The Chocolate Palomino

"I spent the years until the war ended doing that by driving through the South in the carriage my father had used to take us to church on Sunday. Of course, I was always stopped by the Confederates because I was trying to get them to find me. They wanted to know what a woman was doing driving by herself in the middle of a war.

"My story was that I was was driving to some town close to where I happened to be to live with my grandmother because my father and mother had both died. They didn't believe my story, but that wasn't a problem because they thought I was a camp follower and that I wanted to be paid to provide the soldiers with certain services only a woman can provide. I wasn't about to let that happen so if they said anything about me doing that, I told them they wouldn't want to do that with me for another four days because I had this woman problem. They knew what I was saying.

"While I talked, I was looking at how many men there were and if it looked like they were strong and healthy. I'd always say I had to find my grandmother's house, but once I did, I'd come back. I always asked them if they'd still be there or if they were going someplace else. Whatever the answer was, I'd say I had to be on my way but that I'd be back to take care of them once my problem went away. Then, I'd ride down the road a ways, find a way to turn back north, and go back to Kentucky and tell the Colonel what I'd found out.

"That worked until the Confederates started to lose most battles. After that, they didn't trust anybody so my story was that I was running away from the Union Army and I had information about the Union Army that would help the Confederacy.

"It was pretty common knowledge that Sherman was going toward Atlanta, so I lied about how many troops there were and what they were doing to the soldiers they didn't kill. They usually believed me and it wasn't hard to get the Confederate soldiers to talk to me about what they thought was going to happen and where they were going. By that time, most had decided the war was lost and were just trying to stay alive long enough to go home when it ended.

"When the war ended, I was twenty-three, my mother had passed away, and I needed a way to support myself. What I had to look forward to was getting married and having children, both of which seemed to be the opposite of what I'd been doing. I had found out I liked the excitement and danger of being a spy. My father had often told me the stories about capturing lawbreakers and that seemed to be exciting and dangerous too. I decided I wanted to do what my father had done.

"I knew no town would hire a woman as a Sheriff or a Marshal, but after seeing some reward posters I realized I could do what my father had done all on my own. All I needed was some money to start. I got that money when I sold the house I'd grown up in and everything else except my father's saddle horse, saddle, bridle, and his revolver and Greener shotgun.

"Once I'd done that, I became a bounty hunter. I'm pretty good at it too. Men like to talk to me because they think I'm a whore. Well, that's when I dress like a woman. Usually, I dress like I am today and I call myself Aaron Marks."

Wade chuckled.

"I expect the fact that you're really fast with a revolver helps too. How do you do that, by the way? I've never seen a woman who could cock a revolver with just her thumb like a man does."

Amanda smiled.

"I can't. I figured that out when I brought in my first bounty. He was a bad shot or he'd have killed me. After that I changed revolvers. Here, I'll show you."

Amanda pulled the revolver from the holster on her thigh and held it up for Wade to see.

"It's a Starr double action. I don't have to cock the hammer. All I have to do is pull the trigger. It also can do something your Colt can't. Because I have to pull the trigger to cock and then fire it, I can load all six chambers but you can only load five.

Wade smiled.

"So, you weren't bluffing back there on that hill. Would you have shot me?"

Amanda nodded.

"In a heartbeat. I didn't know who you were. All I knew was I'd followed the Connors Gang for weeks and you were going to steal the reward money. I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Then why did you shoot those two men? They'd have saved you the trouble of shooting me yourself."

Amanda shrugged.

"You didn't give me a reason to shoot you. The other two did."

Wade smiled.

"Well, what do you think about me now? Trust me enough to be my partner?"

Amanda grinned.

"You didn't give me my share yet. Give it to me and we'll talk while we ride. Where are you going next?"

Wade handed Amanda her money and then pulled another wanted poster from his saddlebag.

"I got this a while back, but the same poster was in the Marshal's office in Kerrville so they haven't been caught yet. It's for a gang called the Dolen Brothers. There's four of them, all brothers. Their names are Randolph, Avery, Herman, and Joseph, and during the war they rode with Quantrill. They've robbed the Texas and Mexican Railroad between Laredo and Freer six times in the last two years.

