by Bobbi Smith
"I think we're about to find out," Slade answered as he, too, did as he'd been told.
Slade looked up, waiting for the attackers to show themselves. He held on to the one thread of hope that his supervisor from Denver was among them as he searched the faces of the men who slowly emerged from their hiding places. But Ken Richards wasn't there. All the men were strangers to him. They all wore badges, and they all looked grimly determined. And then the leader stood up.
"It's the sheriff from Black Springs," Slade said, recognizing him from the night of the dance.
Johnson swore out loud at the news.
The shooting continued up ahead of them on the trail, but the sound was growing fainter, as if a running battle continued.
"Sounds like the Kid might be getting away," Johnson told Slade under his breath. "Ain't nobody gonna ever bring the Kid in! He's too damned good."
Slade only nodded in return. He kept careful watch on the deputies climbing down toward them, for the lawmen's rifles were trained on their chests.
"Dismount and step away from your horses," Rob ordered, standing guard, his rifle ready just in case they tried anything. "Hawkins, you cuff them."
Two deputies went to catch their mounts as another came down to handcuff them.
"What are your names?" the deputy named Hawkins demanded as he restrained them.
When Slade and Johnson remained stonily silent, he clubbed them both with his rifle.
"That's Braxton!" one of the men holding the horses called out excitedly. "I recognize him from his wanted poster! And the other one's Johnson!"
"So, you're Braxton, are you?" Hawkins eyed Slade with open hatred. He was glad the outlaw was bleeding from a cut on his forehead where he'd just hit him. He would have liked to shoot him outright, but Sheriff Emerson was watching. "We know all about you."
Everyone knew about Braxton-about the robbing and killing he'd done. There were wanted posters for him out almost everywhere west of the Mississippi.
"You're under arrest for robbery and murder," Hawkins announced as he searched first Slade, then Johnson for other weapons. He found their knives and took those before going to see to Nash. Once Nash was unarmed, the deputy put a makeshift bandage on his shoulder and handcuffed him, too. They would take no chances with any of these deadly gang members.
Up ahead of them the shooting stopped. Slade wondered if the Kid had managed to get away or if he'd been killed.
"We'll wait here for the others," Rob ordered from his vantage point.
"Do you think they got the Kid?" Hawkins asked.
"I hope so. I want to see him hang."
They settled in, ready to wait it out. Nearly an hour passed before four more deputies rode up. They were leading two horses with bodies tied to their backs.
"Well?" Rob demanded. He'd grown tense waiting for their return. He was pleased that his plan had succeeded this far, but his satisfaction wouldn't be complete until he'd brought in the Dakota Kid, too. He was the leader.
"The Kid got away, but we managed to kill two more of them!"
Rob cursed long and loudly as he stared off in the direction the Dakota Kid had run with the other surviving members of his gang. He was tempted to go after them, but he'd been gone from Black Springs for over two weeks now. They had three of the gang in custody, plus two dead. He would have to be satisfied-for now.
"Don't worry, Sheriff. We'll get him eventually."
"I wanted the Dakota Kid today." His tone was grave.
The others fell silent, knowing there was nothing more they could do right then.
"Well, at least we got Braxton," Hawkins said, and the deputies who'd just joined them were pleased.
They mounted up and made their way carefully around the boulder that had blocked the trail. The posse rode out of the canyon, still frustrated, but knowing they had accomplished some good that day.
Slade swore silently to himself as he rode toward Black Springs surrounded by armed guards. He was a prisoner everyone would just as soon hang as lock up in jail. Nothing was working out as he'd planned. He'd been in some difficult situations in his life, but this was turning out to be the worst. He hoped the truth would be enough to set him free, but considering the circumstances, he doubted it. His expression was grim as they continued on their way to town.
"Sheriff Emerson's riding in!" The shout went up through Black Springs as someone caught sight of the lawmen returning in the distance. "It looks like they caught 'em!"
