Blaze Carson #1
Law of the Gunfighter!
Blaze Carson is relaxing in his office one day when he hears a number of shots ring out. Suddenly one of the town folk rushes in and tells him that young Jeff Saunders had just shot Mark Jecklin with what he claims to be a gun once owned by Billy the Kid. Blaze goes out side and pulls the young man aside and brings him into his office. He warns Jeff about owning such a gun as it was owned by a ruthless killer and influences those who own it. He suggests to Jeff to be more concerned with his wife and child than being a hard case.
When Jeff is reluctant to listen, Blaze tells him a story he knows about the last person to carry Billy the Kid's gun, a young man named Dave who lived up the Chisholm Trail in Texas....
After the Civil War things were tough in Texas, and cattlemen had a hard time selling cattle, and so Jesse Chisholm and Dean Heart decided to ship the cattle east to sell it there. However, the trail was deadly from outlaws, bad weather, and Native Americans. However, Dave managed to make it to Dodge City with the rest of the steerage. There he witnessed an outlaw gun down the marshal in a draw, stating that he was carrying the gun owned by Billy the Kid. Walking around town, Dave heard the legends that whoever carried the gun of Billy the Kid could never miss a shot, and always killed and was driven to kill themselves. Taking some time in the saloon, Dave was suddenly visited by by Dean Heart who informs him that a gang of rustlers killed Dave's friend Josh and stole their best cattle.
Rushing outside the saloon they spot the leader of the rustlers Killer McCray the man with Billy the Kid's gun. A shoot out happens and while Heart is shot dead, Dave is only struck on the side of the skull and is knocked unconscious, but not before getting a lucky shot that kills McCray. When Dave finally woke up in the care of a doctor, he learned what happened and that the people of Dodge City elected him the new Marshall and were giving him Killer McCray's gun. Dave took up the job with zeal but more often killed those he was going after, feeling some urge to use the gun more and more frequently, much to the dissatisfaction of the people he was protecting.
When Dan is informed that the Mr. Richards is expecting one hundred thousand dollars worth of beef being shipped in Dave briefly considers rustling the cattle, then stops, wondering if the gun once used by Billy the Kid really is starting to effect his mind. However, decides to go through with it anyway. Setting up an alibi, he rides over to the Richards ranch to steal the cattle, but instead spies a bunch of outlaws robbing the safe. Dave burst in on them with guns blazing and killed them all, but not before another bullet creased his head knocking him unconscious once more. When Dave wakes up once more in the doctors bed he explains what happened. Believing that the gun was a bad influence, Dave decided to toss the gun into the Arroyo River.
.... Finishing his story, Blaze Carson tells Jeff that the gun was never seen again until Jeff found it. Realizing the danger of owning such a gun, Jeff surrenders it over to Blaze, who thinks to himself about how he never thought he'd hold it again. Dave "Blaze" Carson finds a deserted place outside of town and tosses the gun there to never be found again, but wonders where it might turn up next.
Recurring Characters
Blaze Carson
Billy the Kid
Blood Branded Double-Cross!
Blaze Carson spots young Johnny Butler riding into town with an very well raised horse and asks if the boy is participating in the horse race happening that day. Johnny explains that his father died last spring and now that he is the man of the house, he has come to sell the horse, named Midnight, to provide for his family. Sorry to hear this, Blaze takes the boy out for something to eat. Midnight is tied up outside and is spotted by gambler Ace Cassell and gunman Snip Marra who note what great shape the horse is in. Ace wishes to get his hands on the horse so he can use it in the horse race.
When Johnny returns to his horse, Ace approaches him and offers to buy it from him. However, when Midnight starts acting up in front of Ace, Johnny refuses to sell the horse to him having decided to enter the race. Ace then tries to beat the boy but is stopped by Blaze Carson who fights him off. Johnny then stables Midnight for the evening hoping that he will do well in the race that night. That evening, Blaze spots Ace going around placing bets that his horse can beat the others and finds this confidence very suspicious. Johnny soon learns that his prize horse has been stolen and when they confront Ace about his horse, they find that it is a white calico instead of a black stallion. However, when they see the horse, Blaze notes how the horse is acting friendly toward Johnny. When Johnny tries to tell Blaze that it is his horse, painted white, Blaze shushes him and decides to let things go.
