The Diary of Jerrod Bently, J.W. Osborn [the false prince series TXT] 📗

“I am going to count to three and then you better step out and show yourselves. I am going to have your whole gang to take to the sherrif.”
“Alex!” Jake shouted “Put the gun down. It’s me, Jake Titus!”
“ Why are you riding with the man who robbed me?” the young man shot back at him.
“What?”
“You heard me Jake. If you ain’t going to arrest that outlaw, I am going to shoot him.”
“The men with me are not outlaws, Alex,” Jake shouted back. “They are Texas Rangers.”
Alex’s answer was another volley of shots at the rocks.
“Darn! That boy is confused,” Nathan said “and I think I know why.”
“Hold your fire!” Nathan ordered “I am coming out.”
“Are you daft?” Titus stated as the ranger rose to his feet.
“No,” Nate replied “But I think he has met my brother and thinks that I am him.”
“Be careful Nate,” Doc advised “Titus and I will cover you.”
“One of you boys get my hat,” Nate said as he stuck his gun back in its holster.
“This ain’t no time for you to be worrying about your hat,” Doc groused “Now get out there and straighten that kid out.”
“Alex,” Jake shouted “The man coming out is a Texas Ranger. His name is Nathan Travis. Don’t shoot, or we will have to shoot back.”
“All right, Jake,”Alex replied “If you say so.”
Nathan Travis stepped out into the open, with his hands in the air. “Come on out, boy,” he said “I want to talk to you.”
“Why?”, Alex called back “You took my rifle and cold cocked me with it. You have probably cost me my job. I just wanted to help you, you son of a gun, and you ruined me.”
“It wasn’t me,” Nate shouted back “It was my brother Ned. I have been trailing him for weeks.”
“What?”Alex questioned.
“It’s just like I said,” Nathan answered “It was my brother who took your rifle and robbed the freight wagon. Come on out and take a look at me. If the man who attacked you looked just like me, it was my twin and I am here to arrest him and bring him to trial for many other crimes he’d committed.” Jake Titus heaved a sigh of relief, when he saw Alex walk out of the woods with a rifle in his hands.
“It is true, Alex,” he shouted “We were heading out to the ranch to talk to you.” The boy’s face turned bright red with embarrassment and he walked up to the rocks and stood face to face with Nathan Travis. “Mister,” he said sheepishly “I am real sorry. I thought you were him and I wasn’t going to let him get to the ranch and hurt my sister.”
“Did the man who attacked you look like me?” Nathan asked.
“Yes sir,” the boy replied “The spitting’ image. But he had come up on some trouble. When I picked him up, he was dressed in just his ridge runners. Said he had family in Portersville.”
“Stupid, and a liar to boot,” Doc commented and Jake Titus tried not to laugh.
“Look fellas,” Alex said “I am really sorry. I was scared when I saw Mr. Travis. I thought he was that outlaw.”
“No body got hurt and that is all that matters.”Jake said as he caught the trailing reins of his mule “Go get your horse, Alex and lets ride out to the ranch and get this thing straightened out.”
“You boys go on ahead,” Nate said “I’m going back to get my hat.” Again Alex hung his head in embarrassment, “ I am sorry,” he said “I ruined it and I will get you another one.”
“You only shot my hat,” Nate said with a grin “But I am still here without a scratch. I’ll see you at the ranch.”
Well, that expensive white hat that Nathan Travis wore was a mite dirty when he picked it up and it had a hole through the brim where Alex’s shot had hit it. He put it back on his head and whistled loudly. Out from the trees, trotted Tabasco. Nathan got hold of the reins and mounted up, then rode off in the direction of The Clear Water Ranch.
Jake Titus knocked on the front door of the ranch house. A few minutes later, Frances Bradford met him there. “Hello Jake,” she said “Come in I am glad you are here. Alex has gone out hunting and...” Her younger brother cut her off ,“I am here Franny,” he said as he appeared on the porch behind Titus.
“I heard gun fire.,” Fran said “did you get any rabbits?” Alex looked down at his feet, “No,” he replied “I was shooting at who I thought was the man who robbed me.”
“Oh Alex,” Fran declared “I hope no one has been hurt.”
“Only my hat, Ma’am.” Frances looked away from her brother as Nathan Travis joined Jake and Alex on the porch. Her dark eyes held his and she smiled warmly. “Ranger Travis,” she said “It is good to see you again.”
“Good to see you too, Ma’am,” Nathan replied with a smile. She was pretty. Very pretty and he had not really taken note of that when they’d met on the trail. She was all in black then, but today she was dressed in gauchos and a Mexican blouse. Yes, she was indeed a fine figure of a woman.
Again Jake Titus noticed the same crackling silence he’d sensed back in the bake shop between Victoria and Doc when he’d introduced them. “Well, I guess you two know one another,” he commented. Doc appeared to his right “This is Doc Stevens, my new deputy,” he added. Doc smiled at her “Pleased to meet you Mrs. Bradford.”
“Won’t you all come in and sit down in the parlor.” Frances said as she gestured for them to come in. “Alex has a lot to tell you about what happened outside of town the other night.”
She then turned to Jake Titus as he walked into the entry hall behind Doc and Nathan. “How is your wife?” she asked “I have not see her at church lately or out riding that horse of hers.”
“She is just fine, Miss Frances,” Jake replied with a broad grin “She is at home writing one those dime novels for those folks up in New York City.”
“She really is good, Jake,” Fran commented “Where does she get so many great ideas for adventures like that.”
“Don’t rightly know,” Jake replied “But those folks up North are paying her a bundle for each one of those stories.”
Fran showed him into the parlor “That is wonderful,” she said “Please tell her I am looking forward to reading her next one.”
“Surely will, Ma’am,” Jake replied as he sat down on one of the wooden rocking chairs.
Now all this time, the would be Sherrif Titus, Doc and Nathan Travis were talking to Alex about the man who had robbed him and Miss Frances was serving them lemonade, Ned Travis was getting closer and closer to his destination and it was not on his own. I do not think I have ever heard of any outlaw who’s luck was as bad as his was, and soon he would be locked up in the Portersville jail.

+++++++++++++++++++++


I always believed that if you keep trying at something you want to do, you will eventually succeed. In the weeks we had been on the trail with the herd, I had gained a good bit of confidence. I was a pretty decent rider and Mud turned out to be a good cow horse. We chased down strays and roped stragglers. I even pulled a few of those long horns out of the mud when they got stuck in it. We’d dealt with Indians and I’d spotted trouble on my watch and as a result captured a man who would have killed Sam and Scrub Pot. Sam, oh yes. She was all I thought about and all she thought about was getting the herd to market and getting back to Grants Creek to her ranch. I looked forward to riding point with her and talking as we did when we were alone. I had been content to be her friend, the one who kept her secret, but as time went on, I wanted more. I wanted her, but figured she had no time for me past the work we did together. However, she had stopped calling me “Bently”