"You must send someone to look for my Katie," Jack Devlin spat, while banging his fist on the marshal's desk.

"I'm telling you, Mr. Devlin, Kid here and his friends are leaving now," the marshal replied and pointed.

Devlin glared at Kid over his shoulder for a moment before turning around fully. "It's him, isn't it? It's that Indian!"

"Whatever happened to Kathleen I'm sure Buck has no part in it," Kid explained calmly and headed for the door.

"He's gonna pay, McCloud! When I find out what's happened to my Katie, the Indian will pay!" Jack Devlin threatened from the porch while Kid mounted.

"Yeah, whatever," Kid muttered and turned his horse around, motioning for the others to follow.

"Are you gonna pay the ransom?"

The voice startled Devlin who spun around with a frantic stare. The marshal lifted one brow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll have to."

Buck saw a dust cloud approach him, but it was still a good mile from where he was. He was exhausted and thirsty, after several hours in the hot sun. He carried his vest and shirt in his hand, being much too warm to wear them. He sank down on a rock and waited for the riders to reach him. He knew well it might be the same men who hit him on the head and took Kathleen with them, but he was in the middle of the prairie with no place to hide. If they wanted him they could easily ride him down. So he waited.

Jimmy pointed ahead of him and hollered something. The other three riders spurred their horses and followed him down the dusty trail and soon they also saw what Jimmy saw.

"Buck!" Lou called and the Indian rose wearily from the rock he had been sitting on.

"Nice of you to drop by," he muttered sarcastically and sank back onto the rock after noticing his legs were much too weak to stand on.

"Are you alright?" Kid asked and jumped off his still trotting horse, his canteen ready in his hand.

"I'm a bit dizzy," Buck admitted and relished the shadow that fell on his face when Kid stood in front of him.

"You need to drink. Here," Kid offered him the canteen and Buck drank eagerly.

"That's enough."

Buck held on to the canteen when Kid tried to take to away from him, but his hand was weak and he lost the grip of it. Lou, Jimmy and Cody gathered around him also, staring at him.

"What?" he asked finally.

"Well?" Cody asked back.

"What happened?" Jimmy questioned and Buck shook his head.

"Don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lou shot back angrily.

"I don't know," Buck stated firmly and attempted to rise.

His head was hurting and he wanted to lie down. Kid and Jimmy caught him before he lost balance, and placing him back on the rock was easy - he all but fell down.

"You need to get back to the station," Lou said and pulled out a bandanna.

She took her canteen and leveled it until the bandanna was soaked, then gave it to Buck. He grasped it weakly and brought it to his neck. It felt like a dream.

"I'm fine," he assured her, nodding his thanks for the bandanna.

"No, you're not fine, you're bleeding!" Lou argued and tilted his head.

A trickle of blood glistered in the bright sunlight just above his left ear.

"I'm fine," Buck said and shrugged away from her, taking the canteen back from Kid.

He drank a couple of mouthfuls, then nodded at his friends.

"See? I'm fine, now let's go get Kathleen back."

Lou glared at Kid, who frowned back. Jimmy and Cody looked hopelessly at each other and shrugged.

"You heard him," Jimmy said and mounted.

"Let's go!" Cody shrugged again and mounted also.

Kid and Lou followed suit, after Buck had redressed and swung himself up behind Jimmy. The Indian pointed for them which way to go, then swatted at Jimmy's shoulder until he urged his palomino into a gallop.

Kathleen glared angrily at her captors. They had brought her to a clearing near a bluff, and she was now sitting with tied hands and feet by a small campfire. The sun was coming down, and she longed to have her jacket. But nor Brooke, Francis or Howard seemed to care about her needs. She had been untied a couple of times during the day, for eating and for calls of nature. But the ropes still cut into her wrists and even drew out small specks of blood when she moved.

"We need to set the trail," Francis called and Howard left his meal instantly.

"Brooke, let's go!" Howard called and the third man stood on the other side of the campfire.

"Yes, sir. Alright, sir. Instantly, sir!"

"Aw, knock it off you two," Francis swatted at Brooke and leant down close to Kathleen to pick up his saddlebags.

"Looks like you and me, little lady, will spend the evening together, while my friends here make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow," he sneered at her.

"Just you wait 'til Buck comes around with a whole town behind him ready to fight for me!" Kathleen sneered back and earned a flat hand across her face.

"Just remember this," he started calmly and brought his face closer to Kathleen's.

"If your daddy don't pay us the 10.000 dollars, you gonna wish you ain't never been born!"

He pressed his lips to her cheek and held her firmly so she couldn't break free. Then he let go of her and smiled in satisfaction. Kathleen gave him a sour face and turned away, then watched Howard and Francis ride out of the campsite. She longed for Buck to come rescue her.

To be continued any day now...

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