“Artemis Bowdecker” by Gil Wasko

Gil Wasko

ARTEMIS BOWDECKER

By Gil Wasko

CHAPTER ONE

Oppressive noonday heat and graveyard silence were secondary to the anticipated violent action that the terrified townspeople expected to witness. The herd of cattle, which only that morning had passed through the dusty main street of the town, had left its dung calling card. The nauseas odor made breathing a challenge. Sun-bleached pain curled from the sign hanging over the entrance of the Palace saloon. Both sign and swinging doors of the saloon were motionless in the hot air. The bawling of the herd of cattle corralled just outside the town seemed muted on this fateful day.

The white-bearded Artemis Bowdecker, with the town sheriff tin star pinned to his old leather vest, let his bleary, watery blue eyes wander over the street and buildings of the old western town. No stranger to fear, he recognized it now from the sandpaper dryness in his mouth and the rapid heartbeat in his chest. Ace Dugas was a killer and he was here.

CHAPTER TWO

Artemis Bowdecker had been the town sheriff for the past twenty years. In his first year as sheriff he had gained the respect of everyone in town and the surrounding territory. Not only did he keep peace in town but in six occasions he had to regretfully use his Colt: 45 against outlaws such as Ace Dugas. Six unmarked graves in the local cemetery gave proof to that.

Artemis was thirty-year-old wandering cowpoke when he first showed up in the small, brawling, lawless border town in Texas called, No Name. He was not impressed with the town itself, but he did admire the beautiful surrounding country. A handsome year-round creek flowed along the right side of town, fed from springs and runoff from the high mountains twenty miles north. It provided fresh water for the town and irrigation for the small ranches and farms nearby. Grass and green trees were a welcome sight to Artemis, who fondly remembered his upbringing on his father’s small farm in Kansas.

His parents were cheerful, honest God-fearing people with a fine sense of humor that they passed on to their children. Artemis was the oldest child at fourteen, followed by Sarah, twelve, and little Alexander, five. Each child was given daily chores to do that kept them busy during the times they were not in school.

It was on a summer day when Artemis mounted the old farm horse and set out for his Uncle Jim’s farm fifteen miles away. He would spend at least three or four days helping his uncle and cousins harvest their corn crop. It was a food corn year and Artemis knew his uncle would be generous in rewarding him for his help. The money would go into his savings account that he hoped would soon grow large enough to afford the quarter horse and saddle that was his dream.

The day he returned home from helping Uncle Jim with his corn crop, he was horrified to find both his parents as well as his sister and younger brother killed by a renegade band of former confederate soldiers and army deserters. All that was left of the homestead was the stone fireplace and chimney along with the still smoking ashes of the house and barn. His father’s body, riddled with bullets, lay near the door. His mother’s and sister’s naked bodies were ten yards away, while Alexander was a pitiful little heap laying in the dust a few feet further on. Artemis was overwhelmed by grief and he knew that trying as hard as he could, he would never forget this day.

There were a number of these gangs terrorizing the countryside. Unhappy and bitter with the signing of peace at Appotomattox the previous year, they had turned t raiding and killing innocent farmers and ranchers. Artemis would have suffered the same fate had he not been away helping his uncle and cousins with their corn crop.

CHAPTER THREE

Not wanting to return to the homestead, Artemis signed on with the crew of a Kansas cattleman who was returning to Texas after selling his herd of cattle. For six years he worked for the same rancher on both his ranch and on cattle drives. Tired of the same routine and countryside he struck out on his own, working at any job that was available wherever he happened to be in the west. There were the usual drunken parties, whorehouses and brawls that characterized cowboys on the loose. After eight years he awoke one morning in a strange bed with a terrific hangover and a forty-five year old ugly saloon girl. After splashing his face with cold water he dressed himself and staggered out of the back door of the room behind the saloon. Making his way to the livery stable he reclaimed his horse and discovered he dah no money in his pocket. Thank goodness he had prepaid for the upkeep of the horse. In the saddle with throbbing head sagging he guided the horse on a slow walk out of town.

That evening he camped alongside a small creek whose bubbling song was a soft murmur in the night. Sitting by his campfire that evening he wanted to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He knew he wanted to continue to work with cattle but stop raising hell with the booze and women. He would save all the money he could to make a grubstake. He could do it after he had saved a sizeable amount of money he would settle down some place to his liking. If he could save enough he might be able to buy in as a partner in a small ranch, or maybe strike out on his own.

CHAPTER FOUR

For the next two years Artemis quit drinking, stayed in camp after each payday and saved every penny he could. When he was paid off after his last cattle drive, he had five hundred dollars in his money belt. The rancher he worked for on the drive was returning to Texas. He wanted Artemis to return with him and accept a job as a foreman on his ranch. Artemis agreed to return to Texas but declined the ranch job. He wanted to find his own ideal place to settle down.

