author's note: Here is the second part in the story. Now the POW switches between Pat and Billy.
Billy and Pat - Their story
Chapter 7
"What a story, Kid!" I exclaim and he smiles a mischievous smile.
"And it's not over yet, Pat," he answers.
I met Billy a few months ago, when I first came to Fort Sumner. We quickly became friends and play a lot of cards together, but today we're sitting at Beaver's saloon and Billy is telling me about all the things that have happened to him. That a youth can have experienced so much.
I like Billy, even if I can't understand all of his actions. According to the stories he is a cold-blooded killer, but I haven't seen anything like that. He's a happy and positive young man, despite all the misfortunes he has had, but I can sense the danger lurking somewhere beneath the surface. He's a man you wouldn't like to irritate. His only flaw is probably his stubbornness. If he sets out to do something, he doesn't give up until it's done, not even if it means to fly to the moon or reach the end of the rainbow. I have never met such a strong-willed person.
I'm also amazed that a man, as hunted as Billy is, can stay in New Mexico. If it had been me, I had fled to Mexico the first chance I got. Instead he stays in Fort Sumner, where everyone knows he usually is. A man with a 500 dollar reward on his head shouldn't feel safe anywhere, but Billy obviously can.
"So the story isn't finished yet?" I ask after a little while.
"No, one's life-story isn't over until you're dead, Pat, and as you can see I'm not that yet," he answers happily.
No, you're not dead yet, Billy, but I think the dark clouds are starting to gather on your horizon again. New Mexico's outlaw days are coming to an end.
Chapter 8
Pat Garrett and I sit at Beaver's saloon in Fort Sumner and he listens to my story. A bottle of whiskey is standing between us on the table, but he's the only one drinking. I don't drink. Alcohol makes the brain and reflexes slow and to me that can mean death.
Pat is an old buffalo hunter, who came to Sumner a few months ago. Here he married Apolinaria Gutierrez, the sister of one of my girlfriends. I soon discovered that he likes to play cards just as much as I do and that way we became friends. Since he's very tall and I'm a little shorter than average, people started calling us Big Casino and Little Casino.
"I would like to write a book," he says suddenly, when we have been quiet a while.
"Really, what would you write about then?" I ask.
"I don't know. My life perhaps."
"Who would like to read about a buffalo hunter's life?" I ask and start to laugh.
"I won't be a buffalo hunter for the rest of my life. I will find another job."
"If you want people to read about you, you must get a very interesting job."
"Someday, Kid, someday," he answers with a dreaming look in his eyes.
For some reason I feel a chill down my spine when I hear his words and I get a feeling that something terrible will happen soon.
Chapter 9
You can't support a family as a gambler, so I start to look for other jobs. November 2nd 1880 I get the job that I've wanted for a long time. I become the sheriff of Lincoln County. I've had enough of the criminality in New Mexico and I will try to do something about it. No outlaw will be safe in my territory. Unfortunately that includes Billy as well and it's my duty to catch him too, but since we're friends I will give him a chance to get away. If he doesn't take that chance, he will soon realize that I'm just as stubborn as he is.
Many powerful men in Lincoln has had enough of Billy the Kid and they want someone to take care of the problem. As sheriff it's my task to find a solution. I know there are worse men than him in New Mexico, but Billy is the most famous one, so it's him everyone wants to get rid of. It's not always easy to be famous.
But perhaps it's for the best that it's I who hunt Billy. I will try to catch him alive, but there are several others after him, who don't care so much about his life. The official reward is only if he's alive, but I've heard rumors that there are many who are prepared to pay a lot to the man who kills Billy.
My largest problem right now is to find men strong enough to go after Billy and his men. It must be men, who don't run as soon as the bullets start flying, which I don't doubt they will, when we are chasing Billy.
Chapter 10
I just heard that Pat has become sheriff in Lincoln County and that his first job is to catch me. I don't know if anyone has exploded of anger before, but it was close that I did. Now that feeling has been replaced by a feeling of sorrow. It feels like I've just lost a good friend. Maybe because that is exactly what I have. How could he do this to me! I've never done him anything. Never.
