by Rita Hestand
"Who's gonna go down there after it?" Swanson glanced at them both.
"We need to wait until daylight, there could be snakes down there. I didn't have time to find out when I threw it in there. I didn't figure anyone would go near the place, it looked abandoned for some time. There's a shack over there, but there's no lights. We could hold up here until morning then one of us can go down there and get it."
"Sounds reasonable. I don't want to get snake-bit. Got a better chance in the daylight." Colby nodded.
"Alright, let's get some sleep, we'll check it out in the morning." Swanson quickly agreed. "But if Bird has that money, and he's travelin', we're going to have to make some tracks boys."
Les nodded.
Once they were settled in the little shack, Les looked over at Swanson. "If he took it, where would he go? Ya'll know him better than I do. Got any ideas on that?"
Colby took his hat off and his boots and rubbed his feet, his boots had hurt him since he got them wet back at the river. But his feet stunk because the socks had been wet a long time.
"Damn Colby…" Swanson eyed him. "Put them boots back on."
Swanson stretched himself on the floor and cuddled in his blanket. "If the money isn't there. If Bird took it, he'd head somewhere we wouldn't expect. He planned on hittin' a couple of banks around here and heading for California. But since I know that, maybe he'd head for Mexico instead, to throw us off his trail. Makes sense he wouldn't tell us where he was goin' if he had this planned. I guess when you think about, it's all pretty clever of him. Takin' the whole eighty thousand."
"Do you really think he'd take the money…without splitting it?" Colby stared hard at them both.
"Now that I think on it, you may be right, Harper. Bird was tired, he wanted to hit it big and retire somewhere so he could enjoy it. He said he'd been robbing banks and stages and never enjoying the fruits of his labor."
"Mexico is a good place to go when you have money. You can live rich there." Les eyed them. "Let's hope the money is still there. I don't want to even think about trying to track him down. But if it is and Bird isn't here, then something's happened to him." Les announced. "And I'd guess that something would be the posse. We could go into town and listen around see if anyone's heard anything about the robbery or what's goin' on."
He wanted them suspicioning Bird, and it was working well. He'd planted the seeds of doubt. By morning they'd be ready to hang Bird on sight.
As long as they worried about what Bird was doing, it would take the suspicions off him. It would look as though he lost out on the money as well as them.
Les sighed now, glad that Anna and Frankie would be alright. He hated leaving like he had to, but he had a plan and he hoped it worked.
If all his plans worked, things would start looking up for Anna and Frankie. But he couldn't let his guard down yet. He had work to do.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning came early. The birds were chirping loudly in the trees, it sounded like blue jays fighting for their territory, Les thought as he opened his eyes slowly. The sun was coming through the dirty windows of the shack. hitting him in the face.
"You got any coffee in your saddle bags Swanson?" Les asked as he saw him moving about.
"Nope, Bird was gonna bring us back some supplies." Swanson grunted. "You see how that worked out, don't you?"
"I got enough for a pot," Colby said. "But how far is some water from here?"
Les frowned, "Too far, forget it. Let's get the money, if it's there. Hey, we ought to go into town, see if we can find out anything. I mean if the money is there, then Bird could already be in jail or worse."
There was a lot of yawning and stretching as they went out side and looked around. It was still outside now, almost eerie, the birds had hushed.
Grasshoppers flew every which way as they walked trough the tall grasses to get to the well.
The well looked a bit forlorn, standing in the distance. They looked down.
It was hard to see all the way to the bottom.
Swanson pitched a small rock down and it hit bottom with a dull thud.
"It's dry alright."
"Who's goin' down there?" Colby asked as the threw his hands in his pockets.
"I think Les ought to do it…" Swanson told him, "Since you’re the one that threw it in there."
Les hesitated. "Look, you fellas don't seem to trust me, so one of you go down and get it. That way you'll know I'm not hidin' nothing."
"He's right again." Swanson shook his head. "Colby get down there and get it."
"Why me?" Colby fussed. Les could tell he wasn't in his best humor before his first cup of coffee in the morning.
"'Cause I'm stronger than you. I can haul you up, I’m not sure you could haul me." Swanson laughed. "You might be big, but you ain't stronger than me."
"All right, I'll go. My luck there's a pile of snakes down there."
Colby prepared to go, taking off everything he didn't need, including his gun and boots
Swanson threw his boots in the grass. "Man those things stink."
There was a rope hanging from the well, so Colby grabbed it but the rope was rotten and half way down it broke and sent Colby flying to the bottom with a loud yelp.
"You alright down there, Colby?" Les hollered.
"I was…There's snakes down here," Colby shouted.
Les tossed him his gun.
Directly Colby shot three times and cussed up a storm.
"Is the money there?" Swanson hollered.
"I'm checking…" Colby said. "Throw me a rope down here."
Les went to get a rope off his horse and came back. "Here it comes."
Colby wrapped the rope around his waist and they hauled him up.
But when he got there they looked at him strangely. "Where's the money?" Swanson asked.
"The bags were there, but there weren't no money in them. And here's a note…" Colby handed it to Swanson. "I been bitten by that damn rattler," Colby announced and suddenly keeled over.
