The Starshine Kid: Arroyo Grande - Part 4 of 20
The Stars Above
“Why, you’re uglier than a skinless,
legless lizard,” the man sitting on the north side of the campfire said to the
rough looking gent opposite him.
“Them be fightin’ words, you lily
faced coward,” the man replied.
“Coward! Well, I’ll be….” The man
leaped across the blazing embers and engaged the other man in a trail dust
wrestling match.
The Starshine Kid laughed softly as
he threw another piece of madrone on the fire while he and the others enjoyed
the evening’s entertainment rolling around before them. He had witnessed many a
campfire clamor, but not one as amusing as this one.
“In all my years as a lawman and all
the places I’ve been,” Marshal King blurted out loudly, “I can rightly say I
ain’t never seen a skinless lizard with no legs.”
The group of cowhands, warming
themselves in the cold night air, broke out into laughter. The wrestling men,
feeling a bit foolish at the moment and like they had consumed a bit too much
of bottled joy, joined in the laughter as they both rose to their cowboy booted
feet and returned to the blazing fire.
U.S. Marshal Adam King, The Starshine Kid liked the sound
of his new title and how it rolled of the tongue like an egg rolls off of a
kitchen counter, smooth and with an ending you cannot miss, and he liked being
a part of the oldest federal law enforcement office in the new land.
The cowhands gladly welcomed the
marshal to spend the night with them after hearing about the stagecoach
incident he was involved with earlier that day. The marshal had happened upon a
stagecoach robbery in progress, foiling the endeavors of its perpetrators
without firing a single shot. What the cowhands did not know was that none
other than an Oregon Supreme Court Judge, on a short side trip of a personal
nature, was aboard with two of his constituents.
Following that encounter, the
Starshine Kid had taken the nervous Justice up on his emotional promise,
‘Anything you need you have got it, Marshal!’
Once Adam had explained the
situation revolving around one of the suspects he currently pursued, the
Supreme Court Judge immediately wrote out a full pardon letter in triplicate
for an Anton Madarász, a.k.a. Antonio from Antonio. All three copies were
readily signed by the Justice and witnessed by his two companions.
Not too many legal folks would dare
to place their careers above the official signatures that grace these documents, Adam affirmed in his mind when he
pocketed the paperwork earlier that day.
‘I admire a man who is not afraid to
mix his personal endeavors in with his politics,’ the judge had said to Adam,
‘That is what this country is built on, Marshal. You come see me if you ever
get a mind to relocate to Oregon and enter politics.’
Marshal King had heard many a tale
concerning the notorious outlaw he now hunted once again. He related one of
those stories to the cowhands that evening, “The outlaw I am pursuing is known
only as the Scorpion and bears the critter’s image tattooed
on his arm. The Scorpion visited a preacher one time and the minister of the
cloth asked him, ‘Have you ever took a notion to readin’ the Holy Bible, son?’
The Scorpion told the man of God
something he would never forget, ‘I have read a might bit of the Good Book and
can rightly say it is true, Padre. It is as clear as a mountain stream after a
night of hard rain. I just do not want none of it, that’s all.’
Astounded, the preacher stated, ‘You
know it’s true and you still--’
Interrupting the preacher harshly,
he said, ‘Just like Satan himself and a third of the Angels who saw God face to
face, Padre, I choose to rebel and go my own way.’
‘Son,’ inquired the preacher, ‘you
got a favorite verse anywhere in the Holy Bible? You know… one verse you just
can’t stop thinkin’ about?’
‘Yep,’ he replied as he removed his
trail dusty cowboy hat, ‘Ecclesiastes 2:17, Therefore I hated life; because the
work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and
vexation of spirit. And I even got a second, Padre.’
‘What is that, my son?’
‘Ecclesiastes 7:1, The day of death
is better than the day of birth.’
Wondering how this life-hardened man
could see everything so darkly, the preacher simply told him he would keep him
in his prayers.
The Scorpion replaced his cowboy hat
and adjusted it carefully, he then thanked the Padre and walked away.”
After Adam concluded the tale he
took out his harmonica, a special gift from a Trossingen clockmaker overseas,
and began to softly play the instrument. One by one the trail-weary men retired
to their bedrolls for a welcomed night’s sleep under the all too familiar
starry sky.
*** Part 5: Iron Creek ***
________________________________
The Starshine
Kid: Arroyo Grande
By Royce A
Ratterman © 2012
All Rights
Reserved
Cover Art &
Illustrations by Erlend Evensen
The characters,
locales, enterprises, entities, and events herein are entirely fictional and
intended for educational and entertainment purposes. Content portrayals do not
reflect any actual events, locales, entities, or any individuals living or
deceased.
Dedicated to all
of those who lost their lives establishing peace, safety, and harmony in the
days of the Old West
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