Chapter 10 – Boulder

As dusk began to deepen into night, Danny rode slowly down the main street of Boulder, his two dogs padding along beside his horse. He looked carefully to right and left as he rode but not until he passed the Silver Dollar saloon on his right did he find what he was looking for. The Sheriff's office was tucked away between a barber's shop and the general store just opposite the saloon.

Reining in his horse, Danny sat for a few minutes looking around. The Silver Dollar saloon was not short of customers, judging from the sounds of laughter and music drifting out onto the street. He was tempted to indulge in a cold beer but decided it would have to wait until he'd spoken to the Sheriff. The two dogs flopped down, tongues lolling, but their eyes were riveted on their master and when Danny dismounted and tied his horse's reins to the hitching rail, they rose instantly. As Danny stepped up onto the boardwalk and walked toward the door to the Sheriff's office, the two dogs watched him but made no attempt to follow until Danny turned and pointed to the boardwalk.

"Come on boys." Bidzi gave a soft questioning whine that seemed to range from one end of the scale to the other but he leapt up onto the boardwalk and flopped down facing the street. Yuma, always the quiet one, padded over and lay down next to him and as the door to the Sheriff's office closed behind Danny, the dogs settled down to keep watch.

Sheriff Aimes was sitting at his desk reading through a report and he looked up as Danny entered his office. "Good evenin' young man." He indicated the chair facing his desk.

"Right back at ya Sheriff." Danny removed his hat and after hanging it on the big old wooden coat rack by the door, he sat down.

The Sheriff laid the report down on his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Names Danny, Sheriff. Danny Adams. I'm lookin' for a little information."

Ned Aimes took careful stock of his visitor. The young man sitting before him had an open and honest-looking face with candid, storm-grey eyes. He liked what he saw but he'd been wrong before now and decided to reserve his judgement. "Information, huh? You look as if you've had a long ride. Are you a bounty hunter son?"

Smiling, Danny shook his head. "No sir. That's somethin' I ain't. Truth is, I've not long resigned from the Texas Rangers and I'm on my way to Laramie to meet up with my fiancée but I have an interest in a couple of fugitives. One of the last things I done as a Ranger was tryin' to track 'em down but we lost their trail and I thought I might as well see if I could pick it up again on my way to Laramie."

The Sheriff nodded in agreement. "Seems like a good plan to me. And presumably you've picked it up?"

Danny leaned back in the chair and crossed one booted foot over his thigh. "I sure have. The last place we had a definite trace of 'em was Albuquerque. They're wanted in Texas for robbin' a bank but then one of 'em killed a lawman in Santa Fe so now he's wanted for murder. We tracked 'em from Santa Fe to Albuquerque but that's where the trail went cold and we ended up goin' back to base. After I resigned I had to wait for my replacement but once I was released from duty I started out for Laramie. I thought I'd take the trail through New Mexico and Colorado and I reckoned Albuquerque was a likely place to start from. I made a few enquiries along the way and I finally picked up word of 'em in Colorado Springs. I carried on through Denver and picked up the odd trace from time to time, mainly in saloons or way stations and it seems like they were headed in this general direction. I'm hopin' my luck might hold good here. I got no picture of 'em to show ya but Charlie Baines is pretty hard to miss."

"Well now Danny… I've a pot of coffee on the stove in the corner there. Why don't you pour us out a mug apiece and I'll see if I can help you any? Whadd'ya intend to do if you find 'em son?"

"If I find 'em I'll just turn 'em over to the local law. I'm sure they can hold 'em until a US Marshall can get there to take 'em in. I'm hopin' those two might be able to throw some light on the whereabouts of three other men. They aren't wanted but I'm pretty sure they were involved in the same robbery as Charlie Baines and his gang and I'd be real happy if I could tie 'em to it." Danny uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet. He walked over to the corner stove. "It's not really my fight anymore. I resigned from the Rangers to persuade my girl to marry me and I don't wanna go jeopardisin' my health bringin' that lowlife to justice but I guess if I could put 'em behind bars it'd give me a great deal of satisfaction."

He placed a mug of coffee down in front of Sheriff Aimes and sat down to sip at his own. "It was on account of me bein' a Texas Ranger that Evie wouldn't marry me before. She's got a young son and she didn't want to see him lose his new Pa once he'd got attached to him."

"Sounds like a sensible woman. It's a dangerous occupation." Aimes said. "How long were you a Texas Ranger, Danny?"

