Revenge for Janie

1 Ross and Ralph Ride to Yuma-2

The early conversation as the two met on the trail once again was all about Manny and his wife Janie. Ross, never a bitter man, was saddened by her death. Ralph, having encountered tragedy in the life of his first wife and his daughter, was more inclined to be angry toward the Martin boy. Both Ross and Ralph had something of an interest of their own in the capture of the Martin lad. Ross had killed the boy's father many years in the past. Ralph had killed the boy's uncle.

The boy's father had been a ne'er do well Robert had never known. Ross killed the man while on a trek to Yuma in 1878. The elder Martin had robbed a stage, had his horse shot and was seeking to steal all Ross's “possibles” including Ross's horse. Ross had been a better shot than Martin. Later, after two failed attempts to kill Ross in Welton and in the desert between Welton and Yuma, Ralph had killed the boy's uncle when the uncle was about to kill Ross. The shooting occurred in Yuma when, at the time, Ralph was Sheriff of Yuma County. Robert, before shooting Janie, had tried to assault Manny and failed, but threatened Manny based on the killing of his father and his uncle voicing a desire for revenge.

Ross and Ralph were dressed very similarly. Each wore dark trousers which defied a name or a label, not denims but perhaps a wool blend. Both men wore a light-colored shirt, and though perhaps at one time the shirts had been white, repeated use and repeated washing had created some off-white color tinged during their ride with brown as the dust kicked up by the horses imbedded itself into the fabric.

Both wore a vest with nothing in its pockets. Both wore what could have been a suit coat at one time, dark in color but heavily colored by the time they reached the area of San Luis Potosi' in the dust of the trail. Both wore a duster which had long ago lost its color of white and settled into something close to the color of the desert. Both sported wide brimmed hats keeping most of their face and neck shaded much of the day.

Both men rode loosely, comfortably, in the saddles they had occupied for what seemed most of their lives. Both men were weighted with pistols which, in part, long ago they had taken from others whose missions against them failed. Ross still carried two Colt Peacemaker pistols which he had taken from the body of George Martin, in fact.

They did not expect any trouble, but if it came they were still more than able to deal with it even though both were getting a little long in the tooth at sixty-eight years of age. Though guns worn openly were unusual in those changing times they thought them necessary in the circumstances. Whatever restrictions they might encounter in San Luis Potosi' or Yuma they would deal with when they arrived in those communities. Both carried at least one rifle in scabbards mounted along the right side of their horse's bodies.

Ross carried two rifles. One was a fifteen shot Henry repeating rifle and the other was a Sharps single shot rolling block fifty-six caliber buffalo g*n which was accurate to well over five hundred yards. The Sharps was equipped with a scope and a tripod for long range shooting. Ralph carried his own Henry repeating rifle. There were more modern weapons available to either of them if they had chosen to acquire newer guns, but those they carried had been dependable in the most dangerous of circumstances. Neither saw any reason to look to the more modern “automatic” pistols seemingly so popular. Both carried so called “hideout” guns in special holsters in their boots. These were two shot Derringers which many men and women had carried throughout the history of the west.

There was no talk among them about the weapons they carried. Even though it was 1910 it was as natural for these men to carry guns and rifles as it was for them to breathe. They both had been born in northeast Texas in a time when revolution and war with natives was commonplace. The little youth they were given had more to do with monthly incursions by Comanches and the war of aggression (Civil War elsewhere) than it did with anything else. Hand guns and rifles, were an extension of their personalities, always with them, always on them.

Their lives had never known a time after about year ten when weapons had not been carried. Nothing had changed for them about the need to be armed in wild country. There were still bandits roaming the deserts of the Southwest and even an occasional wild and free native would go on a rampage. Though they did not expect to use the weapons for anything, except maybe to kill some game for a meal, they were prepared to and both were fully capable of using them to devastating effect in any situation.

There was no talk among them about what would happen when and if they finally captured the Martin boy. Either he would die or he would be brought back to Yuma to face a judge and a jury. They both would prefer he be captured and brought in front of a jury. They had no desire to kill the boy. Manny might feel, most likely did feel as though he would want the young man dead, but they had not spoken with Manny yet. The passage of time would bear answers to their questions, their unknown future.

In a sense, it was not really their fight, except it was their son and godson who had been wronged by the actions of the young Martin boy. Because Martin had shot at Manny, killing Manny's wife and unborn child, they were ready and willing to do anything they could to bring about justice in the situation. In the first instance justice meant to them the boy should be captured and put into the Arizona State Prison, but they would wait until they arrived in Yuma to decide the issue, if it could be decided. Neither Ross nor Ralph thought of their trek to help Manny as being an assignation with revenge in any sense at all.

The country through which they rode, the northern part of the Sonoran Desert, was very dry, had very few trees, little or no shade sufficient to stop in and rest their animals. They took breaks, they gave the animals water and a little feed they had brought with them. They traveled lightly, with a rope tied to the pommel of the saddle with a pigging string. They had a bedroll on behind the saddle and saddlebags that carried necessary items like ammunition, jerky, hardtack, pemmican, some grain for the horses, some changes of socks and underwear and a few items to be used for drinking coffee or eating if they managed to shoot some game along their way.

They walked with the horses from time to time to rest them to a degree. They sat in the shade of a tree with the horses if one became available and let the horses graze on anything which was edible around the tree. These horses were accustomed to their riders, and the horses were accustomed to being treated well out on the range. The respect and care they took of their horses was second nature to both.

