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
V. Discoveries
Epilogue
Chapter 5
Discoveries
Teaspoon and the others arrived late in the afternoon at Litchfield. They rode into the town with an watchful eye on the surroundings. What they found did nothing to enhance their moods. Litchfield turned out to be a small town, typical of towns that had grown around settler's trails, but now when more of the west has been opened it had lost some of its income and now was living a halting life. If it hadn't been for large areas used for cattle, the town would have died completely.
"Why did you have the package delivered to this hole?" Jimmy looked critically around him.
"I didn't ask for anything to be delivered here. Some idiot at the head office made a mistake, that's it."
"What do we do first?" Kid wanted to know.
"Let's check the post office first. I want to know if they ever went in asking for the parcel."
They soon found the small office with the company's sign outside.
"You wait here, boys, and I'll go in and ask." Teaspoon dismounted and stepped into the small office. A clerk almost immediately appeared from the back-room and greeted him with a servile smile.
"How may I help you, sir?"
"I'm looking for a couple of my riders from the way station at Sweetwater. I sent them here to pick up a parcel..."
"You're here for the parcel! Well, it has finally arrived. Them two boys really seemed eager for it to arrive, and then when it did, they weren't here to pick it up..."
"Hold on. I'm not interested in the parcel. The boys were here?"
"Well, yes. The parcel was late, and they had to wait for it."
"Then what?"
"Then the parcel arrived, but the boys didn't. That's all I know."
"Do you know where they were staying?"
"There's only one hotel in town, sir, so I suppose they stayed there."
"Thank you." Teaspoon turned and left the office, ignoring the man's call:
"Sir, the parcel! You forgot the parcel!"
"They've been here," he said shortly to the others. "They had to wait for the parcel. Somehow they must have got in trouble then."
"That would be just like Cody, " Jimmy mumbled. "He's the only one I know than can get in trouble waiting."
"If they were here for a few days, they must have left their horses at the stable. Lou and Kid, you head off to the stable and see what the manager knows. Meet us back at the hotel later."
"Sure, Teaspoon." Kid and Lou turned their horses around and headed towards the stable that they had noticed on their ride into town.
"Let's find the hotel."
A few minutes later they tied their horses outside the hotel that looked as if had seen better days. As they entered there was no one there, but Teaspoon rang the bell on the desk and within a minute a man entered.
"Do you want rooms, sir?"
"I'm looking for a couple of Pony Express riders that were here a couple of days ago.." Before he had finished, the man interrupted:
"Sorry, sir. Will you please wait a minute," and disappeared behind the door again. Teaspoon turned and looked at the others, a bit confused. They looked back and shrugged. A sound behind him made him turn toward the desk again to find himself face to face with not only the clerk, but with a man who, judging from his appearance, was the manager.
"You're a friend of these riders, sir?" The man asked shortly.
"Well, yes, they work for me. What's the matter?"
"Oh, just a little mistake, I'm sure we can solve it." The man handed over a paper to Teaspoon.
"What this?"
"The bill. I'm afraid your young friends left without paying. Normally we take payment in advance, but my employer here, " he threw a glance at the clerk behind him, "failed to do so. Since they haven't returned, I'm sure you don't mind paying, sir?"
"Then they stayed here?"
"The bill, sir?"
Teaspoon realised that he wouldn't get any information until the bill had been settled, and with a sigh he reached for his wallet and paid. He threw an angry glance at Jimmy, who by this time did his best not to smile. The manager's manner changed immediately.
"Thank you sir. Now how can I help you?"
"Those boys, when did they leave?"
"I don't know. My clerk, Everett, might know." He turned to the man behind him." You better tell this man what he wants to know."
The clerk stepped up to the desk, while the manager returned to his office.
"They stayed here for two nights, sire. On the third evening they wished to have the room for one more night, but neither of them used it. They never came back."
"What exactly happened that evening?"
"Well, they both left, I think they said they where going to get something to eat. Then the half breed, eh, Indian..."
"Never mind, go on."
