Chapter 7 The Escape

Back West (About Two Weeks Earlier)

Why couldn't he open his eyes? It felt like he was in one of those nightmares that you want to wake up from but couldn't, no matter how hard you tried. Was he dead? Was that why he couldn't wake up? No, he couldn't be dead. If he had died he would not hear people talking. Dead people did not hear. Well, he had never been dead, but was certain the dead did not hear. He tried to focus on the voices he was hearing, the marshal and the doctor. Panic set in when he did not hear his son. He suddenly realized why he couldn't wake up. He and his son were about to enjoy some walleye, when the door to their house burst open. Before he could turn around and react, there was pain in the back of his head and blackness surrounded him.

Pain. He was starting to feel the pain in his head. That had to be a good sign that he was drifting towards consciousness. He continued to will himself to wake up from the fog that was enveloping him. The pain was becoming more intense. He was almost there. He just knew it.

"Mmmm," he moaned as he finally approached consciousness.

The marshal looked over at his friend as he began to stir. "Doctor, he's waking up." The doctor walked over to his patient.

"My son," the man weakly mumbled. "Where is my son?" Now fully awake, the man struggled to sit up.

"Whoa," said the doctor, putting his hands on the man's shoulders. "You need to lay back down. You happen to have a skull fracture."

Too weak to protest, the man laid back down. "I wanna see my son. Bring me my son."

The marshal and the doctor glanced at each other. The doctor was going to let the marshal handle this. He was not going to tell his patient that his son was missing. Nope, that was something the law dealt with, not him.

Struggling to find the words to tell his friend that his son was missing, the marshal broke the news. "I'm afraid he's missing. He wasn't here when we arrived."

"What?!" the man exclaimed as he tried to sit up again. "He's missing and yer here? You should be out looking for him. Wait. If my son is missing, who brought you here?"

"First you need to take it easy," the marshal instructed. "The doctor said you have a skull fracture. When your boy didn't show up to school for the second day in a row, his teacher rode out here after school to see what was going on and to bring him his homework. And when she got here, she found you slumped back in the chair with a nasty gash in the back of your head. At first she didn't know if you were dead alive. After checking and realizing you were alive, she rode back into town ta get me 'n the doctor. It wasn't until after we got here that we realized your son was missing. Which by the way, yer damn lucky ta be alive."

"So why aren't you out looking for him?" the man asked the marshal. "Yer the law and it's yer job to be looking for my son."

"I sent out a posse, but.." the marshal started to say.

"But what?" the man interrupted.

"It rained last night. There were no tracks to follow," the marshal explained. "And whoever took your son had at least an eighteen hour head start. Seeing the cold fish on the table, we figured everything took place at suppertime."

Rain, no tracks, and that much of a head start were all working against him in the hopes of finding his son. He could be anywhere. "So, are ya tellin' me the posse decided to stop looking?"

"The posse split up and rode in all four directions for a few hours and came back empty," the marshal responded. "With no tracks to follow, there's no point in them going back out there."

The man tried to get out of bed. "Well, if yer not gonna do anything to find my son, I will."

"Get back into bed," the marshal demanded. "You didn't let me finish. I sent out telegraphs to other lawmen telling of your boy's plight and his description. I'm hoping they get my wires 'n keep a lookout for him."

"How far out did you send the wires?" The man settled back down. He had no choice. His head was pounding.

"I used a six hundred mile radius," the marshal answered. "I figured the larger the radius the better." He could see the fear and worry in his friend's eyes and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'd tell you not ta worry, but I know that's pointless. Hell, I'm worried. But I'm not gonna let that stop me from believing that we will find him.'

Garden City, Kansas (Present Time)

Lenny looked up and down deserted Main Street. It was hard to believe this was the same street from earlier in the day. Several buildings down was the sheriff's office. Lenny considered going there, but quickly doused that idea. He was quite aware that there were crooked sheriffs, and he had no way of knowing if Garden City's sheriff was crooked or not. Lenny did not know if he could trust the sheriff. What if he didn't believe Lenny and sent him back to Lewis. Nope, Lenny could not take that risk. He would leave Garden City on his own.

