“I will be at the fire.”
Dan finished with the pack and joined Alice at the fire.
He sat down and said, “It has been a long day, and I am sure you are tired, but how are you doing?”
“I am tired, and I am happy that we will be back to your base camp tomorrow, but I worry about what comes next.”
“That is natural, but I am sure the Judge will take care of the legal side of this and the Colonel, and I will take care of you and your father.”
“How long will it take us to get back to the Colonel’s ranch and my father?”
“That depends on the route we take back, but it should take between two days and four days to get back.”
“I think I will go ahead and turn in for the night.”
“It is late, and it was a long day. I will check the fire, then turn in myself.”
Dan went over to the fire. He didn’t think they would have a fire in the morning, but he went ahead and banked the coals in case they decide to have some tea. The fire was at the end of the flat area where Alice had laid out the bedrolls, but he hadn’t really paid any attention to them. As he approached, he noticed that the bedrolls were next to each other which he expected since the flat area was narrow, but they were very close to each other. Alice was laying on her bedroll with her back toward his bedroll, so Dan didn’t say anything. He just sat down and took off his boots and socks and placed his pistol by his head and got into his bedroll.
After a minute Alice said, “Good night.”
“Good night.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
chapter 15
I Can Tell You Where He Is Not
Mark Reynolds was moving across the open grasslands headed northeast toward the Montrose-Gunnison road. He knew if Will Johnson was not at the ranch the odds were good, he was part of Alice’s escape. He thought just how bad for them it would be if Alice got away. They could blame Jason taking her, after all, he is the one that let her get loose. As he approached the road, he noticed that his horse was starting to sweat badly, so he slowed down to a trot and then to a walk. When he reached the road, he stopped and dismounted. He walked the horse for a while until it cooled down, then remounted and continued a walk. After a few miles, he stopped at a creek crossing and let the horse water. He pulled the horse away from the water after a few minutes to keep it from drinking too much. He then mounted and headed east at an easy trot. Once it was dark, he slowed to a walk, but continued on until the next creek. There he allowed the horse to water and rest until the moon rose. He continued east at a trot for a couple of hours, then walked the horse for thirty minutes then returned to a trot. He repeated this until he reached Gunnison.
It was mid-morning when he arrived in town. The train station and telegraph office were between the edge of town and the bank, so he stopped to check and see if he had a telegram waiting. The operator told him no, Mark told him he was expecting one and to run it over to him as soon as it came in. He went to livery and dropped his horse off. He told Juan that Jack would be back in a week or two with the pack horse.
He then went to the bank. He went to his brother’s office and knocked. He didn’t wait for Jacob to invite him in, he just walked in.
Jacob asked, “What did you find out?”
“Johnson is not at his ranch.”
“Where is he?”
“At the ranch, they said he went to Durango on business.”
“Did you check?”
Then Mark told him about sending Jack to check it out and that he would telegraph him when he checked out Durango and that he had already checked with the telegraph office today.
Jacob asked, “When do you think you will hear from Jack?”
“He should have been in Durango this morning, so I should hear any time now.”
“Come see me as soon as you get it.”
“I will.”
Mark left and went to his office. When he entered the office, he found his deputy sitting at his desk cleaning his gun.
Mark asked, “Any trouble?”
“No, it’s been slow. You’re back sooner than I expected.”
“I am waiting on a telegram. I need you to go down to the telegraph office and wait for it. Bring it to me as soon as you get it.”
As he rose from the chair, the deputy said, “Yes sir.”
The deputy left, and Mark lay on a bunk in the empty cell. He was asleep when the deputy returned an hour later.
Mark looked at the telegram and said, “I will be at the bank if you need me.”
Mark returned to his brother’s office with the telegram in hand and said, “Johnson is not in Durango.”
“Where is he?”
“I can’t tell you where he is, but I can tell you where he’s not!”
“It doesn’t help to yell.”
“I know, it’s just I have been on a horse for more than twenty-four hours, and I need sleep.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about what we know. We haven’t heard from Jason, and Alice and Johnson are missing. It is obvious that Alice running away, and Will Johnson disappearing are connected.”
Mark asked, “What happens if Alice is reunited with her father?”
“Then someone will want to know who is involved in her kidnapping.”
“Can’t Jason’s holding a young girl he loves against her will be a mistake by a love torn young man and not kidnapping?”
“Maybe, we certainly weren’t aware that she was there involuntarily.”
“That sounds like what happened.”
“Before we congratulate ourselves, let’s see if we can find out what is actually going on now.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I will stay here and keep my ear on what’s happening here and any news I find. You go to Jason’s ranch and see if there is any word and if not stay there and wait to hear from Jason.”
“Alright, but don’t forget about me out there.”
Mark left and went by his office and told his deputy that he was going out to Jason’s ranch and if any more telegrams came in to bring them out to him. He decided to stop by the hotel for lunch before he headed out.
