Vengeance

V. Cafiero Alfred

Description

Within the pages of this novel you will read of riveting action and adventure, romance, philosophy and Civil War history. The era is post-Civil War when pioneers from the east migrated westward in search of opportunity and security in land ownership. The destruction murder, rape and arson of homestead family by three desperados, lead the surviving child Billy Reed to grow up seeking vengeance on the three miscreants responsible for the atrocities committed against his family. While growing up Billy befriended a well-known gun slinger and bounty hunter named Joe Young, who taught Billy everything he knew about shooting and tracking outlaws. Joe Young became Billy's adopted brother and accompanied Billy on his search for the three villains. To complete his education, Billy sought out the famous Simon Ganz, the best sharp shooter and paladin in the West, for his wisdom and knowledge in apprehending criminals and lawbreakers. The friendship between Simon and Billy developed into a father and son relationship, which necessitated that Simon tag along on Billy's mission. The manner in which the three scoundrels were apprehended is a study in strategy only Simon Ganz could provide. The destiny and fate of the three rogues would be decided by Billy.

Sujets

• Western
• Western (genre)
• Westerns

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781506903293
• Langue: English

Extrait

Vengeance
Alfred V. Cafiero

First Edition Design Publishing
Sarasota, Florida
Vengeance
Copyright ©2016 Alfred V. Cafiero

ISBN 978-1506-903-28-6 PRINT
ISBN 978-1506-903-29-3 EBOOK

LCCN 2016955900

March 2017

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL R I G H T S R E S E R V E D. No p a r t o f t h i s b oo k pub li ca t i o n m a y b e r e p r o du ce d, s t o r e d i n a r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m , o r t r a n s mit t e d i n a ny f o r m o r by a ny m e a ns ─ e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o - c o p y , r ec o r d i n g, or a ny o t h e r ─ e x ce pt b r i e f qu ot a t i o n i n r e v i e w s , w i t h o ut t h e p r i o r p e r mi ss i on o f t h e a u t h o r orpublisher .
Acknowledgment

I would liketo thank Mrs. Judy Garguilo for reviewing my book for pun ctuationand grammatical errata.
The Overture

My name is Harry Dillon and I am areporter for the Republic newspaper located in Dallas, Texas. For over twodecades I’ve traveled the Southwest from Texas to California and from Oklahomato the Mexican border and beyond. My assignment was to uncover interestingstories, tales, and legends of historical events concerning the post-Civil Warera that would titillate the imagination of our readers. Some tales werefolklore passed down from generation to generation, others appeared inpamphlets and newspapers of the period and still others were nuncupative.During the course of my travels the names of three individuals Simon Ganz,Billy Reed and Joe Young - surfaced repeatedly. Whether I was traveling throughTexas or the New Mexico territory their names would be evoked duringconversation. At times the tales of these individuals would be revealed inlengthy stories by old timers, encouraged by a few glasses of whiskey; but moreoften than not, I would obtain this information by bits and drabs whenever thenames of these individuals were mentioned.
Finallyafter decades of traversing the Southwest, witnessing the departure of most ofmy hair and growing gray at the temples in the pursuit of history andentertainment, I decided to retire to the solitude of my office in Dallas toreview and analyze the many tales and stories I’ve heard together with thefragmentary reports tucked away in my files and try to piece together a cogentstory which could breathe life into one of the great sagas of the AmericanWest.
The actiontook place in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The War Between theStates had ended and slowly receded onto the pages of history. People in theNorth and South were beginning to think of themselves as Americans, rather thanNew Yorkers, Virginians, or Texans. Antebellum America witnessed the westwardmigration of Easterners in search of adventure and to lay claim to land andsettle new territories. The influx of new pioneers continued well after the endof the Civil War, which brings the reader to the beginning of this Westernsaga. It would be impossible to separate the stories of these individuals sincetheir lives were interwoven with destiny.
At times youmay question the veracity of my knowledge of that which had transpired betweentwo individuals when I was not privileged to be present during their discourse.I can justify this interpolation by many years of research, resulting in anintimate knowledge of their character and disposition as it relates to theirmeetings. Now I will put my pen to paper and begin the saga of Simon Ganz,Billy Reed, and Joe Young.
Chapter One
The Escape