"Oh… well now you're askin'." Danny thought for a moment. "Must be close on 8 or 9 years. I loved every minute of it but I love my Evie more."

Sheriff Aimes smiled. He liked this young man. "Sounds like you got some sense as well. I'm Ned Aimes but you can call me Ned. Now… who're you lookin' for? I know Charlie Baines is one of 'em 'cos you mentioned him already. But what about the others?"

Danny put his mug of coffee on the desk and leaning back he pulled a folded wanted poster from his jacket pocket and handed it over to the older man. Ned Aimes leaned across the desk and took hold of the poster, unfolding it and studying it carefully.

"Both of these men are wanted in connection with the robbery in El Paso but Charlie Baines is the one wanted for the murder of a lawman. The descriptions on that poster are pretty good but as I said before, Charlie Baines is an easy one to identify. If you've seen him, you won't be in any doubt over it." Danny waited until Ned Aimes had finished reading through the information on the poster and then launched into a more detailed description of Charlie Baines.

When Danny had finished Ned looked up with a smile. "I reckon I've seen these two and you're right… Charlie Baines sure does stand out from the crowd. Now, if it'd just been Steve Wilkins ridin' through here I might not have remembered him. They were here a couple of weeks ago. They were holed up somewhere out of town but they spent a fair amount of time over at the Silver Dollar saloon. I kept an eye on 'em but they behaved themselves and I had nothin' on 'em so I left 'em alone." Ned Aimes savoured another sip of his coffee, his eyes twinkling at Danny over the rim of his cup. "You said you were hopin' they might lead you to three other men?"

Danny sat up a bit straighter. "I sure did… You got somethin' for me?"

"Well… those two were hangin' around for a coupla days and I wondered if they mightn't be waitin' for someone. Sure enough, they met up with two other men." He grinned at the expression on Danny's face. "Now there's no call for ya to go lookin' so doggone disappointed son. There was a third man rode in with those two but he wasn't there when I saw 'em with Baines." Ned described the two men he'd seen and Danny decided they could be none other than Zeke and Billy.

A warm feeling of satisfaction crept over Danny and his smile reflected it. "Zeke Patterson and Billy Yates. I knew it… The third man must've been Billy's younger brother Pete. I'm assumin' they've moved on. Any idea where they went to from here?"

Ned Aimes shook his head. "Not Baines and his friend… I guess they left the same night they met up with this Patterson fella 'cos I never saw 'em again after that night. Patterson and his two friends left the next mornin'. I saw 'em myself. They took the East road out of town. If you stay on that trail it'll take ya to Fort Collins and now I come to think on it, I saw Charlie Baines and Steve Wilkins ride in from that same direction when they first turned up here."

A sudden series of loud barks followed by a low growling from outside the door interrupted their conversation and Danny leapt up and opened the door. A man was backed up against the hitching rail while Bidzi and Yuma stood on alert between him and Danny's horse.

Danny stepped onto the boardwalk followed by Ned Aimes. "Bidzi… Yuma… Here!"

The dogs backed off instantly and lay back down on the boardwalk but their eyes were fixed on the man, the hair along their backs still bristling. "D'ya know this man Ned?"

Aimes eyed the man with a certain amount of disfavour. "I'm afraid he's my deputy. What did you do to set those two off Pete?"

"I didn't do nothin'" Pete declared in a slightly shaky voice. "I'm off duty in a half hour an' I was just comin' in to hand my report to ya. Call 'em off will ya? They didn't oughta be allowed off a leash. They's dangerous…"

Aimes shook his head in disgust. "In case you hadn't noticed Pete, they've already been called off and I don't believe you're in any danger."

"My dogs wouldn't touch you without my say so and they wouldn't take any notice of ya at all lest ya touched my horse or my saddle bags." Danny stepped down off the boardwalk and checking his saddle bags he found one of them open. "Why'd you open this?"

Bidzi, ever the vocal one picked up on the tone of Danny's voice and gave a low threatening rumble of a growl, his eyes never leaving Pete's face and the deputy squirmed. Yuma never uttered a sound, content to let his brother do the talking but the intensity of his stare was unnerving. "I was just lookin' to see who you was. It bein' a strange horse 'n all."

Aimes snorted. "The horse was hitched right outside the jail. You could just as easily have checked in my office first."

"Not with his dogs sprawled across the boardwalk in front of the door, I couldn't."

