under his hat. She couldn’t help flushing at the thought of meeting someone as famous as Black Bart. It would’ve been enough to make her swoon but she was too busy trying to figure out what he looked like under the mask. She couldn’t make out any identifying marks except his blue eyes and this frustrated her while at the same time made her purse her lips as she fought the impulse to unabashedly fling herself at him.
“All right, nobody make any sudden moves,” he ordered as he kept the gun pointed at Katie. “Driver, throw down the cash box and then get down here!”
The old driver with the full white beard threw a leg over the side and started climbing down from the top of the coach. “Well, I’ll come down but you ain’t gettin’ no box!”
The masked robber took a step back and pointed the gun at the driver, “Don’t you see this gun I’ve got? Now, you just get back up there and hand down the cash box.”
The old driver spat on the ground and then declared, “Well, I’d be obliged to if’n we had one.”
“What’d you mean?” asked the somewhat startled thief.
“Well, it’s like I said, we ain’t carryin’ no money,” laughed the old man. “The payroll took another route this time, and besides, it’s got a bunch of soldiers ridin’ shotgun with it.”
In frustration the robber flung his arms into the air and shouted, “Well, ain’t this just dandy!”
“Looks like you’re outta luck!” snickered the driver.
The masked man looked around in irritation as he tried to figure out where his plan had gone wrong. He muttered to himself and then declared, “Well, then you passengers empty your pockets and your purses! You, too, driver.”
This startled Katie. Black Bart never robbed the passengers. “Wait a minute! This is not right!”
The tall lean robber looked her up and down and then came over to her. Only his gun separated her from him. “Why, ma’am, if I can’t get the payroll, I’m gonna have to get something for my effort.”
She looked hard at him as confusion masked any fear she would’ve shown at a man pointing a gun at her. “But Black Bart never robs the passengers! He only wants Wells Fargo’s money!”
The old driver laughed so hard that when he went to spit, he missed and splashed spittle all over his shirt. Wiping the front of his shirt with his sleeve he bellowed, “Little lady, that ain’t Black Bart!”
“He’s not?!?”
“Nah, he ain’t,” continued the driver. “Old Black Bart’s smarter than this here fellow. He’d knowed thar won’t no payroll on this coach.”
Katie bit her lower lip as she felt fear starting to churn in her stomach. “You’re not Black Bart!”
“No, ma’am, I’m not,” smiled the tall robber.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen you around here before,” declared the driver as he kept wiping his shirt.
“No, you haven’t,” agreed the man.
Anger and embarrassment squelched any fear Katie had, and she blurted out, “Why, how dare you come around here making us think you’re some famous outlaw like Black Bart!”
“I’m not acting like anyone but myself, ma’am,” the man protested as he kept smiling at the irritated woman in front of him.
Katie could see he was amused at her and this made her madder. Not only was she not going to meet the famous Black Bart, she now had to put up with a man whose smug grin bothered her more than it should. Even through her anger his smile sent a tingle down her spine that she had not felt for a long time. This infuriated her even more to know this imposter was affecting her in a way she didn’t want. “Why, you’re nothing more than a charlatan!”
He kept smiling and replied, “If you say so, ma’am.”
The old driver laughed and said, “Hey, there’s a name for you. We can call you Outlaw Charlie!”
“I like that,” the robber replied as he never took his eyes off of Katie.
“I didn’t say ‘Charlie,’” she protested as she found herself locked into his gaze. “I said ‘charlatan.’”
“Oh, it don’t matter none,” offered the driver. “I don’t know what that means anyhows.”
As the driver and other passengers started emptying their pockets Outlaw Charlie brought the barrel of his gun up to Katie’s face. He let it caress her cheek as she glared at him without blinking. At another time she could have enjoyed the cold touch of the steel against her flesh and the handsome blue eyes of the stranger smiling at her. But, not this time as she was mad at this two-bit thief, embarrassed at her own naiveté, and frustrated she had missed her chance at meeting Black Bart. Summoning all the venom she could, she snarled, “I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”
“No, ma’am, I’m not,” he said while still grinning. “But my gun is.”
Before she could reply he reached and snatched her necklace off her neck. “That’s my mother’s!” she protested.
“Not anymore,” he declared as he looked at what the other passengers had laid on the ground. “I’ll take this. You can keep the other.”
In one swift move he turned and mounted his horse. Katie picked up a rock and threw it at him as she yelled, “You’re just a no-good dirty thief!!”
He tipped his hat toward her and offered, “No, ma’am. I’m Outlaw Charlie.” As he rode away, he could still hear her shouting obscenities at him.
Filled with uncontrollable anger she yelled at the driver, “Where’s your shotgun?” The old man pointed to the top of the coach and said, “Now, young lady you just hold on there!” as she lumbered up the side. Ignoring him she grabbed the gun, cocked the hammer, and pointed it toward the fleeing bandit. Before the driver could react she pulled the trigger and Outlaw Charlie turned to look back when he heard the explosion. Now, Katie had never shot a gun before, and in fact, had only held one once her whole life. So, the shotgun pellets never came close to their intended target, but the loud blast startled the already squeamish coach horses and they reared up on their hind legs and plowed the air with their front hoofs as they bayed in terror. The old driver yelled at the horses and grabbed the reins of the nearest one in an effort to calm them down. He was able to keep them from stampeding off but their gyrations tilted the stagecoach to where it almost fell over on its side. The coach righted itself but not before Katie went flying off into midair and landed with a thud on a small pile of brush.
Her fellow passengers, the elderly man and little girl, came running to her aid and helped her to her feet. They helped brush the dirt off her dress as she kept swearing at Outlaw Charlie who was now well over the nearest ridge and out of sight.
The driver, having calmed the horses, came rushing over and yelled, “Gall durnit, lady! You tryin’ to get us all kilt?”
His words pierced Katie and she replied in a hurtful tone, “Hey! I’m the one who got robbed and almost got my neck broken!”
“Well, you deserved it, acting a fool like you did,” the driver continued yelling. “Shooting a gun around those horses at that close of range. It’s a wonder they’re not all the way to Red Bluff by now as frighten as they are.”
Katie could see the driver was right. She didn’t like it, but she knew she had acted foolish. The elderly passenger spoke in a soft but firm voice, “Then we would’ve been stranded out here in the middle of nowhere.”
The old driver added, “That’s right. You didn’t think of that, did you missy?”
Katie bit her lower lip and humbly replied, “No, I didn’t.”
“And that’s not even saying how long you could’ve held on bouncing up on top of the stage there with them horses running at full speed. Why, you’d probably got thrown off and broke your dang neck! And you’d deserved it, too!”
With a huff she turned and opened the stage door. She helped the little girl in and then the elderly man. Before climbing in herself she turned and glared at the driver.
“He stole my necklace.”
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Detective Souter bounced his pencil up and down on his desk. He should have been home two hours ago finishing dinner with his wife and playing with his two boys, but now he was stuck trying to finish the paperwork to the three murders he investigated over a week ago. His Chief was upset with him that it had taken so long to finish, and he had to admit, he had procrastinated. So, he was determined to stay until the warrants were signed and the paperwork finished.
Three men murdered, one eyewitness, and a suspect who her mother had said had left New York for the west coast. He mulled over the evidence and the testimony of Ned Troust. His story just didn’t seem to add up. It was a feeling from years of police work more than anything he could actually put his finger on. Still, if what Ned had said was true then he had a fugitive who had fled the state.
He closed his eyes and shook his head to try and clear the weariness out of his head. If he issued an all points bulletin he would have to stay past midnight. With another toss of his pencil he decided it wasn’t worth it. After all, if Ned’s story was anywhere near being truthful then the three men got what they deserved. Even if a jury was willing to find her guilty of murder he felt empathy for any woman who sought revenge for being violated. Especially was he empathetic toward anyone who was as brutally raped as Ned said Katie Long was.
But the Chief of Police wanted a warrant. So, after pondering a few more minutes he decided he would issue a warrant for Ned Troust. The more he thought about it the more logical it seemed. Ned had admitted to watching his buddies rape Katie and did nothing to stop them or report it until after the murders. This made him an accessory to the crime. He was scum and Detective Souter seriously doubted he was as innocent as he pretended. Accessory was enough to get him thrown in jail for a few years and it would satisfy the Chief’s desire to close the book on the case. Yes, this was the easiest and best way for him to go. If the Chief wanted more from him about the murders he would simply tell him the evidence was inconclusive and they would have to go with what could be proven. The detective smiled as he started writing the warrant. Now, he was going to get to go home before his sons went to bed.
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The train’s whistle died out as it lumbered to a stop at the Philadelphia station. Ned Troust leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes in an effort to force some rest. He hadn’t planned on leaving New York City but when he found out from Katie Long’s mother that she had left for California he was determined to follow her. He was still smitten with her and thought she would turn to him for comfort and protection when she found out the police wanted her for murder. She would have no choice if she wanted to avoid the gallows. He was the only eyewitness to the brutal attack and the only way she was going to keep him quiet about her whereabouts was to keep him happy. If she wouldn’t agree to this then he would do his duty as a law-abiding citizen and drag her back to face the charges of triple homicide. If he couldn’t have her then nobody could. He was certain she would do anything to avoid hanging as he believed as stubborn as she was she was still practical. Even Katie would see the wisdom in spending a life with him, a man she said she had no use for, instead of suffering the alternative. All he wanted was to enjoy her and make her wish she had never embarrassed him the way she had. And if he ever tired of her he could still turn her in for the murders. Besides, what did he have left in New York? Thanks to Katie all his close friends were dead.
He drifted off to sleep and dreamed of Katie. It was the same dream he’d had ever since he’d first met her. This fantasy was the only comfort in his troubled life. Since he had left New York the day before he didn’t know the warrant issued by Detective Souter was for him and not for Katie.
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The stagecoach came to a halt in a cloud of dust in the middle of Red Bluff. Katie peered out the window but could only see flying dirt. Finally, as the air cleared, she was able to make out the shape of her uncle and his wife. They were waving to her from the platform. She waved back and then disembarked from the coach to their waiting arms.
“Oh, Katie, it’s great to see you!” bellowed her uncle. He was a somewhat short man, like his sister, Katie’s mother.
She felt his strong arms around her as he hugged her. It had been ten years since she had last seen him. She didn’t remember him being that strong. The Wild West must have been good for him.
“Uncle Bill, it was horrible!” she blurted out.
“Oh, dear what’s wrong?” asked her uncle’s wife, Melanie.
“We were robbed!” she blubbered. “That no good thief stole my mother’s necklace. How will I ever be able to face her without it?”
She was speaking loud enough to draw a small crowd around them. The old driver crawled down from the top of the stage and chimed in, “Yep, we were robbed by Outlaw Charlie!”
The crowd murmured “Outlaw Charlie?” as the young girl stepping down from the coach said, “He only robbed Miss Katie there!”
“Oh, Katie, are you sure you’re all right?” asked her concerned uncle as Melanie put her arm around her and held her tight.
