Welcome, folks, to the sequel of my previous fanfiction Rebel Yell! I originally published this story last year and made it up to five chapters, but I didn't like the direction the story was going so I decided to delete it and start again from scratch. Many of the details of the first couple chapters remain the same, but some major changes have been made to fit the plot line I'm shooting for. Without further delay, here's the new and improved fanfiction. The Chase is on!

Jack Marston hid in the tall grass behind a large boulder, looking for his adversary. He was short of breath and adrenaline surged through his body. With his rifle in hand, Jack bobbed out of cover for a second. Nothing. He bobbed back behind the rock and listened carefully for footsteps. Sure enough, several seconds later he heard the slow and heavy footsteps of the threat facing him. He was less than ten feet away now. If Jack didn't act soon, he would probably be killed.

Jack made sure his rifle was loaded and left cover one last time to face his opponent. His sheer size startled Jack and he fell backward. The rifle left his hands as he fell and he scooted backward as quickly as he could. It wasn't fast enough.

Just before his adversary could finish him off, two shots rang out in the distance. The large grizzly bear that Jack and Cole had been hunting collapsed mere inches from Jack's boots. Cole quickly rode up to the scene on horseback and dismounted. He discharged one more shot to make sure the bear was dead and helped Jack to his feet.

"Jack, come on," Cole said. "You can do better than that."

Jack removed his knife from his belt. "Give me a little credit. The bear caught me off guard."

Only a day had passed since Cole Ricketts had paid Jack's bail and they left Blackwater together. They had decided to start their new lives as bounty hunters in Manzanita. The two bounty hunters hadn't had a job yet, but it had only been a day, so they hunted to pass the time. It helped them maintain their shooting skills and they could use the extra money from selling pelts to fund their business.

"You can fight the Mexican Army with no problem, but a bear brings you to your knees? Or in this case your ass?" Cole laughed. "Sorry, Jack, I just don't understand."

Jack started skinning the bear as Cole mounted his horse again. "What happened to your horse, Jack?"

Jack paused briefly and looked up from the bear. "Got spooked. Don't know where it went. The old nag will probably be back soon enough though."

"Even if he never came back, we could buy you two horses with the money we're bound to make on this behemoth of a bear," Cole said.

"He is a big one, ain't he?"

"I don't think I've ever seen one this big."

Jack snickered. "That don't sound right."

Cole shook his head and chuckled. "You kids and your perverted minds. Well, we're going to need a wagon for this one. Manzanita's only a half mile up the road. You keep skinning that thing and I'll be right back."

Jack continued to work on skinning the bear as Cole rode in the direction of Manzanita. While working, he reflected on everything that had happened to him in life and the progress that he had made as a person. He would never stop regretting killing the lawmen at his ranch, but he had found peace. He was now on the side of the law, so he would respect his fellow lawmen from this point forward.

Thirty minutes later, Cole returned with the wagon. He knelt down next to Jack and the two of them spent the next two hours skinning and cutting up the bear. A slight breeze blew through the trees. Some of them were starting to show the earliest signs of autumn, though there were still several weeks remaining of summer. The breeze kept Jack and Cole cool as they worked. Once the pelt had been removed, Jack hung it from a tree to completely drain it of blood.

Jack and Cole talked about their plans for the future while they were waiting for the pelt to dry. "So what are we going to do after this, exactly?" Jack asked. "I've never done nothin' like this."

Cole sat on a nearby rock and wiped a few beads of sweat off his neck with a handkerchief. "First we need bounties. There are more bounties here in Tall Trees than there are in Blackwater. That's why we left."

"It's a shame that the bounty you told me about yesterday was already captured."

"I know. But Manzanita's a small town with very limited resources and it could use a couple bounty hunters like us to keep it safe. Especially with the prospectors that are now out on Nekoti Mountain lookin' for silver."

"How exactly do we start the business side of it? Wouldn't we need some sort of building?"

"We have one. The cabin I bought here has two levels. We could move the beds to the upper level and do our business in the lower level."

"And what are we gonna call this business?"

Cole shook his head and smiled. "As soon as we start getting some business coming in, we can think of a name."

After several minutes of silence, Cole took down the bear pelt, shook it, folded it neatly, and placed it in the front of the wagon. Jack's palomino had returned by then and Cole towed it along on horseback as Jack drove the wagon the half mile back to Manzanita. Storm clouds were beginning to roll in as their wagon rolled into town. The sheer size of the bear impressed Manzanita's residents as well, who stopped and stared at the largest bear pelt they had ever seen.

Jack stopped the wagon in front of the trading post. He entered the shop and the shopkeeper went wide eyed at the sight of the pelt he was carrying.

"Damn! That's one of the biggest pelts I ever seen!" he exclaimed. "How did youmanage to find that sucker?"

Jack set it neatly on the counter. "We shot him just a half mile outside of town. How much can I get for the pelt?"

"Well I can give you a good sum for that pelt. Hell, I could probably have my carpenter make three or four rugs from that thing! How does $50 sound?"

"I think that's mighty generous of you, mister," Jack said. The man withdrew the cash and quickly paid Jack. He then took the pelt and placed it behind the counter.

"You got anything else?" the merchant asked.

"Not today," Jack said. We'll be back though."

"You're always welcome back. Thank you for your business!" The merchant waved as Jack exited the building and met Cole near the entrance.

Jack showed Cole the money. "A pretty good haul for one bear pelt," Cole said. "That'll go a long way to help us with our business."

The distant sound of a horse galloping caught Jack and Cole's attention. It was rapid paced, which was uncommon on the dangerous, winding mountain roads through the area. The pair watched as the horse and rider quickly came into view through the trees. Jack could eventually tell that the rider was none other than Archer Fordham. But Fordham was still in prison, wasn't he? What was he doing here?