"The way they work is one of them would board the train at a watering station. Once the train was a mile or two from the station, he'd shoot the conductor and then stop the train.

"The other three brothers would be waiting somewhere close by and when the train stopped, they'd ride up and get on the train. One of the brothers would hold the engineer and fireman at gunpoint. A second brother would go through the passenger cars taking everything of value the passengers had. Any man who refused was shot and killed. Any man who came to a woman's defense if she refused was shot and killed.

"The last two brothers went to the mail car and forced open the door. They'd kill the guard and threaten to kill the mail car attendant unless he opened the safe. Once he had, they'd take all the money in the safe, shoot the attendant, then get on their horses and ride away.

"By the time the train got to Laredo, they'd have a head start to Mexico and always got across the border before a posse could catch up to them. So far, they've killed twenty-five people and the Texas and Mexican Railroad has offered a four thousand dollar reward, a thousand for each one, dead or alive.

"They're supposed to hole up in a tiny little town just across the border called San Pablo. It's about ten miles from a shallow spot on the Rio Grande where they can cross on their horses. Once they're in Mexico, no lawman in Texas can arrest them. The Mexican Federales could, but they don't. That's because the Dolen brothers pay them to look the other way.

"We wouldn't have the same problem going into Mexico. We could grab all four and be back across the border before the Federales knew what happened. Once back in Texas, we'd take them to Laredo, collect the reward, and decide what to do next. You said you like excitement and danger. Would that be exciting and dangerous enough for you?"

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A week later, Wade and Amanda rode across the Rio Grande and then into Mexico until they could see the buildings of San Pablo. It had been an interesting week for both Wade and for Amanda.

Wade had learned a lot more about Amanda, not from what she said to him, but from what he watched her do. While she was dressed like a man, she was still very feminine in her actions. She washed her face every morning and every night in a creek if they camped beside one or from her canteen if they weren't. Every morning she combed and brushed her long, copper hair before stuffing it under her hat, and every night, she combed and brushed it out before getting into her bedroll and going to sleep.

After Wade had cooked the meal at their first camp, she said she'd do the cooking from then on. Wade had to admit that her bacon and beans for supper, and her bacon and corncakes for breakfast were a lot better than his.

Amanda learned a lot more about Wade as well. She'd been apprehensive about traveling with him. She'd seen the way he looked at her sometimes and wasn't at all sure that he wouldn't try to take advantage of her. He hadn't though, and while that was a relief, it was also a surprise. Amanda knew from her days spying on the Confederates that she was a very desirable woman. Several men had told her that before offering her money to have sex with them.

She also came to realize that Wade wasn't really happy being a bounty hunter. He often talked about farming again once he had enough money to set himself up. That seemed to fit the man Amanda was getting to know. He was determined and ruthless in pursuing the men he needed to accomplish that goal, but he wasn't the type to kill any man like some of the bounty hunters she'd heard about. She'd learned that when he told her about the other bounties he'd collected. He seemed proud that he'd only shot the ones who tried to kill him.

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When they stopped in sight of the town, Wade frowned.

"Well, this should be San Pablo. Now, all we need to know is where the Dolen Brothers are staying so we can make a plan. Don't suppose anybody there will tell us though. We'll have to find out for ourselves. Got any ideas about how we could do that?"

Amanda grinned.

"If they have a hotel, I do."

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San Pablo didn't have a real hotel, but the owner of the tiny little cantina was willing to offer a room in back for two dollars. It had no bed, but Wade said that didn't matter as long as it was indoors. After Wade paid the owner, Amanda went inside while Wade went to find a place that would feed and water their horses. What he found was a Catholic Church where the priest said he would make sure their horses were well cared for if Wade would make a small donation of a dollar. Wade paid him two dollars, told him to give both a good brushing as well as feed and water and then walked back to the Cantina.

When Wade went back to the Cantina, he found Amanda sitting at a table in the front part of the cantina and talking with a man. The only way Wade knew it was Amanda was the red hair that flowed in waves down over the bare swell of her breasts. The dress she wore looked like it belonged on one of the camp-following whores he'd seen during the war. Instead of boots, she wore delicate little black slippers.

