“Jimmy?”

“Yeah, Jesse.”

“What do you think happened to the gold?”

“What?”

“The gold Dobbins was lookin’ for. Do you think Mrs. Leland really had it all along?”

“Nah, she’d a said somethin’, especially after Dobbins took her boy.”

“You think someone else found it?”

“I don’t know,” Jimmy said getting a little exasperated. It was a long ride back to Rock Creek and Jesse hadn’t been very quiet most of the trip. “Don’t really matter though, Leland’s still dead.”

“Yeah,” Jesse said, knowing Jimmy felt guilty about that still.

He finally decided to quit talking for a while. They continued in silence for another mile or so when they saw the man stumbling to the side of the road. Jimmy and Jesse slowed their horses. There was something familiar about the man to Jimmy.

“You need help mister?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah,” the man said gruffly, wondering how he could get one of their horses. Then he said, “hey Hickok.”

“Colter,” Jimmy replied curtly.

“You two know each other?” Jesse asked.

“It’s a long story Jesse. You’re a ways out here, Colter.”

“Well, you know me,” he said with a sly grin, “I go wherever the money is. Trackin’ someone worth three hun’erd dollars.”

“You’re a bounty hunter?” Jesse asked with eagerness.

“Jesse..” Jimmy said, sensing what was coming.

“Jimmy, just think,” Jesse started.

“Jesse, no. We ain’t goin’ after nobody.”

“You went after Dobbins.”

“That was different. We’re going home.” Turning back to Colter he said, “you trackin’ on foot nowdays?”

“Wondered when you’d get back around to me. Nah, I had, umm, my prisoner, when I got bushwacked last night. Took off and let my horse go.”

“Who you trackin’ mister?” Jesse asked, still excited by Colter.

“Alex Dawes.”

“What’d he do?”

“Jesse!”

“Jimmy, I can ask can’t I? What’d he do?”

“Murdered someone. Man’s brothers want to make sure the killer’s brought to justice. So they got a warrant out on Dawes. Heard of my reputation and asked me to track ‘im down.”

“Well, good luck. Come on Jesse.”

“You’re just gonna leave me out here?”

“I should. But actually, your horse is over in that grove of trees. Looks like his reins got tangled.”

“Well then, my luck’s still with me. Be seein’ you around Hickok. I’m sure I’ll be chasin’ a bounty down on you again some day.”

“Come on Jesse, let’s go.”

“Jimmy,” he said, not ready to leave yet.

“Now Jesse!”

“…and it was a three hundred dollar reward,” Jesse said in awe as he told the others about the encounter with Colter.

“He’s a ways out here. Thought maybe we’d left him behind when we left Sweetwater,” Teaspoon said.

“Why don’t you like him Jimmy? He’s just trackin’ down people to bring ‘em to justice.”

Jimmy just looked at Jesse and didn’t say anything. Teaspoon said, “Colter goes after the money and don’t really care about the facts. He tracked Jimmy once when some fella was robbin’ banks and claimin’ he was “Wild Bill” Hickok. Kinda left a bad taste in Jimmy’s mouth.”

“Colter tracks bounties down dead or alive. Problem is, most of his bounties come in dead, and he still gets the money,” said Kid.

“But you’ve gone after people,” Jesse protested. “How’s that make you different? You just went after Dobbins.”

“I don’t go after people for the money, and I don’t shoot ‘em to save myself the hassle of bringin’ ‘em in,” Jimmy said angrily.

He then got up and stormed out of the bunkhouse.

“You wanted to see me Teaspoon?” Jimmy asked walking into the marshal office.

“Come in Jimmy, an’ sit down. Son, you’ve been walkin’ around like you got a black cloud over you for the past two days. Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really. But I got a feelin’ you’re gonna.”

“Well if you know me so well, you probably know what I’m gonna say. So do I need to say it?”

“I guess not,” Jimmy said with resignation.