"At least now he'll get something to write a book about," I say bitterly to Paulita Maxwell, who's standing at the window and looking worryingly at me.
"Chivato, he will never catch you. No one will, I know that," she says with a voice smooth as silk. She knows how to calm me down when I'm angry about something.
A little later the same day one of my friends brings a message from Garrett. He wants to see me, alone, just outside of Fort Sumner. I know it's a big risk I'm taking, but I decide to ride there. Not even Garrett would sink so low, that he will use such a trick to catch me. I still trust him.
One hour after I got the message, I stand in front of Garrett at an abandoned house. He looks calmly at me, but is often glancing at my revolvers. Probably thinks I will end the chase before it has begun.
"I want you to know that I'm not doing it for the money," he then says.
"No? Then why are you doing it? Have you already forgotten that we're friends?" I answer, with anger in my voice.
"It's my duty, Billy. Someone has to bring a little law and order into New Mexico."
"And you decided to start with me?"
"No, I was told that you had to go first. I don't really want to do it, but I have to."
"Go ahead then," I challenge him. "You'll never get a better chance."
"No, I came here today because I wanted to give you a chance to get away. If you promise to run to Mexico now, I won't stop you."
"I won't run. You can't drive me out of New Mexico. I'm staying here."
"Then you will die, Kid."
"Maybe, maybe not," I answer and walk toward my horse.
I leave him there, standing in the courtyard. I know that next time we meet, it will go bad for one of us. We're two men, who never back down from anything.
Chapter 11
His blue-gray eyes are staring right at me. A look full of anger, but also something else. Could it really be grief? Then he turns around and leaves. He obviously still trusts me, but that will soon change. This was probably the last time we met as friends.
With a heavy sigh I also walk towards my horse. I didn't want it to end like this. I don't want to kill Billy, but I have a feeling that he will force me to do it.
Since I'm probably no longer welcome in Sumner anymore, I ride towards Lincoln instead. There I will try to find the men I need to catch Billy. I will make it clear to them that I want the Kid alive, but that it might not be possible. If Billy decides that he won't let himself be captured alive, there is nothing I can do to change it.
Gloom thoughts fill my head while I ride to Lincoln. Was it wrong of me to become sheriff? Billy probably sees me as a traitor now and I don't want to be that, but it's my duty to protect the law-abiding citizens of New Mexico. No one forced him to become an outlaw. Or did this hard world do that? Why am I torturing myself with this kind of thoughts? The die is cast and now there is no turning back. Neither for him nor me. This is a game only one can win and Billy's odds aren't good.
Chapter 12
As soon as I get back to Fort Sumner, I enter Beaver's saloon, where the gang is gathered. I tell them what has happened and several of them instantly get worried.
"Isn't it best that we leave New Mexico now, Billy?" asks Pickett.
"You do what you want, but I won't run," I answer with a resolute voice. "I won't let Garrett win this."
Tom, who has always been loyal to me, says that he will do whatever I do. Charlie also stays and when the others see that, they also decide to stay. No one wants to be remembered as the one who ran. We stick together until the end. Friends till death. Maybe even longer, who knows.
"But what will we do now?" Dave asks.
"What we usually do," I answer. "New Mexico is full of cattle herds, just waiting for us."
The others nod approvingly and seem to admire my calmness. Many would panic at the thought of being hunted by every sheriff in New Mexico. What I didn't tell them is that I realize that it will be dangerous to stay too long at the same place. A cattle thief moves often and is not as easily caught. I still feel safe in Sumner, but there is always a risk someone will betray me for the reward. Now that Pat turned against me, others might do the same and without friends I'm an easy prey.
We leave Fort Sumner behind us the same day and ride towards the great cattle herds, but first we must buy some supplies at Jim Greathouse's trade station near White Oaks. We have to buy food, so that we will survive long out on the prairie. Wilson is complaining about his boots being worn out and I need a new blanket, because the weather is getting worse. The cold winter is approaching.
