Chapter 13
"Oh, my gosh." Sam said simply, her feet instinctively nudging Witch's side.
Jake poked her in the back, and Sam knew he was warning her to be quiet and stay away from the Phantom. Throwing a quick glance behind her shoulders, Sam saw that Jake's eyes were glued on the dirt path road, and Sam squinted, seeing a dot in the distance.
Meanwhile, the regal was walking slowly over to Witch and the two riders on Witch's back. Since Jake's fiery black mare recognized the lead stallion, she only neighed shortly, and acted like she didn't notice the huge white horse.
"We gotta do somethin'." Jake said, as if Sam didn't know that. The dot on the horizon was becoming bigger by the second, and Sam knew it wouldn't be long before that person could see them.
The thundering of hooves on the desert flatland and the whinnying of a horse jolted Sam, literally, back into Jake. Blackie was driving Jake's unusually obedient mare right into his herd!
"Where did they come from?" Sam asked out loud, thinking that she had no time to think, but react, like the horses did.
"Hidin' in the lost canyons, I bet." Jake absently told her, letting Witch have free rein.
"Then that's where the Phantom's taking us." Sam announced, just now realizing that her wild horse was trying to save them from the tobacco-chewer, by ushering them into the wild horses' secret home.
"Crap, Sam, he's gainin' on us!" Jake called, his voice being snatched away in the wind.
Sam turned halfway around, glancing at the road. Sure enough, the vehicle was getting closer, and it had to be going at least 100 mph.
The feral horses were galloping so fast that Sam's ears were echoing from the thundering stampede of all of the animals.
The rocky cliffs and crevices of Thread the Needle were directly ahead, and Sam's stomach lurched at the sight of tiny dollhouse-sized spreads down below. She didn't take the time to look for River Bend, but if she had, maybe she would've seen that her dad wasn't out doing chores yet. In fact, Gram had persuaded him that morning to sleep in a bit, since he was so exhausted.
Sam's hands were wrapped so tight around Witch's reins that they were white and the veins were very prominent. Jake was also leaning forward against Sam, and he barely noticed her unraveling braided hair blowing into his face and mouth.
The truck was so close after them that Sam could make out that the vehicle was a four-wheel drive Dodge.
Just then, with a sickening lurch of G-forces; they were down in a winding cave. At least, that's what Sam thought it was. She was so disoriented that they could be in Florida and she wouldn't know.
They came to a sudden halt, and Sam gazed around for awhile at the mass of mustangs in the huge open cave.
Overhead, there was a roar of an engine, and then, empty silence. A string of cuss words was yelled, and Sam inhaled a shaky breath.
"Where'd he go?" a confused squeaky voice asked. "I look ahead, and all of the sudden they disappeared!"
The older guy, the curser growled at his accomplice. "Don't need an instant replay, idiot."
"Well, it ain't my frickin' fault that those loco nags fell in to thin air!" the squeaky-voice youth whined.
The sound of a fist into a gut made Jake clench his jaw. The mustangs silently stood around in the cave, and it was unlike anything Sam had ever seen. They were so quiet, it was amazing.
When another string of cuss words were yelled, Jake's grabbed Sam's hand. "Twerpy." he mouthed.
Jimmy Henson, alias Twerpy to Sam and Jake, was the seventeen-year-old accomplice of Curtis Flickinger. Apparently, after his last nasty encounter with the Phantom, Sam and Jake; he was put into a juvenile detention center down by Reno.
"You sure?" Sam whispered.
Jake wordlessly nodded.
The cave walls, as Sam now noticed, were rusty-red and hard. Most likely, the whole thing was clay. Still, she wondered if she and Jake were the first humans to be in it. And hopefully not the last, Sam thought worriedly, hearing thumps and bangs aboveground.
Sam might have been pretty darn scared, but she was aware enough for her heart to speed up when Jake grabbed her shoulder and pointed.
Up at the corner, directly in front of them, was a thick crack of light. Down the length of that side was a crack, (Sam figured that it somehow opened up or something), and she saw a boot with spurs. They weren't the normal spurs, though. These were the dangerous, grotesque ones similar to Slocum's old ones.
"Maybe that ghost story really's true." Twerpy muttered. "But I figure they're 'round here somewhere"
"We gotta get 'em to 'for noon." the older wrangler announced. "You know that, Henson. He'll beat us if we don't."
