Destination Santa Fe

Clint had to give thanks again to the late Ms. Jamison, the elderly, gracious and elegant school teacher who was primarily responsible for taking a wild, young kid and transforming him into a well-educated gentleman with the manners that had made him welcome at fancy parties in San Francisco. The five years of education and training Clint had received under Ms. Jamison’s tutelage was equal to a college education back east. He knew she was disappointed in that his gambling skills had increased as she developed his mathematical skills. The doctor that had been at her side when she expired of heart failure had given him a note saying how proud she was of her star student. In honor of Ms. Jamison, Clint put on one of his best San Francisco tailored jackets. He went downstairs in the fancy hotel for a top quality meal with the best wine in Carson City, Nevada. It felt good to be in fine clothes, well-rested and circulating among the crowd. He did miss the social life that his teacher had introduced him to in San Francisco. If only his brother could see him now. That thought put a new hope in Clint’s mind. Maybe after all these years he could try to contact his brother, at least find out if he was alive and well. Clint knew he would have to be careful because he was wanted for questioning in a murder case from over 10 years earlier, and that had caught up with him when he was in San Francisco. Destination Santa Fe would be the new goal. Santa Fe, New Mexico, was about two days’ ride north of the home ranch where he had last seen his brother, Brad, more than six years earlier. The first stop would be Durango, Colorado, to help the widow of Bob Hayes, if possible. He had killed Bob and John in self-defense when the two brothers had set out to cash-in a contract killing. However, he was a rich man and made money easily gambling, so why not share a little with the woman he had made a widow? It would give some purpose to his wandering. Besides, Durango was on the way to Santa Fe. With his next step planned out, he settled into a couple of weeks enjoying the fruits of Carson City. The cards were running in his favor as they usually did, when his new identity caught up with him. Two very rough looking trail bums challenged him at the poker table. They contended that John Hayes and his brother, Bob, had killed their buddy over a card game in Denver just four months earlier. They had been trailing the two Hayes brothers all this time. The trail had led to Bay Town, California, but they had gotten there too late. The one brother, Bob, had been killed in a gunfight, but the other brother had escaped a gunfight with the local marshal. The word was that John had killed a man named Charles Martinez, then took his large cache of gold. They were there to collect the gold and settle that score with their friend’s killer. The other poker players cleared out, leaving Clint looking into the barrels of two guns...