JP checked on each of the bodies left behind. Each of them was male. Ranging in age from mid teen boys to an old man. JP found the guide for this party. He'd been shot several times with a handgun. Like the other males, the guide was stripped of all his valuables. JP noticed the other males had been shot only once. Either in the chest, or in the head. Only the guide was shot more then once. JP met up with Katie after she had her look around. She told what was missing that normally should be there and also gave her thoughts. JP didn't feel General Verdugo was behind this. It wasn't his style to go after homesteaders. Verdugo normally went after bigger steaks. Plus, none of the tracks were heading for Mexico. 20 horses and a couple of large carts were heading east.
While it was true, they didn't have supplies for a long journey. JP felt they should track the trail left behind for a while. " We've got our full canteens and I have some jerked beef in my saddlebags........We can trail them for a while. " JP said while moving towards his horse. He climbed up on to it's back and started off along the trail left behind. The type of job which JP had, often took him away from Tucson without warning. He could be gone for hours, days, weeks or months. Since Katie now led the same life. Her schedule would mirror JP's. Abbie and the others would know this. Things would just be put on hold until they returned. Several hours after leaving the sight of the wagons. JP pointed out that the trail split. 15 riders and the two carts headed for Texas. 5 riders broke off from the main group and headed for the only town in southeastern Arizona at the time. The infamous town of Tombstone. JP thought about turning back for a moment. But, he decided they should push on. The trail would go cold if they returned to Tucson now. " We can make Tombstone by afternoon tomorrow. " JP said while looking at Katie. He kicked his horse in the sides, making it move forward.
JP & Katie rode on for the next few hours. Once it began to get dark, they stopped for the night. They made a camp not far from a creek. In the morning, they mounted their horses and ride for Tombstone. JP & Katie rode into town just after 1 pm that afternoon. Their first stop was the stables. JP & Katie questioned those who worked there on strangers coming into town during the past few days. The men remembered a group of five coming into town. As luck would have it, they were still in Tombstone. It turned out, the men had goods they sold for money. The men had been blowing that money on gambling, whiskey and women. One of the men working in the stable said those men were in the Oriental saloon right now, playing poker. He said they looked like they'd been there all night long. After getting a good description of the five men. They were paid for their information. JP knew where the Oriental was. This wasn't his first trip into Tombstone. His last trip here was before the famed gunfight at the O.K. Corral. JP was visiting his old friends the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. The Earp's and Doc were long gone from this area these days.
JP took Katie to the lot beside the corral where the gunfight took place. Not much had changed in Tombstone since then. It grew a little, but the lot and the corral remained the same. JP told Katie how Virgil, Morgan, Wyatt and Doc went to disarm the cowboy gang of Ike Clanton, his brother Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborne and the brothers Tom & Frank McLaury. JP didn't have to tell Katie how the gunfight ended. It was, even now the most famous gunfight in the western states. The gunfight was the beginning of what became know as the Earp Vendetta Ride. Wyatt, Doc, Sherman McMaster, "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson, Charles Smith, Dan Tipton & "Texas" Jack Vermillion hunted down members of the cowboy gang for the death of Morgan and the injury to Virgil long after the gunfight.
JP & Katie payed a visit too the current town marshal. This was just to let him know why they were in town. The pair then headed for the saloon. JP told Katie to go around back and come in through the rear door. This would put the men they were hunting between them. JP gave Katie a few minutes to move around back. He then slowly entered the saloon. The place was pretty much empty right now. Only a few men stood at the bar. Six men were seated around a table a few feet from the bar. From the description given by the men at the stable. JP spotted three of the men sitting at the table as those they were looking for. The other two were standing at the bar. JP would handle the men at the table. He would let Katie take down the two at the bar. JP walked up to the table. He stood there for a moment lighting a cigar before announcing who he was and why he was here. The innocent men left the table quickly. This left JP facing the three who remained.