"You could've walked around 'em easy Pete. You oughta know there ain't no call to go lookin' through a man's possessions unless you got somethin' on him." Ned Aimes turned to Danny. "I apologise on behalf of my deputy. He don't mean no harm but I reckon his brain suffers on occasion from the amount of time he spends sittin' around on it. I'm real impressed with these dogs of yours Danny. I could do with a couple like 'em to take the place of my deputy. You got 'em trained real good."

"No apology needed." Danny turned to Pete who looked as if he wanted to crawl under the boardwalk. "Look Pete. I'm sorry my dogs gave you a hard time but there ain't no need to be nervous of 'em. These two won't stir an inch toward you lest I tell 'em to."

Pete's pride was a little hurt but he knew he only had himself to blame. Ignoring Danny's apology, he skirted carefully around the dogs, jumping slightly when Bidzi uttered a parting growl under his breath. Pete could've sworn the dog was laughing at him. He went hastily inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I'm real sorry Ned but he had no call to go lookin' through my things."

"Oh, I totally agree Danny. No hard feelin's I hope?" He held out his hand. "I'll stand you another coffee if you like?"

"Thanks Ned. It's been a real pleasure meetin' you and I thank you for all your help but I'd better find somewhere to stay the night."

"I'll walk over to the livery with you and introduce you and your friends here to our liveryman, Ben. I presume your dogs'll stay with your horse at the livery?"

"They will." Danny chuckled. "Never lost a horse yet."

Sheriff Aimes looked admiringly at the two dogs. "I don't doubt it. They're fine critters. Do they object to bein' touched?"

"Not if you're a friend of mine. I don't pet 'em too much myself but they'll take about as much as they can get from anyone who'll offer it."

Danny called the dogs over and they padded across and sat waiting. "Come a bit closer Ned and hold out your hand, palm up." Ned Aimes obeyed and the dogs sniffed first at his hand and then at his boots and trousers before licking his still-outstretched hand.

"OK… consider yourself formally introduced. You can pet 'em as much as you like. They won't complain."

Danny laughed as Ned leant down and stroked and fussed both dogs with a delighted expression on his face. "They'll be your friends for life now."

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Danny led his horse into the livery stable accompanied by his dogs and Ned Aimes. Ben Hodges got up from his game of Solitaire and never turned a hair as the two wolf-like dogs sniffed at him. Danny introduced the dogs and they flopped down, satisfied that Ben was a friend.

"Well now. I ain't ever seen a pair of dogs lookin' more like wolves. They look friendly enough but I'm willin' to bet they're real fine guard dogs. You ever thought of partin' with 'em?"

Danny smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I reckon they'd just run off and track me down if ever I did. I've had 'em since they were pups. Have you any objection to my leavin' 'em here with my horse overnight?"

"None at all, long as they don't bite. Be glad to have 'em fer company. I got a likin' fer dogs and the bigger the better. Couldn't get much bigger'n these two I reckon. Bidzi and Yuma eh? Well, I know Yuma's a Navajo name so I reckon Bidzi's gotta be short for Bidziil?"

"You're absolutely right Ben. How'd you know that?"

"I spent a lot of years in the US cavalry but I got no grudge against Indians like a lot of folk do. I don't know how I'd feel if a whole load of folk invaded my territory but I don't reckon as I'd like it much. I guess they was just protectin' they're own same as us. I'll admit there was some as took it too far but that happened on both sides. I got a lot of respect for their way of life and I spent a while with the Navajo when I retired from the cavalry. These are Indian bred dogs ain't they?"

"I was given them by a Navajo boy I helped out of a jam. Er… Ben? These two are a mite hungry. We've been on the trail a while. Where can I get some food for 'em? They usually share my trail food so they'll eat anythin' from a rabbit or a bite or two of jerky to a stew but they're pretty partial to a raw steak and a biscuit or two."

"Well, I'll tell ya what… If I can trust 'em to stay on guard here I'll run over to the Silver Dollar and get 'em a couple of steaks and put 'em on yer bill. Will that do?"

"It'll do just fine. Better make 'em large ones; they haven't eaten since this mornin'. Better still… I reckon on havin' supper at the Silver Dollar myself. How about you have yourself a steak supper on me for lookin' after my dogs and I'll have that and the raw steaks sent over here."

"Mighty kind of ya Danny but I've had my supper already. You'd better make sure you send over enough for these two to have seconds though and don't forget the biscuits. I reckon these boys are pretty thirsty too. I gotta water your horse so I'll see they get somethin' to drink."

