After Once Upon a Time in the West
Episode 7.07
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: This is cattle country, sheepherder and…Wait! That's wrong. Um, I own neither cattle nor Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.
Kate blushed. "You left Texas with your daughter and went to New Mexico where you were involved in the so called Lincoln County War, along with a killer named William H. Bonney, also known as Billy the Kid."
Watson smiled. "I assume that you also know that when I rode with Bonney, we were all deputized lawmen trying to serve warrants on the killers of one John Tunstall." Watson nodded to himself. "Billy was a cold blooded killer, but he could be a very charming rascal when he chose. But when I left Lincoln County there were no warrants out for me and there are none now."
Kate huffed. "You were then involved in the so called Pleasant Valley War in Arizona."
Watson shook his head. "Involved is a bit of a stretch, Miss Holmes. There was a dust up between cattlemen and sheepmen going on and one fellow mistook me for someone else. He shot at me and missed. I didn't miss."
"By this time you had changed your name to Castle and worked with an infamous killer named Tom Horn. You were what is called range detectives for a group of cattlemen in Colorado. I believe that range detective is a euphemism for cold blooded assassin."
Watson shook his head and smiled. "I'll admit old Tom wasn't the kind of lad you'd meet at a church social, but neither are cattle rustlers. They're armed and they know they can be hung, so they don't surrender easily. And, as I'm sure you're aware, I'm also not wanted for anything in Colorado. As far as that fair state is concerned, I'm a solid, upstanding citizen."
"They must have very low standards. And after that you took up with two outlaws called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as part of the Hole in the Wall Gang."
Watson kept smiling. "Good old Bob Parker and Harry Longabough. That's their real names. I did ride with them a bit, but we never broke any laws. We were just young men out for a spree. We had a good time and nothing else."
Kate sniffed. "And, then, of all things, you became a doctor, of sorts."
"Alexis was getting older and I reckoned I had to settle down a bit. Now back east you can go to fancy schools to learn to be a doctor, but in the west, you just apprentice yourself to a doctor and then go out on your own. It isn't too hard. It's mostly people who got shot, stabbed or beat up, or got their head stove in by a horse. I did all right."
"And somehow managed to get rich. I doubt that you did so honestly."
"You really have a low opinion of me, don't you, Miss Holmes? To tell you the truth, I did get rich honestly. An old prospector named Roy Montgomery said he knew the location of the Lost Dutchman Mine. I agreed to grubstake him and went along with him to protect my investment, so to speak. We never found the Lost Dutchman, but we did find the Lost Irishman Mine. The Irishman wasn't so much lost as drunk. He cut us in and I became a millionaire. I moved to England to give my daughter the benefit of an excellent education. She's attending Oxford University now."
The butler interrupted them. "Sir, the tins are ready."
No sooner had he spoken than the three Americans drew their pistols and began firing at tin cans balanced on a railing some fifty feet away. When they were done, all but one of the cans had been shot off the railing. Kate quickly drew her pistol and knocked the last one off.
"Not a bad shot, Miss Holmes." Watson said. "However, the trick is to be able to do that when the cans shoot back."
"I can and I have done that."
Before anyone could say anything more, shots rang out from a stand of trees some distance beyond the railing. Watson at once grabbed up a rifle which Kate immediately identified as a Model 1893 Mauser 7mm, the infamous Spanish hornet, and returned fire.
Kate fired her own pistol at a muzzle flash and carefully noted that there were at least two shooters in the woods. One appeared to be firing a Lee-Metford carbine and the other a Model 1896 Mauser pistol from the sounds they made.
As Kate, Watson and Linden fired, they heard a male scream and then a few seconds later, the sound of a horses hooves riding away.
"Doc, Alexis has been hit." Ashley yelled.
Watson turned, threw his rifle to Kate and ran to his daughter. "Ashley, get to the stable and go after the other fellow. I'll need him alive." The Kid was gone in a flash.
"I don't think I'm badly hurt, Father." Alexis said softly.
"I'll be the judge of that. Perkins, get my medical bag."
Kate, still armed with the Mauser, walked into the trees. She found a man there, dead of a gunshot wound to his head, the carbine by his side. She quickly checked him for any evidence but his pockets were empty save for one hundred pounds in new notes. However, having an encyclopedic knowledge of the English criminal class, she was fairly certain who he was. Checking around the deceased for clues and finding none, she went back to the house.
Watson had taken his daughter to a settee, where he was examining her. "Lucky for you, Alexis, it's only a scratch. I'll have you fixed up in no time."
"I told you I wasn't badly hurt, Father. I am training to be a doctor after all."
"Patients, even if they're doctors, aren't always the best judges of their condition. This will hurt." He said as he washed her wound in some potion he took from his bag. Alexis didn't make a sound, however.
"One man is dead. He was the one carrying the carbine." Kate said. "He had nothing on him but one hundred pounds in new notes."