"Well, he came back. It was a bit late, I remember. He stayed here for some time, then he went out again. He left his things in the room. I got them here, sir, if you..."
"He left his things? What about the other?"
"He didn't come in at all that night, not that I know of anyway. In the morning he came back and asked for his friend. I told him I hadn't seen him since the evening before and then he went up to the room and got his things. Then he just rushed out of here, sir."
"And that was the last you saw of either of them?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did any of them say anything about where they were going or why?"
The clerk shook his head.
"No, sir, I'm sorry ."
Teaspoon turned and look at the others.
"This isn't helping us much. I think we better get ourselves some rooms. It looks like we'll have to spend the night here."
"That's fine with me," Jimmy said. "Don't you think Kid and Lou might have found something out at the stable?"
"Somehow I doubt it."
<Somebody ought to know something.> Ike objected. <Nobody just disappears without trace.>
"Let's hope you're right."
He turned to the clerk. "We'll be needing some rooms for the night."
"Yes, sir. You'll have to pay in advance, sir," he added quickly, eager not to make the same mistake again.
"What do we do now?" Jimmy wanted to know, when after the rooms had been arranged and Buck's saddle bags had been handed over. There were nothing in the bags that suggested why he had left, except that he must have left in a hurry.
"As soon as Lou and Kid get here, we'll start searching the town to see if anyone know what happened. Since Cody is wanted by the army, the must be somebody that knows why."
<Here they come> Ike pointed towards the street.
"Well?" Teaspoon asked the moment the two riders got in the door.
"The stable manager said that Buck's horse had been asked for two days ago, and that Cody had fetched his horse the following morning. That was all he knew."
"That doesn't make sense." Teaspoon scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Wait a moment. You said Buck's horse was asked for? Buck didn't get it himself?"
"That what was the man said."
"Who asked for the horse?"
"A man working at the saloon, apparently."
Teaspoon looked at the boys.
"Well boys, looks like the saloon is the next place to ask some questions. Since it's time for dinner, that wouldn't be such a bad idea."
Ike, who still was holding Buck's saddle bags, quickly signed, <I'm not very hungry.>
"Don't worry, son." Teaspoon placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find some explanation to where they are."
They left the hotel and strolled down the street towards the saloon. The town wasn't much of a town, even if there still was some activity in the few shops along the street.
When they arrived at the saloon, Kid noticed the poster.
"Look at this Teaspoon. This might not as be easy as we thought. There must have must been a lot of people here that evening."
"Poker game, eh? I hope that isn't what got them in trouble."
"Wouldn't be surprising if Cody was here." Jimmy mused, referring to Cody's well known curiosity.
"I don't think Cody could have convinced Buck to stay, though," Lou added.
"Well, we'll know more if there's somebody in here that saw any of them. Come on, boys."
They went into the saloon and realised that it was larger than they expected. There was quite a lot of people there, even without the attraction of a poker game.
"What do you think, Teaspoon? Shall we go around ask questions?"
"Let's wait, Jimmy. We'll have something to eat before we decide what we'll do."
"Well, Teaspoon, what do we do now?" Jimmy finished the last on his plate and looked at Teaspoon.
"We'll start asking questions. But very carefully, mind you. Remember that Cody is wanted by the army - we don't want more people looking for him. Kid, Lou, Ike, why don't you go over to the bar and see what you can find out. Jimmy, you and I are going to talk to that man over there." He nodded towards a man sitting alone at a table, laying the cards out for a game of Patience. "He's got the look of a gambler, and I'll bet he was here that night."
They nodded, and Kid, Lou and Ike rose. Jimmy was about to follow them when Teaspoon placed a restraining hand on his arm.
"Sit down, Jimmy. No need that all of us head off at the same time. Take it easy."
"I thought you wanted to know what have happened?"
"Have you ever been to one of 'em poker games, son?"
"Can't say I have."
"There's a lot of money involved, and a lot of money creates a lot of suspicion. Our best bet right now is to go easy."
"Can we go and ask him now?"
"Your attitude is going to get you in trouble one day, Jimmy, " Teaspoon sighed and reached for his hat. "But you're right. Let's talk to the man."
