An Unexpected Welcome

by Rita Hestand

Charlie sighed. It had clipped him on the side of his head pretty good, there was blood oozing and some had splattered on the rock. Charlie didn't have the time to check to see if Dan was still breathing.

  Charlie grabbed Dan's horse and after one last glance at Dan he headed toward Cord's place.

  But it didn't take long to realize he was off course. He'd missed the ranch and was lost.

  That's all he needed. He'd hurt Dan, stole his horse and was lost out in nowhere. Now what did he do?

  Slowly he kept moving on. There was no sign of water, no sign of the ranch, and no sign of anyone catching him. He almost wished someone would catch him. He'd never been this dry before.

  The sun was up now and Charlie worried about Dan. He hoped he wasn't hurt too bad. But on foot he wouldn't catch him out here.

  Problem was, it didn't look like anyone would find him. He was smackdab in the middle of nowhere.

  He tried to remember all the things Cord had taught him about survival. Cord had taken him hunting a time or two and fishing several times and during those times they talked a lot about how to survive out on the prairie.

  Right now, Charlie was so thirsty his tongue nearly stuck to the roof of his mouth. He glanced at the horse. The horse looked parched too and had worked up a soapy sweat.

  Now, what had Cord showed him about the cactus. There was water in them. The plumper the cactus, the more the water. He glanced around, it looked like there was some straight ahead. He rode toward it.

  There he found what looked like a plump cactus. He remembered that Cord said you had to handle it with gloves or something to protect the hands and not to squeeze it tightly in the hand. He got off the horse and looked in the saddle bags for something, anything to help him handle it.

  He found some old stained and mildewed gloves in the saddle bags down deep. He pulled them out and even though they reeked from being left in there during a rain probably, Charlie thought he could use them.

  He put them on and then got closer to the cactus.

  Gently he took his pocket knife out and began to cut on the cactus. The gloves were well worn and the cactus pierced through in several places. Charlie managed to get a piece cut off though and he sucked the side of the cactus to get the water from it.

  It wasn't much, but it did refresh.

  Seeing his horse needed some too, he went to cut another piece.

  That's when his horse took off. "Dang it, I forgot to hobble him."

  Charlie saw the horse run off and threw his hat down on the ground in a fit of temper. "Double Damn!" Charlie cursed.

  Now how was he going to get back?

  He took some more cactus and sucked it dry.

  He checked his pockets and had a few peanuts he'd stuck inside from the saloon to take on his fishing trip.

  His ankle was still swollen and began to feel numb. He needed a stick he could lean on with that foot.

  Peanuts and cactus water! Some pioneer he'd make!

  Charlie looked out at the prairie and nearly cried. He felt the lump of tears stuck in his throat and realized he was too dry to cry. He had no idea where the ranch was from here. He didn't even know where he was. He did know he was about as lost as anyone could get. He'd hurt Dan, maybe even killed him, and stole a horse. Just too many things clouded his mind. He was so tired. He sighed heavily. He sure hoped he hadn't killed Dan. Dan was alright compared to his brothers, especially when he wasn't around his brothers. Besides, they might hang him if he killed Dan. Charlie grabbed his throat at the thought.

  He was so hot now since the sun announced itself. If he'd gone home he'd be eating bacon and eggs for breakfast and telling Mom what had happened. He wished he'd gone to town. He wished a lot of things. Could it get any worse?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Charlie walked for a long time until he couldn't walk anymore. His ankle hurt, he was so hot, and tired. He had to rest. He found a lone cottonwood standing in the middle of nowhere. He headed straight for it. He sat down under it, finding a bit of shade and before he realized it, he went to sleep.

  A couple of hours later he was awakened by horse hoofs. He opened his eyes and a Mexican man came toward him. "Pedro?" Charlie called not able to see him for the sun.

  "No I am Don Diego Salazar, Pedro's cousin. And you?"

  "I'm Charlie." He said simply.

  "Lilly's boy?" Don Diego asked with a big smile.

  "Yes!" He was overjoyed to have been found by Pedro's kin. "Can you take me to Juan?"

  "Si, hop up behind me," He instructed with a smile.

  "Thank you," Charlie managed.

  "What are you doin' out here in the middle of nowhere?" Don Diego asked.

