The Life of a Gunfighter

by Micah Newman, September 1997

1


Pedro Gonzales grew up just outside of Langtry, Southern Texas. When he was just six years old his father was murdered by a drunk ranchhand. Poor Pedro had to look after the family now. So one day he took his father's Colt Peacemaker and buffalo gun out back behind the barn and had some practice. By the time he was eight years old he could hit a running rabbit 30 yards away.

Pedro had two younger brothers. One was two, the other was six. He also had a baby sister and a four year old sister. When he was ten they loaded all their belongings in a covered wagon and headed off for New Mexico to move in with Uncle Bernardo.

The first day of the trip went quite smoothly. But the second day was gruesome. At about one o'clock Pablo climbed over a bunch of big reddish boulders to play. Pablo was about four feet tall. He was small for an eight year old. He had scraggly black hair that reached to his shoulders.

A long jagged scar ran from an inch above his eye down his cheek to his chin. He had gotten the scar from falling out of a barn loft. His skin was very dark and tanned so he looked more like an Indian than a half Mexican, half Texan.

At about 1:30 he came dashing over the rocks screaming, "Indians, Indians! I saw them Mama, I really did! They're Apaches! Run, run run!"

"Calm down, son! How many were there?"

"About twenty." Then Pedro asked, "Where are Papa's old guns, Mama?" His bright eyes were filled with worry.

"In the box, Dear," Mama answered. For Pedro's birthday Pedro had gotten a new pearl handled Colt .44 and he was aiming to use it.

"Hey, Pablo, catch." He tossed him his father's six shooter. Pablo caught it with a look of worry in his eye.

"Josefina, Maria, lay down in the bottom of the wagon."

They were crying and frightened but did what Pedro said. Josefina was hugging her doll tight. "Ride the horses hard Mama. Don't stop until I say." She nodded. Soon they could hear the horses and the Indians' war cry.

Pedro and Pablo got in and looked out the back of the conestoga wagon Papa had gotten for fifty dollars at a sale.

The Indians were riding hard and Pedro knew they couldn't outrun them. Pedro signaled to Pancho and both boys fired, shooting two screaming Apaches off their horses.

Pedro took aim again and shot another Apache off a white horse and left him screaming in agony in the dust and dirt. Pablo shot another off his horse and the Indian cracked his skull on a rock. They shot more and more off their horses until about seven caught up to them. One tried to jump in the wagon from the back and he hung on to the back trying to climb in but Pablo whacked the butt of his Colt onto the vicious looking Apache's fingers and he screamed in pain, but hung on. Then Pedro shot the Indian's hand and he let go, screaming as he fell into the dirt.

The last six of them gave up in vain. Pedro and Pablo shot another two off their horses into the dust as they were galloping away. Mama slowed the horses to a stop.

"That was a close call," Mama said in a shaky voice.

2

The next eight weeks went fine. But on the ninth week something happened. They had stopped for lunch and Josefina was playing in the prairie grass. She was three and had dark brown eyes and black hair. She wore buckskin pants and a hand woven white shirt. None of the children had shoes, but Pedro and Mama had mocassins. She walked over to Mama and said, "Mama, men on horses." She pointed to the north.

Indeed, she was right. There were horses coming. Were they Indians? Pedro did not know. Soon they could see the men wore masks. They were bandits.

"They're bandits, Mama!" Pablo shouted. "We'll have to fight.!"

They grabbed the guns and Pedro said, "Let's not run. We'll stay and hide behind rocks and fight them."

So Pablo, Pedro and Mama each grabbed a gun and hid behind the rocks. Soon they shot three screaming men off their horses. They shot two more before the bandits realized where they were. Then they ran to new hiding places. They shot another into the dust but he jumped up and ran. When he ran past Pedro's hideout, Pedro brought the butt of his pistol onto the man's head. Soon they finished off the rest of the bandits.


One morning they came into a clearing, with a small log cabin with a barn and a dozen sheep and goats grazing in the yard. There were also three cows and a bull and about twenty chickens. A big husky man with brown hair and a big mustache came out to greet them. He was Uncle Bernardo. He said hi and Mama and he talked and then he played with Josefina.