“Good. ‘Cause it wasn’t your fault what happened to Leland. You couldn’t have known, and you couldn’t have changed it. So there’s no point beatin’ yourself up about it. Or Jesse, for that matter.”

“Point taken, Teaspoon. You goin’ someplace?” he asked as Teaspoon was putting things into his saddlebag.

“Matter of fact, I am,” he said as he grabbed more bullets. “Ah, here you are Kid. Now that I got you two here, I’m gonna deputize you. I’m leavin’ for a few days, so you two’ll be in charge. Here’s your badges,” he said and slid them across the desk.

“Where you goin’?” Kid asked.

“It got somethin’ to do with that letter Noah brought you from Silver Falls? You been readin’ that thing over and over since last night.”

“Jimmy, Kid,” he said walking outside, “try to keep the town in one piece while I’m gone.” Then he climbed up on his horse and rode out of town.

“Ride safe, Teaspoon,” Kid called.

“You notice how he didn’t answer us?”

“Yeah, Jimmy. That letter’s really been botherin’ him.”

In the afternoon Kid and Jimmy were sitting in the office when Jesse walked in after school. A looked passed between Jesse and Jimmy and the former saw that things were forgiven. Jesse was relieved. He didn’t like it when Jimmy was mad at him. All three looked up when they heard someone walk in the door.

“Colter,” Kid said.

“What do you want?”

“Come lookin’ for your marshal, Hickok. Been trackin’ my bounty and heard from the Pony Express manager in Silver Falls someone matchin’ Dawes’ description sent a letter to Hunter.”

“He got a letter from there yesterday,” Jesse said.

“Jesse!” Kid and Jimmy said in unison. Jesse looked down at his feet.

“Ah, so it’s true. Marshal Hunter around?”

“No, left this morning,” Jimmy said knowing he couldn’t hide the fact.

“Know where he was headed?” Colter asked Jesse.

“No. I was in school,” Jesse lied. He’d seen Teaspoon ride north out of town, but he decided he wouldn’t say that. When Colter walked out of the office, Jesse turned to Jimmy. “You gonna go after Teaspoon?”

“No, Jesse, I’m not.”

“What?! Colter’s gonna go after him. Alex Dawes could be out there and Teaspoon could be in danger.”

“Jesse, Teaspoon didn’t tell us what’s goin’ on. And he don’t want us followin’ him, and for once I’m gonna stay where he told me to.”

“But Jimmy..”

“Jesse, no, I ain’t goin’ after him. Now ain’t you supposed to be helpin’ Tarkoski at the blacksmith shop?”

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts, Jesse, you do you job, an’ Kid and me’ll do ours."

“You really not goin’ after Teaspoon?” Kid asked after Jesse had left and Jimmy made sure he wasn’t hanging around.

“No, just tryin’ to convince him I wasn’t. I don’t need to worry about him taggin’ along on this one.”

“What are you goin’ to do?”

“I ain’t sure yet. Let’s go talk to the others.”

“Well?” Jimmy asked Buck.

“His tracks go this way.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. His horse is still favoring his right leg a bit. That’ll help us catch him quicker.”

“Think we gave Colter the slip?”

“I don’t think he’s followin’ us. Yet. He’s bound to realize that Cody’s ridin’ every which way just to confuse him. Then he’ll double back, discover you’re missing and come after us.”

“I just hope he don’t realize it too quick. Hopefully Cody’ll lead him on a wild first. You know, Teaspoon don’t seem to be tryin’ too hard to disguise his tracks like the time we tracked him to Texas.”

“I know, he must really be in a hurry.”

“Then let’s get goin’, Buck.”

