KATE

PROLOGUE

The old mule stands in the pre-dawn light,

under the trees where she spent the night.

Looking up at the cabin that sits on the hill,

waiting for the cold winter sun, to drive away the chill.

The door of the cabin finally swings back,

and the old man hobbles out to put some hay in her rack.

She walks slowly up and stands by his side.

He reaches out and scratches her old graying hide.

They stand in the silence as the frost turns to dew.

He reaches in his vest for his first morning chew.

As they stood there together the mule chewed her hay.

They were both dreaming of a long ago day.

At the edge of the pasture stood an old lean-to shed,

where three saddles hung, their leather all lifeless and dead.

The old man moved toward them, moving real slow.

Flinching at pains gotten at a forgotten rodeo.

He picked up an old McClellen and the rest of the tack.

Then slowly adjusted it to the old mule's back.

As he swung aboard she set herself for the load.

Then in no hurry they went down the road.

Though both were nearly blind, you couldn't really tell.

For they traveled in country they both knew so well.

They stopped on a hill now desolate and bare,

where not long ago timber stood thicker than hair.

CHAPTER ONE

The River Knows Your Name

Cochise County, Arizona. October, 1881.

The old man stepped out of the cabin door, pulled his suspenders over his shirt, and put on his coat, hat, and gloves. He looked down the hill to where the mule stood under the trees where she spent the night. He took a sip of his coffee, pulled a pack of chew from his coat and placed a plug in his left cheek.

The wild wind was comin' from the north whippin' everything on the plains, prairies, and hills. He spit on the mist covered ground and walked back inside the cabin

The old man said to the boy, "Nouis, you and Apache take care of them hogs whilst I be gone. I'll be back in a few days. Gots to get this tooth pulled. It's killin' me. There's a new dentist over in Tombstone, I hears. Friend of the Earp boys. If Captain Whitested with his bunch of Yankee Buffalo Soldiers show up from Camp Huachuca and asks where Goyaalé is, tell them you heard he was headed west toward Nogales." The old man knew he was around Las Cruces, far east of there.

"Yes Sir," the boy said. "How come he have two names? The soldiers call him Geronimo."

"Goyaalé is his Chiricahua name. It means 'one who yawns.' The Mexicans gave him the name Geronimo because they would pray to Saint Geronimo to protect them from him. Saint Jerome in English. They would scream for Saint Geronimo to protect them when Goyaalé and his warriors were attackin'."

"Why do he hate the Mexicans," the boy asked

"They murdered his mother, his squaw, and four of his children in a raid in New Mexico."

"Why does you and he gits along? Why are the Yankee solders always looking for him?"

"We be blood brothers. You ask too many questions. I'll tell you why some day," the old man replied.

They walked out the cabin door and down to the shed. The old man grabbed the saddle and tack. Nouis went to feed the hogs. The wolf followed the boy, sniffin' everything in its way. The old man had found the wolf when he was a pup, clinging to his mother's teat and named it Apache. The bitch had been shot by a miner but made it back to her litter. The other five pups were dead. The old man took the pup and raised it.

At about six months, the wolf pup got mean. The old man laced its drinking water with whiskey then cut off its gonads. The pup calmed down. Except when strangers came around.

Nouis yelled, "Grandpa, stay away from that Faro game, stick with Blackjack and the Mule Game, and count them cards likes I taught ya'. Please bring me back some Jerky. I lovs ya' Grandpa."

"Nouis, Faro be fifty-fifty. Even odds."

"Grandpa, it be two-thirds for the dealer. Don't play that game or you won't be bringin' me no Jerky."

"OK, Boy. Won't do no Faro. Now you and Apache go tend to them hogs."

The old man thought, What the hell is that boy talkin' about. Faro's is fifty-fifty. Long's I keep the whores and whiskey away, I win a little. Fairest game in Tombstone. That boy be goofy. But he did show me that Mule game. And how to count cards in Blackjack. Maybe I should listen to him.