She looked up and smiled, but he caught the slight shake of her head so he went back to their room and waited. About half an hour later, Amanda walked into the room smiling.

"They're living at a small ranch about five miles out of town. If we take the road south, we'll pass right by it."

Wade sat there with his mouth hanging open for a full minute, then frowned.

"How did you find that out so fast?"

Amanda grinned.

"I changed back to Amanda, went out the back door, and then walked down the street to the little store. I figured that just like in most American towns, the general store would be where everyone met and someone there would know the Dolen brothers.

"The owner spoke English so I told him I was Elizabeth Dolen of the Missouri Dolens and I was looking for my cousin Avery to tell him his Aunt Jane had died. He said he knew Avery Dolen and that he lived somewhere near San Pablo but he didn't know where. Then he pointed to a man he said spoke English and might know.

"His name is Jose Pena and he's the blacksmith in San Pablo. I told Jose my story. He grinned and he said we should go somewhere else to talk. I told him we could talk in the cantina and that I'd buy him a drink for his trouble.

"When we got there and I bought his shot of tequila, Jose grinned at me and said he wanted to hear the truth about why I wanted to find Avery Dolen. He said because of the way I was dressed, I was probably looking for Avery for another reason.

"I said he was right, and that I was looking for Avery because I'd lost the place I was living in Laredo because the woman who ran the bordello thought I was cheating her. I said Avery had told me in Laredo that if I came to Mexico, he and his brothers would take care of me. Well, I said they'd take care of me if I'd take care of them, but I grinned then so he knew what I was talking about.

"Jose said he knew where Avery and his brothers lived, and he'd tell me if I took care of him too. I told him that because of a woman thing I couldn't for two more days, but if he'd come back to the cantina then, I would and I wouldn't ask him to pay me anything. He just smiled and said he'd be here two days from today. Then he told me where the Dolen brothers were staying. It's a little ranch about five miles from town. I figure it'll take a little over an hour to get there tomorrow morning, maybe half an hour to get them all in handcuffs, and then if we go around San Pablo, another three hours to get them back across the border to Laredo."

Wade chuckled.

"You found that out just by dressing like a woman?"

Amanda smiled.

"Men always think they're smarter than women, but all of them will tell me anything if they think they can get me into bed with them. I just let them think that will happen if they tell me what I want to know. It's worked before and it worked this time. Now, I don't want you thinking the same thing, so you go somewhere else while I change back to Aaron Marks."

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They started for the small ranch at daylight and saw it in the distance a little over an hour later. There was no smoke coming from the chimney so Wade figured the Dolen brothers were still asleep. That wasn't hard to believe. According to the reward posters, they all had a reputation for smelling of whiskey when they robbed a train and sometimes seemed to be almost drunk. He looked at the small adobe cabin through his telescope for a while, walked around so he could see the other side, and then looked at Amanda.

"Looks to me like there's only one room and it has two doors. My guess is they're all still drunk from last night so they won't hear us until we go through the doors. I'll take the front and you take the back. They won't be expecting us so pull your revolver, and when you hear me bust through the front door and yell at them to stand still you do the same through the back door. With any luck, we'll catch them off guard and they won't have any choice but to give up."

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It went almost like they'd planned. Wade slammed the front door open and yelled, "All of you, raise your hands and freeze where you are if you don't want to get shot." The three men on their bedrolls on the floor did that. Wade saw the fourth bedroll there but there was no man in it. A second later, he heard three shots from a pistol, one followed by two more in quick succession.

While Wade was worried about Amanda, he was holding three men at gunpoint so he couldn't just run out to see what had happened. If he had, it was a sure bet one of the men would get his pistol and shoot him. Without taking his Colt off the three, he slowly worked his way around the room until he was at the other door.

Wade was standing beside the door when it opened and Amanda walked slowly inside with her left hand on her side and her pistol in her right.

"The fourth is outside dead, but he shot me before I shot him."

Amanda sagged back against the wall then, and Wade moved to help her but she waved him away.

"I didn't come all this way to let this bunch get away. It hurts, but I don't think it's that bad. I'll keep them covered while you handcuff them. Then we'll start back to Laredo."