Half an hour after Colter left the marshal office Cody had ridden out of Rock Creek. The riders had staged a fight outside the corral that Colter was sure to see. Cody and Kid were trying to convince Jimmy someone should go after Teaspoon. Jimmy staunchly refused. So Cody said he was going to look for Teaspoon himself. Lou had been watching Colter and saw him take off after Cody. When they were sure Colterwas following Cody, Jimmy and Buck headed north after Teaspoon.They’d been tracking him now for three hours. They didn’t know where Teaspoon was headed, but it didn’t appear to be any town they knew of. The tracks had changed from heading north to west but still somewhat north. It was going to be dark soon and they knew they wouldn’t be able to effectively track him much longer.

Up ahead of Jimmy and Buck, Teaspoon was ignoring the coming darkness. He knew where he was heading and didn’t plan on stopping. He rode until well after dark and finally the entrance of the canyon came in sight. As Teaspoon approached the house, he could tell in the faint moonlight the house had fallen apart considerably. The windows were broken and the door wasn’t properly on its hinges. Teaspoon got off his horse and went the remaining distance on foot. His gun was out as a precaution.

“Perkins?” he hissed. There was only silence, so Teaspoon cautiously pressed on. He had considered this might be a trap, but Perkins was an old friend and someone he owed a considerable amount to.

“Perkins?” he said again as he neared the door. He thought he heard a sound inside, but couldn’t make it out. He cocked his gun and pushed open the door. His eyes adjusted to the reduced light in the cabin, but he still couldn’t see anyone. He stepped inside and heard a faint groan. Turning to the sound he saw a person lying on the floor.

“Perkins, that you?” he said stepping forward still holding the cocked gun. He reached down and rolled the person over.

“Alexis?” he said as he holstered his gun. “Alexis is that you?”

“Papa?” came the faint, mumbled reply.

“No, darlin’. It’s Teaspoon. What happened?” he asked as he saw the oozing blood on the side of her head. She looked at him and tried to comprehend who he was, and then passed out.

Teaspoon quickly started a small fire. The floor was the barren earth and there were enough holes in the roof that he didn’t have to worry about the smoke. Then he turned his attention back to Alexis. The wound on the side of her head was big and jagged. She had other bruises on her face, but he couldn’t tell how bad they were. He covered her with a blanket and made a broth from the juice of the beans he made for himself. He held her head and forced some of the liquid down.

He woke in the pre-dawn after having slept a couple of hours. He built the fire back up and adjusted the covers on Alexis. She had stirred some in the night, but hadn’t woken up. He heated some of the remaining broth and gave it to her. Then he made some coffee for himself.

Jimmy and Buck followed the tracks into the canyon and stopped a ways back from the house. They had gotten up early and ridden hard following Teaspoon’s tracks. They figured Jake Colter would soon be coming after them and Teaspoon. And they wanted to get to Teaspoon in case he might be in trouble. They were surveying the situation, when they head the click of a hammer behind them. They spun around quickly, reaching for their weapons. They were relieved it to see it was Teaspoon, but he was clearly not happy to see them.

“Boys, what are you doin’ here?” he growled.

“Colter came looking for you. Said someone matchin’ Alex Dawes’ description mailed a letter to you from Silver Falls,” Jimmy said.

“So you thought you’d ride out after me and let Colter follow you?”

“What? No, we sent Cody out as a decoy,” Buck said.

“Well, I watched you two ride in here, and could see Colter followin’ behind.”

“Guess he figured out Cody wasn’t headin’ to find you sooner’n we hoped.”

“I guess so, Jimmy. Question is, how are we gonna get rid of him?”

“Is Alex Dawes with you Teaspoon?” Buck asked.

“Nope. But you two ridin’ out after me, ain’t gonna convince him of that.”

The three could now hear Colter approaching and stepped out of the woods. Colter slowed his approach and grinned at them.

“Hickok, I knew you’d head out after your friend here.”

“Colter, you’re worse than fleas on a dog. You just don’t ever go away,” Jimmy said.

Colter laughed and said to Teaspoon, “Marshal, I hear you got a letter from my bounty.”

“Nope. Ain’t gotten any letter from Alex Dawes.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you. I’m gonna check the place myself.”

