They rode silently at first. It was Cyclone who broke the silence. “You’ve grown some, Dub,” Cyclone said to the boy riding to his left. He was old enough to be a man but he still looked boyish. His body was plump. His face was round and he still had freckles. Two of his upper teeth were missing on the left side. Spittle drooled off the left side of his thick lips. His eyes drifted apart and it was obvious that he wasn’t mentally adult.
“Never mind the boy, Cy. Just worry about your ownself. I’m takin’ you in.”
“Sam, you know that wanted poster probably ain’t no good no more,” Cyclone said. “It’s been a good many years now and all that’s forgotten. Besides Joe was robbin’ a bank at the time and he was shootin’ at me. He didn’t give me much choice.”
“Just the same, he was my husband and you shot him. You got to pay for that. And I mean to collect.”
“You can’t just put a reward poster out for somethin’ like that,” Cyclone said.
“I didn’t.”
“But your brother in law did. Same thing. Just ‘cause he was sheriff of the county, which I don’t think he ain’t anymore,” Cyclone said.
“”Don’t make no difference,” Sam said. “I still got the paper.”
The trail was narrowing down by now into a pass walled on both sides by shale outcroppings.
“As I recollect the reward was what? Three, four thousand dollars?”
“Four.” She clarified.
“Well you know, Sam,” Cyclone said. “There’s a fella in Thimble Creek. That’s not too far from here. He’s willin’ to pay ten thousand dollars for me. You’ll make heap site more dough and save you a lot of trouble if you just dump me off there.”
“Doesn’t interest me,” Sam Bell said. “I’m still takin’ you back to Utah.”
“That’s what I figured,” Cyclone groaned.
They had just rounded a bend in the trail. There was a crevice in the shale wall.
“In there, Dub,” Sam said. “Follow the trail up.”
The boy turned the mule into the opening and prodded her with his heels. The shale and sandstone slipped beneath the mule’s hoofs on the sharply inclined trail.
Sam flourished her pistol at Cyclone. “You next.”
“That crevice is hardly wide enough for the boy and the mule to get through, much less as horse as big as mine and me, a fat old man, besides.”
“You still look fit as a fiddle to me,” Sam said, lifting the pistol a little higher and giving Cy a little poke in the belly with the muzzle. “You always was a fine lookin’ man, Cyclone.”
She drew the pistol away and flourished again, “Now git after the boy.”
“Yes ma’am, Cyclone said. He eyed the pistol warily and then nodded his acquiescence. Cyclone urged his Chestnut mare into the crevice. It was dark inside, but looking upward, he could see sunlight and blue sky up above. The trail was wet and winding. Horses’ hooves slipped a little as they progressed upward but they made it to the top without much difficulty.
The three riders emerged on top of the shale formation and found cover behind a stand of thick brush. They waited a few moments.
The stillness of the day was soon broken by the sound of galloping hooves and in a few minutes three riders came riding hard along the trail and passed by the onlookers from above. It was Kitty, Arapahoe Brown and Chief Henry Two Owls. They had left Jeremy, Frankie and the others behind with Willis Beattie as prisoner. They would all travel on to rendezvous atKip Dalton’s place, that night as planned. Hopefully, once Kitty and the others had Cyclone back safe and sound, they would catch up with the others. Now they rode on at a feverish pace completely unaware that they had passed by their quarry.
“Durn fools didn’t take my warning about waitin’ awhile,” Sam said. “Guess they don’t care much about keepin’ you alive.”
“Guess not,” Cyclone agreed. She didn’t seem to understand that since they were coming for him, that they must care. Sam Bell just didn’t think straight.
“C’mon. Let’s go. They’ll be to hell and gone before they ever figure out they’re headin’ the wrong way. She turned her horse and prodded Cyclone in the same direction. They rode off to the west.
Kitty, Rap and Chief had ridden another quarter mile when they pulled their horses up to a halt. The pass had opened up into a wide open plain. Sparse foliage dotted the countryside and the landscape was barren of grass. Hard rock and sand stretched out for miles. The land had been untouched by man for a long time. There was no sign of anyone having passed through recently.
“No one’s been through here recently,” Chief said. “Even I can see that.”
For once Rap was not about to tease Chief about his eyesight.
“I know they came this way,” Kitty said. “We couldn’t have passed them and they couldn’t have doubled back. I didn’t see any place for them to hide.”
“They have to be back there someplace,” Chief said. “If there was a place to hide, we’ll find it. Then we’ll know they doubled back and we’ll have to catch up. If we find there was a way off the trail, we’ll have to follow it. It’s going to take time, but that’s all we can do.”
“What if we can’t find them or catch up to them?” Rap asked.
“Then we’ll ride on to Thimble Creek as fast as we can and try to head them off before they get there.”
“I don’t think they’ll be going to Thimble Creek,” Chief said.
“Why not?” Kitty and Rap said with surprise almost in unison.
“She’ll be taking him to Utah, instead,” Chief said.
“Utah?” Kitty exclaimed. “Why?” Is Grampa worth more in Utah than the ten thousand that Price is offering? What’s he wanted for that could be worth that much?”
“I don’t think that old warrant is any good anymore,” Chief said. “Besides, it’s not the money she’s after.”
“What is it, then?” Kitty asked.
“She just wants your grandpa.”
“What for?”
Chief could hardly stifle a chuckle, even in the seriousness of the moment. “She wants him for her husband.”
“What does her husband want him for?” Rap asked.
“You don’t understand,” Chief said. Her husband is dead. Cyclone shot him, some time back.”
“You mean this is all about revenge?” Kitty queried.
“You don’t get it either, do you?” Chief answered. “She wants your grandpa to be her husband.”
“Her husband!” Kitty exclaimed. Even she had to smirk at that.
“That’s why they would be headed to Utah,” Chief continued. “Her husband was a Morman. He had several wives. She figures that if they go to Utah, she can have more than one husband, just the same as her husband had more than one wives.”
“But you said Grampa killed her husband?”
“That’s right, but Sam’s got a notion.”
“Doesn’t make sense,” Kitty scoffed. “Why? It doesn’t make sense.
Chief took a deep breath, then said with great deliberation, “Because, Samantha Bell is crazy and we best be getting to the trail and find them fast before she gets any crazier notions.”
They wheeled their horses, kicking up a shower of dust around their horses’ hooves and headed back along the trail from whence they came.
The Return of Wildcat Kitty and the Cyclone Kid Page 21
