All My Tomorrows (35 page)

“Your father liked it too. He said this would give us time to prepare ourselves for married life.”

They sealed that with a kiss, then held hands as they watched the moonlight dance on the gurgling water. Their hands stayed locked together as they made plans for their future as countless other couples before them on earth had done. Gazing deeply into one another’s eyes, they pledged their endless love and devotion to each other.

On the ride back to town, they talked more about their
future, and soon Johnny was pulling the buggy up in front of the parsonage. The lantern on the porch was glowing. He helped Priscilla out and held her arm as he guided her up the porch steps. Lantern light showed against the curtains in the parlor, indicating that her parents were still up.

When they stopped at the door, a sudden shiver ran through Priscilla.

Johnny frowned. “Are you cold?”

“No. Your love is keeping me warm, but—”

“But what?”

“With all the joy and happiness we’ve shared this evening, I hadn’t thought of it till now.”

“What?”

“Daddy talked about it when he came into the house for lunch today. Tomorrow you and Jack Caldwell will be going after that awful Dolph Widner gang.”

“Oh. That.”

“Yes. That.”

“Honey, it’s a job that has to be done. I may have other such assignments before I go to work for Dad. But come November 1, my work will involve this town and the county. We must keep our minds fixed on that.”

A whimper escaped her tightly-pressed lips. Her eyes lifted to meet his, filled with dread. “But … but that Widner bunch are so cold-blooded, Johnny. Shouldn’t Chief Carew send more than just you and Jack?”

“He can’t spare any more men, sweetheart.”

She drew a shuddering breath and wiped at her tears.

Johnny folded her into his arms. She laid her head against his chest, wrapped her own arms around him, and held him tight. They clung to each other in silence for a long moment.

Feeling Priscilla’s trembling body next to his, Johnny silently
asked the Lord to comfort Priscilla and give her peace about his Widner assignment.

At last, Priscilla’s trembling ceased. She drew back in his arms just enough to look into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Johnny. Since the day you pinned that badge on, I’ve never been able to get used to the danger your job entails. I promise that with God’s help, I’ll do better.”

“Sweetheart, I know the life I’m asking you to live is not an easy one. But as I told Dad today, God is as able to protect and care for me as He is a carpenter or a merchant. Please don’t be afraid for me.”

Priscilla let a smile curve her lips. She reached up and caressed his cheek lovingly. “You’re right, my love. I have to learn better how to let the Lord keep me from being afraid. God says in His Word, ‘Perfect love casteth out fear.’ And we know God’s love is perfect. I will strive to always trust you into His mighty hands, and let Him cast out my fears with His perfect love. My heart and my prayers will follow you wherever you go, and whatever the dangers you face, my confidence will be in the one who promised never to leave us nor forsake us.”

She rose up on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his lips.

Johnny smiled. “That’s my girl. We must trust everything, every day, into His perfect care and plan for our lives.”

He kissed her again, then opened the door for her. “Good night, sweetheart. I’ll drive away the happiest man in the whole world. I’ll see you just as soon as I get back. Stay busy making plans for our wedding. It will occupy a lot of my thoughts as well. Remember that I love you with all of my heart, and I
will
be home soon.”

Priscilla warmed him with a smile. “I love you too, my darling. Hurry back. I’ll be waiting and praying.”

She watched Johnny move to the buggy, climb in, and shake the reins.

As it rolled away, he waved. She waved back, then stepped in, closed the door, and leaned her back against it. A lantern burned on a small table next to the door. She lifted her left hand and gazed at the ring that sparkled on her finger. With a happy heart, she headed toward the parlor door, eager to show her parents the ring and let them know that all was well concerning her future with the handsome young lawman.

The next morning, Johnny Bostin dismounted in front of the U.S. Marshal’s office, his heart throbbing with joy from the night before. When his feet touched ground and he headed toward the door, he put his thoughts on the business at hand.

As he stepped into the office, he saw Deputy Jack Caldwell sitting on a chair by the deputy at the front desk. He greeted both men, noting that Caldwell looked a bit pale. “Jack, are you not feeling well?”

“I’ve had a sour stomach since I got back from Canon City last night. I’ll be okay, though. Chief’s waiting for us in his office.”

