Billy the Kid (Part Two)

There were many arrests and escapes in this new line of work, and though the Kid and Mackie had become partners, the Kid decided to call it quits. In an effort to clear his name, he returned a few stolen horses to the army and then picked up where he had left off, working as a ranch hand.

Though he had tried to live as low-risk a life as possible for the Wild West, he ended up sticking it to a bully - with a revolver. The bully's name was Frank Cahill, nicknamed Windy, and he had it coming. After Windy slammed the Kid down with his body and began to hit him, the Kid grabbed his gun and fired. With a gunshot wound in the gut, Windy fell over, nearly dead if not dead already, and the Kid hightailed it out of there, stealing a horse in the process.

The Kid left Arizona to avoid any murder charges and found a new home in nearby New Mexico. He wasn't able to find any work as a ranch hand this time around - he was a certified outlaw. Soon he met the leader of a gang called "The Boys," Jesse Evans. The Kid joined the gang, perhaps reluctantly because he was sick of "thug life," but maybe he embraced it as something he had been molded into over time and by hardships. Personal feeling and motive aside, no man's land places like New Mexico were no place for a man to be alone. He needed some one to have his back, and so he joined "The Boys."

Thus, the Lincoln County saga begins. Here, "The Boys" found alliance with a man called James Dolan. An ongoing feud between Dolan and "The Boys" and a competing business and Englishman called John Tunstall and his attorney/partner, Alex McSween, soon became known as the Lincoln County War.

No matter how much Dolan's side of the fued intimidated Tunstall and McSween, they just wouldn't leave the competition. In an effort to further intimidate Tunstall and McSween, "The Boys" began stealing their horses and livestock. The Kid was caught and arrested for his participation in this, but Tunstall wanted to give the Kid a second chance; he thought the Kid was just an innocent kid who didn't want anything but a place to belong. The second chance was to work as Tunstall's employee, and would be given to the Kid if he testified against Dolan's side. The Kid agreed.

At Tunstall's, a new chapter seemed to open up for the Kid. He changed his name to William H. Bonney and people began to call him and to refer to him as "the Kid." Perhaps the Kid would find a better future to belong to.