**July 8th 1868**

The wagon trundled down the road toward Newman. Rick and Shane sat on top of it as the two mules hauled them over the rough dirt.

"Thanks for given me a hand with this." Rick said to his friend.

"Of course." Shane responded laying back onto the bales of cotton behind them. "How much you think you're gonna make out of it all this year?"

"I don't know. Hopefully enough to keep the place maintained."

"Man I don't get you." said Shane, "If I had all that land I'd just grow cotton. With all the big plantations down on production that shit's in high demand right now."

"Yeah but food's also in demand. I want to make sure my family's fed before I try getting rich." Rick chuckled, "Maybe if I was single like you I'd do it. Hell I'd tear down my barn so I could grow cotton there too." He pushed his hat back on his head.

Shane chuckled from behind him. "Why are you still wearing that stupid 'Boss of the Plains' hat? I figured you'd have gotten rid of the ridiculous thing by now. You look like a Texas cowboy."

"Hey don't go insulted my hat. It's practical, it may not be popular Georgia yet but it will be."

Shane just shook his head grinning. "Hey" he said seriously, "why aren't you bringing Carl with us?" He asked, "He's old enough to start helping out on these trips."

Carl had asked Rick that same question the night before. He had wanted to come with his dad and see the town. "I can do most everything else on the farm dad." The eleven year old had said, "Let me help you with cotton sale."

"Selling cotton isn't normally part of our farming son." Rick had told him, "By the time you're grown up running your own farm you won't need to worry about it." He gave Shane a different answer.
"This country still on edge Shane. The Klan is killing people; blue-coats are crackdown on the Klan... I want keep Carl from all that. Keep him safe. For as long as I can."

"You can't keep him safe forever." Shane told him.

"I know." Rick said half nodding to himself, "Maybe another year or two though."

The two men rode in silence and Rick was fairly certain that Shane was dozing off on the cotton behind him. They were nearing the village of Bexar when Rick heard a woman's scream. "Whoa!" He cried. Shane shot up straight as the mules came to a stop.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I'm gonna find out." Rick told him hopping off the wagon. He drew his 1860 colt and Shane reached behind their seat and pulled out his Enfield rifle before joining Rick on the ground. They crept through the trees toward the town both of them priming their weapons as they went. On the other side of the trees was a small clearing and in it stood six men and with them was a Negro woman and boy not much older than Carl. Both of them were tied and gagged and above them two nooses hung from tree branches.

"Those are Klansmen." Shane whispered.

"Yeah." Rick responded. Two of the men were dragging the woman toward one of the nooses. The back end of the rope was tied to a horse ready to charge and hang the woman at a single command. Rick cocked his pistol and stepped forward.

"Rick don't!" Shane whispered forcefully. Rick ignored him. "Goddammit Rick stop!" Rick stepped out of the clearing.

"Let the woman and the boy go." The men turned and looked at him. They were a rough looking lot, and they were all armed.

"Who the hell are you?" One of them demanded.

"Doesn't matter who I am. You need to let them go."

"What are you? Some kind of Nigger lover?!" The man spat.

"You're gonna let them go or I'll have to shoot one of you." Rick said. They looked around at each other. The one who appeared to be the leader spoke again.

"Yeah that's not gonna happen traitor." He reached for his gun. Rick pulled the trigger. The man stumbled backwards and Rick cocked his gun again and shot at another one. The sound of multiple gun shots echoed through the air and Rick's vision suddenly went dark. The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground.

Notes:

The "Boss of the Plains" hat was the first version of the famous "Cowboy Hat". It was invented by John B. Stetson in 1865. It became very popular in the west bu it's popularity in the rest of the U.S. was minimal. I've included it in this story as replacement to Rick's Sheriff's Deputy's hat in the show.

I have a particular fascination for Civil War weapons and will be explaining them more detail later in the story. In this chapter Rick carries an 1860 "army" colt, the most popular side arm in the Civil war. Shane meanwhile has a 1853 Enfield, a British made rifle popular among Confederate soldiers. Like I said I'll be explaining these and other weapons in more detail in later chapters but if you're interested in looking them up yourself you're welcome to do so.