Tales from the Old West!!!

[Legionnaire]

New Mexico, 1875 in the summer.

The small bunkhouse reeked of stale sweat, cheap tobacco and male flatulence. The four young men, none of them had seen 20 winters yet, sat gathered around a rough wooden table, an oil lantern cast long shadows across it.
“I have Jack… oops sorry, two of them,” smiled Barnaby, he had an honest face but a shrewd mind.
“You SOB!!! How can you have such luck?” hissed Dutch, a big lad and threw the worn cards down in disgust.
“You should know by now that when Barnaby plays, he plays for keeps, we only do it to pass the time,” reflected Pretty Boy Perkins. He had the build of a Greek statue but poor health; he had come out West on the doctor’s orders.
“Phaw, eets honly nickel and dime poker, I’m sick of it all,” said Diego Funte in his heavily accented English and spat on the floor. The Mexican was tough as old leather and a good marksman with both rifle and pistol.
“You’re always grumbling Diego,” said Barnaby and raked in the coins they had played for, couple of dollars tops, so Diego was right, nickel and dime poker was exactly what it was.
“Hew all know I work hard, and hwat doo hi have to show for that? Hmmm?” Diego looked hard at his friends and they nodded in agreement. It was the same for all of them, they busted their butts all day, all week long, riding the range and yes they had free meals, not that there was much to it and a roof over their heads but that was about it. Being a cowboy was damn hard work.
“Just luke at the men in town, fancy suits that I will have to work month to be able to buy hand watches on gold chains and…”
“You know what The Good Book says, thou shall not covet,” said Dutch in his deep bass voice.
“Hi know, hi know Dutch. But it hardly seems fair that someone who works much less than we do shall have all of that. Does it?”
They had all heard this many times before and maybe even toyed with the idea of what they would do if they had lots of money, none of them had received much of an education, Barnaby could read and write, of sorts but he was considered the intellectual of them.
“Hi would buy me a hacienda of my own, but at this rate I’ll be old and grey before I have that kind of money,” Diego muttered dreamily.
“Himaging, me with my own cattle, my own horses and they all had to call me Senor!!! Maybe a pretty senorita and a couple of ninas  and ninos.”
“You’re dreaming again Diego,” said Pretty Boy Perkins and rose to refill the tin cup with coffee.
“Waste of time and energy if you ask me. No chance YOU will ever find a pretty senorita!!!”
Everyone burst out laughing, even Diego.
“But humour me, what would you do if you had lots of money? Don’t you ever think of what it would be like to be rich?”
“Me? I’d buy myself an entrance ticket for the annual poker tournament on the riverboats,” said Barnaby with only the slightest hesitation as he leaned back and shuffled the cards, one handed.
“I have always felt that I could do more, maybe go to the university and get myself a proper education,” said Pretty Boy Perkins.
“What about you Dutch?”
“I don’t really know, never thought much about it. Never had much time to dream away. My dad had me working hard from about as far back as I can remember, always saying, next week son there’ll be gold. All the old man found was an early grave and I hated panning the creeks, standing in ice cold water all day long,” they looked at Dutch with surprise, the big man very rarely said much.
“But whatever it is, it would involve somewhere nice, warm and dry and maybe women. A cat house maybe!!!”
More laughter roared.
“Guys, hive been thinking a lot about this and we all have our dreams. Being a cowboy is alright for some, but only if you love breaking your back. I think we could easily earn ourselves a lot of money in a different way,” Diego leaned forward with a conspiratorially smile, the others waited patiently.
“Hwe rob the bank!!!”
There was silence for a few seconds while the words sunk in.
“You’re so full of shit Diego,” said Dutch and rose up from the chair. He was shortly followed by the rest of them, with the exception of Diego himself. The oil lamp was extinguished and they went to bed, there was another long day waiting for them tomorrow, and the next, and the day after that. But the seed had been sown.

A few days later the four youngsters once again sat in the barracks, each one of them seemed to have something on their mind but didn’t dare to speak their thoughts, you could hear a pin drop in the silence, the cards had not even been put out on the table. Barnaby cleared his throat and took a deep breath before speaking, he was playing with his hat in his hands and not meeting the others eyes.
“It’s awfully quiet in here so I say what I think is on everyone else’s mind, did you mean what you said the other day Diego or was that just wind?”
There was an expulsion of breath from the others, a relief came over them that Barnaby had spoken.
“I hment every word of it Barnaby!!! Luke, hi have it all figured out!!” Diego straightened up in his seat and looked at the others.
“Would you care to tell us?” said Dutch and leaned heavily on the table.
“I thought I was full of shit?”
“I have rolled the thought over and over in my head, and come to think of it, I like women a lot better than cattle.”
“Ok boys, if either of you want no part in this I won’t force you, but you can’t stay in here while I talk.”
There was a short silence while they all looked at each other but no one backed out.
“Good, this is how we are going to do it. We are going to hit the bank in town Monday, it’s after our payday and the weekend so it will most likely be bursting with money from all the trade. Dutch and I will hold up Alderman and Pretty Boy and Barnaby will be keeping an eye from across the way, outside The Nugget will be a good spot. How hard can it be?”
“What about sheriff Ecks?”
“I’ve heard he only got the job because no one else wanted it and he’s fresh out of the East.”
“Well, what if there will be gunplay?”
None of the young men had had cause to fire their guns in anger, only at targets and game.
“I hope to do this without a single shot being fired, I don’t want to kill anyone more than you do, but if I have to I will.” Diego’s face had all of a sudden a hardness in it, but like a passing cloud it drifted away. They all nodded in agreement and shook hands, thusly making a silent oath that they were all in.

