* * *
“I swear,” Cutter saw fit to comment, as he looked through the packs Ballenger brought, “you weren’t lyin’ when you said you had enough supplies to get us there.” He held up a can for Logan to see. “Lookee here, we even got some canned milk to feed the baby. I reckon that’s in case his mama’s gone dry.” He returned his attention to the packs again. “There’s plenty of jerky and side meat for the grown-ups, too.” He paused when he pulled out a large gunnysack. “What’s this sack for?”
“Just for whatever you might need it for,” Ballenger replied, “in case you want to throw a sack over her head to make it easier to carry her.”
Joe chuckled and shook his head. “I gotta hand it to ya, Ballenger, you don’t never leave anythin’ undone.”
After the two had eaten something and had a couple of drinks from the bottle he supplied, Ballenger led them to a long, low ridge about three quarters of a mile away. The ridge was thick with oak trees and offered an ideal place to scout the two small tents pitched in a pasture on either side of a pair of wagons. It was exactly as Ballenger had described, and now they were able to see the actual setup and their best access to the tents. Ballenger pointed out the tent that housed the woman and her baby. “There’s two wagons between that tent and the one where the sister and her husband and their two children are staying. Make sure you remember which one your target is in. It’s smaller than the other one.” He had no sooner said that than Emma came out of the tent with some items of clothing and proceeded to drop them in a washtub. “That’s your target,” Ballenger said.
Thinking they had seen all they needed to see at this time, they looked then to determine which way they would run after abducting the woman and her baby. “Right straight out the end of that pasture and through the gap in the ridge,” Waylon suggested. “We’d be headed in the direction we need to be in.” Joe agreed, and with that settled, they were satisfied that they had seen all they needed to see. Waylon pointed his forefinger like a gun and fired an imaginary shot at the tent.
“How you take the woman is up to you,” Ballenger reminded them, “but be damn sure you don’t hurt that baby, or none of us will get paid.” He was immediately assured that they understood. “When are you going to do it?” Ballenger asked.
“Well, it’ll be easiest to wait till they’ve all gone to bed,” Cutter said. “Ain’t that what you think, Waylon?” Logan agreed.
“All right, then,” Ballenger said. “I’ll see you at Comanche Run with your money.” That was all he said. He climbed on his horse and started down the back of the ridge, heading north, leaving them to return to the camp they had set up.
* * *
“Sure thing, Perley,” John Payne, the blacksmith said, “I’ll shoe ol’ Buck, here, and take him back to the stable for you.”
“I’d appreciate it, John,” Perley said. “He might not need ’em real bad yet, but I noticed they’re gettin’ that way. So I figured I’d go ahead and get it done while I’ve got the chance.” With that off his mind, he walked back to the sheriff’s office, surprised to see Possum’s horse tied up at the rail. He walked in to find his friend sitting at his chair with his feet propped on the desk.
“You always leave the door unlocked?” Possum greeted him. “There ain’t no tellin’ who you might find waitin’ for you.”
“I hadn’t really thought about that till right now,” Perley joked. “But I can see now that it was a foolish thing to do. You’re right, I’m liable to find any kind of riffraff in here.” They both had a chuckle, then he asked, “What are you still doin’ in town? I thought you went back out to Rooster’s after we ate.”
“I did,” Possum replied. “But I had to come back again to bring Emma into town. She said she was supposed to meet with Ralph Wheeler for something to do with the hotel, and I’m supposed to be there, too.”
“That so? Where’s Emma now?”
“She’s lookin’ at some material for a dress at Wheeler’s store. Cora invited me and Emma to supper, but I told her I had to meet you and I’d be back for the meetin’ right after supper.” He made a face and said, “I don’t feel easy settin’ at the mayor’s table to eat. I’m liable to do somethin’ to embarrass Emma.”
Perley had to laugh. “Well, if you’re hungry, I reckon we can take a chance on Ida Wicks’s food again.”
“Might be better’n what Emma gets at Cora Wheeler’s table,” Possum said. “And Ida don’t care if you pick your teeth at the table.”
