The Chocolate Palomino

As a result, there were many crimes being committed but few criminals actually captured. The situation was made worse by the fact that many of the former bushwhackers from Arkansas had wintered over in Texas during the war, so they knew the countryside and could easily hide or escape from a posse. In a month, Wade was in Texas and tracking down Jesse Parker, a former bushwhacker who'd killed the owner of he general store he robbed.

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That first year, Wade had done fairly well by bringing in six robbers and one more murderer besides Jesse to justice. His second year as a bounty hunter hadn't started out quite as well, but now that he was on the trail of the Connors Gang, things were looking up. If he could just bring in Jacob and Aaron, he'd have enough money to live on for a while. If he could bring in all six he'd have almost enough money to start farming again.

The next morning, Wade rode to a hill he'd picked that was in the center of the area he suspected might be the hideout for the Connors gang. This hill was located where he'd have a view of the only creek in the area. If they were in the area, they'd have to walk their horses to that creek at least once a day and Wade would be hiding in a pile of brush and watching which direction they came from and which direction they left to.

Hiding a small group of men was relatively easy because of the vast areas of land in the Hill Country that were still wild. All one needed was a thick stand of trees on a hill where a sentry could raise a warning of impending danger. The hill was also a tactical advantage in that an attacking force would have to fight their way up the hill while the defenders could escape by running down the other side.

Only one other thing was needed to turn such a hill into a hiding place and that was a supply of water. Wade hadn't worried much about water during the war because he led an infantry unit. Any time his group passed a stream or river, they refilled their canteens. If rationed carefully, one canteen of water would keep a man fit for a couple days.

The Connors Gang wasn't so fortunate because they were on horseback. A horse could forage for food and survive, but a horse needs water every day or there is a risk it will colic. Wherever they were, the gang would have to take their horses to water every day.

Wade figured the Connors Gang would water their horses either at daybreak or at dusk because it was unlikely anyone else would be in the area at those times. Once he built his hiding place, Wade watched in the early morning and late afternoon as well as through the day. Once night fell, he'd lead the bay gelding down to the creek to drink and then back up the hill to his camp. After feeding the gelding some oats, he'd bed down for the night.

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Wade didn't have long to wait. The sun was barely up on his second day there when he saw three men leading six horses to the creek. They'd come from the east and when they left, they went back east again. Wade watched them until the trees blocked his view. That afternoon, he built a new hide closer to the creek and further east. The next morning, he made his way to his new hide and waited.

Just like the day before, it was just after daylight when he saw the same three men walking the six horses out from the trees on the hill on the opposite side of the creek. This time, Wade was close enough he recognized two of them through his telescope as men from the wanted posters in his saddlebag. They were Thomas Ames and Robert Calumet, both known members of the Connors Gang. Once the horses had had their fill, they walked back up the same path.

Wade waited in his hide all day to see if any more gang members ventured off the hill but none did. Once it was nearly dark, Wade went back, led the bay gelding down to drink and once he had him tied to a tree and fed, he went back to his hiding place. What he wanted to know was approximately where on the hill the gang had camped. If he was going to capture them all, he wouldn't have time to figure out where they were in the dark. The risk of making enough noise to alert the gang was too high.

As darkness fell, Wade searched the hill for any signs of a camp, and finally saw the flicker of a fire on the very top of the hill and a little east of where the men had led their horses. That was enough to tell Wade where they were.

Wade went back to his camp, took six sets of Tower single lock handcuffs from his saddlebag, checked his Colt 1851 Navy revolver to make sure five of the cylinders were loaded and capped and the empty chamber was under the hammer. He then walked back down to the creek under the light of the full moon. His pocket watch said it was midnight when he crossed the creek and started up the trail to the Connors Gang camp.

It was easy going. Evidently the gang had used this camp in the past because the horses had trampled down all the brush. The light of the full moon was enough to guide Wade along the path.

He'd walk slowly for a few minutes and then stop and listen for anything that might indicate one of the gang suspected he was there. After half an hour of walking, stopping to listen, and then walking again, Wade saw the glowing embers of a fire and six men in bedrolls around it. As quietly as he could, he crept up to the closest man, clamped a hand over the man's mouth and stuck the Colt barrel between the man's eyes and cocked the hammer.

