Joe Riley’s chin jutted out another inch and his eyes blazed.   Instinctively, he planted his muscular legs and set his hands on his hips accentuating the hard lines of his body and the broad expanse of his shoulders.   “I ain’t gonna do it.”   He pulled himself up to his full 6’2” and rolled his shoulders.   “Ya can’t make me.”

     Captain Parmalee cast a completely unintimidated  eye over the ranger and sighed dramatically.  “Actually, I can, I will and you are….unless you would like to be unemployed.”  Taller than the stubborn ranger, Parmalee managed to give the impression he was looking down his nose at him.   “We’re paid by the good people of Texas to do a job, and this is a job that needs done.   Now stop bellyaching and head out to Pruittville.”

     A soft amiable laugh filled the office but was abruptly silenced as Parmalee’s level gaze landed on Chad Cooper.    “ALL of you.”   The gaze lingered on Chad but then leisurely moved across the room to center on Reese Bennett.   “You have anything to say?”

     “Me, Cap’n?”  Reese’s deep gravelly voice sounded incredulous.  “I wouldn’t say a word, Cap’n….not one durn word.”  He nodded his head for emphasis sending his shock of thick unruly hair flying.   He scratched his side and gave a broad smile.

     “Good.”  Parmalee stood a bit straighter and crossed his arms in front of his chest.   “Then I can assume that by this time tomorrow, you’ll be in Pruittville doing the jobs assigned to you.”

     Joe opened and shut his mouth in frustration.  After several attempts at sound that proved fruitless, he managed to get out a weak protest.   “I ain’t no schoolteacher.”

     Parmalee sighed softly.    “You are now.   Mesa Joe and his associates have been raiding banks and small towns all along the border.   It’s only a matter of time until Pruittville gets hit and they’ve asked for our help.  I’ve got teams of rangers in at least five of those little towns, and you three…”he hesitated long enough to fix a hard glare on each man individually, “are assigned to Pruittville.”  He adjusted his belt and raised his eyes.  “I can’t have you standing on street corners looking like gun slingers.   The good citizens have come up with available covers for you and you WILL use them.”

     “But, Cap’n…”  Joe swallowed hard.  “Can’t Chad teach school?   He’s real good with book larnin’ and numbers and all.   He’d do real well with cipherin’.”  His handsome features twisted in pain.   “I din’t do real good in school when I was a kid.   I was much better off with the Comanches.”

     There was no sympathy at all in the hard lines of the Captain’s face.   “Chad is going to work at the bank, Reese is going to work at the livery stable, and you…by process of elimination…will work at the school.”

     “I could work at the bank.”  Joe’s face brightened noticeably.  “I could do that.”

     Parmalee left his eyes travel coldly up the tall muscular ranger and then looked pointedly at the smaller form of Chad Cooper with his classic good looks.   “I don’t think you’d fit behind the counter at the bank.   They have teller’s cages, and I’m betting the bank manager doesn’t want to completely renovate.”

     “How about the livery job?”  Joe looked hopeful.  “I’m real good with horses and nobody will think twice about a healthy sized man doin’ that job.”

     “Which would leave Reese teaching school?”   Parmalee looked at Joe incredulously.   “You are joking?”

     “Hey now!!!”  Reese’s protest brought a half smile to Parmalee’s face.

     “The orders stand.”  He waved his hand dismissing the rangers from his office.   Once they had left, he slipped from behind his desk and stood where he could look out the window without being seen.   Two of the men mounted their horses and sat waiting on their animals as the third checked his saddle hitch one more time.   Scowling and disheartened, Joe Riley mounted up and swung his horse into line.  Parmalee smiled broadly.   “God help Pruittville.”

     Chad adjusted his hat on his head and stared in annoyance at the scene in front of him.  “I guess we need to go find the sheriff.”  He stared pointedly at the saloon.  “Course, we could take the edge off our thirst first.”

     Reese’s irregular features broke into a grin.  “That we could…that we could.”  He agreed boisterously.    Then his face saddened.  “At least, I could.”  He looked pointedly at Joe.  “I don’t think the teacher here should be seen in such an establishment.”   He found his hat very interesting and left his voice fill with regret.  “It jes wouldn’ be right for the kids to see the teach imbibin’.”

     Joe pulled himself up in the saddle and glared with hostility at his friend.   “Reese…if you don’t shut up, you’ll be lickin’ my elbow cause my fist will be halfway down yer throat.”

