There was a man called William Carpwright,
who lived in a western town called New River. He was a very good blacksmith and
belonged to a very respected family. He was a kind man, he did everything he
could in order to help people. For him, everybody was important. For him, there
were no social differences. In town, he was called The Hero.
He was married to Clare, a
woman who had hazel eyes and fair hair, was ten years younger than him and was
about to give him a child. But he loved her with all his heart. Every morning,
before going hunting, he kissed her on the lips.
They lived in a small cottage
in front of a park, in the heart of the town. He had been born in Ireland and
arrived in the town twenty six years before, looking for new adventures because
he thought his life in the place he lived was boring and he thought he needed
something to spend his strength in so, he had decided to leave his country to
go to Texas because he was told that was a place where strength was needed.
When he had heard that, he had decided to go and help rebuilding the town. When
he arrived, his honour had been tested, he had to fight against a man called
Graham, the strongest man all over the town
That day, he woke up very
early to go hunting something to eat for breakfast while his wife, Clare was
heating some water to prepare a cup of tea for him. When he went near her, he
stood still, stared at her and thought:“you are each day more beautiful, dear”.
When she saw him, she told him: “honey, sit down and take a little rest while I
set the table for breakfast” They seated to have breakfast and... Suddenly, he
heard the noise of a bullet.
“What on earth is that?”
He asked wrathfully while thinking “why can I not have a peaceful moment in
this damned life?” he told Clare to go to the basement and to stay
there till he came back.
He
took his gun, loaded it and went out.
After doing this, he felt sad because, he had left Clare alone and his
enemy could attack her, which was dangerous because he was a gangster called
the Fast Bullet because he had killed many people with his gun, without
thinking about the pain he was causing, just to show his “bravery”.
Suddenly,
he heard “if you are really a man, fight against me” William felt so furious
that he could have broken a rock from a beat. He pointed him with his gun and
told him
“Listen
to me as carefully as you can, I’ve got a wife who’s beautiful, sweet and
lovely and who’s going to be my oldest son’s mother so, I’ll fight against you
just to protect her”
The
bullets came and went while all people in the town were looking at them with
fright in their faces and thinking he would be killed and he thought “What will
Clare do if I die?” Suddenly, he saw
one of the enemy’s gang members disturbing and hurting a lady. William
approached the man and his emerald eyes showed anger. He looked at his rival
directly in the eye, beat him up and the man collapsed in the ground. As he saw
that, he shouted as loud as he could
“nobody will hurt innocent people as long as I’m alive. Is that clear?” They went on fighting and a bullet
pierced the enemy’s arm and all people thought their hero had won the duel but
the other man stood up again. At the sight of this, William thought “nobody will defeat me without fighting hard
first” he hit the Fast Bullet’s arm and he fell down on the ground. The police
sent him to prison and sentenced him to death.
William
stood still in the middle of the street, he needed to put his ideas in order.
The fact that he would have been killed frightened him till the extent that he
thought about his son abandoned and loveless. his thoughts were cut short by a
woman who held him tight and said “thanks for our lives, hero of every of us.
God bless you and give you a long and fortunate life” he just smiled at her, he
was still very deep inside himself and nobody would be able to stop him.
But
the town was not safe yet. His enemy’s men, who were hidden all over the town,
had to be killed if they wanted no more people to die. Suddenly, he heard steps
and these words “the town will be ours
and that damned Irish dog will be dishonoured” he rode his horse and went away.
He needed to survey the town to see if there was “more rubbish to pick up” as
William used to say making fun of the gangsters he had fought against,
including the Fast Bullet. But his way was filled with obstacles, he saw a
fainted woman. He stopped his ride and tried to decide whether to leave her
there or take her to hospital. After a while, he finally decided to take her
with him. After that, he saw so many mess that he felt defeated and like
fainting.
He did
not want to disappoint his people so, he stood up and ran to see what he could
do for the woman because he thought that, in case his wife was hurt, he’d like
every man to do the same for her. Thinking of her made him feel relaxed because
he knew he had not to prove her he was a real man. On the contrary, she made
him feel the bravest man all over the world and repeatedly told him she thought
he was the best. That thought made him convince himself everything was in his
hands and it was his duty to save the town.
When
he was riding past the drugstore, he heard something that made him feel the
weakest and biggest coward
“We
must look for him, because Mrs Carpwright isn’t feeling well and is asking for
him to come to her” ...something had happened to his only love, something had
come to destroy him. That thought made him feel so scared that he shook the two
women and shouted “what on Earth happened to Clare, to the only woman I’ve
loved in my whole life?” He was told she was about to bear the child he was
waited for so long, that she was growing each second weaker.
He
lashed his horse and a smile appeared in his ivory face making his roughness
turn into tenderness. His mind wandered
for all the adventures he and his son would have in the future. He began to
think about all the fishes they would catch and the animals they would hunt. He
arrived home whistling an old country song he had heard in the bar that
evening: “thanks God I’m a country boy....”
Meanwhile,
Clare was in bed taking a rest because all the effort she had to make bearing
her son had left her weary. When she saw her husband, she told him: “ come and
see your son, he’ll feel proud of you when he knows what you’ve done for all
people here and how many innocent lives you’ve saved”
He
approached the bed, saw the baby next to his mother and shed tears of joy as he
told “little Bill” as he called the baby: “we’re going to have a great time, my
dear son”
He left him in his bed and, still weeping,
said to his wife: “my love, this is the best gift you’ve given to me”. Clare
just looked at him with tenderness and smiled while thinking how fortunately
she was because she had him beside her. Then, asked him to stay by her side
because it would make her feel better. The man did as he was told and spent
three nights there, leaving the smithy in charge of Graham, his best friend and
having the time to delight in Clare’s beauty.
Three
months had passed and the couple was seating by the fire. William, with his son
in his arms, said: “dear, have you thought that the last events have a
meaning?”
She
gave him a puzzled look and he continued: “I mean, although I almost died, it
let me know how useful I can be here in town and how fortunate I am for having
the two of you by my side”
She
could say nothing and just looked at him smiling while standing up to go and
kiss him tenderly. He just blushed and smiled at her.
Minutes
later, they left the house to go to the church. As they walked along the sandy
streets in the town, all people looked at them pleased because they knew how
much he loved her and how thankful he was for having found love there. They
entered the church, he made his way to the centre of it, and said: “friends,
I’m happy to see all of you here. After all, I owe you all I’ve got. I won’t
forget how alone I felt when I first came here and how understanding you were
seeing me so down, I won’t forget the support you gave me in those troubled
days. I feel this town like home especially when I remember what someone said,
he said that we didn’t belong to a place till its ground receives our
relatives’ mortal remains so I belong here now because it received my mother...
That’s
why I decided to help you as if I were a hero. I also hope you’ve got a good
image of me, if I’ve been unpleasant to somebody, I beg his or her pardon...”
He
could not continue speaking because a little girl embraced his legs and said
“we love you with all our hearts” he took her in his arms and said, “these are
the things that encourage me to continue even though things go wrong. I have no
words to express what I’m feeling now, I don’t know how to return everything
you’ve given to me”
When
they left the church, all people were crying, his words had touched their
hearts because they found out how much he loved them.
But, for this hero, the
adventures were just starting, the years to come would be filled with love,
action, happiness and the love of Clare, his Clare.