Les reached down to him. "Where'd he get you?"
"On the ankle, I should've kept my boots on I guess."
Les took out his knife and checked the bite. It was already swelling. He carefully carved out a hunk from Colby, then wrapped it with his own bandana. "Sure wish I had some tobacco juice. We got to get you to a doctor and fast."
He raised up to look at Swanson. "What does it say?"
"Sorry boys, but I done told you I wanted to retire. There's always more banks to rob. He signed it, Bird."
Les stared at Swanson. "He took it all?"
Colby nodded dully. "Weren't nothin' but empty bags down there."
"Let's take him to a doctor…" Les said throwing Colby over his shoulder and putting him on his horse.
"I’m gonna kill Bird when I catch up to him. That's a promise." Swanson said wadding the paper up and throwing it in the well. "Sorry Les, I guess I should have trusted you all along."
"Let's ride," Les told him.
Plainville was the next town and they found a doctor's office shingle on the side of a building. They walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. There were a fair amount of people in town, mostly drovers from a cattle drive, Les noticed.
The doctor was a middle aged man with blonde hair, bushy brows and a slight beard. He was dressed in nice clothes and spit polished shoes. Evidently the doc did alright.
"We got a snake bite doc." Les told him.
"Lord have mercy." The doctor said. "How long ago?"
"About an hour!" Les told him.
"Bring him to my table, where was he bit?"
Les told him and the doc started examining him.
"You boys sit down it might take a little while." The doctor told them.
"Is he going to be alright?" Swanson asked.
"I don't know yet."
"Well look doc, we ain't ate yet, so we'll be over at the café across the street long enough to get some coffee and something to eat. We'll b
e back directly."
"Fine, fine," The doctor said paying them little attention.
As Les and Swanson walked down the stairs Swanson looked at him. "Let's get something to eat then check out the saloon. Maybe we can pick up some information there."
"Good idea." Les agreed.
The café was in the middle of the boardwalk, they served good home cooked meals and had a small amount of customers. After a big breakfast and a pot a coffee, they headed for the saloon.
The smell of whiskey and tobacco reeked the air and smoke curled in circles all over the room. It was full of drifters, cowpokes and a couple of dancehall girls. A man was banging on the old piano, and everyone was talking. Several poker games were going on too.
They ordered beer and stayed at the bar, since most of the tables were filled with poker players.
"Did you hear about the bank in Sweet Water gettin' held up?" One cowpoke at the other end of the bar was saying as he sipped his beer. He had to talk fairly loud over all the noise. He wore dusty chaps, a sweat lined hat and all cowboy gear. He looked as though he'd just come in from a drive.
"Yeah, I heard somethin' about it. It was a big haul, wasn't it? Did they catch 'em?" His friend was asking.
"Don't know, they had a posse after them though. That Sheriff Tatum he's tough and he's pissed. If he catches them, they might not have no trial. He's always bragged that no one would get away with money in his bank. Guess he was wrong about that one."
"Yeah, I heard he's a rough one." The other man sported a big mustache and he kept wiping it ever time he took a sip of beer, Les noted with a chuckle.
"How much did they get?"
"I don't know, someone said nearly eighty thousand dollars. The union payroll money. I bet Tatum is fit to be tied. They usually guard that payroll pretty good. Wonder how they knew it was there. I mean it's not like they announce it in the paper or somethin'."
"I figure it was an inside job. I mean, nobody knows when that's gonna be there, but the army and the bank people, maybe the Sheriff so somebody had to tell them…"
"Yeah, I guess your right. Maybe it was the Sheriff himself, you never know."
Les and Swanson took in the information and looked at each other.
Directly another cowpoke came sauntering in and joined the others. He'd bothered to clean up, probably even took a bath, Les decided as he eyed him too. He was sporting new clothes and hat, but he still wore his worn out boots.
"Heard the news?"
"No, what?"
"I was over at the barber's getting' me a bath and I heard a couple of deputies talking. They caught one of them bank robbers."
"No kiddin' who was it?"
"Somebody named Bird."
"Did they get the money back?"
"Nope…and the worst part is, this Bird fella broke out and now he's gone again."
"I wouldn't want to be them when that Sheriff catches up to them…"
"They're callin' out the army now to try to find them. I mean that high falootin' Sheriff ain't got no robbers, or no money and the army is pissed."
Les and Swanson looked at each other and left, heading back for the doctor's office.
"What do you think?" Les asked him.
"I think Bird's got that money and is on his way to Mexico by now." Swanson firmed his lips and frowned. "But since he's been in jail, he might not be that far ahead of us. Which is good. Maybe we can just catch that Bird."
But as they went inside the doctor's office, Colby was still in bad shape. His leg was really swollen and it had started turning colors. It didn't look good for him.
Swanson wasn't happy about that.
"Can he ride, doc?"
"No, he'll need to rest for a week at least, maybe longer." The doctor explained. "At this point I'm not even sure if he's going to make it."
"Can he stay here then?"
"Sure, I got a room I can put him in. Now, who's gonna pay me?" The doctor asked.
"I will doc." Les said and whipped out a few coins from his pocket for him. "Will that take care of it."
