by Lisa Rae
The cavalry watched and waited for Wolfe to enter the mining camp area before the marshal yelled to the camp, “You are surrounded. Lay down your weapons and put your hands up and surrender, and you will live. If not, prepare to die!”
Instantly the Treasure Coach Gang started firing towards the marshal as he ducked back behind a tree, while the cavalry stepped forward and commenced to firing with their Springfield Model 1873 single shot rifles.
Just as planned, Diablo fired a couple rounds at the dynamite placed at the entrance of the mine, instantly caving the rocky earth in.
When Angel exited the latrine in a hurry, Wolfe was sitting on his horse with his pistol drawn on her. “Nice and easy, stay clear of your iron and climb on your horse, you’re coming with me,” he ordered, not leaving room for argument.
Angel did as she was told, knowing full well that Wolfe wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her.
Back on the other side of camp Diablo starts to head in Angel’s direction, but Roark stops him by grabbing his arm.
“I need to get to Angel,” Diablo said as he tried to shake Roark loose.
“No, look over there. Angel and her horse are already gone. She knows what she’s doing and can handle herself. Right now she needs you to do the job you volunteered to do,” Roark argued.
Realizing Roark was right, Diablo agreed but said, “If that bastard Wolfe gets his hands on her again I won’t hesitate to kill him!”
Tying the red bandanas around their necks, Diablo and Roark jumped on their horses and hightail it to a defensive position where they could safely fire upon the gang.
While the firing continued from both sides, Wolfe and Angel managed to slip through the enemy lines and escape. Wolfe pushed them hard all day, only allowing the horses to rest enough to continue on.
As it was starting to get dark out Angel said, “Wolfe, if we don’t stop and let these horses rest for the night, they are going to drop dead. What good will they be to us then?”
Knowing she was right Wolfe said, “Let’s find a place to camp and we’ll stop for a few hours.”
* * *
The battle finally ended hours later with many of the outlaws either dead or injured. A couple of the cavalry men had minor injuries. Diablo and Roark had a few close calls. The closest being a bullet going through Diablo’s Stetson hat.
By the time the U.S. Marshals and the cavalry rounded up the remaining outlaws and cuffed them, Diablo was in a fit of worry. “I can’t find Angel anywhere!”
“Wolfe is missing too,” Roark replied just as worried.
“This wouldn’t of happened if you had let me go after her,” Diablo said angrily.
“Throwing blame is not going to bring her back,” the other marshal said as he walked up to Diablo and Roark.
Grabbing the reins to his horse, Diablo swung up into the saddle, “No, but going after her will.”
“No, right now we need to get extra horses and provisions together before going after them. They don’t have any, so they will have to travel a lot slower,” the marshal argued with a look of steel in his eyes.
Diablo knew the man was right, but he didn’t want to waste anymore time. He had promised Angel that everything would be alright, and he intended to keep his promise. “Then let’s get the stuff packed and get going!”
Chapter 14
“Wolfe, why are you treating me like this and tying me up? I’m on your side!” Angel asked angrily.
Wolfe wasn’t taking any chances of Angel escaping. After disarming her, he tied her to a tree when they stopped to sleep. “You may be on my side as you say, but I haven’t forgotten that I killed your husband and tried killing you. I don’t want to take any chances of you shooting me in my sleep,” Wolfe replied.
“Then why did you bother to bring me along with you? Why didn’t you just leave me to get out on my own?” Angel asked.
“Because if it comes down to it I can use you as a bargaining chip to get away,” Wolfe explained.
“You mean like you did last time?” Angel couldn’t help snapping back at him.
“Yes, if that’s what it takes to save my hide! Now get some sleep,” Wolfe replied irritably as he turned and walked away to his own bedroll.
Being tied to a tree made it hard to sleep, but Angel did her best to rest. She knew she would need all the sleep she could get so that she could stay alert for any chance of escaping or killing Wolfe. The latter being what she preferred to do as she started thinking about her husband and the unborn baby she lost so many years ago. Tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked them away angrily, telling herself this was not the time to break down crying.