The man was sitting alone by table, idly playing a game of patience, now and then sipping a large whiskey. When Teaspoon and Jimmy approached he didn't even looked up.
"Hrm...,"Teaspoon started. The man threw him a glance.
"What do you want?"
"May we sit down?"
"Sure, why not."
They sat down, looking at each other. The man obviously had drunk more than one whiskey this evening. Not that it bothered them, it might even help them get some answers.
"Can I get you a drink?" The man looked a bit bemused at Teaspoon.
"One like this, then." Then he seemed to notice them and he looked at them with suspicion.
"What do you want, eh?"
"You were in the game the other day, am I right?"
"Sure."
"We're looking for some young friends of ours. They might have been here - a blond man and a half-blood. Have you seen them?"
The man pushed his hat back and scratched his head.
"If I have, what's that worth for you?"
"Wait a minute..." Jimmy started, but Teaspoon cut him short.
"I would say that depends on the information."
The man considered Teaspoon's words for a minute. "OK. I'll accept that. I saw one of 'em, the blond fellow."
"Then he was here?"
"Yeah."
Jimmy fidgeted, clearly showing his impatience with the man's answer. "What did he do?"
"Watched the game."
"That's all? That ain't worth anything." Teaspoon stated.
"So he maybe entered into one."
"He was in on a game?"
"That's what I said."
Teaspoon looked at Jimmy at this disturbing news. He had warned the boys of these games before, but of course Cody had the be the one to try it.
"Do you recall when he left?"
"Sure. Couldn't hold his liquor, they had to carry 'im out." The man placed a card in the piles on the table, ignorant to the effect his word had on the two listeners. Jimmy rose, not able to sit down any more and left the saloon. The others saw it, and followed him.
Teaspoon rose, and placed a bill before the man. Then he left without a word, wondering what on earth had happened with Cody. When he saw Cody again, the boy would have some serious explaining to do.
"What did you find out?" Kid asked Jimmy as they where outside.
"What do you know?" Jimmy bellowed, "while we're all worried sick about Cody, he's having a great time, gambling and drinking. If I get my hands on that..."
"What are you talking about, Jimmy?" Lou asked in an astonished voice.
"Cody. The man we talked with said he was in the game."
"Calm down, son." Teaspoon's voice interrupted Jimmy's outburst. "Let's not rush to conclusions here. I'm not sure the man was telling the whole story." He turned to Kid. "What did you find out?"
"Not much, Teaspoon. The bartender said he remembered that they ate there, but nothing more. He couldn't recall seeing them later."
"I think one of the saloon girls might know something", Lou added, "but she wouldn't answer my questions. Just said she hadn't seen any of 'em."
"But you think she might know something?"
"She kept looking over her shoulder as if she feared somebody would hear her talking."
"That might be our best bet, so far. Why don't you stay around here and see if you can't get her to talk. I'll go and see the sheriff, see if he has anything to say."
"We'll take a walk around town and see if we found anything," Kid said.
"All right. Just keep out of trouble."
Teaspoon had no trouble finding the sheriff's office, although it looked abandoned. He knocked on the door, but since there was no answer, he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Hello?" He looked around, noticing the empty shelves and the dirty cells. A man entered from the behind.
"What can I do for you?"
"You're the sheriff?"
"Yeah, Sheriff Proctor. Who are you?"
"I'm managing the way station at Sweetwater for the Pony Express. Name's Hunter."
"Well, then Mr. Hunter, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for two of my riders. They were last seen here."
The man scratched his neck. "Haven't seen any Pony Express riders here. You're sure that they didn't just leave?"
"To be frank, I don't know. Has there been any trouble here?"
"No, no more than usual, and only involving locals. Why? Any of them boys got into trouble?"
Teaspoon looked at the man. He certainly didn't look like a sheriff, but then there were all sorts of men wearing a badge. However, there was something about this man that made him uneasy. He didn't trust this man, and he been around long enough to trust these feelings.
"Nope," he said easily. "Guess they decided to take a few days off."