Six years went by until one morning they woke up to the sound of hooves. Pedro looked out the window and saw that they were outlaw. It looked like Apaches. He shouted, "Outlaws!"

Uncle Bernardo went and grabbed his sawed off shotgun and the two pistols. He tossed a postol to Pedro and one to Pablo. They ran to the window and started to fight them. The outlaws threw a torch into a room and the house was on fire! Pedro heard a scream and ran to the bedroom. Mama was lying on the floor bleeding in the stomach. There was a small pool of blood on the floor.

Pablo came into the room and sat down by Mama.

"Pedro, take your sisters and Pable and the money and go."

"But what about you and Uncle Bernardo?" Pablo asked.

"He's dead and I'm going to die." No, Mama! No!" Pablo shouted.

Soon they had grabbed the money and hopped in the family's buckboard.

They had ridden a long way until one morning they came upon a house in a clearing. An old Indian man slowly walked out to them.

"How do you do?" he asked slowly. The man told them they could live with him and they said O.K.

After three years Pedro and Pablo said goodbye and left.

Pedro and Pablo hiked a long way before they reached a small town. Pedro found the town's saloon and went in to get a drink. He was wearing pistols in holsters that were tied down. He went in and about thirty heads looked toward him.

"What would you like?" the bartender asked.

"I'll take a whiskey," Pedro answered.

"You're new here," a dusty cowhand said. "Who are you?"

"That's none of your business," Pedro answered with a sneer.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"Shut up!" Pedro said. "I'm nineteen."

"Quit nagging the kid, Pickett," another man said.

"Shut up you idiot!" Pickett shouted.

"I'll fight you. Take off your belt and we can have a fist fight," Pedro said with a sneer on his lips.

"Don't do it!" someone shouted.

Pickett took off his belt and rolled up his sleeves.

"Ready," he muttered.

Pedro punched him between the eyes and then faked a left and did a right which caught him on the jaw and everyone heard it crack.

"Aaaaa! Pickett screamed in pain. Pedro punched his nose twice and broke it. The he kicked the man in the stomach which knocked him sprawling to the floor on his rear end.

"Well get up, or are you too chicken? Huh, you lunkhead?"

Pickett jumped up screaming and punched Pedro twice in the ribs and broke two. Pedro jumped to the side as the next punch came toward him. Pickett pulled a knife out of his boot and slashed out at Pedro.

"So you're going to cheat?" Pedro shouted. "You've made me mad!" He grabbed a chair and cracked it across Pickett's face and knocked him down again. The knife went flying and Pedro dove for it and grabbed it. He jumped at Pickett and stabbed him in the chest. Pickett screamed and fell dead.

Pedro sighed and shook his head. He picked up his gunbelt and buckled it on. He went and found Pablo at a restaurant.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "I just killed someone at the saloon!"

"We'd better," Pablo answered.

After they had travelled a little ways Pablo said, "Why don't we go to Bloody Triangle?"

Bloody Triangle was a big triangular field in a valley where outlaws could hide. When they were almost there a harsh voice came from the brush. "Who goes there? If you don't tell I'll blow your brains out. I've got a gun on you so don't try any funny business."

"Okay, I'm Pedro Gonzales and this is my brother Pablo. Who are you?"

"I'm Chico Garcia and my brother's Alberto. We're outlaws," came the answer.

"Did you know they've sent out a posse to find you?" Chico said.

"No, I didn't, but can you come out?"

There was some rustling in the brush and out stepped a ragged looking Mexican about in his thirties with a mustache.

"Alberto, I've got two men here and I'm coming into camp."

"Okay," came the reply.

Soon they came upon three neat tents and a fireplace.

"I thought it was just you and Alberto here. There's three tents," Pablo said suspiciously.

"Oh, we've got a couple friends in town right now," Alberto said. He was about twenty-eight and also had a mustache. Both men had two pistols and Chico was carrying a Spencer, also.