“Yes, but I’m mad and I want somebody to go after him and catch him and bring my necklace back,” she cried.
The stagecoach manager pushed his way through the small crowd and demanded, “What’s this about a holdup?”
The old driver filled him in on the details and how the robber had only stolen Katie’s necklace and nothing else. He explained how Katie had tried to shoot him but wound up getting thrown from the top of the stage.
“He didn’t appear to be the brightest fellow,” laughed the old man. “And he’s darn near lucky she can’t shoot worth a hoot either.”
“He was bright enough to steal what belonged to me!” Katie protested. “Are you gonna go after him?”
“I don’t really see how we could,” offered the manager. “I’m awful sorry but he didn’t take anything belonging to Wells Fargo.”
“Well, that’s a fine attitude!” Katie barked as she broke free from Melanie’s hug to face the stage manager. “I pay good money to ride on your coach and this is how you thank me?!? Why, you’re no better than that low down thief!”
“I’m awful sorry, lady,” the manager apologized again as he tried to back away from the angry woman. “You can file a report with the Sheriff across the street there if you’d like.”
Katie let out a loud “Hmmph” and spun around on her heels in disgust. The older driver slapped Bill on the back and laughed, “Outlaw Charlie took quite a fancy toward your niece, Bill.”
“He did?!?”
“Yep, I think that’s why he left the rest of us alone,” offered the old man.
“He was rude. He was crude and I’ll never forget that smirk on his face with that growling voice of his,” declared Katie. “If I ever see him again, he’ll regret the day he ever crossed paths with me.”
The driver helped Bill put her bags onto his wagon. “She’s a feisty one, ain’t she?”
“Oh, she means every word of it,” Bill replied. “She’s been that way since she was a little girl. She hardly ever forgives and she never forgets.”
The old driver laughed again and said, “I’d probably pay a dollar to see her catch him.”
Bill shook his head, smiled and offered, “Believe me; you’d get your money’s worth and then some.”
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Betty Long boarded the train for the West coast and sheepishly took her seat. She had always been a cautious person and now the thought of traveling across the country was straining her nerves. Under normal circumstances she would never have thought of making the journey. She had steadfastly refused when her daughter asked her to join her, but these were not normal circumstances. It had come to her attention that Katie may be in danger. She wasn’t going to stand idly by when her only child could be facing a life-or-death situation.
A recent visit by Detective Souter caused her concern and raised her suspicions. He had told her how a Ned Troust had implicated Katie in the slaying of three men after they had raped her. She had seen Ned hanging around her neighborhood, but she didn’t really know him. One thing she was sure of was her daughter was not a killer, and she knew for a fact she had never been raped. That was one thing her daughter could never hide from her mother. She had raised Katie by herself ever since her no-good husband had run off with a barmaid when Katie was six years old, and she knew her as good as she knew herself.
Yes, Katie did have a temper, and sometimes she didn’t know when to stop talking and let things be, but there was no way she could have killed three people. Of this she was certain, and she was determined to get to the bottom of things and protect her daughter.
That determined spirit ran in the family. It was what caused her brother, Bill, to move out west in the first place, and it was the same spirit that motivated Katie to follow him. Now, it forced her to pack her belongings, pull up her roots, and venture out to a place she never desired to go.
After Detective Souter had left her home, she decided to do a little detective work herself. Sometimes a trusted neighbor is more willing to speak to someone they know than they are to the local authorities. Especially was this true when you didn’t know if the officials were on the take or not. They could be honest, but they could just as well be gathering information for someone who was paying them and was plotting some harm to you. But the whole neighborhood knew Betty and she was well liked. So much so that several people were willing to come forward and describe how Ned was trying to frame Katie. One dock hand in particular talked like he knew exactly what had happened. He said he lived across the hall from Ned and his fellow longshoremen and never saw Katie come up to their room. Also, he heard what sounded at first as arguing coming from the apartment. He said he stepped in the hall to listen better and heard through the door the three men ragging Ned about Katie slapping him when he asked her to marry him. At one point he thought about telling the police, but he was afraid to get involved.
Betty was trying to put all she had learned together when she found out Ned had skipped town. For some reason she felt she could trust Detective Souter, so she made her way to the precinct and told him what she had uncovered.
Detective Souter listened closely to what Betty Long had to say. After she finished, he clasped his fingers together and bounced his thumbs against each other. Finally, he looked at her and said, “I have to tell you, Mrs. Long. What you’ve told me fits better with what I saw in that apartment than anything Ned Troust tried to get me to believe.”
“What are you going to do about it?” asked the little lady as she sat on the edge of her seat.
“I’m afraid there’s not a whole lot I can do,” he replied. “The information I have is Ned’s skip town. I just don’t have the manpower to go running all over the country looking for him.”
“But he’s a murderer,” Betty protested.
“He could be,” the detective agreed. “I’ve already got a warrant for him for accessory to rape. Another warrant for murder wouldn’t matter much as I still wouldn’t be able to track him down.”
“Do you have an idea as to where he’s headed?” she asked as a chill crept up her spine as she realized she knew the answer.
“He bought a ticket to San Francisco,” the detective revealed. “I’m afraid he’s still up to no good.”
Betty bit her lower lip and then declared, “I’m gonna go after him.”
Detective Souter suppressed a smile and then asked, “What’re you gonna do if you catch up to him?”
“I’ll have him arrested,” she promptly answered and then with a firm resolve said, “He’s not gonna harm my daughter.”
He could see the determination in her face and for a moment he believed she could actually take Ned down if she had to. “I believe you would,” he smiled.
“I will.”
The detective opened a drawer and handed Betty a wanted poster with a description of Ned. “Here, take this with you. It might help if you give it to the local sheriff.”
She took the poster and stood to leave. “Thank you, Detective. You’re a good man.”
He shook her hand and offered, “You’re welcome. You’re a good mother.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ride out to her Uncle Bill’s farm took a little over an hour at a leisurely pace. It gave Katie time to think and all she could think of was Outlaw Charlie. Of all the men she had seen, the few minutes with him frustrated her more than any of the others. She hated herself for letting him get the best of her and she hated herself even more for letting him get to her. It was the blue eyes, the disarming smile, and his smooth voice. He had taken control of the situation, and she had lost hers. It was unsettling and she hated it.
She was still deep in thought when the wagon rounded a mammoth rock, and they came to her uncle’s ranch. Katie was impressed with the house. It was obvious her uncle Bill and Melanie had worked hard to make a home for themselves. This was so different from New York, and she found herself finally relaxing as she soaked in the beauty of the land around her and the mountains towering in the distance.
As the wagon came to a stop, Bill set the brake and then yelled toward the barn, “We’re back!”
At first, Katie hardly paid any attention to the tall lanky young man who emerged from the barn. He had sandy hair brushed to one side and his blue eyes gave her a moment’s paused, but she quickly dismissed him as easily as she would have if he had been a longshoreman approaching her in a saloon in New York.
The man helped Melanie off the wagon and then offered his hand to help Katie. She accepted the help and jumped to the ground as her uncle declared, “Katie, do you remember that little boy that lived at the end of the block from your ma’s house?”
“Seem like I remember a freckle face boy,” she replied. “He was always bothering me about something.”
“Well, that little boy is all grown up now,” laughed Bill. “This is him, Chuck Johnson.”
The young man looked down at her and smiled. She returned a weak grin and then had a feeling come over her that she had seen that smile before. Maybe she did remember more about him from when they were kids playing together than she realized.
Melanie grabbed Chuck’s arm and said, “He and his family moved out here five years before we did. His pa was the one who convinced Bill that we ought to come west.”
“Yep, that’s right,” agreed Bill. “Then about three years ago they died from the pox.”
“They were so sick,” Melanie continued. “Chuck took care of them the best he could but they didn’t make it.”
“So, after they died, Chuck sold their land and we invited him to move in with us,” Bill declared.
“We’re so glad to have him as part of our family,” Melanie smiled as she tugged on his arm. “I wish it hadn’t happened as it did, but since it did, I’m glad he agreed to live here.”
Chuck smiled at her as he watched Katie out of the corner of his eye. After an awkward pause, Katie broke the silence and observed, “Well, Chuck, you’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you.”
“And my freckles went away, too,” he declared in a smooth mellow voice that caused her to pay closer attention to him. There was something about him that seemed all too familiar to her. It just wasn’t the memory of when they were young and played together, no, it was something else.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Bill asking Chuck to grab Katie’s luggage. When he reached for them she protested, “Oh, I can get them myself.” She was used to being self reliant and wasn’t interested in someone fussing over her. He took hold of the bags anyway and said in that mellow voice that Katie found increasingly disturbing, “It’ll be my pleasure to carry these for you.”
Her nature made her object one more time, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He looked down at her, smiled and replied, “No ma’am, I don’t.”
Katie stopped cold. Her face drained of blood and then filled with rage. It was the way Chuck had said the word “ma’am.” She would never forget where she last heard it said the way he said it. There was only one other person she ever heard say it with the mellow twang Chuck just used.
Before anyone could blink an eye, she had balled her fist and swung directly at his face. He nimbly ducked under her punch and dropped the luggage as she lunged at him with both arms flying. He grabbed her hands and held her at bay until she started kicking with all her might. Her shoe caught him squarely in his shin and he let go of her and bent over yelling in pain. She jumped on his back and kept pounding away at his head or his back, whichever one he couldn’t cover quick enough.
Bill and Melanie started yelling as Bill tried to pry her off of Chuck’s back. Katie was shouting that he was the no-good outlaw who had stolen her necklace. Chuck was shouting too, but it was mostly from the pain being inflicted on him. Finally, Bill was able to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her off of Chuck. With her arms flailing and her legs still kicking she called Chuck every vile name she could think of. She was from New York, and she knew quite a few of them.
Chuck quickly backed away and fell to the ground. His shin was hurting, his back was bruised, his head had several whelps, and his ears were smarting from all the evil things being yelled at him. Melanie marched over to the raging Katie and promptly slapped her across her cheek. The surprise of what Melanie did stunned her and she immediately calmed down. She was shocked that someone would do this to her, especially the wife of her uncle. Bill was still holding her up in the air by her waist when Melanie pointed her finger in her face and sternly said, “Young lady, I don’t care who you are, but you will not come to my house and use such language!! And you will not treat someone of this family the way you just treated Chuck!!”
This was enough to bring Katie back to her senses and she protested, “But, Aunt Melanie, he took my necklace!!”
Bill said “What?” as he let her down to the ground. Melanie was baffled and asked, “What are you talking about, dear?”
Katie felt better standing on her own two feet and she explained, “He’s Outlaw Charlie and he tried to rob the stagecoach I was on!”
“Outlaw Charlie?!?” Bill said as much to himself as to the others.
“That’s right!!” declared a defiant Katie. “And he ripped my necklace off my neck and took it!!”
Melanie could not believe what she was hearing. “Now, dear, Chuck is not an outlaw,” she said in as soothing voice as she could muster under the circumstances. Bill spoke up and said, “Why, he’s as honest as the day is long.”
