Rawhide Kid #9
Outlaw's Ambush!
In the streets of Mesquite the Rawhide Kid spots a man about to be bushwacked and shoots the guns out of his attacker's hands. It turns out they attacked the man -- named Carter -- due to the fact that he was once arrested for robbing a stagecoach, he spent 3 years in Yuma pen despite insisting that he was innocent of the crimes. Carter decides to leave, but the Rawhide Kid doesn't believe he should leave if he was innocent of the crime. However, soon the sheriff and local Clip Haggard arrive and also tell Carter to get out of town. Not liking how Carter has been given a raw deal, the Rawhide Kid invites Carter back to his home.
There Carter explains that he went to Mesquite to visit his father but figures he is too ashamed to see him, but the Kid convinces him that he Carter's father would know his son was innocent. The Kid then learns how Carter was framed for the robbery: he woke up in the bank, with the loot missing, and was arrested with the crime. With no proof to the contrary he was found guilty.
This gives Kid an idea and he convinces Carter to let himself be locked up again. They go back into town where they pay a visit to the sheriff who agrees to lock Carter in a cell. The Kid then tethers Carter's horse to a hitching post outside the local saloon. When the men who tried to bushwack Carter tell Clip that Carter's horse is outside, he tells his men to continue he comes up with a plan. Clip then goes to the local bank to express his outrage of Carter's release and tells the banker that Carter was seen heading this way. Outside, Clip's men are wearing masks and set to rob the bank, framing Carter for the robbery. The Rawhide Kid interferes, rending a bundle of explosives from the masked outlaws hands and tosses it safely away and the other outlaw is captured by the sheriff.
When they confront Clip Haggard over his involvement, he accuses Carter for plotting the robbery until the Kid reveals that they had Carter locked up in the jail the whole time and couldn't have possibly planned it. Clip tries to draw his gun, but the Kid shoots him out of his hand and Haggard is then turned over to the authorities, clearing Carter's name of all the crimes he was accused of.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Apache
Pecos Justice!
The Rawhide Kid is present during the trial of Trigger Flaig. Expecting a guilty verdict he and the rest of the court room is shocked when Judge Jim Blake finds him innocent. When the locals try to react violently against Blake, the Kid stops them reminding them that they have to respect the decisions of the law. In private, the Kid tries to get answers out of the judge but the clearly shaken lawman refuses to explain himself, even at when considering how his ruling would effect his son Simmie.
Meanwhile, at the local school house, news of his father's judgment of Trigger Flaig reaches the other kids and they begin to pick on Simmie. However, Randy Clayton -- the Rawhide Kid's ward -- comes to Simmie's defence and the fight is soon broken up by the arrival of the Rawhide Kid. The Kid finds Simmie upset that his father would let a guilty man go free and tells the boy not to worry about it as he shouldn't worry about the decisions that adults are forced to make. He then sends Randy to ride part way home with Simmie.
The next day Randy rushes home to school to tell the Kid that Simmie wasn't at school that day. They then rush to the Blake home and find Simmie crying, clutching a letter from his father telling the young lad that he was leaving and that Simmie was better off growing up without him. The Kid then invited Simmie to stay at their place while he worked at figuring out what happened. He went to confront Trigger Flaig, vowing to find out how he managed to dodge the law, leading to a brief scuffle that the Rawhide Kid won. The Rawhide Kid then spent the next few days tracking down Jim Blake, finding him working on a ranch in another town under an assume name. Demanding answers, the Kid learns how the Trigger threatened to have his men kill Simmie and had guns at his back during the trial to ensure that Blake found him interest.
The Kid then convinced Blake to return home to Shotgun City, there the Kid rounded up Trigger and his gang. They are then dragged out to the street where the judge retries them "Pecos Justice" style with the jury on horseback and Trigger and his gang are found guilty of their crimes. With Trigger and his cohorts in jail, Judge Blake is reunited with his son.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
King
Rawhide Kid
The Rawhide Kid and Randy spot buzzards flying in the sky and race to their location to find a stagecoach that was apparently attacked by Comanches. Finding the crew of the stagecoach they also believe it is the work of Comanches. However when Randy takes a closer look of the arrows he notes that they are made differently, one of the coach drivers also notes that they were wearing red dog bonnets similar to those worn by the Mandans. The pair get the wagon back up right and send it on it's way, but the Kid takes on of the arrows for further observation.
When the Kid doesn't recognize the markings he takes it to the local Comanche tribe and presents the arrow to the local chief who tells the Kid that it bares the marking of the Iroquios who live along the east coast. Suspecting someone is trying to frame the Comanches, the Rawhide Kid brings the arrow to the sheriff of Shotgun City who tells the Kid that the locals are angry and gearing up to go to war against the Comanches. After his meeting he notices that Randy is missing, and one of the locals tells Rawhide that the boy followed a group of traders outside of town.
Meanwhile, not far away, Randy spies on the traders noting that their wagon is filled guns and ammo. He overhears the men talking about how they have been using gear from various eastern Native American tribes as disguises to carry out raids in order to inflame war so they can sell guns to the Comanches. However Randy gives himself away when he knocks loose some pebbles. As one of the outlaws attempts to grab Randy, the Rawhide Kid arrives. When the outlaws try to flee in their wagon, the Rawhide Kid shoots the wheel off of it causing it to crash and he is able to capture them clearing the Comanche's names.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
Winner Takes All!
The Rawhide Kid pays a visit to the gambling den of Faro Price and orders him to takes his crooked games and leave town after he cheated a local rancher out of his ranch and live stalk. The Kid plays a high stakes game risking Randy Clayton's education on who can draw the higher card, if Faro loses he has to leave. As Faro draws a card, the Kid notices him trying to pull a higher suit out of his sleeve and forces him to return the stolen deed and orders him out of town. After he returns the deed to Davis. He is soon informed that Faro is still in town, the Kid tells them that he will get rid of Faro once and for all. When the Kid pays a visit to Faro, he falls down dead -- shot in the back. As the Rawhide Kid checks the body, the sheriff comes in and after what the Kid said about "dealing" with Faro, the lawman is forced to arrest the Kid and lock him up in the jail under suspicion of murder. Randy comes to visit the Kid and is assured that he didn't murder Faro and the young boy promises to get his mentor out whatever it takes.
As Randy leaves the prison he runs into Takuma a Native American that Randy saved from the elements last winter. Hearing what happened to the Rawhide Kid, Takuma offers to help in anyway he can, as he saw a man climbing out of Faro's window. The pair then break the Rawhide Kid out of jail. The Kid and Takuma then follow the trail for the man who actually shot Faro. They track an outlaw named Slick and his men to an abandoned mining shack, and come crashing in after overhearing how they murdered Faro to start up their own gambling operation in Shotgun City. They round up the outlaws and turn them over to the authorities, clearing the Rawhide Kid's name.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
