The Stockton Saga
Dawn Of The Gunfighter
by
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By the early hours just before dawn, Jasper and Cole were in position. They lay on the ground about thirty yards from each other and facing the outlaw camp. Each held his pistol ready. Just as the dawn broke over the horizon, the outlaw who stood watch during the night reached over and tossed a good sized-log on the fire. It blazed up. He picked up the coffee pot and as he turned to his canteen for water, he suddenly saw Jasper rise up from the ground. "Texas Ranger! Drop your guns and grab sky!" The outlaw fancied himself a fast draw and as he moved to unbuckle his gunbelt, he drew and leveled his revolver at Jasper. Jasper squeezed off his own Colt at the same time, and each was hit by the other. The outlaw never knew what hit him. Jasper's bullet smacked into his heart. Jasper was hit high in the chest and he slammed to the ground, unmoving. The other three outlaws jumped to their feet drawing their weapons as they did. They saw their partner fall dead and the Ranger slam backward. They started toward Jasper with drawn and cocked revolvers. "Make sure that damn Ranger is dead." Suddenly, Cole stood up to the side of them, Colt revolver in hand and a determined look on his face. "Damn, another one. Let's smoke him down." Cole immediately shot the tall one on the far right in the chest, then turned his gun on the short one to the left. The bullet whizzed through the man's shirt sleeve and pillowed up dirt the other side of him. The center man fired at Cole and the bullet tore through Cole's baggy shirt around the waist. Cole pointed his revolver and shot the man point blank in his paunchy stomach. The man doubled over in wrenching pain as the hot fire burned in his gut. The short remaining outlaw went crazy. He moved toward Cole Stockton, gun blazing. Cole stood his ground and taking careful aim, and shot the man dead center in the chest. The outlaw slammed backward with the first round, his eyes wide with disbelief that a skinny kid could shoot like that. The second bullet caught him an inch lower than the first, and the third tore through his right cheek to exit the back of his skull. The outlaw jerked straight back and fell to the ground. All four of the outlaws were dead. Cole moved quickly to Jasper and examined him. He was out cold and bleeding. Cole went to Jasper's saddlebags and grabbed up his spare shirt. He tore it into strips and wadded a large piece into a compress. He placed it snugly against the wound, then bound it securely in place with the strips of cloth. That bullet had to come out and Cole had never done anything like that before. He must get Jasper to the Stockton homestead. Flint and Johanna would know what to do. Cole rigged a travois to Jasper's horse, then dragged the fallen Ranger to it. He rolled Jasper's heavy frame onto the litter, then used his rope to secure him to it. Next, Cole gathered up the dead men and after saddling their horses, laid the bodies over their saddles and tied them on. He smothered out their camp fire with handfuls of dirt, and the remnants of their coffee. He then mounted his own dun-colored horse and turned toward the Stockton home, leading a string of horses with the wounded Jasper and four dead outlaws.
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About the Book
Flint Stockton served gallantly at San Jacinto and afterward moved northward intent on gathering stray cattle and horses to start a ranch. He meets Johanna McKenna on a westward wagon train; they marry and strike out on their own to build a family along the Comanche Trace, the ancient Comanche war trails.
Their first son, Cole, seems born to the gun. It is a wild, untamed, lawless land in an era where every mother’s son carries a gun and knows how to use it. Some are better than others and with the reputation come stories about those who bear the title gunfighter. Cole’s travels put him in contact with ruthless, savage men who are used to having their own way and taking what they want from hapless victims. He is forced to defend himself, and does so with fire in his soul. Out of necessity, he becomes a lonely man, drifting from town to town, untrusting except to himself.
From child on the Texas frontier to adulthood as a man behind the gun, Cole Stockton searches for his destiny, struggles with his direction in life, and emerges as a gunfighter whose moral code makes him a man of justice.
About the Author
Steven Douglas Glover is the author of A Shiny Christmas Star: An Old West Christmas Trilogy and The Stockton Saga; Dawn of the Gunfighter. He is a twenty-six year veteran of the United States Air Force residing in central Texas. Raised in a military family, he traveled the United States and lived in such places as Montana, Colorado, California, Kansas, and Texas. He is a member of WWA (Western Writers of America).