“Well, he may have you fooled, but I know he’s the no good thief that robbed me!” Katie still asserted.
“How can you be so sure?” asked Bill.
“That stupid grin of his…the way he talks…the way he says ‘ma’am’…and he’s as tall as that no good outlaw!!” Katie blurted out as she was still having trouble controlling her emotions.
“You don’t have much proof there, Katie,” Bill asserted. “You just described quite a few folks around here.”
In the meantime, Chuck had risen to his feet and brushed the dirt off his pants. “I ain’t no thief, ma’am!” he protested.
“Don’t ‘ma’am’ me you no good swindler!” Katie yelled at him.
Melanie had heard enough and sternly declared, “That’s enough, young lady! You get yourself in the house and calm yourself down.”
“I want my necklace!!” Katie shouted as she ignored Melanie’s order.
“Look! You either get in the house or I’m gonna have Bill take you back to Red Bluff and put you on the next train back to New York!” Melanie declared as she placed her hands on her hips as she was starting to get fed up with Katie not listening to her.
“I wouldn’t want to, but I’d sure do it,” Bill asserted. “You best get in the house.”
With a huff, Katie turned and marched to the front porch. Before opening the door, she turned and gave Chuck a look that would have frightened most men. He looked away and started to pick up her luggage when Bill took them from him. “It might be best if I carried them in,” he declared. Chuck nodded his head and headed toward the barn. When he opened the barn door, he turned to see Melanie staring at him. It was a knowing look, so he gave a weak smile and then went to feed the horses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train rolled to a stop at the Red Bluff depot. When the door slid open Ned stepped down onto the platform and took in the sights. A cloud of dust swirled and smacked him in the face. He spat dirt out of his mouth and cursed to himself. Why did Katie have to move to such a God-forbidden place? He’d take New York any day.
After grabbing his bags, he left the depot and headed downtown to find a place to stay. It wasn’t long before he had settled in a hotel and was enjoying a hot meal. For the hundredth time he went over his plan in his head. He had no doubt Katie would be grateful to him and commit her life to being with and satisfying him. Now, all he had to do was find out where she was, and wait for the opportune time to confront her. He lit a cigar and contentedly blew smoke rings as he daydreamed of Katie one more time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first week of her arrival was an intense time around the farm. Katie was barely holding her anger, and she was having dreams of doing all types of dreadful things to Chuck. She was convinced he was Outlaw Charlie and the more she saw of him the more convinced she became. Thankfully he was busy helping her uncle with chores and she didn’t have to see very much of him. If she was around him all the time, there was no telling what she might do to him. Melanie tried to get her mind off of Chuck by asking all about New York City. It had been a decade since they had left, and she was mesmerized by all the changes Katie said had taken place.
Toward the end of the week Bill and Chuck rode to town to gather supplies to add fencing in the southwest part of the farm. They returned in the early afternoon and pulled up to the house. Melanie and Katie came out to help unload the wagon. Chuck tried to give a smile toward Katie but she quickly jerked her head away and grabbed a bag of nails. No one said a word as the air was still thick with tension. Katie was still fighting to hold her temper and Bill and Melanie were just praying that they could make it through the afternoon without an eruption. The farm had not been a happy place since Katie had accused Chuck of being a thief.
It wasn’t long before the wagon was unloaded and everyone but Chuck turned to go into the house. He cleared his throat and meekly said, “Uh, I bought something while we were in town.” Bill and Melanie stopped and turned but Katie ignored him and kept walking toward the house. He spoke up again, “It’s a gift for Miss Katie!” She stopped walking, closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Turning around she cocked her head as if she was looking at the most vile thing on earth.
“Here,” he said as he stretched out his arm toward her. “I want to make amends for your loss.” With a huff she took the package from him and turned back toward the house. “Aren’t you gonna open it?” asked her uncle. She stopped, turned and started to unwrap the box. Her mouth dropped open when she saw what was inside. Her lips trembled as she angrily cried, “That’s my necklace!”
“Well, it’s one like it,” Chuck corrected her. “I bought it at the trading post.”
“You’re a liar!!” she screamed. “This is my necklace!”
“Are you sure, dear?” Melanie asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she breathed. “See this little mark right here.” She held it for Melanie to see and she strained her eyes to see what Katie was showing her. “My mother dropped it on the street one day and a buggy ran over it. It didn’t hurt it but it left this mark.”
Everybody turned to look at Chuck. He shook his head and protested, “I bought it at the trading post. I knew it look like what she said it did, but I didn’t know it was the real thing.”
“You’re a liar and you know it,” Katie said with contempt. “I’ll prove it! Uncle Bill, can I take a horse to town?”
“Well, it’s gettin’ kinda late to go back to town,” her uncle surmised.
“It won’t take me that long,” she persisted.
“I’ll go with her, Bill,” Chuck offered.
“I don’t need you to go,” Katie sneered.
“Well, you need someone,” Melanie declared. “You’re not use to this country and Chuck is.”
“Yeah,” her uncle agreed. “Either Chuck goes with you or you wait ‘til tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Katie agreed. “But, he’d better keep up cause I’m not waiting on him.”
“Old Buck’s gonna need some new shoes,” Chuck declared. “It’ll take me a bit to get him shoed.”
“Well, get to it,” Katie ordered. “I want to put this to rest once and for all.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chuck sarcastically said as he saluted her. She just stared at him. He turned toward the barn and yelled back, “You could act like a lady and be a little nicer.”
Melanie could see her steaming and about to attack him again, so she said, “Dear, go inside and freshen up before you leave. By the time you’re ready he’ll have Buck shoed.”
Katie obeyed and went into the house. Melanie shook her head at her husband, and he just shrugged his shoulders. He turned his attention to gathering the post for the fence as Melanie walked to the barn. Chuck was busy with Old Buck when she entered.
“She sure is mad at you, Chuck,” she observed.
He looked up at her and said, “Yep, and there’s no need.”
She approached him and gathered some nails to hand to him. “You know, I noticed something funny the other week.”
“Really? What was that?”
“I had some letters from her mother, Betty, in a drawer in my bedroom,” she explained. “I happen to look a few weeks ago and some of them were missing.”
“You don’t say.”
“Then, I looked a few days later,” she continued. “And they were all back in the drawer. They weren’t in the order I had them in but they were all there.”
“That is strange.”
“Yeah, but the strangest part was when I decided to look at them again,” she said. “There was one that particularly caught my attention.”
Chuck didn’t say anything.
She continued, “Betty wrote in it how Katie wanted to come west and how she was afraid for her. She said Katie was fascinated with the idea of the Wild West and wasn’t thinking too clearly. She wrote how the girl was enthralled with the outlaw Black Bart and wanted to meet him. Of course, Betty thought this was a bad idea and wanted my opinion on it.”
Chuck concentrated on hammering some nails in the horse’s shoe.
Melanie touched his arm and asked, “Don’t you find that strange? Betty would write that and then Katie is robbed by an outlaw. It’s almost like someone plan to give her the excitement she was looking for.”
He didn’t look up but simple replied, “If you say so.”
She started to walk away but turned and warned, “Chuck, be careful of playing games with her. The girl’s smart. She’s done seen through you and you’re not making any points with her. You’re just making her hate you.”
He didn’t respond, so she started walking away. Finally, he said, “I’ve been in love with her for a long time.”
Melanie stopped and came back to him. He kept hammering and explained, “Ever since we were kids playing together in the streets, I’ve loved her.”
“Did you ever tell her?”
“No,” he replied. “She wasn’t interested in boys then. She was too wild. Why, she could whoop every boy in the neighborhood including me. I wanted to tell her, but I was afraid. I knew she’d just laugh at me.”
“She’s not that little girl anymore.”
“I know, Mel,” he continued. “And all I’m trying to do is figure out a way for her to like me. I don’t know if she could ever love someone like me, but I’ve got to give it a shot.”
“I don’t think stealing her necklace was the best way to do that,” Melanie observed.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed. “I got caught up in the moment, but I wasn’t going to keep it. I just had to figure out how to get it back to her without her hating me forever for it. And I knew the stage didn’t have any money on it, so I wasn’t gonna steal anything. I wouldn’t need the money anyway.”
“No, I know you don’t,” she said. “So, what you gonna do now?”
“I don’t know for sure,” he answered. “All I know is I love her.” He paused and then explained, “One time, when we were kids, she saw a man and woman kiss each other. She asked me what I thought that would be like, to kiss each other. I remember my heart skipped a beat when she grabbed my face and pressed her lips to mine. But, as soon as it was over, she was right back to being a brat.”
“We never forget our first love,” Melanie asserted.
“You know, I went back to New York after Dad and Mom died,” he continued.
“You did?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “You know I told you guys I wanted some time to myself. Well, I went back and I watched her. She never knew but I watched her. I wanted to know if the feeling would still be there after we had all grown up, or if I was just living a childhood fantasy.”
“She didn’t know you were there?”
“No, she didn’t,” he answered. “I was too afraid to say anything to her.”
“So, what did you find out?”
“It was wonderful, Mel,” he smiled. “When I watched her walk down the street my heart just melted. She would smile and it would almost leap out of my chest. I came back here to live with you and Bill, but I wanted to be with her. I loved her when we were kids and I love her even more now. I just messed up trying to impress her.”
“Well, I don’t know what to say,” Melanie asserted. “You just be careful, that’s all.”
She started to leave, but said over her shoulder, “If I were you, I wouldn’t put Old Buck’s shoe on too tight.”
He was perplexed for a moment and then a big grin spread across his face. He quickly loosened some of the nails.
It wasn’t long before Chuck led Old Buck and Red Dollar out of the barn to the waiting Katie. They were joined by Bill and Melanie and said their goodbyes. Katie jumped on Old Buck and shouted back at Chuck, “Keep up if you can!”
Bill shook his head and told Chuck, “You’d better get going. She hadn’t a clue where she’s going.”
Chuck mounted Red Dollar and took off in pursuit. Bill turned to leave when Melanie stopped him. “You’d better wait right here.”
“Why?”
She slipped her arm in his and explained, “Old Buck will be back here in a few minutes.”
He studied her face and then asked, “What are you two up to?” So, she told him of her conversation with Chuck in the barn. All Bill could do was shake his head. Finally, he smiled and observed, “She’s gonna chew him up and spit him out.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Melanie agreed. “But, you never know about love. Somewhere along the way she might find what she’s been looking for all this time.”
About halfway to town Old Buck pulled up and stopped. Katie tried to get him to keep going but he wouldn’t budge. Trying as hard as he could to suppress a grin, Chuck yelled, “Come on, Buck! Let’s go!”
Now Buck was old, and he was smart. He was never very fond of people, though he did tolerate them quite well. Instead of marching all the way to town and back he would rather be in the barn munching on a bale of hay. So, he obeyed Chuck’s command and started walking but with a noticeable limp.
“What’s wrong with him?” Katie implored.
Chuck hopped down from Red Dollar and examined Buck’s hooves. “He’s thrown a shoe,” he said. “You’ll have to get off of him.”
