A trip to Texas

Caed, Cole Dakota, Mrs. Lilly and Hawkins sat in the second floor Bar of the paddle wheel steamboat Julius C. Wilkie talking until the sun began to rise on the eastern horizon discussing Cole and Mrs Lilly’s visit back east to a Congressman friend from Connecticut, the troubles in the Arizona Territory, and how Caed and Hawkins could be of use in helping to resolve their troubles back home. Cole removed a small leather pouch from his vest pocket and laid it on the table in front of Caed and Hawkins, it made a metallic clang as it hit the table . “Now I expect to see you two fellers just as we planned, you do this right and there will be twice as much in the next bag, Come on Lilly let’s leave these two gentlemen alone as I need to catch up on my rest to start the trip home to Arizona tomorrow. The four said their goodbyes and agreed upon a place and time to meet again in Arizona. Cole and Mrs. Lilly were in a rush to return home to Arizona, and would be getting off of the boat the next day. It would take Caed and Hawkins almost another four weeks to complete the contract they had signed, to work on the boat dealing Faro, before they could head west. They would depart when the boat returned to New Orleans and then head west from there. Hawkins made his way to his cabin located on the third floor and then undressed and climbed into bed setting the small brass pistol on the table next to him and the ivory handled knife under his pillow. It had been a long evening and he needed the rest. As he lay there in bed Hawkins thought about the conversation he had with Cole and Mrs. Lilly. He was sure that Cole was a good man, and Caed had never got the sense that he was lying to them. He closed his eyes and rolled over on his side as his mind drifted into a state of sleep as he dreamed about places he had never seen, but only heard about.   

The next four weeks went quickly as Caed and Hawkins dealt Faro and discussed the trip west and how to best arrive unseen once they made it to Arizona. All of their gear was stored by the steamboat company in New Orleans and they would gather all of it and make plans from there. The Juliius C. Wilkie arrived in New Orleans as scheduled and Cade and Hawkins collected the fifteen hundred dollars each from the steam line company as payment, and found a hotel to stay in until they were able to locate a ship heading to Galveston, Texas. The steam line delivered three trunks to the hotel, and a letter asking the two men to sign on for another six month contract for nearly three thousand dollars each. It was a great offer, but the men had made an agreement with Cole and Mrs. Lilly and they had never gone back on their word. Caed left to go and find a ship traveling west as Hawkins opened the trunks and stared to sort thru the clothing, hats and other gear. He pulled a leather rifle case from the trunk and removed his 1866 Henry Carbine. It felt good to hold the rifle back in his hands again and the action was still smooth. He also took out a seven inch revolver still in its holster and wrapped in the belt. It was hard to believe it had been over a year since he had held the firearms in his hands again. After what had happened in Virginia, he was glad to have Cade to watch his back this time around. It seemed that Caed had only been gone a few minutes, as Hawkins went thru the rest of the gear separating out what they would not need when he walked back thru the door. “Looks like we have a ride to Galveston on new ship that just arrived today called the Elissa”. “Good work Caed, we should be ready by tomorrow, and everything is here. We just need some more ammo and we should be set”. The two men sat of the floor side by side cleaning the pistols and rifles they removed from the trunks and sorting clothes; they worked till late in the night and then went to bed in preparation to board the ship the next day.

Caed was already down stairs in the dining area eating breakfast as Hawkins walked down the stairs followed by six men carrying the three trunks. Hawkins was dressed in black boots, black pants, white shirt, black and white striped vest, a bowler hat, and his Burgundy Jacket with black velvet cuffs and collar. Most everyone in the dining area watched Hawkins walking down the stairs as Caed just shook his head. As Hawkins approached the table, Caed spoke without looking up at him, “You know, you do that in Arizona and everyone in town will know who you are.”  “I know Caed, that is why I pulled it out this morning, it has been over a year since I wore this Jacket” Hawkins replied as he stood their taking in all the attention he could from those looking in his direction.  Turning to the men with the trunks, “Gentlemen, please take the green one back to the steam boat company and the two blue ones to the sailing ship Elissa down at the Docks". Hawkins then joined Caed at the table removing his hat and the two men ate breakfast together before heading down to the docks.

The ship Elissa was a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship that had been built in Aberdeen, Scotland and it was a beautiful sailing ship. The Elissa was in a class of Tall Sailing ships classified by the configuration of the sailing rig called a barque. It was well equipped and a fast sailing ship. The two men were amazed by the cabins on board and the professional manor of the Captain and crew. As always Caed had done a great job at finding them transportation. It would take only three days for the ship to sail from New Orleans to Galveston and another two days from Galveston to Corpus Christi, where Caed and Hawkins would disembark. Corpus Christi was a small coastal town, but had everything the two men would need for the journey to Arizona. The town was filled with Vaqueros, cowboys, sailors, and towns’ people as cattle were driven on and off ships and thru the city. The two men fit in as they had put away their fancy clothing from back east and dressed as Texas cowboys. Caed was dressed in black pants a tan shirt and black vest with a tan Stetson hat, Hawkins was in tan pants, Moccasin boots, green shirt and had a large Texas style straw hat on. The two men both wore their pistol belts and were fully armed, as most Texans were, and no one seemed to notice them. The two trunks were delivered to a small boarding house on the eastern edge of Corpus Christi as Caed and Hawkins went about purchasing food, horses, ammo and other supplies they would need. They planned to purchase the equipment and hopefully find a guild to take them most of the way to Arizona in a day or so. After purchasing five horses Caed and Hawkins went and ate lunch at a small restaurant. While the two men sat and ate, Caed saw a man over six feet tall wearing gray pants, two ivory handled pistols in a red sash, a red vest, white shirt, yellow silk scarf and tan hat with long hair down past his shoulders looking thru the window of the restaurant. He stopped looking when he saw Caed and Hawkins and turned and yelled something inaudible to an unseen individual as he walked away. Caed spoke without looking up, “Hey, I think someone found us”, “Dame, I had hoped to have been here longer than this, Maybe I should have worn my Jacket” Caed, just chuckled in response.  After eating, they checked their pistols under the table and headed out to the street unafraid of what may await them. “Now Caed, if they start shooting just stay low and keep firing”, Caed nodded as the two walked up the street. Caed spotted the tall man following them as they walked toward the boarding house where they were staying. The two men walked around the corner of a small barn and Caed ran around to the other side of the building as Hawkins stood in place with pistol drawn. The man ran around the corner of the barn and saw Hawkins pistol pointed straight in his face only inches away. The man thru up both hands and shouted “Whoa there Hawkins, don’t shoot me, dame the Boss said you were good” He then heard a click behind him as Caed cocked his pistol behind the tall man. “I was sent by Cole to help you get to Arizona” the tall man exclaimed. Then Caed heard a click behind him as the hammer of a single action shotgun cocked. “Looks like what we have here is a Mexican standoff amigos, and since I am the only Mexican I win” , “Rooster, knock it off before you get me shot dame it” The Tall man replied. “I’m the Tall Texan, and this is Rooster, Cole sent us here and said you would be arriving sometime this week and that we were supposed to guide you back to Arizona”. “Alright Texan, what is it that Cole told me never to ask him to do?” “Ah, that would be to play cards with him” replied the tall man. Hawkins lowered his pistol and un-cocked it as did Caed. Rooster put the shot gun back over his shoulder and the four men walked together to the boarding house. They had much to talk about and plans to make for the trip into Arizona and Hawkins didn’t want to leave anything to chance.