I Reckon I’m Gonna Like it Here

By Garret Austin

Meadowlark Oregon wasn’t the best place in the world. It weren’t no New Orleans with its River boats and Gamblin’. Ain’t no gold like there is in California. Sure as Hell weren’t no slick center fer culture and such like Boston or New York back East. But it was my home.

I grew up in Meadowlark. It was a nice little town, down in the valley under those giant mountains. That’s where my daddy taught me ta fish. We had some mighty purty lakes near Meadowlark, and we used ta spend lazy afternoons just relaxin and fishin and talkin bout the future. After we caught us a few big catfish, Daddy would take us into town fer a sarsaparilla in the Tall Tale Saloon. He used ta set me up on his knee and we’d listen ta old Gabby tell us about how he fought off the Injuns. My daddy would just laugh and drink his beer, and even let me take a sip now and agin. He could do that without nobody sayin nothin. After all, he was the sheriff.

He was a big strong man, my daddy was. Or at least he seemed that way ta me. I reckon he was about six foot like I am now, and he had that same sandy brown hair that I have. Of course, being the sheriff and respectable and all, he kept his hair kinda short, not down to his shoulders like I do. He had these deep blue eyes that could see right down into your soul. My daddy could tell a cheat and a liar from a righteous man just to look at him. I got those same blue eyes, but I’m not as smart as my daddy was. Maybe I woulda been had I gone ta college like he wanted me to. I never did get the chance ta go ta no proper school like my daddy did, but he taught me lots. Maybe the best thing he taught me was how ta shoot. Maybe he done taught me that too well.

I was good. Hell. I think I was the best shot in the whole damned county. But I reckon I shouldn’t a shot Billy Clampet. Then again, I bet if I'da shot 'im sooner, my daddy would still be alive. It ain’t easy growin up without a ma or a dad. And I know Billy was behind Daddy’s death. But I could never prove it. I don’t suppose no one’ll ever know what really happened, now that Billy’s pushin up daisies.

I wonder if the likes of Billy Clampet is in the same place as my ma and pa. The preacher man once said that daddy had gone to Heaven and that someday Billy might find himself burnin in Hell. But the preacher man wouldn’t say where my momma is. In fact, he got all white and pasty whenever my momma was mentioned. Daddy never did talk about her, and the folks in town would always change the subject or suddenly remember some important errand ta do. Cept for Billy. That’s when I first started ta hate that no good cuss. He used ta make up that my momma was the bride of the devil. That was just plain nonsense, but it burned me up. I always hated Billy.

Everybody knew I hated Billy, and I think that’s why nobody believed me when I told folks about him and Virgil. Now Virgil Tucker worked at the bank, and he was mighty tight with Billy. I think that was on account that both their daddies knew each other fer a long time, and because fer some strange reason, Virgil always did what Billy wanted. And that was crazy, cause Virgil was much older than Billy boy. Then again, maybe it weren’t so strange after all. Billy was used ta orderin folks around, since his daddy was mayor. Billy said that one day his daddy was gonna make him Sheriff and that my Daddy would be farmin worms. That’s why I think Billy got my daddy killed.

I remember being fast asleep when I heard the shots and the horses runnin. I remember I was 13 years old. They say 13 is an unlucky number, and I reckon that’s so. I got up from my bed and called fer my daddy, but he weren’t home. I ran out into the street in my PJ’s and there I saw it. My daddy was lyin in the street, bleedin all over. He had a Colt Peacemaker in his right hand, the one I use in my right hand now. In his left hand was a bag of money from the bank, and he had a bandanna wrapped around his face. Folks was sayin that Sheriff Austin had robbed the bank, and that his accomplice had gotten away. Lotsa folks didn’t believe it could be true, and I knew it wasn’t true neither. But no one would listen to me. They said I was a cursed child and that my momma was a spook and my daddy was a robber. I remember it almost tore Meadowlark apart. But in the end, my daddy was dead and they never caught the guy who got off with $10,000 of the bank’s money. Ten thousand dollars! Now I know I ain’t never been to no proper college, but don’t you think it’s kinda fishy that ten grand gets away, but my Daddy’s bag had only $500 in it?

