Two-Gun Kid #38
Roaring Forty-Fives!
The Two-Gun Kid rides into Gulchtown just in time to witness a lynch mob trying to take away Ben Frost who has pleaded guilty for the murder of Jess King, a well liked rancher in the region. The Kid breaks up the mob and tells them (including Jess King's nephew, Marty) that he is entitled to a fair trail despite his admission of guilt. The sheriff thanks the Two-Gun Kid for his assistance in pulling back the mob. The sheriff explains that Ben has had the odds against him ever since a bronc kicked him in the face, disfiguring him for life. At the end of the trail, Ben Frost is found guilty by a jury of his peers. Taken to the local jail, Ben insists that he was guilty despite the fact that the the Two-Gun Kid does not believe him. Suddenly, Jess King's adopted daughter Helen comes to beg Ben to renounce his confession, but Ben insists on his guilt. Marty then comes to the jail to try and force Helen to come back with him leading to a quick altercation with the Kid who orders her to stop bossing him around, but the Kid easily trounces him in the fight and tells him to scram. Helen takes Marty out of the jail to the local hotel, and Ben tells them that Jess was apparently trying to force Helen to marry Marty.
This strikes the Kid as suspicious and begins looking over the evidence. When he looks at the murder weapon he learns that it is a gun that was owned by Helen, and that Marty offered a thousand dollar reward to the person who found the killer, but didn't have to pay out after Ben confessed. Looking at the marks on Ben's pants, the Kid notes that he regularly wears a regulation .45 pistol and wonders why instead that he used Helen's Derringer. When Ben refuses to change his story, the Kid deduces why: He didn't kill Jess King, and that after he heard Helen and Jess arguing followed by the gunshot, he entered the room and assumed that Helen had killed her adopted father and decided to take the fall so Helen wouldn't be sent to jail because Ben loves her. Overhearing all this, Helen rushes in and tells Ben that she didn't kill her father either and that her gun was missing for a week prior to the shooting. Convinced that Ben didn't kill Jess King, the Two-Gun Kid and the sheriff leave the jail and begin formulating a plan to catch the real killer.
Hours later, Two-Gun confronts Marty at the local saloon and accuses him of shooting his uncle, pointing out that a piece of cloth was found at the crime scene that matches the hole Marty has on his pants. Marty falls for the bluff and gives himself away when he tries to find the hole in his pants and the sheriff moves in to arrest him. When Marty tries to draw his guns, the Kid shoots them out of his hands. With Marty now in jail and Ben free, the Two-Gun Kid tells Ben and Helen of a surgeon that he knows back east that could perform surgery on his face. Ben takes the reward money and goes to see the doctor. A few months pass and Ben returns with his face restored to normal and is welcomed into the loving arms of Helen.
Recurring Characters
Two-Gun Kid
Cyclone
Gunpowder Range!
The Two-Gun Kid is riding on the range when he is suddenly shot at by Corby a sheep herder who is in a range war with Donlan a rancher, who has mistaken the Two-Gun Kid as one of Donlan's men. The Kid confesses that he is merely riding through to get to town for supplies and is allowed to continue on. Entering the town of Deerfoot, the Two-Gun Kid is greeted by Doc Adam an acquaintance of Two-Gun's friend of Bart Meadows who welcomes the Kid to town and tells him about what is going on in town. Wondering why the two men can't live in peace as there is enough land for both, the Kid and Doc's conversation is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Bell a homesteader, who has been harassed by both Donlan and Corby to abandon his land, by running off his horses. He tells the Doc that his boy is sick and needs medical attention right away. The Doc and Bell then ride off to the ranch to treat the sick boy.
Soon after the Doc leaves, Two-Gun spots Donland and Corby confronting each other on the street, both with their own sons. Disgusted by the sight, the Kid confronts them, demanding to know how they can try to drive a man off his land when he has a sick boy at home. When they tell the Kid to mind his business, the Kid draws his guns but is shocked to learn that Donland and Corby's boys were responsible for running off Homestead's horses and they believe that the young Jimmy Bell is faking his illness. Disgusted by this, the Kid tells the quartet to leave their horses and walk back to their ranches. Suddenly, the Doc returns with Jimmy Bell who is very ill, with the black plague explaining that he ordered his father to burn everything they own to prevent the spread of infection.