Chapter 13
In Lincoln I find the men I need and we leave right away and start our search for Billy. Most of the men think that he has left for Mexico, but I doubt that. I know Billy, if he says he won't run, he won't do it. New Mexico is large and there are many places to hide at, but that number is shrinking fast. Billy still thinks he has friends all over New Mexico, but he will soon realize that that isn't true anymore. It's not just people in Lincoln County that are starting to get tired of the lawless state the territory is in and which Billy the Kid is a symbol of. But some people, who will always be loyal to Billy are the Hispanics and he knows that very well. He's always welcome in their villages and they protect him at any cost. If Billy decides to fully use their friendship, he will start an uprising in New Mexico. I pray that he won't go that far.
It's not an easy thing to look for Billy. There are many rumors about where he is, but they always point at different places. Some of the rumors are probably true, but it's impossible to separate them from the false ones. I'll just have to use my own head in the chase. I have the advantage of knowing Billy and he has told me about several of his usual hiding places, so I will find him sooner or later. The only thing he accomplishes by running is to put up the inevitable. He won't get away. He knows that just as well as I do.
Chapter 14
At the end of November we're at Jim Greathouse's place. He says that we can spend the night there and tomorrow we'll leave for Chisum's cattle herds. It's true that he was at our side in the war, but he abandoned us, when he realized that we would lose. He will pay for that now.
Dave, Charlie, Pickett and Wilson are playing poker. Tom is writing a letter to a relative. An aunt, I believe he said it was. I wish I had someone I could write letters to. Someone that cared about how I am. Instead I'm sitting in an armchair by the fireplace, reading a book. The Odyssey it's called. I hadn't expected to find that at Greathouse's. Read a bit of it at Tunstall's before he was murdered. We're pretty much alike, Odysseus and I. We're both wandering around looking for the way home. The only difference is that he made it. I will probably never find the way home again. I'm not even sure where "home" is.
Suddenly I hear angry voices outside. The others hear them too and Tom looks out a window.
"A large group of people are heading this way, Billy, and they don't look happy."
"Billy the Kid! It's best for you and your men to surrender at once!" a voice calls from the outside.
"Does he think it will be that easy?" I say amusingly and the others chuckle.
"If you promise not to hurt me, I will come in to talk to you," the man shouts again. "Perhaps we can solve this somehow."
Jim Greathouse agrees to act as a guarantee for the man's safety and he walks out to the posse. A minute later a deputy comes in to us.
"My name is James Carlyle," he says.
I look at him uninterestingly and Dave plays with the hammer of his gun all the time. This is evidently making Carlyle nervous, which might not be so strange. He can't be sure that we care very much about what happens to Greathouse.
"You mentioned something about that we could solve this somehow," I say after a little while.
"Yes, my proposition is that if you surrender now, you'll get a fair trial. Otherwise the risk is large that you'll die in this house or that the posse lynches you. I don't think I'll be able to control everyone."
"That is your proposition? Die now or later? Not much of a deal," I say annoyingly.
"You do realize that you're not getting out of here?" Carlyle asks nervously.
"How can you be so sure about that? I've gotten out of worse places before."
Right then a gunshot is heard from the outside. Carlyle, who probably thinks Greathouse has been killed, jumps out a window. The posse outside thinks it's me or someone else in the gang, so they start shooting. When they realize who it is they have shot, it's already too late. They killed their own deputy. Shocked over the incident they leave.
"It's probably best that we also get out of here," says Charlie and of course we agree.
A few minutes later we leave Greathouse's trade station and I know that I will be charged with another murder. I never fired a shot, but I'm the one who will be blamed for Carlyle's death. Isn't it a strange world we're living in?
Chapter 15
I arrived in White Oaks the day after Billy left. We instantly hear what has happened. They say Billy the Kid shot their deputy, James Carlyle, when he tried to arrest him. There is something about their story that doesn't sound right. Their eyes say that they aren't telling everything. I wonder what really happened in White Oaks.
By now Billy has probably realized that he hasn't got as many friends as he thought. A posse like that would never had been formed before. Then the people neither wanted nor dared to go against him, but that has changed now.
