BACK FROM THE SIERRAS 3

THE NEXT MORNING j.t. was saddling his horse when he looked out toward the north, there he saw a horseman comming at a long trot. by the time he had finished cinching up the saddle the rider trotted right into the yard and pulled up at the barn next to j.t. s brown horse. " good morningyou spend the night here?" the rider asked. j.t. looked at him and nodded. " my name is harvey kimbal, i own this little slice of heaven" the rider stepped down and started un cinching his saddle" i took my wife and son to lordsburg. you see any apaches?" " yesterday, about twenty miles south of the line. they were headed west."j.t. answered. " i spent the night here , i hope you didnt mind. i was pretty give out when i got here." "no i dont mind i took my family there because the word around was the indians were raiding. you must not have been seen by them" harvey pulled the saddle from his sweating horse. " i i was up in some boulders. they didnt see me."j.t. was being caustious. " dont i know you? i seen you some place before, arnt you the guy that killed that crooked deputy over in lordsburg a while back?"harvey asked good naturedly. "yep, i been in mexico since then i ws hopeing the heat was off. i need to go see my mother and sister over yonder."j.t. pointed to the north east " your good anywhere you go. except lordsburg. them folks hold grudges a long time.you did the country a favour shooting that pig.your family left there right after you did. to much gossip. you should have got a medal for what you did.i think your folks went west" harvey was leading his horse to a corral " well if ime going to go find them i better move along. i thank you or the bed last night tho. how did mom and sis leave lordsburg? any idea which way or how?" j.t. asked. "west bound train i heard. you might check up at the station at stiens." harvey answered then he ponted to the brown horse j.t. was saddling" i wouldnt ride that sucker anywhere around the middle of the state, he came from webb up at the 76 ranch in bonita nort of willcox. he has had some stock stolen lately. altho he aint got no room to talk thats how he got started." harvey chuck;led. " i got him in mexico i havent ever been to bonita, but ill try and steer clear of there. i dont want no trouble."j.t. mounted" thanks again."he turned the horse north and left at a trott. harvey waved a lazy hand as he rode away. j.t. hit a trot to the north. he wasnt sure where steins rail road station was but he knew it was north some where. he had taken enough canned goods from harveys out fit for a good meal or two and some coffee. he didnt know how much each dobie doller was worth but the weight of each was enough to amount more than a doller. they were heavey. he still carried a few plus the paper mexican money but he feared it had no value here. the brown was a ground covering horse. he never drew a long breath as he put the miles behind them. mid morning the next day j,t, could make out the smoke from a locomotive up ahead. as he drew near he realized it was takeing on water. " this must be steins " he told the brown horse. when he rode up there was stock corrals. he tied his horse at a water trough and went into the station house."its been a few years but by chance do you remember a woman and her blond haired daught passing through, headed west. they should have got on in lordsburg?" the station agen looked at j.t. like he was crazey then a look of recognition crossed his face"your the one shot that pig over in lordsburg. that was your mom and sister your asking about right?" " yes thats them. do you know where they went?"j.t. asked " they had a through pass to maricopa. but they could have got off any where along the way. if i were you i wouldnt go back to lordsburg. that reward is still up for you." te station master said. " ime headed west. how much to haul my horse to maricopa?" j.t. was digging in his pants pocket. " twelve dollers. you can ride in the caboose for free. " he was writting out the ticket." j.t. laid two silver coins on the counter"will that cover it?" the man looked at the coins then picked them up and hefted them. he walked back to a table where a small scale set he weighed the coins. when he returned he grinned at j.t. you dont know what them are worth do you?" .jt.shook his head. " its a good thing ime honest" the man said as he counted out 8 dollers change and handed the ticket to j.t." better get your horse loaded, they are gonna drag it any minute. ill tell them to hold up until you get aboard.every time they stop you ought to ask around about your family some one might remember them. your mom and sister were uncommonly pretty." " thanks" jt. went out the door to the corrals.

BACK FROM THE SIERRAS 2

j.t. lane had escaped into mexico five years before. when 20 years old he had come home to find a man beating his younger sister. his mother lay in the floor unconcious. the hadnt even hesitated, he had taken a chunk of stove wood and clubbed the attacker. when the man turned to see j.t. he reeached for a pistol at his side, j.t. shot first. killing the man. it turned out the man was deputy sherrif and was there to rape his sister.. whenj.t. s mother tried to stop him he back handed her knocking her out. when j.t. realized who he had shot he knew he couldnt stay in lordsburg. the deputy was a well thought of man. nobody knew of his activities except the women he acosted and they had feeling of shame they didnt speak up. j.t. huged his mother and sister and left what cash he had, saddled a horse and struck out south as fast as he could go. he crossed into mexico just a hour ahead of the lynching party. he had rode south into the siera madre mountains. there he had fell in with some vaqueros who were working don molinas cattle.. when he met don molina he was offered the job of molinas body guard. he was promied a good wage, but never saw but a portion of it. he over hear molna bragging that j.t wouldnt go back across the border so he could keep him here. molina bragged about his hold on people. the peon farmers especially. j.t. watched as molina grew wealthy by starveing the people. he was ruthless. when the apaches had stripped the dead of anything they could use they rode on back to the west. j.t. waited until the apache s were gone a good hour, then leading his horse went down the hill to the dead men. the apaches had emptyed the pockets of the dead vaqueros dumping silver coins into the sand beside each corpse. j.t. collected what he could find. all the weapons were gone. just as j.t. was about to leave a brown horse wandered up. he was big american horse he was out fitted like a apache horse . some how he had been over looked. the horse was dragging a macate tied around his throat latch. it was easy to pick up and bring the animal up closer. the horse snorted at the unfamilier smell of the dead and j.t. body. it took a few minutes but j.t. moved his saddle to the brown horse and then lashed his saddle bags on behind the cantle. " ill make the border now" j.t. spoke to the wind. when he mounted the horse danced in place he wanted to buck or run. but j.t. held his head up with the spade bit he had on the little sorrel. presently he got the big brown to line out for the border. he wasnt sure just where he was but he didnt figure it mattered. he was going home. when he crossed the border it was growing dark but up ahead he could see a ranch house. as he drew near he found there was no one home. a barn stood to one side. he unsaddled the brown and fed him some of the ranches feed. he then walked to the house. he knocked on the door twice but no on answered. the door wasnt locked so he went in and lit a lamp. he found plenty of canned goods to make a meal.when he was done he cleaned up the dishes then counted out five dobe dollers and stacked them on the table. at the barn he fluffed up some loose hay and rolled up in his saddle blankets sleep came easy , he ws tired.