"It is Jimmy Henson!" Sam mouthed to Jake.
Jake's dark eyes, full of adrenaline, met hers. "Ya think that's Fat Guy?" he quietly said, his voice barely audible to Sam, even though his lips were a centimeter away from her ear.
Fat Guy, another one of Flick's jail buddies, had been an unsuccessful Texan rancher, and had gotten into a lot of trouble. After he was caught by Heck Ballard, with help from Sam and Jake, the police found that he had owed lots of money to people.
It couldn't be Fat Guy, Sam reasoned. He was down in a prison in Texas, smoking cigars and waiting for his five years to come up.
Plus, the last time she saw a picture of him, on the Internet; he was overweight, sleazy and completely dense.
The horses around Witch, Sam and Jake had suddenly thinned out. Now, in the large cave, were only Jake's horse, the Phantom, Jake, her and Phantom's lead mare.
"Where'd they go?" Sam whispered to Jake in amazement.
Jake nudged Witch three steps further into the cavern. There, Sam saw a hole, grass slanting upwards, and empty outdoors. Of course, the Phantom's herd had a secret exit too!
"I've got to do something," Sam proclaimed to Jake. "We gotta get out of here and to Willow Springs so we can get Brynna."
Sam rarely, rarely, saw Jake look so deflated. "Brynna's at church, remember?" he told Sam.
"Nuh-uh!" it was hard for Sam to continue whispering so quietly, when she was so riled up. "If they found rider-less Ace come home, I'm sure Brynna is driving around looking for me."
Jake smiled a lazy tomcat grin, and Sam knew he was back to his smug self. "Best idea yet, Brat. Let's get goin'."
Sam cringed when she heard stray pebbles roll across the echoing floor. Twerpy and his collaborator were quiet above them, and Sam heard something splat softly on the ground.
"No sense in sittin' here gettin' older. I'd say we should head down to Lost Canyon."
That was their cue. Witch, understanding that Jake wanted to be quiet, walked ten feet over to the hidden exit.
"We're gonna have to dismount." Jake informed Sam, glancing up the highly-elevated passage.
Jake nimbly jumped down off of Witch and hit her flanks. The menacing mare swiftly understood his command and climbed up the ramp. Seconds later, Sam or Jake couldn't see her. It was like she completely vanished.
If Jen was here, she'd have a radical explanation, Sam thought, queasily looking at the ramp. The elevated land was steep, and about three feet off the ground. Sam herself wasn't more than 5"2, but she was strong and could jump good.
"I'm gonna climb outta here and help you up, Brat. Try not to be loud." Jake explained to Sam.
They stood shoulder to shoulder by the steep exit. "Good luck, Jake." Sam told him, her heart pumping fast and her hands feeling clammy. It felt like they'd been in the grotto cave forever. She hoped in reality it wasn't very long.
Before she knew it, Jake was out and was reaching for her hand on the other side. Sam climbed up, her boots skidding on the clay surface. Thankfully, it wasn't loud, and Sam couldn't here the horse rustlers anymore.
Sam was sweating by the time she hauled herself out into the sunshine. She tumbled out onto the hard ground, and she was face to face to a kneeling Jake.
He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, and Sam forgot about the wranglers. Instead, her arms went around his neck and she held on to him for dear life.
"They got 'em, Sam." Jake told her, pulling away from her. Sam looked up and saw Brynna, her dad and Heck Ballard walking towards them.
After Sam and Jake were bustled out over to where the ranch truck and Heck's police cruiser were, they explained that Brynna had found Ace and knew Sam was in trouble.
"He's actually the one who led us to you guys." Brynna grinned, and Sam looked behind her, and saw Ace.
She stroked him and Dad and Jake didn't even complain that she was spoiling a perfectly good ranch mustang.
"That was Jimmy Henson and Lester Ackerson." Heck said, and Sam could see another cop in the car with the two criminals. "I tell you, if it weren't for you two, we'd have horse wranglers still on the run."
Dad hugged Sam, and Brynna even attempted to hug Jake. "Gram's at home, watchin' Cody, and in a nervous wreck." Dad told Sam. "So we'd better get you on back home."
"I'd have you explain it all, but you look tired." Heck grinned to the teens.
Jake cut in, "As for now, there's a silver horse behind you waitin' to be thanked."