Disclaimer: This story is the copyright of nesciri and are published for others to read. Any abuse or infringement of the author's rights will be goverened by Swedish law. The characters have been borrowed from the TV-drama "The Young Riders" . This has not been done in order to violate the copyright of the authors of that show, however, if an infringement has been done, please notifyand this page will be removed. Any drawings are the copyright of nesciri and may not be used without the written permission of
III. Out of the pan...
Epilogue
Chapter 3
Out of the
Pan....
When Buck was taken out of town, he was unconscious. The blow was not serious, and when the men where only a few miles from town he began to recover. At first he just laid still trying to figure out where he was. With some relief, he realised that although they had taken his gun from him, the men had forgotten his knife. Since the blanket prevented him from seeing anything, he stayed where he was. If he tried to make a run for it now, they would easily catch him with their horses. It was better to wait he decided, and biding his time, he tried to listen to the sounds around him, hoping to get a clue to what this was all about.
Finally the wagon came to a halt and he prepared himself for a fight. He felt a hand reach for his foot, and swiftly kicking with the other leg he managed to get himself free. He reached for the knife and jumped down on the ground. As he had suspected, all of the men had dismounted and he had taken them by surprise. Keeping an eye on the men he looked around for the horses which was tied to some trees up a nearby slope.If he only could get over to the horses it would be okay.
But there was no time for that. The men had regained their composure and were coming at him. Buck dropped to the ground and rolled just to get up close to the man on the left. He jerked to his feet, slammed his right fist against the man's jaw, knocking him over backwards and headed for the horses. A shot rang out behind him and the bullet brought up some dust close by his feet. He thought he heard somebody call stop.
Suddenly another man on horseback appeared in front of him. One man must have been out checking the area. He tried to evade the man but only succeeded in slipping on some loose stones and he fell to the ground. As quickly as he got to his feet, the other was quicker, and he went over backwards with a gloved hand searching for his throat. His left hand, still holding the knife, was caught in the firm grip of the other man. Struggling, he managed to get his hand free and slashed the knife up towards his opponent's chest. He managed to grasp the other man's upper arm.Letting out a yell, the man's hand pressing Buck down by the throat let go of its grip. Buck managed to get one knee under the man and tried to fling him off, but only succeeded in causing them both to roll down the slope towards the rest of the men.
They came to a stop a few feet from the men with Buck underneath. He saw an arm raised to strike. The butt end of a revolver showed for an instant against the sky, and he clutched at it desperately. His opponent sought to free his arm, but just as furiously Buck held on to it. His opponent had again managed to get a hold on the left hand with the knife, and the man, who was heavier than Buck, had the advantage for the minute. Then came the end when his assailant shouted,"Get over here and help me, you idiots!!"
Two pairs of arms grabbed Buck's arms and jerked him away from his opponent and onto his feet. Buck tried to fight but the men held him firmly. One of them twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the knife. The man he had slashed got to his feet and faced the young Indian, his left hand tenderly holding his injured arm.
"You cut me! You'll pay for that, damn half-breed!" Buck stared straight back at the man and the calm defiance in his eyes made the man lose his temper completely.The fist struck Buck in the face. However, Buck had seen the blow coming and managed to twist his body even so slightly that most of the force behind the blow missed him. Buck slowly turned his head and faced the man without saying a word, which enraged the man further. He kept on with his brutal assault. When the man finally backed off from exhaustion, Buck was sagging in the other men's arms.
"Drop him." Buck collapsed on the ground.
"What do we do now, Tom? Shall we leave him here?" The question was asked with some caution. The men had learned to fear the leader's rage and none of them liked the idea of him turning his anger towards them.
Tom looked at the others, scratching his chin.
"Well, Mr. Dodgson said to get rid of him and make it look like an accident... " He raised his head and looked around. To the right of them there was a gorge with steep bushy sides. A body could lie there for a long time without being discovered. "We'll drop him down there," he said, pointing.
"Shouldn't we kill 'im first?"
"No need. The coyotes will take care of that. What are you waiting for?" Two of the men grabbed Buck by the arm and started to drag him towards the steep drop when Tom told them to stop. He approached the barely unconscious Indian, and reached down and tore the knife sheath from Buck's boot.
"He owes me this - where's the knife?" he mumbled. One of the men pointed over to the wagon, where the knife was visible in the grass. Tom went over and picked it up.
"I always wanted me a genuine Indian knife", he smirked at his companions. "Let's drop him and get back. I'm longing for a drink."
