Life Is Good in the Shade

I looked around a bit more and trudged out to the shed to get a shovel. There was some soft ground off to the side of the back fence and with a bit of effort Boss Man Dan found his final resting place; a pile of rocks marking his eternal abode.

The farm itself was a fairly pleasant place. Dan had a chava, a girl from way south of here, who used to cook for him and take care of the loving needs until her Papa took sick and she returned south. He made do with a local woman out to the trading post until I rode in with Samantha. The garden still had peppers and tomatoes growing in it along with a few herbs here and there. With a few fix ups and tending to it'd make a fine place for someone to settle down if he was a mind to get away from the crowds up Fort Worth-Dallas way.

"Men off yonder." Grey One said pointing east.

There were three men approaching on horseback in the distance before they stopped and surveyed the approach to the house. The two of us retreated out of view under the trees in the back yard. It wouldn't be unusual for riders to come upon a place and take a cautious approach. There were desperados about as evidenced by my dead friend in his grave.

I retrieved the Winchester from my saddle holster and the two us stayed under cover as the three of them slowly approached. They stopped just past the yard fence and yelled out.

"Hola mis amigos" The fellow in the middle spoke. "Tenemos algunos problemas para hablar."

I kept a close bead on him and replied. "Habla usted Inglés?"

I didn't know a whole lot of Spanish and figured he might know English better than I knew his.

"Si, Senor, it might not be too good but we'll see, yes?"

They started to dismount but I yelled out and told them to stay put right where they were.

"What is your business? This is Boss Man Dan's place and you ain't him."

The middle hombre chuckled and replied "It seems you aren't Senor Dan either, my friend."

Well, he had a point. I motioned for him to get down and approach the house off his horse and without the other two. He hesitated for a bit and then smiled and led his horse toward the well.

He wasn't a peasant. If anything he had a measure of wealth if the black leather chaps and brocaded vest meant anything. The starched white shirt and polished boots told the rest of the story.

"It seems we have a problem, amigo. You are not Dan and I'm afraid something might have happened to him. Perhaps you had something to do with that?" He wasn't smiling when he asked.

I pointed to the fresh grave and told him the story without revealing who I was at that point. He shook his head and indicated that he was afraid it came to that.

"Senor Dan and I had an agreement regarding a certain señorita; well she was still a whore according to him. He brought this beautiful woman to me for our use in our get-togethers we have at an establishment in Juarez and I looked at him like he was a loco man, Si? It didn't matter; I gave him $20 dólares in gold coin each time he brought her over.

"She was too beautiful to let some barón gordo spoil her so I kept her safe in my chamber while the others took their comfort with the other whores. After a while I got to know this señorita and would spend the Sunday with her until Senor Dan returned for her that evening. Eventually I started paying him to leave her with me for the week."

"So, obviously something has changed?" I asked.

"Si, Senor. He never came to bring her back last week as arranged and a hombre who works for me told me a gringo was at one of the burdeles, a whorehouse you see, and paying for his drink and whores with gold coin. These were coins we weighed and minted at our plantación; not likely for him to have it since we don't usually conduct business with them. Senor Dan was an exception; it was all he would take."

I had no reason not to believe him so I told him who I was.

"I suspected as much, Senor. Your señorita Samantha described you in good detail should I ever encounter you. She is safe now over in Juarez with my hombres tending to her. It seems the gringo and a couple of his friends discovered a beautiful gringo woman around Juarez and decided to steal her and have his way. Sad to say he had his way but his thievery will come at a price. He crossed the river into El Paso before I could get my hands on him."

"Do you know who the gringo was, his name?" I asked

"The señorita said his name was Senor Babb, Jim Babb."

He must have read the steel in my eyes at the mention of that name because he informed me he knew the story. Samantha had told him everything.

"Then you know I have a score to settle with him." I replied.

"As do I, Senor. Perhaps we could sit and discuss our matters over a bottle of el mejor tequila de mi padre?" He nodded toward the shade of the trees and the three of us retreated to the cooler shade.

"What might your intentions be toward the señorita Samantha, if I might be so bold?" He asked once we were settled in with a couple fingers each in the belly.

I looked him over a bit and pondered his question. Truth is I hadn't really decided. Oh, I wasn't going to kill her; I was never going to do that. I even thought about taking her back until that first night with Penelope. Most likely I was going to let her go or stay wherever she wished; at the ranch if she wanted in Penelope's room upstairs or move into town in a room if that's what she wanted. One thing was certain, she's done her penance and part of it was we were not going to be husband and wife again.

"I might ask the same of you, Senor. Incidentally, what is your name again?"

"Carlos Banderona, amigo, the son of Juan Banderona of Ahumada. As to your question, well, it seems I've grown accustomed to the señorita and quite fond of her. Except for the el bandolero Babb I've tried to keep her safe from scoundrels. I'd like to continue doing so if you are of a mind to let her go."

