U.S. Marshal Joshua Hawkes rode into Ft.Hadley and up to the entrance of the Livery stable then stepped down of the large bay quarter horse, he could see the man he was after on the far end unsaddling his horse. He'd been on the mans trail for roughly a month since He'd ran from Justice and now that Joshua had him cornered in the stables, he wasnt going to let him get away, Joshua had a hunch Blackie would stay true to his nature and would'nt be able to resist a bottle of whiskey, Saloon whores and a game of cards for long. He watched the man stop unsaddling his horse when the crunching of hay under Joshua's boots caught his attention, Joshua squared up then called out in a tone steady and confident,

"Dont turn around Blackie, I'm a United States Marshal, keep your hands where I can see'em, I'm here to take you back to Sweetwater".

Blackie tense at his words, then widen his stance but, but kept his hands up on the saddle and answered back with a slight hesitation in his voice," Take me back to swing from a tree you mean, dont you Marshal?", Blackie paused a moment to gathered his courage, " You rode a long way fer noth'in Lawdog cause I aint going back", Blackie paused again, he knew he was in a tight spot, but the fear of swinging at the end of a rope was greater then eating lead, he was about to make his move when the Marshals next words caused him a moment of doubt,"Alive or dead Blackie, it dont matter to me much, but your going back to Sweetwater", Blackie gritted his teeth and his lips curled into a twisted grin as he spun on his heels to face the Marshal, his hand going for the pistol on his right hip.

Blackie may of been a murderous scoundrel, But Joshua wasnt the kind of man to shoot another in the back no matter how much of a dirty dog the Outlaw was,but he also knew Blackie wasnt the type to go peaceably and Joshua couldnt blame him for trying, the thought of dying by having your neck stretched out wasnt a pleasant thought even to him. So he waited the few seconds for Blackie to spin on the heels of his worn boots and go for his gun, Joshua's own hand flashed like lightening, gripping around the handle of the Colt.45 and bringing it up out of the holster, thumb cocked the hammer, and squeezeing off a single shot before the barrel of Blackies gun cleared the holster.

The dark red spot at the center of Blackies upper chest grow instantly and he was dead before his body hit the dirt floor of the Livery Stable. Joshua holstered his pistol then took out a piece of paper and began unfolding it as the crowd slowly crepted up to see what had happened. It wasnt long before the Towns Sheriff and Deputy came bargeing in with guns drawn, stopping to look between the body on the floor and the only other man standing inside the Stables. Joshua held out the unfolded piece of paper, already knowing the Sheriffs question, he cut him off with the answer, "That man was wanted in Sweetwater for the murder of a Rancher and his family", Joshua nodded toward the dead Blackie, "I'll need you to bear witness that the man lying deads the same one on this wanted poster, then put your mark on it". 

thought taken aback by the nonchalance attitude of the Marshal, the Sheriff took the poster then walked over to the body and knelt down to examine the face then the picture on the poster, after a minute he stood up and walked back to the Marshal, "Yup, that be the same man, I'll call for the Undertaker, you can come by the Office later and pick up this here poster and reward money". Joshua nodded then turned to go,"Didnt do it for the reward", was his calm reply as he stepped outside, then looked around for a saloon, wanting a drink of whiskey to cut the taste of trail dust from his throat. 

Joshua walked back to his horse then stopped and noticed it wasnt going to be long before it got dark, and decided he better get a room first. He grabbed the reins and lead the horse inside the Livery stable just as some of the local menfolk were carrying the body of Blackie out. He paid for a stable for the night, unsaddled his horse then paid the Stableboy alittle extra for him to give the good hay and some oats to his horse. Grabbing his Saddlebags, He left the Stables and made his way down the boarded walkway, tipping the brim of his hat to the Ladies and nodding his head toward the men as he passed them, but for the most part they seemed to more interested in staring at the silver star pinned to his chest.

He made his way on down to the Inn, noticing it was across the dirt street from the Saloon he asked for a room towards the back of the building as he signed his name in the Inns ledger and paid for the room. The Innkeeper had a boy run his saddlebags up to the room. Joshua asked for and got instructions from the Innkeeper on how to get to the telegraph Office then stepped back outside of the Inn, took out his tobacco pouch and rolled a smoke, striking a wooden match on the post next to him, he took a puff then glanced over to the Saloon before crossing the street, then turning to his right and walked down the wooden planked walkway till he came to the Telegraph Office at the end of the row of buildings. He sent off a telegram to the Judge in Sweetwater informing him of Blackies death and requested his next assignment. He asked the Telegraph agent where he could get some grub and was about to tell the Agent to bring him any reply message when the telegrph ticker began clicking wildly, he waited for the Agent to write down the letters of the various alternating clicks, then took the piece of paper the Agent held out for him when he was down writing.

--- To Joshua Hawkes U.S. Marshal stop---
---Being reassigned to judgeship in the town of Yornly Wissleon County stop---
---requested you as my Marshal stop---
---meet you there, secure building for new courthouse stop---
---be there as soon as business concluded here stop---

fortunately the Telegraph office had a wall map of the surrounding area and with a little help from the Agent, he was able to locate the tiny black dot the represented the town of Yornly, Wissleon County, which looked to be a few das ride from where he was at. Since it was now dark and he'd already paid for a room, he thought twice about going to the Saloon for a drink and instead made his mind up to get a hot meal and a good nights sleep, then head out for Yornly at sunup.