Somewhere Buck was conscious of being dragged and the voices around him seem to come from far away. When he realised they intended to throw him down the steep slope, he struggled to get his aching muscles to react, but before he was ready he was rolling down the slope at a high speed. He had enough presence of mind to realise that he must slow down his descent or he would hurt himself badly. His hands groped for something that could end the rolling but all he managed to do was tearing up his fingers. Suddenly, in his effort to stop the dangerous fall, his elbow struck a rock. The sharp pain made him wince but at the same time his other hand found a secure hold in a bush and he stopped on a small rock protruding from the slope. Dog-tired and content that he had stopped the descent he lost consciousness completely. The sound from the departing horses and the men faded away. The moon was hidden by clouds and soon a silent rain began to fall. A lizard left his hiding placeto drink from the fresh water. Nothing moved.
Cody walked hastily towards the saloon, his head filled with confusion. Why had Buck left town? Suddenly a thought struck him. Perhaps Buck was doing exactly the same thing as he was doing now - looking for him. When he hadn't returned to their room Buck was bound to have been worried. Slowing his pace he was pondering this new development, when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Well, if it ain't the young hot shot from the game! Hey, son, you wouldn't have any booze on you to help an old man out, eh?" The old gold-digger peered expectantly at him while his mouth formed a crooked smile. Cody turned and approached the old drunkard.
"You saw me at the saloon yesterday? Did you see my friend? An Indian?"
"Do you have anything to drink, son?"
"If you can remember seeing him, there might be a few dollars in it for you," Cody said backing away a bit. The old man hadn't seen a bath for a very long time, judging by the smell.
"Hard to remember these days. It ain't easy for old Esaias, you know. Maybe mymemory can come back with a drink, eh?"
Cody looked at the old man and shook his head. He wouldn't get any answers from this man. He turned and started to walk on again.
"You shouldn't deny an old man some happiness, son! I saw you - drunk as a dog, you were..."The old man started muttering to himself..."Esaias ain't telling what they did to the Indian, no siree. The young man wants to keep the nice drinks to himself..."
Cody turned around and ignoring the smell he went over to the man and shook him by the shoulders.
"You saw him? Who did what to him? Damn it, old man, answer me!"
"Will you buy old Esaias a drink then?" The peering eyes of the old man twinkled at the thought of a drink.
"I'll buy you a drink. Come on, let's go to the saloon..."
"Noo, I won't go there. Esaias will go anywhere for a drink, but not there. Bad men in there, there is."
"What do you mean "bad men"?
"They won't let Esaias drink there. They put things in drinks, make people crazy. Esaias knows, but nobody believes him." The old man muttered. "Bad men, you bet..."
Cody straightened up. What did the old man mean by 'putting things in the drinks?' He looked at the man who had sunk down next to the wall and sighed.
"Stay here, I'll get you your drink." He walked over to the store and bought a small bottle of whiskey, trying to ignore the condemning eyes of the proprietor and returned to Esaias. The old man's face lit up when he saw the bottle.
"Esaias knew you were a good boy," he smiled and reached for the bottle. Cody moved it out of the old man's reach.
"First things first. What did you see?"
"I was here all night, here in this alley, you see..."
"If you where here all night, how come you recognised me?"
"Maybe I wasn't here all night, then." The old man frowned. "Now I remember," he said with a grin, "I tried to get a drink at the bar. 'Twas there a long time. Saw you and that Indian, that I did." The old man swayed with his head and became silent.
"Go on" Cody urged him.
"I need a drink, son."
"Finish your story first."
"Saw Mr. Dodgson bring you a drink. One of them with that stuff in 'em. Then you got drunk very quickly. Him, Dodgson, he knew I saw so he threw me out. Yes, that's the way it was, I swear to it. Now, give me a drink!"
Cody was struck dumb. What was the old man babbling about? What stuff? Then a sudden memory of a certain taste in his sarsaparilla, and he realised that he'd been tricked. Angry he clenched his fist. No wonder he didn't remember anything from yesterday. He looked at the old man again, and carefully moved the bottle out of the man's reach.
"Not yet. What about the Indian?"
"That big fellow, the one who watches the saloon for Dodgson, oh, I can't remember his name now. Being old that I am...His name, his name..."
"I don't care about his name. What did he do?"
"He came out through the back door with your Indian friend. Threw him out way, yeah, that's what he did."
"Where were you when this happened?"
"Close by, too close. I don't want to get involved, you see. Only trouble to get involved..."
"Go on, Esaias, I want to know what happened."
"Then more men came. He didn't have a chance. Knocked'im down, they did. Took him with 'em too. Can Esaias have that bottle now?"