“Why?!?” she asked in frustration.
“Well, with any weight on him, he could cause some real damage to his hoof or leg,” he explained.
With a huff she jumped off the horse. It was a higher jump than she had anticipated, and she stumbled. Only with Chuck’s help did she avoid landing face first in the dirt. She quickly jerked away from his helping hands and smirked, “I thought you knew how to shoe a horse.”
“I thought I did, too,” he agreed. “Well, you’ll have to ride with me.”
“What?!?”
“We’re gonna have to send Buck back home,” he explained. “So, you’ll have to ride with me.”
“I’ll ride and you can walk,” she declared.
“No ma’am, I’m not walking another two miles,” he shot back. “And that’s not counting going back home when we’re through in town. We both can ride Red Dollar.”
Chuck climbed back on his horse as Katie folded her arms in protest. He clapped his hands at Buck and yelled, “Go on Buck! Go to the barn!” He didn’t have to tell him twice as Buck took off at the first sign it was okay to do so. Of course, he trotted off just fine with no limp whatsoever. He knew his way home and made a beeline for it.
Chuck looked down at Katie and said, “I can go home just as easy. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” she sneered.
“Yes, ma’am, that would be fine with me,” he smiled.
“Will you please quit doing that?” she yelled as she put her hands on her hips.
“What’s that, ma’am?” he asked.
“All that ‘ma’am’ stuff!” she declared. “It’s ‘yes, ma’am’ this and ‘no, ma’am’ that. ‘I’m sorry ma’am’ and ‘How can I help ma’am?” I hate that word!! It reminds of that no good outlaw and what he did! So, don’t ever use that word again!”
“Yes, ma’…uh, I’ll do my best,” he promised.
“Okay then. Well, give me a hand.”
He reached down and helped her climb up to the back of him. Once she had settled, he nudged Red Dollar, and they took off. She almost flew off the back but quickly grabbed Chuck around his waist and held on.
Chuck could feel Katie pressed up against his back and it was distracting. He wasn’t complaining but it did dull his concentration. It was a good thing Red Dollar knew his way to town as Chuck would’ve been happy to ride around all day with Katie holding on to him. As for Katie, she had to admit to herself that being snuggled up to Chuck was nice. His back was firm and she could feel his taunt stomach muscles through his shirt. He smelled good, too, not like the barn, but, a good pleasant odor. If she closed her eyes she could have easily melted right into him. He was so comfortable to be around. No matter how much she hated him, he was still able to flip something inside her that no other man had done. This arousal annoyed her, and at the same time, left her yearning for more.
Every once in a while, she would loosen her grip on him. Chuck noticed and would direct Red Dollar toward a rock or tree root that the horse would have to high step over. The resulting jar would cause Katie to clamp tight around him again. Each time he would smile and wonder if she had figured out what he was doing. She never said a word, but she knew.
When they rode into town Chuck directed Red Dollar right to the trading post. He helped Katie down and then dismounted. She didn’t wait on him and marched right into the store. Chuck tied the horse down and followed her in.
Sam, the older clerk behind the counter, was busy selling candy to three children, one boy and two girls, who didn’t have all the money they needed to get what they wanted. As they continued to hassle she grew more and more impatient. Finally, out of desperation, she handed them the money they needed and said, “Here, take this and get what you want.” The little boy was still undecided on which flavor lollipop to get so she barked, “Get them both! Just get them and go!!” The children thanked her and ran out of the store.
“That’s not a good thing to do,” Sam smirked at her. “You’re teaching them young'uns to be lazy.”
“Well, I’m in a hurry,” she explained.
“I don’t care, it ain’t right to just go and give them money and all,” he continued. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the business, but we want our kids in this town to grow up and be respectable citizens, and not some shiftless…”
“Excuse me, but I need to ask you something very important,” she interrupted.
“Well, go ahead then,” he said.
She laid her necklace on the counter and asked, “Did Chuck buy this necklace from you earlier today?”
“You call that an important question?” the old man responded.
“Please, just tell me if he bought the necklace,” she pleaded.
The old clerk picked up the necklace and closely examined it. Katie looked back at Chuck with a knowing look. Sam handed it back to her and said, “Yep, that’s the one he bought.”
“What?!?” she asked as she was totally stunned at this.
“Yep, that’s the one,” the clerk repeated. “He paid a good bit of money for it, too, though that’s not a big deal for someone like Chuck.”
“There’s no need to go into that, Sam,” Chuck said as he gave the old clerk a cautionary look.
“Well, I don’t know what to say,” Katie meekly said as she put the necklace around her neck.
“There’s no need to say anything,” Chuck declared. “Let’s get Red Dollar some hay and water and then head on home.”
“No, I owe you an apology,” she asserted.
“That’s okay,” he said. “Even though, I must admit, you did get in some good licks last week when you got so mad.”
She nodded her head and turned to leave but then whirled back around at the clerk. “So, how did you get this necklace?”
“Well, as I recollect, this old miner passing through wanted to sell it,” Sam replied. “He didn’t want much for it. He seemed to be in a hurry.”
“Did he say where he got it?” she asked.
“Nope, and I didn’t ask,” he answered. “In this business it’s not good to be too nosy.”
“I see,” she said and turned and left the store with Chuck.
It wasn’t long before Red Dollar was rested, and they were riding out of town. Katie held on tight as she rode behind Chuck. She couldn’t help herself as she felt different about him now and she was enjoying being near him. He could feel her lean into him and his heart skipped a beat. She was giving him hope that he might have broken through her hard shell she always had around her. As they rode off toward the farm neither one of them notice the man on the horseback following them from a distance.
About halfway back to the farm Chuck pulled the horse up near a large oak tree. “I think it’d be good to let Dollar rest a bit,” he explained. “He’s had a long day.” Chuck helped Katie climb down and then he followed. The horse moved away and started feeding on fresh shoots of grass nearby.
There was an awkward silence as the two stood there glancing at each other but neither one making eye contact.
Finally, Chuck spoke, “It’s been a long time since we were kids playing in the streets in the big city.”
“I know,” she acknowledged. “Sometimes I miss those days.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
After another silence Katie asked, “Do you miss those days?”
“Well, I really like it out west here,” he replied. “I found out I’m not a city guy. How about you? Do you miss the city?”
“I liked living there,” she answered. “But, some of the people were really bad people.”
“They’re bad folks out here, too,” he surmised.
“I know, especially that no good thief,” she shot back. Chuck just hung his head. After another long pause she continued, “I think I can get use to it out here, though. I like most of the people.”
“Does that include me?” he asked as he smiled at her.
She smiled back and nodded her head. “Yeah, that includes you. I liked you back when we were kids, and I like you now. I guess you’ve grown on me.”
He moved closer to face her. “I’ll tell you what I really missed,” he said.
She gazed into his blue eyes and almost swooned. “What would that be?”
He put his hands on her shoulders and studied her face. “I missed being with you.”
Her heart was no longer beating. It was too busy fluttering. All she could think to ask was, “You did?”
He didn’t answer but moved closer to where their faces were almost touching. “I think I want to kiss you.”
“I wish you would.”
Their lips came together as they embraced each other, and the world paused as the seed of love was planted in their hearts. One kiss led to another until both realized they would always want the other one in their life. Chuck settled down against the tree and Katie snuggled into his arms. She lay against his chest as he gently stroked her hair. He finally said, “I guess there’s some things I need to tell you.”
“Now, don’t go and spoil this moment,” she declared. “There’s no hurry. I bet if you stay around me long enough I can figure things out.”
He laughed and said, “I’m sure you will.”
She sat up and leaned back on her hands. “There is one thing I’m curious about,” she said.
“What’s that?”
She tilted her head and continued, “Back at the store the old clerk said you paid good money for my necklace. Then he said paying all that money wasn’t a big deal for you.”
Chuck cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, he did say that.”
“So, are you rich or something?” she asked.
“Well, I’m not really comfortable talking about money,” he blushed.
“Oh, I see,” she smiled. “Well, if you’re gonna be my man there can’t be secrets between us.”
He nodded his head and then quickly looked at her. “You want me to be your man?”
She laughed and breathed, “Yeah, I do.”
He jumped to his feet and started to shout but instead reached down and helped her to her feet. Putting his arms around her he revealed, “Katie, I’ve loved you for a long time, even when we were kids.”
She grabbed his face and kissed him and then sighed, “I think I’ve always known it deep inside me. I was just too busy doing other things to realize it.”
They kissed again. Gently pushing him away she asked again, “So, are you gonna tell me? Are you a rich man?”
He scratched his chin and replied, “Well, some folks around here would say so.”
“What folks?”
“Just about everybody,” he sheepishly replied.
“Wow!” she laughed. “How did you do it?”
“Well, I did pretty good selling my parent’s farm,” he explained. “But, the real money came last year when I met King Kalakaua down in San Francisco.”
“Who’s that?”
“He’s the King of the Kingdom of Hawaii,” Chuck explained. “He had started a world wide tour and his first stop was San Francisco. I was there selling my parent’s farm when he came to town. We stayed at the same hotel and I got to meet him.”
“You met a real live king?”
“Yeah, I did,” he continued. “He’s a real likable fellow and he took to me like we were long lost friends.”
“Well, you are a charmer,” she teased.
Ignoring her, he explained, “One night we were sharing a drink, and he got up from the table and left. I looked, and in his seat, he had left a bag. When I picked it up, it was heavy and felt like coins. So, I took it to his room to give it to him.”
“What did he say?”
“He was amazed that I would be that honest,” he continued. “It wasn’t a big deal to me. But, because of that, he insisted I take the money as a reward for my honesty. I told him no but he wouldn’t listen. He said if I didn’t want the money, then one day I should come over to his Kingdom and spend it all. Finally, one of his guards whispered to me that I was insulting the King by refusing his gesture. So, I thanked him, and took the money.”
“How much did he give you,” she asked.
“It was all gold coins,” he explained. “I sold them for $200,000.”
Katie’s mouth dropped open. Chuck bent down and pushed her mouth closed before kissing her again. “But I don’t really like talking about it,” he blushed.
“Well—well—well—look what we have here,” Ned barked as he rode up with his pistol drawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train was still hissing steam when Betty Long walked across the street in Red Bluff to the Sheriff’s office. She was praying that she wasn’t too late and that no harm had come to her daughter. The Sheriff was leaning back in his chair with his feet resting on his desk when she bolted through the door. It startled him and he almost toppled over backwards but quickly caught himself.
“Are you the Sheriff?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I certainly am,” he replied as he sat up straight. After offering her a seat, he asked, “What can I do for you?”
“I’ve come all the way from New York City to make sure justice is done,” she explained. With that she handed him the wanted poster that Detective Souter had given her. “This man, Ned Troust, is a wanted man,” she continued. “He came out west here so he could accuse my daughter of killing three of his buddies, but she didn’t kill anyone.”
The Sheriff mulled over the poster and then asked, “Who’s your daughter?”
