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Show Page 46 the consequences!" Other people received notes as well, one being Isom Dart, the black cowboy who had taught Ann how to rope. Both men ignored the warning. It was July 8, 1900. The day was so hot the blue had washed out of the summer sky. Rash was working close to his cabin so rode home to have lunch. He left his sorrel mare standing in the shade of a tree. Rash was very fond of the mare. Ten years before, it had been a gift from Elizabeth Bassett. Now thirty-five-year-old Rash was looking forward to settling down to married life with Elizabeth's daughter Ann. Rash heaped his plate with steak and fried potatoes and dug in with gusto. He never finished his lunch. Two days later a friend of Rash's dropped by for a visit. Outside under the shade tree lay Rash's sorrel mare, shot dead. Inside, the visitor found Rash on his bunk, where he had staggered after being shot three times. Before he died, Rash had found an envelope and tried unsuccessfully to write a message, using his fingernail as a pen-and his own blood as ink. With the death of her fiance, Ann was about to set out on the warpath. |