"Mister Pike! Mister Pike!" Justus yelled as he approached the boss who was overlooking the herd out in the pasture. He'd been riding for the better part of half an hour, bareback on Annie, using only a halter as a guide...thrown together hastily, adding to the urgency. As he skidded the mare to a stop beside Barnabas, he hastily explained.
"Mrs. Pike's horse came inta th' yard alone! She was saddled, but no Mrs. Pike, an' we couldn't find her nowhere around th' place! We looked all over, but there's no sign!"
Any time a horse came in riderless, it was something to be concerned about, but especially so when the horse belonged to the boss' wife! Some of the men who had been at the ranch had already gone out to hunt for the woman...and her baby...but they really had no idea which direction to look...
"What?" Pike said quickly, "Where, I mean, which way'd it come in from?" He wanted to know as he wheeled the Roan around. "Who's out? And in what directions are they looking?" He was anxious, Em and Wheeler were missing, and no one knew where or in which direction to search. Had she left the ranch? That didn't seem like her, but there were spots she favored on the property, some were remote, not easy to find.
"Is Pythias out there? Or Dallas?" Those two could track a snake over dry rocks! And that just might be what was needed. He was not discounting his own abilities, finding the trail of a man or horse. He was not the best, but plenty good enough, and he felt he would have to be!
Jumping to the ground, Justus called, "Horse!" and in an instant one of the other hands was off his mount, handing Justus the reins. Annie was spent, lathered, her sides heaving...she'd never make the dash back to the ranch!
Swinging back into the saddle, Justus fell into pace as best he could beside Barnabas. "Yes, sir, Pythias and Dallas...all th' men that were at th' ranch, 'cept for Cookie." It was hard to call out the information as he rode beside his boss, but he needed to know. "No one saw her leave, horse come in from th' north." Toward the falls, but no telling what Mrs. Pike was about up there.
"Cookie had a rider go ta town fer th' Doc, just in case..." He hoped that was unnecessary, but...
North is kit, toward the falls, you say? Berry pickin', that's where she went." He said, but not with a great deal of confidence because she could have started off in any direction, and somehow the horse came back that direction. Get Modeen, Dally, and find Lorado an' Ames. Bring 'em back quick like, I'll be scoutin' up'ta the falls for sign of the Missus. Ride hard, Gibbs, change mounts on the way back if ya gotta."
This filled the gunfighter with fear the likes of which he had never known before this very moment. His wife and son were missing, and that could mean just about anything. Were they taken, there were savages about, that was for sure. Or maybe she was injured, and the horse just ambled off toward home. he didn't want to think of what may have happened to Wheeler. He simply did not want to think about it
That Cooklie sent for the doctor was a good call, and hopefully, he'd not be needed. He stopped, shook his head as if to clear it. He needed to be clear of mind for the search; being all twisted up with fear was not going to help them or him.
"Yes, sir!" Justus knew that some of the men had already gone out looking, and there were some in the west range, hunting a cougar that had been spotted on one of the ridges, so Justus turned that way, it would serve the double purpose of covering some of the territory in that direction, as well as summoning more help. He'd send them back to the house, where Cookie could organize the search.
Hopefully, in a couple hours, they'd all be sitting around the table in the bunkhouse, laughing over this.
The trail, if one could call it that, was in reality nothing more than a game trail, and at times it was precarious. Though it was rideable, and he was aware that Em had taken it on more than one occasion, looking for berries to make a pie or something that required fresh fruit and berries would fill the bill.
He made his way to the top of the falls. The trail was narrow, and it was a hard climb in a couple of spots. The mist from the falls certainly was no help at all. Pike made his way to the top and paused, looking over the area, turning back to look at the house and ranch. He never tired of that view, though getting up there was not something he did regularly. Em made it up there more often than he did, so she knew the trail up very well.
He would wait here on the plateau, the water was rushing down from the natural springs above, and from the plateau there were trails gradually going down on either side, so where she might have gone was not cut and dried, if in fact, that was where she went. He would wait for his men, and then they could cover more ground.
Oh, the cleverness of me!
Leave a woman for two minutes...
One of the cows had broken through the fence on the back pasture that served to contain Mrs. Pike's beautiful Morgan horses, so Pythias had headed out to mend the wire. He was only going to be gone a couple hours, and there was nothing pressing going on at the house, so he'd loaded up a pack horse and headed out.
Mending had gone well, the prized horses were secure again, and he was headed back when the frantic clanging of the supper bell, far too early in the day, had alerted him to the potential of trouble back at the house, and he'd dropped the lead to his pack mule and spurred his horse for the house...the mule would make it back in time for his dinner!
Once there, his heart sank...Mrs. Pike's mare, Noel, had come in on her own, saddled...riderless. Cookie was already organizing things, sent riders for Pike and the doctor, searched the grounds...