Chapter 16
I See Them
Ruiz awoke; it was early, but not as early as yesterday. Based on the moon position and the feel of the night he was sure it was about 4:00. He thought, I guess we were all tired last night.
He gently called to the others and said, “Time to get started.”
He started to get some jerky and hardtack from his pack, but instead, he called to Jay and asked, “Do you have some jerky and hardtack in your gear?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Good I still have a can of beans. Go ahead and pass out a ration for each us for breakfast.”
Then he turned to his bedroll and rolled it up and got his pack ready. Jay brought him the jerky and hardtack. Ruiz just nodded and took the food. As he stood there in the moonlight, he looked out over the valley behind him. This was some of the most broken country he had been through. Without the game trails to follow, this would have been very slow. He had been south of here on the other side of the continental divide and knew this broken country didn’t go that far, but he wasn’t sure how close they were to the divide.
Enough time had passed, so Ruiz moved up the trail passed Jay and Frank to Jason.
He addressed them all and said, “We are going to start now, but I want you to try to avoid any unnecessary noise today. We are about eight hours behind them. By us starting now we should gain a couple of hours. We may be able to see them sometime today, and if they are watching their trail, they could see us. There is nothing we can do to prevent that, but we can try not to draw attention to ourselves with any noise.”
Jason said, “The travel to this point has been harder than I thought it would be and it does not look like it is going to be different today, but if we can catch or stop them today I will give each of you an additional fifty dollars, and that includes you, Ruiz
.”
Frank and Jay nodded and picked up their gear.
Ruiz turned and started up the trail with Jason behind him. They traveled up and under the overhang to the top of the ridge. Ruiz continued up the trail to just below the ridge where he stopped.
He turned to Jason and asked, “Do you need to stop?”
“No, I am okay.”
Ruiz turned and continued down the trail. They traveled down through the shadows from the trees that cover the south side of the ridge. The switchbacks were long and easy, but the darkness made travel slow. They were nearing the valley when the sun came up. The creek at the bottom was a welcome sight.
Ruiz said, “Take a couple of minutes and fill your canteens and then we will start up this ridge.”
Jason, asked, “How are we doing?”
“I think we gained at least two hours, maybe a little more.”
“Good I would like to finish this today.”
“I want to be very careful when we top this ridge. We will be skylighted, and if they are this side of the next ridge, they could see us. We have been able to gain on them because we have pushed ourselves and they have not had to push, but once they know we are close behind they will push as hard as they can. Let’s go.”
They started up the trail. The trail was steep, but the footing was good. They made good time until they came to a place where a small rockslide covered the trail about halfway up the ridge.
Ruiz said, “Stop, let me look at this.”
Jason, who had fallen to the rear walked up and asked, “What’s this?”
Ruiz said, “Part of the ledge supporting the trail above has fallen.”
“Did they do this?”
“No, the broken rock is not fresh enough for it to have been them, plus we didn’t hear anything.”
“What now?”
“We get past this.”
“How?”
“Just watch. Jay and Frank over here.”
Ruiz walked to the spot where the animals were making a trail around the side.
He said, “Jay turn sideways and lean against the rock face. Frank, you see that rock projecting out slightly just above Jay’s head.”
Frank replied, “Yes.”
Ruiz said, “Jay is going to give you a leg up then you step on his shoulder and then on to that rock projection.”
Jay cupped his hands, and Frank stepped into them and then onto his shoulder then up to the rock projection.
Ruiz then said, “Now I will follow and when I get to you, Frank, you boost me up so, I can reach the ledge above.”
With that said Ruiz was up and he soon reached the ledge where he turned and said, “Jason it’s your turn.”
Jason was soon up, but not as easily as Ruiz.
Then Ruiz said, “Frank help Jay up and then I will help pull you up.”
Soon they were all standing on the ledge with the game trail.
Ruiz turned and started up the trail and said, “Let’s try and make up some time.”
Jason asked, “Did they come up that?”
“No, you need more than two people to get up that.”
“How did they get by?”
“I don’t know, probably a rope or alternate way that we didn’t see.”
“Are we still on their trail.”
“Yes.”
Ruiz continued up the trail at a fast pace. He stopped just below the top of the ridge and turned to look back down the trail. He saw that the others were about fifty yards behind. He waited, and as they approached, he motioned for them to stop and to be quiet.
Ruiz said, “Ya’ll catch your breath, and I will check the next valley.”
He moved up the trail and dropped to his knees, and then crawled to the top of the ridge. It took him a few minutes to find the trail as it went up the far slope. He wasn’t sure how far ahead they were, but he was sure there was a very good chance that they would be somewhere on that slope ahead. He spotted the trail as it came up from the creek below. As he followed it up the slope, he would occasionally lose it just to pick it up again. Finally, he thought he could see movement, but he wasn’t sure. He strained to see something, anything, then he saw them. They were about three-quarters of the way up the slope and moving steadily. Ruiz eased back from the ridge and returned to where Jason and the others were.
