We've done this before – galloped away from a posse intent on putting us away – but at those times there were 7 or 8 riders able to distract the pursuers, go different ways and split them up, confuse them. We also had a place to go. Devil's Hole, a safe place. One or two guys always stayed behind to guard the entrance, only allowing the gunshot password to grant admittance. Now, we were on our own.

Gila City. Leaving Wickenburg, we moved on to Gila. Rode into a small town, typical general store, small bank, sheriff's office, saloon, small hotel. Wooden sidewalks and dusty street. We stabled the horses and went over to the saloon, hoping it was serving some kind of food since we didn't notice any café or restaurant. The saloon was pretty empty only a few folks, probably regulars considering the time of day, at the bar.

"Afternoon!"

"Yea. What can I do for you?'

"Hoping for something to eat…any chance of that?"

"Got some hard-boiled eggs, if you buy a drink."

If Kid sighed any louder, it would be heard clear across town.

"Hadn't had an offer like that in weeks! What ya say, Thaddeus? Ready to enjoy some hard-boiled eggs?"

If looks could kill….

"Well, Joshua, as usual you've found the perfect place…"

So, a beer and an egg – and since we didn't get a room, figured we'd be moving on…

"Okay Heyes, how far to an actual town?"

"Barkeep says Dickson City is about 12 miles south, says he's pretty sure there is a café there."

"Hope so."

Kid can be pretty eloquent at times….

Problem started as we went to the stable and got ready to leave town. A guy came into the stable, he looked at us and I could tell he seemed to think we were familiar and I felt the same way about him.

"What do you think Kid?"

"I think we better saddle up and move on as fast as we can. Betting we'll have maybe a 10- or 15-minute head start."

"A calculation with which I agree."

All of a sudden you could see the light go off in his eyes and he made an excited dash over to the sheriff's office. We headed out of town at a gallop and I thought we would be okay but Kid yelled. I looked back and saw the dust following us. We came to a fork, one way seemed to lead to a river bed, the other to a hilly pass, both choices lead south so I figured they would lead to Dickson City. I knew in my head that we needed to split up, confuse the posse, maybe have them think they had lost us. Problem would be convincing Kid. We hadn't been split since we got back together and ended up at Devil's Hole.

We stopped to take a breath for ourselves and for the horses.

"Kid, I think we need to split up."

"Split up? What do you mean?"

"We need to distract them. Make them decide who to follow. Ya know, we did it with the gang all the time."

"Yea, with the gang we split up into 4 or 5 guys and had the guns to distract anyone who was following till we got to the Hole. This is different Heyes. We don't have that kinda of protection. I think we need to stay together."

"Nope, Kid. We need to distract them. There are two choices, the river and the hill. I'll take the river; you take the hill."

"Wait Heyes, the river bed is too open, too easy a target. If we do this, I'll take the river or are you going to argue that you're better with a gun that I am?"

"That's my worry, Kid…it's too open…"

"Yea, and you're right to worry if it's you riding that route. I'm taking the river if we do this crazy thing."

"Ok, Ok."

So far so good. I'm hoping that if the guy leading the posse has any brains, he would figure that we would take the hilly path since it would be harder to track us there. Also hoping that he won't consider the fact that we split. I knew that sooner or later Kid would figure out what I did but it would be too late for him to do anything about it.

"So, we'll meet in 3 days in Dickson City. Whoever gets there first will register at the hotel and wait.

"I don't know Heyes, still makes me nervous…"

"Relax, it will be fine."

We looked at each other. I could see the worry, and yea fear, in Kid's eyes. I knew what his fear was. I had the same but we shook hands, said "see you in Dickson City" and rode off.

I didn't like the idea but saw the reasoning behind it. I headed out along the river path hoping that the posse would follow and knowing that I had a better chance at defending myself against any gunfire than Heyes would have. Not that he was a bad shot but, truth be told, he was nowhere as good as I was with a gun. My horse was giving me all he could and I felt I had made good time, without a sign of the posse catching up.

The sun was setting and I was looking for a place to camp for the night. Found a patch of trees along what looked to be a small cave and, not having seen any dust for a couple of hours, decided it was the place to stop for the night. Settled my horse and didn't light a fire in case the posse was anywhere nearby. Glad to find some jerky in the saddle bag and that, along with some gulps of water from my canteen, was supper. I settled in and thought about Heyes and how difficult the hilly path would be with the twists and turns, the danger of rock slides and….DAMM!

Figured the posse leader right – he chose the hilly path as the best option for someone trying to outrun them. It was going pretty well and I was keeping ahead but I did see dust every time I took a chance on looking back. It was a chance cuz the hill was full of curves and narrow paths and over-hanging rock, which I constantly had to bend down on my horse to avoid getting smacked on the head. Stopped when it started to get dark, too dangerous to travel. Started out again at first light. Came to a bend which would lead me back down and made the turn. The downward trip was a little more challenging than uphill. For some reason the soil seemed harder and my horse was having more trouble with his footing, I slowed down a bit….my horse stumbled…I tried to right him and get back on track but he was skittish and not responding. Then…a stumble and he started going down. Jumped off right before his leg twisted under him and he hit the ground. Knew right away. "Well, boy, it's been a good run." I understood what the shot would mean but there wasn't anything else to do….

It wasn't long before I heard the hoof beats and then, "Okay, Heyes, throw down you gun; don't try anything funny." Two of them, looking a little nervous but definitely in charge. Rest of the posse must have given up, not wanting to chance the ride up the hill.

"Not gonna try anything."

"Where's your partner?"

"Not here."

"Don't get smart with me – where's your partner?"

He was anxiously looking over his shoulder.