The townspeople quit what they were doing and hurried outside to see what was happening. They all knew how badly the sheriff had wanted to catch the Dakota Kid ever since the robbery and John's murder. They'd heard talk that he'd set a trap for the deadly gang, and they'd been waiting anxiously for news of its outcome.
The Dakota Kid and his gang had been terrorizing the territory for years now-murdering, robbing trains and banks and generally making life miserable for decent folks. If Sheriff Emerson had caught them, there would be a big celebration tonight.
All eyes followed the progress of their sheriff and his deputies as they rode slowly down the main street of town. They had three handcuffed men in tow and two dead bodies thrown over the backs of horses.
"Did you get them all, Rob?" Tom York called out, eager to see the outlaws get their due.
"We got some of them," he answered tightly.
Cheers went up at his words, but the lawman didn't smile. The Dakota Kid was still on the loose and that left him on edge. During the four-day ride back to town, he'd stayed constantly on guard. There was no telling when the savage bandit might show up or what he might do next. The Kid was amoral, vicious and smart, and that was a dangerous combination to guard against-especially since he would be holding some of his most deadly gang members in the Black Springs jail.
Reining in before his office, Rob dismounted and looped his reins over the hitching rail. He ordered several of the deputies to take the bodies to the undertaker's; then he turned back to Slade and the others and drew his gun.
"Get down, but move slow," he ordered.
"Yeah, we'd hate for you to have an accident now, after bringing you all the way in," Deputy Hawkins said with a scornful laugh.
Slade looked around Black Springs. He'd thought he would never see it again, and now he was back. He eyed the jail and knew it wouldn't be simple to break out of there. He'd had no chance to try to run since they'd been taken into custody, and now things looked even worse. If it hadn't been for bad luck lately, he wouldn't have had any luck at all. Slade knew he'd think of something, though. He had to. Too much depended on his staying close to the Kid.
"Move it nice and easy, Braxton. Don't try anything." Hawkins jabbed Slade in the back with his six-gun. "I'd hate to have to shoot you 'cause I thought you were trying to make a run for it."
Slade didn't respond to his taunting. He just moved steadily toward the sheriff's office as Nash and Johnson followed.
"Did you have much trouble, Sheriff?" asked Al Carson, the editor of the town's only newspaper, The Gazette. He wanted to write the story up for the next edition.
"It's never easy dealing with the Dakota Kid." Rob's answer was terse. It had been sheer luck that no one in the posse had been killed or injured in the shoot-out. "We brought in Nash, Johnson and Braxton."
"You got Braxton? Which one is he?" Carson's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to stare at the captives.
Braxton had the reputation of being one of the most dangerous gunmen alive. When the townsfolk heard the rumor that he'd joined up with the Dakota Kid, they'd feared trouble would follow, and they'd been right. In the last few months, the Kid's gang had robbed a number of trains, several banks and two stages out of Laramie. The sooner they were stopped, the better life would be for everyone.
"He's the tall one." Rob gestured toward the man Deputy Hawkins was taking inside.
The newspaperman looked at Slade. The lean, dark-haired gunslinger was dressed all in black and appeared deadly. When the out
law glanced his way, Al met his regard straight on. He shuddered at the coldness he saw mirrored in the outlaw's eyes. "Is he as mean as he looks?"
"Meaner," Hawkins called over to him. "I'm gonna enjoy seeing him swing."
"So will a lot of other people," Al agreed.
The town wouldn't get back the money they'd lost in the bank robbery. No doubt that was long gone. And hanging the outlaws wouldn't bring back John Mason, but once the gang members were dead, they would never be able to hurt anyone again.
Johnson glared at the townspeople who were gathering round. As he was herded inside, he called out, "The Kid ain't gonna let you hang us. He'll break us out. Ain't none of you gonna be safe until we're free again! You just wait and see."
A murmur of fear went through the crowd.
"You ain't going anywhere but to jail, Johnson!" Rob ground out, barely controlling his fierce desire to pistol-whip the loud-mouthed gunslinger.
