Chapter 10: Crazy Charlie

Crazy Charlie led his pack mule Lucy down along the grassy hillsides, carrying his squirrel gun lazily in the crook of his arm. A mountain rat by nature, he was dressed in worn buckskins and a coon tailed hat that had also seen better days. His face was covered in whiskers, his hands wrinkled, his shoulders curled from years of prospecting. His frame was so bony, in fact, that it looked like a strong gust of wind might just blow him away. They called him Crazy Charlie because he continued to prospect in hills that had long been abandoned in search of that elusive strike. He preferred the likes of his mule over the company of most men and managed to collect enough gold dust here and there to etch out a meager existence.

Not having much success lately, Charlie decided to try his luck down in the south canyons for a while. He'd heard of several abandoned mines around the area he thought might be worth checking out.

As he walked along he talked out loud to his only companion, the mule about as ancient as he was. "Well now, Lucy, just you wait, somethin's bound to turn up soon enough. My big toes been an itchin' for a couple of days now and you know what that means, riches will soon be comin' our way."

The mule just followed along, laden down with all of the old prospector's worldly possession, which wasn't much.

Crazy Charlie continued to ramble on about the big strike he'd eventually find just around the bend until he spotted four horses tethered to a group of trees. He stopped and looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone about. He was just about to go have a closer look when he saw a young man hurrying down the hill towards them. After grabbing a length of rope, Charlie watched him run back up then seemed to disappear behind some scrub trees. When he didn't re-emerge after several minutes, curiosity got the better of him. "What do ya suppose that young fella is up to, girl?"

With his trusty squirrel gun in hand, Charlie made his way a little further up the side of the hill and concealed himself behind some brush. Still some distance away, from his vantage point Charlie thought he could just make out the dark entrance to some sort of cave hidden in the thickets. "I knew it! A mine tunnel! Maybe he found a vein, Lucy. My big toe never lies."

Charilie waited a long time wondering if the boy was ever gonna come back out. He'd just about given up when he saw three different fellas emerge. They were carrying something with them and laughing, though Charlie couldn't see what from him vantage point.

Lucy squawked and began nuzzlin' Charlie's pocket. "You just hush up ya hear." But the mule pushed insistently up against him. Charlie irritably pulled out a bag of penny candy and fed one to the mule, then decided to help himself to one as well. When Lucy had finished hers, she nuzzled Charlie again. "No more for you girl. You got a bad enough sweet tooth as it is. These candies don't grow on trees ya know." He put the sack of candy carefully back in his pocket.

Charlie then retreated back down the hill and tied the burro to a branch well out of sight. "Looky here Lucy, you stay put. I'm just gonna go back over and take me a closer look see." Lucy stared back on him with blank eyes.

Charlie edged his way back up the hill where the three men where still talking. They had their backs to him facing the tunnel entrance and since he was still some distance away, and Charlie's hearing wasn't a good as it used to be, he couldn't quite make out what there were saying. A short while later the younger fella he'd seen before came out but this time he had a young boy with him. One of the other men came over and rubbed the boy on the head, but the boy cringed back as if he didn't seem none too happy about being touched. Charlie scratched his whiskers thinking the whole situation looked a little odd. Besides, the men didn't look like much like prospectors neither. Charlie craned his neck to see what they were fussing over, but his view was still blocked by the scrub trees.

A few minutes later the boy was led away by the younger man. Charlie stayed to watch the others, curiosity getting the better of him.

So intent was he on watching the men and wondering what all the fuss was about that Charlie was nearly startled out of his skin when a familiar braying sound came from behind. Turning quickly about he saw Lucy standing behind him. "What in tar 'nation are ya doing you stupid mule! I told ya to stay put!" Charlie whispered irritably.

Lucy simply advanced and started nuzzling Charlie's pockets. "I ain't got time to satisfy your sweet tooth you stubborn jackass." But Lucy was insistent and knocked Charlie over in the process, braying stubbornly.

Then with a sinking feeling, Charlie heard a voice from behind. "Hold it right there old timer."