When Artemis rode into No Name he knew he had found what he had been searching for. He would try to find a temporary job in town or on one of the small ranches in the area. He made arrangements to live at Ma Sander’s boarding house until he could find employment. It was such a pleasure to sit down and enjoy Ma’s excellent dinners after living so long in the open and eating nothing but beans and bacon cooked over his campfires.

Artemis had been in town three days when on the fourth he was returning late in the afternoon from visit to a ranch where he had been inquiring about a job as a ranch hand. As he rode past Henderson’s General Store he heard the sound of gunfire and three men emerged, shooting at everyone as they made their way to their horses tied at the front of the store. Unfortunately, a bullet struck Artemis in his left shoulder but he drew his .45 Colt and killed on of the bandits. The other two managed to mount and ride off. Artemis fell from his horse, the terrible pain from his shattered shoulder rendering him unconscious.

Tom Henderson, despite a wound in his right arm where a bullet had passed through, rushed to the unconscious Artemis along with Sam Brightwell, owner of the only bank in town. Together they carried Artemis into Dr. Stokes’ office which was in the building next to Henderson’s store. The shoulder wound Artemis suffered was not a clean one. His collar bone was shattered and the heavy slug had torn a lot of muscle and nerves. Dr. Stokes, already with two sick people in his own bedrooms, had no place to put Artemis and no one to tend to his recovery. Without hesitation Tom Henderson offered to take the severely wounded Artemis into his own home until he recovered.

CHAPTER FIVE

Tom’s daughter, fifteen-year-old Loretta, would be his caretaker. The plain-looking, shy young girl didn’t care much about working in the store waiting on the sometimes rude, snickering cowboys. She welcomed her new duties and enjoyed taking care of the always pleasant Artemis. Dr. Stokes did the best he could to repair the shattered shoulder but recovery was long and painful. Due to the mutual liking and respect Loretta and Artemis had for each other, it was inevitable they would fall in love. After three months, Artemis proposed and they took their vows before Padre Cortez in the old mission church.

Mr. Henderson, Dr. Stokes, Sam Brightwell and two of the prominent ranchers in the area had formed a group that had a somewhat loose relationship with county officials. They called themselves the No Name City Council. They had petitioned the county for, and received, a small grant to pay for law enforcement in the town. Cowboys on cattle drives, as well as payday on the ranches, saw many of them in town raising hell, shooting up the saloons and frightening the town’s people. The City Council immediately offered the town’s sheriff job to Artemis. He accepted.

CHAPTER SIX

The next years were good ones for Artemis. He had gained the reputation of being the best lawman in all of Texas. His handling of the rough and sometimes dangerous cowboy’s celebration in town was superb, and he dealt honestly and fearlessly with the more serious offenders. After two years of marriage, Loretta presented Artemis with a beautiful baby girl they named Sarah. With her large, clear blue eyes and blond curly hair, she became the love of Artemis’ life. The family had been living in a small rented cottage but Artemis planned on building a larger house on the outskirts of town.

Ace Dugas had been apprehended during a bank robbery in a town fifty miles away and given a life sentence in the state penitentiary, form which he escaped after serving ten years. There were rumors that he would hunt down Artemis and kill him because it was Artemis’ bullet that had killed his younger brother Homer during the bank robbery years ago. The rumors did nothing to disturb Artemis.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The lack of modern medication did much to account for the early deaths of otherwise healthy people. This was especially true in the underdeveloped West. When a short-term epidemic of small pox swept through Texas, it took with it the lives of both Loretta and Sarah Bowdecker. Artemis was crushed. He abandoned his plans for the house and bought a small adobe place a few miles out of town. He lost interest in people and any activities he had in town. He did, however, still do his job as sheriff as efficiently as ever. His hair greyed, his wrinkled face showed dejection, he lost weight and in a short time he looked twenty years older than his fifty years.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was early evening one night when Artemis was sitting at his desk, catching up on paperwork, when he heard a slight sound behind him. His right hand automatically went to the butt of his revolver as he swiveled around in his chair. Standing there grinning at him was Ace Dugas with a Colt leveled at Artemis’ chest.

“Yes, it’s me, you old bastard, did you think I’d forget that it was you who killed by little brother Homer,” he snarled. “That was his first job with me and we were going to have a good life together. You ruined it all and now you’re going to pay. I put a lot of people in hell with this gun, but killing you will make me happier than any of the others.”

While Ace was talking Artemis had slowly slipped his Colt from its holster.

Ace shouted, “See you in hell bastard,” then pumped two .45 slugs into Artemis’ chest. Almost simultaneously Artemis’ colt roared once and a hole appeared between Ace’s eyes.

CHAPTER NINE

The huge crowd of people attending Artemis’ funeral was larger than any the town had witnessed before. Speeches were made and a collection was taken from the crowd for a memorial to be erected in his memory.

A week after the funeral, the No Name City Council met and a resolution was passed that would rename the town.

That is how the thriving little town of No Name on the Texas-Mexican border got renamed:

BOWDECKER