Cody looked at the man. It wasn't likely that the man made this up. He couldn't hardly think for himself, let alone make something up.
"Where'd they take him?"
"So many questions. Don't know, Esaias don't want to know. Trouble that is."
"Where did they take him?"
"Headed west, they did. That's all Esaias knows. That drink now, son?"
"Help yourself, Esaias. Don't drink it all now." Cody handed the bottle over to the man and rose. He didn't know what all this was about, but Dodgson was in the middle of it. However, if he decided to accept the ride Dodgson wanted him to do, he would be headed west, the same direction in which they had taken Buck. With a little luck, he might be able to find him without rising any suspicions. He walked back to the saloon.
"You're late." Dodgson looked sharply at him.
"There were a few things I had to do," Cody said simply. "Where's the parcel?"
"Eager to go ,eh? I like that."
"Just give me the parcel." Cody really was eager to go. The sooner he could be off, the better chance he had of finding Buck. Mr.Dodgson shrugged and opened a drawer on the desk and picked up a small parcel.
"It is very important that you get this as soon as possible to Cedar Creek. And under no circumstances can you open it. Is that clear?"
"Sure." Cody accepted the parcel and rose.
"When you get back, I'll see to it that you get your reward." Cody nodded and went out of the room. He went straight back to the stable and with the parcel safely placed in one of the saddlebags he headed west. He only hoped that he wouldn't be too late.
"I bet they're having a great time." Jimmy sat down at the table and looked at Teaspoon.
"What are you complaining about, son?"
"We haven't heard from them in three days. My guess is that they're doin' nothing while we're here doing not only our job, but theirs too."
Kid looked up at Teaspoon.
"Jimmy's right. They should have been back here by now. What was it that was so important for them to get anyway?"
"I'm sure there's a natural explanation why they're not here yet. Regarding the parcel, well, you'll see what it is when they get back." Teaspoon leaned back in his chair and reached for the coffee. "Besides, there hasn't been much to do here either, so I can't understand what you're complaining about."
The conversation was interrupted when the door opened and the Marshal walked in.
"Sam," Emma said with a smile, "you're just in time for breakfast."
"Thanks, Emma, but I've already eaten. I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee, though" he added.
"What brings you out here, Sam?"
Sam sat downand looked across the table at Teaspoon.
"Where's Cody, Teaspoon?"
"He's on an errand to Litchfield. Why do you wanna know?"
"What the hell does he think he playing at?"
"What are you talking about?"
"This." Sam took up a paper from his pocket. "This was given to me this morning by an army messenger on his way to Blue Creek. It's an wanted poster from the army with Cody's name on it." Teaspoon put down his coffee mug and reached for the paper. He unfolded it and read out loud.
"Wanted for unlawful interference with State Affairs. US Army is looking for information that will lead to the capture of William F Cody." Teaspoon looked up.
"What's this?"
"That's what I asked you."
"Well, I've never seen so much rubbish in my life. Cody wouldn't interfere in State affairs, whatever that could mean."
"That's what the army thinks. Teaspoon. And you know how the army treats matter of interference. I'd say Cody's in deep trouble, whether that is true or not."
"Cody wouldn't do anything like that", Kid argued, "there must be some mistake."
A sharp bang on the table made them turn and face Ike.
<What about Buck?>
"He wants to know about Buck." Kid looked at Sam.
"Buck was with Cody?"
Teaspoon nodded.
"I suppose the messenger didn't say anything about him, eh?"
"Nope, not a word. Somebody should go over there and find out what's going on. I would go myself, but with the bank shipment coming in..."
"That's OK, Sam. I'll go. I really would like to know what Cody has managed to get involved in this time." Teaspoon looked at the others.
"We should all go, Teaspoon." Jimmy looked. "If something has happened it's better with many than just one."
"That's what you think, eh?"
"That's what all of us think." Jimmy looked at the others for support.
"Jimmy's right. We should all go", Kid added.
"Don't forget we got a job to do here."
"I think that with some help from Ben and Mike, the station could manage for a few days." Emma smiled at the boys. She knew they were worried. Because of the trouble arising, the army had a tendency to shoot first and ask later, especially concerning instigators.
"You're sure, Emma?" Teaspoon frowned at her.
"Yes. You go, I'll manage here."
"Then we better be off. Boys, get the horses ready. We're going to Litchfield."
"You better watch yourself, Teaspoon. Last I heard the marshal there had some trouble with a gang cheating at cards." Sam warned Teaspoon.
"We'll be careful. Emma?"
"I'll fix some food for you to take with you, Teaspoon. Just get the boys safely back. All of them."
