Up ahead the posse thundered onward at full gallop, trying to catch up with Matt Starr. After several minutes and finding no sign of the marshal, Harvey Trask called a halt, reining up sharply. His horse’s hooves slid in the loose gravel trail, kicking up a cloud of dust. The others pulled up beside him. The cloud of dust billowed and engulfed them.
“He couldn’t have gotten that far ahead of us,” Trask said loudly enough for all the men to hear him. “He must have turned off the trail back there, somewhere. Peso!” He ordered. “Take five men and ride on ahead, in case I‘m wrong.. Me and the others will ride back and check the trail for anyplace he might have turned off or hidden. There’s a lot of rocks and brush along the trail. We’ll go slow and look for any sign of where he might’ve gone.”
He wheeled his horse, kicking up more dust. “Now let’s get going!” He shouted.
Five men choosing to stay with the sheriff followed after him. Peso rode on down the trail and the remaining five men followed. They soon disappeared around the next bend in the trail.
Trask led his men slowly along the back trail. Under his orders, the deputies spread out checking for possible hiding places or alternate trails.
They seemed to be practically meandering along when a cloud of dust billowed up, coming from around the bend in the trail in front of them. In the middle of the cloud, shadowy figures appeared, riding galloping horses. Duster tails could be seen flapping in the breeze as the riders came closer.
“It’s the Carlins!” Trask shouted in warning to his companions He twisted in the saddle and fired his pistol at the oncoming pursuers. He had already been carrying his Colt at the ready in his hand.
The other posse men quickly came to attention and started firing also. Their mounts thrashed about, skittish at the sudden thunder of pistols and the yanking of reins by their riders.
From aboard moving horses and from this distance, there was little chance of their bullets striking the oncoming riders.
It was almost as much of a surprise to Kitty, Cyclone and the others when they rounded the bend and saw the lawmen in front of them, as it was to Trask and his men, as well.
The first shot from Sheriff Trask had fallen way short, for they were out of pistol range. The Wildcats didn’t bother to slow their horses one bit. They just came galloping full speed and drawing their saddle rifles.
By the time the other deputies had started firing, the Wildcats each had a rifle to the shoulder, firing one handed while negotiating the reins with the other hand.
Lead pellets sailed over the posse men’s heads. Bullets slammed into the ground near the horses’ hooves. Trask shouted, “Head for cover men!” He was practically falling out of the saddle as he hastily tried to dismount. His pistol was still spouting flame when his feet hit the ground. But, it was to no avail. The outlaws were still out of pistol range and rifle bullets were still hitting close. The Carlin’s were still coming fast at full gallop.
The sheriff dove behind a rotting log that lay alongside the trail. Shards of splinters and sawdust sprayed his face and bullets plowed into the wood as he rolled up tight against it.
The other deputies were also taking cover. And, by the time they all found a place of concealment behind rocks, tree trunks, and brush, Kitty, Cyclone, Chief and Rap had reined up theirs horses and had vacated the saddles, letting the horses run off to the side out of the line of fire.
They found cover behind rocks and resumed rifle fire. They were still out of range of the lawmen’s pistols, but a few of the deputies had taken rifles from their saddle boots as they dismounted and ran for cover.
For the most part, the Wildcats still had the posse pinned down but the few rifles in the hands of the posse was beginning to pose a real problem as bullets flew close around them and spanged off the rocks they were hiding behind.
Now as both factions were hunkered down, the battle ensued in earnest. The valley echoed in the thunder of guns and gunsmoke filled the air.
A bullet ricocheted off the rock in front of Rap Brown. He dodged back to avoid the flying chip. When he once again peered over the top of the rock, he saw the swirl of dust further down the trail behind Trask and his men. Peso Martin and his men were on their way back. They must have heard the firing and had decided to return. These riders were more prepared than Trask and his men. They already had their rifles out and ready.
As they approached the other lawmen, they let loose, firing over their heads as they came riding in at a full gallop; riding right on past them, charging the Wildcats head on.
