A Pair of Jacks

By G.J. Jasper

Amid the fury and hatred that followed the Civil War, a man was lucky to have one good friend. Texas Jack Vermillion and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson were two such friends

Jack Walton Vermillion, at a very young age worked on the Clem Johnson ranch in West Texas where he almost became one of the family. He was given the nickname of Texas Jack by the old cattleman Charlie Goodnight. Jack was later known as SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT JACK!

Jack Johnson also received his nickname, TURKEY CREEK JACK JOHNSON from Charlie Goodnight because his ranch was in the small town of Turkey Creek, Texas, just a few miles south of Fort Worth.

This story tells about their adventures and how two young men became seasoned cowboys on their first trail drive. They learn what it means to ride for the brand, how loyalty to your fellow cowboys can mean the difference between life and a brutal death on the plains.

The author expresses his gratitude for the help and efforts of the following:

Edited by Joseph and Maxine Burns and Sean Hughes
Cover & Art Work by Cherry Edwards

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463408015

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A Pair of Jacks

G.J. Jerry Jasper

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© 2011 by G.J. Jerry Jasper. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 05/20/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-0802-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-0801-5 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011908570

Printed in the United States of America

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER tHIRTEEN

CHAPTER fOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT HAPPENED

TO CLEM

I

What Happened to Clem

In the 1870’s in a small southwest Texas town called Turkey Creek, about a three-day ride southwest of Dallas, lived two young and adventurous cowboys named Jack Johnson and Jack Vermillion; the boys were wild and full of oats. The two Jacks had grown up together on the Johnson ranch where Clem Johnson made sure he got a good days work out of each of the boys, and then some. Clem was a big man standing over six feet tall and weighed at least 250 pounds. Clem was as mean as he was big. He was very strong and enjoyed pushing people around.

Each Saturday night he and the boys would go to town where Clem would almost always get drunk and get into a fight. The boys would be saddled with getting him out of jail and bringing him home. As likely as not, old Clem would just be beginning to sober up and be feeling mean and mad at the world. This is when he would take his meanness out on the boys. He would begin by slapping Jack Johnson and when Jack Vermillion would step in to help Jack, old Clem would start in on him.

There was not much to like about Clem. The only things that Clem liked were getting drunk and hording his money. A Saturday night bath was out of the question.

Clem was married to Rose, a very good looking woman even after all the years of abuse from Old Clem. Rose had long, straight black hair that glistened in the sun light like the breaking of dawn that shimmered across nearby Crystal Lake. She had a very slim figure with facial features of a woman half her age. Rose was probably the most beautiful woman in Turkey Creek, Texas. All the town’s people could never understand why she stayed married to Clem and, for that reason, why she married him to start with. This would be Rose’s secret.

Early one Sunday morning when the Jacks were driving home in their rickety old wagon with Clem passed-out in the back, Jack Vermillion said to his buddy Jack Johnson, I am not taking any more abuse from your old man. If he starts any thing with me today, I am going to whip that old man to a pulp. That sounded well and good, but the only thing wrong was Clem had come to and had heard what Jack said.

Clem rose up in the back of the wagon and knocked Vermillion right off the wagon seat. Jack hit the ground—his ear was bleeding from the blow and he had dirt in his eyes. Clem was very quick for a man his size, and he was out of the wagon and on top of Vermillion before Jack could get to his feet. Clem pulled Jack to his feet and backhanded him across the mouth. Blood sprayed from his cut lips and covered the front of his new white shirt. Jack dropped to his knees just in time for Clem to kick him in the ribs as he said, Who do you think you are going to whop up on boy? Jack’s vision began to fade as he crumbled to the ground. Clem was about to kick him again when Jack Johnson came down hard with an axe handle he’d found in the back of the wagon. Clem dropped to his knees and let out with a loud groan. Jack thought he had killed his father, but the old man scrambled to his feet and with a mighty blow knocked his son out cold. Jack Johnson tumbled backward down the dry creek bed, his ears ringing and bleeding from a massive cut over his eye.

Clem stood there for a moment looking at the boys sprawled out on the hot dusty ground, just laughing. The old man just shook his head, then climbed up in the wagon and whipped the horses to a full gallop and left them bleeding in the dirt.

After awhile, the boys came to and started walking to the ranch house which was nearly five miles away. Vermillion said, Man, if I had known your old man could hit that hard I never would have said what I said.

The sun was just beginning to come up over the scrubby Mesquite trees; a dust devil lifted some sand and skipped across the vast prairie and then faded away.

Jack Johnson rubbed some blood away from his eyes as he saw his Ma running down the road to meet them. Ma, what’s wrong? Jack shouted. When his mother got close enough for Jack to see her clearly, he could see that his Pa had taken his anger out on her. Her face was bruised and bleeding and her long black hair had been cut. The old man must have used his pocket knife to cut her beautiful hair. Sobbing, she told how Clem had attacked her because his breakfast was not ready when he got home. The one thing his Mother had that she could be proud of was her beautiful long hair. Even though she was now in her early forties, she didn’t have a trace of gray in her hair.

Jack held his mother in his arms and wiped her tears away and said, I am not going to let him get away with doing this to you. If I have to kill him, he will never hit you again.

No, please don’t try to do anything, he is still drinking and he is as mean as a snake, she cried. Both boys put their arms around the sobbing woman and slowly they walked her to the rundown, faded gray house they called home.

Clem was standing in the front door with a whiskey bottle in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He lowered the barrel and pointed the gun at them. Then, he said, in a drunken voice, "Old woman, get ready to meet your maker. You have been talking God to me long enough. Jack pushed his mother aside, just as both barrels belched flames a foot long. The pellets kicked dirt up all around them. Jack Vermillion, older and bigger than his friend, grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and twisted it out of Clem’s hand. Jack brought the stock down hard against the head of the drunken man. Blood splattered all over Jack and the flat gray plank wall behind him. Clem crumbled to the porch floor and didn’t move another muscle. Rose screamed, Oh my gracious! You’ve killed him!"

Jack staggered back and leaned on a straight back chair on the porch; his heart was pounding in his chest like