Only four hours later, Wolfe squatted down to untie Angel’s wrist. As he stood back up he kicked her foot. “Wake up! It’s time to go.”
Angel blinked her eyes awake. “Go? We just got to sleep, and it’s still the middle of the night. If you want to go, then go, just leave me my pistol. I’m going back to sleep,” Angel said as she rolled over hoping to convince Wolfe to leave her behind, but no such luck.
Kicking her harder this time Wolfe growled, “Get your ass up and in that saddle now or I’ll shoot you right here!”
Angel was trying for every stalling tactic she could think of, but Wolfe wasn’t buying any of them. She knew Diablo and her brothers would be on their trail by now.
Wolfe hung her gunbelt on the horn of his saddle as he climbed on his horse. Knowing he wasn’t going to give it to her, she didn’t bother to say anything. She just climbed on her horse and went where he told her to go.
Then she heard the one thing she didn’t want to hear . . . thunder, off in the distance, in the direction they were headed. If they rode in the rain it would wash away their tracks!
After a couple hours of riding, they saw someone’s smoldering campfire and a couple horses grazing off in the distance. Angel knew what he had in mind and said, “Before we sneak in there to steal those horses give me my gun. I don’t want to take a chance at getting shot at and not be able to defend myself.”
“Then I suggest you be quiet,” Wolfe replied. “Because I’m not giving you back your iron.”
They managed to steal the two horses and get away without detection. A few miles away they stopped and switched their saddles over to the fresher horses and continued on at a fast pace again once it was light enough to see where the horses were stepping.
“Are you still planning on hiding out at the Musselshell?” Angel asked, wondering if that’s where they were going.
Wolfe thought about it for a moment before he answered, “No, if they captured any of the gang alive, they might get them to talking. So we’re not taking any chances. You said the Phantom Outlaw Gang was killed and captured, what about their hideout?”
“Most the cabins and shacks were blown up or caught on fire during the attack,” Angel replied.
Then there probably isn’t anyone using it?” Wolfe asked.
“I doubt it. The outlaws that surrendered are still in prison, and no one else knows how to find it,” she answered.
“But you know how to find it. You said you was welcomed to come and go as you pleased,” Wolfe commented.
“Yes, I was.”
“Then that’s where we are going!” Wolfe declared as the first sprinkles of rain started to fall. He did not change their course of direction until they had ridden in the pouring rain for about an hour. When they came to a muddy low ravine that ran south, Wolfe told Angel to turn and ride down through it.
At this point, with the rain pouring down and instantly erasing their horse’s tracks, Angel knew her brothers and Diablo would never know which way to look for them. She knew she was completely on her own now to try and kill, or escape from Wolfe.
They rode for hours in the pouring rain, switching horses to keep going at a steady speed. When the rain finally stopped late in the afternoon Wolfe said, “We’ll stop and rest here for the night.”
With her gut wrenching at her new idea, she changed escap
e tactics . . . “Wolfe,” Angel purred. “If you want to keep my gun for now till you trust me, that’s fine. But can’t we at least be friends?” she asked suggestively.
Wolfe eyed her with an evil smile. “What kind of friends?”
“Close friends. I never told you this, but years ago when you was holding me hostage, I was hoping you would take me with you when you left. Since then I have been searching for you,” Angel answered trying not to think about her dead husband or her new found love for Diablo. Right now she needed to do what she had to, to survive.
“You’ve been searching for me?” Wolfe asked in disbelief. He had never had any woman want to be with him that he didn’t have to pay for their affections. “I think you are just joshing me.”
“No, I’m not. I like you, you’re a strong leader,” she said trying to build up Wolfe’s ego. “You’re someone I would be proud to stand beside and ride the river with.” He was obviously touched by her words, just as she had hoped he would be. Now she just had to continue to earn his trust to where he would eventually put his guard down, and give her the chance to disarm him.