He saddled up the old mule and they moseyed slowly down the hill. He looked up at the blue, clear sky

The howlin' wind is gonna’ blow hard, thought the old man. It gives life and it takes life. Just don't let it beat you to death

He turned his collar up to shield the wind

After a few miles, the mule needed water.

"Come on Amanda. same old race that we've always run and won," he said. They stopped down by the San Pedro river and looked back up the Pedragosa hills from whence they'd come. The river knew their names. He thought to himself, I'll be here on that last fateful day. The Good Lord will deal both me and Amanda the last card here.

When she was rested, he climbed back on board her, got another chew, and they headed down that road that goes on forever - to Tombstone.

CHAPTER TWO

Tombstone – A Place You Must Go

He got off the mule at the edge of town and rambled slowly with her leading him down Allen Street. He was blind in one eye and partially deaf. Amanda carried more than just the load on her back. He stopped and tied her up to the hitchin' post in front of the Grand Hotel next to a handsome Silver Stallion. The hotel was the largest and tallest building between St. Louis and San Francisco. It had fifty rooms for guests and an upstairs dining room that would seat one hundred and fifty.

It also housed the best and rowdiest bar in the west, Big Nose Kate's Saloon, named after one of the high priced whores. Kate also ran the bar, He sung to his mule, “Amanda, The party never ends. I loves this bar.”

He thought to himself, Self, I’m gonna’ git me that Silver Stallion. Ya’ cain’t always gits whats you wants. You gits whats ya' needs.

“Codger. Nice to see ya’. Welcome back to Tombstone. You been hidin’ up in them Hills."

“Hi, Virgil,” the Codger said. “Nope. Just never had reason to come visit till now. Gots a toothache."

Virgil Earp was Deputy Sheriff of Tombstone and a Deputy Marhall of the Arizona Territory. His brother, Wyatt, had previously been a Marshall in Dodge City, Kansas. Wyatt dealt Faro down the street at he Oriental saloon and occasionally dealt at Big Nose Kate's for private games. His other brothers, James and Morgan, ran the Mattie Blaylock mine. It was east of the San Pedro river in the hills in an area called Goose Flats where Ed Schieffelin prospected and discovered the silver motherload that made Tombstone the biggest boomtown in the Southwest.

The mine was named after Wyatt's common-law wife, Celia (Mattie) Blaylock. She was a frail denizen of a woman and had a severe addiction to laudanum, an opium based drug which could be purchased at nearly any drug or grocery store. She was rarely seen outside their home on Fremont street. It was also common knowledge in Tombstone that Wyatt and Josie Marcus Behan, a beautiful singer who performed at the Bird Cage, had eyes for each other.

Virgil kept the town of Tombstone as civil as possible. Nobody messed with the Earps, not even the red-sashed Cowboy contingency, a bunch of loosely organized rustlers and thieves. Their self-appointed leader was Curly Bill Johnson, a rag-tag, loud mouth drug addict who spent most of his time in Hop Town, the Chinese section of Tombstone, doing drugs and whores.

The old man unloaded the saddlebag from Amanda, took the shotgun from the rifle holster, and laid them on the ground. He took off the old McClellen saddle and the rest of the tack. Stunk like a dead rat. He sat them down, looked around, and checked his shotgun. Two shells in the chambers. He opened the saddlebag and took out a pouch the size of a possum, put it inside his vest, picked up the shotgun, and walked toward Big Nose Kate's Saloon.

Mule sweat can attract flies for miles.

Amanda lowered her head and brayed. The Silver Stallion swashed the flies that the mule attracted away from him with his tail and snorted. Amanda belched and farted.

Virgil put his hand on his Buntline Special six-shooter and said, “Codger, you know the rules. No guns. Leave that shotgun with me. Only cost you a dime unless you win. Then just a dollar. Money goes to the fund for the Church they be building over on Safford Street. Keeps them Protestants from picketin' the Saloons.

Codger gave his shotgun to Virgil, tossed him a silver dollar and said, “I ‘tends to win. I like payin' up front."

