I went inside the town's livery stables, walking down the aisle until I found Storm Cloud's stall. He nickered happily, bobbing his head up and down when he saw me. He eagerly sniffed my clothes to see if I had come bearing treats, and seemed disappointed when he realized I hadn't. Storm was still saddled, so I entered the stall and tightened the girth around his belly. He flattened his ears and jerked away from me.
"Sorry, boy," I murmured, stroking his forehead.
I removed his rope bridle from a hook in the wall and guided it over his nose. Using his empty feed bucket as a step, I swung myself into the saddle. Storm turned his head toward me, looking betrayed.
"I know you're tired, boy," I said. "But we have to find Billy."
I hated to leave Chavez alone, weak as he was, but I felt I had to leave. Billy was my pal. If he'd been shot and crawled off somewhere to die, I didn't want him to be alone. I knew he'd do the same for me or Chavez. The problem was, with no blood trail to follow, I didn't know where to start looking. Now more than ever, I would have to rely on the gut instinct Father had told me to follow since I was a little girl.
I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. I sat absolutely still for an indeterminate amount of time, letting the sun warm my face and the breeze ruffle my hair. A vision slowly came to me: Billy lying in the desert, bleeding, a gang of vultures surrounding him. There were tall cliffs on three sides of him, brush at the base of the cliffs. The Spirit Horse stood patiently in the distance...
I jerked abruptly out of my trance, feeling unsettled but pleased. Never in my life had I had such a vivid vision. Certain of what I was doing, I guided Storm to the east. Several miles of desert later, I reached a canyon with only one way in or out. There was a long stretch of paths, surrounded by cliffs exactly like those in my vision. This had to be the place.
"Billy!" I started to holler. "Billy! Billy! It's Serena! Are you here?"
My only reply was the echo of my own voice. I pressed on, keeping my eyes sharp. There was a possibility Billy was unconscious or too weak to yell back. I shouted his name until my throat hurt, but I never saw him. I sighed slightly. Maybe I hadn't had a real vision after all. But it had felt so real...
Another sound echoed 'round the canyon, slight but still detectable: someone coughing. I followed the sound to a clump of brush. There, I found Billy. His face was sunburned and the dirt near him was stained red.
"'Rena," Billy said weakly. "If you're here, I must be in heaven."
"I'm no angel," I said with an amused grin.
"How'd you find me here?"
The better question was how the hell Billy had ended up in this canyon under his own power. It didn't take a genius to figure he was severely wounded.
"That cowardly bastard Pat Garrett shot me in the back," Billy moaned. "Goddamn it, it hurts, 'Rena."
After a brief struggle, I was able to stand Billy up and with considerable effort hoist him into the saddle. I picked up Storm's reins and led him out of the canyon. The trek to Old Fort Sumner took twice as long as it might have because I had to stop and make sure Billy wasn't falling off. What astounded me was that he was still breathing. It really proves the old saying: "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog."
By the time we reached Beever's Place, it was almost too dark to see. Beever carried Billy into the bar to try and work on him. His Mexican wives began to sob hysterically when they saw how badly hurt he was. I returned to the private parlor to check on Chavez.
"He's awake now," Hendry reported, "and he says he's hungry."
"Supper may have to wait," I said. "Billy's been shot. Beever and his wives are lookin' after him."
"He gonna make it?" Hendry asked worriedly.
"He will." said Chavez. "He's the luckiest white-eye in New Mexico."
'Everybody runs out of luck at some point,' I thought.