"'The sun was already high in the sky as Brisco and Bowler mounted their trusty steeds, off again to track down the cowardly killers of Brisco's father.' " Asa continued. " 'They were after Juno Dawkins, another of Bly's Gang of Twelve, and some say, one of the deadliest. Dawkins was known to follow John Bly anywhere, no questions asked. He followed out every order the infamous outlaw gave, no matter the risk, no matter the target. He would be hard to catch, but these were the two best bounty hunters this side of the Mississippi. Besides, Brisco and his faithful companion loved a challenge.
They arrived at the Nevada border just after sunset a day later. The site was still marked clearly, pieces of rock and twisted metal littering the landscape. Brisco hopped from Comet's saddle and picked up a chuck of earth at his feet, its face painted black. He tossed it to the side, his eyes scanning the display in front of him. To his right, Bowler had dismounted and begun his search of the area; a tract of earth a few feet from the rail tracks catching his eye. He dropped to a knee and brushed away a bit of dust lightly with his hand.
"Huh." Bowler muttered quietly, pushing back the hat he wore with a finger.
"What?"
"There's only one set of hoof prints here." Bowler answered, looking up at his partner through narrowed eyes.
"One? That's impossible."
"Are you suggesting I'm wrong?" Bowler snarled as he stood.
"No. I'm just saying it must have been pretty hard for one person to pull this whole thing off. He had to have some help." Brisco scanned the area in front of him once more. "One guy dragged a boulder here, painted it to look like the mouth of a tunnel, and rob a heavily armed bank escort? I don't see Pete Hutter being able to do all that."
"What if I told you it wasn't Pete Hutter?"
"Well, then, who the hell was it?"
"I don't think you want to know."
"Bowler…"
"Would you believe one person dragged a boulder here, painted it to look like the mouth of a tunnel and robbed a heavily armed bank escort if I told you it was Jessie?" Brisco's head shot up to meet the gaze of the bounty hunter. Once the initial surprise wore off, his face sunk into a look of resentment.
"Yes, I would." Brisco shook his head, staring intently at the tracks at Bowler's feet. "How do you know it's her, anyway?"
"These are obviously Sancho's tracks. Sancho's right rear hoof has a small knick in the front of it, most likely been there since birth. I noticed it when I first started tracking Jessie four years ago." Bowler knelt down to check out the tracks once more, as if to double check his observation, maybe hoping maybe he was wrong, knowing he was right.
"Well, if she's out here, there's only one place she's going to be." Brisco proclaimed, grabbing Comet's reins, preparing to hoist himself back into the saddle. "In Donner with Dawkins. Which means we have a five hour ride back in the opposite direction. I don't know why you talked me into coming out here in the first place."
"You agreed it would be a good idea to see who exactly robbed the train." Bowler huffed. "Don't get mad at me because it's your baby sister."
"Why would Jessie be with Dawkins in the first place?" Virginia asked, guiding the horses the last few feet to home.
"Mom," Asa began, exasperated at the interruption. "Jessie is married to Juno Dawkins. They got married before Marshal County was killed."
"Oh, I forgot about that." A tug on the reins and the horses slowed to a stop. "And it's 'they were', Asa. You're not being raised by wolves so I don't expect you to talk like you are. Now, help me with these groceries before you go bounding off with that book."
"But, mama."
"Don't you 'but mama' me, mister. No excuses."
With a grumble, Asa rolled the novel into a cylinder and tucked it into his pants pocket before grabbing as much of the groceries as he could handle.
After the last of the bags were dragged inside, and Virginia began bustling around the kitchen starting dinner, Asa, alongside an excited Josiah—he loved Brisco County just as much as his older brother —had settled at the table, picking up from where he left off with Brisco's newest adventure.
"They headed back the way they came almost immediately. No need for the helpful light of the sun. They knew where Jessie was headed; they didn't need to follow her tracks.
"They settled down just an hour outside of Donner, California, a city with no sheriff, no preacher and no hope. Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, the town fell to the outlaw element just after the silver vein responsible for its boom ran dry. It provided perfect protection; the Sierra Nevada was deadly in the wintertime, sweltering in the summer and full of so many twist, turns and hiding holes, attempts to bring justice often failed. Many lawmen had endeavoured to capture those who defied the law; many lawmen had fallen to a bullet instead."
The sun rose just after six the next morning, but Brisco had been up long before that, and not just because of Bowler's snoring. His mind had been racing all night, filled with thoughts of Jessie. It had been just over a year since he last saw her in Tucson. A year since she had escaped a death sentence, with Dawkins by her side.
He had kept tabs on her movements since. She hadn't stepped foot back into Arizona since, instead hopping from town to town in Nevada, New Mexico and southern California. Just a week before Dawkins' capture by the senior County, Jessie broke ties with the outlaw, heading north where Brisco lost her briefly, only to have her turn up in Winnemucca, Nevada. She stayed there briefly before moving on to Albuquerque, New Mexico where the first of John Bly's gang would meet his demise. Deadwood Dave, former cattle rustler, met his end soon after Jessie rode into town, found strung up to a tree just outside the city limits. Jessie disappeared again soon after and with Brisco's attention otherwise diverted, she rode about unnoticed, at least by him. He knew she had been hemmed up a time or two by Bowler himself, as well as hounded by the federal marshal who had brought her in to Tucson, Steele he thought his name was. But although Jessie's exploits were no long front and center in Brisco's mind, she was never far from his thoughts.
Brisco woke Bowler a half hour after sunrise. The manhunter was none too pleased and let it be known as his partner began packing his items.
"The sun's barely up and she ain't going nowhere."
"Yeah, I know that, but I want to get an early start. Besides, she's going to be expecting us."
"How she gonna know we're coming?" Bowler asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Sancho would have told her."
"Well, how would Sancho know we're coming?"
"Comet would have told him." Brisco answered matter-of-factly, trying his bedroll to the back of his saddle.
"See, a couple of months ago, that answer would have seemed a little strange." Bowler began quietly. "Not so much anymore."
"Good, now let's go."
"We ain't even had breakfast yet."
"We'll eat when we get into town, Bowler. Will you come on?" Bowler begrudgingly obliged, and the two men were back on the road toward Donner ten minutes later.
"'Alright, boys, time to get washed up for supper."
"Ah, mom!" The boys cried out in unison, identical pouts upon their lips.
"Don't suss your mama, boys." Their father, fresh in from the fields, called out from the porch. "Go and get cleaned up." Asa and Josiah shared a look of disappointment as Asa closed the novel, marking his place by dog-earing the page.
"Don't worry, after dinner you can continue reading."