739. Chapter 739

After Once Upon a Time in the West

Episode 7.07

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Listen, hombres, I don't own me no Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

The stranger rode slowly into town on his red Italian sports horse and stopped in front of the sheriff's office. The stranger looked over the sheriff, a short, pot bellied, balding fellow with a set of poorly fitting store bought teeth. His clothing looked like it had been stolen from some long dead denizen of Boot Hill, and smelled the same.

"Howdy, stranger." Said the sheriff. "Where you headed for."

The blue eyed stranger looked at the sheriff through narrowed eyelids. "Just headin' south, towards Texas way, most likely. Why are you interested?"

"I'm Sheriff Demming, and you'd best stay here for a few nights stranger. The Outlaw Katie Beckett was through here earlier. Her and that Indian she rides with, Chief Honeymilk."

The stranger looked up at the sky. "Looks like it's not quite noon. Plenty of daylight left, I reckon I'll just get me some grub and be on my way."

"If you're leaving, perhaps you'd like to stop by my shop before you leave, in case you run into the Outlaw Katie Beckett."

"And you are?"

"Eric Vaughn, the town mortician. Business has been booming since the Outlaw Katie Beckett hit these parts, so I can give you a volume discount."

"Sounds like you boys are afraid of this Outlaw Katie Beckett." The stranger said, smiling.

"Si, compadre." Said a newcomer, a man dressed in a fancy Mexican charro outfit. "The Outlaw Katie Beckett rides like a Comanche, shoots like a Tennessean, and fights like the Devil himself. She's half alligator, half grizzly bear and half mountain lion, with a little bit of tornado thrown in."

"And all woman." The stranger said under his breath. Then, in a louder voice. "Thanks for the advice, but I'll just get lunch. Can you recommend a place?"

"There's Mr. Victoria's, but the owner is a strange lady. I'd go to the Short Branch Saloon."

The stranger tipped his hat. "Much obliged." Then he headed for the saloon.

"Did you see the emblem on his holster?" The sheriff asked.

"A chess piece. "Replied Vaughn. "In fact, a castle. Do you think…."

"I think we should mind our own business where that one is concerned, amigos."

The stranger walked into the saloon and was greeted by Miss Meredith, the owner. "What'll it be, Cowboy? Coffee, tea or me?"

'Do you have any red wine?" The stranger asked. "Specifically some sancerre?"

The saloon became deathly quiet. "We had a customer who drank all of ours." Miss Meredith said, in a fearful voice.

"In that case, I'll just have some lunch."

"'Scuse, me mister," Said an old drunk, "but could you loan me some money for a drink?"

"Get out of here, Jim. You're bothering a paying customer." Miss Meredith said angrily.

The stranger tossed a gold piece onto the bar. "Get him a bottle."

Old Jim thanked the man and grabbed his bottle. As he looked at the stranger in the mirror behind the bar, he thought, He sort of looks like….No, it can't be. By the time Old Jim had sobered up, the stranger was gone.

At sundown, the stranger found a recent campsite near a small pool of water. He sniffed the air and inhaled a definite scent of cherries. He smiled.

The next day he rode into the town of Hondo, Texas, and right into a funeral, or rather several funerals.

"Mr. Vaughn?" The stranger said, seeing the mortician. "I didn't know you worked here, too."

"I call it franchising." The mortician said proudly. "I have Vaughn's Mortuaries all over the west, and I'm thinking of opening some coffee shops. Maybe even some Mexican food places"

The stranger made no comment on such foolishness. "How did you get here ahead of me?"

"The train, of course. I had to come for these funerals."

"What's so special about these?"

"Curly Cole Maddox, Tricky Dick Coonan and Colin the Kid? They're all part of a gang called the Cowboys, over in Tombstone. And they were all gunned down by the same person. They never even got a shot off."

"The Outlaw Katie Beckett?" The stranger asked.

Vaughn nodded. "Exactly."

"Where is she?"

"She took the stage to Lordsburg, New Mexico, yesterday."

The stranger felt a cold chill run down his spine. "Lordsburg?"

"I imagine she's going after the Bracken gang. Her and that Indian against the Wildest Bunch….Well, it should be interesting."

The stranger headed for the stage depot. "I need to get to Lordsburg."

