Chapter 10

When Brisco mounted Comet, he felt like he was as close to home as he would ever get. The saddle was borrowed, because when he rode Comet into the future he was bareback, so his perch atop his horse didn't feel as comfortable as his own. He took it slow at first, not completely trusting his injured arm, but as he walked Comet around the corral, he gained more confidence. Kelly showed up, to his surprise, and she watched him canter around the space with a smile on her face. A smile not unlike what he'd seen on her the first time they met.

"Lookin' good up there, Cowboy," she said as she rested her arms on the top rail and placed her chin on them.

Brisco led Comet over to her. "It feels good to be back with Comet again. I think he agrees."

In response, Comet tossed his mane and his lips moved as if he were talking, and he bared his teeth in a smile. Kelly laughed and caressed his snout. "Well, I'm jealous now, Comet. You didn't seem so excited to ride with me."

As he looked down at Kelly, Brisco felt a twinge of sadness for her. She was a beautiful woman, and not just on the outside. It wasn't fair that she had no one to love her outside of her friends and family. In his time, she wouldn't have made it far past her sixteenth birthday without a ton of suitors, unless like Dixie she chose a profession that kept her off limits to good men. But Kelly was an angel, swooping in to aid and comfort. What man wouldn't want such a virtuous woman? He certainly appreciated all she did, and continued to do for him.

If his heart wasn't melded to another, he would be her man. Brisco turned Comet away and went back to riding, because then he wouldn't have to sit there thinking about what he was missing, contrasted by an opportunity that was staring him right in the face behind those warm brown eyes. The next time he turned around, Kelly was gone but her car was still parked near the barn. Maybe she went to speak with Wickwire to see when Comet could leave. Brisco wasn't sure where he would go, since the apartments didn't have a barn. Comet snuffled and turned his head, and Brisco pulled on the rein in the direction he was looking.

Kelly rode out of the barn on a tan and white spotted mare, wearing a big grin. "You don't mind if I ride with you, do you Brisco?"

"Not at all. If you don't mind riding with me."

"Well, somebody's got to be around in case you take a spill or something." She laughed.

"There aren't any cars readily accessible right now to run into, so I doubt that would happen. Come on, let's go. Yeah, Comet!" Brisco gave him rein, kicked his spurs into the horse's sides, and Comet took off like a rocket. They thundered toward the back fence with Kelly in hot pursuit, and both horses easily sailed over the railing. He let Comet run across a wide open field until his sides heaved from the effort. Brisco found himself gasping for air, and he leaned over and embraced his sidekick's neck.

"You okay," Kelly asked. She was out of breath as well.

"I think Comet needs more exercise like that. He's getting soft in that corral." He paused as he sat up. "That makes two of us."

"Well then, let's proceed, shall we?" Kelly slapped the reins and her mount shot forward.

They ran the two horses at a gallop until they neared the edge of the city. Brisco remembered this part of town. It was where Mrs. McCormick saw the time machine truck. He squinted off toward the lowering sun and stopped, pulled out a spyglass, and looked through it.

"You see something?"

"Yes. It's the truck. It's just sitting there, and I don't see anyone around it. Let's go check it out." He urged Comet forward and didn't pay attention to whether or not Kelly followed. He was too focused on his quarry.

"Brisco, shouldn't you have backup or something?" She sounded far away. Her horse's hoofs clattered to catch up to him. "You shouldn't be going over there alone."

Brisco stopped and checked his gun to be sure it was loaded.

"Oh yeah, that's gonna stop a whole gang. If they've got semi-automatics or assault rifles, you're toast!"

"I'm just going to look. If you're that worried, stay back." The seriousness in his tone startled her.

"I'll, uh, wait close by. Just in case."

"Good. I'd prefer that you stayed out of the line of fire. Just in case." He winked at her, turned Comet, and continued his journey to the truck.