A few days later I hear about a letter Billy wrote to governor Wallace. There he tells his side of the story about what happened in White Oaks. He says he didn't kill Carlyle. Many people think that letter is a lie, but I don't think Billy is lying. Why would he? He is already charged with murder, so another murder doesn't really matter. This also ruins the image of him as a cold-blooded killer. A man like that almost brags about how many he has killed and if someone accuses him of another murder, he doesn't try to prove his innocence. Billy may be a lot of things, but I don't think he's a liar. Not more than everyone else anyway.
The track then leads to the big cattle herds and that is probably Billy's goal. He doesn't let himself be bothered by the fact that everybody is chasing him, but I will give him something to worry about. He can't escape me. To hunt him all across the prairie is pointless, but I know where he usually is when he's not stealing cattle. In Fort Sumner.
Chapter 16
Another successful deal. We took some of Chisum's cows and sold them to one of his rivals, so now we have enough money to last a while. Right now I just want to get back to Fort Sumner again. It's already dark, but I don't want to sleep outside in the cold this night as well. Tonight I want to sleep in a warm bed, maybe with a pretty girl beside me.
We're getting closer to Sumner now. It's a starlit night and a thin layer of snow is on the ground. It's December 19th today, I think. It's easy to lose track off the days, when you live like I do. We're all tired, because we have been riding all day. I had trouble sleeping the night before. I dreamt about my own death. I was lying on the ground, shot in the heart. A crying woman, whose face I couldn't see, was kneeling beside me. My lifeless eyes captured the moonlight and for a moment they seemed to be alive again, but then darkness was spreading in them. I wonder if it was a glimpse of the future I saw in my dream?
When we're just outside of Fort Sumner I hear Tom, who's riding in the front, cry out and then a lot of shots are fired at us. Without seeing who it is that is shooting, I know it's Garrett. I see how Tom is hit by a bullet and realize that I've just lost another friend. The rest of us turn around and ride away as fast as we can, but you can't ride very fast in the dark. If a horse breaks a leg, the rider is finished.
I soon notice that Garrett isn't after us. But he's in no hurry. The snow will make it very easy for him to track us tomorrow. If God decides to be on my side for once, he will make it snow more tonight and cover our tracks, but that might be too much to ask for.
When we finally stop to rest, the grief over Tom's death hits me. My best friend is dead. Killed by another friend, who has turned against me. Killed because of me. The bullet was meant for me. It wasn't Tom who was supposed to die tonight. It was me.
Chapter 17
We see some riders approaching and I instantly know who they are. Me and my men make ourselves ready. When the riders are right in front of us, I order them to stop, but instead some of them draw their revolvers. I order my men to shoot and at the same time I fire a shot at the man in the front. He slumps in the saddle and for a moment I think I've killed Billy, but when the rider reaches us, I see that it's Tom O'Folliard. I'm almost relieved that it wasn't Billy.
By now the other riders have turned around and left and some of my men think that we should get after them right away, but I think it's best to wait. Instead I tell some of them to help Tom down from his horse. The boy isn't dead yet, but there's nothing I can do to save his life. I can only make his death as easy as possible. We carry him into a house and place him on a blanket.
I sit beside him the whole time and watch as the life is leaving him. One moment he prays to God for forgiveness for what he has done and the next he curses me for shooting him. I've killed before, but I've never seen anyone die this close. It's feels like a small part of me is dying with every painful breath he takes. It takes almost an hour before he finally lets go of this world. With his final breath he asks me to mail a letter, which he has in his pocket, to his aunt, where he says that he's fine. A second later he dies.
With a heavy heart I rise and walk out to the others, who are sitting in another room playing poker.
"Is he dead yet?" one of the men asks, just as calmly as if he was asking what time it is.
"Yes," I answer sadly.
I don't know why I feel so sad. I have only done my duty. Killing an outlaw shouldn't affect me like this, but it does. Maybe because I know my friend, Billy, will end this way and that it's probably I who do it to him. Duty or not, killing someone feels awful.
to be continued…