Monday came around soon enough, the four youngsters were riding into Rapido, a small town close to the Mexican border. They tried to act casually but all of them felt the butterflies in their bellies and they stopped off at The Nugget to get a helping of courage, the liquid variety. They were seen by some of the townfolk and even greeted on an occasion.
“There are drovers in town Jim Bob,” said Anselm Hoffmeister, the owner of the general store to sheriff Ecks and a couple of citizens.
“I wouldn’t worry too much Anselm, they have always behaved,” replied sheriff Ecks as he perused the mail order catalogue.
“They seem to have an awful lot of gear with them,” remarked Howard, the town odd-job man.
“Hmmm, I think the green one maybe, what do you think Anselm?”
Inside The Nugget the four men walked up to the bar, Sam the bartender was cleaning some glasses.
“What’ll it be?”
“Four whiskey Sam,” said Barnaby.
The shots were poured and they gulped down the fiery liquid in one, just like real men.
“Another one boys?” Sam still held the bottle in his hand.
“Just one more for the road Sam,” said Diego.
A second drink was poured and drunk, they wiped their mouths with the back of their hands and exited the saloon. Right across, less than 30 feet away was the bank. A couple of townies were milling around but everything seemed as normal, no sign of the lawman, maybe he was out of town. More than one of the boys wished he was. Diego took a sharp intake of breath and hitched up his gunbelt.
“Ready boys? Let’s do this.”
He strolled across to the bank together with Dutch and they hitched their horses outside, across the street was Pretty Boy Perkins and Barnaby waiting outside the saloon, Barnaby was rolling a cigarette.

Alderman the banker was just about to close for lunch when two drovers entered. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and wrinkled his nose, they sure did stink but business was business. He put on his rimmed spectacles and spoke up:
“Can I help you gentlemen?”
“Yes senor, we would like to make an immediate withdrawal,” said the dark skinned Mexican and something in his voice made Alderman reach for the revolver he had on his desk. Quick as lightning the holstered gun was in the Mexican’s hand, cocked!!! Alderman stared into a barrel that was fixed in a firm grip, not weaving at all.
“If you reach for that gun Senor, I will spread your brains all over the floor, understand?”
Alderman swallowed and nodded, pearls of perspiration formed on his forehead.
“Now give me all the money!!!”
Alderman had no choice but to unlock the safe and hand over the heavy bags to the two robbers that had strolled into his bank. HIS bank!!! On the inside Alderman was seething.
“Now, if you just keep quiet we will be on our way and no one will be hurt, I promise that,” said the Mexican but Alderman wasn’t really listening. Diego and Dutch took the heavy moneybags and went out through the door, Diego concealed his pistol inside his duster and they made for the horses that were hitched outside. They had just put the moneybags into the saddlebags when Alderman bellowed from inside the bank:
“THIEVES!!! ROBBERS!! GET THEM!!! FIFTY DOLLARS TO ANYONE WHO CATCHES THEM!!!”
There was a bustle of activity as many citizens scrambled for the safety off the street, there was bound to be gunplay any second now!!!

“Oh my God, they’re robbing the bank Jim Bob!!! Do something!!!” Anselm cried.
“I reckon I have to do something Anselm, you and Howard better arm yourselves the best you can, I could sure need the back-up,” sheriff Ecks said with more confidence than he felt and strode outside on the boardwalk.
“YOU THERE BY THE BANK!!! IF YOU GIVE YOURSELVES UP NOW WE WILL SEE TO THAT YOU GET A FAIR TRIAL,” he bellowed at the top of his voice.
“HEES THAT HEW SHERIFF ECKS? GO TO HELL I SAY!!!”  Diego shouted defiantly.
“Damn this to heck,” muttered Hoffmeister as he loaded a Sharps rifle and handed a shotgun to Howard, there were several guns in the store.
In the saloon Sam moved closer to the window, he was breathing hard and began to raise his rifle to shoot down one of the robbers, but Pretty Boy Perkins saw him and drew his six shooter and emptied it. There were hardly six feet and a thin wooden wall separating them but miraculously Sam didn’t get hit, the bullets were too close for comfort though so he dove to the floor, out of the lead rain. Lawrence in the saloon raise a shotgun but Barnaby shoots him first and one bullet goes through the wall and Lawrence tumble to the floor with a big hole in his belly, he groans in agony.
“NO ONE GETS AWAY WITH MY MONEY!!!” yells Alderman as he raises his pistol and aim to shoot the dirty Mexican.
Without hesitation Diego levels his large calibre shooting iron at Alderman and pulls the trigger, a single shot echoes and Alderman is dead before he hits the ground, half of his brain is scattered over the interior.
“I told you so Senor,” Diego muttered.
Sheriff Ecks dips up over the wagon outside the general store and empties his gun at the back of the Mexican, his heart is thumping hard in his chest but not a single bullet finds their mark. Diego turns around in the saddle and returns fire, a hot lead bullet plunges through the planks of the wagon and sheriff Ecks is struck to the ground like a giant fist had punched him in the gut!!! He looks at the clouds above and the whole body goes numb, there and then he promise himself if he survives this, that he’ll hang up the badge and find a much more quiet line of work, like a clerk.