The man didn't try to fight back. He lay there while Wade pulled the blanket down until he could see the man's hands. Then, Wade quickly put one handcuff on the man and motioned for him to move his other hand so he could handcuff it. Once Wade closed the handcuff and tightened the ratcheting shackle, he put a finger to his lips and then whispered, "Make any sound and it will be the last sound you ever make."

Wade had two more of the gang in handcuffs when a fourth man woke up. He took one look at Wade and started to pull the revolver from his hip. Wade cocked the hammer of the Colt, pointed it at the man, and as soon as he was on target, Wade pulled the trigger. The man fell back on his bedroll, shot through the heart.

Wade didn't bother looking at the man to make sure he was down. That single shot would have awakened the other two. He quickly thumbed back the hammer of the Colt as he looked to see which man would rise up first. When both of them did, Wade pointed the Colt at the closest man and pulled the trigger. That man fell back down as Wade rolled sideways and then back upright. He pointed the Colt at the last man and yelled, "Drop that revolver and get down on your belly."

As the last word left Wade's mouth, he heard the zing of a bullet flying past his head, and then a heartbeat later another shot followed quickly by a second, both different from the first. The last man doubled over and then fell back on his bedroll.

Wade looked up to see another figure still in the shadows and approaching him, a man who, judging by his size, looked to be very young, maybe seventeen or so. Wade didn't know of any bounty hunters in Texas that young, but he couldn't figure out why anyone else would be on the same hill as the Connors Gang. If he'd been a new member of the gang, he wouldn't have shot the last man. He had to be there planning to take them in.

The man leveled his revolver at Wade and answered that question.

"Drop your revolver or I'll shoot you where you stand. I intend to take these men in and claim the reward, and you're not going to stop me."

It was the voice that convinced Wade he was dealing with a boy. He'd seen several during the war. They joined up at seventeen, sometimes even at sixteen if they were good liars. They looked and sounded young, and usually they didn't look any older when he helped bury them. The few who survived the war had grown up fast in mind, but they still looked and sounded like boys. Yes, this one was just a boy, a boy who seemed to be pretty fast with a revolver, but still just a boy.

Wade chuckled.

"I don't think I'm inclined to do that, bein's as how I already got three in handcuffs and shot two of the other three. I appreciate the help with the last one, so I'll give you twenty dollars for your trouble, but go home to your Mama, boy, and let a real man do what he set out to do."

The man took a step closer.

"I saw you shoot the first man, but your bullet just grazed the second's arm. If I hadn't shot him, you'd be dead now. If you don't believe me, go look at his arm and at the bullet hole in his chest. You were too slow to kill the last man. You rolled into a spot where the moonlight showed you and he'd have shot you if you hadn't been moving. I can see you just as well as he could, and I'll put a bullet through your heart before you can cock that revolver."

Wade had had enough by then. He didn't really want to shoot the boy, but the boy wasn't giving him any other option. It was either shoot him or let him take what Wade had worked for weeks to accomplish.

Wade was turning toward the boy and thumbing back the hammer on the Colt when the ground in front of him erupted as a bullet hit the dirt. Before Wade could react, a second bullet hit the dirt on his left and then a third hit the dirt on his right. He couldn't see the boy all that well, but he figured he must have just held down his trigger and fanned the hammer for those two shots. Wade had never heard of any bounty hunter doing that because it took some special modifications to the revolver to make it work. He didn't know how else the boy could have fired two shots so fast otherwise.

Wade softly laughed.

"You just fired three shots at me and if you really shot the other two men, you're bluffing because your revolver is empty."

The boy's voice didn't waver.

"Maybe...or maybe I loaded all six chambers. You want to take the risk?"

Wade held up his free hand and slowly slipped his Colt revolver back into his holster as the boy softly chuckled.

"Told you you were slow. Now, I appreciate you cuffing those three men for me and I'll give you twenty dollars for your trouble. Don't sell me short. I could have put a bullet between your eyes as easily as in the ground at your feet. You just walk back to wherever you came from and let me do my job."

