The Best of Matt Diamond's Short Stories

By Matt Diamond

"The Best of Matt Diamond's Short Stories" has 146 pages and contains 10 short stories. It has five excellent Westerns, five Detectives which are very mild that could be enjoyed by young adults. The proofreader that read "Becky white Wagon Train to Oklahoma" said that it was the most wonderful love story she'd ever read - which is a great compliment to me. Other people that read my brochures that I sent out before I had the book published gave great compliments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514490167

Matt Diamond

I was born in June of 1930 during the Great Depression. I was delivered by my father. I have four sisters. I am the youngest in the family. I grew up in a rental duplex in Toledo, Ohio. Things were pretty tough. My dad had to work for $0.25 an hour as a mechanic. He would sometimes work twelve hours a day, but he made enough to keep the food on the table for all. We’re all very appreciative of what my father had done. And how Mom made the clothing and the food and made sure the food was always on the table. But the most important thing in the evening was, we would sit around, and Mom would tell us stories about growing up back in early 1900. She talked about how tough it was. She told stories about wagon trains and told us about people that she knew just to fill in our imagination. We had no TV and radio. We got our first radio in 1936, an old Zenith radio. It cost my dad two dollars. It sat on the table, and he had to string a wire for an antenna. That was the first time I ever heard of the Lone Ranger; it was fantastic. It gave me a great imagination about the old West. I then fell in love with the West and the heritage there. I graduated in a small school in 1948. Then I was married in 1950. I had three children, a daughter and two sons. They loved to listen to Dad’s stories also. But I always liked to write stories and tell them to my nieces and nephews. They loved the stories, so I started to write, but I never had a publisher, so I just kept it to myself. For many years I worked as a carpenter and electrician. After many years, I started a development company. I did that for twenty-two years, then I got injured and then had to give it up. Now that I am eighty-five years old, I have looked at my old stories and started to write again. I called this wonderful publishing company about publishing my stories. And they are doing a wonderful job. I just pray that everyone will enjoy stories that I have written with great love. If I could have given you my complete biography, it would be a really large manuscript, but for now, if you read my stories, I hope you enjoy them the way my nieces and nephews did. Read the stories and enjoy.

Book preview

The Best of

Matt Diamond’s

Short Stories

Matt Diamond

Copyright © 2016 by Matt Diamond.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016907079

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5144-9015-0

            Softcover    978-1-5144-9014-3

            eBook         978-1-5144-9016-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/29/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

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CONTENTS

Brothers O’Brien Go West

Jesse Brown, Gunfighter and Vigilante

Matt Diamond, Homicide Detective in Fresno California, Department 61

Death and Shootout on the Border

The Life of Sam Johnson, Rancher and Sheriff of Oklahoma Territory

The Beautiful Young Widow Mary Brown

Jake never made it to Cheyenne, Wyoming

The Forgotten Trail

Scream from the Riverbank

Becky White wagon train to Oklahoma for open land and land grab

One Call Alert

949 Wake Field Dr. Suite 300

Houston, TX 77018

Brothers O’Brien Go West

It was June 12, 1866. The O’Brien brothers, Buddy and John, were mustered out of the Pennsylvania Cavalry and received their award medals for sharpshooting with pistol and rifle and the severance pay, which was $200 for each of them.

After they left the armory, they telegraphed their father, who lived in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, down by the Allegheny River. Their father had a 160-acre beautiful farm. All bottom land and very profitable to grow things.

Buddy and John left that day and rode two days from Philadelphia to Greensburg. They had a joyful reunion with their family. They saw their two little brothers and one sister. Dad had a great big meal for the boys and the other kids.

The men of the cavalry gave them two army horses when they left. They were beautiful Morgan horses, worth a lot of money. So the boys said, Dad, keep the horses and sell them.

Dad said, I would give you $1,000 each for the horses, so when you leave for Oklahoma, you will have money to take care of yourself when you get there.

They said they were going back to Philadelphia and take the train to St. Louis, Missouri. From there, it might go to Kansas City and they will then take the stage coach to Claremore, Oklahoma, as there is a lot of land available there.

When we get to Claremore, we will telegraph you and let you know that we have arrived.

Six days later after the train rides and stagecoach, they telegraphed Dad saying they got there okay.

When they got to Claremore, they looked for a broker for land in that area. The broker said, We do not have any land available in this area, but there is a little town close to Claremore called Silver Mountain and there is a lot of land available there. Meet me tomorrow and I will get a surrey and we can all go together to the next town, which is about six miles from Claremore.

After a night at the hotel, they met the broker and rode the surrey to Silver Mountain. The town was a busy little place with a lot of potential buildings, hotel, blacksmith, café, and lumberyard. Everything was available in that particular area.

They told the broker they liked this area very well and asked to see what land there was available in this area. The broker told them there was a 640-acre ranch about three miles from town. It originally sold for a dollar an acre, but I think you can get it for a little less, he told them, especially if you deal with the bank.

