by Paul Green
The ten men came together at a point midway between the bridge over the Rio Grande and the outskirts of the town.
‘Listen up’ Alvarez told them. ‘We’re looking out for two men driving a prison wagon. Just open fire as soon as it comes within range. We collect the suitcase and meet Brad over the border at the place we agreed. There we’ll split the money and go our separate ways. That’s it.’
‘I don’t see why that gringo Gunter gets such a big share when we do all the work’ complained one of the men in a surly tone.
‘Who do you think stole that money in the first place, eh? Who set this up? Not you, dummy, that’s for sure!’ replied Alvarez angrily.
The man shrugged noncommittally but said nothing. A bandit to the left of him laughed and dug his chastened companion in the ribs.
‘Hey, maybe we should tell Brad about his little suggestion. What do you think, Nino?’
‘If Brad ever finds that out, he’ll kill him for sure’ said Alvarez grimly. Then he looked hard at the man who had spoken first. ‘Just remember one thing. Nobody double crosses Brad Gunter and lives to tell about it.’
Some distance from the road, Lieutenant Robert Sheldon peered through his telescope at the group of bandits lying in wait.
‘There they are Sergeant’ he told his second in command, pointing as he passed him the instrument.
‘Yeah, I see them. What are your orders, sir?’
‘They’ve done nothing yet and we can’t attack them for just being there. We’ll head for the bridge and let them see that the wagon’s going to have a military escort on the way back.’
Sheldon led his men toward the road and then along it in formation while Alvarez and his gang watched in dismay.
‘You never said anything about soldiers!’ shouted one of his men accusingly.
The bandit leader drew his revolver. ‘If you want your share, you’ll have to fight for it. Come on, we’ll surprise them!’
Chapter Ten
Alvarez led his men in a charge toward the line of cavalry, spreading them out as they approached to broaden the attack. Their first shots resulted in several troopers falling to the ground. He knew that his men were outnumbered but hoped that the element of surprise would work in their favour.
Sheldon had expected something like this, however and the young officer did not panic. He ordered his men to return fire and organised them in a pincer movement as they advanced to meet the attack. The bandits came under a hail of bullets and Alvarez watched helplessly as blood spurted from the bodies of men both to his left and right. The shots became louder as the soldiers drew near and the bandit leader saw through the drifting clouds of gun smoke that Sheldon’s pincer movement was allowing his men to become surrounded.
‘Let’s get out of here!’ he shouted, wheeling his horse around but it was too late. He and his men were cut off and shot down as they retreated. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his chest and a burning sensation as he clutched at the wound. Alvarez watched in horror as blood seeped out between his fingers. He could not breathe and the world clouded over, the sounds of battle now far away. The last of the bandits was dead before his body hit the ground.
‘How many casualties do we have Sergeant?’ asked Sheldon, looking upon the scene of slaughter with evident distaste.
‘There are four men dead, sir and none wounded.’
‘Organise a burial detail. The rest of us will head for the bridge.’
The sergeant saluted smartly and hurried away to carry out his orders. Sheldon glanced at his pocket watch. There were ten minutes left until noon.
The prison wagon slowed to a halt at the bridge outside El Paso. In front of it stood a bespectacled man in a dark suit, string tie and derby hat. Beyond it, across the Rio Grande, was Mexico. Calvert jumped down and unlocked the vehicle, gesturing with his revolver for Gunter to get out.
‘Get these off me will you?’ asked the prisoner, holding out his manacled hands.
Calvert shook his head. ‘No, not until we’ve got what we came for.’
The stranger cleared his throat and introduced himself. ‘I’m Clark Wentworth from the United States Treasury Department. I was ordered to come here to authenticate some money but I must point out that this way of proceeding is highly irregular...’
‘The circumstances are somewhat irregular Mr Wentworth’ said Calvert, cutting him off abruptly.
The official clutched his briefcase and stared at the badge pinned to Calvert’s chest.
‘I’m Marshal Troy Calvert. This here is my deputy, Bill Douglas. The less you know about our prisoner, the better.’
‘I would appreciate it if one of you gentlemen would please tell me what is going on here.’
‘Actually, Mr Wentworth, I don’t think you’d appreciate that at all. In fact, you’d probably piss your pants’ said Gunter mockingly.
‘You just shut that mouth of yours!’ said Calvert roughly, jamming the muzzle of his gun under the prisoner’s chin.
The official swallowed hard and stepped back a few paces. Bill attempted to mollify him.
‘I’m sorry Mr Wentworth but we’re not at liberty to explain the full circumstances to you. All you need to know is that some stolen money is being returned and we need you to check that it isn’t counterfeit.’
Wentworth nodded. ‘All right, let’s get it over with.’
The four men approached the bridge and in the centre of it stood a lone woman carrying a suitcase. As she came closer, Bill noticed her blonde hair and voluptuous figure.
‘Here’s my associate’ said Gunter with a grin. ‘I bet you’re all surprised. You never thought it would be a woman did you?’
‘Nothing about you would surprise me’ said Bill.
Gunter shook his head. ‘No, that’s not true. I always manage to surprise you, Bill. That’s why I always win in the end.’
‘You’ll get a surprise bullet if you don’t keep quiet’ warned Calvert.
