Kid Colt Outlaw #97

The Guns of Drago Dalton!

Riding into a town, Kid Colt is forced to flee when the locals recognize him and the sheriff tries to apprehend him. His escape is witnessed by Drago Dalton. When the gang tries to shoot him they miss, and Kid Colt manages to sneak upon them. Holding them at gunpoint, Kid Colt is about to run them over to the law when Drago says that they got pardons after serving a short sentence after they turned themselves in. They even have a written pardon which they show Kid Colt. Since he never considered turning himself in and is assured he’ll only get a slap on the wrist, Kid Colt decides to turn himself in so he can serve a short sentence and finally be free. Unknown to the Kid, Drago Dalton and his men are leading Kid Colt into a trap and are pleased that he fell for it. Kid Colt rides back into town and immediately surrenders to the sheriff. When he is brought before the court, Kid Colt is shocked when the judge sentences him to five to ten years in jail. Witnessing the trial, Drago Dalton and his men are pleased with the outcome and begin plotting the next phase of their scheme.

Kid Colt is sent to the local prison where he is immediately put to work breaking rocks. As he slaves away, Kid Colt worries for his safety as most of his fellow inmates are in prison because of him. Some of the prisoners soon play a trick on him in order to move their rocks over to the Kid’s pile. When he realizes what happens he starts a fight and gets himself tossed into solitary confinement for a week. Although things look bleak, Kid Colt refuses to let his current situation to break him and vows that he’ll be a free man someday. After his week in solitary is over, Kid Colt is sent back to his cell where he discovers he has a new cellmate, Bragg Harper a former member of Drago Dalton’s gang. Bragg soon tells him that he too was tricked by Drago Dalton. He explains that he Drago tricked Kid Colt into surrendering so he won’t have opposition when he robs small towns in the territory that don’t have the Marshals around to defend them. In fact, the pardon that Drago showed him was a clever forgery.

Furious over being deceived, Kid Colt begins planning his escape. The next day, while out breaking rocks, Kid Colt whistles and hears his horse Steel whinny back outside the prison walls, telling him that his faithful horse has been waiting for him patiently outside the prison walls. Seeing a pile of rocks near the wall, Kid Colt tosses his hammer across the yard and while the guards are checking out the noise it made on impact, Kid Colt quickly scales the wall to freedom. Three days later, Kid Colt ambushes Drago Dalton and his men as they try to eliminate the sheriff. After saving the sheriff’s life, Kid Colt flees before he is arrested along with the rest of the crooks. Unfortunately, his abrupt departures was made in haste as the sheriff would have worked on getting him a pardon if he hadn’t have fled.

Recurring Characters

Kid Colt, Steel

Hand-to-Hand!

Taking his horse to the local blacksmith, Kid Colt is amazed by his huge size and figures nobody in their right mind would tangle with him. As the Kid seizes up the blacksmith, the blacksmith is doing the same thing after recognizing who he is. Kid Colt tells the blacksmith that his horse needs a new shoe. The blacksmith complies but begins plotting a way to get Kid Colt to take off his guns so he can overpower the outlaw and turn him over to the authorities.

Telling the Kid that he can polish his belt buckle, Kid Colt takes off his belt unaware that he is leaving him open for attack. That’s when the blacksmith reveals that he knows that he’s Kid Colt and attacks. Kid Colt finds himself on the defensive but quickly drops his guard when the blacksmith falls over backwards and knocks over a bucket of hot coals. Kid Colt risks burning his hands to knock the bucket out of the way, making the blacksmith realize that Kid Colt is an honourable man.

Grateful for Kid Colt saving his life, the blacksmith does the work for free and promises not to turn him in.

Recurring Characters

Kid Colt, Steel