A while later three men rode up to the camp. All three men wore pistols and carried Winchesters. One man had brown hair and a clean shaven face. He wore a fancy suitcoat and a neat little vest underneath it. He had gray pants and a gray derby on. Chico said he was Val Frigo. Val carried two Remington Frontier .44's.

Another man, called Pete Yorke, wore dirty buckskins, a checkered shirt and a black vest. He had brown leather boots with big spurs.

The other man also wore buckskins, a brown shirt and a gray vest. His name was Smith. He had a big scar on his forehead and right cheek. He had a stubble of a beard.

"So you're all outlaws, eh?" Pedro asked.

"Yeah, what about it," Smith said suspiciously.

"Nothing, just wondering," Pedro said.

The next day, after a breakfast of bacon and eggs, Pedro and Pablo left. They headed for the closest town.

When they got there they went into the saloon. There was a poker game going on and everybody was surrounding the table.

"Who's winning?" Pablo asked.

Nobody answered.

"Who's winning, you lunkheads!" Pablo shrieked.

"I am," one dusty cowpoke finally answered. "I've got about three hundred dollars in gold coins."

"You cheated, you jerk!" another man shrieked. He pulled out his gun to shoot the man but Pedro hit the man on the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him unconscious.

Another man came out of the crowd and cried out, "That's my brother, you fool!"

That man and two others grabbed chairs to fight and one man hit Pedro across the face with a chair, knocking him sprawling to the floor.

In walked Chico, Alberto, Pete Yorke and Val Frigo.

"It's Chico Garcia and his gang!" somebody shouted.

"Let's kill 'em!" somebody else yelled.

"Yeay!" everybody yelled again as they grabbed chairs.

Pete pulled out his pistol and fired a couple shots into the crowd. Two men screamed and fell on the floor howling in pain.

The man who was winning the poker game scooped all his coins into his hat, plopped the hat on his head and jumped through the nearest window without bothering to open it. Pedro jumped up again and pulled out his guns, hitting everyone in range with the butts of them.

Chico yelled above the noise, "Let's get outta here before the sheriff comes."

"All right!" yelled Pablo. They ran out through the swinging doors into the street. Three shots were fired at them from up on different buildings. Pete was hit in the side. The blow sent him flying backwards. They were trapped. They couldn't go back into the saloon and they couldn't go into the street. Three more shots were fired. Pablo, Chico and Val were hit in the legs. They couldn't run and they couldn't fight because they were outnumbered.

"Give yourselves up," a husky voice called, "or we kill you."

By this time they were surrounded by men, women and children. They threw down their guns. Three men stepped out from alleys. They were the sheriff and his deputies. The outlaws were handcuffed and led to the jail where they were put in stinky small jail cells. In each cell there was a wooden cot with a ragged stinky sheet covering it.

3

For a few weeks they sat letting their wounds heal. On the fourth week Smith walked in disguised as an old man and gave Chico and Alberto each a book and said, "Here are some books that you might like," then left. Chico and Alberto knew what was in them. In each book there was a Derringer pistol.

The next day when the two deputies came in to give them their breakfast Chico and Alberto held them at gunpoint. Chico said, "Slowly move your left hand down, unbuckle your gunbelt and toss it in here on the floor."

They did so and Alberto gave Pablo and Val each a pistol.

"Now slowly unlock the door," Chico said as he took a step back.

The deputies unlocked the door and Chico knocked them out with his pistol, then tied and gagged them. He locked them in and then unlocked everyobody else's cells. Soon they were out of jail and out of town.

They met Smith a little ways out of town by a well. Soon they were back at Bloody Triangle. The next day they headed for Sarab Creek. Sarab Creek was a small town in the middle of Arizona.

When they came to Crow Hill, a small town in New Mexico, they got on a stagecoach heading to Ridgey Run, a town just south of Sarab Creek. The coach they were riding in was yellowish color and could seat twelve people. Right now there were three ladies and nine men. One lady had a green dress with white lace around her neck and lots of perfume and makeup. The other had on a purple dress and the last one had on a blue and white dress. Two men were soldiers heading to Fort Smith. The other two were cowboys heading for Ridgey Run.

