by Tell Cotten
Chapter seventy-three
Cooper lay in a bunk in Pedro’s cabin. Josie sat beside him, and Yancy stood by the door. Tussle sat on a table, grimacing as Pedro worked on his foot.
Cooper was lucky. The bullet had only grazed his hip, and hadn’t hit any bone. Pedro stitched it up and guaranteed Cooper that it would heal just fine.
“I’ve got to be leaving,” Yancy announced. “Lee’s an hour ahead of me, and I’ve got to catch up.”
“I know,” Cooper nodded. “Go get Jessica. We’ll be fine.”
Yancy nodded and glanced at Josie.
“Take care of him,” he told her.
Josie smiled and nodded.
Yancy smiled back, and then he turned to leave. But, Tussle stopped him.
“Hold on. I’m going with you.”
Yancy frowned and shook his head.
“Stay here, Tussle, and rest up. I’ll get Jessica, I promise you.”
“You’ll need help,” Tussle said stubbornly. “I can ride.”
Yancy frowned as he glanced at Pedro.
“How bad is it?”
“Not bad,” Pedro replied. “Just buckshot.”
“Buckshot?” Tussle frowned. “I don’t recall any of them having a shotgun.”
“None of them did,” Yancy said.
It was silent as everyone thought on that, and Tussle scowled.
“Are you saying I shot myself in the foot with my own shotgun?”
“Looks like it,” Yancy said.
Tussle sighed. He shook his head as he thought on that, and then he sighed again.
“Hurt much?” Yancy asked.
“I won’t lie,” Tussle said. “It hurts bad. But, I can still ride.”
“I still say it would be best if you stayed here,” Yancy reasoned.
“No,” Tussle said stubbornly. “That’s my niece out there.”
“Can you walk?”
“Do you know how hard it is for a man to get around on one foot?” Tussle scowled.
“I imagine not very easily,” Yancy smiled.
“Just get me on a horse,” Tussle declared. “I’ll be fine.”
Yancy frowned uncertainly, but he still left to go saddle the horses.
Chapter seventy-four
Stew, Ned, and Tyler rode up to the cabin.
Cliff lay on his stomach beside the grave. They dismounted, and Stew walked over to Cliff and examined him.
“Is he dead?” Tyler asked.
“Yep,” Stew replied, and added, “Stay out here and keep watch.”
They nodded as Stew went inside the cabin and looked around.
There, in the corner, was the carpetbag.
Stew smiled as he picked it up. He sat it on the table, and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He unlatched it and pulled the sides apart.
Stew’s mind went numb as he stared down, and then a wolfish grin spread across his face.
He started to laugh, but then he remembered Ned and Tyler. He choked off his laugh and snapped the carpetbag shut.
I’ve got to be smart about this, Stew thought.
A plan quickly came to mind, and Stew smiled smugly. He took one more look at the carpetbag, and then he searched the rest of the room.
It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. There, in Cliff’s saddlebags, was the money from the stagecoach robbery.
Stew smiled as he walked outside.
“Well, I found it!” He announced.
“The stagecoach money?” Ned asked.
“Yep. It’s in the saddlebags.”
“We’re rich!” Tyler exclaimed.
“That’s right!” Stew smiled, and added, “I’m going to bury Cliff, and then we’ll head out.”
“What for?” Ned wanted to know.
“Because I rode with him,” Stew explained. “I wouldn’t feel right, just leaving him there. I figure that grave is deep enough for the both of them.”
Ned and Tyler frowned, but they didn’t ask any more questions.
“You boys ride up the trail a ways and keep watch,” Stew suggested. “Come back in a few minutes.”
Ned and Tyler didn’t like the idea, but they still did as they were told.
Stew watched them leave. Soon as they were gone, he rushed back inside the cabin.
Chapter seventy-five
Brian and Jessica scouted the surrounding area. Then, they rode several miles down the trail, dismounted, and kept watch on the main trail.
Brian sat cross-legged behind a log. His rifle lay on top of the log, and his hand rested on the butt of the rifle.
Jessica was beside him, and together they kept watch on the trail below.
“How much longer do we have to stay here?” Jessica asked impatiently. “We’ve been gone over two hours.”
“Just a bit longer,” Brian replied. “I want to make sure Cliff has had enough time.”
“He sure is acting odd.”
“He is,” Brian agreed, and added, “And you don’t know the latest.”
“Oh?”
Brian explained about Cliff wanting to take her back home.
Jessica frowned, but didn’t say anything.
It fell silent as they kept watch. Once Brian thought that he heard something, but nothing ever came up the trail.
Brian had just decided that it was time to leave when, from behind, a loud click suddenly sounded out.
“Don’t move,” a voice said calmly. “Let go of the rifle, and then turn around. Slow.”
Brian sighed. He glanced at Jessica, and then he removed his hand from his rifle.
He and Jessica turned around slowly. There, holding a rifle on them, stood Lee Mattingly.
“Where’d you come from?” Brian scowled.
