Chapter Two: Journey to Dodge
They'd been riding for five hours, Lon looked at both boys noting how quiet they were also how tired it had been a long day for them he called a halt. "We'll rest here tonight, set off again tomorrow. Matthew you and your brother gather some wood, while i go get some water," the two boys started gathering some wood while Lon went to find the water, which he found in a nearby creek. He went back to the boys, fetched out his coffee pot and filled it with water and put some coffee into it, setting it on the fire to heat up, he saw the three rabbits, and smiled. "Your Pa teach you how to hunt?"
"No, our cousin Paul did, he's the priest in Tucumcari." Matthew said.
"How come you didn't mention him before?"
"Our daddy said never to mention his name."
"Unusual priest your cousin."
"He wasn't always a priest, Daddy never forgave for becoming catholic." Thomas said, Lon cooked up the rabbits they ate them quickly and then bedded down for the night.
"Goodnight, boys, we'll ride on tomorrow. I know now why your Pa wants you to go to Dodge."
"Will he take care of us?" Thomas asked.
"Yes, he's a good man, you get some sleep and we'll ride out tomorrow," waking at first light Lon got another pot of coffee on the go and cooked up some breakfast, he woke the boys. "Breakfast, boys, we should reach Amarillo by tonight and the next day we turn north, it'll take another five days after that to get to Dodge," they set out heading east, Lon scanned the horizon noticing a rider in the distance riding parallel to them. They arrived in Amarillo in the early evening, they took their horses to the stables then went to the nearest hotel to book rooms, Lon booked two rooms figuring the boys could share. He looked out of the window of his room and saw a man he'd hoped never to see again, Carl Mandee. He must've escaped again before they could hang him, Lon thought, he'll want to kill me and Matt. If he finds about those two boys being Matt's cousins he'll go after them too. The next day, they had breakfast in the hotel's dining room then left to saddle their horses and ride out, Lon scanned the horizon and saw the silhouetted rider and knew that it was Carl Mandee.
"Who is that, Mr Gorman?" Matthew asked.
"I don't know, boys, he could be just a line rider," Lon said not wanting to worry the boys unnecessarily, they turned north. "We'll skirt around Cimarron when we get there and turn east to Dodge," they stopped occasionally to rest the horses and have meals and sleep. "It's going to take another day and a half to get near Cimarron," Lon told them when they set out again, every now and then he scanned the horizon but he didn't see Mandee again, although he realised that Mandee was still out there and would in all probability follow them into Dodge. Lon was glad he couldn't see Mandee because if he couldn't see him neither could the boys and this way they wouldn't fret about him. Noon the next day they splashed their horses across the Cimarron River. "Won't be long now boys, just about another two days till Dodge," Lon took the chance to refill their canteens and then they headed east.