Doc narrowed his eyes at Festus who was waiting for the doctor's reply, "I'm not so sure, Festus. I can't think what Matt would say or even agree too," he finally said.

"Wall the sooner they catch them yahoos, the sooner they can pay fer hurting Matthew, Miss Kitty and Mr. Jonas, don't cha see?" Festus stated.

"Well, I know that!" Doc barked as he looked over to the deputy. "The thing is, I'm not so sure I trust that sergeant Williams all that much," Doc said as he stood from his desk and walked over to the examination table and looked down at Matt then back at the hill man.

"And what do you mean by that?" Festus moved forward and into the office and watched Doc put his eyeglasses back into their case before he tucked it have into his upper left vest pocket.

"What I mean is" Doc scowled, "is that if that Williams was that interested in catching those three, he'd be out there right now. Somehow I get the feeling he's just wasting day light," Doc said as he ran his hand across the back of his neck.

Festus paused. "I can kinda see what yer sayin' Doc," he finally said.

"Good! Now if you choose to be their tracker, for heaven sakes watch out for your self!" Doc huffed in his usual fatherly way as he looked back at Matt.

"Ah, fiddlesticks, I'll be jist fine. No one can pull the wool over a Haggen's eyes," Festus winked.

Doc rolled his eyes before he looked back at Festus, "Then just tell me how they managed to crack your head open," Doc wagged his index finger at the deputy.

"It's only a little scratch," Festus snorted sheepishly.

"Well, I'd still like to look at that "little scratch", someday," Doc said as he turned to his desk and then shot a glance over his shoulder to the hill-man. "I guess you better get going. There's not much daylight left," Doc said in a caring tone.

Festus drew a breath and nodded, "I'll be back directly and then you can look at this scratch," he winked.

"Festus?" Doc called after the deputy as he stepped out onto the landing.

"What Doc?" Festus stopped and turned on his heels to look at the doctor.

"Take care of yourself. I don't need to see you laying here too," the physician's voice wavered and Festus caught the tone. The hill man smiled, "You take care of Matthew, Miss Kitty and Jonas. I'll take care of me," he winked and then smiled before he closed the door.

Doc stood looking at the closed door and sighed. He knew something wasn't right, but he just couldn't put his finger on it - yet.

Festus rejoined Williams on the boardwalk, "I'll be with you in the twitch of a lamb's tail," he said as he hustled down the boardwalk toward the livery stable. Williams stepped over to his horse and pulled himself up onto his mount. "Deputy Haggen has exceptional tracking skills. We will all benefit from his company," Williams said with smugness.

Within minutes, Festus walked Ruth up Front Street and stopped in front of the general store.

"Alright, deputy, where did these men go?" Williams asked.

Festus pulled Ruth a little further along and entered the alley that was between the Long Branch Saloon and the store, "Follow me, and I'll show you," Festus stated as he walked his mule through the narrow alley out to Bridge Street behind. He waited for the sergeant who had to order his men to dismount to fit through the alley.

Once Williams and Cox reached Bridge Street they watched the deputy who scanned the ground for the track he was looking for, "Yer ponies have military shoes, do they?" he looked up at Williams.

"Of course they do," the sergeant barked. "Would you stop wasting time with stupid questions," he growled.

"This ain't no stupid question," Festus glared back at the man who was now back up onto his horse. "I was jist checkin' to see if these here tracks are yer men or not," Festus stated. Williams adjusted himself in his saddle, "Fine. Just get on with it," the sergeant order.

Festus huff as he climbed up onto Ruth and stuck his boot into the stirrups and nudged the animal with his spurs. "Let's get to trackin' Ruth," the hill man took the reins and pulled them gently to the right as he followed the tracks to the bridge and beyond.

Williams glanced over his shoulder to Cox and the other men before he motioned for them to follow. The small group of army personnel followed the deputy with some reluctance and several men wondered why they weren't asked to be trackers. "Can you believe this hick?" trooper Sam Wheeler nudged Richard Bale. Bale shook his head and kept his mouth shut after a scolding look from sergeant Cox.

The group of men continued to follow Festus as they left th town's limits and headed along the road, which headed toward Garden City. Williams kept a close eye on the hill man and watched his every move. It seemed that mistrust was beginning to grow between the two men, although Festus had no idea why. Perhaps, he thought, that was what Doc was trying to tell him. Festus began to feel that Williams either was trying to prove something, or trying to hide something - never-the-less the deputy didn't like the growing feeling he was sensing.

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Nearly another two hours had passed and the long shadows of the late afternoon stretched across the fields, "I think we've gone as far as out horses are going to take us today," Frank Elcombe slowed his horse to almost a standstill.

Dwight Hodgson stopped his horse and turned to look over his shoulder, "I think you're right. If they did leave Dodge today, they wont find Jack until sometime tomorrow, if at all. I think we've laid a pretty good distance between us," he half laughed.

"What do you think Williams is going to say if he catches up with us?" Elcombe asked as he climbed down from his weary mount.

"If we can keep this pace up, I don't think he will have anything to say," Hodgson smiled wickedly.

Elcombe laughed, "I guess he should have picked some other volunteers to do the job," he said as he pulled his saddle from the back of his horse.

"Truer words have never been spoken," Hodgson's tone all of a sudden got eerily cold again. As Hodgson pulled at the cinch he looked over his shoulder, "Remember that old saying, "if you want a job done right, do it yourself"?"

"Yeah," Elcombe replied.

"This is case in point," Hodgson went back to work on his saddle. Elcombe paused and thought. He was not really sure why Hodgson said what he did, but then again he was too tired to care at the moment and set out to gather some firewood for the night.