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When Mary heard the ranch wagon enter the yard, she wiped her hands on her apron and said to herself as she poured a glass of cold lemonade, “It’s hot! Hank will be thirsty. The ice in the icehouse won’t last through July.” When she walked out of the porch, she saw Tex driving the ranch wagon with his horse tied to the back. No Hank! Thinking the worse, Mary set down the glass and ran toward Tex calling, “Where’s Hank? What’s happened? Is he okay? He went shopping for Tiny and me!”
Tex pulled the wagon to a stop. Hearing Mary yell, Caldwell came and stood on the porch with a worried frown. Looking grave, Tex said, “He’ll be okay, but it’ll take time, maybe a few days… or weeks. Doc said. ‘Hard to tell’.”
Trying to sit up in the back of the wagon, Hank whispered, “I’m okay;” then he fell back in anguish.
Looking at Hank, she exclaimed, “Tex, tell me what happened! Was there an accident? He doesn’t look or sound okay to me!”
“Not exactly, Mary,” Tex replied. By then, Caldwell had come over, looked, and said softly, “Take it easy, boy. You’re home. You’re gonna’ be okay,” but as he looked over at Mary, they both had tears in their eyes. Both were thinking, “He’s family.”
“Don’t move him yet! We got blankets for him from Joslin to help, but he’s had a rough ride laying in this buckboard. Doc says we must move him carefully and slowly. Said he’d be out tomorrow. I’ll drive him over to the bunkhouse and we’ll carry him in. But first, while he rests a little, I’ll tell you all I know.”
Seeing Hank like he was, Jake scowled, “Tex, tell us what happened! If there’s been foul play, the boys and me will take care of it before nightfall.”
“Let him be a moment. I’ll tell you.” Getting down from the buckboard, taking off his hat, and wiping his face with his bandana, he started speaking when Tiny interrupted, “Then, get to tellin’. I’m with Jake on this!”
“I can tell you what I saw and heard. When he’s better, he can tell you the rest of it. I was in the office looking at Wanted Posters. I’d seen a stranger in town. Looked up. Began watching Hank and Samuel loading the buckboard. Then, Hank shook Samuel’s hand and started to climb on up. As he started, Hank heard this stranger call him. The stranger was not in my Wanted Posters. So, I relaxed. Just watched. Maybe Hank had met an old friend. Saw ‘em talking. Samuel went back inside. Suddenly,” Tex coughed and cleared his throat, “the stranger hit Hank in the eye with the hardest punch I’ve ever seen anyone take. Hank just stood there. Strong as a giant. Then he raised his open hands. I could see Hank trying to say something. Gettin' outta my chair... I saw the stranger hit Hank square in the mouth. Opened the jailhouse door. Saw him hit Hank in the gut. Then, he gave an uppercut right below his chin. Hank’s head flew back like his neck broke. Hank hit the ground and didn’t move. As I ran toward the stranger shouting, he raised his boot to stomp Hank. I kept yelling ‘Stop!’ He just sneered and said, ‘Who’s gonna’ stop me?’ Before he could bring down his boot, I heard Joslin’s faithful Henry speak. Joslin shot him in the foot and yelled, I am!”
He paused a moment to catch his breath when Tiny interrupted, “Get your guns boys! We’ll find him! Do more than shoot him in the foot!” Then, Jake spoke up, “Wait! I was angry. I was wrong when I wanted to be the law. Let’s calm down. Hear Tex out. Tex can take care of this. Ours is to do all we can for Hank.” Tiny took a deep breath, and mumbled, “Well, I don’t like it.”
Tex went on. “Well, I took his gun and threw it in the horse trough. I was angry. Joslin followed me with his Henry in his back as we made him walk across the street dragging his foot. Locked him in a cell. Joslin went to find Doc. Samuel and his mother cared for Hank. I questioned the stranger. Asked, ‘Why'd you attack Hank? I watched you when you hit him. He raised his hands. Didn't aim to hit back.’”
Holding his foot and complaining, he replied, “I ain’t telling.” So I told him, “Well, I ain’t goin’ to fetch the Doc until you tell me.” And I started to go back to my desk.
“Ah, all right, I don’t aim to bleed to death,” he said. “When I recognized Hank, a fire burned in me. He made me so mad. I was gonna’ show him a thing or two. I knew him back in Fargo. Oh, he was a dandy! He’d walk up and down the street on Saturday, gun hanging low, pretendin’ to be tough. He’d look for some stranger in town who was a little drunk. Hank never drank. He’d bet that stranger $10.00 that he could throw a silver dollar in the air and shoot it before it hit the ground. I never saw a stranger refuse that bet. Oh, Hank could draw a crowd alright. He loved attention. He never worked a day in his life. He always had money. He was fastest on the draw I ever saw. Nobody was gonna’ mess with Hank.”
“About then, I asked him, ‘Did Hank ever shoot or kill anybody?’ He said ‘No, he’s a four-flusher. But nobody ever got close to him.’”
Tex paused as Mary tried to give Hank a little lemonade, and then he went on, “So, I asked him what he and Hank were talking about. Looked to me like you were old friends.”
“Well, I walked up friendly like. Asked him why he wasn’t wearin’ no gun. Why he was loadin’ and haulin’ freight instead of struttin’ around here like he did in Fargo. Told him he was nothing but a four-flusher. He just smiled. Said I wanted to see if he was as tough with his fists as he thought he was with a gun. He raised his open hands. He said something about Jesus and changin’, but I don’t pay no attention to this Jesus stuff. He said he wasn’t the same man. Said he’d met… but I’d heard enough. I hit him’”
Shaking his head, Tex paused and went on, “The stranger hit his fist in his hand… hard, ‘WHAM!’ He laughed, bragged he hit him good and hard. Said when Hank didn’t hit back, he decided to teach him a good lesson. Said he was glad he did. Then demanded to see Doc!”
“Doc said if I was careful, I could bring Hank home. Said he’d get better care here than in the hotel, which was my first thought.”
He paused, and Hank finally spoke, “Jake can you get me to the bunkhouse and outta this wagon? My back and my head,” he gasped, “hurtin’ terrible.” He coughed and groaned again, “And Jake, if you have an extra one of your Good Advice Books, could you give it to Tex? Tex, take it to that stranger? I never saw him before, but I’m prayin’ for him. Seems to me he’s gonna have plenty of time to read… and maybe think.”
“Sure, pard, I’ll give Tex that GAB. Any fool can hit back after he's been hit. Sometimes the Lord shows His greatest strength in the ranch hand who'd rather win a soul than win a fight. A man can win every fistfight in the county and still lose the only battle that really matters. The best victories are the ones where both men walk away with hope. You’re hurtin', pard... but you're the only man who walked away from that fight a winner."
Later on the porch, as Jake sat down beside Mary in the porch swing with Caldwell in his favorite rocker, and Boone lying beside him with one ear up to hear anything important, Jake said, “He’s restin’ now. He’s tough. May take a while though.” Mary replied, “We’ve been talkin’ tonight. You know, Jake, Stephen never called out for Jesus to send down fire as he was bein’ stoned. He didn’t try to throw any stones back at ‘em. He just kept prayin’.”
Caldwell paused long enough for Boone to open one eye, and said, “The Lord has a way of using yesterday's troubles to open tomorrow's doors. Sometimes the hardest trail a ranch hand ever rode becomes the very one God uses to lead somebody else home.”
Boone thumped his tail. He agreed.