"I'm sure we're heading in the right direction," Keegan said for what must have been the 50th time in the past couple of days. He rode on the marshal's horse in front of Elias, his hands still handcuffed behind him. "And I'm sure they'll still be there. This cave I found was their hideout. I even saw the girl. Pretty little thing from what I could tell, being far off like I was. About 15 with golden brown locks. I can see why they kidnapped her."

Kid had repeatedly been asking the same thing in different ways, but his story remained unchanged.

"That would be the girl alright," Elias said. "No way he could have known that unless he really had seen them."

Kid was forced to accept Keegan was telling the truth.

Not long after, a group of white men on horses rode into the clearing, 8 of them to be exact.

Kid was afraid it was the gang and prepared by drawing his gun, but the Marshal quickly squelched his fears.

"Those are men from the town where the girl was kidnapped. They must have sent a posse to help me."

He relaxed and wonder if these additional men would turn out to be a blessing or a curse.

"Figured you might need some backup, Marshal," one of them said. "We rode out just a few days after you did. Followed you westward."

"We ain't going to rest until we find Sabina. I've known that gal since she was 2 months old. I'm going to see her safely delivered to her mother's arms," said an older man, who didn't look as if he should have trekked all this way, which made it all the more admirable.

"Did they really think they could get away with kidnapping the mayor's daughter and no one would care?"

"My guess is they eventually planned to return her for the right amount of cash," Elias said. "They're just giving the mayor time to realize he won't get her back unless they want to give her back. I doubt they planned on a posse coming all the way out here, much less a U.S. marshal. They're in for a surprise."

The men all whooped and hollered, frightening all the birds off within a mile. Hopefully, it didn't alert the gang of their presence.

"Who's your friends?" asked one of the townsmen.

"An extra lawbreaker I picked up. He knows where to find the gang. And this is Kid Cole."

All the men were duly impressed except one, but Kid could see one of the men lean over and share his unwanted title with the uninformed man and the according respect followed.

They traveled along as silently as 11 men could until Keegan said, "I remember this hill. The cave's just over it."

"Hear that, boys?" Elias asked. "Time to ride in and show those scoundrels a thing or two."

The men's answering war cries showed they were in full support of their leader and would follow him to hell and back.

Kid, for one, could hear the blind anger behind the words. Elias was putting no thought into his actions once again. "Don't go rushing down that hill. I guarantee you these men have guns and the last thing you want is some big shootout where the girl could end up getting injured in the crossfire."

Storm clouds of anger flashed into his expression quicker than a spring thunderstorm. "Don't tell me how to do my job, Mr. Cole," Burch said, bristling. "You've fulfilled your part of the bargain. I've got more than enough men with me now. You're free to go. In fact, I order you to go."

Kid foresaw disaster in this situation and he wanted no part of it, so he rode away in the opposite direction like the young marshal wanted.

sss

Ayita, Ruth, and Mercy were outside, taking advantage of a mild day.

Ruth had made a crown of snowy-white daisies, nature's jewels, for Mercy to wear. "Here's your royal crown, princess, or perhaps you're a wee fairy," she said, playfully as she placed it atop her red gold curls.

"A fairy princess," Mercy declared.

"I beg your pardon, your highness. I should have seen that at once," Ruth said with a grin and a mock bow.

Mercy happily skipped around with her flowered crown, or at least her rough imitation of skipping.

Evan Jones periodically checked on them as he promised Kid and he rode into sight now.

Instead of his customary greeting, he began with, "You heard the news?"

Judging from his expression, he wasn't talking about good news, she prayed it wasn't about Kid. "No."

"It wouldn't be appropriate to talk about with tender, young ears around," Evan said solemnly.

That made Ruth's heart pound like a drum and caused the blood rush to her head, but she forced herself to remain calm, so she didn't frighten Mercy. "Baby, can you go get Momma's Bible?"

Mercy ran back to the cabin happily to get it, losing her daisy crown in the process. Ruth hoped it allowed enough time for him to relay the news. "What is it?"

"There's been 3 murders."