Bushwhacked In Casitas Springs

Bushwhacked in Casitas Springs

by Randall Smith



Cast of Characters:



Jason Reilly -  Newly appointed Federal Marshall.

Kitty McCloud – Beautiful daughter of Daniel (Digger) McClould , recently murdered.

Faro (Pharo) Spence -  Murderous gang leader.

Juanita – Owner of Juanita's Cantina (and Jason's cousin on his mothers side)

Kathryn “Peaches”  Malloy – Singer, Dancer, Server of good food at Juanita's Cantina.



Setup



On September 9th 1890, California officially became 31st State of the United States of America.  Congress immediately approved funds to bring law and order to the new State......Jason Reilly was the man for the job.  Jason was born in California..spoke fluent Spanish and was hell with a gun.



Scene One.....late in the evening.....somewhere high the Sierra Nevada's, the year was 1851.



Kitty McCloud, Daughter of Digger McCloud, sat quietly near the mines entrance, hidden from view.  A .50 caliber Sharps was cradled in her lap....Digger lay dead from a bushwhackers bullet in front of the mine's shaft.  As far as she knew, the snake of a bushwhacker didn't know she was there.  It was getting dark and she knew what she had to do.  She had to find a way to get to town and find help. 

That was not going to be easy by no means.  Kitty was a pretty blonde and blue eyed young girl of just sixteen. She had been going to school at the old Spanish Mission in San Juan Capistrano when she got word that her father needed her.  Digger felt it was as safe a place as he could find while he went off in search of California's Gold fields...That was more than four years ago....and he had finally found it!  He had paid the price for coming into the sleepy village a few days earlier to buy supplies.  For payment, he offered up to the store keeper a granite rock as big as your fist...emblazoned with veins of quartz and gold.    Under the cover of darkness, Kitty made her way to Casitas Springs and the back door of Juanita's Cantina....A warm, safe place or so she thought. 

 

Faro Spence ruled all of Casitas Springs.....A small town located high in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada's, fifty miles East of  Pueblo Los Angeles.  Casitas Springs was once a favorite stopover for Chumash Indian's on their back to their villages in the Great Mojave Basin after trading with the coastal Chumash tribes.  Now, Casitas Springs was a quiet stop for Westbound travelers seeking a faster route to the Pueblos of Santa Fe Springs and Los Angeles (City of the Angels). Faro had made Juanita's Cantina his home base of outlaw operations.  And, Faro knew of the unusual payment five minutes after Digger had left the Mercantile with his supplies.



“Miguel” Spence said quietly, spilling his drink on his chest as he threw down yet another shot of rot gut whiskey.....”Get over to Digger's place.....I want me that Gal of his.....and him dead.....got it!  “Si Senior Spence”.....and Miguel rode out with murder in his heart....and a little lust for the little blonde girl as well.



Faro Spence stood at least six foot five and was maybe two hundred and fifty pounds of pure meanness.  Dirty black hair framed an ugly face.  A former Ships Captain, Slaver, Murderer and Thief.  Faro had gotten into more trouble than he could handle down San Diego way and found Casitas Springs to be very lucrative and remote.  He and his men (most of them mercenaries and on the run)...had taken over Casitas Springs and made it their personal property.  Robbing, killing and plundering was all in a days fun for this bunch.



End of Scene One



Scene Two – A new gun in town.



Two days ago I walked my big Ol' Roan into Casitas Springs.....I'd been passing this way for a couple of years now and it wasn't the same sleepy Mexican village I remembered...Juanita's Cantina was at the edge of the town...and I was hungry. I just wanted to have some of Juanita's Cowboy Tacos and maybe a shot or two of her homemade Tequila...and... I wondered if Peaches, was still serving up meals and entertaining everyone with her songs....as she did last Spring.  But that's another story.  As I said, I was just passing through and I had a long way to go yet. Ya see, there was this new village established by the Mormons, called Las Vegas and they needed Guides to take travelers through the Mohave Desert and over the High Sierra Nevada Mountains...only one problem....lately, most of the folks making the trip never ever seemed to make it past Casitas Springs.....and that was a problem for the newly established State of California.



As I rambled in on the one and only dirt road into and out of Casitas Springs.....I just happened to see this pretty little Filly.....(blonde and blue eyed).....hurrying down the towns only board walk.... carrying a Sharps .50 caliber rifle.  She kept looking back over her shoulder.....and darn it...I could see that she was crying....Something was very wrong.  Me being me,  I  took in the scene.....and unstrung my brand new side arm,  a Colt Revolving Belt Pistol of Naval Caliber. (.36) and slung my reins around a hitching post.  Silently, I stepped into a darkened doorway....Two hombres were on my left...across the muddy street....another two were just up ahead on my right...astride strong and nimble Mustangs...this was trouble about to happen......Damn! Why  me Lord!  Then is big guy......and I mean really tall..... stepped out of my favorite Cantina.....and into the street.....staggering.....He was obviously three sheets to the wind...and no threat to me..



“Kitty McCloud! “ he bellowed......”Ya got a choice!    Marry me tonight or I'll let my men to have you tomorrow....Either way you might like it”....as Faro Spence swaggered down the boardwalk...drunk....and laughing....a very mean laugh.    .



I could see that these Hombres were meaning to take this little filly one way or another.....On a Saturday night......and no one cared.  All the shops were closed and streets empty...How had Casitas Springs become this way I wondered...Lawless and Immoral.  Okay, here goes, and a took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.......my .36 caliber Colt Revolver in hand...Sometimes ya just gotta make your own law.



  “Now Boys......Either you pull against me...or you don't.....I don't much care. But you ain't going to be breathing much longer if ya touch that there young lady. ” I told'em in a clear and strong voice so they'd know my meaning.....these two greasy sons of bitches....laughed...it was two against one and they saw me as an easy target.



In half a second they both pulled down on me......Three guns exploded in the night....Theirs and mine! But it was their blood that mixed with the mud of the street that night.  I turned to face down the other two, soon to be dead, Bandito's.....and took dead aim.  One Hombre did manage to get a shot off and missed....the other died instantly with a bullet to his brain basket.  When it was done, two more outlaws were dead and I still had two cartridges left in my Colt.....The tall man lay in the street....passed out...the drunkard....I kicked him aside the head just to make sure he had a headache in the morning....   



“Senior Reilly?...Jason?”  Juanita called out into the darkness. “Are you hurt?...Are you hungry?  I told  Peaches to make a table for you”.  I could hear a faint hint of humor in her voice.



“Juanita.....Ya got any more of those Cowboy Tacos left?”......and is Peaches still mad at me?.  “Yes and Yes Senior Jason......Oh, and can I say...You need a bath!  Come with me”......



(Oh yes...I should mention that Juanita is my cousin....on my mothers side)........



End of Scene Two