I should have never allowed Cody to talk me into going to Prosperity. We were on an important run and needed to get to Fort Laramie, and still had a ways to go before we arrived there.
Cody gave me that 'hanged dog' look of his and I gave in. A little side trip couldn't put us off our task for too long, and it was better than listening to Cody moan and groan all the way to Fort Laramie.
The folks were an odd bunch in Prosperity. Everyone was looking down on the ground as we passed them by as we walked our horses down the main street of the town. I wondered what that was all about to myself.
We found a saloon and went inside. We ordered sarsaparilla at the bar and about choked on the cool beverages, when the bartender told us the high cost to them. Cody got a friendly invite to go upstairs with a saloon girl and another talked me into a game that landed me into hot water with the law in town, and was soon forced into doing hard time.
Turns out there were other men who had landed in trouble and doing hard time as well. Men who hadn't seen their families in years. None of them had a way of getting word to anyone to come help them.
Fortunately, I did. Cody alerted the others about me getting thrown in jail on our run. When I didn't show up like I was suppose to, they came looking for me. Not only did they free men, but they also freed the other men as well.
Once again I am reminded that I am no longer alone in the world. I had friends, a family, really, who cared about me enough to come looking for me when I didn't return home like I was supposed to. And I would do the same thing for them.