THE LAST FENCE AT MERCY CREEK – PART 1

THE LAST FENCE AT MERCY CREEK – PART 1 October, 1883. Mercy Creek, Clay County, Texas. Before sunrise, William Anthony Hensley rode the fence line on his bay gelding, Jericho. Frost silvered the grass. The eastern sky was cold as gunmetal. Jericho stopped hard. William followed the horse's stare. At first he thought a coat had snagged on the new barbed wire. Then the wind shifted it, and he saw boots dragging through the grass. He dismounted and walked in slowly, one hand near his Colt. The man at the fence was Thomas Bell. Tommy had been alive three nights earlier, laughing over bad coffee. William crouched beside the tracks. Four horses. One narrow shoe mark. Cigarette paper. A broken sulfur match. Heel drags in the dirt. Tommy had been alive when they brought him here. William started to rise. Something moved behind him. His Colt cleared leather before he finished turning. PART 2 – TOMORROW 10:00 AM