“Lawdy! Lawdy!” Rap Brown exclaimed as he threw his rifle to his shoulder, picked out a target and squeezed the trigger. A posse man spilled from the saddle, dropping his rifle as he hit the ground, rolled twice, then crawled away holding his bloody shoulder. His horse sped on with an empty saddle.
Almost simultaneously, Kitty and Cyclone fired and two more riders fell from the saddle. Peso Martin and his two remaining companions pulled their mounts up sharply, neck reining them and practically spinning them about in a tight circle, spurring and lashing reins and urging them into rapid retreat.
The lawmen on the ground behind them, resumed firing as much as they could without hitting their own retreating men. They laid down a field of fire while Peso and his companions leaped from their saddles and ran for cover.
Now, with two additional rifles firing back, the Wildcats were feeling the tides turning. At first they had Trask and his men pinned down. Now they felt pinned down themselves.
“What do you think, Cy?” Rap said, crawling up close beside him.
“I think we done, bit off a mouthful,” Cyclone said. He raised his rifle and fired again. It whined off a rock sending the man behind it diving to the dirt in safety.
Again and again Cyclone fired. Both times he failed to hit any of his targets.
Kitty and Chief were both levering their Winchesters rapidly. Most shots failed to do any good, but Chief managed to catch one man high in the chest and slamming him backward and sprawling out in the dirt without the benefit of cover. “You still think I’m blind, paleface?” Chief shouted to Arapahoe. “I got one.”
“Yeah. But that’s not the one you was shootin’ at,” Rap answered, firing again. Another posse man threw up his rifle; spinning in air; as he fell backward grasping a bloody arm.
“Sure it was,” Chief retorted. “I was shooting around a corner. That’s what.” Chief fired again and another man screamed as the bullet scarred a rock and particles of granite flew into his eyes.
“Damn,” Rap said. “Maybe your eyes are better than what I thought for. You just got another one.”
“I did?” Chief said, hardly able to believe it. He craned his neck and squinted hard into the distance.
A bullet craned off the rock he was behind. Chief ducked low. “Damn, I’m good,” He said to himself with pride.
Minutes dragged on. Both sides continued to fire, but having suffered a number of casualties, the posse’s fire power was waning. Their return fire was becoming sporadic and less frequent. Then suddenly all return fire ceased.
Cyclone and the others were still laying down a field of fire, but gradually, it became obvious that the firing was now one sided.
“Hold it up,!” Cyclone ordered, holding his arm and hand up in a halting motion. He hunkered down behind his cover.
“What is it, Grampa,” Kitty said crawling up close to him.
“Something’s wrong. They’re not firing back,” Cyclone answered.
“Lawdy, Lawdy,” Arapahoe said looking over the top of the rock. “Look at that.”
Kitty, Cyclone and Chief lifted up and peered out.
“What is it?’ Chief said, once again squinting into the distance
“See what I been tellin‘ you, Cy? He’s blind as a bat.” Rap said.
“Well, I’ll be,” Cyclone almost whispered, ignoring everyone else.
“Matt!” Kitty exclaimed. “Where’d he come from? And he’s got Sarah Price with him.”
&
nbsp; “Musta come out of the brush somewhere,” Cy said. Trask musta seen them coming and that’s what caused them to cease fire.”
“And now Matt and her is smack dab between us and them,” Cyclone added.
“What do you think we ought to do, Grampa?” Kitty asked.
“Now that they got that Price girl back, that ought to hold them up some. It also means that Jeremy and those punks are probably already on their way outta here. I don’t think we can be any help to Jeremy right now. While there’s a lull in the storm, I think we better be gittin’ outta here, too.”
“Hold your fire, men!” Harvey Trask said as he saw Matt Starr and Sarah Price ride out of the brush, a short ways up ahead between them and the Wildcats. “We don’t want to risk hitting the Price girl.”
“Here’s a good chance to dust that pesky marshal off,” Trask heard Peso Martin calling to him. His voice was just loud enough for the sheriff to hear it, but not loud enough for Matt Starr to hear.
“Can’t risk it,” Trask called back to him. “There’ll be a better time.”
“I hope you’re right,” Peso mumbled.
