Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (10 page)

“What about the south side?” Dan asked.

“Take down the old fence, but hold off on building that side.  I have plans.  I’m going to fence off home sites.”

“You can count on us
, b
oss,” Roy
said.
“We’ll do it right.”

Kate was watching
from inside the house and when the two boys rode away on their mule, she hurried to the barn.  She grabbed the
binoculars, scrambled up the ladder,
and took her place where she could see the location of the
outlaws.

There was no movement.  She watched for another couple of minutes and climbed down.  “They’re still watching, or at least I didn’t see them leave when the boys left.  They may be hoping one of us will go into town alone.
 
Since I know their location, I can
watch from inside the house.  L
et’s go inside and pretend we’re calling it a day.  Stop and wash up as you usually do.  If the
y
leave, hopefully, I’ll see them.”

Man stopped at the well and took his time washing his face and arms.  He was drying when she rushed out.  “I saw Bob and Al moving back from their hiding place.  I couldn’t see them leave, but I expect they called it a day
,
as well.”

They hurried to the barn and mounted their horses.  “I’m not taking the pack mule,” Man said.  “Hopefully, we won’
t need him and he might be in the way having to lead him as we follow them back to their camp.”

Man and Kate wore their twin Walker Colts
on their hips and had their
Winchester rifles in
the scabbards.  Man picked up their trail f
rom where their horses were
tied.  They were behind a thick stand of trees preventing them from being seen from the barn.

Man took the point riding with his head down following the tracks and Kate rode close behind looking for any possible hiding place in case they were spotted and an ambush was waiting.

She saw movement once and aimed her rife, but it was a doe and fawn.  They went on for another mile until they were close to the Coeur d’Alene Lake when Kate whispered, “I see something in front of us.”

Man pulled up and she pointed with her rifle.  “I think it’s the canvas of a wagon.”

Man circled and rode up a hill for a better look.  Red Bird was close behind Arabian.  They dismounted and crawled up to the crest of the hill for a better location to see the camp.  She tossed him the binoculars.

Man knelt behind a bush and adjusted the binoculars to look.  “It’s them,” he said softly, and moved back down the slope where they couldn’t see him.  Kate was close behind him.

“You go for backup and I’ll stay here
and keep watch
,” Kate said.

“No, I don’t want you out here alone,” Man decided. 
“
We aren’t positive those two are working alone.  Somebody could come in behind you and
you would be caught in a crossfire
.”

“
Then y
ou stay and I’ll go for help,” she suggested.

“The same deal.  I don’t want you riding into town in the dark alone.  I think we should both go.  It may take a while
for
Chief Kin
caid
to round up enough policemen to surround their camp.”

She nodded agreement.

They mounted their horses and walked them slowly away as not to offer the sound of running horse’s hooves on rock that could carry down to the outlaw camp.

As soon as they were far enough away, Man touched his spurs to the side of Arabian and he instantly began to lope.  Red Bird was eager for the race and matched pace with Arabian.

They found Captain Daughtry Dunlap seated in his office.  He looked up and asked, “What can I help you with?  From the express
ion on your faces
, it’s important.”

“We located the camp of Robert Engledow and
Alejandro Valdez,” Man said.
 
“Could you spare a few
policemen to surround their camp?  H
opefully
,
we can take them without anybody getting hurt.”

“How many do yo
u need?” Captain Dunlap asked.

“I think we could cover
all the escape routes with six,” Man said.
 
“
Kate and I’ll go in on the road and confront them.  Your men could make an appearance
on the other sides of their camp
and hop
efully that w
ill
be enough to
cause them to toss their weapons.”

“That’s wishful thinking,”
Dunlap
said.  “But, it’s the right way to handle it.  After what they did to Highsmith, this will end one of two ways.  They’ll go down fighting or a drop through a trap door with a noose around their neck
s
.”

“We know,” Kate said,
“
but we have to give them a cha
nce to surrender.  T
ell your men the instant they go for their weapons
to
open up.”

Assistant Chief Dunlap
gave a slight chuckle.  “I’ll tell them, but that warning really isn’t necessary.”

“
How long before you can get men ready to ride?” Man asked.

“Not long.  I’ll send somebody to advis
e Chief Kincaid.  I expect he’
ll want to be in on this.  He has been catching thu
nder from the executives at
Gem Mine.  I know he’s anxious for this to be over.”

***

Bob was nervous.  S
omething was wrong.  “I ha
ve a bad feeling,” he said.

“Me
,
too,” Al agreed.  “I
think we were tailed by those m
arshals.  I kept looking back, but I didn’
t see anybody.  But, i
f they were back there, why haven’t they made their move?”

“If they
were tailing
us and spotted our camp, they went into town for reinforcements
,” Bob speculated
. 
“
That would be h
ow they would handle it.  That’
s the way I would if I was them.”

“What do we do?”
Alejandro asked.

“We get our rear in gear and get the hell out of here before the thundering herd of policemen are pointing rifles
at us from behind every tree.”