When the Kid helps the Doc get Jimmy into his office they are surprised when suddenly both Donland comes in as his boy both fell sick with the plague as well. The Doc tells the Kid to go out and find Corby as his son might be infected as well. Outside the Kid is confronted by Corby who blames the Kid for his son suddenly falling ill and tries to shoot the gunslinging hero. The Kid convinces Corby otherwise and they get the boy to the Doc. With the boys being treated and expected to recover, and Corby and Donland forced to burn all their possessions as well, the trio of men are surprised to see their boys become fast friends. Realizing the errors of their way,s Corby and Donland bury the hatchet and decide to help Bell rebuild and promise to share the land in the future.
Recurring Characters
Two-Gun Kid
Cyclone
Hot Lead!
With a powerful drought hitting the land, the Two-Gun Kid rides into town and stops for a drink of water when the dipper he uses from the communal well is shot out of his hand by Bart Maddox who tells him that the local water is not for strangers. When the Kid proves a faster draw, Maddox backs down telling the hero that the heat has tempers flaring up. This is punctuated when the pair witness a man named Keene whipping a horse that Maddox sold him. Maddox explodes in anger and the two draw on each other but the Two-Gun Kid is faster and shoots the guns out of their hands. However the two men are so consumed with rage they vow to come back for a showdown later. Seeing this is the sheriff who tells him that ordinarily both Maddox and Keene get along well, but the heat has affected the tempers of people in town. Without any deputies to help keep the peace, the sheriff asks for the Kid's help and the gunslinging hero offers his assistance.
Later that day when Maddox and Keene return with poses of men to showdown with each other, the sheriff and Two-Gun get in the middle of things. The pair keep the two groups from fighting but tensions continue to rise until it seems inevitable. However, the Kid notices that clouds are rolling in and calls everyone's attention to it just as it begins to rain, cooling the tempers and diffusing the tension that was building. Keene, Maddox, and their supporters then drop their guns and rejoice over the rain.
Recurring Characters
Two-Gun Kid
Cyclone
Killer's Ranch!
Answering a letter regarding his friend Seth Maple, the Two-Gun Kid rides into town to meet with his lawyer and saves an elderly man named Pop Heart from a gunslinger who tells Hart to get off some land. The Kid knocks him out. He then conducts his business with the lawyer and learns that Seth died recently and willed his ranch the Box-O Ranch to the Two-Gun Kid. He learns that the man he knocked out was Kip Rank, the foreman of the ranch that he just inherited, who also called on him to come to town. At this point Pop Heart speaks up and tells the Kid that he owns part of the property that Kip has claimed belongs to the Box-O. The Kid tells Pop that if he can prove it the land is his and the pair head to the town hall, but find that someone has set it on fire. With the records destroyed, Pop has lost the only documentation that proves that he owns his land. Soon after this revelation, a man named Tunstall offers to buy the Kid's newly inherited ranch for a very generous price, but the Kid tells him he has to think it over and invites Pop to stay with him, confessing his suspicions that that fire was intentionally started.
Along the way, Pop tells the Kid that his land to start a ranch with his son and daughter but fears that he will now have to leave. Two-Gun tells Pop not to pack yet and swing by his ranch later. On his way to the ranch someone shoots at the Two-Gun Kid, but the Kid -- sensing danger -- manages to narrowly avoid them and shoots the gun out of his attackers hand, but they flee before he can get a good look at them. Meeting his ranch hands, the Kid tell them that they will have a meeting about the operations at the ranch in the morning. That night the Two-Gun Kid looks over the books and finds that the ranch is quite successful but is left to wonder why Tunbull wants to buy it at such a high price. His study of the books is interrupted by Charlie, the Asian immigrant who functions as the cook for the ranch. Charlie tells him that after Maple died, Kip fired all the ranch hands and hired all new ones. This makes the Kid suspicious.
That night the Kid makes it look like he is sleeping in his bed, and sure enough someone tries to shoot him in his sleep. He then sneaks out of the room and overhears Kip telling his men that they intended to kill him and gets the drop on them and forces a confession out of Kip. He learns that Tunstall poisoned Seth and then attempted to forge the land boundaries because they discovered that Pop's land is rich in gold. Pop arrives at that moment and has overheard everything and gets helps the Kid round up the men to bring into town. Along the way, the Kid decides to give Pop the Box-O ranch, intending to sign it over to him once they get into town.
Recurring Characters
Two-Gun Kid
Cyclone