Wade wasn't ready to give up, but he put any thoughts out of his head about shooting the boy. For some reason, he seemed to be really fast with a revolver and while Wade couldn't see much more than a silhouette, apparently the boy could see him. There might be other chances if he could gain the boy's confidence. He looked at the boy and smiled.

"And just how do you figure to get them all to wherever you're going? You gonna tie the three live ones up while you lift the other three onto their horses? You don't look big enough to lift up even one, let alone three.

"If you can get the three dead men on horses and tied so they stay there, how do you plan to get the three live ones to follow you? I'd say your chances are about slim and none of getting all six back to some Marshal's office.

"I hadn't figured that out for myself, by the way. Looks to me like your chances would be a lot better if I helped you and we split the reward. I figure the six are worth six hundred. If we split the reward that'll be three hundred each. Not bad for a night's work. What do you think?"

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As Wade saddled the six horses the men had tied to a picket line between the trees, he had to give the boy credit for being smart. He figured that's probably how he'd survived the war, by being smarter than most. He'd agreed to splitting the reward with a couple conditions, both of which made sense considering their situation.

Wade knew it would be difficult to bring six men back to a town alone even though three of them were now dead. It would still be three men against one and he'd probably have to kill at least two more if not all three. Working together and splitting the reward was the smart thing to do.

The problem was neither trusted the other. Each figured at the first opportunity, the other would shoot him and then take the men to justice and claim all the reward.

Wade was content to bide his time. He didn't want to kill the boy. He'd done enough killing of boys during the war and didn't want to add another to his conscience.

The boy was hard for Wade to figure out, but he obviously was fast with a revolver. Wade would have to watch for a chance, but the boy seemed smart enough he wasn't going to let that chance occur. He had dictated the terms of their agreement and for the moment, Wade agreed to those terms.

The first condition was Wade would saddle the men's horses and tie the three dead men across their saddles while the boy watched the other three. He'd then put each man still alive on a horse and handcuff each one to a ring on his saddle. Controlling the horses was going to be by tying the reins of one to the saddle of another to form two strings of three horses that could each be led by one man.

Once that was done, he'd lead the three horses with the live men down to the valley while the boy followed and led the three with the bodies. That way, he was behind Wade and could shoot any of the men who tried to break away. Wade knew it also meant the boy could shoot him if he tried anything.

When they reached the valley, the boy said he'd hold the reins of all six horses while Wade got his own horse.

"You didn't walk out here so go get your horse. I'll give you ten minutes. If you aren't back by then, I'm taking all six and the deal is off. I see you again after that and I'll shoot first and ask questions later."

Wade walked up to his campsite, rolled up his bedroll and then saddled the bay gelding. After tying the bedroll behind the saddle, he rode the bay back down the hill to where he'd left the boy and their captives.

When he got there, things had changed. The six men were still there but each live man's horse was beside a dead man's horse. The boy was also on a horse, a chestnut gelding with a white mane and tail.

"So, how did you manage to get your horse and not leave these three live men? They could have untied their reins and ridden off."

The boy smiled.

"I figured they'd try to do that. I used my own handcuffs and hooked each one up to one of he dead men, and I tied all the horse's reins together. Once they were all tied together, I went and got Sheridan here. He wasn't far away. That's why I told you to go get your horse - so I could get my horse without having to worry if you were going to do something."

The boy tossed Wade a handcuff key.

"Now, while I keep my revolver on these three and on you, go take off the cuffs that keep them tied to a dead man and undo the reins. Bourne is closer than Kerrville and that's where they offered the reward. We'll start for Bourne like before, you in front with the live men and me in back with the dead ones. If you try anything, I'll shoot you off that horse."

It was nearly daylight when they got started and during the five hours from the valley to Bourne, the boy didn't say a word. If Wade hadn't turned around once in a while, he'd never have known if the boy was still there. It wasn't until they rode up to the Marshall's office in Bourne that the boy said anything, and then it was another command.

