Chapter 2: The Shooting

JJ was up at the crack of dawn. He got into his Bible and prayed to prepare himself for the day. He memorized the Bible verse that he would meditate on that day. He had his chores done in record time. He just could not believe he would be in the gun-shooting contest, but he was ready. The night before, he had rubbed down his holster with saddle soap and oiled his guns.

There were twenty entries in the contest. The platform was built with an arm extending out over the street. At the top of the arm were two turnbuckles, one at each end of the arm. A rope was run through both turnbuckles and down to the street, then to the man pulling the rope from the side of the platform which enabled him to be out of the line of fire. A bottle was tied to the end of the rope in the middle of the street. Another rope ran alongside, marking each foot from the ground up. The man pulling the rope would then pull the rope to the designated elevation. The contest would begin with the bottle being pulled up to ten feet and, when the contestant was at a line thirty feet away and nodded his head, the person holding the rope would then drop it anytime within ten seconds.

JJ was the first to go. This took a lot of pressure off him, as it allowed him to set the height. He had practiced this many-a-time with John and Jim, who were there watching to give him support.

JJ said "Let's start," and nodded his head.

JJ had no problem hitting the bottle. Then, twelve men hit the bottle, and so it went down foot by foot until there were only six feet left to go. There were three men besides JJ who would compete. Nervously, JJ prepared himself at the line. He looked dead straight at the bottle. The instant he nodded his head, the bottle dropped, catching him by surprise. His shot caught the bottle just below the knot of the rope, barely making it.

JJ could not believe his luck when the other men, one-by-one, including the one who won last year, missed, making JJ the winner!

JJ was speechless as he accepted the two Colts. Even though everybody hollered "Speech! Speech!" he simply couldn't get the lump out of his throat to open his mouth.

Suddenly, all was forgotten when a blood-curdling scream was heard from way down the street.

As everyone looked in the direction of the scream, a gunshot rang out and a man was seen running out of Mr. Hornsby's store. Jumping on a big Appaloosa Stallion, he was seen racing around the corner of Mr. Hornsby's building on the side street and then out of sight.

A chill went through JJ. This man looked very familiar. He could swear it was the same man that he had seen nearly four years ago riding away when his daddy was robbed and killed.

With the box of new guns gripped tightly in one arm, JJ was way ahead of everyone, except for JJ's girlfriend, Ruth. They raced down the street towards Hornsby's General Store. Ruth was Mr. Hornsby's daughter.

Ruth was one year younger than JJ. She was tall and slim and looked breathtaking in any dress she wore. Her father had raised her from birth, as her mother had died giving birth to her.

They moved to Fort Benton from Chicago a couple of months before Mr. Hornsby bought JJ's daddy's store and turned it into Hornsby's General Store. JJ and Ruth had been sweet on each other from the first time they met.

As they entered the store, he saw Mr. Hornsby lying on the floor near the potbelly stove. Ruth stood by the potbelly stove unable to say a word. JJ dropped down next to him and saw he was still alive, but very weak. After a quick look, JJ saw he was shot high in the chest, close to his neck away from his heart. JJ noticed that Mr. Hornsby's right hand was clenched in a fist.

"Mr. Hornsby, relax; you are going to be all right." JJ then said a prayer to encourage him, trying to make him relax.

JJ tenderly opened the fist. He retrieved a button that Mr. Hornsby had ripped off the man's shirt while struggling with him. JJ noticed Mr. Hornsby smile faintly as he removed the button from his hand. He quickly put the button in his pocket before anyone else saw it.

"Make way for the Doc!" someone shouted.

Doc Azor was a very short and heavy Jewish man with gray hair. He waddled when he walked and there was no such thing as running. JJ's mom came in behind Doc Azor.

"Move back, JJ," said Doc Azor as he managed to work his way to them.

Getting down on his knees, he checked Mr. Hornsby over very carefully. Doc Azor was one of the best doctors in the entire country. He had graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude. He had majored in medicine and was the best doctor and surgeon this side of New York City.

"He'll be all right," said Doc Azor.Doc Azor then said, "JJ, get another man and carry him to my office."

When she saw for sure that Terry Hornsby would be okay, Beth even though she wanted to be with him, left, as she knew her son would be leaving to trail the man who had done this and would need supplies. She also knew this was the same man that shot her husband.

Mr. Hornsby was carried to Doc's office with Ruth following closely behind. While leaving Doc's office, JJ assured Ruth that her daddy would be okay.

JJ left immediately to get his horse. Knowing there would be others who would want to form a posse, he wanted to get a jump-start on them. The skills he had learned from his daddy and Chief Running Bear, which he had practiced so much, were about to be tested. Racing home, he encountered his mom going into the house.