“She’s Katie Long and I’m her mother, Betty,” she answered. “She’s living on my brother’s farm. His name is Bill Murphy. He lives there with his wife, Melanie, and their helper, Chuck Johnson.”
“Oh, I know Bill, Melanie, and Chuck,” the Sheriff said. He chuckled and continued, “I haven’t met your daughter, yet, but I’ve heard about her.”
Betty smiled and offered, “Well, I’m sure you have.”
“Well, Mrs. Long, these are some serious charges,” he said as he returned to business. “I don’t take kindly to anyone coming in my territory and trying to cause trouble. And we don’t put up with murderers either. Justice comes swift out here.”
“My daughter hasn’t killed anyone,” Betty restated.
“Well, I have no reason to doubt your word,” he continued. “But I would like to wire this Detective and confirm what you’re saying.”
“I think that’s a very good idea, Sheriff,” she said as she rose to her feet. “Would you be kind enough to direct me to a hotel? I’ll spend the night here in town before heading out to my brother’s farm.”
The Sheriff stood and offered, “I’ll do better than that. Since I need to go and send off a telegram, it would be my honor to escort you to our finest hotel.”
“Why, Sheriff, you are quite the gentleman,” she said with a sheepish grin.
As they stepped out on the sidewalk, she slipped her arm into his. He patted her hand and said, “It’s not often I get to walk a lovely lady such as you, especially one that has traveled all the way across the country.”
“Oh, Sheriff, you make me blush,” she said with the biggest smile. “I would’ve imagined you would have no trouble in finding ladies willing to be escorted by such a strong and handsome man.”
“That is kind of you to say,” he said as he returned the smile. “But, my wife passed some three years ago and I haven’t allowed myself to be much interested.”
“I see,” she said. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss.”
“My name is Mark. Mark Weaver.”
“Well, Mr. Weaver, it is nice to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, too, Mrs. Long.”
“Please call me Betty.”
“So, Betty, after you get settled in your room, may I take you to dinner?”
“Thank you. I would like that, Mark.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck stared at the stranger holding the gun on him and Katie. His rifle was in its holster on the side of Red Dollar who was a good ten yards away. There was no way he could get to it without being shot.
Katie looked hard at the man and put her hands on her hips. “Ned?!?”
“That’s right darling, it’s me,” the man replied.
“You know this guy?” Chuck asked.
“Yeah, he’s Ned Troust,” she replied as she scowled at the man on the horse. “What are you doing here?”
“I come for you,” he answered.
“Me?!?” she almost laughed. “Now, Ned, you just get on back to New York and leave me alone!”
“I can’t do that,” he revealed. “I’ve put up with too much and come too far to go back.”
“Well, then we’ll leave,” she declared as she started walking toward Red Dollar. She stopped when she heard the gun click. Turning to look at him she coldly asked, “What are you doing?”
“Like I said I’ve come to get you,” he repeated.
Chuck took a step forward and sternly said, “The lady said for you to leave.”
Ignoring him, Ned sneered and asked, “Who’s that, your new man?”
“He’s the man I’m gonna marry,” Katie quickly replied.
“I am?!?”
“No, he’s not,” Ned shouted back at her. “You’re gonna go with me!!”
“I would never go with a man like you!!” Katie yelled. “I told you that before I left New York.”
“Oh, you’re gonna go with me,” Ned laughed. “You’re gonna treat me good and you’re gonna learn to love me. Cause if you don’t, I’m gonna hand you over to the law.”
Walking toward him Katie asked, “What do you mean hand me over to the law?”
“Back in New York the law’s looking for you,” he answered. “They think you killed Harold, Moby, and Saul.”
Katie had to think for a minute but then she said, “I remember them. Those are your work buddies.”
“What do you mean the law thinks she killed them?” Chuck asked as he took a step closer to Red Dollar.
“They got their necks slit and Katie did it,” Ned explained.
“I did not!!” she objected.
“That’s not what the law says,” Ned declared. “They’ve got an eyewitness to the whole thing.”
“What eyewitness?” Katie asked as she battled to control her temper.
“Me,” Ned replied as a big grin spread across his face.
“You dirty no good liar!!” she yelled as her anger came rushing to the surface.
“Well, that’s not the way the law sees it,” he shouted back at her.
“What is it you want, Ned?” Chuck asked as calmly as he could.
“I want her,” he answered. “She goes with me and stays with me and I don’t say anything. She refuses me and I hand her over to the law so they can string her up. I’d hate to see a pretty little thing like her dangling from the end of a rope, but if she forces me, I’ll testify against her.”
Katie’s mind raced as she tried to digest what Ned had said. Chuck was hating himself for letting his horse wander too far away with his rifle still in its holster. Of course, he was distracted at the time by kissing Katie, which he hadn’t minded at all. Finally, Katie turned and walk back to Chuck. “I’m not going with you, Ned. I could never love a scoundrel like you!”
“I see,” he coldly said.
Raising his pistol, he took aim at Chuck and pulled the trigger. Chuck turned just in time to avoid a direct hit and fell to the ground as the bullet grazed his left arm. Katie screamed and dropped to his side. He winced and said, “I’m okay.” She jumped to her feet and glared at Ned. He stared back and declared, “If you don’t go with me the next one goes through his heart.” She had no doubt that he would do it as she was convinced he was responsible for his friend’s murders. If he could kill people he liked then it would be nothing for him to kill a stranger like Chuck, especially if he considered Chuck was standing between him and her.
“Well, what’s it gonna be?” Ned impatiently asked. “You wanta live with me or bury lover boy there?”
Glancing back at Chuck she replied, “Okay, Ned, I’ll go with you.”
“Katie!!” Chuck protested.
“If I don’t he’ll kill both of us,” she whispered
“I thought you’d come to your senses,” Ned gloated. He rode over to Red Dollar and reached down to grab Chuck’s rifle. “All right, get on this horse and let’s go,” he demanded.
Katie climbed on Red Dollar and her and Ned rode away. Chuck watched until they were out of sight and then tore a section of his shirt and bandaged his bleeding arm with it. He couldn’t believe what had happened. After being in love with Katie after all these years, she finally returned his affection and now she was dragged away by someone from her past. He smiled when he remembered her saying he was the man she wanted to marry. Did she really mean it, or was it just an attempt to escape Ned? He believed she meant it, especially after the way she had kissed him. Rising to his feet he was intent on getting a horse and getting a gun. There was no way he was going to let Ned take away the love of his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katie kept pace with Ned as they headed north. After a while, she asked, “Where are you taking me?”
He pulled his horse to a stop and replied, “I thought we’d go up to Portland.”
“I like it here,” she smirked. “I don’t want to go to Oregon.”
“Well, you’re with me now, honey,” he laughed. “You go where I want to go.”
“Why are you doing this, Ned?” she asked. “They’re plenty of women in New York. You didn’t have to follow me out here. You’d found someone to love you.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” he answered. “My friends are dead and it’s all your fault. I had to leave. There was nothing else for me to do.”
“I didn’t kill those guys,” she protested.
“Yes, you did!” he angrily shot back. “It was all because of you. You shouldn’t have slapped me in front of them. That made them make fun of me and they died because of that! They died because of you! It was as if you had slit their throats!! Yep, you caused it all right!”
A chill came over Katie. She had always known Ned was weird, but now she knew for a fact he was a cold bloodied killer. What would he do to her once he was tired of her? There was no way she wanted to hang around and find out. She’d rather take her chances with the law if it came to that. So, in an act of desperation, she dug her heels into the side of Red Dollar and took flight toward Red Bluff.
Ned was caught off guard and she quickly built a lead ahead of him. He took off after her and started gaining as Red Dollar began to tire from being on the go for most of the day. Being from the city, neither one of them was that adept at riding. During the chase each one almost fell from their horse and had a hard time holding on as they galloped along. Eventually, Ned caught up to her, and balancing himself precariously, he was able to seize the reins away from her. Tugging with all his might, he pulled the horses to a stop.
As soon as Red Dollar came to a halt, Katie jumped down and took off running. Ned ran after her and caught her near a cluster of boulders. He grabbed her arm and she swung around and punched him in the jaw with her fist. The blow stunned him but he held her fast as she kicked, clawed, and scratched at him as she tried to break his grip. Seeing an opening, she gouged his eye with her finger and then clawed a gash down the side of his face. He yelled with pain but still didn’t let her go as with his free hand he felt the blood running down his face. Burning with anger, he balled his fist and smashed it into Katie’s face, knocking her to the ground.
She almost blacked out from the blow as she lay on the ground watching the world spin around. Through the haze she could hear Ned swearing and yelling at her as he stood over her. Finally, as her head started to clear, she was able to make sense of what he was saying.
“I’m trying to save you from the gallows and this is the thanks I get!!” he shouted.
She caught her breath and declared, “You can do whatever you want, Ned. I’m not going with you. I’d rather hang.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s the great and mighty Katie Long,” he continued. “She’s too good for someone like poor old Ned Troust!!”
“I’ve never said that,” she protested. “Just because I don’t love you don’t mean I think I’m better than you.”
“Oh, sure it does,” he yelled. “You think you can just come way out here and leave everything behind. You don’t care whose life you’ve ruined or all the trouble you’ve caused!”
“I didn’t do anything but move out here,” she shouted back at him.
“Oh, yeah, sister, you think it’s that easy and that there’s no repercussions to what you’ve done,” he continued. “You think you’ve burned all the bridges between here and New York and you can start a brand new life without a thought to those you’ve left behind!! Well, sister, those bridges may be burning but they haven’t burnt down yet! I crossed every one of them to get to you and you’re not gonna treat me the way you used to without paying dearly for it!!”
“Do whatever you want to do. I’m tired of this and I’m not going any further,” she declared.
He marched over to his horse and grabbed a roll of rope. It wasn’t long before he had her tied up and sitting on her horse. He mounted his and took her horse’s reins in hand. Wiping dried blood from his face, he snapped at her, “I’m through with you. I’ll see you hang!”
She didn’t reply but simply stared straight ahead. Ned nudged his horse, and they started off toward Red Bluff. He wasn’t happy over how things had turned out, but it was her choice. She chose this outcome and now she was going to have to live with it. Maybe she’d come to her senses when she saw them building the scaffold she was to hang on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bill was walking to the barn when he heard the gunshot. It was in the distance, but there was no mistaken a gun had been fired. He was already getting uneasy about Chuck and Katie, as they should’ve been home an hour ago. Melanie came rushing out of the house with a worried look on her face. He simply said, “I’ll get the buggy” and continued to the barn.
Old Buck sped up as Bill urged him on. In the buggy beside him Melanie was almost worried sick. When Chuck and Katie hadn’t returned on time, she had a premonition that something bad was going to happen and now they were racing to find out the source of a gunshot.
As they rounded a curve they saw Chuck standing under a tree. Melanie immediately could see his arm was bandaged. Her feeling had been right as something bad must have happened. She looked around for Katie and didn’t see her.
Bill pulled up to the tree and stopped. He jumped out as Chuck helped Melanie out of the buggy.
“What happened?” she asked before her feet hit the ground.
