The Reluctant Gun

By John J. Howard

Matt Wilson is sixteen years old and living on a ranch in Texas when his mother dies. Overcome with grief, Matt's father, Ben, rides away. With his father gone, Matt buys a gun and becomes the best there is. One day Matt is forced into a gunfight and kills a man. Matt's reluctance to draw had almost cost him his life, so Matt decides to never let that happen again. After two years, Ben comes home. Ben plans to strip his range and make a cattle drive to Abilene and then buy a ranch in Kansas. During the drive some herd cutters want part of Ben's cattle. When Matt kills their gunman the boss of the herd cutters threatens to spread the word about how fast Matt is with a gun so there will always be someone to challenge Matt. Not liking the sounds of that, Matt stays at the new ranch all winter hoping he will be forgotten. Matt finds that he has not been forgotten when he is forced to go to Abilene for a showdown. Matt figures the only way to eliminate all of the killing that lies ahead of him is to change his name and go away. While in Bixby, Nebraska, Matt breaks up a bank robbery. Since the town marshal was killed during the robbery the town council offers the marshal's job to Matt. While in Bixby, Matt buys a .38 and has the holster for it mounted on the front of his gun belt. Later, having the .38 on the front of his gun belt keeps Matt from being killed. Leaving Bixby, Matt ends up in Wyoming and falls in love with Kathy Mayberry. Then Matt realizes that it will take all of his skill with a gun to save Kathy's ranch from the gun slick range hog who wants to own the entire valley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John J. Howard
• Release date: Jun 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476493435

John J. Howard

Retired computer programmer/systems analyst. Avid golfer. Sunday school teacher. Author of The Reluctant Gun and Gun Justice.

Book preview

The Reluctant Gun

by

John Howard

Copyright 2012 John Howard

Published by John Howard on Smashwords

Formatted by eBooksMade4You

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Chapter 1.

I had about a half-hour of daylight left when I found a place to make camp. I quickly unsaddled my horse, put hobbles on him, and turned him loose. Then I dug into my saddlebags for my fishhooks and line and headed for the stream to try to catch my supper.

By the time it was dark, I had a fire going and three nice trout cooking. They were going to be a welcome change from the jerky I had been chewing on for the last two days.

After I had eaten, I poured myself a cup of coffee and leaned back against a log. I sat there thinking about how just one little thing could totally change your life. With me, it was guns.

My mind quickly raced back in time to the ranch in Texas where I grew up. My mother and father were Ben and Elizabeth Wilson. I was their only child and they had named me Matthew.

I suppose the thing that really got me started down the road I was to follow was Ma dying and what happened right after that.

The war had been over for a few years and things were starting to look a little better for us on our ranch when Ma suddenly came down with a fever and died. It all happened so fast. One day she was healthy, then the next day she came down with the fever and in about a week she was dead.

Ma’s dying really hit Pa hard. It hit me hard, too, but I tried not to let it show. I was sixteen years old and only an inch shorter than Pa’s six feet one. I didn’t think it would be manly for me to cry. How little I knew. Sorrow is no respecter of persons. When you lose a loved one, it can flat break your heart no matter how old you are. That’s what happened to Pa.

We made it through the funeral and all, but every night Pa would go up on the hill and sit by Ma’s grave. He knew that wasn’t doing either of us any good, but he just couldn’t help it.

That went on for about a week. Then one morning Pa rode off for town. When he got back that evening, I saw him talking to our two hired hands. When Pa finished talking to them they went into the bunkhouse. It wasn’t long after that until they came out of the bunkhouse carrying their saddlebags and bedrolls. They saddled their horses, tied their things on behind and rode away. I knew something was going on, but rather than ask, I decided to wait and see what Pa had to say.

We had supper and did up the dishes. Ma never had been one to let dirty dishes set around, so we made sure we didn’t let that get started.

After the dishes were done, we went out and sat on the porch. I knew Pa had something on his mind and would get around to telling me eventually. Finally, he spoke up.

