{"id":3668,"date":"2022-10-11T13:55:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T13:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garisonfitch.com\/?p=3668"},"modified":"2024-08-03T19:37:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T19:37:27","slug":"the-anson-parker-war-an-ira-doc-pearson-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garisonfitch.com\/?p=3668","title":{"rendered":"The Anson-Parker War (an Ira “Doc” Pearson story)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A range war is coming. Texas Ranger Ira Pearson is sent to investigate. But is there someone behind the scenes pulling the strings?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Published by Outlaws Publishing and available for <\/em>Kindle<\/a> and in <\/em>paperback!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Ranger Ira Pearson is sent undercover to Van Bent, a town in far west Texas where rumor has it a range war is brewing. Posing as a doctor\u2013aided by the very training he has tried so hard to distance himself from\u2013Ira is quickly involved in the feud.
As he tries to keep the war from escalating, Ira can\u2019t help but think there is something else going on, that either someone behind the scenes is pulling some strings, or there is just an evil festering beneath the surface of Van Bent.
With a nurse he is training on the job by his side, Ira is tasked with stopping the war and, perhaps more importantly, finally answering the question for himself of whether he was supposed to be a doctor all along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sample Chapter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undercover work? Ira considered as he gathered his things at the hotel. He hadn\u2019t had to do anything like that since he was with the Houston police force a few years before. Not real undercover work, anyway. Occasionally, as a Ranger, he had ridden into a situation with his badge in his pocket and had not announced his presence or true intent until he had the lay of the land, but not true undercover work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wondered, of course, what it might be. A dope smuggling ring? There were rumors of cocaine becoming a problem among the silver miners out west. Slavery? It was outlawed but there were a lot of prostitution rings that\u2014in Ira\u2019s estimation\u2014came awfully close to breaking those laws with their \u201ccontracts\u201d for the women. It occurred to Ira that he wouldn\u2019t mind breaking up an operation of either of those evils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, why him? There were other Rangers, he knew, that had more experience with drug smuggling. Ira had helped in an operation on the matter a couple years back, but his area of expertise was more along the lines of cattle rustling or kidnapping. Kidnapping? he wondered. There were always rumors of the Comancheros stealing American children and selling them as slaves in Mexico\u2014or kidnapping Mexican children and bringing them to the States as \u201cservants\u201d. Could it be something like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira knew there was no way he was going to find out until he got to Kerrville and spoke with Billings, but he couldn\u2019t help but speculate in his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKay had given him a fairly loose timetable, so Ira eschewed the trains and rode Scout cross-country to Kerrville\u2014posting his letter to Rose in the next town down the line. Ira still wasn\u2019t sure where things stood with Rose. Was she \u201chis gal\u201d? Did he want her to be? Nor did he know if she wanted to be his gal\u2014or anything, for that matter. She was a friend, certainly, and probably one of his best friends. But he could not honestly say whether he wanted her to be anything more and was pretty sure she felt the same way. So why, he asked himself, had he bothered to send the letter? Because he cared enough about her that\u2014if he wound up undercover for a long time and unable to write\u2014she wouldn\u2019t think he had forgotten her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t dawdle, but nor did he push his horses for he brought along a pack horse he could switch with. All in all, he made pretty good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also didn\u2019t shave, thinking that if he needed to look different from his normal self, a beard and mustache were an easy disguise\u2014which he could shave off if not needed. He wasn\u2019t one of those men who could seemingly grow a fresh beard overnight, but by the time he arrived in Kerrville six days and a hundred and fifty miles later he had a decent start. If nothing else, it had the advantage of drawing no attention his way as he just looked like another long-riding saddle tramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem, it occurred to him on the six day ride, was his eyes. Some people (especially women) seemed to like his eyes, some people said they were too strange to be attractive (also women), but everyone who met him agreed that Ira had the greyest eyes they had ever seen. He doubted that his eyes were discussed by bandits on the trail, but they were going to be hard to disguise were he to meet anyone he knew. He thought about getting some spectacles with just plain glass for lenses, hoping that might distract from his eyes. It occurred to him that maybe he could get some spectacles with tinted lenses such as people with sensitive eyes sometimes wore, but thought that might draw more attention rather than less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira checked in at the Kerrville Union Hotel and the man at the desk barely looked at him, let alone made eye contact, certain Ira was just a saddle bum and probably thinking they\u2019d have to give the sheets an extra wash after this Walter Moore left. Ira thanked him, saw that his horses were tended to, then went upstairs. The fifty cent bath felt good but it sure increased his desire for a shave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had supper in the hotel dining room, an inauspicious room off the inauspicious