Ned had listened to the talk of Danny's dogs with interest. "If you've no objection Danny, I'll keep ya company. I'm about ready for some supper myself."

"I reckon I'd like that." After signalling to his dogs to stay with Ben, Danny followed the Sheriff out of the livery stable and down the street toward the Silver Dollar. "Maybe we can ask the barkeep if he knows any more about Charlie Baines?"

"It's always worth a try…" Ned grinned. "You know, I never knew that about Ben. He keeps things pretty close, does that old man. I ain't heard him talk that much in all the time I've known him."

"Dogs'll do that." Danny told him. "I've made a lot of friends through my dogs. Made a lot of enemies too… It ain't everyone as likes 'em. Would you mind showin' me where the boardin' house is?"

"Sure… I can do that. It's a couple of blocks past the Silver Dollar." Ned walked Danny down the street in the direction of the boarding house and then he paused. "Tell ya what Danny. The beds at the boardin' house here ain't up to much and you might end up leavin' with more'n you came with if you get my meanin'. You can check it out if you want but you're welcome to bed down at the jail. We got a couple of real comfortable bunks specially for me and my deputy but I'm on duty tonight so Pete'll be goin' home to his little wife."

"Much appreciated Ned. It's the best offer I've had since I left Texas. Now, let's go order those steaks."

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Zeke, Billy and Pete rode their horses carefully along the trail they'd scouted out earlier that week. They'd followed the main road leading from Laramie to the Sherman ranch and then turned off in the direction of the canyons. Once off the road, they held their horses to a walking pace despite the moonlit night, unwilling to risk their mounts in the rough country. Skirting around the base of the same dangerous, rocky cliff face that Jess had attempted to climb when searching for the Swiss fugitive Emil Viktor, they followed the trail through the canyons until it widened out to the right forming a clearing in the centre of which stood a deserted cabin. It was known locally as the old Wincanyon place and had been occupied briefly a couple of years back by Emil Viktor, his wife and her two children.

The cabin was in darkness and looked deserted but the smell of wood smoke hung in the air. Zeke dismounted and leading his horse by the reins, he made his way around to the back of the cabin where a dim light filtered through a heavy blind at the back window. The other two men followed suit quietly opening the door to the barn at the back of the cabin. Their horses nickered quietly in greeting, recognising the three other horses already stabled there and the men unsaddled their mounts and gave them a quick rub down before leaving the barn.

The door to the cabin was open slightly and Zeke could see the barrel of a rifle aimed in their direction. He walked forward slowly, his hands held away from his sides and called quietly to whoever was standing by the open door. "Charlie…? Steve…?" He hesitated as the man holding the rifle came into view. "Oh, it's you Jeb. When d'ya get here? Put that rifle down will ya? You're makin' me nervous. I got Billy and Pete with me but there ain't no one else with us."

Jeb lowered the rifle and gestured with the barrel toward the open door. "You'd better get inside. Charlie's been waitin' on ya."

Zeke stepped inside the cabin followed by Billy and Pete. Jeb took a look around outside before returning to the cabin.

"Nice place ya got here Charlie." Apart from a thick layer of dust that no one had bothered to remove, the place was empty except for a few wooden chairs, a rickety table and an old leather sofa that had seen better days. Emil and Lorena had owned all the decent furniture and they'd taken it with them when they'd left. An old piece of heavy sacking had been hung over the rear window, lending a little more substance to the thin curtain.

"Glad ya like it…" Charlie growled at him. "…but it's a bit late to be visitin', ain't it? You might find a large log or two out back to sit on. The chairs are all taken. I'd tell ya to make yourselves comfortable but you can see how it is…" He nodded his head to the rear of the kitchen where they were sitting. "There's coffee on the stove and we found a supply of canned beans and some bacon in the cupboard; there's some canned potatoes and peaches too but I reckon you've already eaten. Was that you stocked up on the supplies for us?"

"Yeah… we thought you might be needin' some. Billy… Pete…" Zeke indicated the rear door. "See if ya can find anythin' out there to sit on and you'd better bring our saddles and bedrolls in while you're at it. We can't go back to Laramie until mornin' and no… we haven't eaten since midday."

Charlie looked up sharply. "Why can't you go back to Laramie tonight? You ain't in any trouble are ya? I don't want the Sheriff sniffin' around for ya out here."