This was the question Jack asked when Fordham stopped a few feet from him. "Fordham? How did you get out of prison?" Jack asked, completely surprised. Fordham appeared disheveled as he glared at Jack and drew his pistol. Even more surprised now, Jack and Cole drew their pistols and aimed them at Fordham.

"Put the gun away," Jack said as calmly as possible.

"I can't do that," Fordham said. "They asked me to kill you."

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. I can't tell you anything."

"So you're just gonna kill me."

"That's the plan, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Cole asked. "Do you not want to kill us? What the hell is going on here, Archer?"

"They're going to kill me if I don't kill you, Jack."

"Who are 'they'?" Jack asked again.

"It's two on one, Archer," Cole said threateningly. "And you know we won't miss. Why don't you tell us what's really going on here?"

Fordham sighed and put his pistol away. "It's Nathan Covington," he said quietly.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"Covington thinks you killed Walter Morris, Jack. He doesn't want to go through another lengthy trial process. He just wants to kill you."

"He can't do that," Cole said. "Due process..."

"He doesn't care," Fordham interrupted.

"He's the piece of shit that tried to lay hands on my mother," Jack said. "She beat the hell out of him."

"So he sent you to do his dirty work?" Cole asked skeptically. "You were in prison. Unless..." COle began pacing. "Unless it's a conspiracy."

"Come again?" Fordham asked.

"Yes, this makes perfect sense. That's the only way to explain why they let you go. They're using you as a way to get to Jack. Probably not going to let you stay free."

"They know you, Jack," Fordham said solemnly. "They'll probably bring heavy man power and heavy fire power. You need to run. You need to get away."

"But what about you?" Cole asked. "We can't just leave you behind. If they're using you, then Covington probably made up some story like Jack broke you out of prison. They'll be chasing you too."

"I'll stay behind and hold them off for a bit. They can't be much farther behind me. They've probably been tracking me."

"I'm not going to let you be a martyr at our expense," Cole said. "This isn't some dime western novel. If they're coming soon, we don't have time to run. We have to stand and fight."

"No," Jack said. "We can't fight."

Cole looked surprised. "I thought you of all people would be with me on this."

Jack sighed. "If we fight, we probably ain't gonna live. And even if we do, they won't stop comin' after us. It will never end. We'll all be fugitives, real fugitives."

"But we already are in their eyes. What else can we do?"

"Look, we don't have much time to debate this," Fordham said. "I think the safest option is to run."

The thunderous sound of multiple horse hooves filled the air. Cole looked through the tree cover and gasped. "It's them! Saddle up fast, boys! We're goin' on the run!" The three of them quickly mounted up and took off as horse and rider shapes began materializing from the tree cover. Rain began to fall as the intense chase began.

"You know, I've been a part of many posses in my day," Cole yelled. "Never thought I'd be running from one."

"I agree," Fordham said.

"How are we gonna ditch these guys?" Jack asked.

"There's no special trick when they're this close," Cole said. "We just have to pray we can get some distance. That means we have to keep riding. Day and night. We can't let up. Once we get some distance, then we can start thinking strategy."

"And what if we don't get distance?"

Cole took a few seconds to respond. "Just ride, Jack!"

Shots began to ring out from the direction of the posse, which was only about a hundred yards behind them now. Jack ducked as bullets whizzed above his head. He rode as low as possible to give them as little a target range as possible. Thunder boomed and lightning crashed as the posse started to gain ground on the trio.

The sound of a gasoline engine made the three of them cringe in fear. The vehicle was much faster than their horses and would easily catch up to them unless they acted fast.

"Into the brush!" Fordham yelled. "Those cars don't do well off road." The trio made a sharp left and headed into the forest of Tall Trees. The posse followed close behind. The car, though going slower now, was still keeping pace with most of the men on horseback.

The chase went on for several hours. About an hour after sunset, the shooting stopped, the storm had passed, and the posse started to fall behind. One or two shots rang out periodically, but nothing like the heavy gunfire of earlier. Eventually the shots stopped altogether.

The trio rode until the sun started to rise. By this time, they had reached Montana Ford and the posse was nowhere in sight. All of them were tired and sore from the long night's ride. The horses in particular, having done the leg work, appreciated having the opportunity to sleep on the other side of Montana Ford. They crossed the river and made camp fifty yards from the river bank.

Cole prepared a fire as Jack filled the canteens with river water. A large slab of meat that Jack had cut from the bear before the posse had arrived was on the menu today. The slab of meat was large and thick enough to feed the three of them, but only for that one day. The water was boiled over the fire to disinfect it.

As the three of them ate, Cole discussed their game plan. "We can only sleep for a few hours. Can't stay in one place for too long. I'll take first watch. Jack, you'll take second. Fordham, since you've been running as long as that posse has, you'll get the most rest. You'll have last watch while Jack and I sleep."

"Wait, that's it?" Jack asked. "Why can't we sleep longer if we've got people keeping watch?"

"Do you want them to catch us?" Cole asked. "Three hours is excessive in my mind, yet I'm willing to settle for it because we're all tired. We're not going to argue this. It's settled. Now go to sleep."

Jack tossed and turned, unable to sleep, for the hour that Cole was on watch. When Cole approached him to wake him for second watch, he immediately responded by grunting and sitting at the watch point, a lone tree stump about two feet tall. The hour went by even slower and Jack found himself dozing off as he watched and listened to the San Luis River flow lazily by. Despite their circumstances, Jack couldn't help but feel a sense of peace in the setting they were in. He hoped that things would eventually be alright.

Fordham's watch came slowly. As Jack woke Fordham and Fordham sat on the tree stump, Jack was finally able to lay down and get a moment's sleep.