Al ran to br
ing the mules
and
hitched them to the wagon while Bob was busy loading their
belongings
. 
He tied Al’s horse to the back of the wagon and mounted his.  Al jumped in the seat and followed Bob as he led the way to a main road to camoufla
ge the tracks in with the other tracks
.

As soon as they were well away from the campsite, Bob veered close to the wagon.  “I had a thought.  It’ll be a long winter in a hideout somewhere.  We have adequate supplies without having to go into a town.  You know, having a woman along for company and to do the cooking
would be nice.”

“What are you saying?” Al asked.

“We drop by and take Lucille with us.  I know the two boys will be there, but they never carry a weapon and I doubt they know how to use one with any proficiency.  We tie them
up,
load her and her things into the wagon
,
and we’ll be on our way.  It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.  We can tie her in the back of the wagon and gag her u
ntil we’
re out of hearing range.”

“That’s kidnapping,” Al said.

“So what,” Bob countered.  “If we’re arrested we’ll have no chance after what we did to Highsmith.  They can only hang us once.
 
Think how nice it will be to have a woman in our bed
s
this winter.  Next spring when it’s time for us to go back to work, we take her to the nearest town and turn her loose.”

“She’ll tell them we kidnapped her,” Al put in.

“They’ll
know that already, unless we kill the two boys and I’m not that low.  Besides, if we killed them, she would fight us to the last breath.  If she isn’t cooperative, I’ll tell her I’m going to kill them.  That worked before with her.”

Bob turned his horse toward the road where Lucille lived and Al followed in the wagon.

Bob
pulled his horse to a stop when he saw her home. 
“A buggy is parked in front. 
Who the hell could that be?”
he said toward his horse’s head
.

“I don’t know. 
Do we go on?” Al asked.

“Yea
h
, I want her,” Bob said as he pulled his pistol and checked the load.

Al did
the same
.

“Bring rope to tie them,” Bob ordered.
They stepped down and went to the door with pistols drawn.  “You take the boys, I’ll take whoever is in the buggy,” Bob said.

He shoved the door open and lunged inside. 
Cliff
Landers grabbed for his pistol, but Bob was too fast and brought the barrel of his pistol down on
Cliff
’s
head.  He slumped to the floor.

Roy
and Dan
were on their feet, but Al had
h
is pistol aimed at them.  “Sit back down,” he demanded. 
They complied with the barked order.

Bob went to Lucille.  She hadn’t uttered a sound, but fear masked her face.  He turned her
around, tied her hands behind her back, stuffed a rag in her mouth,
and secured it.  Al was busy
tying the two boys to a chair.

“Take her bedding and clothes to the wagon,” Bob said.  “We have room, take everything she has.
  Be sure to get her coat
and all the blankets and quilts.  I
t’ll be cold in Canada.
”

He turned to her.
“Stand still and you won’t be hurt.”  He quickly bound
Cliff
’s
hands, helped Al load her things,
and then pushed her out the door.  He and Al lifted her into the back of the wagon and he tied her to the side so she couldn’t escape.

“What about the buggy and horse?” Al asked.  “Somebody may see it.”

“So what,” Bob said.  “By the time somebody comes by, we’ll be a long way from Coeur d’Alene
headed south.  I hope that comment causes the law to look to the north and they
’ll
notify the Canadian Mounted Police to look for us.”

It was well after dark when Bob found a place for the night.  A moon helped them stay on the road and they made good time until the light began to fade as the moon neared the western horizon.  Bob climbed inside the wagon
,
untied Lucille’s hands
,
and took the gag from her mouth.

“There’s nobody within mile
s of us,” he said.   “So there’
s no need to scream and call for help.  Do what you’re told and I won’t hurt you.  If you don’t, I’ll go back a
nd put a bullet in your two son
s
’
head
s.  And, just for fun,
I’ll
blow your man friend
’
s private parts away as well as a couple of rounds through his knees and elbows.”

Lucille’s face was pale in fright.  Sh
e knew
Bob
’s mean nature
.  She had endured his abuse before.  He pulled her to the rear of the wagon and she stepped down to the ground. 
Al came to the rear of the wagon and Bob said, “Get the sack
with
our food.  I’m hungry.  It’s so late, we can make do with some jerky and corn and Lucille can make a big breakfast when it’s daylight.
”

He pulled his bedding from the wagon and placed it under a tree.  Al was watching him.  Bob pointed to another tree.  “She’s mine tonight.”

Lucille cringed at his words, but said nothing.  While she was getting them supper, she looked around.  She had no idea which way she would run if she tried to flee.  For
now,
her only option was to endure until she had a better plan
of escape.

When they finished eating, Bob stood and began to
undress.  He looked at Lucille.  “You know what I want.  G
et naked and in the bed.
”
  Al licked his lips as he watched.

***

Man led the way with a dozen
police officers
behind him
,
including Captain Dunlap and Chief Kincaid.  He pointed out the location of the
camp, Dunlap took four police officers to the
right,
and Kincaid took four with him to the left.
The two remaining
police officers
waited for Man to give the order.