"We ain't in any trouble, but it's late and it's dark." Ignoring Charlie's angry glare, he poured himself out a mug of coffee. "We had a little bit of fun earlier on is all. Look, why don't we wait for Billy and Pete to come back and I'll tell ya all about it."

Fifteen minutes later Billy and Pete had brought their gear into the cabin and had unearthed an old porch chair and a large wooden trunk from behind the barn. They carried them into the cabin and Zeke examined them warily.

"What's the matter Zeke? They not up to your high standards?" Charlie wasn't too happy at having extra company in the cabin all night.

"It's a long story but I don't wanna get myself bit by a black widow. I hear it ain't too pleasant." He looked pointedly at Billy and Pete and all three men laughed.

"Sounds like some private joke you got goin' there. Care to fill us all in?" Steve and Jeb pulled their chairs away from the table to make room for the ill-assorted pieces of furniture. Zeke and Billy settled themselves down at the table and Pete sprawled on the battered leather sofa in the corner of the room.

Jeb glared at him. "That's mine. I'll let ya use it until I need it but you can take your dirty boots off it."

"OK… enough you two." Charlie kicked at the leg of Jeb's chair. "There's more'n enough dust on that ole sofa already, a little bit more ain't gonna hurt ya none. Now what's this all about Zeke?"

Half an hour later, Charlie was still irritated. "Glad you managed to keep yourselves occupied but I ain't sure you're right about it divertin' the Sheriff's attention from the real game. It would've been better to avoid gettin' his attention in the first place. What if he decides to lock ya all up? Then what ya gonna do? What are we gonna do, for that matter?" He shook his head in exasperation. "Did ya tell this Ethan anythin' about our plans?"

"He don't know nothin'. He's in town right now watchin' to see if Harper gets curious enough to check out our little surprise. Sheriff ain't gonna lock us up, he ain't got any proof we did it."

Jeb wasn't convinced. "Yeah… but this Ethan knows ya did it. He could rat on ya. How do we know we can trust him?" Jeb got up and picked up the coffee pot, throwing the old grounds out of the rear door. He came back in and began to make a fresh pot of coffee.

"I told ya. He don't know anythin' about our plans. He was just set on gettin' his own back on Harper. He still thinks I'm after Evie and Ben. We'll ride back to town tomorrow. I reckon we can throw the blame for whatever happens to Harper on Ethan. That'll get him outta the way and I'll have a change of heart about Evie and leave town." Zeke looked over at Billy. "You feel up to rustlin' up a little grub for us Billy? I'm fair starvin' here."

Billy gave him a none-too friendly glare. He was a little fed up at being treated like the hired help but he was hungry too. "I ain't your hired hand. I'll do it this time around but just so's you know, it should be your turn. Come on Pete… You can give me a hand."

"Did ya check out the stage route?" Steve asked as he went over to the store cupboard and helped Billy find the pans he needed. He grabbed the coffee pot and stood it in the centre of the table before sitting back down.

"Sure we did. Now, there's a real sharp bend in the road about five miles before the relay station. The stage'll be comin' up to the top of a steep rise when they hit that bend and they won't be able to see what's around it. That part of the road passes through a narrow canyon and there's no room to turn the stage. We can just sit pretty at the other end and wait for 'em." Zeke drained the last of his coffee and reached for the pot in the centre of the table. "By the time Sherman realises the stage ain't comin' through, we'll be on our way to Montana."

"Lucky I got myself a map of the trail through Montana and over the Canadian border, ain't it?" Charlie looked over at Jeb and Steve. Whadd'ya think?" He held out his empty cup and Zeke topped it up.

Steve looked thoughtful. "Sounds OK but I'd like to ride out early tomorrow and take a look at this stretch of road Zeke's talkin' about."

Jeb shrugged and grinned at the other men around the table. "I agree with Steve. Sounds fine to me but let's go take a look."

"All right then." Charlie got up and stretched. "Looks like your supper's ready. Eat and then we'll go over a few things and in the mornin' we'll ride out to where the road goes through that canyon and check out how long it takes to get there. I still remember my way around these canyons from a good few years back but I'd forgotten about that stretch of road. If it's where I think you mean we can hit the road a bit further down toward Laramie by way of an old back trail from here. I know another back trail too. It leads through the upper foothills of the mountains between here and Medicine Bow. It skirts right around Laramie and comes back down just past Medicine Bow. It's pretty rough goin' but it'd be hard for a posse to follow our tracks and once we're past Medicine Bow we can head on to Casper and pick up the Bozeman trail into Montana."