The outlaws had had the sense (of course) to wear disguises. Pedro and Pablo had wigs and mustaches and Smith had a fake beard. Alberto was disguised as an old man with a cane. Chico also had on a mustache. Since it could only hold twelve people and now there were thirteen, Pedro agreed to sit up front. About two hours after riding out, thirty or more heavily armed riders rode up and halted the coach.

"We're lookin' fer Chico and Alberto and two other men called Pedro and Pablo Gonzales who just busted out o' the Calaboose," said a man who had a messed up lower lip from where he had obviously been shot. "You seen 'em?"

"Naw, we haven't," said the driver.

After searching the coach and not finding anything they drove on.

The stagecoach drove on for seven days and came to a station. They stopped there and were going to spend the night. The men got separate rooms. The rooms were by each other except for Chico's whose room was down the hall.

About midnight Pedro woke up to the sound of horses hooves on a gravel road. He jumped out of bed and lay down on the hard wood floor. Soon he heard the door below open and somebody called, "Hey Joe, come here!"

"What is it, Bob?" asked Joe the innkeeper of the station in a sleepy voice.


"Well, it's just that five men who fit the descriptions of Chico and his gang bought fake mustaches and stuff at the town they escaped from."

Pedro didn't wait to hear any more. He leaped up and opened the brown oak door to his room. He yanked open Pablo's door, but Pablo was already up. He whispered, "I heard."

They went about and told everybody else. They went toward the stairs but Alberto said, "Hold on, I think someobody's comin' up the stairs." He was right. There was a sound of boots on the stairs.

Bob said, "They're trapped, with my twelve men around the station. They can't get away."

"What can we do? We're trapped like he said," whispered Chico.

"No we ain't. Look down the hall," whispered Smith.

They all looked and saw what he meant. Down the hall was a balcony overlooking the wheat fields in back of the station.

"But what about the men coming up the stairs?" asked Pablo.

"What about 'em. Just shoot 'em," answered Smith.

Everybody agreed to that, so they hid in a couple rooms and stuck the barrels of their pistols out the slightly opened doors. A couple seconds later they saw Bob and Joe come to the hallway.

Alberto's first shot hit the floor not two inches from Joe's foot. Joe leaped at the nearest door and found Chico standing there, gun in hand. Joe grapped the pistol and wrenched it from Chico's hand. Joe then swung the pistol butt at Chico and almost got him on the head. Meanwhile, Bob had taken five shots in the gut and was a bloody mess. Pedro ran into the room Chico was in and saw Joe lying on the floor more dead than alive with a bullet hole through his neck. Chico was stumbling around bleeding bad in his right eye.

"He got me with the butt of his pistol," Chico muttered.

Five minutes later they had bandaged Chico's face and were on the balcony, about fifteen feet above the ground. They probably wouldn't break their legs, but there were two armed men below that they were worried about. Suddenly Smith leaped over the railing and landed on one man, breaking the man's neck with a crack.

"Will?" asked the other man in a deep voice. Suddenly Smith leaped onto the second man and rammed his stone knife into the man's stomach and then pulled his gun and whopped it on the man's head. Pedro and the rest had jumped down by now and were just standing there. All of a sudden somebody shouted and Smith and the rest began to run. Soon there were more shouts and pistol shots.

They heard a shout. "They got Will and Thompson!"

The five men ran through the field into the woods. After walking through the woods for a few days they came to a town. It was about midnight when they got there. There was no noise except from the two saloons. They walked a ways reading the signs on the buildings until they came to a stable. There was a guard but Pedro threw a stone into a trough of water.

The guard whirled and yelled, "Who goes there?"

Pedro leaped onto the back of the man. The man fell and Pedro yanked out his knife and stabbed the man in the chest.

"Al?" asked another man. "What was the splash?"

They heard footsteps approaching. Pedro and Smith hid behind the open doors. Soon a tall, skinny muscular figure walked through the door with guns drawn. They leaped out and knocked him on the head with a gun.

