From Bottom to Top

By Leroy Smith Sr.

The blow was given with all my weight behind it. He went down, and I walked away with my back turned to him. Johnathon screamed, "He's going for his gun, Kenneth." I whirled to one side, drawing my gun at the same time. He had his gun coming out of the holster that cleared, but my gun spoke first, and the bullet caught him in the chest through his shirt pocket.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781098094591

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From Bottom to Top

Leroy Smith Sr.

Copyright © 2021 by Leroy Smith Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Beginning

To my family who inspires me by their great love.

Many thanks to my wife for her help in this endeavor.

The Beginning

At the age of five years, I was abandoned, and that makes for a very sorry start in life. I was taken by the sheriff of the county to an orphanage and was left there in the care of strangers. The people who ran this orphanage were caring people, but the rules they had for the children made it hard for some of us to follow.

My name is Kenneth Norton, and I am not sure where I got the name. I have no family that I know of except the kids in this orphanage. I got along with the other kids except for the bullies who were there for the same reason I was. Two brothers were considered by the other kids as cocks of the walk.

I was schooled in the study of English, reading, writing, arithmetic, and spelling. My greatest weakness was spelling. The two brothers Jim and Clancy Willis schooled most of us in lying, fighting, and being immoral. They beat up all of us that challenged them in anything they wanted to do. Of course, they did it when the caretakers were not looking.

Over the years I was there, I learned some vital lessons that came in handy, lessons that helped me have a life of adventure instead of a life of bitterness. When I left the orphanage at the age of seventeen, I was given a horse, a saddle, a bedroll, a gun, and scabbard, plus twenty dollars. I took each item with thanksgiving in my heart to the caretakers and to the God of heaven and earth. The caretakers made sure all the children of the home were instructed in the Good Book. They told us if we followed the teachings of the Bible, we would find life a lot more comfortable, and we would be more able to face its challenges. I vowed to try and live by the Ten Commandments of the Bible. I felt their advice in this matter was sound, and I would give it my best shot.

The first job I found was working for a blacksmith, and I learned a lot more about how to take care of horses and other animals. We made horseshoes on a regular basis and worked with the fixing of all kinds of equipment for horses. We worked on cooking equipment also. I stayed a year working for Mr. Jorden and learned a lot of things that would help me down the road of life.

A rancher I had met while working for Mr. Jorden offered me a job on his ranch. He said, I see you are a talented man and the knowledge you have in blacksmith would be a good addition to my crew of wranglers. We have a lot of equipment that needs fixing by someone who knows what he is doing. He offered me a good deal more money than I was making, so I took the job.

He explained to me that I would be working cattle most of the time or building fences as well as a lot of different other chores. I would need to learn ranching from top to bottom. I would be working hard all the time if I chose ranching for a lifestyle.

The rancher’s name was John Taggart. He had built a ranch from the ground up and knew the trade. He was a very tough individual and had a reputation for being a good fighter and was very fast with a pistol when the need presented itself. I had heard some of the stories and watched him fight one night with another man much larger than he, and he beat his opponent with faster hands and good footwork. They fought in the street with a lot of onlookers present, and when the fight was over, he shook the larger man’s hand and invited him to go back in the saloon for a drink. The other man agreed to have a drink with Mr. Taggart. The show was over. I decided there was a lot more to this man than a fighter, for he reflected a very warm nature to me. And by his speech, I believed he was a well-educated man. I found out later he had studied the law back East but had decided to abandon a law practice to become a rancher. I was glad he had offered me a job. It would be nice to work for someone who was a sober-minded man.

When I came to work for Mr. Taggart, he invited me to the ranch house to meet his family. He was a proud family man who lived for his wife and children. Mrs. Taggart was a very beautiful woman with a sweet way about her, and they had a son named Johnathon. They also had two daughters who were twins. The twins were as beautiful as their mom. They had been named Carol and Betty. The names did not sound alike, but they looked exactly alike. They were identical twins.

Mr. Taggart asked me out on the porch after the introductions and talked to me about the ranch and about the bunkhouse where I would be staying. He also told me about relative things concerning the men and who I would be working with. I went to the bunkhouse after our conversation, and there were a few men I knew from town while I was working for Mr. Jorden. I’d had a confrontation with one of those men over the way I put a shoe on his horse. We came close to fighting over that issue. I said hello to the men that were there, and this one man said to me, I’m not satisfied with our last business together. I should have kicked your butt.

I said, It is not too late to kick it if you so wish, but know this, that my butt will kick back.

He said, Are you going to work here on the ranch?

I said, Yes, starting today.

He said, Well, we just need to settle things now instead of later.

I totally agree.

Let’s step outside and see what you are made of. It had been a while since my last fight. I had a fight with the two bullies at the orphanage. When you fought them, you had to fight both at the same time. I had won that fight, but it took days for me to get back to normal.

I had worked hard as a blacksmith’s helper and had grown to six foot two and weighted two hundred and twenty pounds with muscles as tough as boot leather. I was not going to be bluffed in front of the other men who were there. We stepped outside, and I said, Whoever wins, let’s shake hands and put this behind us. He grinned and threw a punch that was a humdinger. It landed on my face, and my face went numb. I fired back and hit him coming in, and it straightened him up. And I hit him a blow in the stomach that hurt him badly. Then I hit him in the short ribs, and I knew that blow took the wind out of him. I hesitated a moment and let him catch his wind. He came at me with an uppercut and then a strong blow