lobby and was served an even more inauspicious supper. What they had advertised in the menu with some fancy French words was just a medium-sized steak and some green beans. Neither was bad, nor were they the kind of meal Ira would be hankering to return for. Still, they beat his trail cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After checking on his horses he walked around town a bit then headed back to the hotel. He stretched out on the bed after taking off his boots\u2014expecting to be disturbed by a tap on the door at any minute\u2014only to find himself waking up to faint morning light. He was rested, but more than a little chagrined at himself for it didn\u2019t pay a Ranger to sleep too well or two hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After splashing some water on his face, he went downstairs and took care of business before heading into the hotel dining room. It turned out they weren\u2019t serving breakfast that day, so he made his way to a little caf\u00e9 down the street that was clearly open and put off a smell so charming Ira told himself he would be happy just to stand there and inhale. Inside, he got a breakfast almost too large for one man to eat, but Ira did his best and eventually polished his plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was sitting on a bench later that morning in front of the hotel when a man in a plain, store-bought suit and bowler hat sat nearby. The man asked in a casual but clear manner, \u201cWalter Moore?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho\u2019s asking?\u201d Ira replied, giving the man a better look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man asked, \u201cWould you like a cigarette paper?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira was puzzled but replied, \u201cI\u2019m more of a cigar man, if anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stranger let a little smile creep into his eyes, then said, \u201cI\u2019ll roll you one. But don\u2019t smoke it here. The hotel owner\u2019s kind of picky about such things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the number of butts on the wooden porch beneath Ira\u2019s feet the Ranger seriously doubted that assertion, but took the offered cigarette with a \u201cMuch obliged.\u201d The stranger nodded, then tipped his hat and stood up, walking away without a backward glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira stood up a few minutes later, the cigarette in his shirt pocket, and made his way to a little courtyard on the side of the hotel. Making as if he were trying to light the cigarette but fumbling with it, he dropped it on the ground. Grumbling, he bent over to pick it up, unrolling it as he did so. He saw that there was writing on it. Putting the paper in his right front pants pocket, he walked around to the back as if going to the privy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he was confident no one was watching, he read the note. \u201cOld blue barn on southeast side of town. Dusk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira tore up the pieces of the note and dropped them into the privy\u2019s hole. He laughed to himself, \u201cIf anyone wants to fish them out of there, more power to \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He loafed around town that day, trying to be neither suspicious nor too unobtrusive, and eventually made his way to the southeast side of town. Once there, the barn\u2014which he had located earlier in the daysat off by itself making the approach to it visible, meaning no one was going to sneak up on that barn while there was still light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira dismounted Scout then walked up to the barn, putting his hand to his Colt and made sure the thong was off, then eased inside the old structure. Taking a moment to let his eyes adjust as much as they could, he looked around. He stepped to some old stalls and went to stand in one of them, leaning his left side against a post and keeping his right hand close to the revolver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hoped he didn\u2019t jump too much when a voice from the next stall whispered, \u201cHow\u2019d you know which stall I was in?\u201d Before Ira could answer, the voice\u2014a man\u2019s\u2014said, \u201cNever mind. You go by Walter Moore now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Ira replied succinctly. Then, \u201cMister Billings?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. McKay sent you, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira nodded, realized the man couldn\u2019t see the gesture, and so answered, \u201cHe did. What\u2019s this all about? And are we supposed to pretend we don\u2019t know each other?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a gravelly voice, as one who recently got over the croup, Billings told him,\u201cNot here, per se, but thanks to that business in Rook last year, you and I are known associates. I have a job and it occurred to me from the start that you\u2019re the man for it, but it needs to be kept hush-hush until we know for certain there is something there. Do you still have doctor\u2019s equipment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Ira replied, trying to keep the grumble out of his voice but probably not keeping the surprise out. \u201cA few things, like what I\u2019ve used when patching someone up in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom now until this is over, if you take this assignment, you\u2019re Walter Moore. I know your record, Pearson. You didn\u2019t just kind of read for medicine with some frontier sawbones; you went as close to medical school as Texas had at the time\u2014and finished with high recommendations from the school in Galveston.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira hesitated, then replied, \u201cBefore the college officially opened up. I studied under a man named Gerald Miktam. He was an obstetrician and taught at the old college before they closed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met him. Brilliant man. Then you had an education better than most doctors in the state\u2014barring the most recent graduates, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe. What\u2019s this all about, Mister Billings?