Chapter 8

They rode on without talking until the sun approached the horizon and Ada spoke again.

"We're approximately ten miles north of Yarborough's headquarters here Matt, and about fifteen miles from Kenton."

Already working on a plan in his head, Matt didn't say anything. He figured that it was Tom approaching the gang that had made Yarborough's man suspicious. He was trying to think of a way that would get Yarborough to come to him instead.

By now Ada had got used to her companion's prolonged silences so she wasn't concerned when he didn't answer her immediately. She knew he'd heard her comment but had something on his mind. Her patience was rewarded when he looked across to her.

"Let's camp here for the night." He decided it was time to stop before they got too close to where Yarborough or whatever he called himself, had his headquarters.

They took care of the horses then spread out their bedrolls. They knew it would be safer with a fire but didn't want to risk being seen, so instead shared the remains of the previous night's meal while sitting staring into the darkness.

"Tell me what you found when you worked in Kenton." Matt was trying to gain any scrap of information that might be of use in finding and arresting their quarry.

"You know there's not much in Kenton besides saloons and gunsmiths. There's certainly no law."

Ada was making herself comfortable on her bedroll and leaning back against the stump of a fallen tree. It wasn't cold out here tonight, but a fire would've been nice. There was no moon visible right now because of a few large clouds which also blocked out many of the stars. It made the darkness even more intense. She'd never been afraid of the dark but right now being so close to the territory of the man they were looking for, it was a little unnerving. Ada was aware that Matt kept his rifle beside him - not that it was much use if you couldn't see what you were aiming at.

"I've ridden through there a few times but never stayed more than long enough to wash the trail dust out of my throat," Matt commented. "I do remember that the beer was warm and flat. Maybe I picked the wrong saloon."

"No, they're all pretty bad." A slight smile invaded her lips but couldn't be seen in the dark. "Miranda got a job at the Scarlet Joker. It's kind of off by itself on the north side of Main street and perhaps a little better than most of the others, but not by much. She told me there's a gambler there by the name of Hicks. She got the impression that he was pretty close to Yarborough and seemed to act as a go between by passing messages to and fro between various riders who wandered through town and "The Maestro." She stopped to muster her thoughts because she was about to talk about Tom and at the same time keep her feelings under control. She'd known him for a long time, way before the marshal's service, and had deep feelings for him. Not in the way Tom and Miranda felt about each other but more like an older brother or a special teacher who'd helped her along her chosen path. He'd always believed in her and encouraged her to follow her dreams. She took a breath, squared her shoulders and continued.

"Tom arrived about a week after we did so there would be no obvious connection between us. He played at the Faro table in the Scarlet Joker a time or two and got talking with Hicks. Eventually he hinted that he needed a job done. Miranda told me that Tom insisted he would only discuss it directly with the boss. It was something huge and big money was at stake so he wanted to personally negotiate the percentage he'd be paid for the information. A day later Hicks came to Tom's hotel room and said he'd arranged a meeting, but Tom would have to come alone and bring some proof of what the job was worth."

She stopped to gather her thoughts once more.

"We three met together that evening outside of town. Tom explained what was going on. He wanted us to follow him and Hicks at a distance. If things went wrong we were to let Washington know where he was taken, but not to try and get to "The Maestro" by ourselves. We would have to be able to lead whoever they sent to help us, to Yarborough's headquarters. If we alerted the gang in any way he would probably up and move on, so all our work would be wasted."

Dillon didn't say anything immediately. He was still working on an idea forming in his head. A way that would get this man Hicks to come to him.

"Is there any possibility that you could go back to working in one of those saloons?" He hated to ask her to do this but it might be the only way.

"Sure. Saloon girls come and go all the time. They probably wouldn't remember me anyway. What do you have in mind?"

Ada had joined the marshal's service because her life on the ranch seemed dull and boring. Here she was with Matt Dillon, a United States Marshal whose name was well known throughout Kansas and many surrounding states… and he was asking for her help! There was no way she would turn him down.

"I need to find a way to get that man Hicks to approach me. He has to believe I'm someone who has unique talents to offer to this group."

