It was high noon and the sun was viciously beating down in the hot wasteland close to Bandera, Texas. My horse sluggishly moved along the trail closer and closer to town. All of this 2 week trip was just to find new beginnings in a new town, and maybe strike rich at gold. “ Was this long endeavor even worth it”. I thought to myself. The revolver I had on my hip dug into me everytime the horse trotted along. My canteen was getting close to empty, and at this rate it looked like we would never make it to our destination, until in the distance I saw a sign in the sand that stated,   “ Welcome To Bandera.” It looked as if nothing was there and Bandera was a big hill of sand. Cresting the peak of the hill I finally got to rest my eyes on the 1st civilization I had seen in 2 weeks. Bandera was a small town out in the Texas wilderness around nothing except nature. The main city street had a bar, doctor, and a sheriff's office across the street from the bar. Funny the placement of the sheriff's station to be so close to the bar and not at the very end of the strip. What I hadn’t noticed was the man closely following me behind my horse and I. It wasn’t very long until I realized that there was another little strip behind the doctor, and it had a general store, church, and then another quirk of the gun shop being next to the church. Hopping off my horse the man that had followed me approached and asked, “ Are you Doc Holliday?” Grabbing his collar I pushed him against the post I had my tattered horse tied to. “ How do you know that name?” I asked. The terrified man replied, “ The famous sheriff John Henry Holliday doesn’t stroll into a small town like Bandera and doesn’t get noticed.”

The man was right, someone as famous as myself shouldn’t expect to be so unanimous after my many dealings with criminals. Word tends to spread when family members get jailed, or killed by 1 single man. After the run in with the stranger I proceeded to try and find a small piece of land that I could call my home and build a house on. Going to the sheriff office was the only time I didn’t have anyone give me an off look. I did get some information on a piece of land with a small house on it and got the deed with the last bit of money I had. The trip there was easy since it was just behind the church a 2 minute walk into the woods. Getting to the house I noticed there were no signs or anything just an abandoned looking house on a little plot of land. Opening the door there was a screech and a musky odor. I got all of my belongings off of the horse and into my new home, then went to go get some items from the general store. In the store I bought some rope, food, and clothing just enough to last me a week, but then another person noticed me…..

At the counter the clerk had asked if it really was Doc Holliday, then he got a blunt answer of NO. I went on my way back to the house and saw a woman getting harassed by some outlaws, a really nasty group of young men. Then one of them hollered, “ Its Doc Holliday the famous sheriff, hope he doesn’t try anything or hes got a bullet in my revolver with his name on it.” Hopping off my horse I see the shiny tinge of the revolver he brandished. Quickly reacting I shot the man's gun out of his hand then did the same to the other 2 of his friends. The smell of gunpowder filling the air. The smoke settling all 3 of them had holes in their hands and were on the ground wipering like a dog who just got punished. The woman ran away, just before the man who got the 1st bullet said, “Doc you have no idea how much you just wrote your own will…..”

Hurrying back to the little shack I called home with all of the supplies I got from the general store into the door before I heard one shot and something behind me drop. It shook the ground as it fell and I could only imagine it was one thing… my horse. Looking back I saw a man with a bloody right hand with a disgruntled look, then shut my door and heard the galloping of a horse. This meant war. It was almost dark before anything else happened and I was going to need to uncover a past I swore to bury. A knock on the door, I pulled out my revolver and sent 8 shots through it, then heard someone drop to the ground presumably dead. Then the door busted open, and saw the same 2 guys before and the 3rd one dead at the doorway with many others behind them. I ran out my window just before getting clipped by a bullet. Shots rang in the air everywhere. Ducking behind the back of the house more shots rang and another 2 dropped when I got to the southern part of the house all of them were dead and I only saw a shadowy figure left standing in the darkness of night. The only thing I had left was the rope I bought from the store and my knife I had since I was a boy. So I ran, as fast as I could to the barn the church had and in there was the perfect trap. I took and cut the rope then made 2 slipknots and hung one over the hooks at the top of the barn used for moving hay bales. The other end was put directly over the barn door entrance. It felt as if minutes turned into hours and hours into decades. Then a small rustle moving towards the barn door…. This was it, where real men live the rest of their life in peace, or die and rot in a grave. The door opened and as soon as I felt something come into the rope I pulled as hard as I ever had. The only thing that broke the deafening silence was the gargle of another human being in the barn, that wasn't me. It was over and the feeling of walking out that barn was horrible.

My past was back, and haunting me more than ever.