Ruiz said, “I saw them, they are on the far slope about three-quarters of the way up.”
Jason asked, “Can we catch them, or do we have a shot at them?”
“They are over twelve hundred yards away, so we don’t have a shot. They are only about five to six hours ahead of us. They were eight hours ahead of us when we started this morning. We can take a chance and try to close on them today if you want to?”
“What chance are you talking about, why wouldn’t we want to close on them?”
“If we top this ridge now they might see us, and then they would travel faster, and it will be harder to overtake them. If we don’t overtake them now, I don’t how much time we have until they run out of this rough country and then they would be gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“I have not been in this area before, but I have been south of here, and these broken ridges don’t continue that far south.”
“Then we need to try to close.”
“Okay, this is how we do it. We will cross the top of this ridge low and fast. We will be into the trees quickly, then we will proceed down the slope as quickly as possible. If they don’t see us crossing the ridge, they should be over their ridge before we get out of the trees at the bottom. Then we push hard up that slope, and we should really gain on them.”
“Then Ruiz you get us started.”
Ruiz turned and started toward the top. As he neared the top of the ridge he stayed on his feet, but bent low as to reduce his silhouette. He didn’t look back, but continued on until he was fully into the trees. He turned and saw that they were following his example.
Once they were there in the trees with him, he said, “I am going to either walk as fast as I can, or when I can I am going to trot. If I am going too fast whistle softly and I will stop.”
Ruiz turned and started walking very quickly. After the second switchback, the switchbacks became longer, and he broke into a trot. He had to slow at the corners of the switchbacks. At the corners, he could see the others following him. So far, they were keeping up. A few switchbacks later he noticed that they were falling behind so he slowed to a walk.
When Jason caught up to Ruiz, he said, “Can we stop a minute?”
Ruiz replied, “This may be our best chance to overtake them.”
“I know, but we have to have some energy left to get up the other side.”
“We will stop at the bottom to rest and eat something.”
Breathing hard Jason said, “Okay.”
Ruiz started walking and then moved to a fast walk. They continued down toward the bottom were Ruiz stopped in the trees.
As he took a drink from his canteen, he asked Frank, “Do you have any jerky?”
Frank said, “Yes, just a minute and let me get some water, then I will get it for you.”
Frank handed out the jerky and with the help of their canteens they had what passed for lunch.
Ruiz said, “We will not be able to travel up this slope as fast as we came down the one behind us, but we will do the best we can. When we get to where I saw them earlier, I will know how much time we have gained on them. Take five more minutes, and then we will be on the trail.”
“Do you think they will stop for lunch?”
Ruiz replied, “If they haven’t seen us they will.”
“Do you think they have seen us?”
“I don’t have any way of knowing that now, but if they are running when we top this ridge, then we will know.”
The time had passed, so Ruiz gave Jason a nod and started out. The trail started easy but turned hard quickly. After a dozen switchbacks, he stopped and had some water and waited for Jason t
o catch up. When he caught up, Ruiz continued up the trail. After about an hour Ruiz stopped and turned to look across the valley. He thought this was about where he saw them. As the others came up, he looked around and found a few footprints in the occasional loose dirt.
When Jason arrived, he said, “It took them five hours to reach here, and it took us four, so now they are only four hours ahead of us.”
“I am not sure how much we have left in us.”
“I understand, but let’s try to keep this pace to the top of this ridge.”
“I will try.”
With that said, they moved up the trail. As they neared the top of the ridge, Ruiz once again signaled for quiet and a stop. He moved to the top of the ridge carefully and looked over. It took a couple of minutes to locate them. They were almost halfway up the far slope, moving steadily.
He returned down the trail to Jason and said, “They are about half way up the far slope and about a half a mile away.”
Jason turned to Frank and Jay and said, “This is our best chance. We will go over the ridge and find a place where we can brace ourselves and get a shot. We will get ready, and when I shoot, I want you to shoot. Take your best shot with your first shot and then put as many bullets in the air as fast as you can.”
Jason, Frank, and Jay dropped their packs and with their rifles and headed for the top of the ridge. Ruiz followed, but only to the top of the ridge. He did not drop his pack, because he wanted to be ready to run if he needed to. He had already decided that it would be his death warrant, if he witnessed Jason kill someone, especially someone that Jason was holding against her will. He was ready to run, and he knew that by the time they came back looking for him, he could be far enough down the trail behind him, that they would not be able to catch him. From the top of the ridge, he watched as they got ready to shoot. Jason, Frank, and Jay having moved over the ridge, went down the trail fifteen to twenty feet. Jason stopped and leaned against a rock to steady himself. Frank and Jay went to his right, where Frank braced himself against another rock and Jay knelt behind another.
Jason spotted Alice and called out, “There they are! They are moving toward that large rock.”
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