So they went out to see the property. There was a little schoolhouse in good shape left on the property. The boys really liked the land and the area. It was rolling and beautiful. Buddy said to John, We could split this right down the middle: 320 for you and 320 for me.

They noticed it was completely fenced. They said to the broker, Who did this?

The broker said the other landowner did all of the fencing, then ran out of money and left it to the bank. So make an offer and we will see what we can do about you purchasing the property.

They ended up getting it for $0.75 an acre. Cash.

They went back into town with the broker. After a long day, they decided to go have something to eat at the little café. They noticed that the café was owned by two sisters. They went in and sat down and noticed the two ladies who ran it. They were beautiful women. One was called Kathy and the other one’s name was Brenda. Brenda had long, beautiful wavy soft red hair while Kathy had long flowing reddish brown hair.

As Cathy came over to their table from around behind the bar, a cowboy hit her on the rear. She then informed him to not do that again as she did not like it. Neither did John or Buddy like it, so John got up and walked to the table where the cowboy and three others sat laughing.

John said sharply to the cowboy, Before I leave this café, I think you had better apologize to this lady.

The cowboys said to John, You think you can make me?

John said, I think so, and rolled up his sleeves and the cowboys saw the tremendous amount of muscle in this man’s arm. The cowboys said they would certainly apologize to her, and John thanked them.

Kathy came over to the table of Buddy and John to take their order and said, You must be new in town. Kathy was really taken by Buddy: He was 6 feet with broad shoulders and narrow hips, powerful arms, and big blue eyes and sandy hair. John was of the same build as his brother Buddy, and Brenda thought the same thing about John. After dinner the girls came over to talk to the men. They had a wonderful conversation. At this time the boys got up and thanked the girls for a wonderful evening of just talking. At that time, they invited the girls to go for a ride out to see their ranch after church on Sunday. Of course the girls thought this sounded wonderful.

One thing we need to know though about you, gentlemen, is are you married?

The boys laughed and said they were not, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen, and they all had a good laugh.

As the boys left the café and headed back to their hotel, they had the discussion about the four cowboys in the café agreeing with each other that they could cause them some real trouble later on. They then agreed there was only one way to find out for sure and that was to stop into the saloon for a couple of beers. Sure enough, they were in there. As soon as John and Buddy ordered their beers and the bartender delivered them to their table, the cowboys threatened to tear them apart. The boys said not in the bar, that they would meet them outside, man to man, without their side arms on.

So the cowboys came out and started the battle with John and Buddy. Within two minutes, four men lay flat on their back in the street. The sheriff of the town then showed up and asked what was going on and John said they had just finished settling a little problem. The sheriff then informed the boys that they just had an argument with the bigshot boy of the town.

If you notice, Mr. Jackson owns about every store in this area, so it could cause you a problem.

John said it would be no problem to them. If any problems, we will order everything out of Claremore, Oklahoma, when we want to build out homes. They introduced themselves to the sheriff and told him where they were going to be living. Then they went back to their hotel.

Next morning, they decided to go back to the café for breakfast. Kathy came out and waited on a man. Kathy said that there was a big dance at the Grange Hall on Saturday and a lot of local people would be there. Maybe we can introduce you around.

Buddy said, That sounds great! John also liked the idea and said that they certainly would meet there.

In the meantime, the boys went back to the ranch and started to check things out. They decided that now was the time to start looking for a man to build their houses. At this point, they went back to town to the newspaper office to advertise for carpenters and masons and stated in their ad that they would pay a fair price to anyone who wanted to work on their ranch.

The next morning sixteen men showed up for the job and John told them that they wanted qualified men only and would pay a dollar and a half a day plus food and lodging.

Everyone in favor of this offer, please sign up and we’ll discuss who we consider top-notch to do the job. After about a half a day talking to the men, they settled on the ones they wanted and then things started to happen really fast.

When they went to the local lumberyard to buy supplies, the man at the lumberyard ask them if they had an argument and fight with one of the boys. John replied, They started it, that was for sure, but we finished it. We thought it was over, but apparently not.

The man at the lumberyard proceeded to tell them that he could not sell them the lumber. At this time then John said, No problem, we will have it shipped in from Claremore and they will be glad to do it for the amount of the materials we are asking for and we’re talking at least $1,000 or more.

Well, now, let me talk to Mr. Johnson, the owner, and see what he says.

John said he would give him one day to answer, and the next day he would order from Claremore. The man at the lumberyard said he would get back to them in the morning.

Okay, we’ll be around to find out what Mr. Johnson says. No problem as we know we can get our supplies in Claremore.

The next morning, the proprietor from the lumberyard came over to the hotel and told John and Buddy that they would supply the lumber. John said, We don’t want any arguments with his son.

