- Lucy Benson wants to hire Jason to help her develop her town, but Jason soon finds he is not wanted there when he's beaten, then later robbed of a large some of money and his horse. He insists on staying, even though everyone seems to be encouraging him to leave.—Michelle
- I worked a cattle drive. After getting my pay, I headed on over to talk to a lady by the name of Lucy Benson. She had a job for me. She claimed it was the highest paying job I was ever offered, and I reckon she was right about that. It seems she wanted me to help her design her town and her stores. I accepted her job and agreed to dine with her that evening. But as I crossed the street to my horse, I realized my sword was missing. Before I knew exactly what was going on, I was beaten. A man held my sword at my throat and ordered that I should leave town. He knew who I was.
Later, as I was riding down the road that same man stopped me again. He decided he wanted to rummage through my saddle bags some more, and made sure I knew he wasn't alone. He had some men with him who made sure I did exactly as he said. He stole what was in my saddle bags, along with my horse. He was kind enough to leave my gun and saddle with me. I picked up my saddle and my gun and headed back to town.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Benson was having a talk with Roy Harris, whom I had rode on the cattle drive with for the last six weeks. She told him I was the Captain Jason McCord from Bitter Creek. He hadn't known that and was quite upset about it. Just then, they saw me walking to the house with my saddle over my shoulder. They came out to greet me and I had to tell them the grave news: Those men took the payroll. I lost all of it. I apologized and asked for a horse so I could go look for them.
When I returned, Miss Benson was nowhere in sight. I went into her house and made a discovery. There were marks on the wall where a saber had recently been removed, along with some sort of picture. When I told her I'd found my horse, I assured her I would look for the men. She thought it was best I leave town, and I told her I was sorry for the trouble I'd caused. That's when she told me the men had stopped by and informed her if they saw me, they'd kill me. I asked her if there was a reason people would object my working for her. She told me my past didn't matter to her - it was my decision to go or stay. I announced I would stay.
She also told me that my friend, Roy, had quit. She hadn't been aware of the fact that he didn't know who I was. He was across the street getting drunk. I immediately went to talk to him. He hollered for me to come over to him. He was pretty drunk, but assured me there hadn't been any men looking for me. He also felt betrayed, thinking I had been his friend. I told him I'd thought the same thing. We'd talk more when he sobered up.
I went to talk to the banker, Mr. Lucas. He gave me some interesting information: the money she had me withdraw was larger than usual. Also, she was recently widowed after her husband, Mr. Hackett died. The banker advised me not to mention his name to Mrs. Benson. Well, I didn't take his advise. I confronted Miss Benson. I let her know I saw the marks on the wall of a saber and photograph and insisted she tell me how he died. He was shot for desertion. She brought me here to study me - to test me to see just how much of a coward I was.
Well, she got her wish when those three men showed up. She discovered I really wasn't a coward - that I had indeed been misjudged. She said that maybe her husband had been misjudged as well. Here's what I had to say about his innocence: "Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't, that isn't important. Your test didn't prove or disprove his courage. But what it did prove is that you want to put him back in your life. That is important. Do it....Mrs. Hackett."
Oh, and about the man who tired to beat me...He gave me back my saber. "No hard feelings," he said as he smiled. I gave him a big smile as I took my sword. "No hard feelings," I assured him. "But just to make things even..." Then I gave him a punch. That made things even.
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