Entwined Paths (The Landon Saga Book 2)

by Tell Cotten

  Without realizing it, Cliff started pacing again.

  “I think I’d best stitch the wound up to stop the bleeding some, and then we’d better get him to a doctor as fast as possible,” Brian said. “That’s his only chance.”

  Cliff stood still.

  “There’s a town a little over a day’s ride north of here,” Cliff said thoughtfully. “Place called Landry. Should be a doctor there.”

  “Midway’s closer, Cliff,” Stew spoke up. “If we left Rusty here they’d be sure to find him, and by nighttime he’d be getting a doc’s care.”

  Cliff turned sharply towards Stew, and his face was hard as stone.

  “I already told you, Stew; we ain’t leaving him.”

  Stew’s jaw twitched, and his eyes went hard as they stared at each other. But then, he suddenly laughed.

  “Sure, Cliff. You’re the boss.”

  It was then that Brian Clark noticed the young woman from the stage. She was standing beside the Taylor brothers, and she looked to be more furious than frightened.

  “What’s she doing here?” He asked irritability.

  “I sent Clyde and Clay back to the stage to fetch her,” Cliff explained.

  “What for?”

  “With her along those two brothers will think twice before they try anything too rough,” Cliff declared. “They’ll have to keep their distance.”

  Cliff was right, but Brian was troubled.

  “Rubs me the wrong way to hide behind the skirts of a woman,” he grumbled.

  Stew spoke back up, and for once he agreed with Cliff.

  “I think it’s a good idea. Besides, it’ll be sort-a nice to have a little female companionship around.”

  Stew winked at the young woman. She glared back, but he just laughed.

  “Now listen; all of you,” Cliff spoke roughly. “Nobody’s to mess with her, understand? She’s too valuable to us.”

  “Why sure, Cliff,” Stew said with a hint of sarcasm.

  Cliff turned to the young woman.

  “What’s your name?”

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she lifted her chin proudly and crossed her arms.

  “Lady, don’t make me ask again.”

  “You’d better tell him, ma’am,” Brian said.

  She glared at them, and then replied in a rough voice, “I’m Jessica.”

  “Good! Now listen, Jessica,” Cliff said. “You do what I say, and you won’t be harmed. But you try to escape and you won’t like what happens. I don’t like being rough on women, but I’ll do what I have to do.”

  “I’m sure you would,” she said.

  “I’m glad we understand one another,” Cliff replied as he turned away. “Now you sit down over there and keep your mouth shut.”

  “I want my carpetbag back,” Jessica said abruptly.

  Cliff turned and looked back at her.

  “What?”

  “My bag,” Jessica said boldly. “Give it back, and I won’t cause any trouble.”

  Cliff was surprised, and he narrowed his eyes as he studied her.

  “Well! You’ve got nerve,” he finally said.

  Cliff walked over to his horse, grabbed the carpetbag, and tossed it over to her.

  “There, now keep quiet.”

  Jessica grabbed her carpetbag and sat down out of the way. Meanwhile, Stew chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Cliff glared at him.

  “Oh, nothing,” Stew said in a mocking tone.

  Cliff frowned, but didn’t reply. Instead, he glanced at Brian.

  “You’d better get to work with that needle, Brian. We need to leave as soon as possible.”

  Brian nodded, and he walked over to his saddlebags and dug out his needle and thread.

  “Better hold him down again,” he told Cliff. “He might wake up when I start poking him with this needle.”

  Cliff nodded soberly. He got a-hold of Rusty, and Brian got started.

  Chapter six

  “What’d I tell you? I just knew something bad had happened!” Jed exclaimed.

  They had just ridden out on the same ridge that Stew had fired from. Below them was the stage.

  Yancy didn’t say anything. He shot Jed a disgruntled look and led out.

  They made their way into the valley, and Yancy spotted three passengers as they loped up.

  They were bunched together under the shade of a tree. One of the men was sitting on the ground, holding his bloody head.

  The other man whirled around. He was holding a rifle, and he started to raise it. But then he recognized the Landons, and a look of relief crossed his face.

