Sweet Alice

Illustration by Steven Lambert

Journal entry by Ashford Arnold

Authentic Tales of the Wild West: Part 3

My attempts to help draw the interest of a new Lawman, a man of true grit, of cold iron temper, and even-handed blind justice turned out quite differently than expected. As it so happens, I could not, in fact, help to recruit such a man to this no good, dirty, cheatin’ Dodge City.

What I did succeed in however, was drawing the interest of such a woman. And what a woman! Alice Sweetwater, the lone daughter of the famous Sweetwater family of Lawmen, came ridin’ into town last Tuesday morning, and Dodge City hasn’t been the same since. In the nearly two weeks that she’s been here, Sweet Alice (as the townsfolk have come to call her) has brought a spirit of winning and optimism back to this dusty town.

My fears, however, were soon to be realized. Word around town all morning was that Denver Fields is not happy about this new Gunslinger that’s come up into “his town”. When Fields rode in, he went straight past the Saloon, his usual haunt, right up the town Jail, and banged three times on the door. “High noon! Middle of town!” Fields stormed off, his lackeys cackling like a pack of hyenas.

I have never seen anything like it. I swear, every man in town must’ve showed up and told Sweet Alice they’d be willing to fight Fields in her place! This one brave, clever, and more than anything else, enthusiastic young woman had gotten the entire town to show a spirit and a backbone that I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of until she came here those short few weeks ago.

Of course, Sweet Alice would hear none of it. I wish she would’ve.

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