“We were ambushed by some guy name Ned,” Chuck explained. “He came from New York to get Katie.”
“You’re hurt!” Melanie declared as she examined his arm.
“Oh, it’s just a flesh wound,” he said. “He kidnapped Katie! I’ve got to go find her.”
“You need the doctor to look at this arm,” Melanie said.
“No, I’ve got to rescue Katie,” he objected. “He said she had killed three men in New York, and he would see her hang if she didn’t go with him.”
“What?!?” Bill and Melanie asked at the same time.
So, Chuck took the time to tell them all that had happened including how Katie had fallen in love with him. Melanie would have smiled at that part if she wasn’t so worried about Katie’s wellbeing.
“Look, we need to get you to the doctor,” Bill declared after Chuck had finished. “Besides, we’ve only got Old Buck here and he’s already had a long day.”
“Let’s go to town and then we can get the Sheriff,” Melanie inserted.
“And if I know my niece the way I think I do, I don’t believe she has the mind to take up with someone who’s forcing himself on her,” Bill surmised. “If he meant what he threatened, then he’ll probably just wind up taking her to the Sheriff anyway.”
“You know, Bill makes a good point,” Melanie said. “I haven’t known her as long as you two but I’d be very surprised if she just gave in that easy.”
“I hope you’re right,” Chuck reluctantly agreed. “Let’s go!!”
All three of them squeezed into the buggy and Bill pushed Old Buck as hard as he dared toward town. Melanie took Chuck’s hand and tried to comfort him. He bit his lower lip and said, “I just found her again, and now she’s gone.”
“We’ll get her back,” she offered trying her best to convince both of them.
“I’ve got to, Mel,” he said. “No matter what it takes I’ve got to find her.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ned pulled the horses up at the edge of town. He looked back at Katie and said, “Okay, this is your last chance. What’s it gonna be?”
She didn’t answer but just stared straight ahead. In frustration, he kicked the horse harder than he meant and they bolted toward the Sheriff’s office. When they arrived Ned jumped down and tied the horses to the post. He was about to pull Katie off of hers when Bill drove the buggy right up to them. Ned jerked around when he saw them and started to draw his gun, but Chuck had Bill’s rifle pointed right at him.
“Get his gun, Bill,” Chuck ordered. Bill climbed out of the buggy and eased Ned’s gun out of its holster.
“None of what you’re doing matters,” Ned declared. “The Sheriff’s gonna lock her up until they can figure out where to hang her.”
Melanie went over and helped Katie down from Red Dollar and started untying the ropes around her.
“I haven’t done anything, Ned!” Katie shouted as she tried to help Melanie untie her. She was itching to have another go at Ned’s face with her fingernails.
“It doesn’t matter, Katie,” Chuck said as he moved closer to Ned. “I can end it right here and he’ll never bother you again.”
“Wait a minute!” Ned yelled. “You can’t shoot me in cold blood. That’s murder!! They’ll hang you!!”
“I’ll take my chances,” Chuck replied as he pulled the hammer on the rifle back and locked it in place.
Katie rushed over to Chuck and grabbed his arm. “No, Chuck!” she pleaded. “He’s not worth it!!”
“You’re not going to jail over scum like this,” he declared. “I’d rather swing from the gallows than allow him the pleasure of ruining your life.”
“No, Chuck!” she repeated as she shook her head. The earnest look on her face melted his heart, and he slowly released the hammer on the rifle.
“Okay, what’s going on out here,” boomed the Sheriff’s voice as he came out of his office to see what all the disturbance was about.
“He was about to shoot me!!” Ned shouted. “And that’s Katie Long. She’s wanted for murder back in New York City!!”
“I see,” the Sheriff said as he was joined on the sidewalk by two of his deputies carrying rifles. “And who are you?”
“I’m Ned Troust, and I’ve brought her here so you can lock her up,” Ned replied.
“So, you’re Ned Troust, huh?” the Sheriff mused.
“Yes, I am,” Ned answered. “And she’s Katie Long. She killed three of my friends back in New York and the law wants her for murder. You can check with a Detective Carl Souter there. He’ll tell you.”
“Yeah?” the Sheriff pondered as he studied the situation. “Well, I’ve already heard all about this.”
“You have?” Katie muttered.
“Yep, I sure have,” he continued. “In fact, I’m waiting on a reply telegram from the Detective as we speak.”
Katie’s attention was diverted as she noticed a woman in the distance hurrying up the sidewalk toward them. She looked very familiar and she was carrying a piece of paper. Katie couldn’t believe her eyes. She yelled “Mama!” and took off running to meet her mother. They embraced each other and Katie was trying to ask all types of questions when Betty motioned for her to wait a minute. She held Katie’s hand and they walked back to the Sheriff. Bill rushed up to her and hugged his sister. Chuck smiled at her and said, “Howdy, Mrs. Long.”
The Sheriff tipped his hat and said, “Hello, Betty.” Katie looked at her mother and mouthed “Betty?”
“Hello, Mark,” Betty said as she smiled at him. Bill and Melanie looked at each other and mouthed “Mark?” She continued as she handed him the paper, “I believe this is the telegram you’ve been waiting for.”
“Thank you very much,” he said as he took the note and started reading it.
“You’re very welcome, Mark,” Betty sweetly replied.
“Okay, Ned, we’ve verified your story,” the Sheriff finally said. “Detective Souter says you’re the only one wanted back there.” The deputies immediately pointed their rifles at Ned.
“What?!?” Ned shouted.
“Yep, that’s what he says,” the Sheriff continued. “He said he posted a warrant for you for accessory to rape.”
“I did no such thing,” Ned protested.
“He says here that you testified that your three friends raped Miss Katie here and you did nothing to stop them,” the Sheriff read from the telegram. “He says you never tried to call the law while you were witnessing the crime.”
“No, no, no…” Ned muttered.
“Sheriff, no one ever raped me,” Katie declared. “Ned must’ve made that up.”
“Hmm, so you’re not willing to testify against him?” the Sheriff asked.
“There’s nothing to testify about,” she replied. “The last time I saw all of them together was at Miley’s Pub. They were alive and the only one that got out of hand was Ned. He tried to kiss me until I slapped him.”
“Okay, well, then, if you say nothing happened, I can let the Detective know and that’ll be the end of it,” the Sheriff declared.
“Wait a minute!” Ned yelled. “What about her? She killed my friends!!”
“I did not!!” Katie shouted at him.
“Well, according to Detective Souter there’s no charges against her,” the Sheriff replied. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s free to go.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!!” Ned continued yelling.
“Look, Troust, I don’t like you,” the Sheriff declared as he moved closer to him. “I don’t like your kind. I don’t want you in my town. My deputies here are going to escort you to the edge of town and I don’t ever want to see you here again. If you come back, I’m gonna lock you up for a long time.”
“Lock me up!” Ned sputtered. “What for?”
The Sheriff rubbed his jaw and replied, “I guess for breathing, I don’t know. I’ll figure out something. You just don’t come back, and everything will be all right.”
The deputies followed Ned as he rode out of sight. At the edge of town, he glanced back at everyone celebrating without him. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he swore to himself that they had not seen the last of him.
Meanwhile, everyone was hugging and kissing each other as Betty and her family caught up on all that had happened. She filled them in on New York and they told her all about life in the West. Bill, Melanie, and Betty were so busy talking to each other that none of them noticed Chuck and Katie. Bill happened to look their way and then motioned for the others to look. The couple had embraced each other and was kissing as they had become oblivious to anyone and everything around them.
Finally, Betty declared, “Well, I see they’ve become reacquainted.”
“I believe you could say that,” Melanie agreed.
Betty whispered to her and Bill, “I knew he was the right man for her.”
“You knew?” Melanie asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Yeah,” Betty continued whispering. “He came to see me when he came to New York. I remembered him as a little boy and he’s certainly grown into a fine young man.”
“He came to see you when he was there?” Bill asked.
“Yes, he did,” she continued. “He wanted to know what he could do to get her attention. I told him to lay low and I’d give him hints about her when I wrote you. He did and look at them now!”
“That’s why he was sneaking around reading your letters when he thought we weren’t looking,” Melanie surmised. “Betty, you’re as sneaky as he is.”
“Well, you have to be with a girl like my daughter,” she declared. “You’ve got to make her think it was her idea for her to show any interest. She takes after her father; except he was a scoundrel.”
The Sheriff had been standing to the side not wanting to interfere with the family reunion. Finally, he came over and smiled at Betty. “Are you going to stay around town for awhile?” he asked. Betty returned the smile and replied, “Why, yes, I think I will. Do you think you might have some free time over the next few days?”
“I can probably arrange that,” he answered. “What did you have in mind?”
“Oh, I thought we could start out with a nice picnic by the river,” she offered. “Then, we can take it from there.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” the Sheriff said. “I’ll see you later, Betty.”
“I look forward to it, Mark,” she declared as he turned as went into his office.
Bill looked at his sister and said, “Betty, you’ve always been the charmer.”
“Well, he’s a good man,” she asserted.
“Yes, he is,” Bill agreed.
Chuck and Katie finally tore themselves away from each other and joined the group. Katie excitedly declared, “Mama, Chuck and I are getting married!!”
“You are!!” everyone said at once. Betty hugged her daughter and then hugged Chuck. Bill slapped him on the back as Melanie kissed him on the cheek and winked at him.
“There is one thing I’d like to do,” Katie said.
“What’s that?” Chuck asked.
“Is there anyway we could honeymoon in the Kingdom of Hawaii?” she asked. “I’ve been thinking about it every since you told me about it and I would love to go there.”
“I think that’s possible,” Chuck laughed. “I have a connection or two there.”
The group decided to let the horses rest and spend the night in town. Later that evening the Sheriff joined them for dinner and they toasted Chuck and Katie and their future life together. While the women put their heads together to make plans for the wedding, the men went outside for some fresh air.
Soaking in the night air, the Sheriff finally said, “Chuck, your future mother-in-law is a mighty fine lady.”
“Yes, she is,” he agreed. Then after a pause he said, “Maybe, we’ll be kin one day.”
The Sheriff laughed and declared, “That’s a possibility if she’d have me. I think I’d like that.”
“I’d like it, too,” Chuck said.
“But there’s one thing you’re gonna have to promise me,” the Sheriff continued.
“What’s that?”
“You do no more of this Outlaw Charlie nonsense,” he replied. “I can’t have any of my family wanted by the law. It’s not good considering the business I’m in.”
“You know about that, huh?” Chuck asked as he dropped his head with embarrassment.
“Everybody knows it,” Bill interjected.
“Yep, anybody that knows you does, outside of Katie,” the Sheriff continued. “The first time I heard the description of Charlie, I knew it had to be you.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Bill agreed.
“Well, there won’t be any more Outlaw Charlie,” Chuck declared. “He showed up once and that’s all he’s gonna do.”
The Sheriff nodded his head and reflected for a moment. “At first, I couldn’t figure out why you did it,” he offered. “I know you don’t need the money, and there wasn’t any on that stage anyhow. You knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I knew it.”