I poured another shot and downed it quick shaking off the bitter slakes it delivered. It might have been his Papa's finest but I'd take Kentucky whiskey any day.

"Senor Banderona, I'll need to talk with Samantha first to know her intentions. I didn't leave her with Dan only to abandon her to a fellow over his papa's tequila. I'm sure you would understand."

"Oh, Si, Senor, that is understandable. I can have my hombres ride her out here and we'll take our leave and come back when you prefer, yes?"

I nodded my agreement.

"Now, as for that scoundrel Babb, like I said, I have a score to settle with him. If he gets me instead, well, by all means, take a crack at it."

He agreed and we gathered ourselves up off the ground and then he and his hombres headed south toward Juarez. I looked back at the house and decided to at least get the blood out of the floor before Banderona brought Samantha back out......

She looked better than I thought she would when I first dropped her off on Dan's porch a year earlier. Maybe it was the dress she had on or how she was wearing her hair tied back in a fiesta ribbon. I suppose I had expected her to look like the whore she is, Boss Man Dan's thoroughly fucked chava on the Rio Grande. Instead she looked like a lady and I felt just a tinge of regret.

"Hello, Nathaniel." She said in a soft almost indistinguishable voice. "I am guessing Carlos told you everything?"

I nodded and motioned toward the small table under the trees as we walked to the shade to get out from the intense heat.

"I suppose he told me everything I needed to know; not sure how I feel about it which is why I had him bring you out here so I can understand your particulars on these things."

I wasn't sure how to go about it. "You know what happened to Dan?"

She nodded and looked away.

"I guess you know Mr. Banderona there, he's of a mind to keep you here and have you as his woman. I suppose since there isn't much of us to go on given everything back then I need to know your thoughts on the matter. You of the same mind with him?"

I could see the tears in her eyes and it hurt. The past couple of months I had been regretting what I did thinking instead that I should have just packed her and a wagon and sent her back east. It was all past doings now but the hurt was still on both our faces.

"Carlos has been kind to me, Nathaniel. Dan didn't care what they did as long as they paid him... well, that's not altogether true. He appreciated that I didn't come back like he thought I would, marked like a whore."

The tears were still flowing but her face shifted, becoming stoic almost.

"I know I did you real bad now and I paid the price for it... in more ways than one really. If I could go back and undo it all I would but we both know I can't. Do you want to know why I did it, Nathaniel?"

I did when I set out but I didn't want to now. I figured she was getting her cunt fucked for some time before I caught her. Some women are just made that way and I suppose some 'pokes can get over it and probably enjoy it like always. For me there's nothing special about that kind of cunt; might as well put a fuck to a good whore as marry it.

"No, Samantha, there's no need. You need to know something though. Penelope and me, well, we been sparking regular if you know what I mean. She wasn't happy about what you did but she made up for it pretty much by stepping up there as a good woman. Once things settle down I'll have an esquire draw up some papers or something so that Banderona there can take you up as his woman, if that's what you want. If not, you're welcome to come back to Fort Worth and stay at the ranch or out to town or whatever, your choice."

"I'm going to stay with Carlos, Nathaniel. I don't love him like I do you but he's a good man and I know he'll take good care of me. I would like you to let Penelope know that I don't hold no ill will toward her and I'd like to see her if I can."

"I'll let her know and see if we can figure something out, Samantha."

I didn't have much else to talk about and the truth is my emotions were starting to get the better of me. Carlos Banderona and a couple of his honchos returned to the farmhouse and I said my private goodbyes to the woman before they rode south again. I promised her again to figure out some way for her to see Penelope......

The Lipan and I set out for the trading post at Fort Bliss come dawn and I started asking around about Babb. Nobody had ever heard of him until I came across a 'poke getting ready to work an Army wagon train down to San Antonio Mission. Word was they were going to build a new post up on a hillside to the north of the sacred ground. The wagon train was heading out in a couple days and Babb was fixing to hitch up as a hand.

He was hanging out low in El Paso somewhere and I was meaning to find the cockroach before he had a chance to slip out, along with the other two shit birds that I figured knocked off Boss Man Dan. I was just hoping the 'poke I talked to didn't give him the 'holler letting him know I was looking for him......

A shadow ran across the street ducking behind the water barrel as the hot lead of my .44 struck the rail behind him. He had just missed me as I walked the dusty ally between the saloon and the apothecary, his shot knocking down the sign swinging overhead. Jim Babb and his two traveling 'pokes had tried to trap me in the ally but the Lipan flushed them out before I could step into Hades trap.

"Up there." Grey One said pointing to the covered stairway leading to a second floor across the street. The two of us crossed the street quickly and while the Lipan went around back I cautiously crept up the stairwell, careful to remove my spurs beforehand.

I figured the critter would be staking out a window and hoped we had made it across without being seen. Without a moon, the streets were dark as pitch. Each step was silent and I bide my time until that final board.

