Chapter 3

Daybreak dawned and Newly awoke feeling refreshed. He wanted to get the gear packed up so he and Les could start on their way. Newly wanted to waste as little time as possible.

"Alright Les. Rise and shine. Let's get.." Newly stopped when he realized that Les wasn't there.

Panic started to set in. Newly quickly searched around the campsite, but knew there was little point in doing that. Les' horse was gone, and Newly knew that Les was gone as well. Newly tried his best to get himself to calm down. Panicking was not going to help the situation.

Newly doused the fire and quickly packed up the gear. Gear packed up, Newly looked for tracks made by Les' horse. Since there were just two horses, and one was still there, finding Les' horse's tracks was easy. Newly discovered they were heading west. Newly mounted his horse and headed that direction.

As he followed the tracks west, Newly was mentally kicking himself over what had happened. How could he have allowed Les Dean to escape? What would Matt think? The Marshal had trusted him with the responsibility of transporting Les Dean, a prisoner, to Hays. He failed and now a prisoner was out there wandering around someplace. Albeit Les wasn't a murder or a threat to people, but he was still a prisoner. That was why Newly was trying to track Les down. He had to right the wrong.

Newly continued following the tracks west. He had no idea how far ahead Les was. Newly didn't think Les would pull something like this. Les showed no signs of wanting to escape. But maybe that was all part of Les' plan. Gaining Newly's trust, so he wouldn't expect Les to escape. If that was Les' plan, it worked. As of now, he was a free man.

It was late afternoon in Hays and Judge Brooker had just finished his last case of the day. His first case tomorrow would be Les Dean's poker cheating case. Going over the details of the case, Judge Brooker figured it to be open and shut. There were witnesses and as far as Judge Brooker knew, Les Dean didn't argue that he was innocent.

Morning arrived and the trial of Les Dean was to start in an hour. Judge Brooker received a wire from Matt that his deputy, Newly O'Brien, would be bringing the defendant to the trial. Judge Brooker assumed that Les Dean was dropped off at the jail and Newly rented a room at the local hotel. Judge Brooker told his assistant to go to the jail and have one of the deputies bring Les Dean over to the court for his trial.

Judge Brooker's assistant, Todd, walked over to the jail. He walked inside and saw Riley, one of the deputies was in there. "Hey Riley, I'm here to have you bring Les Dean over for his trial."

"There's no one here by the name of Les Dean," Riley said as he cut into an apple and ate the slice.

"Riley, I don't have time for this. Les Dean's case is in an hour. Judge Brooker wants him at the court," said Todd.

"I'm not joshing ya. You can check the cells and the papers. Les Dean is not here," Riley stressed.

Knowing something was wrong, Todd quickly went back to the courthouse to give Judge Brooker the news. The judge was in his chambers when Todd returned.

"Judge, Les Dean wasn't at the jail. Riley said he was never there," said Todd, slightly out of breath.

"What? I figured Newly O'Brien would've had him there late afternoon or early evening yesterday," Judge Brooker said, his voice full of concern. "I better wire Marshal Dillon over in Dodge to let him know."

Judge Brooker removed his judicial robe and made his way to the telegraph office. He told the telegraph officer where to send the wire, whom to send it to, and what to say. Marshal Dillon *stop* Newly and Les Dean didn't show up in Hays *stop*

"Make sure this gets sent immediately," Judge Brooker told the telegraph officer.

"Yes, sir. Right away."

The wire was immediately sent to Marshal Dillon in Dodge City. Barney, Dodge City's telegraph officer, intercepted the wire and wrote down the message. Reading the message back to himself, Barney knew the urgency of the telegram. However, he couldn't leave the office. He was the only one there. However, as luck would have it, Louie Pheeters just happened to walk by.

Barney swiftly walked from behind the counter to catch Louie. "Louie!" Barney shouted. Louie heard his name, turned around, and saw Barney. "Come here, Louie! I've got an important job for you."

Louie walked back towards the telegraph office. "Whatcha need, Barney?" he asked.

"An important telegraph came for the Marshal, but I can't leave the office. Will you take it to him?" Barney asked Louie.

"It will be my pleasure," Louie said, taking the telegram from Barney. Louie thought very highly of Matt and wouldn't hesitate to do something for him.

Louie took the telegram and went to the Marshal's office. When Matt wasn't there, Louie went to the Long Branch. Arriving at the Long Branch, Louie saw Matt at the bar with Kitty, Festus, and Doc. Louie approached them.

"Marshal, I got a telegram for you," said Louie, handing Matt the envelope that contained the telegram.

"Thanks Louie. I appreciate it," Matt said. "Here, have a drink." Matt really didn't like giving Louie alcohol, but he figured if he paid him, the money would go towards alcohol. Louie gladly accepted the drink and left the Long Branch.

Matt opened the envelope and read the telegram. Festus may not have been able to read words, but he could read people's faces, and there was trouble written all over Matt's face. Doc and Kitty could see it too.

"Matthew, what's a matter?" Festus asked.

"It's a telegram from Judge Brooker. He said Newly and Les Dean never showed up in Hays," Matt answered.

"Oh no! Matt, what do you think could have happened?" Kitty exclaimed.

"I'm not sure Kitty. It couldn't be the weather. There haven't been any storms in the area. Maybe an accident? I'm just not sure. Festus, we'll have to pack up and head towards Hays to see if we can find them."

"Yes sir, Matthew. I'll be ready to go before you can say rat ran over the roof with a piece of raw liver in his mouth," said Festus.

Matt and Festus packed their saddle bags and headed for Hays. They figured that was the most logical place to start their search. There was one trail that Matt, Festus, and Newly had agreed to take to Hays. That was the trail Matt and Festus took.

Matt and Festus made the two day ride to Hays, stopping once a couple times to rest the horses and to bed down for the night. They arrived in Hays on the afternoon of the second day after they left Dodge.

For the last several days, Newly continued to track Les Dean. He didn't want to go too fast and lose the trail, but at the same time he wanted to hurry up and catch Les. Newly noticed that the trail had started to veer off to the south. He figured he had to be close to the Arizona territory. Newly wasn't sure how far he should track Les, but didn't want to explain to Matt that he lost Les.

Newly continued on, when his horse saw a rattlesnake. The horse was instantly spooked and threw Newly off the saddle. Not expecting that, Newly landed on the ground, hitting his head. Everything went black.

TBC