The woman now came within a few feet of them. She stopped and held up the suitcase, looking at Gunter as she did so.
‘I brought it, just like you told me, honey.’
‘That’s my girl’ said Gunter and the woman smiled brightly in response.
Bill gestured for Wentworth to take the suitcase from the woman and he stepped forward to do so. She reached into her bosom and withdrew a key and Wentworth blushed as she handed it to him with a wink. He unlocked the case with trembling hands, fumbled inside his pocket for a spyglass and then began to examine the notes carefully.
‘Everything seems to be in order here’ said Wentworth at length.
Gunter grinned and held out his manacled wrists. ‘There, what did I tell you?’
Calvert unlocked the handcuffs with an obvious show of reluctance. ‘Go on, get out of here.’
‘You’re not going to release me with no gun are you?’ protested the prisoner.
‘Consider yourself lucky I don’t you shoot you in the back. Now get!’
At that moment, they heard the thunder of hooves and Gunter watched in disbelief as Sheldon arrived at the head of his men.
‘Now you’re the one who’s surprised’ said Bill, mockingly.
‘Lieutenant Sheldon at your service’ said the commanding officer. ‘We were attacked by bandits on the way here but all of them were killed’ he announced, directing his remarks toward Calvert.
Billy took a step closer to their prisoner. ‘There you are, Brad, another little surprise for you. It’s just your day for surprises, isn’t it?’
Gunter looked at each of them furiously and at Bill in particular.
‘Is there something you want to say?’
‘I should have finished you a long time ago’ said Gunter quietly. Then he turned and looked at Marlene Angel.
‘You double crossed me you bitch!’ He drew back his arm to strike her but Bill stepped between them, thumbing back the hammer on his revolver as he did so.
‘Just get going. All I need is an excuse to
shoot.’
Gunter turned away and began to stride across the bridge. Marlene ran after him and seized his arm.
‘I did everything like you told me Brad! I swear I’d never let you down, never!’
Gunter pulled away from her roughly but she continued to follow, protesting her innocence.
‘You can’t leave me! I did everything like you said!’ Gunter walked on, ignoring her and she flung herself at him, weeping, with her arms around his legs so that he was forced to stop.
‘I’ve got money saved, Brad. I’ll be good to you, I swear I will!’
Gunter kicked her away from him, an expression of contempt on his face. ‘Cheap whores are easy to come by, especially dumb ones like you!’
He turned away from her and Marlene hauled herself to her feet. This time she did not beg or protest but drew a small pistol from inside her bag and pointed it at him.
‘You can’t do this to me, Brad. I’ve done everything you asked and I won’t be thrown away like a piece of trash. You better start changing your mind right now. I mean it!’
‘You can’t even shoot that thing’ he told her. ‘Go back to San Antonio or better still, the place I found you in St Louis. There’s always plenty of work for whores there but I’ve got no more use for you.’
Marlene fired and at point blank range the shot went straight through Gunter’s heart. He staggered backwards against the rail, an expression of surprise on his face as he clutched at the wound and then stared at the blood pouring down his shirtfront. His legs gave way beneath him and his body slumped to the floor.
Calvert and Bill ran over to his killer who stood staring in shock at what she had done. Calvert gently took the weapon from her and she collapsed weeping into his arms.
‘Oh God, they’ll hang me!’ she wailed.
The marshal spoke softly as he reassured her that nothing of the sort would happen, that she had shot a bank robber and a murderer and that no-one would blame her for what she had done. Then he gently led her from the scene while Bill stood looking into the sightless eyes of the man who had been Brad Gunter. It was finally over, all scores settled for good.
The money was taken under military escort to be locked in a bank vault in El Paso while Calvert organised the distribution of funds to the banks which Gunter had robbed. The marshal divided his time between this task and frequent visits to Marlene Angel. It was no surprise to Bill when she accompanied them on their journey back to Santa Fe. Calvert insisted that this was for the lady’s personal safety since friends of the late Brad Gunter might want to avenge his death. Bill did not comment on this explanation but observed the growing affection between the two of them.
The wedding of Bill Douglas and Rachel Adams the following April coincided with the publication of Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace who gave the bride away and toasted the couple at a reception held in the governor’s palace.
‘Don’t tell me. The hero gets the girl and doesn’t soil his hands with revenge on the man who betrays him. However, the villain still comes to a bad end’ said Bill, accepting a signed copy of Wallace’s book.
‘Something like that’ said the governor.
President Hayes approached the happy couple to offer his congratulations, the first lady on his arm.
‘Thank you again for inviting us and for what you did. I’m only sorry my gratitude can’t be made public.’
‘Don’t worry Mr President. As you can see, virtue has its own reward’ replied Bill as his wife kissed him on the cheek.
Calvert urged the musicians to play something they could dance to and then followed with Marlene Angel as the happy couple led the wedding party on to the floor.
‘How does it feel to be a respectably married lawman?’ Rachel asked him as he whirled her around the hall.
‘It beats robbing banks for a living.’
‘Wouldn’t you still like to be rich?’ she teased.
‘I’m rich right now’ he told her. ‘Yes, I’m as rich as I ever want to be.’
It was the only answer he could give now and the only one she wanted to hear.
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