"We'll just have to see about that, won't we, Sher iff?" Nash sneered as he walked past the man who'd managed to outsmart them and bring them in.
"There's going to be round-the-clock armed guards at the jail," Rob announced, wanting to ease everyone's fears.
"A few guards won't stop the Kid," Nash countered, confident that he would be saved by his friend.
Rob waited until all three outlaws were inside the jail; then he turned back to the townspeople. "You folks can go on home now. There won't be any more excitement today."
"What about his threat that the Kid's going to break them out?" someone called out. "I know you said there were going to be guards, but-"
"It's talk, that's all. Just talk. If the Kid does try anything, we'll arrest him and lock him up, too."
"How come you missed him when you got the others?" Al asked.
The sheriff scowled at his question. "The Kid got lucky, but his luck's bound to change one of these days."
With that, Rob went inside and shut the door behind him. He was in no mood to field any more questions. There would be plenty of time for that later, once things had settled down.
The crowd slowly moved away, but the townspeople's mood was still uneasy. Not that they didn't trust Sheriff Emerson. They did. Though he was a rather young man, he'd proven himself to be a good lawman. The only real trouble they'd had in town since he'd been elected sheriff had been with the gang, and now he'd gone out and brought some of them in on his own. That was more than any other lawman had done in the territory.
Al hurried off to the newspaper office. He had work to do.
Inside the jail, the three prisoners were herded into one cell in the back room. Only after Hawkins had locked the cell door, did he tell them to stick their hands through the bars so he could unfasten the handcuffs.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Rob said as he came to stand in the hall outside their cell. "You're gonna be looking at the inside of a jail for quite some time, boys."
Nash glared at him and gave a harsh laugh. "Think what you want, lawman. The Kid ain't gonna leave us to hang."
"If the Kid comes for you, he's a dead man." Rob turned away from them. Ignoring their shouts and taunts, he returned to the front office and closed the door that separated the two areas. He needed some peace and quiet for a minute while he figured out what to do next.
With the door shut, Nash and Johnson grew weary of the game. They flopped down on two of the cots provided in the cell.
"How soon do you think the Kid will show up?" Nash looked over at Johnson. Johnson had ridden with the Kid the longest and knew him better than anyone else.
"It all depends. He'll plan it before he comes into town," Johnson told him. "What do you think, Slade?"
"He's going to have one helluva time getting us out of here if they put armed guards on us around the clock like they said. There's only him, Red and Zeke left."
"The Kid can do it. He can do anything." Nash believed the outlaw leader to be invincible.
"I hope you're right," Johnson said. "Hanging ain't no way for a man to die."
"We ain't gonna die," Nash insisted. "The Kid will save us. You'll see."
Slade made himself as comfortable as he could on a top bunk. He folded his hands beneath his head and closed his eyes as he tried to figure out what his own next move was going to be. He would have to sit tight and wait, and that was going to be the hard part. He had been close...so close...But that chance was gone. He was going to have to start all over againproviding he got out of this alive, and things weren't looking too good right now.
"How can you even think about sleeping, Braxton?" Johnson demanded, as he got up and paced around the small cell.
He knew the Kid respected Braxton, but something about the man bothered him. Maybe it was the way Braxton was so quiet most of the time, or the way he never tried to make friends with any of the others in the gang. Johnson always kept an eye on him, not trusting him completely. And he wasn't the only one who felt that way. He knew Zeke did, too.
"I can't sleep if you keep talking to me," Slade drawled, not bothering to open his eyes. Johnson was one of the coldest men in the gang. Slade knew he would just as soon kill a man as talk to him.
"We need to be planning something. We need to-"
"There isn't anything we can do right now but wait it out. You may as well follow the lawman's suggestion and make yourself comfortable. We're going to be stuck here for a while, even if the Kid does come after us."
"Don't tell me what to do, Braxton" Johnson said angrily. The Kid was the only one he listened to. He'd been riding and killing with him since he was thirteen. He was twenty-five now, and he knew no other life than running with the gang. The thought of spending his days locked up in this small cell was enough to make him crazy.
