The only daughter of Long Walker, war leader of the Pehnane—Wasp, Quick Stinger, or Raider—Comanche Dog Soldier lodge and his French Creole pairaivo xxxvi married an Irish Kentuckian adventurer called Sam Ysabel, but died giving birth to their first child. Given the name Loncey Dalton Ysabel, the boy was raised in the fashion of the Nemunuh. xxxvii With his father away much of the time on the family business of first mustanging, then smuggling, his education had been left to his maternal grandfather. xxxviii From Long Walker, he had learned all those things a Comanche warrior must know; how to ride the wildest, freshly caught mustang, or when raiding—a polite name for the favorite Nemenuh sport of horse-stealing—to subjugate a domesticated mount to his will; to follow the faintest of tracks and conceal traces of his own passing; to locate hidden enemies, yet remain concealed himself when the need arose; to move in silence through the thickest of cover or on the darkest of nights; and to be highly proficient in the use of a variety of weapons. In all these subjects, the boy had proved an excellent pupil. He had inherited his father’s rifle-shooting skill and, while not real fast on the draw—taking slightly over a second, where a top hand would come close to half of that time—he could perform adequately with his Colt Second Model Dragoon revolver. His excellent handling of one as a weapon had gained him the man-name Cuchilo, ‘the Knife’ among the Pehnane.
Joining his father on smuggling trips along the Rio Grande, he had become known to the Mexicans of the border country as Cabrito; which had come from hearing white men referring to him as the Ysabel Kid. Smuggling did not attract mild-mannered, gentle-natured pacifists, but even the toughest and roughest men on the bloody border had learned that it did not pay to tangle with Sam Ysabel’s son. His education and upbringing had not been such that he was possessed of an overinflated sense of the sanctity of human life. When crossed, he dealt with the situation like a Pehnane Dog Soldier—to which lodge of savage, efficient warriors he belonged—swiftly and in a deadly effective manner.
During the War, the Kid and his father had commenced by riding as scouts for the Gray Ghost, John Singleton Mosby. Later, their specialized talents had been used by having them collect and deliver to the Confederate States’ authorities in Texas supplies which had been run through the U.S. Navy’s blockades into Matamoros, or purchased elsewhere in Mexico. It had been hard, dangerous work and never more so than on the two occasions when they had been involved in missions with Belle Boyd. xxxix
Sam Ysabel had been murdered soon after the end of the War. While hunting for the killers, the Kid had met Dusty Fog and, later, Mark Counter. Engaged on a mission of international importance, Dusty had been very grateful for the Kid’s assistance. When it had been brought to a successful conclusion, learning that the Kid no longer wished to continue a career of smuggling, Dusty had offered him work at the OD Connected ranch. When the Kid had stated that he knew little about being a cowhand, he had been told that it was his skill as a scout that would be required. His talents in that line had been most useful to the floating outfit.
In fact, the Kid’s acceptance had been of great benefit all round. Dusty had gained a loyal friend, ready to stick by him through any danger. The ranch had obtained the services of an extremely capable and efficient man. For his part, the Kid had been turned from a life of petty crime—with the ever-present danger of having it develop into more serious law-breaking— and became a useful member of society. Peace officers and honest citizens might have been thankful for that as he would have made a terrible and murderous outlaw if he had been driven into such a life.
Obtaining his first repeating rifle while in Mexico with Dusty and Mark, the Kid became acknowledged as a master in its use. In fact, at the Cochise County Fair he won the first prize—one of the fabulous Winchester Models of 1873 ‘One of A Thousand’ rifles—against very stiff competition. xl Also it was in a great part through his efforts that the majority of the Comanche Indian bands agreed to go on to the Reservation. xli Nor could Dusty Fog have cleaned out the outlaw town of Hell without the Kid's assistance. xlii