“So, there must’ve been something else on that stage that you wanted,” the Sheriff continue his reasoning. “Now, I see what it was.”
“Yeah, that’s all I ever wanted,” Chuck agreed.
The Sheriff pondered some more and then offered, “Chuck, that was a mighty strange way to go about winning that girl’s heart.”
Bill chimed in, “It was very strange, indeed.”
“Yeah, I know,” Chuck said. He couldn’t help it and a big grin spread across his face as he thought about all that had happened and how it had turned out. He took a long deep breath and then shrugged, “But, it worked.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ned stirred the campfire and moved closer as he tried to shake off the night chill. He had been out on his own in the countryside for over a month and this had given him a lot of time to think. Not only had his plan to win Katie failed, but she was getting married to another man. His threat of turning her over to the law came to nothing as she still rejected him, and he became the one wanted instead of her. He only escaped jail because he was so far away from New York and because Katie told the truth about no one raping her.
She shouldn’t have cast him off the way she did. He knew she could make him happy if he only had the chance. But, Chuck stood in the way. On one hand he wanted Katie more than ever, and on the other, he wanted to make her pay for treating him the way she had. He wanted to even the score.
Despite the Sheriff’s warning about not coming back into town, he still snuck back in to buy ammunition. Every day he would take target practice as he honed his shooting skills. Katie would pay. He was getting good and fast, and he felt his confidence getting stronger with each practice round. The time was quickly coming when he would gun Chuck down and then Katie could be as miserable as he was, or she just might turn to him for comfort in her time of grief. This thought brought him hope, as it would be the sweetest ending imaginable. He was still convinced that if she just gave them enough time together, she would fall in love with him and never leave his side.
Now, on his last clandestine trip to town he found out that Chuck and Katie were getting married the following Saturday. After the wedding they were to travel by coach down to San Francisco to catch a ship to the Kingdom of Hawaii for their honeymoon. He grinned at the thought of what he was going to do and then howled with laughter that broke the still of the night. In the far distance a wolf returned the howl as Ned settled into his sleeping bag. He continued laughing as he thought about how surprised Katie and Chuck were going to be to see him again. They thought he was out of their lives forever. He wondered what Chuck would do if he knew he would never live to see San Francisco. He drifted off to sleep and to dream of Katie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The happy newlyweds emerged from the church amid a host of well-wishers. Katie was beaming in her pearly white gown and Chuck looked as uncomfortable in his suite as any groom would. They paused at the end of the steps and kissed each other before the cheering crowd. Katie had finally found what was missing in her life and Chuck was living his dream. They were in love, and they were happy.
The wedding party moved to the hotel where Katie and Chuck changed into their traveling clothes. Betty went into her daughter’s room with her to help her finish packing. Katie wanted to ride the stagecoach to San Francisco and then take a passenger ship to the Kingdom of Hawaii. They would be gone for two months and when they returned they planned on working on building a house and a family. It was somewhat of a surprise to the both of them that they agreed on everything and really wanted the same things in life. But, when they thought about it, they had been that way when they were kids playing together. So, the only difference now was they were adults.
When Katie had changed clothes, Betty went over to her and hugged her. Brushing her daughter’s hair she asked, “Are you happy?”
“Yes, I am Mama,” Katie replied.
“I know you looked beautiful today,” she offered. “I’m so proud of you.”
Katie hugged her mother again and said, “I love you, Mama. I’m so glad you came out West. Not only did you save me from going to jail but you got to see your little daughter get married. I bet you thought that would never happen.”
Betty smiled and answered, “I figured you would when you found the right man. And just think, it turned out to be someone you already knew.”
“I guess it was meant to be,” Katie surmised as she finished placing her clothes in her bag.
Betty watched her daughter for a minute and then asked, “You do love him, don’t you?”
She glanced at her mother and laughed, “Yes, I love him. I mean, at first, I was really angry at him, but as I watched him work around the farm, I saw his love for the animals, his love for life itself, and eventually I realized he loved me.”
“I think he has for a long time,” Betty offered.
“Then that makes it even sweeter,” Katie smiled at the thought. “I can’t explain it, Mama, but at times when I’m near him I almost swoon. I don’t ever want to lose that feeling. I want to be with him the rest of our lives.”
“That sounds like love to me,” her mother declared. Then with a slight hesitation she asked, “But, what if in the future you find out he has a secret he’s kept from you?”
Katie finished tying the straps to her bag as she thought about her mother’s question. Finally, she looked up and replied, “If you’re talking about Outlaw Charlie, then I’ll deal with that when he owns up to it.”
“So, you know about that,” her mother said with a surprised look.
“Oh, yeah,” Katie continued. “Who doesn’t? And I’m still mad at him for pulling a stunt like that. But, if he doesn’t rush me about it, then I’ll eventually forgive him for it. Besides, I have to.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I really love him,” she laughed as she hugged her mother once again.
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Chuck yelled through the door that the stagecoach had arrived. Betty opened the door, and he stepped into the room.
“My, my, aren’t you a handsome married man,” Betty teased him. “Katie, you’d better be glad you grabbed him before I could get my hands on him.”
Katie mocked annoyance at her mother and declared, “I think you have your hands pretty full with Sheriff Weaver, so, you just leave my man alone.”
“You ladies are gonna make me blush,” Chuck said as he grabbed the bags. “I’ll take these down to the coach. It’ll be leaving before long.”
The old driver with the white beard came out of the saloon carrying a mug of beer. He saw Chuck putting his bags onto the coach and he yelled at him, “Well, if it ain’t Chuck Johnson! How you been doing?”
Chuck turned to the old man and said, “Howdy, Whitey.”
“You taking a trip?” the old driver asked.
“Yeah, I got married,” Chuck answered. “We’re gonna go down to San Fran and catch a ship to the Kingdom of Hawaii.”
“Which little gal did you hitch?” Whitey asked.
“She’s Katie Long, or now, Katie Johnson,” Chuck replied. “She’s from New York.”
“You mean that wild cat that came to live with Bill,” the old man hollered. “You think you can handle her?”
“I’m gonna try,” Chuck laughed.
“I mean she’s done tried to shoot you once,” the old driver continued. “And look at you, there; you ain’t even carrying a gun. She might try to shoot you again, you know!”
“You’re real funny, Whitey,” Chuck sneered.
“And not only that,” the old man kept on as he broke out laughing. “You never know when we might run into Outlaw Charlie. How you ever gonna protect your new bride without a gun?”
“Are you through?” Chuck asked trying hard not to laugh. The old driver laughed so hard he started wheezing. Finally, he was able to ask, “Does she know about Outlaw Charlie?”
Chuck gave a long sigh and replied, “I hope not.”
It wasn’t long before they were joined by Katie and a throng of well-wishers to see them off on their honeymoon. Bill and Sheriff Weaver shook Chuck’s hand and slapped him on his back. Betty was crying and her and Melanie were hugging and kissing everyone. They loaded into the coach and waved goodbye. As they drove away everyone cheered and wished them well.
Inside the coach, Katie snuggled against Chuck. He put his arms around her and held her close. She breathed a sigh of contentment as he whispered, “I love you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ned stopped at the top of the hill overlooking the main road to San Francisco to rest his horse. He checked his pistol for the hundredth time to make sure it was loaded and ready. Before long he could make out a dust cloud in the far distance as the coach rounded a bend and headed straight for him. He quickly pulled his neck scarf up over his nose and took off toward the approaching coach with his gun drawn. As he drew near, he fired off a couple rounds to get the driver’s attention.
Whitey, the old driver, saw the masked man pointing his gun and coming toward them. He pulled hard on the reins to make the horses stop and held up his hands to show he wasn’t resisting. There was nothing on the stagecoach worth getting shot over. In fact, he was quite puzzled at the robbery attempt as the coach was only carrying two passengers and no cash box.
Ned pulled up a few feet away and shouted at the driver, “Keep those hands in the air, old man!”
Whitey spat tobacco juice to the ground and offered, “I’ve got ‘em in the air. Now, don’t you go and do something stupid.”
“You’ll be okay so long as you do exactly as I say,” Ned declared. Seeing there was no immediate danger the old driver laughed and offered, “You ain’t real bright, are you?”
This caught Ned by surprise, and he bristled, “What do you mean?”
Whitey spat again and wiped his mouth on his shirtsleeve before replying, “We ain’t carrying no money. Why, you’re about as bright as that Outlaw Charlie.” Then with a glint in his eye he concluded, “That’s who you are! You’re Outlaw Charlie!! Hey, everybody, it’s Outlaw Charlie!”
Ned shook his head and asked, “What?”
Inside the coach Chuck and Katie were trying to keep out of sight, but when Whitey said this, they both looked at each other and mouthed “Outlaw Charlie?” Katie jumped off her seat and stuck her head out the door. She immediately recognized the bandit and shouted, “Ned Troust, what are you trying to do now?”
She flung the door to the coach open and descended the steps to the ground. Chuck followed and stood beside her.
Ned jerked the scarf down from his face and declared, “Now, Katie, you just step out of the way. This is between Chuck and me.”
“I thought you’d left this area,” Chuck surmised. “As I remember the Sheriff wasn’t too happy with you hanging around.”
“That don’t matter none,” Ned said. “This is between you and me.”
Katie couldn’t help but feel her stomach start to knot as her mind raced to figure out what Ned was trying to do.
“What’s he got to do with anything?” she asked. “This is between you and me.”
“Well, that was true until you had to go and get hitched with him,” Ned replied. “If you keep on trying to hurt me then I’m gonna make sure you get hurt, too.”
“Ned, there’s no need for any more of your foolishness,” Katie declared.
“Oh, yeah, I’m just a fool to you!” Ned yelled as his anger built. “That’s all right! Let’s see who the real fool is when I fill lover boy full of lead!!”
“Ned don’t do this,” Katie pleaded as she started to fully realize what an evil man he was. “I’ll go with you, if that’s what you want. I won’t try and run away.”
“It’s too late for that,” Ned countered. “You’ve had your chance. Now, you’re gonna suffer the way you’ve made me and everybody else suffer. I’m gonna take away the one thing you want most!!”
“I won’t let you do this!!” Katie shouted.
“You don’t have a choice!” Ned yelled back at her. “Get out of the way or I’ll shoot your legs out from under you!”
She planted herself in between Ned and Chuck and refused to move. Chuck placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. Looking deeply in her eyes he calmly said, “It’s okay, Katie.” She burst out crying and sobbed into his chest as he held her near. He smoothed her hair and whispered, “I love you.” Being as gentle as he could he pushed her to the side and then turned to face Ned.
“I don’t have a gun,” he said. “Are you gonna shoot an unarmed man?”
Whitey gave a wheezing laugh and chimed in, “If you do, they wont’ stop ‘til they hunt you down. Then they’ll hang you on the nearest tree they can find.”
Ned thought about it for a minute and then ordered, “Okay, old man, take off your gun belt and give it to him.”