Slade heard the edge in his voice and looked over at him. "I don't care what you do, Johnson. Suit yourself I'm just saying, the Kid would be a fool to ride straight in here and try to break us out now. And one thing the three of us all know for sure is that the Dakota Kid is no fool."
"He's right, Johnson," Nash added, his voice strained from the pain of his wound. "Take it easy. We're stuck for now, but it won't last long."
Johnson looked over at Nash and managed to bring his temper under control. This was no time to fight among themselves, though it irked him to admit Braxton was right. He'd just have to wait and hope the Kid would come for them soon.
Johnson was sure the wait wouldn't be a long one. The Kid would never desert him. Never.
Rob sent one of the deputies to fetch the doctor so he could examine Nash's wound. That done, he settled in behind his desk, glad for a moment of peace.
"What are you going to do with them?" Hawkins asked.
"I'm going to see that they have a fair trial."
"I don't know why you're so determined to waste time," Hawkins scoffed.
"Because it's the law, Hawkins, and I'm sworn to uphold it."
"It would have been so easy to rid the territory of them while we were still on the range. It would only have taken three shots."
"That's the difference between us," Rob said, his gaze narrowing as he studied his hot-headed deputy. He liked Hawkins, but he knew he couldn't trust him completely. He had to keep an eye on him. "I like to do things by the law. You like to dispense your own brand of justice."
"Is that so bad? We know who these men are, and we know what they've done." Hawkins didn't understand how the sheriff could be so fair. The outlaws hadn't been fair when they'd killed John Mason.
"We have to let justice take its course."
"But we know Braxton was in on it! And Nash and Johnson, too! There were witnesses who saw them do it!"
"And they'll get their say at the preliminary hearing and at the trial. Until then, it's our sworn duty to keep those men safe."
"I'd feel a lot better if they were in pine boxes, six feet under somewhere."
"Everybody in the territory would, but we're going to do it legal-like. I don't want to hear any more talk about vigilantes and
lynchings."
The deputy was silent, but sullen. "What are we going to do about the Kid? You know he's going to try to break his men out."
"If he shows his face in Black Springs, I'll arrest him. But I don't intend to give him any extra time to cause trouble. I'm going to see Alyssa Mason right now and arrange for the hearing to be held first thing tomorrow morning."
Hawkins shook his head. "Ain't that something... Our biggest case in years, and it goes before a woman justice."
"Who better?" the sheriff countered. "It was her father who was killed."
"I know, but still-" The thought of a woman justice of the peace left him uneasy, even though there had been several others in the history of the territory who'd done fine jobs.
"Don't be a damned fool, Hawkins. You know how smart Alyssa is about the law," Rob said, scornful of his narrow-mindedness.
Rob was glad to see capable women in positions of authority. The territory had given women the right to vote years before, and to his way of thinking, only good had come of it. And Alyssa was one special woman. She was smart and kind. She was pretty, too, in a quiet sort of way.
"I know," Hawkins groused, "but she's still a woman. It just don't seem right to me."
"If we had lady lawyers out here in the territory, I bet she'd be qualified to be one. We were just fortunate to have her to fill in for her father after the bastards shot him."
The deputy gave a grunt. "So, once we hold the hearing and they're bound over for trial, how fast are we going to head for Green River for the criminal trial?"
"The sooner we're out of here, the better. I don't want to give the Kid any time to plan a jailbreak."
They shared a grave look, knowing how dangerous the trek across country with the prisoners would be.
"I'll start making the arrangements."
"And I'll go talk to our judge."
Rob put on his hat, checked to make sure his side arm was loaded, just in case there was trouble, and left the office. He was pleased that he was going to see Alyssa and that he had some good news for her. He might not have the Kid yet, but at least he'd brought in part of his gang.
"They just brought in some of the Dakota Kid's gang! I can't believe they actually caught them!" Emily Mason hugged her mother as tears of joy filled her eyes.
