Mac suddenly woke up with a start. Had he heard something? He lay still listening and then he looked toward Avalanche, who had his ears pricked and his head up. Mac had learned over the years to watch his horse because that horse could see and hear…and smell…things that he could not. Since Avalanche was alerted, Mac knew something had wakened him. Beauty was listening as well. Then Avalanche stamped a foot and snorted softly.

Mac eased his gun from the holster and then threw dirt over the fire. Adam was drawing his weapon as well. He had noticed the sudden activity of the horses too. When the fire was out, Mac got his boots and moved over behind a rock. Adam followed. They got their boots on and then moved around the rocks so that they could see if anything was around the horses. Mac could see the outline of someone in the dark. He was moving around behind the horses. He must not have seen that they had gotten up.

Adam noticed that the guy had a knife and was about to let their horses go. He moved swiftly before the man could finish what he was doing. Mac moved to help him if he needed it. Adam tackled the man before he could cut the horses loose. That action, however, startled the horses and they began pulling at their lines and moving around.

Adam was wrestling the man over the knife. Mac put his gun away and went to help. They finally got the knife from the man and they realized it was the card shuffler from the cabin in the forest of horror. Mac looked at Adam. "Well, I don't guess we have to figure out how to get them out of there now," Mac said.

"No, he came out for us," Adam replied. "Now we can use him to get to old suspenders in there."

Just then, they heard something out on the desert plain. At first, they thought it was the bawling of the cows in the brush but it was not…it was cows coming across the desert. Mac looked out across the desert and he could see a mass of bodies moving across the desert. He looked at Adam. "They're bringing more in," he whispered.

Adam held a gun to the other man's chest. "Don't you make a sound," he warned.

"Tie him up," Mac said.

They tied the man up and made sure he could not move from where they tied him. "You can't leave me here!" he declared. "I'll die in the heat!"

"Don't worry, we won't leave you 'all' day," Mac said.

"You can't leave me here!"

Mac tied a bandana around the man's mouth. "Now, shut up," he said. "You shouldn't have been out here stealing other people's cows and trying to sneak up on us and probably kill us."

The man was boiling mad now. He glared at Mac and Adam as they broke up their camp and moved over to their horses. They moved into cover behind some rocks and watched as the herd of cattle moved closer. They could see a point man riding ahead of the cattle and three others…one on each side and one behind. "Must be about fifty head," Adam whispered.

Mac agreed. "I'll try to get behind them and take out that guy riding flank," he said. "Stay out of their sight."

Adam stayed where he was while Mac moved behind the rocks until he was behind the herd. Then he started out of his hiding place. He knew the sand would buffer his sounds as he approached the rider at the flank of the herd. As he got closer, he thought the guy looked like he was sagging in the saddle. Mac got up behind him and laid one of his guns across the man's head and he fell from the saddle.

Mac grabbed the horse's reigns and turned it around and gave it a light slap to get it headed back the way it had come. He knew that horse would go back home, wherever that was. Now, he was riding flank on a stolen herd of cattle. It was the only explanation for someone moving a herd of cattle this time of night across a desert. He could barely make out the dark silhouette of the other three. He leaned down to try and see the brand on the nearest cow but it was too dark. He took the chance of striking a match to see it. The brand was a Bar J9.

"Hey! Mulligan! What are you doing striking a match out here, you moron!" someone yelled. "Don't you know they can see that for miles!"

Mac thought they might hear his voice for miles if he kept yelling like that. "Sorry!" he replied, hoping that he sounded enough like the other guy.

Adam was watching from a distance, or listening mostly. He could not see much in this darkness, but he knew Mac must have gotten where he wanted to be. He could hear the movement of the herd which looked like a dark, moving mass of hooves and horns. He had dragged the unconscious outlaw over where his friend was tied and tied him up as well. "Now, that ought to keep you two quiet for a while," he said.

Mac was having his own problems. One of the two who were riding to the sides of the herd were coming to chew Mulligan out…he supposed, for striking that match. "Hey!" someone yelled. "That will have to wait till later. We have to get those cows and get moving!"