"Virgil said, "Smart move, Codger. Doc Holliday, the town dentist, is inside at the bar. Iff'n I was you, I wouldn't be messin' with Kate before I saw the Doc. They be kinda' sweet on each other. Wouldn't wanna a tooth worked on by someone that thought I was dippin' in his honey pot."

The Codger laughed and Virgil smiled. Kate was like a daughter to the Codger, despite her profession. She reminded him of Nouis' mother, Sarah, back east in Louisville. Only one way left to make ends meet.

Tough profession but the reason Codger had Nouis. Sarah had put Nouis on a train to the Codger a few years back.

The sky got dark and cloudy and the howlin', wayward wind blew the dust down Allen Street like the fog rolls into San Francisco when a storm is brewin'.

Four red-sashed cowboys rode up out of the dust and stopped their horses next to the Silver Stallion. They looked like desperados waitin’ for a train.

The first was obviously a highwayman. An old half-breed with hair down his back, a sword on his saddle, and a pistol in his belt. The next looked like a gambler who had already lost everything he had and had no reason for livin’. The third was a tall, thin, tanned sailor who looked like he had been borned upon the tide. The last was dressed in black and looked like the Angel of Death.

Codger stared at the Desperados.

He had seen them all before. Some of them in life. Some of them in dreams. He had seen the half-breed hung by Lefty in Mexico after he shot the Sheriff and the Deputy. He had seen the gambler fall into a wet pit of concrete, buried alive, in Boulder, Colorado. He had seen the sailor in a whore house in ‘Frisco. He had seen the Angel of Death in Cripple Creek at a poker game and on that fateful day in the gold mine.

One other time too. On the hillside the day they hung his son.

My God, they killed Him, went through the Codger's mind. My God, they killed Him.

Damn, I got to get off that peyote and quit eatin’ them escamoles, the Codger thought.

He shook his head. Amanda followed suit, shook her head, brayed, belched, and farted.

A single drop of rain fell on the Codger’s head. The Angel of Death dismounted and stared at Codger and turned his nose up at Amanda.

The Codger looked up at the sky. A thunderstorm was brewin’. A Hard Rain’s Gonna’ Fall , he thought.

He patted the old grey mule and whispered to her, “Amanda, you stay warm. I’ll have you tended to shortly.” He walked through the swingin' red doors to Big Nose Kate's Saloon.

CHAPTER THREE

The Saloon

It was Saturday. Big Nose Kate's was raucous. The roulette wheel spun around and around and around and around. Smoke filled the Saloon. Loud, drunken miners and cowboys falling over each other and fighting, whores plying their trade, gambling at every table and the bar was packed. Just another day in Tombstone.

Codger wandered to the bar and found a spot amongst the brawling drunks.

Lily, Rosemary, and Jack Hart were behind the bar. Lily and Rosemary doubled as whores when they weren’t selling drinks. Jack Hart was of Black Canadian and Samoan descent. He was as almost as monstrous as Virgil.

If a rowdy cowboy came in, Jack would toss him out to Virgil, after selling him a few drinks and getting his tips, of course. Most customers called him ‘Black Jack’. The Codger always called him Jack ’O Harts.

Lily wore leather and lace and looked like a gold dust woman. She spotted him and rushed from behind the bar.

“Codger, what you doin’? I hain’t seen you for months. You been up in them hills?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I need some water for my mule, a bottle of whiskey, a room, a bath, and maybe later some food and a reckless woman. One with razor blades and dice in her eyes and with thunder ‘n lightnin’ in her thighs. Think you can handle that order?"

“Oh Yeah, Codger. Oh, Yeah! Can I Be Your Baby Tonight? Would You Lay With Me?”

“We’ll see. You just love me for the money. Amanda comes first. Reason I named her after my deceased wife. God Rest Her Soul. She was the Light of My Life. But Lily of the West, you are always on my mind. Let the devil take tomorrow. Help me make it through the night.”