Son, I hate to tell you this, but I’m gonna be leavin’ here for a while.

But Pa… I started to say.

Let me finish, Son. Then we can talk. I know you loved your Ma and this has been hard on you. The thing you don’t understand is how strong the love can be between a man and his wife. I can’t explain it to you, but you’ll know what I’m talkin’ about some day. The point is I just have to get away from here for a while.

How long will you be gone? I asked, not liking what I was hearing.

I don’t know. It could be quite a while. One thing’s for sure. I’ll be back, you can count on that. I’m not gonna just ride away and never see you again.

By then I had this big lump in my throat that I was trying to swallow. I wasn’t fully over losing Ma yet and now Pa was going to leave.

I made some arrangements in town today, Pa continued. "I went to the bank and set it up with ‘em to pay the taxes on this place for the next five years. I don’t intend to be gone anywhere near that long, but in case somethin’ happens to me, that’s one thing you won’t have to worry about for a while.

Another thing, he said. "I stopped by and talked to Nate Barnes about you. He said he could put you to work at his place. He said he’d start you out at twenty a month and you can work up from there.

"I know it don’t seem right to make you go to work for wages when you was gonna be the owner of this place someday. The reason I’m doin’ it is so I’ll know you’re bein’ fed and taken care of while I’m gone.

Just let this place go. Don’t worry about the cows or nothin’ else. When I get back, we’ll start over with whatever’s left and go from there.

I just sat there feeling kind of numb. I didn’t want my Pa to go off and leave me. There were so many things that could happen to a person that when Pa rode away, there was no guarantee that I would ever see him again.

I swallowed real hard a couple of times and finally managed to ask. When are you leavin’?

The first thing in the mornin’. I told Nate that you’d probably be over in a couple of days.

We stayed out on the porch and talked for a long time. It was like we might never see each other again, so we didn’t want it to end.

He told me how proud of me he was. He told me I would be bigger than him some day and that made me feel good. When your Pa is six foot one and right at two hundred pounds, he seems awfully big to you when you are growing up. Now he was telling me I would be bigger. I knew he was probably right. I had big hands and big bones, and I still had more growing to do. Then that made me feel bad again, because if I was that big, why couldn’t I go with him? I finally realized he needed to get away from everything that reminded him of Ma, and that included me.

We finally went to bed. I was sure I wouldn’t sleep a wink, but the next thing I knew, it was morning.

Neither of us had much to say when we got up. It had all been said the night before. After breakfast, I went out and leaned on the corral while Pa packed up to leave.

He finally came out of the house carrying his saddlebags, a bedroll and a sack of food. When he was all ready to go, he just stood there and looked at me for a little while. Then he stepped up and gave me a big hug. When he stepped back, there were tears in his eyes.

There’s nothin’ in this world that’ll stop me from comin’ back, Son. Remember that. Then he stepped up into the saddle and rode off. When he got to the top of the hill, he turned and waved. Then he was gone. I sat down and cried like a baby.

After a while I quit feeling sorry for myself. Crying wasn’t going to bring Ma or Pa back, so I went up to the house to think about my situation.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and tried to figure out what my overall plan should be. Pa had said I could go to work for Nate Barnes. I would do that for a while and see how things worked out. Like Pa said, that would give me a place to stay so I wouldn’t be by myself, plus I would be earning some money while I was at it.

Even though I would be working for Nate, I knew I wouldn’t just let our place go to ruin. Pa had worked too hard for that. I decided I would spend my Sundays at the home place doing what I could to keep it up. Then someday I would go back there for good and run the place by myself.

After I thought about that for a little while I started feeling better. Wouldn’t Pa be proud of me when he came back to find the place looking almost as good as it had when he left.

With that settled in my mind, I started gathering up the things I would take to Nate’s. I wouldn’t need much since I would be back every Sunday. I waited around until late afternoon before I left. I didn’t know if Nate would be around in the middle of the day or not, but he would surely be there for supper, and I wanted him to be there when I got there.

