There’s nothing a man needs after a long journey more than the comforts of home.
Travis Bankhead had a home once, before Union soldiers tore it to pieces.
And he’d certainly been on a long journey, one that began with sights set on those self-same Union soldiers.
But that all changed there on the battlefield at Buffington Island, fighting next to his friend and fellow Confederate, John Chambers.
Travis took a slug in his thigh as the battle turned against the South, and John had two choices -- stay and tend to his buddy or turn tail and run.
Chambers ran, leaving Travis for dead.
Well, ol’ Travis Bankhead was a tougher than that. He didn’t die, but the Union captured him and shipped him up to Camp Chase in Columbus.
Two years as a prisoner of war, with only a shoddy old drunk of a doctor to tend to his leg, left Travis with a terrible limp.
He could still shoot, though, and he reckoned that was about all he needed to make it as an outlaw.
Travis followed the stream of money pouring westward all the way to Arizona where, before long, he started to hear stories about the former Confederate soldier who had made good and turned himself into a right smart lawman.
Name of John Chambers.
And so it was that Travis decided to pay his old friend a visit.
The fire crackled on that cold November evening when Sheriff Chambers’ boot clopped down on the wooden planks of his front porch.
Inside, Travis winked at Chambers’ wife and small daughter, and held a finger to his lips.
“Don’t spoil the surprise for your daddy.”
It had cost him plenty, but Travis thought this new home would do just fine.
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