Mac and Adam walked into the General Store. "Good morning," Mary Townsend said.

"Morning, Mary," Adam replied. "How is everything this morning?"

"Why, everything is fine. How are things going with the prisoners?"

"Okay for now."

Mac walked over to some leather goods to look while he listened to the conversation. "So, when is the big day?" Adam asked.

"Very soon," Mary answered. "I think some time next month."

"What do you plan to do? Is he going to buy a ranch?"

"He already has one. I'm going to move out there with him. I'll sell the store to someone else."

"Oh. So you'll be leaving us. Not far, I hope."

"California. He has a ranch out there that spans four-hundred acres."

"Sounds nice. Seems like he's staying away from it a long time."

"He's trying to help his brother settle this trouble he's been having with water rights."

"Oh, so he knows how to settle problems like that too, huh?"

"With a ranch like he has, I'm sure he knows plenty. He's been in this longer than Carl."

"I see." Adam put his hat back on and then leaned on the counter. "I think I'll take one of those gum drops and a box of cartridges."

Mac considered what he had just heard. He knew that girl did not really know the man she was about to marry. It was the way things worked. He had known Stella pretty well before they got married and she knew him because they had lived around there all that time. What he was most interested in was the fact that she said her fiancé had a ranch out in California. That had to have some significance. That's where those men were taking those cattle.

When Adam had paid for his stuff, he and Mac went outside. "So, what now?" Adam asked.

"Why don't we pay the Withers' ranch a visit?" Mac asked.

"You think we would be welcome out there?"

"Maybe we should go and visit their neighbors to see how the negotiations are going."

"That might be a good idea."

"We'll have to wait until this preliminary hearing is over."

At ten that morning, Judge Rand called the court to order. Mac was on the stand first after the charges were read. "Adam Cartwright and I observed Jake there and another man babysitting a herd of stolen cattle," Mac said. "I found Mulligan following as rear guard to another stolen herd of cattle on the same night that two farmhands were killed here around Virginia City. Jake tried to sneak into our camp and attempted to cut our horses free and set us afoot. This was after Adam and I had gone into the forest of prickly pear and any other kind of thorn you can think of out there and found him and that other guy with those stolen cattle. I looked at the brands on those cows and there were more than two different ones."

The judge looked at Adam. "You corroborate that story?" he asked.

Adam stood up. "I do, Your Honor," he answered. "I was there and it happened just like he said."

Judge Rand looked at the two accused. "You two have anything to say for yourselves?" he asked.

Mulligan swallowed hard. "I didn't kill anybody," he said. "And I never tried to set them afoot."

"Are you willing to tell us the name of the leader of this band of crooks?"

Jake gave Mulligan a hard look. "No, sir."

"Very well. The two of you are to be held in jail until a jury trial can be held."

"Why do they get another trial!" someone stood up and yelled. "We all know they're guilty! The Marshall just said he caught them red-handed!"

Judge Rand beat the desk with his gavel. "You will sit down," he said. "I will have order in this court! They will have a trial just like any other suspected criminals."

"They're not suspected! They're guilty! I say we hang them today!"

The judge pounded his gavel again. "You have no say! Now, sit down or I will have you removed from this courtroom!"

The men sat down and the judge continued. "These are not the only two involved in this situation and there is a chance of getting more information," he said. "We will convene this court in two days."

With that, everyone got up and started talking and began filing out of the room. Mac and Sheriff Coffee got the two prisoners and headed back to the jail with them, while the other Cartwrights helped with guard duty. Mac knew that crowd could decide to attack them and they would not be able to stop them all. He knew those two prisoners were nervous too.

Mac breathed a sigh of relief when he got inside the jail house. They put the prisoners back in their cells and then gathered in the front room. "Now that that is over, we need to get out there and visit Nathan Simpson," Mac said. "I want to know if he has noticed anything going on out there."

"I'll go with you," Adam said.

"Be careful," Ben warned. "They must be watching and if they see you going out that way, they will likely know what you're going for."

Mac knew that was true. "We'll be careful."

Mac and Adam went out to the stable to get their horses. Mac felt a little weary because of the soreness he was still experiencing but he would have to go on anyway. He saddled Avalanche and led him outside. Adam brought Beauty outside as well. "So, we're leaving the back way," he commented.

"Yes," Mac said. "We don't want too many people knowing what direction we're going."

They mounted up and set out on the trail toward the West but they would cut back South when they got further out so that they could look like they were going somewhere else besides where they were really going. The terrain out there was very mountainous of course but there was a good trail. "Simpson's spread is about five miles out that way," Adam said as he pointed toward the South.

"When we get out of town and get some mountains between us and there, we'll turn that way," Mac replied. He had an eerie feeling. He knew these people cared nothing about murder and they would kill anyone. His side ached to remind him of just how far they would go. He scanned the mountain ridges and cliffs for any sign that someone was watching them.