Nate had three hands working for him. Their names were Sam Smith, Kriss Kreider and Whitey Bascomb. I knew I wouldn’t have any trouble with Sam or Kriss, but Whitey was a different story. He was a bully and a troublemaker. He had fought with at least one of the hands from every spread around there. My problem was, he had been in a fight with Pa once, and Pa had really worked him over. I just knew he was going to take it out on me.

My timing turned out to be pretty good. As I topped the last hill on the way to Nate’s, I could see the crew heading for the ranch yard. I slowed down to make sure they got there ahead of me. Then I rode in.

Hi, Matt, Nate said as he walked up to where I sat on my horse. I didn’t expect you so soon. Your Pa said you’d probably be over in a couple of days.

I didn’t see any reason to wait around, Mr. Barnes. If I’m gonna work for you, I’d just as well get started.

I like your attitude, Matt, but forget that mister stuff. Just call me Nate. You can put your horse in the corral, throw your stuff on an empty bunk, and come on over to cook shack for some grub.

After putting up my horse, I walked over to the bunkhouse with my gear. There were two sets of double bunks on each wall at the south end of the room. There was a table with a deck of cards on it just past the end of the bunks. There was a stove between the table and the other end of the room. All across the north end of the room was a row of pegs that gave the hands a place to hang their coats and such.

Three of the four bottom bunks were being used, so I put my stuff on the top bunk over the empty bottom one. Then I headed for the cook shack for supper.

I had made up my mind on the ride over to just keep quiet and try to learn as much about ranching as I could. I had been helping Pa since I was big enough to ride, so I was no stranger to ranch work, but I knew I still had a lot to learn.

My plan was to work there for one year, or until Pa came home. I needed to soak up as much knowledge as I could in that year. If I was going to go back and try to run our place by myself, I was going to need to know how. You can learn a lot more by listening than you can by talking, so I planned to do a lot of listening.

When I walked into the cook shack, Nate said, You boys all know Matt Wilson. He’s gonna be workin’ for me for a while.

Sam and Kriss both said Hi, but Whitey just looked at me and didn’t say a word.

After supper, Nate went up to the house while the rest of the crew moved outside to a bench in front of the bunkhouse to sit and smoke and talk.

I knew I was going to have trouble with Whitey. I just didn’t want it to happen right away, because of Nate. I knew he was doing Pa a favor by taking me on, and I didn’t want him to think he had a trouble-making kid on his hands.

Whitey must have decided the first night was the time to start in on me. He kept making remarks and saying little things to get under my skin. I tried to ignore him, but he must have taken that as a sign that I was afraid of him. He just kept picking at me and wouldn’t let up.

Finally, I couldn’t stand to listen to any more of it. I stood up and walked over in front of him. He must have read something in my eyes, because he stood up too.

If you’ve got somethin’ in your craw, Whitey, why don’t you just spit it out?

All right, I will, he said with a sneer on his face. I don’t have any intention of babysittin’ some snotnosed kid whose Pa wasn’t man enough to stand up to his wife’s dyin’ and… That’s when I hit him, as hard as I could, right in the mouth.

I had never been in a fight before, but I was just as big as Whitey and I figured I was just as strong, and I wasn’t the least bit afraid of him.

When I hit him it had split his lip open and knocked him back to where he tripped over the bench. Sam and Kriss scrambled to get out of the way. I waited for Whitey to get up so I could hit him again. He got up and came at me with a roar, and that’s when I paid the price for not knowing how to fight. I was trying as hard as I could, but it wasn’t doing me any good. Whitey would knock me down. I would get up and tear into him again, and he would knock me down again.

I don’t know how long Nate had been there, but he finally stepped in and said, That’s enough, Whitey. There just ain’t no quit in this kid, so it looks like you’re gonna have to kill ‘im to keep ‘im from getting’ up again. I ain’t gonna let that happen, so let it go.

Whitey didn’t even bother to say anything. He just sneered at me and walked off.