The door was open and I knew I had to be quick. There wouldn't be any naked cowboy without his revolver in hand this time. Jim Babb knew I was coming to kill him. I just hoped he didn't know where I was.

The sole of my boot pressed down on that top step and in the silence of the night announced its loud proclamation to the occupant within. Before the echo could resolve itself an excruciatingly loud retort rang my ear as the lead buzzed past it, an inch away from a mortal wound. I sent two shots in return, rapidly and heard the groan and a slump to the floor as I rolled into the room with the Colt barrel coming to rest pointed straight at the peckerwood's shadowy face.

Approaching slowly it was clear Babb was wounded badly, gut shot at mid abdomen. I didn't have much to say to him nor the time to do it so I was quick.

"Fuck a man's woman and get dispatched straight to hell, you son of a whore."

One shot straight into his sloping forehead and his eyes peered into the seat of Hades waiting for him on the other side. I didn't have time to linger. Whatever law the town had would be prowling around before long and I didn't need the inquisition.

"Two riders went east." The Lipan said when I met up with him on the edge of town. We weren't but a couple hours away from day break so we headed to the Fort to pick up a grub stake and a couple pack mares to posse the two into the desert......

Those two buzzards were joined by a third in the heat of the day as I rested my horse and mare. There was still plenty of water left from the refill at the Pecos and there was water to be found out here if you knew where to look. The Lipan stayed with his lame mount back at the river to rest her up for the journey back east of here. I continued on without him.

Maybe it was the cry of the hawk or just a glint of light off a buckle but it brought my eyes to bear on the targets of my pursuit. Off yonder in the canyon before me were two riders and a mare making their way to the southeast. If careful I'd be on them by nightfall...

Before I left Boss Man Dan's farm, Samantha told me that all three of them had their way with her, raping her throughout the night. It was important to know that although since all three of the bastards were involved with killing my old friend. Samantha's story just gave me all that much more incentive.

It wasn't hard. The two hombres were sitting around their campfire as if they didn't have a care in the world. I worked my way to an outcropping above them and wasted no time emptying my Colt sidearm into them. After approaching them cautiously I could see they were mortally wounded and I figured those beasts in the air that followed me all the way for a feast of their own would be circling above them by dawn to finish the job. There was only one task left. With a swift kick to the legs, I drew my Bowie knife and took an ear off each of them and added it to the one ear already in the small leather pouch.

Satisfied with our own frontier justice, the Lipan and I headed back to Fort Worth...

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"Jesus, Big Daddy, do it just like that." Penelope shouted out. I was licking her coño, a rather new experience for me, one I entered into a bit hesitantly at first. One of the chavas at the Trading Post told her about it; they called the cunt a pussy in English and I suppose it was appropriate and chuckled when I heard.

"Oh my god, yeah ... that'll do it." She was juicing up good. When she slowed back she pushed me over onto my back and returned the favor taking my cock into her mouth and fellating me like a damn good and talented whore; another thing the chava taught her although if she had been peeking like I knew she had been, she would have seen her sister do it years before.

I thought I was going to fill her mouth with seed a couple times but she had mastered the art I guess and kept me on edge. The last time she got me close, I rolled her over on her backside and took her pussy, strong and deep. It didn't take her long before even the fish in the Rio Grande could hear her sing out in pleasure with me following in short order......

"I like it here, Nathaniel. It's a good place for us." She said lying back on the bed, her sweaty body cooling in the soft breeze from the open window.

She was right. When I returned to Fort Worth I sat her down and had a long talk. When we were done, it was decided we'd sell the ranch and herd in Fort Worth and move a couple wagonloads of goods down to Dan's farm here on the Rio Grande.

Dan had left all his worldly goods to me since he didn't have any family anywhere and once we squared things up with the esquire I was given title to one thousand acres, the farmhouse and the contents of his safe box at the bank. Inside were two thousand dollars of United States of America gold coins along with thirty two of Carlos Banderona' $20 gold mint coins. Jim Babb must have just picked up the pocket change when he killed my old friend.

Samantha got to see Penelope again, three times actually since we moved to the Rio Grande two years ago. The Banderona family sent a wagon and a couple hombres to accompany Penelope to their ranch for a few days. Samantha's never been back to the farm and I don't really know how I'd feel about that if she did. She's still a Fort Worth whore in my eyes even if she was my wife.

Carlos Banderona took her as his woman, church wedding and all, after I had papers sent to him letting him know she was free to do as she wished. Penelope went to it and I stayed at the ranch. Actually, I tended to the tomatoes and peppers in Boss Man Dan's old garden and tied one on good with a bottle of that 'Cog Nack' all the while toasting shots with my silent friend and reminiscing about the times, both good and bad on the banks of the Rio Grande.

La vida es buena a la sombra, mis amigos...

MFH