Chapter Sixteen

Insert from Ch 15

"You might have the capability to raise your voice loud when the need arises." He tilted his head and looked up at the road that ran alongside the hill the stagecoach had rolled down. "Still, I still wonder if any would be rescuer would hear you."

Eliza, who had never stopped wondering about that herself, started beaming-excited to finally be able to think of something to help them. "I have an idea." She looked at her husband, then at Brian and Mariah.

Mariah and Eliza, who had searched the area they were in, had been elated to find a few old branches lying on the ground. Time had rotted out the inward part of the branch, making it easier to hollow out. Now, Phillip was working on getting the last of the rotted wood out using Brian's best knife.

"All the years Brian and I lived in the mountains, I never bothered making any kind of bull horn," Mariah said, leaning against a sturdy oak tree. She glanced at Eliza, who was still very pleased with herself for being the first to think of creating one. "Like I said, I may be on the quiet side, but I can holler quite loudly as well."

Eliza couldn't help it; she chuckled in amusement.

"And, as I implied earlier," Brian added with a grin, despite the pain from his broken arm and leg, "I can attest to that."

Phillip finally finished what he was doing and held the now hollow branch out towards Mariah. "Here," he said, offering it to her. "Let's see just how good of a job I did."

Mariah stepped away from the tree, took the branch, and raised it up to her lips. She took a deep breath and blew into the horn. The sound that came out was loud and vibrant, echoing through the forest -even startling a few of the birds who happened to be in a few of the trees.

Eliza beamed and shouted in joy. "It worked! Now we have no need to worry about being unable to get anyone's attention!"

Mariah lowered the horn, pleased with the results. "I'd say you're right. Now, I think I best go look for some more berries, nuts and; who knows, maybe I'll find a rabbit or two. I set a snare earlier. It's closing in on noon, and we'll need something to eat." She picked up one of the rifles and walked away, glad this time Eliza did not question the necessity of carrying a firearm through the wooded area.

It took Mariah a bit longer than she'd have liked only by the time she was through searching, she had gathered quite the number of edible plants they could cook. While there was nothing in the snare she'd set, as she headed back towards her brother and the Maddens, Maria caught sight of a rather nice sized rabbit. She quickly took aim and fired. In a matter of seconds she was picking up the dead animal. "Well, we might not have much meat to share, but a bite or two is better than nothing." She spoke out loud even if there was no one around to hear her words and, by the time she rejoined her brother, Phillip and Eliza, Mariah had shot another rabbit.

"Looks like we'll be eating like kings." Brian joked as his sister began the painstaking process of skinning the rabbit in order to cook it. At least, he'd always considered everything it took to prepare a rabbit to be cooked to be a flat out pain.

"You know, it might not be a bad thing to blow on this thing once in awhile." Eliza picked up the bull horn that lay between her brother and Mr. Keagan and put it to her lips. Once again, a loud, long blast came out of the homemade bullhorn.

"You may be right, dear." Phillip rubbed his ear. "Only, when any of us blow on that thing, how about standing near the wrecked stagecoach." He again rubbed his ear. "I wish to keep my hearing." He then started laughing, as did the others.

While Mariah and her companions were unaware of it, the sound from their home-made bull horn reached through the air and traveled quite a distance—far enough to stop Sheriff Madden, the Barkley brothers, and the young man with them. They had entered the forest roughly thirty minutes before. The numerous leaves hanging from the trees created a natural filter allowing the sun's light to create a rather beautiful design upon the ground beneath.

"What was that?" Benjamin pulled back on his reins, causing his horse to come to a stop. As he asked the question, Benjamin looked at the dirt road in front of them as that's where the sound seemed to be coming from. The sound they'd heard seemed to pass through each and every one of the trees that surrounded them. "Doesn't sound like any animal I've ever heard before."

The forest was eerily quiet now; the usual sounds that one would hear in surroundings such as a wooded area were temporarily silenced by the unexpected noise. Nick, his brothers, and Fred all exchanged glances.

"Sounds like someone's using a bull horn—or something like it." Nick spoke up, his voice full of concern and cautiousness.

Benjamin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at Sheriff Madden and asked, "Would the stagecoach driver carry anything like that with him?" He, himself, couldn't imagine why the stagecoach driver-any stagecoach driver- would have such an item.

"No," Fred replied with a grave look upon his face as the wheels in his mind turned. "We are on the main route. It could very well be that one of the passengers does." Sure, he'd never met a passenger who carried something like that with them, the Stockton sheriff figured there was always 'a first time' for anything. "I mean, if they're the source of that noise."

Nick pushed his horse forward, the animal's hooves crunching on the fallen leaves and twigs. "We best keep moving—and looking," he said, his eyes scanning the land on either side of the path. The group continued on, the trees and shrubbery seem to multiply in numbers as the men rode further down the road.