Chapter 5
"It's no good, Teaspoon. I can't find nothin' else," Kid said, putting his hands on his hips, hanging his head dejectedly.
"It's at times like this you realise how much we depend on Buck's trackin'. Never thought we'd be tryin' to track him though," Jimmy responded despondently.
"Now you boys aren't givin' up on me, or Buck for that matter, are you?" asked Teaspoon.
"NO!" came the immediate and firm response from the two riders.
They had been searching the ground for the last half hour at a junction on the trail, looking for any clue as to which way the bounty hunter may have taken Buck.
"Well, he seems to be headin' in the general direction of Omaha so I guess we just keep headin' that way and hope we pick up the trail."
Kid and Jimmy exchanged an uncertain look. "Seems a bit of a long shot, Teaspoon. I mean, we don't know for sure that's where Buck's being taken. We could lose valuable time goin' the wrong way," Kid said worriedly.
"Don't seem to be much choice at the moment, do there and seems to me we're wasting valuable time talkin' about it," Teaspoon replied sternly.
They grimly mounted their horses and took the most likely trail towards Omaha, each alert to any sign of the bounty hunter and Buck passing that way. They looked for any over turned rock, scuff marks in the dirt or snapped twig, just as Buck had taught them. As they passed through a rocky canyon they looked for any tell tale scratches, of metal horseshoe scraping rock but if there were any markings, they didn't see them.
Just as their search was beginning to seem futile, and only through sheer luck, they came across a clearing. It was evident someone had stopped and made a small campfire.
"Nice and careful now, boys. Don't want to go messin' up anythin'. Let's circle around and see if we can see somethin'," Teaspoon instructed.
Jimmy and Kid nodded their understanding and stepped down from their horses and slowly started circling the camp.
"Looks like there were a couple of horses tethered here," Jimmy called from some nearby shrubs. He moved over to the fire and held his hand near the ashes. "It's cool. I'd say about half a day," he offered.
Kid squatted down, placing his fingertips to the ground and lifted them to his nose. "Coffee," he stated.
"Looks like some sort of scuffle here," Teaspoon added, looking at an area in the centre of the clearing. Pushing his hat to the back of his head he stood looking down at the ground, arms folded across his chest.
"What is it, Teaspoon?" Jimmy asked.
"Not sure. Seems like someone was stood here a good, long while. See the deepish dips in the ground?" he said, pointing to them.
Kid and Jimmy joined him and examined the markings.
"Someone was kneelin' here. Look – there's where the knee went and behind are the scuff marks from the toe of a boot."
Teaspoon looked at Kid proudly. His boys had learned a lot in the time he's known them, each having gained a set of skills which would help them through life in this hard terrain.
"Sure do look that way," Teaspoon agreed.
"D'you think it was Buck?" Kid asked hopefully.
"Can't be sure," Teaspoon replied.
"If it was that's good, right, 'cos that means Brody's takin' him in alive?" Kid said almost pleadingly to the others. Teaspoon was fully aware of Brody's reputation but hadn't wanted to worry his boys any more than they already were but the thought that Buck might already be dead had crossed his mind. It was something they'd all considered but no one had dared voice.
Jimmy circled the area once more and suddenly stopped and bent down to retrieve something from the ground. "I think it's safe to say it was Buck," he said, holding up a bundle of sage grass and piece of red fabric from Ike's bandana.
"Looks like we're on the right trail, boys," Teaspoon said thankfully, allowing himself a small smile.
"I'd say it was a pretty sure thing," Kid replied, holding up the empty medicine pouch he had just found. A look of grave concern passed between them, knowing how much the pouch meant to Buck and that he'd never give it up easily. Kid carefully placed the empty pouch in his shirt pocket before joining the others and mounted Katy.
It didn't take them long to pick up the fresh trail but knew they only had about an hour's more daylight. They couldn't afford to lose any time now.
Just wanted to say thanks for reading this far and sticking with me – and Buck! This is just the way the story flowed in my head so I hope it's working for you lovely readers out there. Got a few more chapters to post yet so please leave a comment to let me know how you think I'm doing with this one – and a big thank you to all those who have already kindly commented.