Watson shook his head. "Why would anyone try to kill my daughter?"
"She may not have been the target. One of the buttons was shot off of my shirt and there are bullet holes in my skirt. I myself was not injured. But, based on where I found the deceased and the relative positions of myself and Alexis, I believe I was the target."
"So, you're responsible for getting Alexis shot?" Watson growled.
"Father! That is totally unfair!" Alexis said sharply. "The persons responsible are those two shooters, one now dead, and whoever paid them. And no one else. Apologize to Miss Holmes at once."
"Alexis, this is…"
"At once, Father!" Alexis demanded.
"My daughter is right, Miss Holmes. I owe you an apology. You are in no way responsible for my daughter's injury. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to follow Ashley."
At that very moment, Ashley entered the room. "I'm sorry, sir. The rogue rode to the main post road and I lost his tracks. I went as far as the town and made inquiries, but it seems there were an unusually large numbers of strangers on horseback today. Again, I am so sorry."
"You did your best, son. Now perhaps we should find out what brought Miss Holmes here."
Kate explained about Professor Demming Moriarty, and the overheard conversation about the most dangerous man in Europe.
"And you thought that was me, Miss Holmes?" Watson said with a grin. "Why, back when I rode with Billy Bonney, I wasn't the hundredth most dangerous man in Lincoln County, New Mexico. Why, Tom Horn, sound asleep and dead drunk, was more dangerous than I ever was. You must suffer from a real lack of dangerous men hereabouts."
"We have quite enough of our own dangerous men, Doctor Watson. However, I believe that I was mistaken in my assumption that you would associate with Professor Moriarty. Now I must bid you good bye and be on my way."
"Whoa, there, Miss Holmes. Seeing as we both have an interest in finding this dangerous man and the Moriarty fellow, I suggest we work together."
"I'm sorry, but I work alone. Good day to you, Doctor Watson, Mr. Linden, Miss Watson." Kate turned around and left the country house. Once on the road outside, she discovered there was no cab around to take her back to town and to the train station. She thought briefly of asking Dr. Watson to take her, but dismissed the idea. She began walking to town.
Arriving back in London too late to continue with her investigation, Kate had a cup of tea, then had a light supper and went to bed. Upon arising the next day, she went at once to Scotland Yard to see her good friend, Constable Kevin Ryan.
However, as soon as she entered, she was stopped by her nemesis at the Yard, the Chief of the Metropolitan Police himself, Sir Ethan Slaughter.
"Holmes! What the deuce are you doing here?" He demanded, in a surly manner.
Kate did her best to smile. "I just need a bit of assistance on a case of mine, Sir Ethan. I'll just pop in and see…."
"Your friend, Constable Ryan?' I'm afraid he's not available. I've decided to assign him to the newly formed sewer patrol. And if he leaves his post in the sewer, I'll have reason to fire him, the Irish rogue."
"That's is hardly fair, Sir Ethan." Kate insisted, being one to stand up for her friends.
"Bosh and twiddle! What's fair got to do with it? And you, young lady, should not be gallivanting around interfering in police work. That's man's work! You should be at home, cooking and cleaning for your husband. Women have no place being out and about. Why, you're as bad as those meddling kids and their stupid dog."
"I have not meddled in police work, Sir Ethan. I have solved many cases that have confounded Scotland Yard."
While Kate was quite correct, that was one thing that would be certain to set Sir Ethan off. He at once ordered a pair of officers to escort Kate out of Scotland Yard and gave orders that she was not to return. He then went to prepare for his lunch with his good friends, Boris and Natasha.
Kate, however, had other avenues to get what she wanted. America did not have a national police force as the United Kingdom did, but they did have a nationwide private detective corporation, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, often referred to as America's Scotland Yard. And they had an office in London.
Kate walked into their office with a smile on her face. She had been there many times and had been a great help to the Americans. She spoke to a young man in the outer office. "I'm Kate Holmes. I need to see Mr. Hunt." She walked towards the door to his office.
"Wait, Miss Holmes. Mr. Hunt is with a client." The young man said, but it was too late. Kate was through the door.
"Good morning, Jack, I hope you don't mind…." She stopped. The client in the office was Rick Watson.
"Why, Miss Holmes. We meet again." Said Watson rising.
"I am a bit busy right now, Kate. "Said Jackson Hunt.
"I just need some information on a man named Scott Dunn, better known as "One and Done" Dunn."
Jackson Hunt frowned. "I'm afraid I can't help you, Miss Holmes."
"Why not? It's a simple request. Dunn is a notorious killer, but now dead, and I have been a help to you in the past." She glared at Watson, knowing he had something to do with this.
"So has Doctor Watson. He's worked undercover for us on occasion. And he's requested our records on Dunn and also asked that he be the only one allowed to see them. If you'd arrived ten minutes earlier, before Dr. Watson, I'd have been able to provide the records."
"In that case, we are done here, sir." Kate turned on her heel and headed for the door.