"Probably," the sheriff laughed. "them young fellows of today, can't trust 'em , right?"
"No. Thanks for your time."
"You'll be staying in town?"
"We're staying the night. Probably leaving tomorrow." Teaspoon didn't like telling the sheriff what he intended to do.
"Sounds like a good idea, Mr. Hunter. Nice to have met you." The sharper tone that had crept into the voice wasn't unnoticed by Teaspoon. The man had meant that as a threat. He nodded and left. The sun was setting and he decided it was time to meet the others and think about what they should do next. He couldn't understand this. So far he hadn't found any explanation to why Cody was wanted by the army. There were no clues to where Buck or Cody were.
When he came back to the saloon he found the other's waiting for him outside the store. By the look on their faces he could tell that they hadn't found anything new.
"Nothing, eh?"
Lou shook her head.
"No. She refused to say anything. But I'm sure she knows something, though."
"The store owner said he sold Cody a bottle of whiskey. That's all I found." Jimmy muttered.
<Nothing>. Ike stared down in the ground, kicking at the pebbles by his feet.
"Kid?" Have...what have you found?" Teaspoon saw that there was something on the boy's mind.
"I found Buck's horse. It standing in a corral behind the saloon. Nobody seems to know how it got there," he said hesitantly, realising what that could mean.
"Then Buck never left." Jimmy looked at Teaspoon.
"We don't know that. He might have used another horse. Kid, did the horse have any injuries, or anything?"
Ike turned and walked away. He didn't like the where this was heading. Jimmy was right, if Buck's horse was here, that meant that he hadn't left town. And if he still was here, then they should have found him ,unless...He didn't think any further. He didn't want to think any further. If anything had happened to Buck...
A faint scream made him look up, forgetting the distressful thoughts for a minute. It had come from the alley behind the store and when he glanced over there he noticed a man threatened a girl - the girl Lou said held some information!
He looked over to where the others were standing. They were still talking, except for Jimmy who had seated himself on the edge of the porch looking idly out over the street. He quickly moved over to Jimmy and grabbed his arm.
"What? What is it, Ike?"
Ike insisted that he should follow and finally he did. Ike headed towards the alley with Jimmy right behind him, still complaining. Then he saw what Ike had seen, and he darted forward.
"I didn't' say anything, Tom! I swear I didn't!"
"Then why did they come back, eh? What if I don't believe you, Belle?"
"You better leave her alone." Jimmy said harshly.
"You keep out of this boy", Tom sneered. "It's none of your business."
"When a man beats up a girl, I tend to make it my business." Jimmy pushed back his coat showing his gun, and the man hesitated.
The girl had sank down on was now sitting on the ground, sobbing and hiding her face.
"You all right, miss? Jimmy asked without taking his eyes of the man.
She nodded, between the sobs and tried to rise.
"Help her, Ike" Jimmy still watched the man, his hand close to his gun. Ike went over to the girl and helped her up.
"You'd better come with us, miss."
"No, I must go... I," She looked nervously on Tom who threw her an angry glance. She tried to leave but Ike hold on to her.
"There's nothing to fear, "Jimmy assured her. "We'll see to it that he can't hurt you."
She shook her head, and tried to get away when Ike suddenly let go of his grip and she ran out of the alley.
"What'd you do that for, Ike?" Jimmy asked angrily. "She might have known something.." He silenced when he saw the pale face of his friend and noticed that Ike now held his gun in his hand.
"Ike?" he asked again, not recognising his friend. If he hadn't known better he would swear that Ike was about to shoot the man in cold blood.
Teaspoon stopped talking and looked around.
"Where's Jimmy and Ike?"
"They went over there a minute ago," Lou said.
"What do they think they are playing at? We ain't got time for this." Teaspoon started to walk towards the spot where Jimmy and Ike had disappeared, followed by Lou and Kid.
"Ike?" Jimmy felt uncomfortable. It should be the other way around. Normally it was the others that had to stop him from pulling the trigger. "What's wrong?"
The man had also had discovered the threat and was yelling at Jimmy. "He's crazy! For God's sake, he's gonna kill me!"