In time, the folks of Meadowlark just sort of forgot about the whole thing. Whether anyone believed my daddy was guilty or not didn’t seem to matter. Most folks still treated me kindly. They let me stay at my daddy’s house and I would do odd jobs to pay fer what I needed. Some of the widder folk took pity on me and would bring me a hot meal or apple pies from time to time. By the time I was 15, I was pretty fast and strong, and the girls started lookin at me and smilin. That really burned Billy up. He was about 20 at this point, and had no luck with any of the girls in town. Least aways not the respectable kind. The girls down at Maggie’s would play up to him fer his money, but they laughed about his little thing when he weren’t listenin. Now as funny as that was, I always thought it was funnier that someone as young as Billy had so much money. I mean, sure his daddy was Mayor, but the mayor in Meadowlark didn’t get that much money. Billy said he had invested some money in the railroads, but he never struck me as the money smart sort.

By 16 years old, life was startin to come back together fer me. One day I was cleanin up the house, when I found Daddy’s Peacemaker. I had left it in a box when my daddy had died and hadn’t touched it since. Even though Daddy had taught me ta shoot handguns, the only gun I had touched was my old Henry Rifle, which I used ta go huntin with when I had a hankerin fer some meat. When I took the gun out, I blew the dust off it, and I opened up the cylinder. It was full. How odd. I just couldn’t believe daddy had been involved in any kind of shoot out without having fired a single shot, lessen he was ambushed. But I took the gun, strapped on the holster, and headed out toward the mountains.

When I got far enough outta town, I took Daddy’s gun and started firing at little things in the distance. First I shot a pine cone clear off the limb. Next I shot a rock at 100 yards that looked like a rabbit, though it was just dust when I got done. I was just sightin in on a snake when I heard shots around the bluff. I ran up to see what was goin on.

There was a little camp down in a gully. It was all covered up good by trees and rocks. If I had wanted a nice place ta hide, this woulda been it. Leastaways it would be if not fer the dead guys. Somthin god awful wrong had happened here. There were six men, all bad lookin dudes, with mustaches and scars, lyin down bleedin. They musta been crazy with greed or somethin, because they were all holdin guns, and the blood was just spillin down in little rivers.

I swallered hard and crept down into the hideaway. I think one or two of them was still alive, but they didn’t last long. I got scared and decided ta reload, just in case someone came back and thought that I had killed them all. That’s when I noticed the darndest thing. My Colt was already loaded. I looked at the cylinder and scratched my head in wonder, when the sun began to set. And as it slid down behind the mountains, a ray of light made somethin in the dirt glitter.

Gold.

Lots of it too. I grabbed a piece and polished it up. Yep, it was real! I stuck it in my pocket, but just the one piece. Now I ain’t had no proper schoolin, but I reckoned if I was ta bring home all the gold and money that these banditos had, I would get myself robbed, killed, or thrown in jail, even if the new sheriff was Old Farley, my daddy’s old deputy. So I hid it, and I hid it good. The next day I went back and I buried all the bodies, so’s no one would find the spot cause of all the crows and buzzards.

From that day on, I had money ta live by. I didn’t live in style, though I coulda, but I lived without havin ta kill myself. And now I could concentrate on my future. I was gonna be Sheriff, just like my daddy was.

I hung around the jail with Old Farley, learnin all I could about the law. I practiced shootin and I got myself a horse. I became a damned good rider, and the way I was learning ta ride and shoot, I was sure to be the next Sheriff.

But Billy had other ideas.

It seems no matter what I tried ta do in that town, Billy tried ta shoot me down. He kept bringin up my daddy and tellin folks how corrupt he was. Didn’t matter that I had never told no lies and never hurt no one. I said I was gonna be sheriff, and Billy decided that he would be the next one, and that his daddy the mayor would see to it. I dealt with it as best I could. Every time I tried ta bust his jaw, someone was standin close enough ta keep us from brawlin. But once he tried ta come between me and Becky, all bets was off.

Becky Dawson was the most beautiful gal in Meadowlark, and if things had worked out better, we would have been married. She had long dark hair and green eyes, and she had moved here from back East where her ma and pa were actors in New York City. But she didn’t like Billy neither, and it burned him like a fire ta see us together, so he tried to make things hard.

When I was about 21, Billy and I were both workin as deputy sheriff’s, and Old Farley was thinkin of retirin. I had got me a nice bay that I called Cheyenne, a brand new Winchester Rifle and a match fer my Daddy’s gun, though the new Peacemaker had to be reloaded like most other Colts. I was lookin ta be Sheriff, and Old Farley was gonna let me take his place. Then I was gonna get married ta Becky. Now Billy told me that he would burn in Hell before the likes a me became Sheriff, and that there weren’t no way Becky Dawson was gonna get hitched ta me neither. That riled me up real good, and so me and Billy went at it until Farley came and split us up. I think I broke his nose, because it was all bleedin and crooked, and he gave me a look like I never seen before. And that night, things went bad.