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a long pause, then Billings replied, \u201cCome over here and let\u2019s have a little light.\u201d Ira followed the man into a darker corner of the barn which had probably been a tack room way back when. Billings lit a lantern, but kept the flame low. Still, it allowed them to see each other as they sat in two rickety old chairs by an even shakier table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings produced a map from a satchel and spread it out on the table. \u201cYou know anything about Van Bent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTown, isn\u2019t it? Just this side of El Paso?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the one. Wait, you weren\u2019t in on that group of Rangers that stopped the Fitzsimmons-Maher fight in El Paso a couple years ago, were you? That was close to Van Bent and you might have been recognized\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. I was hip deep in bringing down those wire cutters west of Lubbock about then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, right. Good work there. Anyway, about Van Bent. Ranching town, little dry land farming. Railroad goes through there, east to west. Started out as just an end-of-the-tracks town, then just about died when the railroad went on. There was talk for a while, though, that a railroad bridge might be built over the Grande and the town perked up a bit. Kind of reached an equilibrium now, you might say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething going on there that needs a Ranger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. Well, maybe. But it\u2019s something that I think requires a particular Ranger: you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe? What do I bring to anything that a dozen other Rangers don\u2019t?\u201d When Billings didn\u2019t answer right away, Ira looked into the man\u2019s eyes and saw something like a friendly smirk in the dim light. \u201cWhat? Oh wait, no. I don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve heard\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard about how you patched up a couple of our Rangers after that border fight a couple years ago, and how you performed actual surgery last year in Big Spring.\u201d As Ira made a face like a man about to object, Billings said, \u201cAnd I happen to know, as stated earlier, that you have better medical training than most actual doctors\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe average doctor in Texas has less than one year of medical training, and most of them were just apprenticed under another doctor with the same level of training. You\u2019re one of the few who can actually claim to have been to medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t\u2014\u201c Ira tried to object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaven\u2019t you heard?\u201d Billings said with what was intended to be a friendly smile but was not seen that way by Ira. \u201cThe School of Medicine there in Galveston has recognized Doctor Miktam\u2019s students as having a medical degree on par with those their first year graduates received.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. I hadn\u2019t heard that,\u201d Ira told him, a mixture of chagrin and pride battling for supremacy within. \u201cBut what does all that have to do with Van Bent, Texas, and needing a Ranger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings reached into his satchel and pulled out a wanted poster for a man listed, primarily, as Augustus Zamorra, though there were several aliases listed as well. \u201cWhat do you know about this man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira looked over the poster and replied, \u201cMostly just what it says here: wanted for murder and horse thieving\u2014but all on the Mexico side of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust trail gossip. Seems like most of his crimes have taken place in Mexico, but every now and then he gets the blame or credit for something that happened on this side of the river. Some people say he\u2019s one of the Comancheros, others say they hate him as much as everyone else. One fella I heard once was trying to say the Comancheros were afraid of this \u2026 \u2018Gus\u2019. That\u2019s what they call him, isn\u2019t it? \u2018Gus Zemore\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. That\u2019s one of the many names he is known by.\u201d Billings rearranged the papers so that the map was on top and explained, \u201cWe suspect he\u2019s done more on this side of the border than we\u2019ve tried to let on. Didn\u2019t want the public panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose west Texas boys are more likely to take a pot shot at him than panic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings nodded, but then added, \u201cI dont doubt it. But we want this Zamorra alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy alive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something going on down there. Something that\u2019s got the people of Van Bent and El Paso on edge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you think if you can catch Zamorra he\u2019ll tell you what it is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe. We\u2019ve caught some small timers, but they\u2019re only from the fringes. They haven\u2019t told us anything\u2014if they know anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira asked, \u201cWhat makes you think Zamorra knows anything? As I recall, he\u2019s never been accused of being part of a gang. He\u2019d be an outsider to any plan, wouldn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe not. We think the whole loner thing is an act, a put-up. We\u2019ve been watching him for some time and he\u2019s a lot closer to the big scores than we at first thought. Never right there, mind you, but a bank or train robbery, a high-profile kidnapping. Zamorra\u2019s almost always nearby. He\u2019s either in on