"Keep whining and I'll say you deserve it", Jimmy growled at him, and then continued:
"Take it easy, Ike. No need to kill him for beating up that girl - we'll just hand him over to the sheriff, and he'll deal with it."
Ike shook his head and pointed to the man's gun belt. There, on the man's belt a knife in its sheath was attached. The sight of the knife caused him to go cold with horror. He would have recognised it anywhere. It was Buck's.
He looked at Ike, realising what his friend was going through. The same thoughts crossed his mind. Buck would never have given up his knife. Something serious had happened to him.
Sheer anger took hold of Jimmy. He grabbed the man by his coat and violently slammed him into the wall behind them. The man struggled to get free, but only got another hard push into the wall. The sound of a gun being cocked made him turn. Seeing the muzzle of a gun pointed straight at his head, he stopped squirming. Ike's gun was aimed with a steady hand at the man's temple.
"Hey! Boys! I was just having some fun! I didn't mean to hurt her! Let go, OK?"
"You filthy.." Jimmy muttered through his teeth, prepared to slam the man again against the wall, when he was interrupted.
"What's going on here?" The sound of Teaspoon relieved some of the tension. Behind him Lou and Kid watched the scene with their guns in their hands.
"Ike, put down that gun, son", Teaspoon said calmly. Something had upset the boy badly, although he didn't know what. Ike hesitated for a moment, but then he lowered the gun. He kept it in his hand though.
"What happened here, Jimmy?" Teaspoon continued in the same voice. He didn't know why the boys were upset, but he was determined to find out.
"He has Buck's knife," Jimmy muttered through his teeth, still holding Tom in a firm grip.
Teaspoon felt a chill up his spine. A quick breath from behind told him that Lou and Kid had heard Jimmy's word.
"Take it easy, boys, " he mumbled as he approached Tom. He grabbed the man by his shoulder and spun him round, forcing Jimmy to let go off one of his hands. The other remained in a firm grip around Tom's coat. Keeping an eye on Tom, Teaspoon removed the man's gun from its holster and handed it over to Kid. He saw the knife in its sheath, and simply tore it from the man's belt. It was Buck's knife all right.
"Let go, Jimmy."
Jimmy let his grip go and Tom staggered backwards until he leaned towards the wall. Jimmy stepped back, waiting for Teaspoon to do something.
"Where did you get this?" Teaspoon looked at Tom, who now seemed to have regained some of his composure.
"Bought it." The man almost spat the words out.
"He's lying, Teaspoon. When Ike and I caught him he was beating up that girl Lou talked to."
"She stole something from me. You have no right to threaten me. Besides, it's just a damn Indian knife - if you really want it, then you can keep it!" Tom grinned at Teaspoon, showing a toothless mouth. "I don't think you know who you're messing with here," he added as a threat.
"Sure we do, a liar not worth spending bullets on, " Jimmy sneered.
"I ain't gonna ask you one more time - where did you get the knife?" Teaspoon's voice was cold as ice.
Tom licked his lips nervously. "Told you I bought it."
"That knife belongs to a friend of ours" Kid stepped forward.
"Yeah, and I want to know what happened to him," Jimmy joined Kid.
Teaspoon hesitated. He was sure the man was a liar but the story he told was a plausible one at that. They couldn't do anything without risking getting in trouble with the law. If he'd been on his own, he might not have considered the law at this moment, but he had to uphold some sort of standard in front of the boys, no matter how much he wanted to beat the truth out of the man. "Hold on, boys," he said, trying to defuse the situation, when a shout was heard from the other end of the alley.
"What are ye doin' in my alley, you? This 'ere is mine alley, do you hear, Esaias' alley it is!
The drunkard started to move forward, when the man saw his chance. The appearance of the drunkard made Ike turn and Tom tore himself from Teaspoon's hold and threw himself at the boy, knocking them both to the ground. In the fall Ike lost his gun and it dropped to the ground. Tom reached for it and managed to get hold of it at the same time as Jimmy's gun left its holster.
Two shots echoed in the alley.
