I had just come from sending a telegram to Felix Wilcox, the U.S. Marshal for the New Mexico/Arizona Territory. I wanted him to know about the robbery and that the outlaws were headed for New Mexico. Since they had quite an abundance of money I would expect them to head for one of the larger towns so they could spend some of it. When they came to town I went through the wanted posters and didn’t find one that matched any of them…but I knew their faces.
Walking in the diner I went to the stove for a last cup of coffee. The snow was falling and it was going to be cold on the trail. I hoped it didn’t snow too much to wipe out their trail. Five riders wouldn’t be too hard to track. Molly was standing outside the kitchen, and put her arms on my chest so I wouldn’t go in. I hadn’t planned on it, but I could hear Marta and Charlie arguing.
“You don’t have to go!” she almost screamed. “It is out of your jurisdiction!”
“Not until they go into New Mexico, but that doesn’t make a difference. They robbed a bank here in Durango. Durango, our home. They desecrated our home and the lives of our friends, I have to go. Don’t you see?”
“No!” she spat. “I don’t see.”
I could hear the exasperation in Charlie’s voice. “Marta, I don’t want to leave with us arguing.”
“What is it that you want then Sheriff? A kiss like Molly and Miles. Bah…” she turned away from him sobbing. “Leave, go your way.”
Molly and I hurried from the door, we didn’t want them to think we were eavesdropping. We just happened to be standing there and overheard their discussion.
I poured another cup standing next to Molly. She had a burlap bag with some sandwiches in it for us. I picked it up and we waited for Lucas to bring the horses by. It would take him a few minutes. Charlie kept his gear at the livery while mine was up at the cabin. Lucas would make sure we had everything we needed for the trip.
An hour after the robbery we were ready to mount and hit the trail. Molly gave me a hug and a kiss and I could feel the eyes of Charlie on us. “Be careful, Miles. Go with God,” encouraged Molly as we stepped out into the cold.
Neither of us said anything as we headed on the road that headed south of town. Darkness was moving in early because of the snow. The days were shorter anyhow and I hoped to make it as far as the ruins. I was getting to know them fairly well, it would be my third time through them in the past year or so.
When we came upon the ridge that would lead us down to the I raised my hand for us to stop. “Do you see anything?” I asked as dusk was upon us.
Charlie leaned out over the head of his horse, as if that would allow him to see things more clearly then shook his head.
“I thought I saw some light. Keep watch. This would be a good place for them to hold up, especially if one of them is wounded,” I said then gave Hawk a nudge.
Navajo had used these adobes, but I heard stories that they were here even before the Navajo. It would have been a substantial community, but now all that was left were walls and broken pottery laying here and there. There was no water that I knew of so we had a dry camp watering the horses out of our canteens. Tomorrow we would find water so I went ahead and got the coffee ready while Charlie was putting together a fire. He kept it small, just large enough for the coffeepot. I didn’t think it would hurt to have it a bit larger as it was going to get cold during the night, but I could understand his caution, especially if the men we were chasing were somewhere in the ruins.
We sat close to the fire, sipping the hot coffee. Our collars were turned up on our coats to keep the cold breeze from going down our necks. Charlie hadn’t said a word, except maybe a grunt or two. I knew where his mind was.
“It’s goin’ to be cold tonight,” I muttered trying to get conversation started.
All I received was a grunt. “Miles, how did you get Molly to accept your job?” he blurted out of the blue. “I suppose you heard Marta in the kitchen. I don’t know what to do.”
“Pray about it,” I said calmly. “If you can talk without fighting, tell her your feelin’s.”
Charlie threw the remains of his coffee up against a wall. “That’s part of the problem. She doesn’t want to talk about it. If I bring it up, she yells, or walks off in a huff.”
I pulled the pot off the fire, stirred it up some and placed a branch on it. The wood caught quickly and flamed up. I wasn’t going to add any more and that wouldn’t last. It would give us enough light that we could get inside our bedrolls.
The snow had stopped and for that I was thankful, but that meant that the temperature most likely would drop. When morning came it would be cold. I made sure that there was plenty of wood for the fire in the morning.
Laying on my back I looked up in the cloud covered sky. “Lord, be helping Charlie and Marta,” I muttered. “They’re good friends and I don’t know how to help.”