it\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr he knows who is and is trying to catch some of the leavings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo again,\u201d Ira reiterated, \u201cWhy a Ranger? And, more importantly, why me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billingss waited a long minute, then said, \u201cTrouble\u2019s coming to Van Bent. There are two factions that control that town: the Ansons and the Parkers. It\u2019s been just a little feud between families\u2014wait, I don\u2019t want to downplay it too much. There\u2019s been some fist fights but, well, it\u2019s been kept within the families so far. Rumor is, though, that one of the sides is bringing in some hired guns to wipe out the other side\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo why not bring in a whole bunch of Rangers like Major Jones did and wipe them out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBelieve me: we\u2019ve discussed that. The problem is that, so far, we don\u2019t have enough to go on. Could be the whole thing is just rumor. Not that two families trying to shoot up the other isn\u2019t worth our time, but we got enough egg on our face pulling in Rangers from everywhere just to stop a prize fight. And this being so close to El Paso, that fight would be on everybody\u2019s mind. We need to get the facts, first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMove a garrison there. Let it be known you\u2019re after wire cutters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings was a moment before answering, \u201cWe need someone on the ground, but someone who doesn\u2019t look like a Ranger. So then it occurred to me one day that Van Bent has everything: a school, a couple churches, even a volunteer fire department. Has a sheriff but I have a suspicion that he\u2019s on the payroll of the criminal element.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this has to do with me \u2026 how?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Van Bent doesn\u2019t have, is a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally? It\u2019s not that small is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than a thousand people, maybe two. It had a doctor, eastern fellow from what I hear. Wife and family. My guess is that the little woman didn\u2019t care for far west Texas and he left to keep peace in the home. Can\u2019t blame him, really. Anyway, the town council wrote to the state asking for help in finding them a doctor. I came across the request, happened to remember what you did in Big Spring last year, and thought we might have an answer to solve our problem and the town\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou just didn\u2019t take into account that I am not a doctor anymore. Never was, really.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a Doctor Alexander in Big Spring that says different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve talked to him?\u201d ira asked, surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy telephone,\u201d Billings replied, the telephone still a new enough invention that even those who had used one many times were still proud of the fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I had no choice. That man was going to die if I didn\u2019t operate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings smiled, again trying to be friendly and not realizing that the light from the lamp made him look more ghoulish than inviting, \u201cSee, that\u2019s where it\u2019s you. If it had been me, that man would have died. I wouldn\u2019t have had the first idea what to do other than maybe hold a bandage over the wound. You may not think of yourself as a doctor, but you know how to be one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your interest in this? This seems a little out of the bailiwick for a state attorney\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeputy attorney general,\u201d Billings corrected. \u201cBut you\u2019re right. I\u2019m interested because, well, I got interested in this because I have a sister who lives in Van Bent. She wrote to me about this feud. I know my sister: she doesn\u2019t scare easy and neither does her husband. If she says something\u2019s coming, I believe her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo how does Gus Zemore fit into all this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly? He may not. But down Mexico way he\u2019s been known to fight for pay. If it\u2019s true that one side is bringing in hired guns, I would look for the other side to try to get Gus.\u201d Billings leaned closer, his elbows on the table, and said, \u201cGus is past forty. You and I know that\u2019s old for an outlaw unless they either get someone else to do their work for them\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr they\u2019re very good at what they do,\u201d Ira completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEither way, we don\u2019t want him in Texas if we can help it. But also, if we could capture him and turn him over to the Mexican authorities, it might build up a little good will between our countries. We\u2019ve got spies in Mexico, but we don\u2019t have an official presence in Van Bent. I told my sister I\u2019d try to change that and Captain McKay thought of you right off. Said you were wasted just tracking down panhandle rustlers and runaway brides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira was trying furiously to think of objections, coming up with several, but finally said, \u201cYou want me to go into Van Bent and pretend to be the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I want you to go into Van Bent and be the doctor. If we sent any other Ranger in there to pretend, they\u2019d be discovered as soon as they did something\u2014anything. I want you to go there and be our eyes and ears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor how long? I was undercover once with the Houston police but that was only for a few days. Just long enough to work the docks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you\u2019ve been an undercover doc before,\u201d Billings laughed. He laughed alone. Answering the question with a more serious voice, he said, \u201cThere\u2019s a possibility this could go on for months. A possibility, mind you. But me, I\u2019ve got it in my mind that this is building to something. Something that will hit before summer is over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t know that for sure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow could we? Unless we knew some gold shipment were coming through or something. No, this is, admittedly, open-ended. But you know how our hot Texas summers work on folks, especially the bad element.