Chp 15

Matt paced agitatedly in front of the fireplace, several times running his hand through his hair or massaging the back of his neck. Looking back over at the stricken expression on Bud's face, he could tell the young man wasn't in any better shape than he was.

He and Bud had been in this room for the past hour, trying desperately to think of what to do. Bud, of course, immediately went for the land deed, all too ready to give it and anything he else he had, to guarantee the safety of Miss Kitty and his little brother. But Matt stilled his hand, hoping they could think of an alternative plan. He knew better than anyone that there were no guarantees, when it came to dealing with men like Cayden Graham.

"It ain't no use, Marshal." Bud stood up, plowing his hands into his back pockets. "There ain't nothing we can do but follow that note. Now, that mine's almost an hours ride from here and if we want to get there by dusk than we need to leave no later than six and its two now. We don't have much time."

"Maybe." Matt answered, running his thoughts over in his mind again before voicing them. "Bud, how well do you know the area around that mine?"

Bud shrugged. "Pa never let us go there too often. He said it wasn't safe. But me and Jacob went over there a few times anyway, without Pa knowing about it. You know, out of curiosity."

"Describe the area." Matt told him. "I may have an idea."

Bud looked at him curiously but stopped, trying to remember every detail he could. "Well, it's backed into a hillside. There's trees all around the entrance but the path leading into it is pretty clear with nothing but rocks on either side."

"Is there more than way leading to the mine?" Matt asked.

"Well, yes and no." Bud answered, not sure what the Marshal was thinking. "The main way is the trail. You can get into the mine itself, by a back way, but it's awful dangerous."

"Back way?" Matt perked up. "Can you draw me a map of it or something?"

Bud was still unsure of what the Marshal was thinking but he turned back towards his father's old desk in the corner of the great room. "I can do better than that. I have a map of that area. Pa had it made when he first bought this place." It took a few minutes of rummaging but finally he located the folded diagram and pulled it out. Moving over to the table, he opened it up and laid it flat. "This is the mine." He said, pointing to it.

Matt saw a ridge lying along the northern edge of the Henderson property with a small indentation about the middle of the line where, he guessed, the entrance of the mine was, considering the plainly marked path leading up to it. There was no tree line marked anywhere but on the top of the ridge and that was minimal.

"Right here," Bud tapped a faint line on the eastern side of the ridge, "is an old trail that leads up onto the ridge and in behind the mine. And right here," he traced the line to an area approximately right behind the front of the mine, "is an old shaft that leads down into about the center of the mine. I was up there about a few months or so ago and it was still open but it looked awful bad. It could be closed up by now and if not it'd still be awful dangerous."

Matt studied the map intently for several moments before finally noticing something. "What's this here?" He pointed to an area just to the west of the mine entrance and slightly to the north.

"Oh that's an old line shack on Graham's property. Ain't used anymore that I know of. May not even be there anymore for all I know. I ain't been up there in a long time. Pa strictly forbid us to go onto Graham's place no matter what. Why?"

Matt ran everything through his mind and after carefully scrutinizing the map he looked back up at Bud with a hopeful gleam in his eye. "How long would it take us to get to this line shack?"

Bud shrugged. "A little more than an hour."

"And from there to the mine?"

"About half an hour. Why, Marshal? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking; I know where Kitty and Georgie are. And if I'm right, we might be able to get to them without risking this ranch. But we need to go now. Graham's gonna have her taken to the mine early before he ever expects us to show up. Gives us maybe a half hour leeway, if we're lucky."

"I'll get the horses saddled." Bud said, already moving towards the door. "Let's hope you're right."

TBC