Still laughing, Whitey threw down the belt and Chuck latched it on his waist. Ned waited until he had finished and stood staring at him before lowering his own gun back into its holster. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He had practiced long and hard and now he was determined to make Katie pay for the misery she had put him through.
The old driver was still laughing and Ned found it distracting. Without taking his eyes off of Chuck he asked, “What’s so funny, old timer?”
Whitey snorted and replied, “You ain’t real bright, are you son?”
“What do you mean?” Ned asked still staring at Chuck.
“Before you go through with this, why don’t you tell me what you want put on your tombstone?” Whitey asked. “I ain’t got nothing to write it down, but if you make it short I can probably remember it.”
“Laugh all you want, old man,” Ned replied. “I’m not the one getting killed. I’ve been practicing and I’m pretty fast.”
“Well, you’d better go back and practice a whole heap more,” Whitey declared. “And then when you’re done, you’d better practice some more. You’re trying to outdraw Chuck Johnson. Like I said before, you ain’t real bright, are you, son?”
This gave Ned pause and he asked Chuck, “Why are you supposed to be fast or something?”
“Fast?!?” Whitey snickered. “You ain’t seen fast until you’ve seen Chuck draw. He’s the fastest darn shooter in this whole area, that’s what he is!”
“You’d have me believe you’ve never seen anybody faster,” Ned smirked as he felt his mouth suddenly turn dry.
“Well, I didn’t say that,” the old driver continued. “I have seen one fellow faster.”
“That was my father,” Chuck declared.
“Yep, that’s who it was,” Whitey agreed. “You’re almost as fast but he was a little bit quicker, may he rest in peace.” Suddenly, Ned’s confidence began to falter, and he nervously said, “I see.”
Katie was busy watching her husband and was surprised at how his face turned from the happy-go-lucky look she loved to one of tense resolve.
“If we’re gonna do this, then let’s do it,” he declared as he watched Ned’s every move.
Ned had not counted on this. He thought he had practiced enough to take on a regular farm boy, but evidently, he was facing someone with far better skills than he. His eyes darted around as he tried to figure out whether to take a chance or leave well enough alone. Finally, he yelled, “To hell with you! To hell with all of you!!”
He grabbed his horse’s reins and turned to leave. When he had his back to everyone, he quickly twirled around in an effort to catch Chuck off guard. As fast as he could he grabbed his pistol and drew. His gun had almost cleared its holster when the bullet from Chuck’s gun went tearing into his arm. The force pushed him back and his gun went falling harmlessly to the ground.
“I tried to tell you,” the old driver said. “I tried to tell you, but you’re not real bright, are you, son?”
“We’re even now,” Chuck declared. “You’ve shot me, and now I’ve returned the favor. You go on and get out of here and don’t ever come back. If you do, as you once told me, the next one goes through your heart.”
Ned had had enough. He knew when he was beaten, so he turned his horse and rode off to never be seen by Katie and Chuck again. Katie rushed to her husband, and they embraced as she started to cry again. “I was so scared,” she sobbed. The old driver climbed down and took his gun back from Chuck. He patted Katie on the shoulder and offered, “Oh, I knew it was over when I talked him into letting me give Chuck my gun. They’re just ain’t nobody faster than Chuck Johnson.”
His boasting broke the tension and made Katie laugh. She asked, “You talked him into it?”
“Well, that’s the way I saw it,” Whitey declared. “And that’s the way I’m gonna tell it. Now, you two get on board so we can get you to San Fran so you can start honeymooning.”
They loaded into the coach and started on their way. Chuck held Katie near, and they rode in silence for a long time.
Finally, she offered, “You are fast.”
He smiled and said, “That’s what some folks say.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ned finished tying his neck scarf around his arm to help control the bleeding. The bullet was lodged inside and it left his fingers tingling. He mounted his horse in disgust and took off toward the northwest. Nothing had gone as he had planned and now he had to nurse a wound. He had finally reached the conclusion that no woman, including Katie, was worth what he had endured. So, he decided he was through with her, in fact, he was through with the whole state of California.
All the bridges in his past had been burnt and there was no going back. He couldn’t go to New York as the law was looking for him. The warrant on him wasn’t for the murder of his three friends, but he figured if he went back it wouldn’t be long before they pieced everything together and he’d be facing the gallows. He was finished with Katie as any love he had for her had turned to hatred, and besides, he had no doubts that Chuck would kill him if their paths ever crossed again. So, he decided to head toward Portland in Oregon State. It was a shipping city and he felt sure he could get a job on the docks loading and unloading ships. This way he could earn and save some money until he decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
Eventually, he found himself in Portland walking along Davis Street near Chinatown. It had been almost two weeks since he had left California, and he was feeling better about himself and his life. His arm was healing nicely, and he was set to start a new job in the morning. It wasn’t the life he had dreamed about, but he was sure he could find happiness there. All he had to do was be patient.
As he strolled along, he didn’t notice the young woman following him. When he stopped to light a cigarette, she approached him. “Hello, stranger,” she said in a sultry voice. He looked her up and down but didn’t say anything.
“You’re new around here,” she continued. “Where you from?”
Ned took a long drag and replied, “Why do you care?”
“Well, aren’t you the feisty one,” she laughed. “My name’s Kate. What’s yours?”
“Kate, huh?” he smirked. “That figures.”
“Oh, you’ve had woman trouble,” she surmised. “Well, it seems to me you need a new friend.”
“That’s probably the last thing I need,” he grumbled.
“Look, why don’t you buy me a drink and you can tell me all about her?” she asked as she moved closer to him.
“I don’t think so,” he replied.
“Look, you know, I’m coming off a bad time myself,” she offered. “The man I was with just up and moved on, no warning, no nothing. I could really use a drink right now. What you say?”
“No, not tonight,” he said.
She touched his arm and offered, “Look, I tell you what. I’ll buy us both a drink. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. I just don’t want to be alone, not tonight. Please.”
He thought about it, and though it wasn’t what he wanted to do, he agreed. She slipped her arm into his and they started down the street. He had to admit she was attractive, with her black hair and tanned skin. But, best of all, she was interested in him. It put him at ease, and he said, “My name’s Ned.”
“It’s nice to know you, Ned,” she sweetly replied.
When they came to the first bar, Ned started to go inside but she objected, “No, I don’t like this one. They’re some awful people in there. There’s one a little further down the street here that’s a lot better.”
They came to the bar she wanted and stepped inside. There were only a few customers inside sitting at two different tables. They didn’t acknowledge Kate and Ned but watched closely as they walked to the counter. The bartender was nowhere to be found and Kate in frustration yelled, “Does anybody know where Yang is?”
A burly man at one of the tables responded, “He went in the back to fetch something.”
Kate slapped the counter and declared, “I like Yang, but sometimes he’s worthless. Look, you stay right here, and I’ll go get him.”
Ned leaned against the counter and took in his surroundings. It reminded him of many of the bars back in New York. They were busier than this one but were pretty much the same. Before he could react the floor below him gave way as the trap door sprung open. He yelled as he fell through and landed with a thud in the basement. The blow caused everything to spin around in his head, and when he was just about to regain his bearings, three men grabbed him and started beating him. He did his best to fight back, but a wooden stick up against his head knocked him cold.
When he came to, he was tied to a chair in a small cell with wooden bars. Once his head cleared, he struggled to break free, but he was bound tight. It wasn’t long until he heard someone whistling as they came his way. It was the burly man who had been sitting at a table in the bar. He hacked and coughed and gruffly said, “So, you’ve decided to behave yourself.”
“What are you doing?” Ned screamed. “Let me go!!”
“Oh, yell all you want, but you ain’t going nowhere,” the man declared. “You’re mine, now.”
“What do you want?” Ned asked as he fought the fear swelling in his throat.
“I want you,” the man answered. “You’re gonna do what I want you to do from now on.” He gave a throaty laugh and continued, “You’ve been shanghaied!”
“Shanghaied?!?” Ned started yelling again. “All I was doing was letting Kate buy me a drink.”
“I know,” the man said. “She’s good, ain’t she? Whenever we need a new crew, she’s willing to help. Of course, we pay her five dollars a man, but she’s worth it. She knows how to pick them, and she knows how to bring them in. I don’t think any man has ever turned her down. You didn’t, did you?”
“She was in on it?” Ned asked more of himself as he became mad at being so easily duped.
“Of course, she was,” the man laughed. “You don’t think she would really be interested in scum like you, do you?”
“I don’t care!” Ned yelled again. “Just let me go!!”
“No, no, no,” the man declared. “This time tomorrow you’re gonna be on one of my ships out in the middle of the ocean headed to the Far East.”
“No,” Ned said in disbelief as he shook his head.
“Oh, yeah,” the man continued. “You’re gonna work and clean and help my crew bring a shipment back from Hong Kong.”
“I won’t do it,” Ned declared.
“Oh, you will,” the man countered. “That is if you want to avoid a heap of pain. My captain carries a whip with barbs on the end. It’s terrible what it’ll do to the flesh on a man’s back. And the bad part is he loves to use it. It doesn’t take much to get him riled and when he does, the whip comes out. Between you and me, I think he’s somewhat sadistic.”
“No,” Ned said again.
“Look here, I’m gonna give you some friendly advice,” the man said. “You give us a bunch of trouble and we’ll deal with you on the way back home. When the food starts running low, we’d just as well throw you overboard. It’d be one less mouth to feed, that is, if we don’t get too hungry and decide to just go ahead and eat you instead. So, it’s entirely up to you. You behave yourself and you might live long enough to make another trip. You act up, and well, Kate will just have to find us a replacement.”
Ned just stared at the man as the realization of his fate came crashing down on him. The brawny man coughed again and smiled before saying, “Well, if nothing else, you can always look on the bright side.” Ned didn’t reply so he continued, “Most folks have to wait until they get to hell to start paying for their sins. You get to start paying for yours tomorrow morning.”
The man kept laughing as he walked away and then broke out whistling again. Ned struggled to break free from the ropes, but he was held fast. No matter how much he yelled, cried, or begged, his fate was sealed. He was never heard from again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two days out from the Kingdom of Hawaii the Pacific Ocean was living up to its name and reputation. The waters were calm, and a steady breeze kept the ship moving at a brisk pace. Katie joined her husband on deck as they settled down on a bench together to watch the waves. She snuggled against him as a dolphin jumped in the ocean near the ship. With his arm around her he asked, “Are you happy?”
“Yes, very much so,” she replied. “You?”
“Yes, beyond my wildest dreams,” he answered.
“Then I should’ve played harder to get,” she teased.
“Oh, I think it was difficult enough,” he shot back. Then after a moment he offered, “But I wouldn’t change any of it.”
They sat in silence awhile longer until she finally said, “You know, I don’t want to talk about it now, but one of these days we’re going to have to have a serious talk about Outlaw Charlie.”
“We are?”
“Yes, we are,” she asserted. “I want you to promise me that we will talk about it. Will you promise me that?”
He pondered her question for a minute, then grinned, and replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
THE END
Copyright ©2010 by Jerry W. Crews
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