I t was high noon on a dry and sunny Saturday morning in Astec, NewMexico, when the weekly stagecoach left town. The stagecoach kicked up a cloudof dust as it left the outskirts of town, when a frail 12 year old boy jumpedon to the rear portion of the stagecoach and held on for dear life.
Inside thecoach were a woman and two gentlemen. The woman was middle aged and welldressed and judging by her appearance she was well to do. She wore a beautifulfull length royal blue dress with white lacing aroundthe collar and wrists and on top of her head was an attractive blue bonnet with three yellow feathers protruding from the rim. Whatwas conspicuously absent from her integuments was the lack of jewelry; she woreno earrings, no necklace, no bracelets, nor rings. It was a bit unusual to seea well-dressed woman completely void of jewelry, looking so out of place;similar to a person putting on clean clothes on an unwashed body. However,occasionally a faint metallic sound could be heard emanating from beneath hergarments. She did indeed have jewelry, lots of it, all of which was neatlytucked away in a leather pouch and sewed to her undergarments. She was prudentenough to realize that stagecoaches sometimes get robbed by bandits and she wastaking no chances traveling through open country with little or no protection.
One of theother passengers riding the stagecoach was an elderly man in his early sixtieswearing a black suit, white shirt, a black ribbon tie dangling from his neckand wearing a black derby hat. He would occasionally look over his glasses toscrutinize the other passengers. His occupation was bank inspector and he wastraveling to El Paso for his next assignment. The only indication of hisopulence was a gold chain stretched across his chest, with an elegant timepiece attached to one end and tucked in his vest pocket.
The thirdpassenger was an unemployed cowboy, traveling to El Paso in search ofemployment. He was an attractive young man in his late twenties, a typicalcowboy in blue jeans, plaid shirt, and of course a six shooter hanging from hisside. He was clean shaven and sat with his hat pulled over his eyes, pretendingto be asleep.
As thestagecoach rambled on, the trail to El Paso was dusty and bumpy, unfit for fourwheel travel which made it uncomfortable for the passengers within; especiallyfor Billy hanging on to the rear of the stagecoach. Finally, about five milesout of town Billy thought now was an opportune time to make his presence known.Billy was getting tired and didn’t think he had the strength to hang on muchlonger. He therefore began to bang on the wooden portion of the coach toattract the attention of the occupants within. They were all quite puzzled asto what could be causing such a racket. The stagecoach driver also became awareof the extraneous noise and decided to stop the coach to investigate. Just asthe coach slowed down preparing to stop, Billy dropped to the ground completelyexhausted. The coachman realized it was the boy making the noise, and rushedover to Billy. Standing over the boy the coachman shouted, “Whatthe hell are you doing hitching a ride on this coach?”
Billy wastoo exhausted to reply. He looked at Billy for a few seconds and said, “Well,I can’t leave you here in the desert, so climb aboard and I’ll deal with youlater.”
As Billyclimbed aboard the coach, all eyes began to scrutinize him, probably wonderingwhat possible reason could this boy have for taking such drastic action as tohitch a ride to El Paso. Up till now the passengers in the coach were extremelyreticent and hardly spoke two words to each other. But Billy’s presence seemedto loosen up their tongues, commencing in conversation.
“What’s yourname son? And where are your parents?” Asked the matronly woman.
“My name isBilly Reed,” replied the boy.
Thatexchange prompted the woman to reply, “And my name is Rose Engle.”
The cowboydidn’t wait to be asked his name and chimed in, “They call me Tim Thompson andwhat might your name be Sir?”
“A1Forkenbush, but everyone in the banking business calls me A1 Fingers because ofmy profession,” retorted the bank examiner.
Now thateveryone was formally introduced all eyes were now focused on Billy, whocontinued his explanation, saying, “My parents are both dead;they died during the last fever that hit Astec some time back and I’m on my wayto El Paso to try and locate an elderly aunt of mine.”
Everyonefound Billy’s explanation a little strange, but accepted it without question.
Now theconversation focused on the passengers in the coach. Curiosity was mounting asto why each was going to El Paso. The reasons why Tim Thompson and “A1 Fingers”were simple enough - employment and bank inspection; but why was Rose Engleleaving Astec, New Mexico? She was relatively well to do coming from a smallpoor town like Astec, this was most unusual. When asked why she was leavingAstec, Rose would equivocate in explaining her reasons for leaving Astec. Rosewould only say that she was going to El Paso for business reasons and thatAstec was too small a town for expanding her business, and that was as far asher explanation went. The occupants of the coach continued their amiableconversation with each other, and became quite friendly and sociable by thetime the stagecoach reached its first watering hole and rest area. This was anopportune time for the coachman to pull Billy aside and interrogate himfurther. He walked over to Billy, put his arm around Billy’s shoulder, andsaid, “Now Billy, why was it necessary for you to hitch a ride in such adangerous manner like that? Why didn’t you just ask for a ride to El Paso?”
“For onething, I didn’t have the fare and I wasn’t sure I could ride free.”
“If you hadexplained your circumstances in town, you might have gotten a ride.”
“If I hadexplained my reasons a whole lot more questions would have been asked and Istill might not have gotten a ride. I really couldn’t take that chance,” saidBilly.
“Well, whywas it so important for you to leave town in such a hurry Billy?”
“I wouldrather not answer that question Sir, if you don’t mind?”
“Why don’tyou tell me the real reason you had to leave town in such a hurry. Did you killsomebody or rob a bank?” asked the coachman jokingly.
Billy smiledand said, “No, nothing like that. It’s really a personal matter and I wouldbe much obli