"Not hardly."
Swanson dug in his pockets and gave him a silver dollar. "That do it?"
The doctor nodded. "Thank you. Check back on him." The doc told them as they were leaving. "If he don't make it, you'll have a funeral bill."
"Well doc, if he don't make it, put him in a pauper's grave, 'cause we are out of money."
The doctor frowned at the two of them.
"Damn," Swanson cursed under his breath and rubbed his chin as they headed for their horses. "It looks like it's just you and me against Bird, Les."
"Looks like…" Les was relieved. He could take Swanson in a fight and Swanson knew it. All he really had to worry about was Bird now. The worse part was if Bird hadn't broken out of jail, all Les would have to worry about was Swanson. But at least the numbers were better now.
What none of them knew was that half the money had already been returned to the authorities. Les had baited Bird with the other half, knowing he wouldn't stop long enough to count it. Les had managed that fine with his contact. But that Sheriff hadn't done his job right or Bird wouldn't be lose."
"I don't know, Bird was always good about bustin' out of jails. But I'm still wondering about that Sheriff. He didn't catch anyone but Bird, and Bird had all the money, now Bird's escaped. He might have made some kind of deal with that Sheriff, you never know."
Les shook his head. "And I thought we were crooked."
Swanson thought about it, "There's that Dobbs character and the Sheriff too."
All in a day's work, Les thought with a tired sigh as they headed their horses south.
Chapter Eighteen
Two days later Sheriff Tatum showed up at Anna's place. He was a tall man, dressed in a suit, with a silver beaver's hat and a six gun on his hip. He looked more like a New England detective than a western Sheriff. He tipped his hat to her at the door when she answered.
He was thirtyish, blonde headed, green eyed, and all business. He didn't smile at all, in fact he looked as though he suspicioned her. She hesitated letting him in.
"Are you Mrs. Prescott?" He asked at the door his attitude cynical, wary even.
"I am." She tired to sound confident and intelligent.
"I'm Sheriff Tatum from Sweet Water. Can I come in and talk to you a bit?" It wasn't a question, it was an order. It seemed every man that came to her home wanted to order her about. All but Les. Maybe that was why she liked him so much.
Anna sighed heavily, "Yes, of course."
She invited him for a cup of coffee which he took and they sat at the table. The Sheriff eyed her keenly before ever asking any questions. His almost emerald eyes penetrated.
He took his hat off and laid it on the other side of the table. Anna realized that meant he was staying a while.
"Mrs. Prescott, I was told by Sheriff Holcomb that the bank robbers I'm looking for have been here at your house." His haggard expression said more than he knew.
Anna dreaded this interrogation. And his attitude didn't help, almost accusing.
"Yes, they have been here." She didn't look at him at first. She was staring at the sugar he put in his coffee. He must have put four spoonful's in his cup. When she looked up his expression probed her.
"Did you know these fellas?" He asked as he cast her an arrogant glance.
"Know them?" She turned her nose up at him for a moment. How dare he waltz into her home and accuse her of that. She was glad Frankie was in school. "Do I look like the kind of woman that would know bank robbers?"
"No ma'am, but I've found in this business, you just never know about these things. Now we aren't getting anywhere with such a hostile attitude. Why don't you tell me exactly what happened here." He scrutinized her now as though he didn't quite believe anything she said so far.
"I'd be happy to. If you'll listen." She began trying to keep the sarcasm at bay. She started at the beginning. She tried to remember every detail, because she certainly did
n't want this man coming back to her house and asking more questions.
"And that's what happened Sheriff." She sipped her coffee and turned away from his probing glances.
"This Les Harper, you say you found him in your barn one night. Did he have a reason to be there?"
A slight shadow of annoyance hinted at her simmering temper. "Well let's see, he had a bullet in his leg, and it was storming outside that night. I guess those are pretty good reasons for anyone to take shelter. He must have passed out from the loss of blood because my son went early that morning to the barn and he said he wasn't awake, even though he shined the light on him."
"There was a storm that night?" His brows knitted.
"That right, it knocked a lot of limbs out of my trees too."
"So it was night when you discovered him?"
"I didn't discover him at all, my son did the next morning when he went to the barn to do some chores before school." She glared at him now.
"So your son discovered him. In what condition?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Was he awake, passed out, drunk, what condition was he in?"
"He was hurt, he'd gone to sleep or passed out."
"Since you’re a cripple, how did you get him inside your house?" The man asked, leaning back in the chair with interest.
Disgusted with this line of questioning she fidgeted with her cup now. "I didn't. My son did."
"So your son discovered him, and got him in the house by himself, where were you?" He asked his hand going to his chin as a finger held his head up.
"I was outside the barn, waiting for my son to help me inside. Really Mr. Tatum, aren't you wasting time here? All of this has little to do about when they all showed up."
"Fine, tell me what happened the day you found Les Harper in your barn." He looked slightly annoyed.
"We've been over that already."
"Yes, but you have left something out. Something you forgot about that day, something you might have stumbled on."
"Exactly what are you trying to say?"
"The money has not been found. If Les Harper had the money, perhaps he buried it around here that night, or gave it to you. I'm investigating all possibilities."