"He's not here, split up a day ago. I'm all you get."

"All right, we're going walk these horses down this path and then we'll be heading back to town. Warning you not to try anything. It would be easier to travel with a body -keep that in mind."

"Cooper, tie his hands, we're gonna have to walk down this hill, and pick up that gun."

I traveled as far as I could up the hilly path till it got too dark to see, wasn't gonna get any sleep but no sense in risking the climb in the dark. Started out again at dawn. It was tricky travel and I was concentrating on making sure my horse was able to make it up when I heard it. A shot.

No question it was a shot, "Heyes…when I get a hold of you—I knew we shoulda never split up." It was hard to tell how far off the shot came from; I just headed in what I thought was the right direction, still trying to making sure my horse kept his footing. Rounded a bend and spotted the paint that Heyes had been riding, then tracks leading down the path, looked like three men walking and two horses being led. I felt a little bit of relief when I realized that Heyes must still be alive and able to walk. I decided not to take a chance and got off and started to lead my horse down the path. Figured since it was only me and I didn't have to worry about making sure Heyes wouldn't try something, I might be able to make up time and catch up. It was getting close to nightfall when I finally got down to level ground, mounted and headed in the direction of the tracks, now just two horses. Smelled it before I saw it – a campfire. Up ahead, a small rise, a clump of trees boarding the beginnings of a road. Seems that they were stopping for the night. I needed to see what the set up was and hope to be able to surprise the two holding Heyes. I circled wide and came in from behind. Saw one lookout with his eyes on the path to the trees.

"Drop your gun."

He turned around and got off a shot. Hit me around the knee. I got him in the wrist and he fell to the ground. I rode back into the trees and waited knowing the shots would bring his partner.

"Cooper! You okay?!"

"Watch out, Davis, he's right behind you!"

"Drop the gun or you'll get what your friend got…Where's my partner and he better be okay."

Davis took my advice and dropped his gun. I threw him the rope from my horse and had him tie up Cooper. Then told him to get Cooper up and lead me to Heyes. We went about 75 feet to their camp. Heyes was sitting up against a tree, feet and hands both tied.

"Hey Kid! Good to see ya!"

"Quiet Heyes, we got things to talk about when we're out of this…"

Keeping my gun on them both, I untied Heyes' hands, he took care of his feet. Gave him the rope off of one of their horses and he tied Davis up. Time to get out of here. It was dark but we were on level ground now and I was beginning to feel the gunshot and trying not to let Heyes know.

"It's gonna take a while for you to get out of them ropes, boys. By the time you do, we'll be long gone. I think you should just go back home."

"You won't be able to ride much longer…"

"Shut up. Come on, get on Heyes."

"What did he mean Kid?"

"Nothing, get on. Let's get out of here…."

We were riding double as we hightailed it away from Cooper and Davis. It would take some time for them to get out of the ropes. It was up in the air if they would try to follow or just give up and go back to Gila but we weren't taking any chances. The question was whether or not to go to McAdoo as planned or look for a town a little further from the chance of another posse being formed. We decided to keep on for at least most of the day, and if not near a town, camp and start again tomorrow. We were about 12 miles from Junedale when we decided to stop, as much for the horse carrying us as for us.

"Let's make camp, Kid." No answer.

"Kid, let's make camp." No answer. I learned forward and took hold of reins. He looked back then slowly started to slip down off the saddle. I caught his jacket, jumped from the horse and lowered him off.

"Kid, what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, figure it's a just a flesh wound."

"A flesh wound! Where?"

"Above my right knee, I think…." He tried to stand straight and walk but fell back against the horse. "Yea, around the knee," and began to fall forward.

I helped him to the ground and checked out the wound. There was a lot of blood but also an exit wound so the bullet was out. Made a makeshift bandage to bind the wound and slow down the bleeding. The ride had not done him any good.

"Why didn't you tell me? We could have stopped sooner."

"Just wanted to get away from there Heyes. I'll be fine…..just wrap it up…."

"It's wrapped. We're going to rest here for a bit and then move on so I can get you to a doc."

"Don't ….need…a….doc"

"Rest Kid and then we'll move on." I was talking to a man who had fallen asleep. I let him be for about an hour or so and then woke him and rode on to Junedale, hoping to find a doctor. Doc James was a little suspicious of the story of Kid's gun going off and hitting close to his knee but he was a doctor and his only concern as treating the wound. We were okay for a while.

"How's he doing Doc?"

"He'll be fine, the bullet was close but didn't hit the knee or the artery, which is a blessing. Still, he lost a lot of blood and seemed to be just about exhausted when you brought him in. However, as I said, he should be fine with some bedrest – bout a week I think."

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Not bad, just tired. Where are we?"

"Junedale. Nice little town, Doc treated you well."

"Ya….Heyes we ain't ever gonna split up again. It doesn't work."

"You just go back to sleep, Jed. Don't worry about that now."

He fell back to sleep and as I watched him, I knew that this would not be the last time we would need to split up to avoid a posse or bounty hunter. Our lives had changed and we had to move on with the change or go back to the old life. I knew he didn't want to and neither did I. We would need to go forward with this new way of life with eyes wide opened.

"Say, Kid. Been meaning to ask- how did Cooper get the draw on you? Losing your touch?"

Well, Heyes, I was worried that shooting first would tip off whoever was holding you, hoping that he would just throw down his gun, all right?

He seemed a little prody.

"Throw down his gun, huh?"

"Yea, Heyes, Throw down his gun."

"He didn't though…."

"No, he didn't, are you happy?"

Definitely prody.

Course not Kid, I understand as you get older…."

"Heyes…"