Chapter One
U.S. Marshal Ben Wall was a decent man. Someone who wanted to make a difference by helping tame the Wild West. He used his gun to enforce the law bringing bad men to justice. For that reason, his reputation had grown and preceded him wherever in Texas he visited. His name comforted the vulnerable and helped the religious belief in their faith viewing him as an angel of the Lord.
He had travelled to Fort McKavett headed for the settlement called Scabtown on its outskirts. Its’ name was dropped, and it was given the same name as the fort at the end of the civil war. Now it had been regarrisoned to fight in the Indian Wars. The war had been going for the past couple of months with rising casualties on both sides. A key decision arrived at in Washington to win the war revolved around depriving the Indians of their food source, the thousands of buffalo that wandered the plains. To achieve their aim the government hired buffalo hunters. Once the slaughter began it took a little while for the Indians to realise their plan. But seeing the buffalo herds being slowly decimated soon made them realise what the government had in mind. Once that happened to target the hunters became a priority.
Towns like ‘Scabtown’ tended to grow quickly. Forming outposts from which hunters operated. Of course, it made them a target for the Indians, but only for large raiding parties. With the fort close raids had only ever amounted to hit-and-run attacks of little consequence other than alarming the locals.
However, any place that grows quickly often loses some of its balance until civilization has time to catch up. The kickback with the town centred on lawlessness. Bringing together a bunch of hardened hunters, drifters, gamblers, loose women plus a few unscrupulous land grabbers and you had a formula that inevitably ignores law and order. With the army occupied by the Indians and the hunters’ recognised as part of the war effort turning a blind eye on events in the town was a symptom of too few resources handling too many problems in a big country.
Indian raids had been spiteful with a high death toll in civilians as well as military personnel. Arguably, with the best light horse cavalry in the world, the Indians proved more than a match for the army. Striking fast, destroying communications, civilian settlements and the occasional military outpost they would disappear before getting caught up in a serious firefight. However, rumours of different tribes joining together were causing alarm.
Wall was approaching a low ridge, a grey steel sky above with bunching black clouds threatening rain. He figured ‘Scabtown’ to be on the far side and pushed up on the stirrups as if standing. The town sat on a flat piece of land about a mile east of his position. Bustling with activity he was the first of two Marshals sent to ensure that some semblance of law and order found its’ way there. No sheriff for more than a year meant things would prove tough. The image of the Scabtown was the last thing he saw before a bullet hit him in the back and threw him headfirst over his horse. His skull cracked hard on the rock snapping his neck, killing him a second time if that were possible.