“You must be getting old, Brian,” Lee scolded with a smile. “I was riding up the trail when I spotted the gleam of your rifle barrel. So, I tied my horse down below and circled around on foot. You two were so busy talking that you must not of heard me.”
Brian was embarrassed, and he frowned irritably.
“Where’s Cliff?” Lee wanted to know.
“He’s at a cabin a few miles up the trail,” Brian explained. “He’s burying his brother and wanted to be alone.”
“My carpetbag is at the cabin,” Jessica added.
“Let’s go get it then,” Lee smiled, and then he looked at Brian. “I’ve always liked you, Brian. I don’t want to kill you, but the girl’s coming with me.”
“You wouldn’t want to shoot your partner.”
“Partner?” Lee narrowed his eyes.
Brian explained, and afterwards Lee shot Jessica a dark look.
“You didn’t give me much of a chance to prove myself,” he complained.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d even show up,” Jessica argued.
“Ma’am,” Lee said seriously. “When there’s this much money at stake, I’ll always show up.”
“I know that now.”
“And don’t you be forgetting it,” Lee said.
Jessica nodded and asked, “So, you’ll agree to the partnership?”
“I reckon I’ve been treated worse,” Lee smiled, and everyone relaxed.
“We might want to include Cliff on this arrangement too,” Brian suggested. “It would sure make things easier.”
“No,” Jessica demanded firmly.
“No?” Brian asked, surprised.
“I’m sorry his brother died, but it was his idea to take me hostage,” Jessica explained. “I won’t pay him now to take me back home.”
“I can understand that,” Lee agreed.
Suddenly, a rifle shot echoed in the distance. It was a long ways off, and the sound was faint.
Everybody was startled, and Brian and Jessica looked at each other.
“That sounded like it might have come from the cabin,” Brian said worriedly.
“How far is this cabin?” Lee asked.
“Only a few miles as the crow flies, but it’ll take a bit to
get there,” Brian replied. “The trail’s pretty rough.”
“Then let’s be going,” Lee suggested, and they hurried towards their horses.
Chapter seventy-six
Yancy and Tussle trotted along at a brisk pace.
Tussle’s face was pale. He stood in the stirrups, and he put all his weight on his good foot.
It was quiet for the first hour, and then Yancy turned in the saddle and looked back at Tussle.
“You all right?”
“No, but I’ll live,” Tussle replied. It was silent, and he added, “I still can’t believe I shot myself.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Yancy replied. “If you had shot yourself at that range you would have blown your foot off. I’m thinking you hit the ground, and some of the buckshot ricocheted into your foot.”
Tussle frowned as he thought on that.
“Mebbe so, but I still did it to myself,” he replied. “I feel like a fool.”
“I can’t speak from experience, but I can see how you’d feel that way.”
“How come we’re riding so fast?” Tussle asked as he changed the subject. “Aren’t you worried about an ambush?”
“Lee ain’t too far ahead,” Yancy explained. “I figure he’s being like a shield for us. If anybody gets ambushed it’ll be him. And besides, I’m in a hurry to catch up.”
“Makes sense,” Tussle agreed, and he asked curiously, “You don’t trust Lee, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“He’s a thief. And, there’s something he ain’t telling us.”
“I rode with Lee during the war,” Tussle recalled.
“I know. You were both my prisoners,” Yancy reminded.
“You just have to keep reminding me of that,” Tussle scowled.
“You’re the one that keeps bringing it up.”
“What I’m trying to say is that Lee is more honorable than most. He also keeps his word.”
Yancy thought on that and nodded.
“All right. So he’s an honorable thief who keeps his word.”
Tussle didn’t reply. Instead, he just scowled.
“It’s too bad, Jed getting killed,” Tussle commented as he changed the subject again.
“It was,” Yancy agreed.
“He was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die like that.”
“Neither did Steve or Sam Gibson,” Yancy replied.
Chapter seventy-seven
It took them twenty minutes to get back to the cabin, and Lee and Brian drew their Colts as they rode up.
“Cliff’s horse is gone,” Brian noticed.
“Looks like he buried Rusty before he left,” Lee nodded at the grave.
“He did a good job too,” Brian observed.
A big mound of dirt covered the grave, and it had been carefully packed down.
Brian helped Jessica down, and soon as her feet hit the ground she rushed inside the cabin. A few seconds passed, and she appeared at the doorway with a look of anger.
“My carpetbag! It’s gone!”
Brian groaned and glanced at Lee.
“Cliff must have looked in the carpetbag,” Lee figured.
“And that probably changed his mind about taking Jessica back home,” Brian muttered.
“Funny, what money will do to folks,” Lee smiled.
“And that ain’t all,” Brian said as he looked down at the ground.
Brian and Lee dismounted and studied the ground.
“Someone else has been here too,” Brian announced.
“Looks like four horses left going south,” Lee pointed. “It just happened too. Tracks are about as fresh as you can get.”
Brian nodded in agreement and looked at Jessica.
“It’s Stew,” he said, and Jessica nodded somberly.
“What do you think happened to Cliff?” She asked.
“I’m not sure,” Brian said.