“Suit yourself,” Teaspoon said. Jimmy and Buck were surprised at how calm Teaspoon was and that he was letting Colter search the house. When they got to the house and went inside, there were the remains of a small fire and only Teaspoon’s blanket on the ground. When Colter went into the bedroom to look around, Teaspoon picked up the remains of a broken chair. As Colter stepped out of the room Teaspoon crashed it over his head and Colter fell to the ground.

“Buck, Jimmy, tie him up. I don’t want him able to follow us right away,” he said and then went outside.

Jimmy followed him and said, “Teaspoon, what is goin’ on?!”

“I ain’t sure, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it. Alexis? Alexis, where are you?”

“Who’s Alexis?”

“The daughter of an old friend,” he said as they heard someone moving through the underbrush.

“Teaspoon? He gone? I heard other voices, sounded like Colter.”

“It’s alright Alexis, come on out.”

Jimmy and Teaspoon watched as she stepped into the clearing. The wound on her head had begun to bleed again and she looked unsure on her feet. She took a couple of steps toward Teaspoon and slumped to the ground. He and Jimmy raced forward and rolled her over. It was the first time Teaspoon had seen her in the light, and he was horrified by what he saw. Her face had bruises in various stages of healing. There was a fresh scar near her hairline and an old one under her jaw. She also had bruises on her arms and hands.

“My word,” he said softly. “Let’s get her inside Jimmy.”

Jimmy picked her up and carried her inside. Buck had finished tying up the still unconscious Colter. Jimmy laid Alexis down on the ground and a few minutes later she opened her eyes. They went wide when she saw him and she quickly sat up trying to move away. He put his hand on her shoulder and made her lie back down.

“Alexis, hold on. This is Jimmy and this is Buck. They ain’t gonna hurt you.”

She looked at Teaspoon, and then at Jimmy and Buck. Then she looked over and saw Colter lying on the ground.

“You do that?” she asked while looking at Colter.

“I did,” Teaspoon said. “He after you Alexis?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“You Alex Dawes?” Buck asked.

“Yeah.”

“You get married?” Teaspoon asked her. She nodded her head.

“Colter says you’re wanted for murder,” Jimmy said.

“I am,” she said unable to look at them.

“Well it’s obviously a mistake,” Teaspoon said. “I know you. You’d never hurt anyone.”

“You knew me a long time ago. Things have changed.”

“You really kill someone?” he asked in disbelief.

She nodded her head and said softly, “yeah. I killed my husband. Now his brothers want to see me hanged. That’s why they sent Colter after me.”

Teaspoon got up and began pacing. He couldn’t believe it. The sweet little Alexis he used to tell bedtime stories to had just confessed she’d killed someone. He turned to look at her.

“You got a good reason?” he asked hopefully.

“I do Teaspoon. It ain’t like what Robert’s brothers said. They murdered my dad and his wife, and then Robert tried to kill me. It was self defense I swear.”

“Alex is dead?” he asked her. She nodded head again.

“Ah, Teaspoon?” Jimmy said. “I know you wanna find out what happened, but we should get outta here before Colter wakes up.”

“He’s right, Teaspoon,” Buck said.

“I know. Can you ride, Alexis?”

“I don’t have a horse. He threw me. That’s how I hit my head.”

“You can ride with me then,” he said.

“Not a good idea,” Jimmy told him.

“And why not?”

“Your horse is still favoring his leg. He won’t take a double rider. She can ride with me or Buck.”

“Alright Jimmy. Take her on your horse. Buck, you think you can mess up our tracks to throw Colter off?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Let’s get goin’ boys.”

“Where are we headin’ Teaspoon?”

“Back to Rock Creek, Buck.”

“But Colter’ll come lookin’ for her there,” Jimmy said.

“If I have to hold her in jail ‘til she can clear her name I will. But I ain’t gonna turn her over to Colter or her father’s killers. I want her where I can protect her.”

On to Chapters 5-8!