Anselm fires his Sharps rifle but the bullet goes wild and he has to rummage around with sweaty palms in his pockets for more cartridges. By some miracle Pretty Boy Perkins is not hit when Howard open up fire with the shotgun, both barrels from less than 10 feet away, he nearly did it in his pants but as his pistol is empty he needs no other incentive to put the heels in the side of his horse and ride like the Devil out of Dodge!!!  As he passes the pharmacy, the last house in town a shotgun salvo is opened up from inside and pellets strike his gun arm, he cries out in pain and agony and there is lots of bleeding, he tries to stop it by tying his bandanna around the wound. A few more scattered shots follow but by then the four bank robbers are too far away for any of the bullets to have any realistic chance of hitting them. Diego and his three friends join up on the southbound trail.
“Can you ride?” Diego asks Pretty Boy Perkins, nodding at the wounded arm.
“I can ride!” Perkins sounded a bit strained but he is determined not to fall behind.
“Look!!! “ Dutch shouted and pointed to a very large cloud of dust following their trail at speed.
“That was quick! Damn it! Ride boys!!!”

The citizens of Rapido were furious! Alderman was shot dead, sheriff Ecks and Howard were in a bad way and the bank had been robbed of every penny there was, most of it the town folks life savings. No less than sixteen men had volunteered to follow the perpetrators and horses had to be scrounged up with very short notice, some of them were draught horses highly unsuitable for this chase, but they were all fired up and armed to the teeth, a few brandished ropes because there would be swift justice for the bank robbers!!! The chase raged on, over outcrops, down through dry arroyos, over a creek.
“If we get separated we meet at my cousin Vargas farm,” Diego shouted.
There was a great possibility that that would happen, Diego rode a magnificent horse named Scirocco that never seemed to tire but after a while the others had to fall back, Pretty Boy was swaying a bit in the saddle but stayed on. Quite a few of the pursuers had ran out of steam and had to turn back to town, unable to carry on but there were still a handful left in the race. One lone man rode in the front, a grizzled bearded old timer brandishing a Sharps Big Fifty!!! The rifle boomed but the bullet failed to find its mark, the distance was still too far for the gang to bother wasting ammo, better to ride hard but still the old timer came on. The rifle boomed again and the bullet struck a cacti not far from Barnaby but that was the last they saw of the posse. A few minutes later they crossed the Mexican border and was out of reach of the U.S. law. They found Diego at his cousin’s farm, sitting in the shade drinking Tequila and wearing a grin as big as the brim of his sombrero. The table was laden with gold coins and when Dutch emptied his loot bag there was a small mountain twinkling in the sunshine. They touched it as if they couldn’t believe that it was real, then they laughed and whooped. They had done it!!!

EPILOGUE: Sheriff Ecks handed in his badge as soon as he had recuperated and headed back to the East where he lived out his days in modesty, he only spoke of his war wound when he was drunk. Pretty Boy Perkins had to amputate his right arm as gangrene was about to set it, but he could afford the best care there was as they were literally swimming in money. Needless to say, they all went on a spending spree, fine clothes, the best horses, wine and women and everything in between. By the following summer none of them were richer than they had been before the bank robbery and none of them had managed to keep true to their dreams and facing prospects of having to work for their keep again. Not a very comforting thought. Thoughts of another job were beginning to surface.

AFTERMATH: Everyone in the gang gained +1 Rep due to their baptism of fire, Dutch and Barnaby gained +1 Sand as well. The gang came away with 18 Lucre, maximum for a job in Settlement 3 Area.

Diego Fuente (Star/ Cowboy): 4/5/5 Crack Shot, Born Leader
Pretty Boy Perkins (Cowboy): 4/4/4 Sickly, One Armed
Dutch (Prospector): 4/3/5 Brawler
Barnaby (Gambler): 4/3/4 Tradesman