As he neared it, he checked out the scenery around him. He wasn't admiring it; he was looking for whoever left the truck. It could very well be a trap. He circled it and looked into the bed. There were several weapons inside, both old and newfangled. The inside of the cabin looked like the back seat of Cal's vehicle. Empty drink cups and food wrappers were everywhere. Someone wedged a pizza box behind the seats. Brisco looked around again as he sidled up to the hood, leaned sideways, and placed his hand on it. It was cold, so the truck was sitting for quite awhile. He heard a noise coming from underneath it, so he dismounted to investigate.

"Hey man, can you pass me that wrench?"

Brisco looked down on the ground and saw a shiny tool with the sunlight glancing off the metal. It didn't look like any wrench he'd ever seen. "You mean this?"

"The socket wrench by my foot."

He nodded, held onto the end, and passed it under to the person beneath the truck.

"Yeah, that's it. Thanks!"

But Brisco didn't let go. He held onto the tool in his gloved hand, and the other person tugged. Then they tugged harder.

"Hey! Stop kiddin' around, dude! If you want this thing to be ready for tonight..."

Brisco didn't expect a woman to come out from underneath the truck. She was young, early 20s, with her dark hair tied into a loose pony tail on the back of her head. Her face bore no makeup, although it was streaked with grease.

"Who are you? Are you one of those outlaws from the past?"

"I'm from the past, yes. But I'm no outlaw. I'm Brisco County Jr."

She sucked in a huge breath and her eyes widened. "Brisco County Jr.?"

"Shh. Could you keep it down, please?"

"Hey! Bill! Pete! It's Brisco!" The girl started to run, but Brisco was faster. He grabbed her by the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth. She struggled against him and threw an elbow into his sore ribs. It sent a wave of pain through his midsection, but he held on tight.

She continued to fight him, and he lost his balance, sending them both to the ground. He rolled on top of her, planting her face down in the dirt. She sputtered as he took his hand from her mouth. Before she could recover to yell, he stripped off his bandana and tied it around her mouth to keep her from screaming. Taking a pair of handcuffs he borrowed from Cal, just in case, he put them on her wrists and hauled her to her feet. He glanced around, but no one came to her aid.

"Miss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you in for aiding and abetting known criminals."

Her eyes widened again and she tried screaming, but it was useless. Brisco picked her up and threw her over Comet's back and into the saddle. Then he himself mounted the saddle, rearranged her so she sat more on his lap than on the saddle horn, and grabbed the reins.

"Brisco, who is that?" Kelly gaped as he rode past her at a fast clip.

"A suspect," he replied, but he was already far enough away that Kelly had to spur her mount to catch up.

Brisco didn't stop until he returned to Wickwire's place. He dismounted and pulled the woman off Comet's back. Once she was on her feet she tried to run, but he clamped both arms around her and wouldn't let go. A stable hand took Comet back to the barn, the horse protesting all the way.

"Who is she?"

"I don't know, but she must have been working for the Swills and Pete Hutter."

"Pete who?"

"Hutter."

Kelly shook her head, mystified. "This whole thing is just getting stranger and stranger."

"You're telling me! Hey, can you get on your phone and call Cal? Tell him Trudy's will have to wait."

"Seriously, Brisco? He was going to take you to Trudy's?" She shook her head and muttered, "I knew he had no class, but jeez!" She dialed his number and he picked up quickly. "Hi Cal, it's me. I'm with Brisco at Dr. Wickwire's place. He apprehended an accomplice of the Swills. Uh huh. Yeah, he told me." She smiled at Brisco. "Okay, we'll do that. See you in a bit." She hung up and turned to Brisco. He still held the woman in his arms, but she'd given up fighting him.

"We're supposed to meet him at the station with your suspect. Come on."

Brisco stayed in back with the woman while Kelly drove. She snuck glances in the rearview mirror, wondering what on earth she had to do with the time machine. During the trip, he removed the bandana and hung it loosely around his neck again, but the girl made no sound. She just glared at Brisco.

"Could you at least tell me your name?" He received silence in return. "It'll be a lot easier on you if you just tell me what you were doing out there."

"I want a lawyer. You can't ask me questions without a lawyer."