The one who had been coming that way turned and headed back toward the forest of horror. Mac stayed at the back of the herd and watched to see what they would do. He knew they were going to find out that the card shuffler was not in there when they got to suspenders. Instead of going through the opening that he and Adam had gone through, one of the riders pulled out a machete and began chopping at the tangle of thorns and thistles. Mac knew that machete had to be very sharp because the man was making progress. He certainly did not want to tangle with anyone who was wielding a machete.

As the chopping continued, Mac could hear the cattle within the confines of the prickly forest bawling with alarm. He thought they might move out into that horror even further. However, when they got into the forest, the cows were startled but they were still there. They could not move much anyway within the close confines of the walls.

"Hey!" suspenders said. "Jake never came back."

"Where did he go?" the one with the machete asked.

"He thought he heard something out here on the porch tonight and he went out to see if he could find anything or anyone out there."

"And he never came back?"

"No."

"And you didn't even go out there to find him?"

"Why should I? All he does is complain about me all the time."

The others were wary now and one of them looked toward the back of the herd where Mac was. "Mulligan wouldn't strike a match out here," he declared.

The others looked that way. Of course, they could not see Mac out there in the darkness. Mac kept his hand on his gun. He supposed he could just ride off. They could not see him anyway, but they could shoot toward him and a bullet might find its mark.

"Hey, Mulligan!" one of them yelled.

Mac cleared his throat. "What?" he replied.

The outlaws looked at each other. "That's not Mulligan," one of them said. "And he's usually up here helping."

They all drew their weapons and just then, they heard horse hooves retreating at a fast trot. "Where's Mulligan!" one of them said.

"Where's Jake?" another asked.

"They're probably in the same place."

"Hey!" suspenders said. "Where they are is not our worst problem! Whoever that was back there knows what's going on here!"

They all stopped a moment and considered that. "I'm riding!" one of them said. "If you all are smart, you will too! He can't identify us right now!"

With that, the cowboy turned his mount and headed out at a fast run. He was not about to get his neck stretched for some cattle rustler. "Hey, Blevins!" one of them yelled, but it was too late.

The others looked at each other. "Well, the same one said. "Are you all going to chicken out? That guy doesn't know who we are. If we deliver these cows, we get paid and then we can ride out."

Suspenders was not so sure of that. "You never know who that was," he said.

One of the others nodded. "I heard tell that there was a Marshall on his way here from Wyomin'," he said. "I hear he's a tough one too."

"Blaine, don't tell me you're a-scared of a Marshall!" the one next to him said.

"I ain't killin' no Marshall!" Blaine said. "I think Blevins was right. We're gettin' our necks in a noose by doin' this." He looked at his friend. "You'd be smart to get out of here too, Charlie."

Charlie watched as Blaine rode out. But he looked at suspenders and the other. "We're going to get a lot of money," the one with the machete said.

"Not if we get caught," Charlie replied.

"Let's get these cows out of here and get going. That guy is gone. He must have been alone! It will take him two days to get back to town and by then, we will be long gone."

Charlie nodded. "Right."

Suspenders got his horse and they got the other cattle from the clearing and headed out with the herd. They were wary but they would get the cattle to their destination.

Mac arrived back where Adam was. "So much for that," Mac said.

"Pretty good idea though," Adam replied. "So what do we do now? And what do we do with those two over there?"

"We take them back to town," Mac said.

"How? They don't have horses."

"They can walk. There's water in that maze over there. Let's fill up the canteens."

They got the two prisoners and tied a lead rope to their hands so they could hold them to the horses. Then they went over and filled up the canteens. They found another canteen in the cabin and filled that one up as well. "You can't make us walk all the way back there!" Jake declared. "That's cruel!"

"Oh yes we can," Mac replied. "By the time we get there, you fellas might be feeling real cooperative."

"I bet they will," Adam agreed. "They might not think their boss is so grand then."

Mulligan did not like the idea at all. "I'm not walkin'!" he declared.

"Suit yourself," Mac said. "But you'll either walk or I will drag you."

Adam had the rope connected to Jake and Mac had the one connected to Mulligan. It would be a long trek back to Virginia City but they could make it if they just kept moving. Mac hoped it would rain some and then maybe it would not be so hot.