Matt was lying propped up against his saddle, one hand behind his head and the other resting lightly on the rifle that lay close to his side. He was alert and listening for any sound that might indicate they had company - but all was quiet.

"I have a suggestion." Ada leaned forward and spoke softly into the darkness. "Hicks only saw me a time or two. He knew Miranda but didn't know the two of us were in any way connected. I think I can convince him that you would be someone Yarborough would love to hire. Give me a few days before riding into town yourself, Matt, and I'll have him anxiously awaiting your arrival!

"I can't let you do that, Ada." There was no way Matt could accept the idea of a young woman like Ada risking her life.

"Why not, Marshal?" she replied brusquely. She pulled the inevitable grass straw sharply from between her teeth and peered into the darkness in an effort to see him better. "You're obviously prepared to put your life on the line to see this job through and I feel exactly the same way. I know what they did to Tom and I need to see Yarborough or whatever he calls himself, pay for that. Yes, I'm a woman, but that doesn't make me feel the anger any less. Men think that because I'm a female I'm not up to the rigors that a job like this demands. Let me tell you something, Dillon, I heard that too often when I was growing up. Maybe I don't have the physical strength that you have, but I have other talents that make up for it. I can shoot and ride with the best of them. I read law books and studied hard. I'm as good a peace officer as you'll find anywhere, and I'm in on this assignment whether you like it or not."

There was silence between them after her outburst. Matt didn't quite know how to work with this young lady. She looked small and fragile but he could tell she had the grit and determination of any good lawman he'd ever known. She was right, she had other talents. Skills that a man didn't have. Eventually he decided to go along with her demands. He didn't have much choice.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"I'm not sure right now," she admitted. "Let me think about it and I'll tell you in the morning. I'll take the first watch and wake you in four hours."

Strangely enough Matt was quite comfortable allowing Ada to keep watch. He even felt relaxed enough to sleep - something he hardly ever did when camping out on the trail.

()()()

The sun was barely up when they left the campsite. The morning air was crisp and the horses snorted a few times as they started out. The animals had more energy than usual, and willingly went at an easy lope for the first half hour. Matt wanted to get as close to Yarbough's hideout as possible without attracting attention. He needed to have some idea of what they were facing.

"We're approaching the Maestro's hideout soon, Matt. I've never actually seen it but I know it's in this direction and pretty close-by."

They'd been riding through an area of sparse vegetation with occasional groves of small scrubby bushes. Eventually they found themselves walking along a crest that overlooked a small valley. A ranch house stood in the distance, as far away as they could see. To the right of it stood a barn about three times the size of the house. A recently constructed corral was present out back of the barn and the whole setup was surrounded by fencing encircling the property a hundred yards or more away from the dwelling to the front and a little closer at the back because of a small rise behind the house itself. It was all arranged so that any visitors would have only one way to approach the main house. There were several riders hanging around the front porch and the barn. All carried guns or rifles and looked reasonably alert. Two men were standing by the only entrance to the place and it would be impossible to get past them without being invited inside. Worse still the land inside the valley was flat with no useful places of concealment, with the exception of the hill behind the house.

"Not much chance of getting in there unseen," Matt commented as they eased their way back away from the edge of the rise.

"What ideas did you come up with last night?" he asked Ada.

She thought for a moment before answering. "I don't think you're gonna like this, but it's the only way I can think of that has a chance of getting Hicks to come to you."

"Go ahead." Matt had already planned to say no to anything that involved putting this woman in danger. Of course he now understood enough about her to know that she wouldn't give up easily.

"I'll go into town ahead of you. No one there knows I had anything to do with Tom or Miranda. I just disappeared from the Santa Fe Saloon and I can put that fact to good use. I'll go there looking to get my old job back. I probably won't be successful so I'll go across the street to the Scarlet Joker - they're always short of girls. I'll get close to Hicks and …

She continued to explain her idea in detail but the more he thought about her plan the more concerned he became. There were too many risks involved for this young woman to handle alone. He did get her to accept a few suggestions of his own but in the end realized he had to let her go ahead and do the job she was uniquely qualified for.

It was midday and they were about ten miles from Kenton.

TBC