Dan came out of the trees and turned south again.
As he rode, he turned in his saddle and said, “There is water just over here.”
Alice and Joe followed, and in twenty minutes they came upon a small creek.
Stopping, Dan said, “We will camp here tonight.”
Joe said, “I will take care of the pack horses.”
Alice dismounted and said, “I can’t believe I am saying this, but I am glad to be on my feet again.”
With a smile, Dan said, “Was the saddle a little hard?”
“No, just too much downhill.”
“Here, let me take your horse.”
“Thank you.”
Dan walked his and Alice’s horse over to where Joe was taking the pack frames off the pack horses.
Dan asked, “Do you want to hobble them tonight or put them on a string line?”
“I will hobble them, I will take your horses, and you take care of water and getting the fire started.”
“Okay.”
Dan took Joe’s canteen and along with his and Alice’s canteen to the creek and filled them. He returned to Alice and handed her a canteen.
Alice said, “Thanks what can I do?”
“I am going to build a fire here, why don’t you gather some pine needles for bedrolls and place them there upwind of the fire.”
“I can do that.”
Dan used the edge of his boot to clear an area for the fire. Then looked back into the trees to locate a deadfall or fallen branches for firewood. He spotted a deadfall about forty yards back into the trees. He made several trips to bring over enough wood for the fire. He then used his knife on the small branches to create a pile of shavings to start the fire with. By then Joe had brought the bedrolls over from the pack frames and given them to Alice. Alice put down the ground clothes and then rolled out the bedrolls. Dan lit the shavings and slowly added small branches until he had the fire going. Joe brought over the pans and food.
He said, “Beans and canned beef alright with everyone.”
Dan said, “Okay with me.”
Alice said, “Sounds good to me.”
Alice went to the creek to wash up. Dan watched her go.
Joe said quietly, “You like her.”
Dan replied, “Was that a question or a statement?”
“You tell me.”
“Yes, I like her, but I am not sure I trust my feelings.”
Alice was coming back, so Joe said, “Think about it.”
Dan was trying not to think about it. Joe was busy cooking, so he was going to have to talk to Alice. Normally it was not hard for him to engage in conversation, but Alice made him a little uneasy.
She said, “I can’t believe I will see my father tomorrow.”
“I know it’s been a long time and I know from what the Colonel has told me that your father is looking forward to seeing you again too.”
After a pause, Alice asked, “What are you going to do once we get to the Colonel’s?”
Dan did not hesitate and said, “I am not going anywhere until everything with you, is settled. That includes the Reynolds and the law.”
Alice with tears in her eyes said, “I was hoping you would say that. I was afraid you might go back to Texas.”
“No, I am here with you.”
“Thank you.”
Alice wasn’t sure what to say, so she looked at him a little longer then turned to look into the fire.
Dan did not know if he should say something else and she kept looking at him. Then she turned and looked away. He had not realized until he said those words how much he really cared for her. Did he care for her because she needed his protection or because they had spent so much time together alone, or because she was someone he really liked? He liked her spirit, her bravery, her softness, the way she moves and not the least of all the way she looks.
Just then, Joe called to him, “Dan, are you ready to eat.”
“Yes, I am.”
Joe was taking up a plate for Alice, so Dan walked over and picked up a plate and took up food for himself and wondered how long he had stood there before he had moved. Alice was sitting on the ground near the bedrolls, he went and sat beside her. Then Joe came over and sat down. Dan wasn’t sure if he was glad that Joe had joined them or not.
Dan asked Joe, “What’s ahead of us tomorrow?”
“Broken to open grassland. We will head west southwest toward the ranch, and I expect we will make pretty good time and be there around four or five o’clock.”
Dan asked, “How are the horses doing?”
“They are okay, they had lots of time to rest up.”
Alice asked, “Are there any women at the Colonel’s ranch?”
Joe replied, “Just our cook Maria, who is married to Felix one of the hired hands. Why do you ask?”
“I am not going to look very presentable dressed like this.”
Dan asked Alice, “Do you want to change into your dress before we get there?”
“No, I guess not, I just haven’t seen anybody except those ranch hands for so long.”
“You have been through a lot, and everyone will understand that.”
“I know, but a girl worries about these things.”
“Just think about seeing your father again.”
“Thanks.”
Joe said, “I am going to check the horses and make sure their hobbles are tight.”
Alice said, “I will wash the dishes.”
Dan said, “You don’t need to, I can do it.”
Alice said, “No, I do need to do it.”
With that Dan let the conversation drop. Alice took the dishes and went to the creek and Joe returned from checking the horses.
Dan said, “Let’s talk a minute.”
Joe looked toward Alice and then said, “Okay.”
“Those men who were on the trail with Jason, the ones that ran away, will not be able to get back to the ranch to let them know what has happened for a couple of days. But they could have riders out looking for us. As we near the ranch we need to be watchful.”