\u201d Billings, a good man at reading body language, asked, \u201cWhat is it about this job that has you so vexed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira had a few sarcastic comments jump to mind, but decided to go with honesty, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be a doctor. It\u2019s true that I can be one, but I closed that door a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to reopen it.\u201d Billings again tried that winning smile (that worked so well in sunlight) and offered, \u201cYou\u2019re what? Thirty-two, thirty-three? Colonel Jack retired from the Rangers at thirty-four. McNelly died at thirty-three. Most Rangers your age are looking for something else to do: ranching, becoming a town peace officer. You\u2019re one of the few who has something they can turn to right away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think about being a rancher sometimes,\u201d Ira replied, deflecting. \u201cMy father\u2019s a rancher. I could take over his spread, or go start my own somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t want to be a doctor. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have my reasons,\u201d Ira replied, hoping his tone was as insolent in his voice as it was in his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings waited a long moment before saying, \u201cI know about your wife. It may be time to put that behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have. And part of putting it behind me is putting being a doctor behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you refusing this assignment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan I refuse it?\u201d Ira asked with surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d Billings told him. \u201cBut I think you\u2019re the best man for it. And you\u2019re the only man who could go in as a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSurely someone else could go in as a banker or a lawyer or something. Bartenders hear a lot of the talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know. I know. But every one of them is going to be viewed with suspicion. Everyone knows the Rangers don\u2019t have company doctors. So a doctor moves into town, shows himself to be competent, everyone in town will be satisfied that he\u2019s a real doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira leaned back in the chair, thinking of all the objections he could make. He was also thinking that he had thought just what Billings brought up: he was getting older. It wasn\u2019t quite like the early days when most Rangers were in their twenties, but the few who lasted into their thirties (or, rarely, forties) were becoming Captains and administrators, something Ira had never really aspired to. He liked the part of the job where he was operating alone, riding fence lines, checking brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He suddenly told Billings, \u201cIf I do this, I can\u2019t just ride into Van Bent on the train later this week and set up shop. Besides equipment, I\u2019d need to go apprentice\u2014for lack of a better word\u2014with an actual doctor, somebody like Alexander.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings smiled widely and said, \u201cI was thinking the same thing. Four weeks be enough time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive me six.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen you\u2019ll accept the assignment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ira hesitated, then said, \u201cFor six months. If I don\u2019t have a clear indication of\u2014of some \u2026 wrongdoing, I want the freedom to pull out. I\u2019ll even help the town find a new doctor, but I want to be back out on the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccepted,\u201d said Billings, who extended his hand. Ira hesitated the briefest of moments, but then took it. Ira had spent so many years running from being a doctor that he told himself this was a chance to discover what he really thought about it, more than just the one night in Big Spring had previously provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom this moment forward, you are Walter Moore. Get used to signing that name, saying it, and reacting to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere will Ira Pearson be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack east, with a delegation from the state government that\u2019ll be working with congress on issues of horse and cattle theft in the west. Write out a letter to your mother now and then and get it to me. I\u2019ll see that it gets posted from Washington.\u201d He quickly added, \u201cDon\u2019t lie. Don\u2019t write, \u2018I\u2019m enjoying the magnolia blossoms\u2019. Just a generic, \u2018I\u2019m doing fine. Can\u2019t wait to get back to my usual duties.\u2019 Like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s someone else I might have you post a letter to,\u201d Ira mentioned, almost against his own will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings smiled but didn\u2019t say anything. Turning off the lamp, he gathered his things and stood up. Ira could tell what was going on by the sound. Outside, Billings told him, \u201cI used to be a cowboy, you know that? Rode with three trail herds up to Kansas, once to Wyoming. Twice, I rode with men who used to be doctors. Both of them, they had to leave the profession because they were drunks. And old Holliday was a lunger. You don\u2019t drink, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaste now and again, but no, not a drunk. No consumption, tuberculosis or cancer either, so far as I know. Had a hang nail once.