The two deputies had a few minutes with Chief Max Carew, who cautioned them to be very careful, but assured them he had the utmost confidence that they would bring the gang to justice. He handed Johnny a slip of paper bearing the name of the farmer who had reported seeing the gang in his yard at the well, and a description of how to find the farm.

The pair mounted up and trotted their horses due south. When they rode past the spot where Johnny had proposed to Priscilla the night before, a warm feeling washed over his heart.

They arrived in Pueblo two hours later, and turned east. Just under an hour after that, they rode through the gate of the farm some twelve miles from Pueblo. Farmer Bill Farley was walking
between the house and the barn when he saw the two riders heading straight toward him. Their badges glinted in the sun.

He was smiling as they drew up. The younger one said, “Mr. Farley, I’m Deputy United States Marshal John Bostin, and this is Deputy United States Marshal Jack Caldwell. We’re on the trail of the Widner gang, and Chief Carew asked us to come by and talk to you.”

Farley nodded. “Sure. Slip outta those saddles and we’ll go sit down on the back porch of the house.”

When they were climbing the porch steps, the deputies noticed the face of a woman at the kitchen window. She smiled and disappeared.

After talking a few minutes, the deputies were assured that there were five gang members who took water from the well, and that they rode out headed due east. Farley reminded them that he heard the gang members say they were going to hole up nearby for a while and rest.

While they talked, Johnny noticed that Jack was rubbing his stomach and there was less color in his face. When they were ready to go, Jack gritted his teeth as he stood up and his hand went to his midsection.

Johnny frowned. “Jack, are you all right?”

Jack bent over. “I … I’m in a lot of pain and I’m getting nauseated. But it’ll probably pass. We need to get going.”

Johnny shook his head. “You’re in no shape to go on. I’ll go after the gang alone.”

“But it’s gonna be tough enough for two of us. You can’t go up against them alone.”

Johnny turned to the farmer. “Mr. Farley, could I get you to take this stubborn mule to the doctor in Pueblo?”

“Sure. Be glad to. I’ll take him in my wagon. You go on, Deputy.”

Johnny rode off the Farley farm. By asking questions of farmers and villagers along the way, he learned that they had seen five men riding together, a couple of days before, heading due east.

Later that afternoon, as he trotted his horse along the road, he caught sight of a group of men riding southward through a field about a quarter-mile from the road. He slowed his horse, squinted, and was able to count five riders. A moment later, they passed over a rise and disappeared.

Johnny felt sure the five riders were the ones he was pursuing. They must be holed up somewhere over the rise. He put his horse to a gallop until he reached the crest, then slowed to a walk. He saw that the riders were heading toward a small farmhouse in a grove of cottonwood trees.

He followed at a distance, making sure if they looked back, they would think he was just a rider heading across the fields, minding his own business. Drawing rein in the shade of a clump of trees about a hundred yards away, he watched them ride up to the aging old farmhouse and dismount. The place looked deserted, which made Johnny relieved. There wouldn’t be a farm family involved.

When the riders put their horses in the dilapidated old barn a few yards from the side of the house, they gathered on the front porch and sat down.

Leaving his horse in the shade of the trees, Johnny made a circle and drew up close to the farmhouse by crawling on the ground and hiding behind a large boulder that was imbedded in the soft soil. He noted that the area was cluttered with similar boulders, each rising two to three feet above the ground.

Johnny peered around the edge of the boulder and immediately recognized Dolph Widner. It was the gang for sure!

Pondering the situation for a few minutes, Johnny had an idea. He thought on it a few more minutes and decided he had
the solution. Quickly, he went back to his horse, mounted up, and galloped toward Pueblo.

When he reached Pueblo, the young lawman went into a clothing store and purchased eight hats, all with wide brims. Some were black, some were brown, and some were white.

At dawn, Deputy U.S. Marshal Johnny Bostin hunkered behind a boulder some sixty feet from the front porch of the old farmhouse where the Dolph Widner gang was holed up. He looked toward the barn, which he knew was now unoccupied. Under cover of darkness, he had gone into the barn and led all five horses to the clump of trees where he was yesterday, and tied them along with his own horse, where they couldn’t be seen from the hideout.