Soon the man was tied and gagged. Next they found some rope and hung him from the rafters. They checked a few horses and took the best ones. The men headed for the desert where Smith knew of a cave. They stayed there for the night and in the morning decided on what to do. They decided to go back to town and stay there in the hotel.

After waiting a couple days Pete Yorke and Val Frigo turned up. They decided to settle down and do some gambling, drinking and have some fun. The peace and quiet didn't last long, though.

4

One day they went down to the restaurant part of the hotel to get some breakfast. Another man came in also. The man was about twenty-five years old and had two pearl handled Colt 45's in two leather holsters. The man was tall and muscular. Pedro was sitting at a table with one leg in the aisle. The man was walking down the aisle and he tripped and went sprawling to the floor.

Pedro stammered, "I.. I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean...."

But the man cut him off with a shout. "You jerk! You did that on purpose!"

Soon they were rolling on the floor punching, kicking and biting.

"Stop, you two, or I'll get the Sheriff!" shouted the manager.

The two didn't stop, so the manager threw them all out. Pedro was really mad and he proposed to the gang that they should rob the hotel and the bank.

Late that night at about 10:00 they went through the alley to the hotel. With a chisel and a small pick they broke in the back door of the hotel. They went down a hallway and up to the office. Once there they flung the door open.

In a chair behind a desk sat a short, fat man with glasses who had a startled look on his face. Alberto and Pablo leveled their guns at him while Pedro guarded the door and Chico held a bag.

"Give... us... all... that... money," said Alberto in a soft, slow voice.

The fat man, with shaking hands, gave them all the money. They bound and gagged him so he wouldn't sound the alarm.

They ran fast, but quietly, down the hall and out the door they had entered. They ran through the alley and almost ran into two men. The two men were helping a man walk who was obviously drunk.

"Who are you?" one of the two men demanded.

"Ahhh... jest a couple a bank robbers," answered Pedro who quickly lunged and knocked out one of the men with a pistol butt. Smith lunged and knocked the other out. Right then the drunk man passed out.

They ran straight to the bank. The men went to the right side of the bank where there was a large window. Smith was the expert lockpicker, so he picked the lock on the window. All except Smith went in. Smith went around to the back door to make sure the bankers didn't try to make an escape.

As the four men went in they found three startled bankers. Don't try any funny business and give us the money," Pedro said. Two of the men refused to open the vault, but the third man convinced them to do it. Suddenly one of them panicked and made a dash to the back door. Pedro and Pete fired a few shots but the man made it to the door and opened it. He leaped out right into Smith and Smith brought the butt of his pistol down on the man's head. Soon they were fleeing the town with $3,000 in gold.


A week later they were in another town and one other man named Hans joined the gang. Hans Sulliven.

Hans was a quiet man who gambled. He was very good with a 44 and wore one in his belt. When he didn't have a gun he was very good with a knife. He carried a large Bowie knife in his boot. Hans was six feet tall and he came from Sweden.

The eight man gang planned a big bank robbery in broad daylight right in the middle of town. Five of them were to go into the bank while two would stand guard outside of the bank. The other one would go into the hotel and go to the second floor and shoot anyone who came to resist the rest of the gang. Pedro, Chico, Alberto, Smith and Hans were chosen to go in. Pete and Val stayed outside. Pablo went to the hotel. But it all failed. When the five went in there were three men besides the bankers. All three were armed. When Pedro and all pulled their guns, so did they. Suddently there was a burst of gunfire. Alberto went down wounded and Chico was dead. The three men who were waiting inside the bank were dead, but one of the bankers escaped and warned the citizens. Pete and Val rushed into the bank but Val fell down dead with two shotgun wounds in the back. Pete went down wounded. Alberto got up but got shot in the chest and fell dead. Pablo was shooting everybody he could but soon many men were already in the hotel and soon he was dead, too.

Pedro, Smith and Hans managed to escape to their horses. They left the state and decided to live in Montana. They decided to live peaceful lives and start businesses of their own in some town.

The End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Micah Daniel Newman has written several stories.
This is his first story published on the Internet.
Micah is eleven years old.

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