Charlie stared up at the gun drawn level to his face and the hard features of the man holding it. Dropping the squirrel gun, he raised his hands in the air and looked over at his mule. "Stubborn jackass, ya sure got me into a heap of trouble this time!"

When Will and Mark returned from washing up, they were surprised to see an old man standing in front of Lloyd. The prospector looked as thin as an iron rail beneath the battered and worn buckskin coverings. His aged eyes darted nervously about.

"What's going on?" Will asked curiously.

"Found this old coot spying on us," Lloyd said.

"I didn't mean anything by it, honest mister. Me and Lucy were just travelin' through."

"Lucy?"

The old man looked nervously at Lloyd. "My mule," he reluctantly confessed nodding over to the pack animal lazily chewing on a clump of grass.

Roark started laughing.

Lloyd had taken the old squirrel gun away from the prospector was now examining it. He chuckled. "Doubt you could even hit the side of a barn with this thing old man." Nevertheless, he shattered it up against a tree.

"Aw, why did ya have to go and do that for?" Charlie said woefully.

Lloyd tipped his gun at the underside of the old prospector's throat. He swallowed hard, Charlie's eyes darting from one man to the next.

"I ain't a lookin' for any trouble mister." His voice trembled. "I'm just a crazy old fool people don't take much notice of anyway. Whatever stake ya all have up in that tunnel is your own. I ain't no thief." But he couldn't help looking over at Mark curiously.

"You got that right!" Roark barked.

"Fetch that mule over here boy," Lloyd ordered.

Lucy didn't seem particularly happy to be dragged away from the sweet grass. With some effort Mark retrieved the stubborn animal.

"Watch him." Lloyd said then proceeded to riffle through the prospector's gear. He pulled out some worn tools, a couple of ragged shirts and a few battered up tin cooking supplies. Then he came across a couple of sticks of aged dynamite. "Well what do we have here?" Lloyd examined them closely, looked at Mark for several long seconds as if in thought, then stuffed them into his shirt. Last the outlaw leader found a small cloth sack. Opening the drawstring bag he discovered it was barely half full of gold dust. He let out an amused chuckle as Charlie made a sound of protest.

"But that there is all I've got in the world mister. Took me and Lucy nearly six months to collect that."

Lloyd grinned. "Well, we appreciate the effort old timer." He then tossed the bag to Mark. "Here kid, consider it a little reward for a job well done."

Mark dropped it like it had burnt his hand.

"What are we going to do with him?" Roark asked.

Lloyd looked the old man up and down thoughtfully for several long seconds. Finally he said, "He ain't no threat, crazy old coot." Turning to Will, "Go get some rope and tie him up to that tree. We'll let the coyotes take care of him."

Will reluctantly complied though tried to make the knots not nearly as tight as he should have.

"Ya can't leave me like this!" Charlie muttered a few minutes later as he squirmed against the bindings.

"Can't I?" Lloyd said. "Be thankful I'm in a good mood old man or you'd have a bullet between the eyes instead."

He walked over and grabbed the mule's reins. Charlie looked fretfully down at the animal. "Please, mister, don't hurt my Lucy, she's all I got in this world," he pleaded.

Lloyd chuckled again. "Crazy old coot!" With that he gave the mule a hard swat on the rear followed by several rounds of gunfire in the air, sending the mule running away in a blind panic, braying loudly.

"Why'd you go and do that for?" Roark snapped. "You want the whole valley to hear the gunfire?"

Lloyd ignored the comment as Charlie lost his temper shouting and calling them every vile name he could think off.

"Gag him and let's get moving," Lloyd told Will and headed back towards the horses.

Reluctantly Will covered Charlie's mouth. The old prospector stared up at him with aging eyes, looking defeated. Then Will picked up the bag of gold dust. Glancing quickly over to see the rest of the group was busy mounting up Will shoved the sack of gold dust into the old prospector's shirt. Charlie looked at him confused. As Will turned he saw Mark watching him before he was quickly steered in the direction of the horses. Mark took one last look at the old prospector over his shoulder as they left.