Wade put his handcuffs on the three, then used the fourth set of handcuffs he'd brought to chain all three together. Then, he walked back to Amanda.

"Amanda, let me see. You might be hurt more than you're letting on."

Amanda raised the shirt she was wearing and exposed her right side from just above her hip to the curve of her right breast. She'd been lucky. The bullet had just plowed a shallow furrow in the skin and flesh just under her ribs and didn't look to have done any more damage. He looked up at Amanda.

"Looks like you just got grazed. You're still bleeding though, so I have to stop that."

He turned to the three men.

"You got any whisky? Don't lie to me or you'll go back to Laredo tied over the back of a horse."

The man Wade recognized as Avery spoke up.

"Well I'll be damned. That ain't no boy. She's got teats so she's a woman. The bitch killed Randolph, so she can bleed to death for all I care."

Wade cocked his revolver and pointed it at the three men.

"If she bleeds to death, I got no way to get you three back to Laredo alive. I'll shoot you all, tie you over your horses and take you back that way. One of you needs to talk and you need to talk now. I'll spare the one who does."

Wade was watching the faces on all three, and on the face of the youngest, Joseph, a boy of about nineteen, he saw fear. Wade moved the muzzle of his pistol slightly until it was aimed at Joseph.

"You'd be Joseph, I expect. I figure your other two brothers would rather take a ball than say anything. What about you? You look too young to want to die and I can put in a good word with the Marshall in Laredo if you tell the truth."

Joseph looked at his two brothers. They were both shaking their heads. He looked up at Wade then.

"I did the robbin' but I never done any killin'. It was the other three what did the killin'. You tell the Marshall in Laredo that so I don't get hanged. We don't got no whiskey, but we got a bottle of tequila over there on the table."

Wade went to the table, picked up the bottle of tequila and then went back to Amanda.

"I need to get some cloth to make a bandage and everything here looks filthy. I need to get my other shirt from my saddlebag. Can you hold them here while I'm gone?"

Amanda nodded and raised her pistol to point at the three.

"Just don't be gone very long. If I start to feel like I'm going to pass out, I'll shoot all three before I do."

Wade was back in a minute with his shirt. He ripped it into strips, made a pad with one and soaked it with tequila, and then handed the bottle to Amanda.

"This is going to hurt like fire, but it'll clean out the wound so you won't get blood poisoning. You drink some of this tequila before I start and keep drinking it until I'm done. That'll help with the pain."

Amanda took a drink from the bottle, swallowed and then grimaced.

"I'm not sure which is worse -- being shot or drinking this stuff."

Wade waited until she'd swallowed four more mouthfuls, and then raised Amanda's shirt again. When he wiped the pad into the gouge in Amanda's side, she caught her breath, moaned in pain and then took another drink. Wade kept turning the pad and wiping the open wound until the pad came away with only fresh blood on it. Then he took another strip, folded it into a pad, soaked it with tequila, and then tied it over Amanda's wound with another strip from his shirt. When he finished, he looked at Amanda again.

"I'm done. You all right?"

Amanda frowned and raised her voice.

"No, I'm not all right. I've been shot. How could I be all right?"

Wade grinned.

"If you can still yell at me, you're doing pretty good. This bandage should help stop the bleeding and we'll take it slow. You keep the bottle of tequila and take a drink once in a while to help the pain. I'll go get Randolph tied to a horse and then get the other three mounted and handcuffed to their saddles. We'll get started for Laredo then."

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It took Wade only about ten minutes to get Randolph's body tied in place over the saddle of one of the horses. When he went back to get the other three, Avery, the next oldest, tried to bribe Wade.

"Hey you, bounty hunter, the one that's a man. That bitch done killed my brother Randolph but he shot her before she killed him. She's likely to take sick and die if'n you don't git her back to a doctor quick.

"We got us ten thousand gold dollars buried in a secret place. We'll dig it up and give it to you if you let us be. You can take that little honey back to Laredo and when she's all fixed up, well, I seen her teat. She'd be a good ride, I bet, if she ain't already saddled you up. You'll have enough money to treat her real good so she'll keep ridin' your horn."