  “You folks all right?” Yancy asked.

  “Better than some,” the man replied.

  “Where’s Jessica?” Tussle demanded. “Was she on this stage?”

  “She was, but two of them came back and took her!” The man explained. “John here tried to stop them, but one of them hit him on the head with his pistol.”

  Tussle’s face turned bleak.

  “Why would they take her?” He asked.

  Cooper looked grimly at Tussle, but he didn’t say anything.

  Yancy, meanwhile, took a slow, careful look around.

  His eyes lingered on the two dead bodies. The passengers had covered them with their coats, so Yancy dismounted and walked over to them.

  He squatted by the first one and lifted the coat.

  “Sam Gibson,” he said softly.

  “Sam was a family man,” Cooper remarked from his horse. “Had a wife and two kids.”

  Yancy nodded soberly. He lowered the coat, stood, and walked over to the other body.

  He knelt down and lifted the coat, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked down.

  “It’s Steve.”

  It was silent as he examined the body, and Yancy added bitterly, “Shot in the back.”

  Nobody said anything, and the silence was uncomfortable.

  “I wouldn’t even shoot an Injun in the back!” Jed finally blurted.

  Yancy didn’t reply. Jed looked quizzically at Cooper, and Cooper made a quick motion to be quiet.

  Yancy lowered the coat, and he stared at the ground for a long while. Finally, he stood and turned around, and there was a cold, hard look on his face.

  Cooper had seen that look before. Most recently, he had seen it when Ben Kinrich had killed their friend Chino. Yancy didn’t stop looking for Kinrich until he had found him, and Cooper knew that it would be the same way with Steve’s killer.

  Yancy walked over to the passengers.

  “What happened?” He asked.

  The man that held the rifle and the elderly woman both started talking excitedly.

  “Hold it!” Yancy interrupted.

  They stopped talking, and they stared at him through big, wide eyes.

  “You,” Yancy pointed to the man that held the rifle. “Tell us what happened here, and tell it slow.”

  It took a while, but Yancy finally managed to pull the story out. He listened closely, stopping them often to ask questions, and by the time they were through Yancy had a pretty good idea of what they were up against.

  Cooper listened for only a moment. Instead, he dismounted and walked out from the stage a ways. He squatted on his heels and carefully studied the ground before him.

  “What’s he doing?” Jed asked Yancy after he had finished questioning the passengers.

  “Studying the tracks.”

  “Tracks ain’t for studying; they’re for following,” Jed declared.

  Yancy didn’t reply. Instead, he turned and stared at Jed. Jed tried to meet his look but couldn’t, so he glanced away.

  Yancy’s eyes lingered on Jed, but finally he turned and watched Cooper. He stuck his hands deep inside his vest’s pockets, hunched his shoulders, and waited calmly. Both Jed and Tussle were anxious to do something, but Yancy just stood there like a rock.

  Finally, Cooper stood and beckoned at them. Yancy walked out to him, and Sergeant Wagons, Tussle, and Jed foll
owed.

  “There’s six of ’em,” Cooper announced. “Five of them left the stage here, and the other one came in behind ’em from the ridge.”

  “The passengers saw him,” Yancy confirmed. “Said he was a real tall feller.”

  “One of them is hit, ’cause there’s drops of blood splattered around,” Cooper said, and he pointed out the red stains on the ground.

  “Good,” Yancy said. “Folks from the stage said that Sam got off a shot, but they didn’t know if he’d hit anybody.”

  “He did,” Cooper confirmed.

  Yancy then told Cooper all that he had learned from the passengers. Cooper listened closely, and afterwards he nodded thoughtfully.

  “Careless of them to mention their names, but helpful,” he said.

  “I thought so,” Yancy agreed.

  “The passengers said that the leader was a big feller named Cliff?”

  Yancy nodded.

  “Hmm,” Cooper said thoughtfully. “Rondo used to ride with a fellow named Cliff Curtis, and he also used to ride with an older feller named Brian Clark. They rode with Ben Kinrich, remember?”