I just stood there for a while, trying to catch my breath. My lips were split, my nose was bleeding, one eye was swollen shut and the other one was well on its way. None of it really hurt that much. What really hurt was me not being able to dish out any punishment to Whitey. I knew right then I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had gotten even. I didn’t know how or when it would happen, but I knew that someday I would give Whitey a beating he would never forget.

You better get over to the cook shack, Nate said with a friendly smile on his face. The cook can probably do somethin’ for those eyes. I will say this. If you get as determined to learn the cow business as you were in that fight, I’m gonna have one fine young cowhand workin’ for me.

The next morning as I came out of the bunkhouse, I could only see out of one eye.

You don’t look too good this mornin’ there, youngster, Nate said with a big grin on his face.

Yeah, I don’t think right now would be too good a time to go courtin’, would it?

I’m glad to see you’ve got a good sense of humor, Nate said with a chuckle. I was afraid you’d be all mad and pouty and hard to get along with this mornin’.

I’ll be honest with you, Nate. I don’t like it much, but there’s nothin’ I can do about it right now, so I’d just as well get on with tryin’ to learn the cow business.

Let’s get on with it then. Bein’ able to see out of one eye will be good enough for today. I want to take you around and show you the place before I put you to doin’ anything.

We both put away a big breakfast, then we were ready to head out. We spent the entire day just riding around, looking things over and having Nate point out various things to me.

We barely made it back to the ranch in time for supper. While we were eating, Nate laid out how it would be from then on until I was knowledgeable enough to be sent out on my own.

Sam, I want you to take Matt under your wing and teach him all you know about raisin’ cows. That should take you about ten minutes. They all got a laugh out of that. Naw, I was just jokin’. Matt, if you ever learn as much about the cow business as Sam knows, you’ll be in good shape.

That was the start of my stay there. I worked with Sam every day and stayed away from Whitey as much as I could. I still wasn’t afraid of him, I just didn’t like him. I knew if I spent much time around him we would go at it again, and since I hadn’t done anything to improve my chances with him, I would just bide my time.

The way of life on that Nate’s ranch was to work long hours during the week and then go into town on Saturday night. Then everyone would lie around and rest up or sober up on Sunday.

That wasn’t the way it had been at our place. Pa wasn’t a drinker. I figured if he didn’t drink, it must be for a good reason so I wouldn’t drink either.

Are you goin’ into town with us, Matt? Sam asked the first Saturday night I was there.

No, I don’t have any reason to go to town, Sam. I think I will ride over to the home place and spend the night. That way I can get an early start for whatever I decide to do tomorrow.

All right, Matt. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow than, he said as he dug out his shaving gear.

While everyone else was getting ready to go to town, I saddled up and rode on home. I might be working on another spread and Pa might be gone, but it was still home to me.

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Chapter 2

That night, lying in my own bed, I wondered where Pa was and if he was all right. Then I started thinking about what I needed to be doing to keep the place up. I was really going to be limited as to what I could do since I was only going to be there one day a week. Keeping the house, barns, and corral in good repair and not letting the place become overrun with weeds would probably take most of my time. Any time I might have when I wasn’t working around the house and barns would be spent patrolling the place. I might be able to see where some of the cattle had wandered off. Then, if they hadn’t gone too far, maybe I could find them and drive them back where they belonged I knew we would lose a lot of stock while Pa was gone, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

There was one thing in my favor. Nate had told me that during their roundup he would brand any of my stuff that they found. All I had to do was take him one of Pa’s branding irons.

The next day I spent just riding around the place. I found a few head of my stock that had drifted off, and pushed them back onto the home range.

That evening, as I was riding back to Nate’s, I noticed that all of a sudden I was considering Pa’s place and all the stock on it as mine. That was a different feeling, for sure.

That was the pattern of things until my first payday. When Nate handed me my money, I thanked him and rode home with it in my pocket. What was I going to do with the money? I sure wasn’t going to go to town and drink it up. I would need a few supplies to do me on the Sundays I was at home, but the