"Mom, Mr. Hornsby will be okay. He's not too bad off," said JJ trying to comfort her. He knew his mom liked Mr. Hornsby very much.

"I know JJ. As soon as I see you off, I will go to encourage him though. I know it was the man that shot your daddy. I saw him, too. Let the Holy Spirit lead you, son," said his mom sadly, but encouragingly.

She knew there would be no stopping him. JJ was ready for the task at hand and it seemed as though at last, justice would be dealt to her husband's killer. She prayed for JJ's safe return.

"Get your horse saddled and I'll get your provisions," said his mom, as JJ headed for the barn.

Sawdust neighed with excitement when he saw JJ get the bridle from its peg. He knew it was time for action. JJ had paid two hundred dollars for Sawdust. He had earned this money also by repairing guns. The saddle had been thrown in, but he had worked very hard in order to afford Sawdust. JJ had just gotten new saddlebags and a rawhide bedroll. He put the new Colts in the left saddlebag, for he had not proved them.

Sawdust was a big Palomino, seventeen hands high and weighed almost twelve hundred pounds. His color was like a newly minted gold coin. His eyes were hazel and his mane and tail were pure white. JJ had trained Sawdust well. He had taught him to come when he whistled.

Nobody, but nobody, could ride Sawdust but JJ. JJ could shoot while hanging from the side under Sawdust's neck. Sawdust would rear up on his hind legs and paw the air when JJ said, "Get him!"

There were countless other tricks JJ had taught Sawdust to do that would prove to be useful. Sawdust had been very easy to train.

As JJ led Sawdust out of the barn, his mom had his supplies ready. "Son, I hate to see you go, but always remember Proverbs 16:7 and Jeremiah 33:3," said his mom tearfully.

"Mom, you are the light of my life. You have kept me looking to God all my life and I will never forget it. I will stop whatever I'm doing Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening to go to church. By the way, I like Psalms 34:19!" exclaimed JJ with a grin.

JJ then excused himself and ran into the house. He reached over the mantle and got his Winchester Rifle and two boxes of shells for each of his guns. When he went back out, he put the rifle in its sleeve and the shells in the saddlebag with the Colts.

Kissing his mom on the cheek, he climbed into the saddle and raced through the yard and over the gate. This was a routine when leaving the yard, as Sawdust wouldn't have it any other way.

Fort Benton had two main streets with a small side street about every hundred yards connecting them. JJ pushed Sawdust hard to the side street at the corner of Mr. Hornsby's store, as he knew the thief would be pushing his horse as hard as it could go and JJ wanted to get there before anyone messed up the tracks. He got there in no time. Sawdust was the fastest horse in Fort Benton.

JJ followed the tracks to the corner building on the other street. Jumping off Sawdust, JJ dropped to one knee and inspected the tracks. He quickly noticed that the right front horseshoe was different from the others.

JJ saw that the shoe was from Joe Charley's Blacksmith Shop on the far side of Fort Benton. JJ decided to follow the trail while it was hot. He followed the trail down the street, a couple of buildings down to a small alley, went between the two buildings, and turned into the alley (the same alley the man had gone through when he killed his father). Before going into the alley, JJ ran Sawdust back and forth through the tracks so that no one else would be able to follow him. JJ knew that the alley led to a steep bank down a hundred yards or so, to a canyon that led to the river. Then, one could go north to Loma or south to Great Falls. It was a route that was not used because it was called Rock Canyon, where there was a lot of bushwhacking. A man could hide in those rocks for a long time.

JJ was excited and felt his heart pumping. He had spent three years rehearsing this moment, not knowing if it would ever come true. He knew how to distinguish every shadow. He knew how deep every crack in the rocks was. It was noon when JJ entered the canyon. Since it was late August and the sun was starting to be lower in the south sky, shadows were not so easily distinguished. Moving very slowly, he checked every rock for odd shadows.

JJ came to the most likely spot where riding would be dangerous. He dismounted and gently put his hand on Sawdust's nose to quiet him. Then, as JJ started to move forward, he put his hand under Sawdust's mouth and gently pulled, letting him know to follow. So, like two men sneaking down the canyon went man and horse. When man stopped, horse stopped.

JJ could see horse tracks in the rocky terrain as he moved along the canyon walls; the same horse tracks with the different right horseshoe. He knew that he was on the right trail and that he was following the right man.

As he moved along the rocks, he came to a spot where the canyon turned west, opening up a little wider. He noticed the bottom was sandy. Since it had rained earlier that morning and there was only one set of prints he was following, JJ knew that he would have an unobstructed view. JJ eased up, took his hat off, and looked around the corner rock. Looking down the canyon, the tracks were very visible in the sand.