After they finished unsaddling their horses and hobbled them out to graze Wolfe ordered, “Gather up some buffalo chips and tie hay twist for a warm fire. We need to dry out our clothes before we end up sick. Night will be here soon and the temperature will be dropping.”
Grateful for the chance to warm up, and to get out of the wet soaking clothes, Angel eagerly did as he said. Once the fire was roaring, she pulled her dry change of clothes out of her saddlebags and said, “Would you please turn around so I may change clothes.”
“I thought you said you liked me?” Wolfe asked, unsure if he should be angry at her request, or just confused.
Playing him she answered, “I’m not one of your prostitutes you pay to do as you say. You have to treat me with the respect a lady deserves.”
Having never been in a relationship, Wolfe had no clue what he was suppose to do or not to do, so he did what she said and turned around and waited until she said it was ok to turn back.
No matter how tough you are, everyone is vulnerable somehow. As easily as Wolfe agreed to do as she asked, Angel realized she found his one vulnerability . . . wanting to be loved.
Acting motherly she said, “Now go get your dry clothes and come over here by the fire to change while I turn around.” Wolfe did as she told him to do. She was thinking this may be easier than she expected to apprehend him.
They were in the wide open prairie where very few trees grew to tie a clothes line. So Angel spread their wet clothes out on sage brush to dry overnight.
When Wolfe saw that she made up separate beds for them he commented, “I don’t understand, I thought you wanted to be my woman?”
Playing it to the hilt she purred, “Wolfe-e I do! But I want to do it the proper way. First there must be a courtship, and then we must get married before we can share a bed.” Angel thought if he bought this hook, line, and sinker, she was going to sell him the moon next.
The confused look on his face cleared up, and he started smiling like it all made perfect sense now. Yep, he bought it Angel thought smiling. This was going to be a piece of cake!
* * *
When Diablo, U.S. Marshal Roark Savage, and the other U.S. Marshal lost Wolfe and Angel’s tracks in the pouring rain, they stopped to wait out the storm. Knowing full well that there may not be any more clues as to which way they have went when the rain stopped.
Both the marshal’s faces were grim as they huddled together under a lone tree for shelter since it was not lightening, while Diablo nervously paced back and forth with worry. “We need to go find her!” he blurted out.
“If we continue in the rain we may miss something and never find her in time. When the rain stops we will split up and try to pick up their tracks,” Roark replied.
“After this rain there won’t be any tracks!” Diablo said anguishly.
“Our sister is smart. She will find a way to leave us a sign,” the marshal said calmly.
Stopping in his tracks, Diablo turned to face him. “Our sister? Just exactly who the hell are you?” Diablo asked.
“My name is Gabriel Savage. Angel is my half-sister.”
“Why are you just now telling me this?” Diablo asked angrily.
“In the beginning I didn’t know if I could completely trust you. Revealing my true connections to either Angel or Roark could have been dangerous for them,” Gabriel replied.
Realizing Gabriel was right he asked the two brothers, “So what’s our plans from here?”
Roark spoke up first, “His original plan was for us to escape west into the Montana Territory with the gold and lay low for a while.”
“We’ve been following them west,” Diablo commented.
“Yes, but I don’t think he will continue this way now. He knows there’s a good chance some of his men may have talked. I think at some point he will go south. He needs more supplies than just the two horses he stole from those travelers,” Roark replied.
“I think Roark is right. You and I will veer off to the southwest to see if we can cut their trail. Roark will continue west for now to make sure. Then if he doesn’t see any sign, he can cut back southeast till he finds either theirs or our trail,” Gabriel explained.
The rain stopped as the sun was setting. They built a fire and made camp for the night. Gabriel and Roark told stories that included Angel, making Diablo feel at home like one of the family.