\u201d After a few steps, toward their horses, he added, \u201cOh, and I got shot in the back once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of thing that would make me want to stop being a Ranger,\u201d Billings commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thought entered my mind,\u201d Ira admitted. \u201cBut I had a matter I was determined to see to completion first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know of what you speak. That\u2019s long since settled. And you\u2019re still a Ranger\u2014and a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people of Rook might disagree,\u201d Ira chuckled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe some of them, but not all.\u201d Billings patted Ira on the shoulder like they were old friends and said, \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re aboard with this. It might be a wild goose chase, but I don\u2019t think so. And every town needs a doctor, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight,\u201d Ira replied, as one who doesn\u2019t fully agree. As they reached their horses, surprised to learn they were tied near each other in the thick brush south of the barn, Ira asked, \u201cWhere do I go from here? Big Spring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you\u2019re known there. Let me send some wires, then I\u2019ll get a message to you as soon as I can. Anybody know you in Dallas or Fort Worth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe. No close friends or associates, though. Rarely ever been east of there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billings snapped his fingers, looked around sharply as if he regretted the sound, then said in a low voice, \u201cI know a doctor in Corsicana. I think he\u2019d do the Rangers a favor\u2014and keep quiet about it, too. Name\u2019s Tobias Charberon. I\u2019ll contact him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharberon.\u201d Ira swung into his saddle and asked, \u201cSame kind of message as today? Cigarette paper and all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing so clandestine, now that we\u2019ve met. The fellow who brought you the message this morning? I\u2019ll have him take his meals in the hotel you\u2019re staying at these next couple days. Act like you don\u2019t know one another. But, if you see him sitting there with his coffee cup upside down\u2014like he doesn\u2019t want any\u2014that means you can head for Corsicana. If Charberon doesn\u2019t agree, then I\u2019ll get in touch with you in some way and we\u2019ll find another doctor for you to study under.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou really think someone\u2019s watching you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot that I know of, but I don\u2019t think we can take that chance. Any rumor you were seen with me before all this started and word will get back to the criminal element.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou that well known?\u201d Ira queried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some circles. In the wrong circles.\u201d Billings looked like he was about to get his horse moving when he suddenly asked, \u201cAre you the man who came up with that system of using dynamite to thwart fence-cutters?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDifferent Ranger, though his name is Ira, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarn. I would like to shake that man\u2019s hand. That\u2019s the kind of inventive thinking we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoctors rarely use dynamite,\u201d Ira told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you know: applying new solutions to old problems. You men do that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut for the next few months, you will be,\u201d Billings reminded him. He sat with his hands crossed on the pommel, looking in Ira\u2019s direction (maybe, in the dim light it was hard for the Ranger to be sure) and said, \u201cYou know, back in the days of Captain Hays, there was more than one man who gave up doctoring to be a Ranger for a while. You\u2019ll just be going the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI reckon,\u201d Ira replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They shook hands then rode off in their respective directions, Ira surprised at himself for agreeing to the assignment. He told himself it was because he was a man who took the jobs given, but this was the first job given him that caused so much pause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published by Outlaws Publishing and available for Kindle and in paperback! Texas Ranger Ira Pearson is sent undercover to Van Bent, a town in far west Texas where rumor has it a range war is brewing. Posing as a doctor\u2013aided by the very training he has tried so hard to distance himself from\u2013Ira is quickly … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Anson-Parker War (an Ira “Doc” Pearson story)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1997,1998,1993],"tags":[1075,1291,2010,1327,1277,2061,1017,1076,1074],"class_list":["post-3668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detective","category-mystery","category-western","tag-fiction","tag-irapearson","tag-minapearson","tag-murder","tag-mystery","tag-rangewar","tag-texas","tag-texasranger","tag-western-2"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Anson-Parker War (an Ira "Doc" Pearson story) - After Time Ends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/garisonfitch.com\/?p=3668\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Anson-Parker War (an Ira "Doc" Pearson story) - After Time Ends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Published by Outlaws Publishing and available for Kindle and in paperback! Texas Ranger Ira Pearson is sent undercover to Van Bent, a town in far west Texas where rumor has it a range war is brewing. 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