  Yancy nodded again.

  “Could be them,” Cooper speculated.

  “Could be,” Yancy agreed.

  “And the other three fellers were young looking?”

  “Yes, and two of them favored each other,” Yancy said. “Brothers, more’n likely.”

  Cooper was pleased.

  “’Cept for the feller that joined them from the ridge, I’d say we’ve got a good description of them.”

  “We know a little about him too,” Yancy said. “He’s a tall man, and he’s also a good shot. All the shooting came from the top of the ridge.”

  Cooper glanced upwards.

  “That’s a long ways.”

  “’Tis, ain’t it,” Yancy agreed.

  “We can’t be sure that he did all the shooting,” Cooper reasoned.

  “I’d say there’s a good chance he did. All three passengers said that the shots were spread out, one after another.”

  “That’s right,” Jed spoke up. “That’s how I heard ’em too.”

  “Well now. That’s something to remember,” Cooper said.

  “’Tis, ain’t it,” Yancy said again, and then he turned and looked thoughtfully at the stage. “We’ve got to get this stage to town.”

  “But that’ll take time!” Tussle objected.

  “Has to be done,” Yancy shrugged.

  “What about Jessica?” Tussle demanded irritably.

  Yancy frowned as he thought on it.

  “We’ll split up. We need at least two horses to pull that stage, so Wagons and I will take these folks on into town. You three can start tracking them, and I’ll grab us a pack mule and some supplies. I’ll leave Wagons in town to run things.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Tussle said impatiently. “Let’s get going! We might can catch them before dark!”

  “Wait,” Yancy said firmly.

  “What for?” Tussle asked irritably.

  “We need to go over a few things first.”

  “What sort of things?”

  “Me and Coop, we’ve been doing this sort of thing for a long time,” Yancy told them. “And, we’re good at it. There’s a right way and a wrong way to go about this.”

  “What do you mean?” Jed spoke roughly. “Only way to do this is to track ’em down and shoot it out. Seems mighty easy to me.”

  “That’ll get Jessica killed,” Yancy replied.

  Tussle frowned thoughtfully.

  “What do you suggest?” He asked.

  Yancy had already done more talking than he liked. He glanced at his brother, and Cooper smiled faintly and took over.

  “We’ve got to be careful how we follow them, because they could be waiting for us. With all this brush, it’d be real easy to ride into an ambush.

  “So here’s how we’ll do things. Until we get out of this brush, I’m going to track them a-foot, and I want you two to follow a half-mile or so behind me. I’ll leave you easy sign to follow. And, if you hear any shooting don’t just lope up. Instead, trot up real slow like, and keep your eyes open.”

  “Being a-foot, you’ll never catch ’em,” Jed objected.

  “If they shoot me dead I’ll never catch them either,” Cooper replied. “Soon as the brush clears up where I can see, I’ll be riding again.”

  Tussle and Jed were silent as they thought on that.

  “All right, we’ll do it your way,” Tussle agreed.

  Cooper nodded, and he turned and walked over to his horse. He pulled out a buckskin shirt and a pair of moccasins from his saddlebags. Because of the woman, he went out into the bushes to change.

  When he came back he looked different. His buckskin shirt, faded pants, and moccasins were of neutral color, and even at close range he seemed to blend in with his surroundings. His moccasins came all the way up to his knees, and when he walked he barely made any sound at all.

  Meanwhile, Yancy and Sergeant Wagons unsaddled and hitched their horses up to the stagecoach. After that they carefully placed the two dead bodies inside the coach. Then, they threw their saddles up on top and climbed onto the seat while the passengers got inside.

  Yancy grabbed the reins and looked at Cooper.

  “By the time I get things settled in town, I’ll probably be a day behind,” he figured.

  “Sounds about right,” Cooper nodded.

  “You take care.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Cooper smiled wryly.

  Yancy nodded. He clucked at the two horses, and they slowly pulled out.

  Cooper watched them leave, and then he walked over to his horse and stuffed his boots into his saddlebags.

  “Tussle, I know you play chess, ’cause we’ve played before,” Cooper commented. “How ’bout you, Jed?”

