Caliber of Justice

AuthorHouse

Contents

Book 1: Texas Ranger........................1Book 2: Bounty Hunter.......................75Book 3: Grapevine Stage.....................155Book 4: Smoking Gun.........................233

Chapter One

FIGHT!!! Never had there been such a showdown at the Dawson homestead. This dual could determine superiority between Caleb and Shane. Suddenly the boss grabbed iron and pointed the weapon directly at the two, sending a rush of fear all over the pair of brawlers. It was a known fact in Texas that you didn't draw iron unless you were intending to use it, and the boss was now more than fed up with their antics and plenty ready to use the weapon against them. Suddenly the most frightful voice echoed a stern warning through the house ... "Boys", said Caleb's and Shane's Ma. "You get your hands off each other, clean up this mess, and take your differences outside."

Caleb and Shane Dawson fought over one thing or another practically every day; but this time it had escalated in the house, and what's worse, in Ma's kitchen. One thing that everyone knew was that the barn, fields, corral, and den were free territory, but the kitchen, that was Ma's. On this day, what used to be a spotless oasis of cleanliness in the midst of this otherwise unrefined Texas territory was now akin to the remains of a Kansas tornado. Pots were strung everywhere and the trash was spilled all over the floor. Ma's homemade apple pie was now being licked up by the old gray housecat who was probably the only soul enjoying this whole situation; that is besides Catherine, the middle child, who had been watching the whole thing from the loft. She always enjoyed watching the boys go at it and seemed to have more than enough entertainment with the two of them around. She watched as the boys began pushing each other, then punching, then wrestling all over the kitchen table, knocking over chairs and finally knocking over a 25 pound bag of flour. Catherine laughed as they looked like a couple of ghosts flying around the kitchen after they both had rolled through the spilt flour. She hadn't had so much fun in weeks, or at least days. Ma, on the other hand, wasn't none too excited about the whole quarrel. Today's altercation just cost her a homemade pie, a bag of flour, and half a day of scrubbing floors and furniture. Ma had grabbed iron, her favorite cast iron skillet, and was waving it in front of the boys' faces whacking it on the chairs and table trying to get their attention. Shane was four years younger than Caleb and two years younger than Catherine, but he wasn't willing to take anything off of his older siblings. Shane and Caleb froze at Ma's screaming as Caleb looked at her with a glazed look of terror, knowing that he was the oldest and would get most of the blame because he was supposed to now be the mature one. Shane noticed Caleb's attention now being focused on Ma, and figured that he was already knee deep in trouble, therefore he might as well get his whippin's worth. Shane drew back his right fist and threw it right on target for Caleb's nose; but Ma was a little quicker and a lot more experienced, therefore Shane's punch met nothin' but cast iron as she quickly stuck the iron skillet in front of Caleb's face causing Shane's fist to clang the iron like a hammer on an anvil. Shane fell to the floor clutching his swollen hand and trying his best to hold back his tears so that Caleb wouldn't see. Catherine fell back laughing at the sight while Caleb smiled about as big as Shane snarled. Ma dropped the skillet and knelt beside Shane and looked over his injured hand.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Ma asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine Ma. Leave it alone. That didn't hurt a bit." Shane answered with still a small grimace on his face.

"Good, then get this mess cleaned up at once and get out and finish your plowin," said Ma. She added, "By the way boys, Catherine and I will be makin' another apple pie for tonight's supper. You two ain't allowed any of it `cause you obviously didn't like the first one I made. And neither of ya'll will be gettin' any biscuits for the next week because of the flour that you wasted."

The boys got up, dusting flour off of their entire bodies, and began righting the fallen chairs and picking up cups and bowls from all over the kitchen.

"Way to go Shane," said Caleb. "Well you started it," replied Shane.

It seemed that fights were just a given when it came time for Ma to give her famous bowl-rim haircuts. Every time the boys were forced to get their hair cut, you were assured that a brawl would eventually break out as the boys would engage in a battle of name-calling. Today, it appeared that `donkey ears' didn't take well with Shane who was already a hot-headed youngster, always rarin' to fight.

Chapter Two

The Dawsons were a Christian family who had always lived a peaceful lifestyle, other than the brotherly conflicts that seemed to arise a little more often than one could appreciate. Jessie Dawson was a Baptist minister and travelled from county to county, giving spiritual guidance and preaching God's Word to the heathen people of the lawless Texas territory. Jessie Dawson knew Scripture backwards and forwards and was quick to quote it when answering almost any question that you could pose. The family spent every night reading in the Bible and learned the stories as part of their school learning. Jessie loved helping the people of the territory with their various problems, but loved nothing more than lettin' loose on a rip-snortin' sermon about sin and Satan. Nothing seemed to stir up Jessie Dawson more than a sinner livin' an ungodly lifestyle or the devil who was making him do it. Pastor Dawson would ride from town to town announcing to everyone around that there would be a church meetin' in just a couple of hours. He would visit the dry good's store, the hotels, the sheriff's office, the bank, the saloons and even the house of the devil (as he would often call the whorehouses). He certainly enjoyed preaching, but by the time he witnessed all of the drunkenness, violence, scantily-clad women, and all of the debauchery of a typical west Texas town, he was fired up and ready to preach everyone to repentance. Shane, Caleb and Catherine were good mannered children, except towards each other, and all knew the Bible fairly well. Many people laughed at Dawson because of his ranting about fire and brimstone, but he was a man of conviction and believed what he read, and was therefore determined to keep as many vacancies in Hell as possible. Although many mocked him and referred to him as a Bible-thumper, they certainly didn't do it to his face. Jessie Dawson stood about six foot three and weighed around 220 pounds, so he was rarely interrupted during his visitations. He was a learned man, but had calluses on his hands to prove his belief that a man only eats when he's willing to do the work; there probably wasn't a man in the territory that was able to plow a forty acre plot faster than Jessie Dawson. Strength for him seemed to come in the form of faith first and then muscle just as a backup.

Ruth Dawson was a simple woman who believed in discipline, schooling and non-violence. She was often up before Jessie began his day and was normally the last to go to bed at night as she finished the dishes and swept the dust that seemed to collect on the floors faster than she could remove it.

...