“I expect we’d best go on over to the saloon if you’re supposed to go back for a meetin’ with the mayor,” Perley suggested. “Don’t want you to miss anything important.”
“It wouldn’t make much difference if I was there or not, except for my signature. Emma knows what she wants, and she makes all the decisions. I swear, Perley, that is one smart woman. She gets right into it with the mayor and them carpenters he lined up to build the hotel. And I don’t know nothin’ about it.” He paused to think about that, then added, “And I don’t wanna know anything about it.”
He and Possum were the only two customers in The Buffalo Hump who had come for supper, but there were a half-dozen more to keep Jimmy McGee busy pouring whiskey.
“I expect I’d best get up to the store to see if they’re havin’ their meetin’ yet,” Possum said. “I swear, Perley, you oughta stay here and take the sheriff’s job permanently and make me your deputy. You’ve said, yourself, that you ain’t all that fond of tendin’ cattle.”
“How ’bout you takin’ the job as sheriff and hire me as your deputy?” Perley answered.
“That’ud work, too, I reckon,” Possum joked. “Reckon how ol’ Wheeler would like that?” He was joking, but he dearly wished there was some way to keep Perley from leaving.
“You’d better get goin’,” Perley said. “You’re liable to be goin’ home after dark, if you don’t get that meetin’ started.”
“Ain’t no problem,” Possum shrugged. “The mayor said it was just a short meeting for me and Emma to sign some kinda papers.”
They parted then, Possum to his meeting with his business partner, Perley to the stable to see how Buck liked his new shoes. When he left the stable, he decided to play his role as sheriff and take a little walk up and down Main Street, just to make sure nothing was on fire or some drunk couldn’t find his way home. When he walked by Wheeler’s Merchandise, he noticed the lights were still on and Possum and Emma’s horses were still tied out front. The big-time hotel operators Emma and Possum are still at it, he thought. Better wind it up, it’s already getting dark. It was a narrow little trail along the creek to Rooster’s cabin, and it could be difficult in the dark. Coy Dawkins and Whit Berry had found that to be true.
CHAPTER 17
As soon as darkness started to set in, Joe Cutter and Waylon Logan saddled up and prepared to leave their temporary campsite before a hard dark set in. They decided to take no chances on finding their way back to that spot on the ridge overlooking Rooster Crabb’s pasture. They had no trouble retracing their tracks of the afternoon, however, and soon were watching the wagon camp and the two tents. The plan was to give the camp time to go to bed, then slip into the camp and cut into the back of the smaller tent. By going in that way, they figured they would less likely be seen by anyone in the other tent. Once they were in the back of the tent, one of them would grab the woman, the other would pick up the baby. The success of the abduction would depend on the element of surprise and their ability to keep the woman from waking everyone else. If they failed in that endeavor, they would shoot anyone who tried to stop them, in spite of their promise to Ballenger.
The first good sign for them was the fact that the camp went to bed early. From their perch on the ridge, they saw the woman go in and out of the smaller tent several times, often going in the larger tent. Finally, after the camp seemed to settle, she went back into the smaller tent and stayed for a longer time. “She’s in for good,” Waylon decided. Joe agreed, so they moved
their horses down the ridge on the other side of the wagons for quick access to them when they made their move. Under cover of the now-heavier darkness, the two kidnappers made their way into the quiet camp. Cutter, being the stronger, as well as the bigger, was to grab the woman, while Logan would snatch the baby up and also act as the rear guard, in case the other woman’s husband came to her rescue.
“You ready?” Waylon asked. Joe said that he was, and shook out the burlap bag, which he had decided to yank over the woman’s head. They advanced toward the outermost wagon and stopped there to listen before continuing on to the back of the smaller tent. Cutter drew his knife to cut the rear of the tent, but before he made the first thrust, they suddenly heard the baby start to cry. “Damn!” Waylon murmured under his breath, and they both froze, expecting the whole camp to rouse as if it was a warning signal.