Johnny ran his gaze over the eight western-style hats that he had placed at different spots in a large half-circle around the front of the house. They were positioned strategically on boulders—which were large enough to hide a man—and would appear to be deputy marshals, ready to cut them down if they resisted arrest. Heavy rocks on the back sides of the hats would keep them from being blown off by the morning breeze.

Rifle in hand, Johnny had his head high enough so he could see the house, and a few feet from his head was one of the hats, making it look like two armed men behind his particular boulder.

At sunup, all five of the gang members came out onto the front porch, obviously intending to make their way to the adjacent barn.

Johnny prayed for help, waited for all five to step off the porch, then raised his head a little higher and aimed his rifle at them. “Everybody freeze right where you are! Get those hands high in the air!”

The outlaws’ heads swung around, and their eyes bulged as they saw the numerous hats, thinking they were cornered and outnumbered by a band of lawmen.

“Dolph, there are nine of ’em!” one of the gang said. “We ain’t got a chance!”

“You’re right about that, mister!” shouted the lone lawman. “My men and I are not going to play games! If you don’t drop your gun belts instantly, we’ll shoot you down like dogs and save the hangman from having to put ropes around your necks!”

Late that afternoon, Sheriff Clay Bostin was in his office when Deputy Randy Ashbrook limped through the door in a hurry, using his cane. “Sheriff! Come outside! You gotta see this!”

When the sheriff reached the boardwalk with Randy at his side, he was overjoyed to see his son dismounting with all five members of the Widner gang on their horses with their hands tied behind their backs, their faces grim and sullen.

Johnny grinned at his father. “Got room enough for Dolph and his boys in your jail, Dad?”

Clay’s mouth hung open. “How … how did you—”

“I’ll explain later, Dad. Let’s get them locked up first.”

“Where’s Jack, son?”

Johnny explained about Jack’s stomach giving him trouble yesterday morning, and that farmer Bill Farley had taken him into Pueblo to the doctor. “I stopped in Pueblo this morning and found out that Jack had to have his appendix out. He won’t be home for a week to ten days.”

By this time, a crowd was gathering around the front of the sheriff’s office.

They looked on in amazement as the sheriff said, “Son, you’re telling me that you did this all by yourself?”

Johnny grinned. “No, Dad. Not by myself. The Lord helped me.”

Johnny then went to the U. S. Marshal’s office and told the story to Chief Max Carew.

Priscilla Wheeler ran into Johnny’s arms as soon as she opened the parsonage door in response to the knock. She explained that her parents were making a visit to one of the church members on the other side of town.

They went to the Bostin home, and Mary was happy to see her son and to hear that the Widner gang was behind bars. Johnny told her that they would be transported to the Canon City prison tomorrow, where they would face the hangman.

Johnny explained to his mother about Jack Caldwell, then took Priscilla back to the parsonage and spent a few minutes telling the story to the pastor and Madelyne, who were home by then. The Lord was praised, and Johnny was invited back for dinner that evening.

When Johnny returned to the U. S. Marshal’s office, Chief Carew was standing in the front office, telling the story of the gang’s capture to two deputies who had just returned from an assignment. The deputies congratulated the young deputy, then Carew took Johnny into his office and closed the door. “Sit down, Johnny.”

Carew sat down behind his desk and leaned his elbows on the top. “I knew that President Grover Cleveland was to be up in Denver for a couple of days this week for a special meeting with the Indian agents in this part of the West. I wired Chief U.S. Marshal John Brockman in Denver an hour ago about your single-handed capture of the Widner gang, since his office has jurisdiction over this office, as you know.”

“Yes, sir. Like you and my dad, I admire Chief Brockman very much. Dad knows him personally, but I have never met him. So the president is in Denver right now?”

“Yes, and listen to this. Brockman wired me back five minutes ago. He said he went to President Cleveland and told him about your accomplishment. The president had heard about the bloody Widner gang back in Washington, D.C. Brockman’s wire informed me that President Cleveland is making a special trip down here by train tomorrow to honor you for what you did. Chief Brockman is coming with him.”