The week went by and Sunday arrived. John and Buddy got ready for the dance at the Grange Hall. After having a bite of lunch, they waited for the dance to start. Time went by and they then headed over to the Grange. As they walked in, there was Kathy and Brenda over by the greeting table. They informed John and Buddy to just sit anywhere they liked. In about an hour the band came in and started to set up. Just before they started to play, Kathy got up to make an announcement that there were quite a few people there who were all her neighbors.

She said, We have a new neighbor in our area as of right now. This is John and Buddy O’Brien. They just bought a ranch about three miles from town, so we’d like to introduce you to them as of right now.

So John and Buddy got up and thanked her for the great introduction and the band started to play a waltz. At this time Kathy and Buddy and John and Brenda got on the dance floor and started to dance. They were having a wonderful time when the local Johnson boy and his cowboy friends came in.

While Cathy and Buddy were dancing, the Johnson boy said, I want to cut in.

Buddy said, You can ask her after this dance is finished. He then walked off the floor, really ticked off, and went straight over to talk to his buddies and decided to make a change in the place at the moment when John came over to Buddy and asked what had happened.

Buddy said, Looks like trouble is brewing. The girls said they really didn’t like the Johnson boy or the other cowboys and wished they would just stay away from them.

John said, I don’t think there will be any problem. He walked over to the Johnson boy and said, Don’t bother us again.

The Johnson boys said, Just in case, you’d better start wearing your guns.

John said, No problem, if that is the way you feel, I will let you know that death is permanent, so don’t start.

After the dance ended, John and Buddy took the ladies home and told them that they would probably see them the next morning in the café for breakfast.

The next day John said, Let’s go to the gun shop and buy us some holsters and clean up our guns and take them out at the edge of town and test them.

They bought a box of .44 ammunition and the next morning, went out and checked the guns. They worked perfectly. They put on the holsters to let the Johnson boy know that they were ready for anything he wants to hand out to them.

In town the Johnson boy saw them wearing the .44s but said nothing and just walked by. So they decided to rent a surrey and go back to the ranch. They were about a mile out of town through some forest area when a shot rang out. It cut through Buddy’s shirt and burned his left arm from the bullet. The bullet then hit the horse and it took off like the wind.

John said to Buddy, I know who the hell shot at us, but I just can’t prove it. The next time they start shooting, we will be shooting back. Don’t really want to kill them. I just want to let them know if we injure them, they know what it’s all about. So they went to the sheriff and told him what happened. Of course they could not prove who really shot at them, and the sheriff said he would keep this in mind knowing there were a lot of people who knew what has happened to them as new neighbors.

The next morning. the lumber started to arrive and the man showed up at the ranch to go to work. Buddy and John told him, Go to the bunkhouse and make it as nice as it can be because you all will be staying there. Clean up the stove and clean up the bunk beds for you all and we will get something for mattresses.

Their project had really started just great and they had a design for their homes and the corrals to be fenced for the steers. They were quite pleased with themselves over it all coming together so well.

The next morning, they saw the girls at the café and, after telling them of their project, asked them to take a ride out and see what they were doing at the ranch. The girls were excited to go and so while they were preparing for the ride, John and Buddy went back to the hotel to do some figuring. Buddy was across the room as a shot came through the window, just missing him and hitting a picture on the wall.

The sheriff come running out of his office. When he saw Buddy and John, he asked if they had either one seen who it might have been.

John said, No, but it could have killed my brother, and if anything happens to either one of us, someone had better look out for themselves.

The men decided maybe they should go out to the ranch and stay in the bunkhouse along with the man they had hired to build the homes. So the next day they went to the café to see Kathy and Brenda and to tell them about the problem they were having in town.

We know the cause, but we can’t prove it, so will be moving out to the ranch this week some time.

Kathy and Brenda both said, Before you go, we think you should stop and have dinner at our home and meet our mom and dad. It might be something different for a while.

The men said, Of course, that would be great! So Wednesday was agreed on.

Wednesday came and the girls were dressed absolutely gorgeous. Kathy had a soft pink dress with little white flowers on the collar and Brenda had a soft green dress with the dark green belt around her waist. The men could not take their eyes off them.

The mother and father came in to the parlor to greet them. After asking the men where they were from and they told him Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the father said they didn’t sound like Northerners.

The men said, "When you’re in the cavalry, there are men from all over the country. In fact, we had a lot of Southern boys that joined the cause. After the battle at Gettysburg— that’s the last war I want to see, 23,000 men dead in a field. That’s why we got away from it and decided to come out West.

In meeting your father and mother, we had one outstanding day in our lives. If you don’t mind, we would like to see them again, at their discretion, of course.

They had a beautiful meal and, of course, grace first, at the supper table. They visited for about three hours before they called it an evening and then bid good night to all as they had to get up early the next day as they were moving out to the ranch. They told the father what a blessing to meet him and to the mother, It’s been such a great pleasure. They thanked them again for having them.

John and Buddy got up early