“Codger, Honey, you are really good to be with, for an old guy. I’ll go book you a room and draw your bath. I gets off in an hour. The Crystal Palace down the street has great food. Good eatin’ there. Maybe you buy me dinner? "

Codger smiled and said, “Sounds Good. But one step at a time, girl. Where’s Clum? I needs to see him.”

“He’s probably down the street tendin’ to that newspaper stuff he does. I’ll goes get him if you wants me too."

“Please do and then take care of Amanda,” he said.

Lily headed out the swingin’ red saloon doors to the street. Codger sipped his whiskey and watched a poker game at the back of the room from the bar. Stakes were very high and a young red-sashed gunslinger was winning and was in everyone’s face.

_____

John Clum, the Mayor of Tombstone, and the editor of the Tombstone Epitaph, the town newspaper, came through the swingin' red saloon doors about a half hour later.

“Codger, how ya’ been. Haven’t seen you in four or five months.”

“I’m fine, John. Let’s step outside to talk,” said Codger.

When they got outside, the Codger asked, “Still got my account safe and OK?”

“Oh, yeah. Safe and sound."

“Did you take care of gettin' that money back east to Sarah?"

“Yep. Sent it to Louisville like you told me. Have the paperwork if you need to see it.”

“Nope. I don’t do paper. Never learned to read or write real good. I reads the Bible. I still don’t understand it. Deuteronomy confuses the crap out of me.”

“John, it says in Deuteronomy 21:22 That a Man Hanged On A Tree is Cursed. A hanged man is cursed by God. My son didn’t do nothin’ wrong. Wrong place – wrong time, John. And those bastard Yankees hung him in ‘65. He now lies in a tomb that knows no sky. But I do understand Numbers. Moses knew the Numbers. He counted them. He knew how many people would walk through the Red Sea. Then Moses closed the doors.”

“Codger, that’s history. Yes, it’s hard. But your daughter and your grandson and your money are safe."

“You still got that scale at your office.”

“Yep.”

Codger opened his vest, took out the possum sized pouch and handed it to Clum.

“Weigh this, put it in that four thousand pound safe you have and tell me how much it’s worth.”

“Holy Moses,” Clum said. “Is this gold or silver or both?”

The Codger handed him an envelope. “Just get this and the pouch in the safe and come on back to the Saloon. We’ll worry about the details later.”

Clum headed to his office with the possum sized pouch while Codger waited outside and talked with Virgil who was watching the desperados wander up and down Allen Street.

When Clum came back, he and the Codger wandered back inside the saloon.

Codger got a bottle of whiskey, two shot glasses and two cigars and they lit up. Looking in the thirty foot wide mirror at the back of the bar, through the cigar smoke, Codger could see that the young red-sashed gunslinger’s eyes were on him.

Kate came waltzing through the Saloon with a tall, pale, fragile-looking gentleman. He was sweating profusely. "Well lookee here. It's the Codger, " she said and gave him a big hug. "Codger, this here be Doctor John Henry Holliday, my new beau. We just call him Doc."

They shook hands and the Codger said, "You be the man I come here to see."

Doc Holliday opened his coat, put his hands on his hips, smiled meanacingly, and said with a strong southern draw, "Just what do you want to see me about, old man?"

The crowd at the bar got very quiet.

"I gots a toothache," replied the Codger.

The crowd at the bar went back to talking noisily.

The Doc laughed and said, "Well, I'm your Huckleberry. Tomorrow's Sunday. But since you are a friend of Kate's I can see you about three in the afternoon. My office on Fifth street above the Epitaph. Eat a good meal. You may not be able to eat for a couple days after I see you."

They continued their conversaton. About ten minutes later Lily walked in and said, “Amanda is down at the OK Corral. I told ‘em to treat her top drawer. Water and food and wash her off. Gonna’ cost ya. Ready for you buyin’ me dinner and that room and bath?"

“Lily. We all need someone to lean on. And tonight you can lean on me,” said the Codger. They walked out the swingin’ red saloon doors.

Even though it was October, the bright western sun caused the steam to rise from the rain-soaked street.

The young red-sashed gunslinger was winning all the money.

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