someone did know her?â
âOne boy had seen her on the street several times and said she was real pretty.â
Chet nodded. âThere was a fight in Big Nose Kateâs. This guy had another facedown on the table and was hitting him in the head with his fist. Made me mad and I tried to separate them. The puncher kept trying to break by me, so I cold conked him with a haymaker.â
âWow. What happened?â
âLast I saw him, they had him laid out on his back in a wagon bed, trying to revive him.â
âYou kill him?â
âI donât think so. But his name is Billy Bragg and he works for old man Clanton.â
Jesus opened his brown eyes wide. âThat is the big outlaw, huh?â
âClanton is.â
âWhat should we do?â
âWhen JD comes back weâll talk about it. I never asked, but does that six-gun of yours work?â Chet nodded toward the well-oiled looking side arm.
âOh, sÃ. I can hit tin cans with it. I have practiced much with it.â
âI hope you donât ever need it, but these people we face will be mean and would kill you for ten cents.â
âOh, I know that, señor.â
They lounged on the porch waiting for JD. Jesus saw him coming. âThere he is.â
JD shook his head when he reached them. âI found Eclare. She had some cock and bull story how Bonnie Allen ran off with a cowboy.â
âYou didnât believe her?â Chet asked.
âAw, she was so sold on herself, I really found her a boring liar.â
âTell him about the fight,â Jesus said.
Chet explained the incident in the saloon and JD agreed theyâd have to be on their guard.
âLetâs go find this famous diner and eat supper. You talk to anyone else in the parlor house besides Eclare?â
âNo, they were all sleeping, except her. And I couldnât shut her up.â JD shook his head in defeat.
Chet and Jesus laughed at his obvious disgust over the experience.
Nellie Cashmanâs restaurant was impressive. Chet would have expected to find such an establishment in a major city. The hostess put their hats on a wall rack and promised they would be there when they were through with their meal. They filed to their table behind her. Grizzly-faced, dust-floured prospectors and men and women in formal dress ignored their passage, all busy eating or reading the fancy menus.
Seated across from Chet, Jesus peered around from behind the menu. âI will have what you order.â
Chet agreed amused, but he was somber when he realized that Jesus could not read.
âSays here, oysters when available,â JD said. âHow would they get them here?â
Chet shook his head. Obviously the most sought after delicacy in the west, he once saw where such seafood was twelve dollars a pound when they made it to Preskitt. âBetter ask the waiter.â
They ordered sliced roast beef, potatoes, and sweet corn. Chet offered a short prayer before they ate and Jesus crossed himself after âAmen.â The rolls were made with yeast in the dough and they melted in their mouths. The coffee served in china cups was delicious and the cherry pie mouthwatering. The meal went smoothly.
âWe better eat at a street vendor after this,â JD said, after wiping his mouth on a linen napkin.
Chet laughed. âI was celebrating the three of us getting here.â
Both of his men nodded that they approved of this place. Chet paid the bill for seven dollars and they went back to sleep in the livery their first night in Tombstone. A few gunshots woke him once and he decided that some drunk cowboy was taking target practice at the moon and went back to sleep in the sweet smelling alfalfa hay.
In the morning, they saddled up and went to look for a place to stay. They found a rancher out on the flats west of town. His windmill by the corrals creaking in the wind, he shook their hands.
âIra Hamptonâs my
Grant Workman, Mary Workman