  "I'm lost. I was trying to get away from the Dubs boys." Charlie told him as he hung on the man's waist.

  "Oh, they are mucho bad. I am glad I found you."

  "Me too!" Charlie chuckled.

  Don Diego took him to Pedro's house and Maria came out on the porch, "Charlie!" She called and ran to him.

  Charlie hopped down off the horse and Don Diego went to put them away.

  "What in the world?" Maria rubbed his head and hugged him. "You look terrible."

  "I hurt my ankle in one of them prairie dog holes," Charlie told her.

  "Come in, come in, I will take care of you. But your father and Pedro and Juan are all out looking for you." Maria told him.

  "I'm sorry. You see I went fishing with Dan…and, well, they sort of kept me there. So I had to get away. So I walked for a long time. I fell in a prairie dog hole and turned my ankle. Then I ran into Dan and hit him with a rock and stole his horse. And Don Diego found me. I was lost. I wasn't sure where I was." Charlie finally finished in a rush.

  "My goodness, well, I will tend your ankle, then fix you something to eat and then you can rest up." Maria told him. "I am just glad you are here." She sputtered around the kitchen like a mama bear, Charlie thought.

  "Me too!"

  The other children rushed in and crowded around him as their mother doctored his ankle and while Charlie was telling the others about his adventure, Maria fixed him something to eat.

  Charlie had two helpings of beans and enchiladas and went to sleep in the kitchen chair.

  When Don Diego came into the house he saw him and picked him up and took him to one of the kid's bedrooms.

  "He is mucho tired." Don Diego laughed.

  "Poor thing, he's a bit sunburned too, and he drank so much I thought his stomach might explode. But he is better now. He stepped in a prairie dog hole and hurt his ankle. I wrapped it and he needs to stay off of it a while. It is good he is sleeping." Maria smiled as she stared at him on the bed. "He's a lot like his father. Very strong."

  "Si, he is. Is there any word from them yet?" He asked her.

  "No, I'm afraid there will be mucho trouble at the Dubs place. And they don't even know Charlie is here now." Maria fussed.

  ***

  The ridge above the Dubs place was a perfect place to watch and see what was going on. Cord motioned for everyone to get down low and wait. Before planning any action, he wanted to see if anything was going on.

  Everyone crouched down and laid on their bellies to watch over the ridge. They heard a lot of yelling and Cord was worried that with their tempers flaring Charlie might get hurt.

  "I need to get down there to see what's going on." Cord whispered to Pedro.

  "Wait!" Lilly called softly to him. "They're coming out."

  Sure enough Jason and Butch came out on the porch, both in a heated argument. "Where the hell you suppose your ignorant brother went?"

  "Probably after Charlie!" Butch replied. "Either that or they are together fishing."

  "I don't think he'd take him fishing." Jason frowned. "But just in case he is that stupid, go look."

  Butch ran off to the creek and came back quickly, "Ain't no sign of them there." He yelled. "Where you reckon they went?"

  "Well how do I know where they are?"

  Cord listened carefully a
s they were shouting at each other.

  "Jason?" Cord called out.

  Jason took cover immediately behind a barrel on the porch and searched about the place for Cord.

  "Yeah, what do you want?" Jason yelled back.

  "We want Charlie!"

  "Charlie, I don't have him." Jason returned.

  "I don't believe that." Cord hollered.

  "Come search for yourself." Jason invited.

  "If you don't hand him over and now, I'm going to start shooting and someone is going to die before this day is over." Cord informed him.

  Butch had scrambled for protection, but there wasn't much to shield him. "Where's he at?" He hollered to Jason.

  "On the ridge, near as I can figure. He's got a good spot. He can pick us off up there." Jason frowned.

  "Time's up, Jason. Where's Charlie?"

  "I don't have him. He run off."

  "You sent a note saying you did." Cord answered back.

  "Well, he run off." Jason fumed. "The fool kid."

  "I don't believe you Jason."

  They began opening fire, dust scattered everywhere and the acrid smell of gun powder perfumed the air around them. A hailstorm of bullets ricocheted off the building and went flying every which way. But the sound was deafening and there was a loud yelp. A bullet caught Butch in the chest and he lay sprawled in the yard face down, with a resounding thud, probably dead Cord assessed.