The nature of the country they traveled through would not change again until they crossed the U.S. border and headed toward Yuma. The trip could be shortened a bit when they went into the U.S. by cutting across the badlands between the Colorado River and Yuma, but they would stay close to the river bank to enhance their water supply for the horses. It would lengthen the ride by about a day but theirs was a trip with no time requirements. Even though the trip was brought about by an unspeakable tragedy in the murder of Janie the desert, the necessities of care being given to and used with their animals did not change.

There was no urgency in the notes they had received, no sense imparted their arrival needed to occur within the speediest time possible. Had there been a message to hurry as fast as they could they would have ridden to Tombstone and caught a stage which would take them across the desert from station to station. Even then the likelihood of their arriving in Yuma prior to the burial of Manny's wife was not very high. Yuma was far enough away from where both Ralph and Ross lived so no rapid basis existed for the two of them to get to Yuma.

Manny and Jonas needed time to ready the business of the Palace Hotel and Saloon for their absence under any circumstance. Ross and Ralph knew setting up the business to enable the pursuit of Martin was a necessity since they had run the same establishment in years past. Aside from the reasons for their trek they were enjoying the chance to spend time together in a peaceful moment of their lives. Many of the times they had shared in the past were tumultuous, enjoyable but fraught with danger in most cases.

Both Ross and Ralph were 68 years of age, but neither appeared to have worn his years badly. Both appeared to be and in fact were in good health. Both were tall men. Ralph was near to six feet in height and Ross was slightly taller at about six feet two inches tall. The years had never caused them to stoop or bend over. Neither of them carried much more weight at 68 than they had at 35 or 40 in the times when they first met.

Their faces were weathered to be sure. There were lines which had grown deeper and longer as the years passed, but both men appeared, except for a few additional lines in their faces, to be much younger than their actual years. These were hard men in exterior, hard men in response to being personally attacked, but men of great emotion, who held great love for those in their families.

Both had worked hard on their ranches and the hard work had kept them younger in health if not in their faces. Neither felt their age a hindrance of any kind as it related to the task at hand, or anything else. Neither of them really thought about their age much if truth be told. They were men, they were older men now, but they were not useless men or men who could not perform any kind of service which might be needed. They both reckoned themselves to be very fortunate not to have gotten sick at any point in their lives.

There was a time in Texas just before each of them was born in which cholera had taken a huge toll of the population. Through the years both had lived there were mini-epidemics of cholera, a dread disease which would take some from almost every family. Their families were struck from time to time but neither Ross nor Ralph had ever

contracted a serious illness.

The little bit of conversation they had as they rode was mostly centered on what their sons had been doing with their lives and how well the women were, the women they discussed being Carmella and Flora, their wives. Neither chose to talk much about himself as was in keeping with their lifetime habits. Ross said, “Flora told me I was getting a little long in the tooth for this kind of trek, Ralph. Did Carmella give you the same kind of static?”

“No, she was not really happy to have us have to do this, but she was pretty clear it was not going to be something either of us were too old to get involved in. She knows you work just as hard at your place as I do mine. Because of our having to work so hard this is like a vacation in a way. When the note came from Jonas I started packing stuff up and she was surprised. After she read the note she didn't say another word except to ask where you and I would try to meet each other. When I told her it would be somewhere between San Luis and the house she asked how long it would take me to get there. I said probably about two days ride. She nodded and started putting away some food for me.”

“We had a man come from Nogales south to let us know,” Ross said. “The sheriff in Nogales got a telegraph from the sheriff in Yuma and asked a guy to ride down and let us know. Did you hear anything from Jonas as to how Manny was taking the whole thing, Ralph?”

“Nothing was in the note except Jonas mentioned Manny was broken up over it. I guess his reaction was to be expected though. A hard thing, this.” Ralph didn't have to add to his comment because Ross had been there with him when his lifetime had been filled with the tragedy of his daughter, at age fourteen, being r***d and murdered. The murder of his daughter and its consequences had led the two of them on long rides together in the past.

“It sure brings back some memories for you I would guess,” Ross replied.

“Yeah,” said Ralph, “and some of them I would rather not have had to bring up again frankly, but given everything it's good that we are going to help the boys. I don't know if both can get away from the business at the same time, but if Jonas can't go what do you think about trying to bring Manuel Esquerra up from your ranch to help us with this?”

“I was thinking about him just a little while ago, Ralph. When Flora hired him to work for us it was one of her greatest decisions. He is a marvel around the ranch and can really run it without me or Flora there if the need arises. I am sure she can do that as well. If the need arises when we get to Yuma we can send a wire to Nogales and have it delivered to our ranch just like they did to tell us about Janie being killed. But you know Ralph it might be best if I leave Manuel there to run the ranch and bring Flora up to Yuma to take over the Hotel and Saloon while you and I, Manny and Jonas go after this one.”

“Well I guess we will be able to figure it out when we get to Yuma, pard. Let's get some rest. Tomorrow should not be a long day but then you never know out here do you? By the way, Ralph, do you know who is the sheriff in Yuma now? I wonder if he has your same rules about wearing guns?” Ross thought it was probably a stupid question. He didn't really expect Ralph to answer. Ralph did not. The rest of the trek to Yuma was uneventful.

There was a lot of silence, a lot of memories which Ralph really didn't want to rehash as they rode, and a lot of concern and care about Manny in Ross's mind. There was some aches and pains which might not have existed in the past on similar long rides, or which maybe were simply forgotten. There were some creaking joints, and carping about them by both, in the mornings, and recognition those things had never occurred in past rides of a similar nature. There were a lot of smiles, some laughter at themselves, and then as they remembered the reason for being where they were, momentary frowns.