The next morning, as soon as you could see, they broke camp. Roark continued west while Diablo and Gabriel broke off to the southwest.
The night before Diablo had learned of Gabriel’s life with the Ute Indians. He also learned he could track an ant over rocks, so he let him lead, knowing he himself was better with a gun than at tracking.
Late in the afternoon they came upon a campsite. There was sign of four horses and two people. That much Diablo could figure out as he watched Gabriel searching the ground more closely.
When Gabriel stood back up he said, “I think we found them. One of the tracks is made by a smaller person.”
“How do you know this?” Diablo asked curiously, wishing he knew more about tracking.
“For one, the boot print is shorter. Second, the track isn’t as deep, implying they are much lighter in weight.”
“The ashes from the campfire hold no warmth, so they must still be well ahead of us,” Diablo observed as he squatted down to feel them.
“Then let’s try to get as far as we can before dark,” Gabriel replied as he swung up onto his horse. “Keep an eye out for any sign Angel may have left behind as to where they are headed. If we knew where they are going, and could get ahead of them, then we could give Wolfe a proper welcoming!”
When they couldn’t see the tracks anymore, they stopped by a stream for the night and hobbled their horses out to graze their fill, knowing it maybe a few days before they could do it again if they wanted to get ahead of their prey.
The next morning before they left, Diablo stepped away from their camp to go to the bathroom. Squatting by a rock the size of a baby, he saw writing scratched on it.
‘Dark Thunder – Barry’
Diablo didn’t know anyone by those names and was just about to dismiss it when he thought . . . could it be code words in case Wolfe spotted the rock?
Roark was rolling up his bedroll when Diablo walked back into their camp and said, “I may have found something. I found a rock that had three words scratched on it. It said ‘Dark Thunder Barry’, with a line between Thunder and Barry.”
Instantly Gabriel started grinning. “I told you she would leave us a sign.”
“But what does it mean?” Diablo asked.
“Dark Thunder is my Ute name, and Barry was the outlaw cook in the Phantom Outlaw Gang’s hideout.”
“So what does that mean?” Diablo asked again.
“Let me think here . . . Barry is now dead, so he can’t be involved with them. And I’m
here. The only thing the two of us shared in common was . . . Phantom Canyon. That’s it! They are headed for Phantom Canyon, where the outlaw gang had their hideout. Hurry up! We got a long hard ride ahead of us if we are going to beat them there.”
“Are you sure about this?” Diablo didn’t like the idea of leaving the tracks they were following on a hunch.
“I’m as sure as the nose on my face,” Gabriel said smiling.
Knowing Gabriel knew his sister better than he did, Diablo agreed, and they pushed their horses as hard as they dared over the next few days.
* * *
When Angel woke up, Wolfe already had their breakfast ready. He forked some onto his plate for her and brought it to her with a cup of coffee.
Mustering up a smile she said, “Thank you dear.”
Wolfe smiled sheepishly back, unaccustomed to the affectionate term of endearment.
Trying to stall their progress as much as possible, Angel tried to slow them down by striking up a conversation while eating. “Is Brook your half-brother from your mother’s or father’s side of the family?”
“My father died when I was only a couple years old. So my mother remarried and they had three more children,” Wolfe said hurtfully.
From the way Wolfe answered, Angel assumed that the new husband did not lovingly care for him. “I take it he did not like having you there?”
“At first he tolerated me fine, but when my first brother was born, he then didn’t want me around no more.”
“How did you and Howard become close? I’d of thought you would of hated your siblings because of your step father.”
“I did in the beginning, but after I killed him for beating me, I took care of them while our mother drank herself to death,” Wolfe explained as if it was natural to kill your parent.
Shocked, Angel realized just how unstably dangerous Wolfe could be if triggered. She was playing a game of Russian roulette. Eventually a live round would be coming her way . . .
Chapter 15
Covering up her true feelings she said, “I think it shows great responsibility that you took care of your siblings.”