Knowing he wouldn't get far walking, Lenny sought out the stable where he and Lewis left the horses. While hurrying to the stable, Lenny wracked his brain trying to come up with an excuse for needing his horse in the middle of night, without having his pa with him. Surely the stable owner would question why Lenny was alone, not give him his horse, and go and get Lewis. Lenny had the idea of asking for both horses, saying his pa sent him for both. But how would he explain wanting the horses in the middle of the night?

Reaching the stable, Lenny looked at the big barn door. It was slightly ajar. Lenny hesitated going inside, but suddenly his attitude changed. He was wasting precious time. Without a second thought, Lenny entered the dimly lit stable. He heard snoring, not as loud as Lewis, but definitely snoring. As quietly as he could, Lenny walked around the stable looking for the horse he had been riding for over a week. Lenny did not spot the horse until he reached the last stall.

Not wanting to startle the horse, Lenny carefully entered the stall. He walked towards the back to where the horse was facing. To Lenny's surprise, the horse was awake. He thought for sure it would be asleep. Lenny gently stroked the horse's muzzle to keep it in a calm state. The tack was resting on the side wall of the stall. Lenny lifted it off the wall and placed it on the horse. Having saddled up a horse numerous times, it did not take Lenny long to saddle this horse. Lenny was able to get the horse out of its stall without incident. He led it to the door. During the entire time, the snoring of the stable owner filled the air, reassuring Lenny that the stable owner was still asleep. Lenny pulled the big door open enough for him and the horse to pass through.

The moment he and the horse were outside, Lenny mounted the horse and rode off. Getting out of town was foremost on Lenny's mind. He rode down Main Street in the opposite direction of the hotel. Luck was on Lenny's side, but he was not going to test it by riding past the hotel. Lenny was confident he was heading east. He remembered where the sun was in the sky earlier in the morning. Lenny recalled standing in front of the hotel and the sun being to his right.

Lenny had no idea how to get home on his own. He knew he lived southwest of Kansas, but that was it. How many miles southwest was a mystery to Lenny. Lenny continued riding towards the east and was thinking. While he was riding, a thought struck Lenny. Maybe he should continue riding east. When Lewis wakes up, he is going to realize that Lenny is gone and go after him. Chances are Lewis would think Lenny headed for home and go in the same direction. At least Lenny hoped Lewis would travel the opposite way. That would put much needed distance between the two of them.

After riding a short distance, Lenny came upon a road. He decided to follow the road, but not ride on the road. It was too much of a chance to ride directly on the road. Lenny hoped Lewis would travel the other way, but he could not count on that. Was Lewis as good a tracker as his pa was? While Lenny was with Lewis, he did not get a chance to find out. There was no reason for Lewis to do any tracking. Whether or not Lewis was an expert at tracking, Lenny was not going to leave an obvious trail down the middle of the road.

Constantly peering over his shoulder. Lenny continued to ride in an easterly direction. He wanted to put the horse into a gallop and get far from Garden City as quickly as he could. But as tempting as it was to encourage the horse to gallop, Lenny kept the gait between a walk and a trot. Lenny knew the dangers of riding a horse at full speed in the dark of night, especially in a strange place. His pa had that instilled him. In fact his pa would not allow him to ride at night, especially alone. But at the moment, Lenny had no choice but to ride alone. He knew his pa would understand and not be angry.

Even though Lenny knew Kansas was prairie land, he was not familiar with the area. He didn't know where the prairie dog holes were. Back home Lenny was more aware of the prairie dog holes and could avoid them. If his horse hit a prairie dog hole and came up lame, what would he do? He'd be stranded in the middle of the Kansas prairie with nobody searching for him, except for the possibility of Lewis. Lenny shuddered at that happening.

TBC

*Author's Note: For those wondering, Gunsmoke characters return in the next paragraph.