Matt Starr had let his horse drift slowly out of the brush and a little ahead of Sarah Price. He had wanted to make sure that lead had ceased flying before he let the girl ride out into harm’s way.
As the firing finally ceased, he rode carefully out into the trail. He was leading Sarah’s mount, holding the reins behind him with one hand. She held tight to the saddle horn with both hands.
Behind him, down the trail, Cyclone and the others were mounting up and riding away back the way they came.
“You fool!” Trask shouted, Standing up from behind his cover. “You’re in the way of our line of fire. That’s the Wildcat gang down there. They’re getting away!”
“I’m sorry about that, Sheriff,” Matt said. “But, since we’ve got Sarah safe, I thought it best you don’t risk anymore casualties.”
“How did you figure into this thing?” Trask asked He was already forgetting about the Carlins. “How did you get her back?’
“It’s a long story and I’ll explain it all to you later. The upshot of it all is I was taken prisoner and used to deliver the ransom. They’ve got it now and we’ve got Sarah.”
“Price ain’t gonna like this,” Trask blustered.
“What? He’s not going to like getting his daughter back? By the way, Sheriff. She’s alright.” To Sarah he said, “Aren’t you , Sarah.?”
“Yes, I am.” She added haughtily, “Thank you so very much for asking, Sheriff.” She swung her head to the right and stared at Peso Marin, who was standing there. There was anger in her eyes and Peso turned away.
Trask stammered a bit. “That’s not what I meant. Of course I’m glad you’re all right. It’s just that we was supposed to……..”
“Get the money back?” Matt finished for him. “I’m sure Mister Price,” he emphasized the ‘Mister’ “..will be more pleased to get his daughter back safe, than getting his money.” He knew that wasn’t exactly so. To a man like Simon Price, nothing was more important than money.
“Maybe so,” Trask agreed reluctantly, but he also knew better. Then he asked. “Do you know where those punks are? Maybe we can still get the money back.”
“I left them in the brush, a ways back, but they’re probably long gone by now.”
“They can’t be that far away. We can trail them.”
“It’s not that easy Sheriff,” Matt said.
Trask looked puzzled.
“You see they have Andrew Wharton as a hostage too.”
“Andrew Wharton!” Trask exclaimed. “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! How’d he get into this?”
“That’s part of the long story. But, the fact is they have him and they want an hour’s head start. If you catch up to them within the hour, they said they were going to kill him.”
“Well, I don’t give a rat’s hind end about Andrew Wharton,” Sheriff Trask said.
“He is Simon Price’s attorney.” Matt said matter of factly. “I not sure Mister Price would like that either.”
“Seems to me, you’re awfully sure of what Simon wants or don’t want,” Trask scoffed. “I’ve known the man a long time and I think he’s going to be awfully upset about losing that money and not catching those nasty kids; not to mention you letting the Wildcats slip through our fingers.”
“As far as the Wildcats are concerned, there’ll be another time. I’ve got a prisoner to get to Tucson right now, but when that’s all over, I’ll be back to track them down.”
“They’ll be long gone by that time,” Trask complained.
“If so, your problem will be solved. Seems to me they have some sort of vendetta against Simon Price. If they skip the country, it seems they‘ll be out of his hair.” Matt said. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think they’ll still be around for a while.”
“So you’re just going to ride off and let it go at that?” Trask chided.
“I do have to be back to town to catch the noon stage.”
“Well I’m going after those outlaws without you anyhow. I started off after them without your help. And, I can still do it.”
“That’s fine with me,” Matt said. “Just remember what I said about Andrew Wharton. As for me, I have to get Sarah back to her father and it seems to me you’ve got a number of wounded men who need to get back to town for medical attention. I can help them as much as I can if they are fit to ride, Those who can’t will need to wait here until someone can come for them.”
“Well, I can’t wait around here for them,” Trask grumbled. “They’ll have to make it on their own.” He turned and set out to find his horse. He motioned to the other men who were still ambulatory.
Five men including Peso Martin set off after him.
Chapter Twenty Six
Wildcat Kitty and the Cyclone Kid Page 27