They were still standing frozen when the woman came out of the tent, holding the baby, unaware of the two confused intruders behind her. With no option apparent to him, Cutter suddenly acted. He moved up behind her and snatched the burlap bag over her head and shoulders, even while she still held the infant close to her breast. In almost one motion, he picked her up on his shoulder and moved as quickly as he could toward the trees at the foot of the ridge and the horses waiting there. Behind him, Waylon hurriedly watched the other tent, his pistol in hand, prepared to shoot the first person to emerge. In a state of shock, the woman could not breathe for several long moments, confused by what had happened. When she realized what was taking place, she started to cry out, but was only able to utter the first alarm before Logan grabbed the bag to find her mouth and held his hand over it until they were into the trees. “Keep walkin’ he said. “I’ll lead the horses till we get a little ways away from that camp.”
When they thought it was safe to stop, Logan walked back for several yards where he could see the camp. There was no sign of anyone coming to her rescue. “I swear, woman, you folks are pretty heavy sleepers, ain’tcha?”
Totally in shock, she could not answer for a long few moments. When she could, her first words were for the baby, which she had somehow managed to hold on to. “The baby!” she cried and tried to wrestle the bag up off him.
“Lady,” Waylon’s gruff voice warned her, “if you keep your mouth shut, won’t nobody hurt you or that baby. I’ll lift this sack so you can see if the baby’s all right, but you make a noise, and I’ll bust your nose for you. You understand?”
“Who are you?” she demanded. “What do you want?”
“Do you understand?” He demanded again and grabbed her by the throat.
“Yes, yes,” she cried. “I understand!” He pulled the sack up over her head and she frantically examined the infant.
“Is he okay?” Cutter asked her.
“Yes, he’s okay. Let me go now. I have nothing of value to give you. My husband will come after you, if you don’t let me go.”
Waylon grinned. “You ain’t got no husband, lady. We ain’t that dumb. I’m gonna tell you like it is. We’ve been hired to deliver you and your baby to a man who’s wantin’ his grandson, and you took him away. It’s gonna take a couple of days to get there, but if you behave yourself and don’t give us no trouble, it won’t be that hard on you. We brought you a horse to ride and we’re got food for you.”
“We’ve even got canned milk for the baby, in case you ain’t got none anymore,” Joe said.
Purely dumbfounded, but beginning to understand what was happening to her, Rachael tried to calm herself. “You’ve made a mistake. This is not my baby.”
“Is that so?” Cutter said. “Well, you’d best hold on to him like he was, because if you drop him, I’m liable to get pretty nasty.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, picked her and the baby up, and plopped her down in the saddle of the horse they had brought for her. She started to scream, but he slapped her hard across her face. “I told you, damn it.”
“You’ve gotta listen to me,” she pleaded. “You’ve got the wrong person. This is not my baby. I’m just takin’ care of him for my sister. You need to let us go.” She continued pleading with them while they led her horse farther and farther away from her family. “Look, I’ll bet the man you’re working for is Zachary Slocum, and this is his grandson. And the baby’s mother is Emma Slocum. Isn’t that right?” There was no answer from either of her abductors. “You have to believe me. My name is Rachael Parker. Emma’s my sister.”
Beyond the lower end of the ridge now, the two men climbed into their saddles. “Save your breath and take care of that young’un. He’s more important than you are, so if you let anything happen to him, I’ll put a bullet in your head, and me and Waylon will just ride on back to Fort Worth.”
Her dismay now becoming panic, she pleaded once more. “I’m right about Slocum and his grandson, ain’t I? I’m not lying to you. He’s gonna be mad when he finds out you took the wrong person.”
“Lady, why in the hell wouldn’t you know who’s after you? All that talkin’ you’re doin’ just makes me sure you’re the woman callin’ herself Emma Slocum. Now shut the hell up, I’m tired of hearin’ your mouth.” He nudged his horse and broke into a lope through a narrow pass, his way lighted now by a huge full moon rising over the low hills to the east.
Riding in line between Cutter and Logan, she began to cry, devastated by the freak accident of her capture. Riding farther and farther from her husband and daughters, who might not even realize that she was gone, she was not sure if she would ever see them again.