“I will be sure that our path back doesn’t take us too near to any cover that could hide an ambush.”
“That was my thought too.”
Then Joe added, “If we have to run I will drop the pack horses.”
“I hope that we will not have to do that, but it’s best to think about the
possibilities before they become realities.”
“Well said.”
“We’ll take our time getting started in the morning. I want to have enough light to see well before we head out into the grasslands.”
“How is Alice doing with all this?”
“She is doing better than I expected. After so much inactivity for so long, her world has changed quickly, even if it is for the better.”
“I will bank the fire, so we can have some tea in the morning.”
“That will be good.”
Alice came back from the creek, and Joe took the dishes and put them away.
Alice walked over to Dan and he said, “Are you okay, do we need to talk about anything?”
She sat down by the fire and said, “I am fine. Tell me about the Colonel’s house.”
He sat beside her and began telling her about the house. Joe added some wood to the fire and lay on his bedroll listening to them talk.
Then Alice asked, “Tell me about your house and ranch in Texas.”
“It was built in ’78 to replace one that had burned. It is a single-story house with a high ceiling and has four bedrooms, a parlor, dining room, and kitchen. There is a wide porch across the front and a summer kitchen in the back. The ranch is seventy-two hundred acres of rolling grassland and shallow valleys and is located about forty-five miles southwest of Fort Worth on the Brazos River.
“It sounds like a nice place. Do you have any women on the ranch?”
“No, we don’t, just a bunch of men, some old and some young.”
“Tell me ab
out your family.”
“My grandparents came to Texas, after Texas won independence from Mexico, and they started the ranch, and my grandfather recorded it with the Republic of Texas in 1844. When he died, my father took over the ranch. My mother died two years after I was born, and my older brother died six years ago, and as I mentioned earlier, my father passed last year.”
“Do you have any family?”
“No, no uncles or cousins no one just me.”
“I am sorry.”
“What about you, do you have any family other than your father?”
“I know I have some family back east, but I don’t know them.”
“I am glad you are getting back to your father.”
“I want you to meet him.”
“I look forward to it. I should have had the Colonel tell your father to bring you some of your clothes with him. If he didn’t, I will have to send someone to Durango to pick up some clothes for you.”
“Maybe the cook would have something I could borrow.”
“That’s possible. I have enjoyed our conversation, but it’s getting late, and I think we should turn in now.”
“I enjoyed our talk also. And I will say goodnight too.”
Joe got up and banked the fire and Dan said, “I was going to do that.”
“Now you don’t have to.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Dan sat on his bedroll and removed his boots and socks and pulled the top half of his bedroll over him and tried to sleep. He thought about the conversation with Alice, the ranch and his future. He thought about Alice and how much he liked talking to her, and then he thought maybe I am thinking about her too much. So, he thought about tomorrow and the ride to the ranch, and would there be any trouble. It was unlikely that anyone would know where they were, but they might guess they were headed toward Durango. If they guessed Durango, then they should be too far south to be a problem, but they would be careful anyway. His thoughts faded, and he dropped off.
chapter 22
Trouble for the Reynolds
Mark reached the ranch late in the afternoon. When he rode in, he found some of the men sitting on the bunkhouse porch and Sam sitting on the front porch of the house.
As he rode up to the house, Sam rose and yelled to the men at the bunkhouse and said, “Bobby come take the sheriff’s horse.”
As he dismounted, he handed the reins to Bobby and said, “Sam, let’s go inside and talk.”
Sam turned and followed Mark into the house.
As Sam turned from closing the door, Mark asked, “Have you heard anything?”
Sam said, “No, nothing yet. When he left, we thought he would be able to overtake them in about five days. He told me to keep the men here in case they turned back, and they needed them. Since he hasn’t come back, he should have overtaken them.”
“Who went with Jason?”
“Besides Jason, there was the tracker we hired named Ruiz along with Frank and Jay from here.”
“What was the plan if they couldn’t overtake them?”
“Jason said if he couldn’t catch Alice, he would kill her.”
“Why do you think Jason thought he needed to kill the girl?”
“When she ran away Jason told me we had to get her back because she knew too much.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“I assume it was more than the fact that she was being held here to force her father to do something, but I don’t know what that would be.”
Lying Mark said, “I am not sure what he meant by that either. It has been a long couple of days, I am going to lay down and take a nap, have the girl call me when dinner is ready.”
“The girl is gone, but I will call you when dinner is ready.”
“Where did she go?”
“She said since Jason was gone, she was going to spend some time with her grandmother.”
“Okay, call when it’s time to eat.”
