The Outlaw’s Homecoming(Ed DeRousse) Perhaps five years has been enough time. Langley hoped the Wyoming town had forgotten. Returning could possibly be his last chance to put his outlaw life behind. That is, if he could reconnect with Lizzy.

In 1870, when he first arrived, Cheyenne was a thriving community. A recent gold strike had attracted miners, businessmen, the railroad, and large cattle herds. It seemed an ideal place to hide for a young man running from Texas lawmen. There were very few places in Texas where his outlaw reputation was not known.
He rode into the town full of bravado ready to empty the bank vault of its riches. But Cheyenne circumstance got in the way. That circumstance was Lizzy Smith. She intended to change his outlaw ways. Cheyenne became his home when they married.
His stay, though, in that Wyoming town was short lived. He had left in a hurry and found himself once again running. This time from Wyoming lawmen and back to familiar Texas.

“I had to Lizzy. They told me they’d kill you if I didn’t!” Those were his last words to his wife. A few weeks later he sent her a letter. The letter, he hoped, that would explain things. He wondered if she even got it. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since Cheyenne. But she was never far from his thoughts.

This time, the questions were different: “Would he be recognized? Would he have to run before he could find Lizzy? Would she even be in Cheyenne? Would she forgive him? Would she take him back? What about the boy?”
The town had grown. Maybe even doubled in size. The streets were much more crowded. Hopefully, that could work to his advantage. It might be easier to hide in plain sight. His search for Lizzy had to begin where his life with her ended. At Smithy’s, next door to the bank everyone thought he robbed. Smithy’s, where he had his first meal with Lizzy, was still there. Mr. Smith, Lizzy’s father, was sweeping the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He and the restaurant looked the same except that it appeared to have been freshly painted.

Langley was twenty and much thinner when he first arrived in Cheyenne. But a life spent running had taken a toll on his appearance. At twenty-five, he looked older than his age and physically worn out. That fact and his bearded face, he hoped, would be enough get him past whoever remembered the bank robbery.

Langley dismounted his horse, walked past Mr. Smith, into the restaurant, sat down at the table nearest the door, making sure his holstered .44 was at the ready. His life on the run had taught him that.
Mr. Smith followed Langley in and sat down in front of him partially blocking the view to the street. It was mid-morning. The restaurant was empty, except for the two men and the waitress behind the bar.
“Langley, she’s not here. And you shouldn’t be either!”
“Mr. Smith, I’m not here to cause trouble, but I do need to see Lizzy. Can we talk?”
“You hurt my daughter!”
“I know I did, sir. Wasn’t intentional! Hopefully, she knows it. I sent her a letter explaining what happened.”
“I know. I saw it. That’s why she’s not in Cheyenne. She’s looking for you!”
“That was five years ago! Lizzy’s been lookin’ all that time?”
“Listen, young man. I don’t owe you an explanation. I haven’t seen my daughter and her son in nearly four years. I don’t know where she is right now. I just know where she’s been. I get letters from her. And she’s NOT here. Nor do I know, for sure, when or if she’s comin’ back!”

A customer came in. On his way to the bar, Langley was sure the man looked at him suspiciously.
“Mr. Smith, I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better. I was lookin’ forward to that. You were always fair with me. I appreciate that. If you read that letter, you know something beyond my control changed that.”
“Langley, I saw the letter. Because of my daughter, I’m giving you the benefit of doubt. She believes she saw something good in you. Even after all this time, she still believes it. She has a good heart and is a good judge of character. She said she gets that from me.
I don’t know ‘bout that. Maybe?”
“My Pa wasn’t like you, Mr. Smith. I believe you look at a man, all men, and see the good he could have. My Pa, he tried to! But he saw exceptions. That’s how he looked at me, Mr. Smith. An exception!”
“Do you believe he was right, Bill?”
“I have an even bigger reputation now, Mr. Smith. It follows me. No matter where I go.”

The man at the counter had finished his coffee and left. This time he made eye contact with Langley.
“I’m good with a gun. A man good with a gun only has only two choices. He either works for the law or against it.”
“Yea, I’ve heard that too, and you chose to work against the law.”
“When I married your daughter, I was gonna’ give up my gun. I honestly believed I had a chance.”
“You know, Bill, she’s been looking for you. She hung around hoping you would return to her. But then she got your letter. She gathered up her things, and your son, and left for Texas.”
“So, Lizzy’s in Texas! With my son? She’s not…..”
Suddenly, the restaurant’s door opened, and the town’s marshal entered, gun drawn.
“Langley, I think you should come with me.”
Langley had been confronted by lawmen before and was confident he could outgun the marshal. He slowly stood up and faced the marshal fully prepared to draw and fire if given the chance. But Lizzy’s father also stood up and positioned himself between the outlaw and the marshal. Mr. Smith, whose back was to Langley, was now in the way of the bullet meant for the lawman.
“Don’t do anything foolish. Nobody needs to get hurt.
Mr. Smith take his gun and hand it to me.”
“Mr. Smith, before you reach for my gun, I want you to know something.”
Smith turned to face his son-in-law and reached for the requested gun.
There it was, the opportunity.
“I love your daughter and will die loving her.”
The gunman fell away from his father-in-law toward the floor, while simultaneously cocking the hammer on his Dance .44 revolver, pulling it from its holster, and firing. Before the marshal could discharge his pistol, the bullet from Langley’s .44 found its intended mark. The marshal fell to the ground, dead. The lawman’s bullet had never left his weapon.
Langley looked at his gun, and then his father-in-law. “It seems my gun has chosen to work against the law…..again.”
Langley ran through the open door to his horse and headed out of Cheyenne in a hurry.
Once again, Cheyenne circumstance had intervened in his life.

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