Nick Peron

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Western Kid #4

The Western Kid

A young man tries to pick a fight with the Western Kid in front of everyone in town, but before the boy can shoot Tex Dawson his dog Lightning pounces and pulls the gun out of his hand. The boy call out Dawson's reputation of being a fair fighter and before Tex can learn why the kid suddenly attacked him more men try to shoot at him, prompting Tex to quickly disarm them with his shooting skill and flee on with his horse Whirlwind and dog Lightning. Seeing this escape is Diamond Dave Harper who is furious that none of the men managed to eliminate the Western Kid and offers a bonus to any man who can eliminate the Western Kid so that he can installed a crooked roulette wheel in town without any interference from the altruistic hero.

The young boy rides out hunting for the Western Kid alone and comes across Lightning, but before he can track down the dog's master, Tex manages to get the drop on the boy. He learns that Harper told the boy that it was the Western Kid who stole his grandfathers mine claim records and so the boy took the opportunity to get revenge against the Kid for the theft. Realizing that he has been framed, the Kid easily pushes away the boy when he goes for the attack and then leaves the lad in Lightning's care while he goes to prove that he is innocent of the theft.

The Kid confronts Harper at his saloon, correctly deducing that he was responsible for the theft. While Harper avoids violence, one of his men tries to get the drop on the Kid but the Kid easily knocks him aside. He then forces Harper to ride with him on Whirlwind. After a few hair raising leaps across canyons, the cowardly Diamond Dave confesses and hands over the stolen strike claim. When the Western Kid rides back to where the boy was left, he finds Harper's men shooting at the lad. Dave orders Tex to stand down, telling him that the boy will be killed and they will blame it on him and with the claim in his possession people will be liable to believe the story.

However instead of surrendering, Tex drags Dave to cover behind a rock with the boy and then uses his guns to blast out the bottom of a rock plateau Harper's men are standing on knocking them out in a nasty fall. When Diamond Dave tries to convince the boy that the Western Kid was responsible for stealing his father's land claim, the boy no longer believes him pointing out that if Tex Dawson really was the crook Harper made him out to be, he would have killed the boy instead of defending him. With the battle over, Tex turns over the claim back to the boy and leaves the lad to turn Harper and his men over to the authorities.

Recurring Characters

  • Western Kid

  • Whirlwind

  • Lightning

The Badlands!

Tex Dawson is out riding when he is suddenly attacked by an outlaw named Comanche Pete, who is determined to make it to an outlaw town in the Badlands. His shots cause the Western Kid to bail out of his horse covering Pete's escape. Curious, Tex decides to pay a visit to the Badlands to bring Comanche Pete back to stand trial for murder. As the Western Kid races towards the Badlands, Comanche Pete is there informing his boss that Tex has fallen for their bait and is trailing him, much to his employers delight.

Arriving in the Badlands, Dawson knocks around a number of outlaws while demanding the location of Comanche Pete. Finding him, Tex pounds on the outlaw but is forced to stand down when Pete's employer -- a woman, much to Tex's surprise -- gets the drop on him and orders Tex to stand down. Dawson, unable to bring himself to harm a lady, has no choice and surrenders. He is soon put on a mock trial by the outlaws and found guilty and locked in the local jail to await execution. While the outlaws argue over who's girl their boss is, the "Boss" goes to visit the Western Kid and tells him that she will let him free if Tex agrees to marry her. Tex refuses to be forced into marriage, especially to an outlaw and the Boss angrily tells Tex that he gave up his chance at life, telling him that he has not a friend in the world as his horse Whirlwind and dog Lightning fled when he was captured.

However the following day when Tex is brought before a firing squad, Whirlwind and Lightning return with a posse of law men, right to their master's orders. A fight breaks out and when Comanche Pete tries to escape with his Boss as a prize, Lightning knocks him off his horse. When Pete tries to shoot Lightning, Tex steps in and throttles him into submission. In the aftermath of the battle, Tex convinces the lawmen not to arrest "The Boss" as she appears to have been scared straight. When she asks if she can see him again, Tex tells her only if she stays legit and only when she is in trouble and rides off onto the range once more.

Recurring Characters

  • Western Kid

  • Whirlwind

  • Lightning

The Western Kid

Tex Dawson helps local law enforcement capture an outlaw named Jason who warns Tex that his employer Hank Morgan -- an outlaw wanted in six counties -- will be too much of a match for the Western Kid. The Kid isn't frightened by this, even when the local sheriff warns him that Morgan is a deadly criminal, and suggests that Tex shoot to kill despite his oath never to take a life.

As Tex rides out into the range on his horse Whirlwind and his dog Lightning in tow, he is suddenly ambushed by Hank Morgan and easily dodges his bullets and then wrests the gun from Hank's hands. When Hank's trained horse tries to trample down the Kid, his horse Whirlwind steps in and fights it off. Hank then calls out the Kid for attacking an unarmed man, so Tex tosses him a gun. As Hank scrambles around some rocks for cover, the Western Kid climbs over them and then uses his lariat to snake the gun out of Morgan's hand and then easily subdues him in a fist fight.

The sheriff arrives just in time to see the Western Kid defeat Morgan. When Tex turns Morgan over to the authorities the sheriff is surprised that he didn't kill the outlaw. However Tex tells the lawman that executing criminals should be left up to the law and he parts company with is town animal companions.

Recurring Characters

  • Western Kid

  • Whirlwind

  • Lightning