The next morning Mark awoke and dressed. He found some coffee in the kitchen, and he poured himself a cup. He went back into the dining room and sat at the table. He thought about everything that had happened and everything that hadn’t happened. There was too much he didn’t know and too many loose ends. He was worried. He had thought for some time that his brother had become reckless and now it could all be going to the bad and he wouldn’t know because he was out here. They needed to know if Jason had the girl or not and if not, what did she know. He needed to find Jason and get some answers. He got up and went outside. He didn’t see Sam, so he went to the bunkhouse. At the bunkhouse, they told him that he was in the barn. Mark went to the barn and found Sam talking to the old man.
Mark said, “Sam, let’s talk” and walked back toward the house.
Sam followed and once inside Mark asked, “How far on the trail can we take a horse, and can we follow their trail?”
“The horses can only go as far to where the trail crosses the creek, which is about twenty minutes from here. Once you cross the creek, you are afoot from there on. I do not know if the trail can be followed once it crosses the ridge.”
“I really need to know what’s happening. Is there any way around this area?”
“I am sure there is, but how far south you have to go to get behind it, I just don’t know. None of the hands have ever been back into that country.”
“Sam pick two or three of your men and send them west from here and have them turn south as soon as they can and stay west of the mountains as they travel south. They are to travel all the way to the Durango-Pagosa Springs Road then come back. Tell them to be on the lookout for Jason or the girl. If they find Jason, put him on a horse and get him back there.”
“The chance of them running across Jason is very small.”
“I know, but if he is still following them and they head west at least, there is a chance.”
“I will get them started.”
“Good, I am going into town, but I will be back. If anything changes get word to me. Have one of the boys get my horse ready.”
“I will.”
Mark got into town a little after noon and went straight to the bank. Jacob was just leaving the bank for lunch when Mark rode up.
Mark said, “Let’s go inside and talk.”
“Okay.”
Inside they went to Jacob’s office, and Jacob said, “What’s happened?”
“I just want to update you on what’s going on.”
“Tell me.”
“No word from Jason yet. Sam thinks he should have overtaken them by now since Jason hasn’t sent word back yet.”
“We knew that so why come back?”
“I asked Sam what Jason said when they found the girl gone. He said, Jason told him this was big trouble because she knows too much, I can’t let her get away. Then he told me that Jason said if they couldn’t catch them they would try to kill them. What did the girl know that scared Jason so much?”
“I don’t know what Jason thought the girl knew.”
“Jason knew about Grand Junction Bank and the O’Day ranch schemes?”
“He wouldn’t tell the girl about those things.”
“Not sober, he wouldn’t, but even he doesn’t know what he says when he is drunk.”
“That’s possible.”
“What do we need to do?”
Jacob said, “That’s going to take some time to figure out.”
“I was planning on going back out to the ranch, but I want to know what our options are first.”
“Let’s get some lunch, and maybe I will have this thought out by the time we finish.”
Back in Jacob’s office, Mark said, “You haven’t said anything since we got back. What are you thinking?”
“I think we do not know enough about what is happening. When you get back out to the ranch, send out another set of riders to cover the same area. This will put them a day or two behind the others and increase our chances of finding the girl or Jason. Have them i
dentify anyone they come across. Send me word if they find anything.”
“Alright, I will head back, but let me know if you hear anything.”
Mark left the bank and went back to the ranch.
He rode into the ranch midafternoon. Sam came to meet him, and he said, “Lets’ go inside.”
Once inside Mark said, “Sam, I want you to send out another set of riders. Have them follow the same route as the first riders. Make sure they identify anyone they meet. If they cross paths with the other riders, have them send them back.”
“Do you want them to leave now or in the morning?”
“I know it is late in the day, but go ahead and get them started.”
Sam went to the bunkhouse to get the riders started.
Ruiz and Jay had been able to get to the bottom of the ridge and halfway up the next by that night. By traveling hard and by moonlight when they could, they were able to reach the bottom of the first ridge by the creek on the side opposite from the ranch in two days.
Ruiz said, “We need to wait for what moonlight before we will have enough light to go to the ranch.”
“The ranch is just a mile over there.”
“Once we are in those trees, we will not be able to see the stars to find our direction, and without the moonlight, we wouldn’t be able to follow the path.”
“What are we going to do when we get there?”
“I’m going to slip in there before anyone is up and get my horse and get out of here. What about you?”
“I have been thinking about what I would do, and I want to go back to the ranch.”
“Are you sure that’s safe?”
“I have known Sam and the rest of the boys for years, and I think that is the best thing for me to do.”
“You are free to do what you want, but I want you to let me get my horse before you sound the alarm.”
“That’s okay, I owe you that much.”
“The moon will be up in six hours, so get some rest.”
Six hours later as the moon came up, Ruiz and Jay crossed the creek and started down the cattle path toward the ranch house. Even with the moonlight, it took them two hours to get near the ranch house area.
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