     Reese’s hearty chuckle filled the night.  “Chad, I do think the teach is a bit touchy.  Yessir, a bit touchy.”

     Chad smiled at the interchange between his friends and nodded towards the sheriff’s office.   “I think we’d better announce our arrival before we go cleaning out the saloon.    We’re supposed to be respectable individuals here.”   He grinned ruefully.  “Besides, the bank teller can’t be playin’ poker anyway.   Won’t look good.”

     Reese broke out laughing and slapped his leg in delight.  “Yessir, this is like going to a Bible meetin’.  You guys got religion.   Boy and howdy am I glad I ain’ the respectable sort.”  He wiped the smile off his face abruptly and stared solemnly into Chad’s face.   “Don’ you worry, I’ll drink enough for two of us.”

     Chad pulled back his hand and threatened to backhand the old  scoundrel.   This set off another gale of laughter as the totally unimpressed Reese dismounted and tied his horse to the tether outside the sheriff’s office.   Striding purposefully towards the door, his hamlike fist pounded enthusiastically on the aging wood until it shook under his weight.

     A light slowly glowed into existence somewhere inside the structure and a muffled, sleepy voice drifted out.  “I’m comin’, I’m comin’ keep your shirt on.”  A curse followed as a bare foot found wooden furniture.    Still hobbling, a man wearing long johns opened the door. A sheriff’s badge hung at an odd angle from the red flannel that covered his hairy chest.

    Chad sighed deeply and nodded to Joe who dismounted.  The two walked shoulder to shoulder up onto the wooden planks that served as a sidewalk and quietly backed up their more aggressive partner.  Jumping in before Reese could open his mouth, Chad held out his hand and pumped the sheriff’s arm in a good-natured handshake.   “We’re from Laredo.”  He smiled warmly and indicated the office behind the man.  “Sure could use a cup of coffee.”

    Reese cast him a malevolent look but kept quiet.   Good-hearted and well meaning, Reese’s mouth was often a source of trouble for the rangers.   His off color remarks could start a bar fight or land them in jail faster than Chad could draw a gun.   As a result, Joe and Chad had an agreement between them as to who Reese would be allowed to address and when.    The man’s talent for trouble had its uses, but 11 o’clock at night on the streets of Pruittville was not the place.

    The sheriff nodded reluctantly and stepped aside so the three men could enter the building.   “Good thing you fellas showed up this late.   It’ll make getting you settled in a touch easier.”   The man set aside the rifle that had been standing at the ready next to his right hand.   “I’m Jeb Langdon.”  He shut the door firmly behind them.   “You can spend the night here with me and tomorrow I’ll take ya around to see your new jobs.”  He stopped and stared at the rangers and then cocked his head to one side.  “Which one of you is the schoolteacher?”

    Joe shuffled his feet uncomfortably and shivered slightly.  “I am.”

    Sheriff Langdon stared up at the big cowboy in amazement.   He took in the hip slung gun belt and the deadly looking knife stuck into the sheath on his left thigh.   “Yep, I can see that now.  Don’t know how I missed it.”   He nodded towards the back of the office.  “Only beds I have are in the jail cells.   Just leave the doors open.  We don’t have any guests at the moment so you have your choice.”

    Chad’s shoulders shook as the sheriff cast one more look at Joe’s broad back as he returned to his bedroom off the office.   If that was the sheriff’s reaction, it was going to be interesting to see what the townspeople thought of their new teacher.

    The next morning, Joe stepped out of the sheriff’s office with a well-groomed Chad.   In deference to his job at the bank, Chad sported a suit and tie instead of his customary work clothes.   Efforts to get Joe into more traditional academic clothing had proven to be useless.   Even if the town had a suit that would have fit the man, the possibility of wearing the restrictive clothing was enough to send Joe Riley off into a string of curses and threats that cowed even Reese for a full 2 minutes.

    The sheriff decided to leave the job of escorting Joe to the schoolhouse to Chad who was obviously better able to handle the large ranger.   Soothingly, Chad kept a steady stream of chatter going about poker games and what Joe could do to Mesa Joe if he ever caught him until the schoolhouse loomed into view.   One look at the structure and Joe turned to move in the opposite direction.   Unconcerned, Chad swung him around and kept a guiding hand on his arm as he pushed him towards his temporary occupation.   “Then, you can stake him out on an ant hill somewhere and dribble honey all over his chest.   We’ll find ya a nice red ant mound.  I promise.”

    Joe gave him a shaky smile.   “Maybe we could make sure it’s a nice hot day and I can wet the rawhide a bit.”