"The stage us leaving in ten minutes, mister. Just stand out in front with the rest of the passengers and the stage will be there." The station agent said.

He paid and tipped his hat to the mature redheaded lady.

The stranger walked outside. There were two people already waiting. A slender redheaded girl and a young man with a shortened Winchester and a rat.

"You carry a rat?"

The young man looked at him through narrowed eyelids. "Is that a problem, mister?"

The stranger shook his head. "Just curious. Be careful and don't lose him." For some reason, the redhead started crying.

The others soon arrived, including a fancily dressed gambler who called himself Captain Montgomery, a Miss Jacinda who was off to meet her husband in Las Vegas, and an alcoholic doctor who was delivered in a wheelbarrow by the local temperance society, he being too drunk to walk. "Doctor Wheelbarrow Boy will be leaving." Said the busty, dark skinned head of the Temperance Union.

They rode through the desert for the whole day until one of the horses pulled up lame. The driver got out and examined him. "Look like the Apaches have ambushed us again, folks. There are a bunch of nails scattered around here, and one is in the horses' hoof, so we have to stop."

"Where are the Apaches?" Asked the rat carrying kid, pulling his Winchester and the redhead close.

"Right over there."

The stranger looked and saw a blaze of neon spelling out "Geronimo's Casino."

Inside Geronimo was handing out free drink tickets, small stacks of chips, and free buffet cards. ''Who do you think won the war now?'' He muttered when he thought no one was listening.

The stranger gave the free buffet cards to the young man with the redhead. He noted that she insisted on separate rooms on different floors of the casino. Somehow, he was happy to know that the redhead would remain a virgin until well after she was married.

The stranger found himself sitting across the poker table from Captain Montgomery. "You served in the late war, Captain?"

"In the 54th Massachusetts. Stud poker okay with you, mister?"

The other players were soon driven out of the game as both men were superb poker players. The stranger checked his pocket watch. "We'll be on the road at dawn. We should get some sleep."

Captain Montgomery nodded. "I think we could play for days and neither one of us would win. May as well grab some shuteye."

As the stranger had said, they were on the road at dawn and finally made it into Lordsburg just after dark.

The stranger got off the stage and stretched, then spoke to a square jawed fellow in a conservative suit. "Excuse, me. But do you know where the Bracken gang hangs out?"

"Over at Miss Gina's, Gunfighter Monkey." Was the reply.

The young man with the rat walked over to the stranger. "You might want to take my Winchester if you're gunning for the Bracken gang, mister."

The stranger took the rifle and filled his pockets with extra ammunition. "Can I borrow Theodore as well?"

The young man looked at Theodore and then at the redhead. The redhead nodded as did Theodore.

The stranger walked to Miss Gina's and spoke to Theodore. "Okay, just like we planned it. Get in, do your thing and then get out and let me handle the rest."

Theodore nodded and held out his hand for the cheese the stranger had promised him. He smiled when he was paid and ran in under the swinging doors.

It took a second, but then there was a high pitched, feminine scream. "A rat!"

As soon as bedlam erupted inside, the stranger strode through the doors. "Fill your hands you sons-of-bitches!"

Someone shot out the lights and the saloon was filled with flashes of gunshots and screams.

Someone lit a lamp and the stranger was the only one standing.

"You're good, but not that good." Said a high pitched feminine voice. There, hanging onto the chandelier where he had leapt when he saw the rat was Bracken, holding his gun on the stranger. "I reckon you emptied your weapons at my gang. But I still have six shots, so…."

Before Bracken could speak further, Theodore the Rat threw his cheese into Bracken's face, momentarily blinding him. The stranger drew a Derringer from his boot and shot Bracken.

"Thanks, Theodore."

Theodore held out his hand. He was a mercenary little rat, after all.

"We'll go to the general store and buy some cheese."

"Rick?"

The stranger turned to see the Outlaw Katie Beckett standing there, dressed in black from head to toe, and for some reason wearing a black corset on the outside of her clothing.

"Hi, Kate. Um, why are you wearing a corset on the outside?"

"It's a fashion statement."

"You're adorable. But I thought you'd be here well ahead of me. What happened?"

"The stage company sent my luggage to El Paso, so I had to wait."

"But you got your stuff?"

She nodded. "Are you here to take me in for the reward?"

"No, I'm here to take you home."