  “What?”

  “I asked if you played chess.”

  “A little, I reckon,” Jed said, confused. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “In a way, we’re playing a game of chess now,” Cooper said. “Out there in front of us,” -he waved his hand- “is the board, and we’re the pieces. One wrong move by any of us and it could be the end for us and Jessica.”

  “I reckon I can see what you’re saying,” Jed frowned. “You’re wanting us to follow orders and stay in line, right?”

  “That would be nice.”

  “Speaking of chess; I’d say they’re winning already,” Tussle said grimly.

  “Oh? How so?” Cooper asked.

  “Game’s barely even started, and already they’ve captured our queen.”

  Cooper frowned thoughtfully and shook his head.

  “No, the queen is the most talented player,” Cooper corrected, and he nodded in the stagecoach’s direction. “That would be Yancy.”

  Chapter seven

  It didn’t take Brian Clark long to stitch up Rusty’s wound.

  Even then, Rusty still bled some. By now the back of his shirt was soaked, as was his pants.

  Rusty stayed unconscious for the entire ordeal, and he didn’t wake up until they were tying him to his saddle. He blinked and looked around some, and then he passed out again.

  They tied his hands to the saddle horn, and they also tied his feet to the stirrups. He would still sway some, but he wouldn’t fall off.

  “All right, let’s go,” Cliff said as he moved to his horse.

  Jessica stood still, undecided on who to ride with, until Brian looked at her.

  “You can ride with me, ma’am,” he offered.

  Jessica nodded and started towards him, but Stew stepped up and blocked her path.

  “You don’t want to ride with that old-timer, do you?” Stew sneered. “You come ride with me.”

  “I’d rather not,” Jessica replied stiffly.

  Stew started to respond, but Cliff turned around sharply before he could.

  “Knock it off, Stew,” Cliff said roughly. “Jessica, you ride
with Brian.”

  Jessica eased past Stew and hurried over to Brian.

  “Let me have your bag, ma’am, and I’ll tie it on my saddle,” Brian offered.

  Jessica hesitated, but she still handed it over. Brian tied it on and stepped up into the saddle.

  “Give me your hand,” he extended his hand.

  Jessica grabbed his arm, and he pulled her up behind him.

  Stew, meanwhile, just stood there. He twitched his jaw as he glared at Cliff, but he finally moved to his horse and mounted up.

  Everybody else stepped up on their mounts, and Cliff grabbed the lead rope to Rusty’s horse and led out in a brisk trot. He rode north, and everybody followed behind him.

  It was early afternoon when they left the draw, and by dark they had traveled about ten miles. They usually rode further, but Rusty slowed them down.

  Every few miles, Cliff stopped and checked on Rusty. Nobody said anything, but Brian could tell that everyone was getting frustrated.

  Brian Clark was troubled. He had seen this sort of thing happen before, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before there was trouble.

  He just hoped it wouldn’t happen tonight. He was tired and wanted a good night’s sleep.

  All day they had seen a large mesa out in front of them, and that night they made camp at the base. There was a steep trail that led to the top, and come morning they would start climbing it.

  While Cliff and Brian tended to Rusty, the Taylor brothers gathered up some loose mesquite wood and built a fire.

  Stew, meanwhile, tended to his horse, and then he sat off by himself. He rolled a cigarette as he stared at Jessica, who was sitting close to the fire.

  Brian noticed this, and he also noticed how Stew kept looking at Jessica’s carpetbag. This worried him, because he knew that Stew wouldn’t hesitate to cause trouble.

  The Taylor brothers cooked up some supper, and Rusty woke up while everybody was eating.

  He was weak and coughing up more blood. But he was also hungry, and after he ate he felt better. He gulped down some coffee and went back to sleep.

  After supper Brian cleaned up everything, and then he sat beside Cliff.

  Jessica was lying down, and Brian could tell that she was pretending to sleep. Stew sat by himself as he smoked his cigarettes, and the Taylor brothers sat by the fire. Nobody seemed to be in a good mood.