It took me a while to round up Star. The horses were grazing at the far end of the pasture and I couldn’t get his attention. Either that or he was ignoring me while enjoying his lunch. However, whenever he lifted his head and I waved he came a-running as did Hawk and Two-Bits. My, how Star loved to run.
I went ahead and got my bedroll and other gear. Since it was later in the day I figured I might have to spend the night out. I didn’t think the miscreant could have made it too far, bleeding as he was, but I didn’t want to go out unprepared.
We went on down to the diner as soon as I had him saddled and my gear stowed. I wanted to let Molly know the situation. After loosely tying Star to the hitching post I went and and if I had been wearing false teeth they surely would have fallen out. There was Lucas, sitting over at my table eating chocolate pie. Both Marta and Molly were sitting there with him.
“What in the world!” I declared. Lucas, what are you doin’ here?”
“What does it look like?” snapped Marta.
I felt my jaws go tight. “You need to get back and repair that door frame and wash the blood off the floor.”
“Senor Miles, Lucas is hurt, plus the fact is, he don’t work for you!” she fumed.
I glared at him, then turned my attention to Marta. “If’n he did I’d fire him on the spot right now, poor nino.”
Lucas’ ears reddened when I called him a “baby.” I had been referring to him as a man, and rightly he was, but Marta was treating him like a little boy. Here he had been in a gunfight, helped recover rustled horses, and shot someone trying to kill him, and she is coddling him like a baby.
“Leave him alone, Senor Miles. He will no longer work for you.”
I smiled, and that made her fume even more. “Thought you just said he didn’t work for me.” My attention went back to Lucas. “Your decision,” was all I said.
Molly sat there, not saying a word, for which I was thankful. I looked at her. “I’m packed. I don’t plan to be gone long, but gettin’ this late start it’ll probably be tomorrow sometime before I get back.”
She got up without saying a word and went to the kitchen. I knew she was fixing me food to take along. It was only a couple of minutes, but with the hostility of Marta and now Lucas sitting there with his head down it seemed like a half hour before she returned.
I should have left well enough alone, but I blurted out, “Marta, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you’ve been sour the last couple of weeks.” With that she started crying. Molly motioned with her head that I should leave while she put her arms around the weeping Marta. Lucas sat there–dumbfounded.
Soon Star and I were on the road and I had him at a fast gait, but after we went over the hill into New Mexico I slowed him down. I needed to find a trail to follow. I could see horse tracks that had recently come out of Durango and reckoned they belonged to the horse I was following. We were coming up to the ruins where I had a run in with some malo muchachos. I looked closely thinking he might have pulled off into the ruins.
I rode around both sides of the road a while then spotted tracks and a host of blood on a large sage. The horse he was riding was moving slowly; the man must have been in bad shape. He would surely know that someone would be following him. I pulled Star to a stop and dismounted, walking over to the edge of a ridge I stooped low to look not wanting to silhouette myself against the skyline. There were rocks on both sides of the trail I had to travel–a good place for an ambush.
Going back to Star, I mounted and slowly headed him down the trail that led off the ridge. Half-way down I saw blood brushed alongside a rock. Then a few yards further I saw plenty of blood on the ground. He either fell from his horse or dismounted. I looked up toward where the sun should be noticing that it was below the ridge. Soon it would be graylight. I needed to find him now.
Several yards further down on the trail I came upon his horse grazing at a small tuft of grass. As I dismounted…