  Lilly grabbed Cord's arm. "Don't shoot anymore. If Charlie is in there, we could hit him, accidentally."

  "Alright, honey." Cord nodded.

  "Wait. I'm telling the truth, Cord. I don’t' have him. He must have run off." Jason stood up and lifted his gun. "Come look for yourself." Jason said glancing at his brother. "Butch, hey Butch."

  Butch didn't move.

  Jason's face turned pale at the thought of his brother dying.

  Cord stood up and came down the ravine, but he told Lilly and the others to stay there until he had a look.

  "Where is he?" Cord demanded as soon as he got close to Jason.

  "I don't know. It's the truth, check for yourself. We woke up this morning and he was gone."

  Cord went inside, cautiously and started running through the rooms, calling Charlie's name, nothing. He wasn't there.

  Cord came out and motioned to the others to come down. "What happened? Where's Charlie and your brother Dan?"

  "I don't know. I woke up and they were both gone. That's the truth." Jason told him with a frown. "You killed Butch. You killed my brother. You'll go to jail for this Cord."

  Cord glanced at the body in the dirt.

  "This all could have been avoided, Jason." Cord's mouth firmed and his frown deepened. "You better have some answers quick, because my patience is running thin." Cord leveled his gun at him.

  Lilly, Pedro, and Juan came down the hill and Lilly ran to Cord, "Where's Charlie?"

  "He's not here." Cord looked around. "Pedro, I want you to take him to town and have the Sheriff arrest him for kidnapping. Check the saloon and see if Charlie went home. I'm going to scout the place out and see if I can find any tracks."

  Lilly looked about, "If he escaped he'd go either home or to your place Cord."

  "Juan will you ride home and check to see if Charlie is there. If he is send someone out to tell us. We'll stay here for a while."

  "Si."

  Juan got his horse and took off at a gallup for home. He almost stumbled over Butch's body and he stared for a long moment.

  Pedro took Jason in to town after he tied his hands and helped him on his horse.

  Lilly and Cord searched the place. They went to the barn and all through it, then a couple of outlying sheds. There was no sign of either one.

  When Cord went out back, he found tracks.

  "Lilly," he called her outside.

  "Did you find something?" She asked, her worry increasing by the minute.

  "Yeah, looks as though he's headed for my place." Cord told her.

  "Shouldn't we go there then?"

  "Yeah, let's follow the road in case someone is out to find us." Cord told her.

  "It looks like Charlie's prints and he's definitely headed for my place."

  "On foot?"

  "Looks like."

  They mounted up and headed to Cord's. But Lilly turned around to look at Butch's dead body. "Shouldn't we bury him."

  "Later, we need to find Charlie first." Cord insisted.

  "He'll get lost." She fretted.

  "Let's don't borrow trouble. I've taught him several things about taking care of himself. I have feeling he'll be remembering some of them." Cord assured her. "Things like that kind of spring to mind when you're in a tight spot."

  "Oh Cord, why did they do this?"

  "They wanted to ambush me." Cord told her. "It didn't quite work out that way. And I don't expect Jason to give up now that I've killed Butch. He'll be hell bent for leather to try something else."

  "Well at least you got rid of the meanest of them, Butch." She sighed.

  "Butch isn't the meanest, Lilly. Jason is, and he's still alive. He sure took Butch's death easy enough. And they won't hold him if we find Charlie. And then there's Dan. Dan's not that bad, except when he's around his brothers." Cord glanced at her and extended his hand to comfort her. He could tell she was frantic and he wanted to calm her. "I'll bet Charlie's at Maria's right now, eating enchiladas."

  "I hope so." Lilly cried. "But where did Dan go I wonder."

  "Near as I can figure, he probably went after Charlie, knowing Jason would be upset if he woke up and Charlie was gone. So they are either on their way or at Maria's by now."

  "You don't think Dan would do anything do you?" Lilly looked a bit alarmed.

  "Not unless he's that worried about Jason's reaction. He might try to get Charlie back before Jason finds out. But knowing Dan, he's not inclined to violence as much as Butch and Jason. He'll probably lay low, and wait to see. Dan's not as brave or daring as his brothers."