    “Sure, sure….”  Chad patted him on the back.  “Remember it’s all Mesa Joe’s fault.   We wouldn’t even have to be here if it weren’t for him.   Heck, we could be back in Laredo, sippin’ a beer, watchin’ Reese break up the bar.”  He shook his head sadly.  “Yep, it’s all that Mesa Joe.   Once we catch him, well, just think of the possibilities.”  He patted his friend on the shoulder.

    A smile lit Joe’s face.   “He could resist arrest.”  His voice held a hopeful note.

    Chad smiled brightly.  “He could for a fact.”  He took on an air of certainty.  “I bet he will.  He’ll just be resistin’ until we get him back to Laredo.”  He opened the door of the schoolhouse and pushed Joe inside.   “I’ll be back for you after work.”  He quickly shut the door behind his friend and rapidly made his way out of the schoolyard and down the street before howls of complaint could reach his ears.   Joe would be a lot easier to handle after he calmed down.  Chad felt a momentary twinge of compassion for the children but shrugged it off.   To the best of his knowledge, Joe had never really strung up a child.

    Reese stared at the livery stable with distaste.   He could fully understand why the owner had volunteered to provide a cover for the Rangers.   The last employee had left much to be desired and the condition of the livery had passed deplorable several weeks ago.   With a resignation to his lot in life, Reese picked up a shovel and applied himself to the job of creating a cleaner and more wholesome environment for himself as well as the horses in his charge.  He was deep into his task when he first caught the whiff of smoke.

    Assuming the smell came from one of the nearby homes, he took off his shirt to free his arms up even more, and attacked the stalls with renewed gusto.    The smoke smell became stronger and he was forced to abandon his task in favor of searching out the odor.   He sniffed experimentally and took a few steps to the right where the smell immediately decreased in intensity.   Returning back to his original location, he sniffed again and moved to the left, this time the smell got stronger.  Sniffing and peering around him, Reese moved bloodhound-like across the stable and opened the door to the small corral that abutted the building in the rear.

    Slim tendrils of smoke sporadically rose from behind a pile of hay bales accompanied by giggles and the occasional fit of coughing.    Smiling to himself, Reese slipped up to the hay bale and peered behind it.    With the smooth motion of a striking snake, he grabbed the two boys by their shirt collars and pulled them out to stand in front of him.  “And jes what do you think yer doin’?”  Reese glared at the homemade cigarettes that each boy held.   “Yer too young ter smoke.  Ya need ta be in school.”

    The boys stared up at the powerfully built man and gulped.  “We don’ have no schoolteacher, Mister.”

    “Is that a fact, now.”  Reese smiled at them.  “Well, I happens to know that ya got a new schoolteacher today.  So’s you can go to school.”   His smile dropped.   “Now git.”

    The boys looked at each other and smiled.   “A new schoolteacher?   Heck, we jist got rid of the ole one no more’n two weeks ago.”

    Reese glowered.   “You boys give schoolteachers a rough time?”

    The boys smiled evilly and looked up at him conspiratorially.  “We never had no teacher for more’n a week.   They just ups and leaves.”
Reese covered his smile with his hand as an idea slipped around the corners of his mind.   “Yep,” he shook his head.   “I remember when I was your age.  I’d…” he stopped talking and shrugged his shoulders.  “You kids wouldn’ be interested.”

    “Yes we would.”  Both heads nodded enthusiastically.   “Tell us.”

    Reese made a big show out of considering the request.   “If I tell ya, you boy’s wouldn’ go tryin’ it or nothin’ would ya?   I can’t have ya tryin’ things like that.”

    One boy smiled broadly at the other.   “No, sir.”

    The second boy smiled and shook his head.  “No sir.”

    “Well,” Reese looked to see if anyone was listening in.  He knelt to be closer to his accomplices.   “I used to fill a paper bag with some of that horsesh….uh….manure and set it on fire.   When the teacher comes a runnin’ to stomp it out, well…you can ponder the rest.”  He stood up and smiled broadly.  “Course, you two would never do that, so’s off to school with yas.”

    Turning on his heel, he returned to the livery chuckling in delight.    Returning to his work, he kept an eye on the livery door.    Less than fifteen minutes passed before one towhead passed just under the stall wall followed by a shock of black curls.   Giggling and shushing announced the little thieves as the crumple of paper heralded the making of several bags of excrement.

    Reese leaned against his shovel and laughed silent