The rain had cleared up leaving the sky with a patchy thin layer of clouds as the trio started out at first light trying to pick up the outlaw's trail again. As Lucas had feared the rain had washed away the few remains of any tracks they had been following. With little choice they decided to make a systematic check of the nearby gullies. A few hours later after having no luck they heard the faint crack of gunfire coming somewhere southwest of them.

The bounty hunter instinctively turned in that direction. About an hour or so later they heard an odd braying noise.

What they found a short while later was a mule entangled in a thicket of heavy brush, the burro's pack still on her back in disarray. "What do you make of it?" Lucas asked Micah.

"Gotta belong to somebody, that's for sure," Micah said, as he went about trying to untangle the beast. But once free, the skittish mule trotted off into canyon seeming to have a mind of her own.

"I say we should follow her," Broudy suggested. "As you said Marshal, she's gotta belong to someone." With no other leads to go on at the moment, Lucas and Micah let Broudy lead the way.

The burro eventually led them down to a grove of trees. There to there utter surprise they saw an old man tied up to one of the trunks. The mule was up along side him tugging at his pocket with her teeth.

Lucas brought Razor to a halt and quickly approached the man with his rifle drawn. He looked half conscious, sweat pouring from his face. Lucas lifted his head and loosened the gag, then untied the man from the tree.

The old timer fell to his knees. Micah brought the canteen over to him and Lucas offered him a drink of water. His hands were shaking so badly, Lucas had to steady the canteen for him while he drank.

After he'd taken several swallows, he finally said in a croaked voice. "Thanks mister. Sure grateful to ya for comin' around when ya did. Thought I be tied to that tree till I turned to bones."

"You can thank the mule over there, she led us to you," Lucas said.

Charlie looked at the beast. "Lucy! Why you clever old gal."

The mule simply nudged Charlie's pocket again. The old prospector laughed and pulled out the sack of candy dumping the entire contents on the ground. "Help yourself old gal, ya deserve it." Charlie got shakily to his feet and looked down at the remains of his trusty squirrel rifle. "Those vile varmints!"

"Mind tellin' us how you came to be in this predicament old timer?" Micah asked.

Seeing the silver star on Micah's chest, Charlie went on to explain what happened.

"I thought those fellas seemed a bit odd. Didn't look like any proscpectors I've seen before. But they sure seemed happy about something they brought out of that cave up yonder."

"Did you see what it was?"

The old man shook his head. "I could only see them partially through the scrub and I couldn't get close enough for a better look before I got caught."

"What do you make of it Micah?"

"Not sure, but it seems maybe that's why Corbain's back in his old stomping grounds."

Broudy was listening intently, his face impassive.

"Care to throw in your opinion Broudy since you seem to know Corbain better than the rest of us?"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "Can't say I can help you Marshal. I'm just after the bounty remember. But the old man's story seems to make things just a might more interesting, eh?"

Micah glared suspiciously at the bounty hunter, with a feeling he was holding something back.

"Was there a boy with them, about twelve?" Lucas anxiously asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, thought it looked kinda odd him being with that bunch. There were four of them, three older one, kinda mean lookin' and a younger fella."

"Was the boy okay?"

Charlie nodded again. "Fur as I could tell, though he didn't seem to have much of a likin' for them fellas." Then he remembered the younger man giving him back his gold. "But I don't think the younger fella was as bad as the other three. He treated me decent."

Lucas gave a sigh of relief.

"How long ago were they here?" the bounty demanded.

The old prospector stared at the deep scar on Broudy's face. Charlie looked at the direction of the sun. "Few hours maybe."

"Do you know which way they're headed?" Micah asked.

"West, I think, but they could be anywhere. This canyon trails out in a least three to four different directions."

"Thanks mister," Lucas said appreciatively.

Charlie gathered the remains of his gear. "Hope ya get those varmints, Marshal."

"We're going to give it our best shot," Micah replied. "You going be all right, old timer?"

Charlie nodded. "Don't have to worry 'bout me none." He grabbed the reins of his mule. "Come on Lucy, time to getta movin'" Lucy resisted until she'd consumed the last nibble of candy. Crazy Charlie then led the mule away.