Brisco smiled. He knew exactly what she was talking about. As a trained lawyer himself, when he started working with Cal, he spent some time studying procedural law and was familiar with the Miranda rights. They would never have worked in his time, where people shot first and asked questions later.

"You don't need a lawyer if you're clean." He threw in that bit of slang, trying to make her feel more at ease. He knew appearances could be deceiving, but his gut told him this woman wasn't the one they should be arresting. She was a tool, but if she would only talk, she could be very useful.

"We're here, Brisco."

Brisco pulled his captive out of the back, slammed the door, and said, "You better go home, Kelly. I'll see you later."

"Brisco." But he was already half way to the door with the handcuffed woman getting brave again. He gripped her arm with his left hand and turned to face her. She stopped squirming.

"If you stop struggling and just tell us what you know, and you're not involved directly, you've got nothing to fear." His eyes locked onto hers and softened. "Trust me, please. We just want to clean up this mess and get these outlaws back to the past where they belong."

Her brow wrinkled. "I don't know anything."

Brisco sighed and turned her toward the door. "I was afraid you would make this difficult if you're in with the Swills and Hutter." Neither of them said a word as he escorted her through the station to Cal's desk.

"Thanks a lot BC, you ruined a perfectly good evening with this…Louisa. What the… Okay, Brisco, you can take those cuffs off her and stop messing around."

"No, I can't. I found her working on the time machine. She won't tell me how she fits into all of this..."

"I want a lawyer, Cal." Louisa stood straight, rooted to the spot.

"Lou, you don't need a lawyer. Come on, BC. This is ridiculous! She's a grad student, not a criminal!"

"Obviously, you two know each other. So spill it." Brisco pulled out a chair next to Cal's desk and sat her in it.

"Who does this guy think he is?"

Cal came around the desk and unlocked the cuffs. Brisco noted that he kept them, as if he couldn't trust him to use them responsibly. "He's sort of my partner." Cal gave him a look, then turned to her. "So, what's going on here, Lou? What's Brisco talking about? What are you doing working on the time machine?"

"Someone paid me to tweak a few things. The professor recommended me. These guys, they're kind of weird, not all that bright, really, but…they pay well. And I'm a poor grad student who needs money and experience. So I took the job."

"You didn't consider whether or not it was illegal?" Brisco stared at her.

"Well, since when is a time machine illegal? Unless you consider it's breaking the laws of physics, but I'm not really sure it's doing that." She shook her head. "Only the professor knows how the thing really works. He just asked me, with my mechanical skills, to tighten up a few things. I added some stronger valves. That's all."

"So is this machine ready to use again," Brisco asked her as he grabbed a chair, turned it around and straddled it, resting his arms on the seat back.

Louisa looked at him and her eyes softened. He was interested in hearing what she had to say, not just book her and throw away the key.

"Louisa, I'm sorry if I seemed a little rough with you, but one, you put up a good fight," he said with a smile, but quickly sobered. "And two, I've dealt with the Swill brothers and Pete Hutter before. They're stupid, but dangerous." He tapped his shoulder. "I almost had fatal lead poisoning in my shoulder courtesy of the Swills."

"So you're just settling a score. I get it."

"No. I'm seeking justice, and trying to set things back into place. I don't belong here any more than they do. We should all be back in the past, and I'm afraid if this professor 'tweaks' this machine, he's going to use it to bring back even more dangerous men, like John Bly."

"Bly." Louisa turned white. "He mentioned him. And he said something about Bly and an orb."

Brisco visibly deflated and slumped over the chair back. "No, no, no."

"BC, what is it?"

"The orb. I can't explain what it is or what it does, but I can tell you that in the wrong hands, it could be more dangerous than any weapon known to man. If they go back far enough to pick up Bly..." He shook his head slowly. "I...I am truly afraid of what could happen to all time as we know it."

Throughout the interview, Cal stood with his fists resting on his paperwork. He let out a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ordering a pizza. It looks to me like we're going to be here awhile."