Authentic Tales of the West: Part 13

The Storm, The Calm, The Beauville.

Arnold Ashford’s Journal Entry #13

I can tell you with certainty, the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen was in sweet Abilene. Had the exact same sunset happened on the exact same night, and I had seen it the exact same way, would it have been as magnificent? I believe so. Would it have struck my soul the same way that it did on that particular night? I expect not.

You see, the previous fortnight displayed about as many of the vicissitudes of life crammed into a short window of time as I have ever experienced. Unbeknownst to me, that cleanup that I came upon when I rode into town came right on the heels of these folks finishing up that crafty Sunrise Cattle Corral, which had been a dream of the local Rancher for some time. But as soon as that stockyard was finished, a Dust Storm of Biblical proportions smashed into Abilene; several of the cattle came ill from the dust, and all the local businesses, buildings and shops were wholly laid up from the same grit that had gotten into everything; including that Veterinarian.

Well that whole town got to work and folk gave of themselves sacrificially to get that Vet’s office back up and running, followed by the feed store and then the rest getting right as rain right about the time I rode into town. Folks were in good spirits, and they just went from the clean-up efforts right into the next big plan from that ambitious Rancher; he aimed to bring a Bonafide M.D. all the way out to Abilene, TX.

Just shortly after they broke ground on that new Doctor’s Office, an Outlaw by the name of Bret Beauville showed up in town. A shadowy sort, one evening he was sitting alone in the corner of the saloon, quiet as the grave, eyes taking in everything. Three nights in a row he did this. On the fourth night, he sprung his vile plan into action.

— Check back next week for a new entry in Ashford’s journal —