Adam was wary too. He was keeping an eye on those ridges. Any glimmer or flash of light could tell that someone was up there. They could have a field glass or a rifle that would reflect light. He was sure these people were too intelligent to make such a mistake.

As they got out past some hills, they turned toward the South. "So, what is Nathan Simpson like?" Mac asked.

"He's your typical western ranch owner," Adam replied. "He likes things done right and works hard and he expects his hands to do the same."

"Does he shoot first and ask questions later?"

Adam smiled. "No, uhm, he's pretty friendly. I hope he's not on edge because of all this trouble."

"Me too."

As they came into view of the ranch, Mac thought it was a very well-kept place. The fences were not broken or rotted and the house was a big, white two story house with big pillars in the front. It was almost like some houses that Mac had seen in the East. There had been many people who came from the East and settled in the West and built large homes and ranches. They moved along the trail to the house and Mac looked at the cattle grazing in the pastures. They looked like fat, healthy cows.

When they were about halfway to the ranch house, three men on horses met them with their rifles drawn. "Who goes there?" one of them asked.

"Adam Cartwright," Adam answered.

"Adam? Well, I didn't recognize you."

"How you been doing, Nathan?"

"Doing fairly well." The man eyed Mac with cold blue eyes. "Who's this?"

"This is Marshall Mac Taylor from Wyoming."

"Oh. I heard about you."

Mac nodded. "I was wondering if I might talk to you," he said.

"Come on to the house."

Mac and Adam followed the others to the house and tied their horses to the hitch rail. "Come inside," Nathan Simpson invited.

Mac went into the house. He was bombarded by the smells of coffee and…vanilla? He thought he got a whiff of apple and cherry as well. "Have a seat," Simpson said as he pulled out a chair from the table. "We'll have some coffee."

Mac and Adam sat down at the table. Mac hung his hat on the back of his chair. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Simpson asked as the cook poured some coffee in their cups.

"How have things been going out here?" Mac asked. "Has anything unusual happened?"

"You mean with that Withers bunch over there? I think it's unusual that he has that brother of his there. What's his reason for coming here and being a go-between for me and his brother? I've never had any trouble talking to Carl Withers until that guy showed up. It seems to me that this trouble started right about the time that his brother showed up."

"That's what I was wondering. Do you mean to say that his brother was there when the dispute started?"

Simpson considered that. "No, but he arrived soon after. Makes me think they were in close contact."

Mac nodded. "Perhaps his brother started the trouble and came over here to stir it up more, or maybe he used that for an excuse to come here."

"You think he's behind all this thieving and killing? I wouldn't put it past that pompous big shot. He walks like a strutting peacock and he's about got the ego to go with it."

Mac almost smiled. He remembered his encounter with Joshua Withers. The man certainly had an air of confidence. "His fiancé told us that he has a ranch out in California," he said. "We believe that's where those cattle are being taken."

"He knows how much he can do, and I can't believe Mary Townsend would be so blind as to want to marry him."

"Well, love is blind and trusting, sometimes too much. We have to catch him with his finger in this pie. I know he's in this but I'm not sure what Carl Withers has to do with it. No one has seen him in town for a while."

"I haven't talked to him in a while either. That brother of his does all the talking."

Mac was puzzled by that. "Why would he disappear from view like that?" he wondered out loud.

"That's a good question."

Mac looked at Adam. "What do you think about going into the enemy camp?" he asked.

Adam sipped his coffee. "Oh, I've been in enemy camps before. They get pretty mad when you come barging in."

"I'm not going to barge in. I just want to talk to them. After all, this is not a war, is it?"

"No, but guilty people are usually real nervous."

"I don't think he's ready to turn his hand right now. If he fired on me before I even got to the house, that would look real suspicious."

"I would agree. Are you planning to go over there alone?"

Mac smiled and set his coffee cup down. "You ever seen how some Indian tribes do things?" he asked thoughtfully. "They appear to be alone or have only a few but if you look around, you'll find that they are well covered from all sides."

Adam absorbed that. "Are you saying that you're going to create a mirage for them and appear to be alone?" he asked.

"It might shock them more if I came out there alone. I think it would throw a wrench into their works."

"And are we going to ask Mr. Simpson here for some help?"

Mac looked at Simpson who had a slight smile which made his eyes look all the more brighter with the anticipation of such a trick. "Would you want to be involved in this?" Mac asked.

"Are you kidding?" Simpson asked. "I like the idea of throwing a wrench in their works. They might blow a gear if we do."

"I'm sure they will and we will find out what makes them tick."

Adam shook his head. "We're going to have to stop talking in metaphors."

"Okay," Mac said. "I'm going to ride out to that ranch while the rest of you hide out nearby so that you can see what's going on in case they get nervous. And I think it will make them very nervous if I come out there alone and ask to see Carl Withers. It might just flush out the guilty ones."

"It would definitely stir them up."

"Then, if everybody agrees, let's get this started."

"Just a minute," Simpson said. "Let's have a slice of that cherry pie first."

Mac's mouth almost watered with the thought. "If you insist," he said.