  "I hope so. Charlie told me yesterday he was going fishing after he finished his chores. I told him he could. But he didn't tell me he was going with anyone. Do you suppose he went with Dan? Because Dan was in the saloon yesterday."

  Cord thought on it a minute. "It was probably a trap for Charlie. Dan took him to his place, promising him to go fishing. They got a creek out there."

  "I only wish Charlie had spoken up and told me he was going with Dan. I wouldn't have let him go." Lilly cried.

  "Well honey, boys do things sometimes that they don't tell their mother about. He's growing up and he's making decisions for himself. We need to have a talk with him about safety and about making those kinds of decisions on his own. But you got to figure that he's testing his wings a little."

  "Well, he's not old enough to know a good decision."

  "You learn by making mistakes Lilly. And if you don't make a few mistakes, you don't learn very easily."

  She nodded, "You're right, I suppose. I'm not ready for him to grow up."

  He smiled sexily at her. "Don't fret honey. I'd bet my life he's at Maria's as we speak."

  Lilly looked over at Cord, and with a slight blush she added, "I'm glad I'm marrying you. I think I'm gonna need some help with raising Charlie."

  He reached for her hand again. "I'm right here honey."

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Pedro got to town he hauled Jason into the Sheriff's office and told him what Jason had done. The Sheriff studied the situation a moment. Pushing his hat back he eyed Jason, then Pedro.

  Jason hung his head and didn't say anything. What could he say?

  "Well, I'll have to check this out, of course, but I'll put him in a cell until I do. Have you found Charlie yet?"

  "No." Pedro replied.

  "Then until we do, we'll keep him locked up. We need to go over to the saloon and see if Charlie is there." The Sheriff told him. Pedro nodded. "Lilly came in late yesterday evening asking if I'd seen Charlie. I wondered what was up."


  But when they questioned everyone, no one had seen Charlie since the day before.

  "Why don't you go on back to the ranch. I'll check around town and see what I can come up with. I'll let you all know if I find him."

  Pedro nodded and rode back to the ranch.

  Lilly and Cord mounted up and headed back to Cord's place too. Don Diego met them on the road.

  "He is at the ranch, at Maria's." Don Diego smiled at them.

  "Oh thank God!" Lilly cried out. "Is he alright?"

  "He twisted his ankle in a gopher hole, but he's fine. Maria took care of it."

  "Did you see anything of Dan Dubs?" Cord asked.

  "No, should I have?"

  "We think he went after Charlie."

  They rode on now, at a fast pace.

  When they reached Maria's they hobbled the horses and went inside.

  "Where is he?" Lilly cried when she saw Maria.

  "He's sleeping. The poor boy was so tuckered he could barely eat two platefuls of food. I bandaged his ankle and he is fine now. But from what he said, he hurt it in a prairie dog hole, and something he said as he fell asleep, he hit someone with a rock and stole a horse."

  "My word!" Lilly looked frantic. Her eyes widened and she searched Cord's face for answers.

  Cord saw the expression on Lilly's face and he knew they had to talk to Charlie now. She wouldn't settle down until she knew the whole story. "Okay, let's find out for sure what happened, then let him rest."

  She nodded.

  They went into the bedroom, and Lilly woke him up. "Charlie, wake up honey."

  Charlie barely opened his eyes and moved to bury his head in the pillows. "Charlie, wake up we need to talk to you, then you can sleep."

  Charlie roused, and wiped his eyes. "Sorry Ma." He wiped his eyes and tried to wake up. He was so tired.

  Lilly sat on one side of the bed, Cord on the other side of him, "Can you tell us what happened?"

  Charlie raised up on the bed and looked sheepishly at them. He rubbed his eyes and looked at their anxious faces. "Well…I went fishing with Dan. We caught a lot of fish, just like he said we would. Then we took them to the house and cooked them. Jason said he had stopped off and asked you if I could stay the night. I thought it peculiar, but it was just for one night, so I agreed. We ate, and Dan and I played cards for a while. I tried to go to sleep pretty early, they all stayed up. But before I went to sleep I heard them talking about you," He looked at Cord. "Said you'd be coming for me. Said they'd ambush you when you got there. They were loading their guns and stuff."