21st Star: Revenge of the Cowboy

By the time we reached Lou's family ranch, though, the three of us were surprised to find several oil derricks in the area which was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Neither of us knew what to say, while Lou had a shocked expression on his face.

"Lou," I said, reaching out to touch him. "I'm so sorry."

In response, Lou clenched his fists. "These guys will pay for desecrating Bill's grave!"

Then Bill appeared next to Lou, whose eyes seemed to glow under the shade of his hat. Next, Lou placed his hand over the bullet he wore around his neck and said, "Oversoul—

"No!" Annabelle exclaimed. "If you kill them, you'll be committing murder."

This caused Lou to hesitate, and then he let his hand fall. "You're right. Killing 'em won't do us any good."

"Maybe there's a way we can gain entrance to give Bill a proper burial," I suggested.

"But who can we talk to about a man that's been dead for almost a century?" Lou asked.

"An archeologist!" Annabelle realized. "There was a museum we passed by on the bus-ride here, and those usually have archaeologists employed."

"Yeah," I concurred. "And they study ancient cultures and fossilized remains for a living. Maybe one of them could help us find the Patch Village as well."

"I was going to say that," Annabelle grumbled.

So we took the next bus back to Amarillo and entered the museum Annabelle noticed. It was fairly large with many Western exhibits, a dinosaur section, and even a display showing several antique guns. Bill's ghostly form seemed to hover over these with interest, which made me nervous as a result. Eventually, we found someone who could direct us to an archaeologist that specialized in the history of Cowboys and Outlaws named Cody Blanchard. But when we entered Cody's office, we found a woman in her mid-thirties with brunette hair tied back in a ponytail wearing round glasses and a brown flannel shirt blue jeans and leather boots.

"Hi, kids," she said in a Western drawl.

"Um, we're here to see Cody Blanchard, ma'am," Lou said politely.

"You're talking to her," the woman responded.

"What?" Annabelle's eyes widened. "But I thought you would be…a man."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Cody sighed. "Always happens whenever someone hears my name for the first time."

"We're here to ask you about a cowboy named Bill Kidman," I stated, trying to keep things on track. "He lived on the Reins family ranch before being shot by someone."

Cody adjusted her glasses, reflecting her baby-blue colored eyes. "You mean Crazy Bill?"

Lou tilted his head in confusion. "Come again?"

"He worked for the Reins family ranch in the late 1800s, before he got fired for flirting with the family's daughter Rose," Cody explained. "So out of revenge, Bill started stealing their cattle though the horses always neighed when he showed up preventing him from taking too many at once. Then one night, he was caught in the act and killed several men before being fatally shot by Rose's father Brier. Now I've heard rumors that his spirit continued to haunt the Reins ranch by scaring their horses and causing their cattle to grow sick, which ruined the Reins financially and forced them to move away allowing an oil tycoon to settle in recently who's been trying to get their land for years."

"Do you know if Bill got a proper burial?" I asked. "Before the oil guys showed up?"

"Not to my knowledge," Cody replied. "I was hired to do an excavation for the tycoon before they started drilling, but we couldn't find Bill's body among the cattle bones that were buried there. So either he was buried somewhere else, or his body had been moved at some point between when he originally died and now."

"I see," I said, glancing at Lou who seemed surprised. "There is one more question I have."

"What's that?" Cody asked.

"Do you know anything about the Patch tribe?"

"Never heard of them myself, but I do have a Native American friend that lives in New Mexico who might know. His name's Hatki, and he's from the Seminoa tribe. I'll give him a call to see if he's available to talk."

"Thank you so much," I nodded politely.

While Cody dialed a number on her desk phone, Lou left to use the restroom. So Annabelle and I waited patiently in Cody's office. Unfortunately, she couldn't get in touch with Hatki and decided to give us his phone-number just as an alarm went off. Outside the office, we discovered that one of the antique gun display cases had been broken and several security guards were running toward a retreating figure whom I recognized immediately.

"Lou!" I shouted. "What are you doing?"

By the time I reached the entrance to the museum, Lou was long gone and the security guards stood looking puzzled.

"He took one of the long-range rifles," Annabelle said, appearing behind me. "A Colt Lightning, I believe."

"Any idea where he might've run off to?" Cody asked, appearing behind me and Annabelle.

"The Reins ranch," I realized. "I think he's going to try looking for Bill's body."

Cody's brow furrowed. "For what purpose?"

"To bury it properly," Annabelle said. "He's a member of the Reins family, you see."

"But why did he take the gun?" Cody said.

"I'm…not sure," I responded.

"There's something you're not telling me," Cody guessed, eying Annabelle and I suspiciously. "Now I can either leave you two with the police, or come with me to my truck and explain everything that's going on."

With no other choice, I agreed to tell Cody the truth while Annabelle rolled her eyes. So we made our way to the museum parking-lot where a bright red truck was waiting. Cody got into the driver's seat, while Annabelle and I got into the passenger's side. Then as she drove out, I proceeded to tell her Lou's story as well as the existence of Shamans.

To be continued…