Blaze explains to Johnny a way they can prove that Ace stole his horse and win the race. Convincing Mr. Sorrel to let Johnny ride his horse, Johnny enters the race under instructions from Blaze. When the race is off, Johnny pushes the horse to keep up with Ace's "calico" and when Johnny calls out Midnight's name and orders her to stop, the white horse suddenly grinds to the halt throwing the rider off, and allowing Johnny to get ahead and win the race. Blaze then reveals that Ace painted the horse white, and when Ace tries to draw on the sheriff, Blaze shoots him in the arm. With Johnny the winner, he gets his horse back and washed the paint off and returns home with the prize money for his family.
Recurring Characters
Blaze Carson
Trouble Comes A-Callin'!
Tex Taylor rides out to visit his old friend Windy Wilson a gold prospector who has not had much luck striking it rich. He crosses path with Windy along the trail and learns that Windy has been forced off his property by a man named Haggerty and his gang, claiming that they actually own the property. Tex decides to help Windy settle the dispute. However when he tries the main trail one of Haggerty's men opens fire, telling Tex that he is trespassing.
Tex takes an alternate route along the edge of the canyon around the property. He sneaks up close and overhears Haggerty arranging a deal to sell the property to a railroad company that seeks to put a tunnel through the land. Tex is spotted and knocked out, and the deal is finalized and the man from the railroad company tells Haggerty that he will be back with the money and papers the following day. Haggerty and his men then force Tex to climb into the bucket of a well where they will lower him to die. However, as they do so Tex whistles for his horse Fury who charges at the men, knocking Haggerty's man into the well. Tex then mounts his steed and opens fire on the gang, gunning them all down. When Haggarty tries to shoot Tex in the back, Windy arrives to save the day and guns the land thief as well.
When the man from the railroad returns the next day he is glad to be doing business with Windy, the proper owner of the property.
Recurring Characters
Tex Taylor
Fury
Powdersmoke Showdown!
It's a quiet day in Blaze Carson's town, but he is awoken from his afternoon siesta by Miz Cribble who reports a kidnapping. When Blaze asks who was kidnapped, he is dumbfounded to learn that the it is Miz Cribble's prize hog Percy who has been captured.
Despite the unusual nature of the crime, Blaze goes out to Cribble's home to assess the damage done to her pig pen. When he begins searching for the pig, the locals laugh at him for being delegated to such apparently menial work. Blaze sticks to his job and goes searching out in the range. When a bullet is shot at him, Blaze soon finds himself matching gunfire with an unseen assailant. Blaze manages to figure out his location and gets the drop on him, easily knocking him out. When he brings the man in, he is surprised to find that he caught Alonzo Miles, a wanted criminal with a $500 reward for his arrest.
Later he calls in Miz Cribble and explains that Alonzo stole Percy for food while on the lamb from the law. Cribble in thanks for catching the thief invites him home for a nice pork dinner.
Recurring Characters
Blaze Carson
Fight, Lawman, Or Crawl!
As Blaze Carson gets ready for another day of keeping the law in town, one of the locals remarks that his tin star is what makes him different from other folk.
Suddenly, a young boy bursts into the office and informs Blaze that "Murderin'" Lynn Hobbe is robbing a coach. Blaze rushes off to where the robbery is taking place. Recalling how the local cowpokes said he was no good without his badge, Blaze decides to see how good he can do with out it and takes it off, placing it in his shirt pocket.
He then confronts the robbers and demands that they stand down. Hobbe shoots Blaze in the chest and the sheriff seemingly falls over dead. However he gets up giving Lynn a good fright. This gives Blaze the edge and he is able to defeat the stage robbers and bring them back into town on the stage coach. When one of the locals remarks that he was able to do it without his sheriff's star, Blaze disagrees, taking his star out of his shirt pocket and showing that the star stopped the slug shot at him from being fatal.
Recurring Characters
Blaze Carson