Pythias had taken just enough time to quickly look through the house before heading north. He'd been out the better part of an hour when he spotted the boss coming up on the plateau, and headed that way.
"Mister Pike." He nodded to the man, unable to shake the guilt he was feeling. "Nothing yet..."
It had all seemed so simple at the time.
Emeline had set about making pies, had all the ingredients for the crust set out, when she had the wild idea to go out toward the falls and see if she could find enough ripe huckleberries to use as the filling, rather than canned peaches or plums. Sure, the canned fruits were fine, but fresh huckleberries? Nothing like it!
She'd jotted a quick note for Pythias -- one that Natty had deemed particularly delicious before anyone had had a chance to read it -- then secured Wheeler in a secure sling across her chest before saddling Noel and heading toward the falls where the huckleberries were growing thickly. Unfortunately, that patch wasn't ripe yet, so she continued along the trail, nothing more than a deer path at this point, but Noel was sure-footed and confident, the day was nice...
What could go wrong?
Well...
Emeline could have sworn that she'd tied Noel securely to a branch, using a halter and lead that was under bridle, but when Emeline returned to the spot, there was no horse. Funny, she hadn't heard anything as she'd picked the berries, occasionally popping one of the sweet treats into her mouth. If something had spooked the horse, it would have made noise, the branch would be broken, or the lead rope, but there was no evidence of either.
Sighing, Emeline gathered the bucket of berries and started walking, calculating how long it would take to get back, thinking that she'd be lucky if she made it back by nightfall. And unfortunately, her rifle was still in the scabbard on her saddle, and the small derringer her had on her wouldn't serve much purpose if they came across anything bigger than a racoon...
But, there was nothing to do for it but walk...and try to shake the feeling that she was being watched...
"Stick yer hands up, yer bum!"
Curly and Moses, who might best be described as the 'normal' members of Tom Love's Hole in the Head Gang, looked at each other with mutual understanding and resignation. They'd long ago given up trying to divine the workings of their leader's cold, calculating and patently unhinged mind. The last job had been a success: some nice gold bars being transported out of Bodie. It was always their practice to move far away from the scene of the crime and lay low after a job like that. So, this trip to the Territory was no big surprise, besides, Tom had a sister hereabouts.
But that's not why they were here.
Tom had made two odd additions to the gang when they were in California: and it was at the behest of one of these that they were now camped out in the hills around the Northern Flathead Valley. Curly remembered the conversation even now, they'd been camped out in a place very much like this.
"W...will I be able to kill Mister Pike, Tom? Will I? Like real dead like?" the half-wit had asked.
"You still don't get it, do you, Clem?" the cold eyed killed had asked. "See, shooting a man dead, well that provides very little lasting pleasure; believe me, I've killed lots of fellers I've hated and, somehow, it lacks satisfaction: a brief glimmer of fear in their eyes and that's it: gone like the gossamer wings of a fairy."
"But, Ah... Ah... I hate him, Tom."
"Listen, Clem, here's what we do. After this little job, we'll go to a place called Kalispell, Pike's there. I know, my sister wrote me."
"Is... is your sister like my sister, Tom."
"No, my sister isn't like your sister, Clem. Anyway, back to business, Pike's married now... got a nice little wife and a nice little baby... and your Mister Pike, why, he loves that little wife, and that little baby of his, very, very, much, Clem. And if you want revenge, my boy, you really want revenge for what Pike did to you, they're the ones you've gotta get after."
"Can... can I kill the baby, Tom?"
Love eyes had narrowed angrily at that point, Curly recalled.
"Don't be selfish, you stupid little cretin! You know your sister wants a baby!"
Curly shivered at the thought of Clem's sister.
"You can kill the wife. Once you've put Pike through hell over her." Love had assured the feral half-wit.
"I... I can?" Clem's dull eyes had sparkled "And can... can I like... touch her afterward... you know... like..."
Thomas Gage Love had nodded paternally and tousled his pet inbred freak's fur-like hair.
"Course you can, Clem, in fact, I would recommend it, I mean, we wouldn't want Mister Pike finding his wife 'as he remembered her' now would we?"
@[TBC]
"Mister Pike." He nodded to the man, unable to shake the guilt he was feeling. "Nothing yet..."
"Not your fault, Pythias." Barnabas said, "You're not supposed to watch over her, she's a full-grow'd woman, for God's sake./ We'll find her, plenty of daylight left." But was there plenty of time left? That was the question. One that Pronto Pike was not ready to ask, nor even wish to answer.
Where was she? Had Noel thrown her? That was a pressing question since she had Wheeler with her, was he alright? And where the hell was Gibbs with Lorado, Ames, and Dallas? He knew that a cougar was prowling the ranch, and that some of the men were on the hunt for it, but that was off to the east of the falls.