I guess it was about about nine when I heard a noise in the street. I was just mountin up Cheyenne ta head on over ta Becky’s when I saw Farley limpin towards me in the street. I hopped off Cheyenne, but grabbed my Winchester in case there was trouble. As we got closer ta one another, I seen he was bleedin, and I heard somethin on the roof behind him. I raised my rifle and was about ta call out when I heard two shots. Then Farley fell down dead.

Outta no where, Billy came out and had his gun pointed at my head. "You are under arrest for the murder of Sheriff Farley, Garret. Now drop yer guns." Before I knew it, people was pourin out into the street, waitin ta see what happened.

"I ain’t doin no such thing, Billy. You know I didn’t shoot Old Farley. Now put yer gun away and let’s see if he’s all right." But Billy didn’t drop his gun, and Doc Anderson was bendin over him tellin folks the Sheriff was dead.

"I’m Sheriff now, Garret, now that you’ve gone and killed him. So drop yer guns or I’ll drop you." Billy had a mean look in his eyes, so I started ta do as he asked. But then someone shouted from the shadows, "look out Billy". Just about then Becky was runnin over ta me all scared and stuff. There was a shot and Becky’s eyes went wide as she fell into my arms. Blood trickled from her mouth and her face went ghost white. She tried ta tell me somethin, but she died in my arms. I had dropped my rifle to hold onto her, and now I was lowerin her to the ground, kneeling down in the street.

"He’s goin for the rifle, Billy" someone shouted, and I saw Billy take aim at me again. I grabbed my Winchester in my left hand, while I drew and shot with the right. I hated Billy and wanted him dead, but ain’t no way I was gonna kill him in the street in front of all those people. Not when they already thought I had done the Sheriff. So I shot Billy in the hand and made him drop his gun.

"I didn’t do it, Billy, and you know it." But I could see he wasn’t gonna reason, and a few other men was comin after me now too. That’s when I knew I was trapped. If I couldn’t fight my way out, I would have ta run. Billy drew his other gun with his left hand and started shootin at me again. One bullet whizzed right by my ear, so I had no choice. I drew my Colt and shot Billy clean through the head. Then the others started takin shots at me. With tears in my eyes and one last look at Becky, I leaped up on Cheyenne. Then I spun around and hightailed it outta there.

I rode as fast as I could, figurin ta make my way out of Oregon. I headed Southeast, lookin ta make for Silver City Idaho, but that weren’t no good. It seems that word had gotten out about me, and there was Wanted posters up and bounty hunters after me. Them posters said I was worth $500 dead or alive fer killin the Sheriff and the Deputy in cold blood. If I tried ta get back and defend myself, I would be a dead man. The only things that meant anything ta me in Meadowlark were Becky and my job, but they was both gone now. My cache of gold was still buried outside of town. If I ever needed money real bad, I could go back and get it. But that would have to be after the heat died down. Fer now, I just had ta get outta Oregon.

I headed South and managed to outrun or outgun everything that got in my way. Between posses, bounty hunters, Injuns, bandits and a few scary lookin things I didn’t get close enough ta identify, I managed to make my way into Nevada.

One mornin as I was makin some breakfast, I seen this big crow land on a rock nearby. It looked at me, and I swear, if it could, it woulda talked ta me. Then it flew off. I hopped onto Cheyenne and I followed that bird. I followed it all the way down to Parable. Of course, I didn’t know it was Parable, and I ain’t never heard a no Parable. But it was a clean lookin town, all quiet like, with a nice saloon, nice inn and wholesome lookin folks out on the street. The crow looked at me, and I swear it winked. Then it cawed three times and took off. I was tired, hungry and achin fer someone ta talk to, when a fine lookin lady came up ta me.

"Hiya handsome," she said. "What say ya come inta town and get some rest. You look like you can use it." Then she winked at me and headed over to Maude’s.

I looked for the crow, but it was gone. Then I looked back at the lady and saw the sign, "Welcome to Parable".

Parable, I said. I reckon I’m gonna like it here.

 Watch for more stories about Garret and his adventures