“I suggest we follow these tracks and find out,” Lee said. “They can’t be too far ahead.”
“They could be waiting for us,” Brian warned.
“It’s possible,” Lee agreed. “But, that’s a risk we’ll have to take. Behind us, not too far, is Yancy. If he catches us, he’ll probably try to kill you, Brian.”
“I wouldn’t want that.”
“Then we’d best be going,” Lee suggested.
Brian nodded, and they climbed on their horses and took out. Lee was the best tracker, so he took the lead.
Chapter seventy-eight
Cooper drifted off to sleep as soon as Yancy left, and he didn’t wake up until midafternoon.
He blinked his eyes as he looked around Pedro’s cabin.
There wasn’t much to see. There was the bunk he was in, a table, and two chairs.
Pedro was sitting in one of the chairs, and his face lit up when he saw Cooper.
“Ah, senor! You are awake!”
Cooper nodded.
“How do you feel?” Pedro asked.
“Like I’ve been shot.”
“You will be sore for many days, senor. But you will live, I think.”
“Thanks for patching me up.”
“It is what I do, senor.”
“Speaking of that, how much do I owe you?”
“The men you killed, what will happen to their horses?”
Cooper frowned as he thought on that.
“Well, I could sure use one of them, but I reckon you could have the rest.”
“That is payment enough,” Pedro declared. “We bury the men too.”
“I appreciate that,” Cooper said, and then another thought occurred to him. “If you want him, I’ve got a mule you can have too.”
Pedro shook his head.
“No mule, senor. The horses and gear is payment enough.”
Suddenly, Cooper looked around the room.
“Where’s Josie?” He asked.
“She’s gone, senor. She left.”
“Gone!” Cooper said, startled. “When? Where’d she go?”
“I do not know, senor. While you sleep, she walk around some. She climb on the wall and look out, and she saw something, senor. Later she was gone.”
“What did she see?”
“I do not know, senor. She say nothing.”
“You didn’t try to stop her when she rode out?” Cooper narrowed his eyes.
“She did not ride out, senor. Her horse is still here.”
“She left on foot?” Cooper asked, confused.
“Si, Senor.”
“She can’t be too far then,” Cooper said. “I’m going after her.”
Pedro protested as Cooper got to his feet. The room started swirling, and Cooper had to sit back down.
“Stay here, senor. She come back, you see.”
“She’d better.”
It fell silent as Cooper thought on it.
He was sure that he had not mistaken the look that had passed between them. So, there had to be reason why she left. As for what that reason was, he could only wonder.
“If she ain’t back in a couple hours,” Cooper declared. “I’m going after her.”
Chapter seventy-nine
Stew was almost giddy.
Ned and Tyler were confused by Stew’s sudden change of mood, but they didn’t question it as they rode along.
Stew was in the lead, and he led Cliff’s horse behind him. The money from the stagecoach robbery was in Cliff’s saddlebags.
They rode south, returning the same way they had come. Stew remembered passing a huge lakebed, and that’s where he planned on camping for the night.
The thought of being pursued or setting up an ambush never occurred to Stew. Instead, all he could think about was all the things that he would do with Jessica’s money.
He had always dreamed of owning his own gambling house, and that’s what he decided to do. He would go west to California and build a place.
Stew had no intentions of including Ned and Tyler. They knew about the mon
ey from the stage, so when they camped Stew planned on giving them their share and then parting ways.
At first Stew had planned on giving them all the money from the stage robbery, but after thinking on it he figured that it might make them suspicious.
Stew didn’t want to stir up any suspicions about the carpetbag either. So, earlier he had hid the carpetbag, and he was very confident that nobody would ever find it.
Stew’s plan was simple. Tonight he would get rid of Ned and Tyler, and then he would hide out in the mountains for a few days and let things settle down. Then, he would pick up the money and head for California.
Only bad thing about this is Jessica, Stew thought. Sure wish I could take her with me.
He thought on this for a while, but then he dismissed any thought of trying to get her. He had enough money to last him a lifetime, and there would be other women.
They arrived at the lakebed a couple of hours before dark.
Stew considered riding further, but then he decided against it. He needed time to talk with Ned and Tyler, and also to split the stage money.
“Think we’ll stop early today,” Stew announced. “Tend to the horses, and I’ll make some coffee.”
Ned and Tyler liked the idea, and they hustled about. Stew, meanwhile, built a fire, and soon the coffee was boiling.
Ned and Tyler dug their cups out of their saddlebags, and they joined Stew by the fire.
Chapter eighty
“They ain’t too far ahead of us,” Lee announced as he peered down at the tracks.
“Plenty of daylight left too,” Brian said as he glanced at the sun.
They’d been traveling in a brisk trot. Stew had left them an easy trail to follow, and they’d made good time.
They rode up on top of a steep, little hill. In front of them was a small meadow, and on the other side was a line of trees.
“I smell campfire smoke,” Lee sniffed the air.
“Me too,” Jessica said.
Lee and Brian frowned as they studied the surrounding landscape.