* * *
Possum and Emma arrived at the camp to find her brother-in-law and her two nieces in a state of panic, having just then realized that Rachael and the baby were missing. “They’ve been taken!” Tom cried. “It’s my fault. I didn’t even know it was happening. It’s my fault,” he repeated over and over. “I was asleep, and I heard the baby cry, but it was for just a little bit. Rachael was gone, but I knew she was in your tent looking after the baby. He didn’t cry anymore after that first time, then he quit, so I thought Rachael quieted him. Oh, God, if I had only gotten up to see if she was all right, but I swear I never thought there was anything wrong.” He looked at Emma, who was stunned, still trying to accept what her brain was receiving. Tom turned from her to Possum. “They’ve got my wife,” he pleaded. “We’ve got to go after her!”
“My baby!” Emma finally cried out in anguish. “They found us!” There was no doubt in her mind that whoever kidnapped her son was sent by Zachary Slocum.
Shocked as much as anyone, Possum could only stare at the scene of despair before him. With Tom’s wailing confession of guilt, Emma’s sobbing, and both of the little girls’ bawling, he couldn’t make himself think what to do. Finally, his mind started working again, and he took charge of the tragedy. “You’re most likely right, Emma. It figures that Slocum sent somebody down here to find us. And if that’s the case, they’re takin’ the child to the Lazy-S. We can go straight to the Lazy-S, but it’s two or two and a half days’ ride from here. It’d be best if we could catch up with ’em before they got back to the Lazy-S. Trouble is, we’d have to pick up their trail where they left here, and that ain’t gonna be too easy in the dark.” He shook his head, knowing he needed help, and the kind of help he needed wasn’t the kind he might get from Tom. For starters, he didn’t know how many kidnappers there were. “I’m goin’ back to town to get Perley,” he stated. “We can’t do nothin’ till it gets light enough to see which way they went.”
“But they’ll just have that much more head start if we wait till then,” Tom protested.
“We’ll just have to ride like hell to make it up,” Possum replied. “One thing for sure, if we just go ridin’ off without followin’ their trail, we might as well just head on to the Lazy-S headquarters, and there ain’t no tellin’ how many we’d be up against there.”
“I don’t know.” Tom shook his head, devastated. “Maybe you’re right, but I can’t help thinkin’ about Rachael. If they came for th
e baby, why did they take Rachael?”
“Because they thought Rachael was me,” Emma stated. “He told me he wanted me to go with him to take care of my baby the first time they came after Danny.”
“I expect that’s right,” Possum agreed, “and they most likely didn’t bring nobody to take care of a baby. I’m goin’ to get Perley. We need him.” He climbed back on his horse and headed back to town, leaving them to deal with their grief.
* * *
Perley was roused from a sound sleep by Possum pounding on the office door, but he became instantly alert when Possum explained the reason for his late-night visit. The next person to be awakened was Horace Brooks, who met Perley and Possum at his door with his shotgun in hand. When they explained, he pulled his boots on and ran next door to unlock the stable, and Perley hurriedly saddled Buck. In only a few minutes’ time, Perley and Possum left the stable with a wish of “Good luck” from Horace.
After the short ride back to the pasture behind Rooster’s cabin, they found the scene pretty much as it had been when Possum left to fetch Perley. Emma’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, and Tom was doing his best to console his daughters while fighting his own despair. It struck Perley much the same as a funeral, and they turned at once to him to answer their prayers. “Let’s just see what we can do,” he said, not really sure, himself. Rooster, having heard the commotion, was there holding a lantern, so Perley said, “Lemme borrow that lantern and see if we can figure out what happened.”
Rooster gave him the lantern, and Perley took it to Emma’s tent to examine the grass in front of it. The grass was pretty high overall in the pasture, but it was beaten down from Emma going in and out of her tent. Beyond the front of the tent, however, there were signs of more recent traffic leading away from the tent. “Look at this right here,” Rooster said, pointing to a patch of grass a few feet farther along that stood out in the moonlight. Perley brought the lantern closer and discovered a larger area of disturbed grass than that which a single person might make just walking. “Right here is where they grabbed ’em,” Rooster declared. He hurried ahead then, looking for more tracks in the grass. It wasn’t easy, for the leaves of grass were recovering rapidly, but the grass was high enough to give the trackers the general direction the kidnappers took when they left the camp.
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