"You go in and tell the Marshall we're here for the reward for these six men. I'll stay here so they don't try to get away. When the Marshal comes out to see them, you tell him we're partners and nothing else. If he does anything that makes me think you told him about what happened, I'll shoot you where you stand.

"You get the reward money and we'll ride out of town together. Once we're out of sight of the town, we'll spit the money and then go our separate ways.

"I'll be watching for you, so don't think you're going to follow me and take my share. If you do, you'll end up dead and I'll have all the reward money. Understand what I'm saying?"

Wade smiled. This boy was more than he looked and he had to admire that. He admired it enough he didn't intend to do anything except what the boy said. The only thought he'd had was that maybe two bounty hunters working together might make more money than two working alone.

He nodded.

"You don't need to worry. I made this bargain, and I stand by my word."

Half an hour later, the Marshal had checked each man against the wanted posters in his office, confirmed they were the Connors Gang, and then sent one deputy to get the undertaker while he put the three live men in his jail. Wade walked out of the Marshal's office with six hundred dollars in gold in his pocket.

He smiled at the boy after he mounted the bay gelding.

"Got our money in my pocket. Let's get out of town before the Marshal changes his mind."

They were an hour out of town when Wade pulled the bay gelding to a stop and reached into his vest pocket and turned to the boy.

"This is far enough. Here's your half, boy."

He stopped then and leaned back in his saddle. He had a few questions he needed answered before handing the money to the boy.

Because the boy had been riding behind Wade and it was still dark when they started for Bourne, he hadn't gotten a good look at either the boy or his horse. The horse was a horse like Wade had never seen before.

The gelding was about the size of most of the Texas cow ponies Wade had seen. It was the color of the horse that was so unusual. The horse was a shining chestnut brown on the body and had an almost white mane and tale. It looked to Wade like someone had painted a palomino that chestnut color.

"I got a question for you. That's a nice horse, but I've never seen one like him. Where'd you get him?"

The boy smiled.

"Found him at a livery stable when I was passing through Jackson, Mississippi. The man there said he was a chocolate palomino and that horses like him are pretty rare. That's all you need to know."

"I just got one more question. You seem to be pretty smart and you're fast with a revolver. We worked pretty good together this time. The real money is in the gangs roaming around Texas. Maybe we should team up and go after them instead of going for a man here and there by ourselves. What would you think about that?'

The boy frowned.

"It might work except I think you'd change your mind if you knew who I am."

Wade smiled.

"Well, I never heard of a boy hunting bounties out here so I don't know who you are. You got a name, boy?"

The boy grinned.

"Yep."

"Well, what is it, just so I'll know if I'll change my mind."

The boy smiled.

"My name is Amanda, Amanda Marks."

Wade chuckled.

"Amanda ain't no boy's name. What's your real name?"

The boy took off his hat and shook out the long, red tresses that were hidden under it.

"That's because I'm not a boy. I'm a woman and my name is Amanda Marks."

Wade shook his head.

"Well I never..."

Amanda frowned.

"See, I told you you'd change your mind. Just give me my money and I'll be on my way."

Wade shook his head again.

"Now hold on. It's not that, it's just...I never heard of a woman bounty hunter before. What ever made you decide to do that for a living?"

Amanda frowned again.

"You probably don't want to hear that either."

Wade grinned.

"After telling me that you're a woman, I have to hear the rest so tell me."

Amanda sighed.

"I wasn't a typical girl. I liked being outside and riding horses and a lot of things boys usually do. My father was a County Sheriff in Kentucky and he taught me a lot about what he did. He also taught me how to shoot a revolver, rifle and shotgun.

"When the war broke out, he enlisted in the Union Army and left me and my mother alone. He was killed in the Battle of Rich Mountain and when I learned that he was killed I decided I was going to avenge him.

"I knew I couldn't join the Army even though I could shoot a gun better than a lot of men. I would have to find another way, but I didn't know much about the how the Army works. I asked a woman I knew who was married to a Union Army Colonel. She told me the best way for a young woman to help the Union was to act as a spy. She and I went to see her husband and he said the Union could use a woman to tell them what the Rebels were doing.