(Sorry). He signed.
Colleen sighed and sat down on the ground. "It's alright. Just don't do it again. What're you doin' here? And how did I get here?"
(We both got caught in a mudslide. Luckily it didn't last long and the mud was spread out thin.) He started telling her. Suddenly, he stopped. She had understood what he was saying! She knew Indian Sign!
"What're you lookin' at me like that for?" Callie asked when she noticed that he was just standing there staring.
(You know Indian Sign. Most people don't know what I'm saying when I'm talking, so it's just kind of a shock.) He told her.
"Oh, I see. Well, a friend of mine, Scarlett McMahan taught me how when we rode together. She's been around Indians all her life and she learned it and taught me. I always knew it would come in handy." She told him, smiling. Her smile fell as she noticed that his left arm was covered by a blood soaked bandage.
"You're hurt. What happened?"
(Got kicked by your horse. She wasn't hurt, but she was stuck and I was trying to get her out. She spooked.) He signed.
"Ouch. Is it broken?" She asked, concerned.
He shook his head no. (No, it's just a cut and some bruising. If it was broken, I probably couldn't sign.)
"Hmm. True, but you'd better not try to do anything that would strain it. So, you were telling me how we got here. Please, continue." She said.
Signing quickly, he told her about why he was following her, about them being caught in the mudslide, and how he had seen her and pulled her out. She had been covered in mud so he had taken her clothes off of her and washed them for her. When he said that, he blushed bright red. Thankfully, Callie was staring at his hands and didn't seem to notice. "You have nice hands." She said suddenly, taking him off guard. He looked at her, a bewildered expression on his face. "What? You do." She said innocently. She reached over and took his hands in hers. "See, I believe that hands tell a lot about a person. Like yours show that you work a lot. There's a mark on your trigger finger that shows how you hold your gun. That mark also shows that you've had to use your gun a lot." She looked up into his eyes. "But, you don't like using it, do you? No. No one really does. Not even those of us who are called gunslingers. I don't really like that name. It gives folks the impression that we like to use our guns and that we use them all the time. Well, we do have to use them a lot, but we don't really like to. Guns don't settle everything and most of the time they'll make whatever you're trying to fix worse than it was before. Remember that. Well, guess we'd better get going. If Teaspoon sent you after me, then he'll probably send one of the others out looking for us soon." Ike nodded and started helping her gather up their things. "I wonder if they're worried about us yet?" Ike asked himself.
"Now, now. Settle down, Son. The heavy rains probably just slowed them down. They may have even had to stop for a while. Now, just sit down and calm down!" Teaspoon commanded.
Grumbling under his breath, Buck flopped down on Teaspoon's desk in the Marshal's office. Teaspoon cocked an eyebrow at him and cleared his throat. Buck jumped up and walked outside. He sat down on the steps and picked up piece of wood. He began whittling to pass the time. Not long after he had sat down, a commotion at the other end of town caught his attention. A small group of horsemen were riding wearily down the street. People were clustered around them asking questions. The riders looked tired and cold and they were caked with mud. "Teaspoon! I think you need to come out and take a look at this!" Buck yelled. Teaspoon walked outside and shook his head. "Poor fellas, look like they've been through hell and high water." Teaspoon said as they rode by.
One of the riders heard him and turned around. "High water is right, Marshal! And mudslides, too."
"Mudslides? Where were there mudslides at?" Teaspoon asked.
"On the Sante Fe trail. Yep, the whole thing is nothing but a big river of mud. Saw of couple of folks get caught in it, too. Poor kids. Well, they wasn't exactly kids. One of them might have been a girl. I ain't never seen a boy with hair that long. Unless he was an Indian. Well, either way, the other fella weren't no Indian. I suspect that they're both dead now. Them and anyone else who was idiot enough to try to ride the Sante Fe in this weather." The man finished his rambling account and then turned to rejoin his comrades. "Wait! How far was it from here that you saw those folks get caught in the slide?" The man paused and sat silent for a moment. "About an hour from here. Yep. Maybe an hour and a half." He told them.
"Thank you. Buck mount up; I've got a terrible feeling that you were right about them being so late." Teaspoon said under his breath.
Buck mounted and looked to Teaspoon for instruction. "You ride as far along the Sante Fe road as you can. Look for anything that might tell us where they are." Teaspoon told him, fear and worry heavily tainting every word. Buck nodded and started off. "Don't let him be dead. Please don't let him be dead." He repeated to himself. Ike was his best friend. His brother. If he was dead... no, Ike couldn't be dead. Buck wouldn't let himself think that. Ike was strong and he knew how to take care of himself. He wasn't dead. As he rode, he thought about the past few days and all that had happened with Callie around. Ike had confided in him about his attraction to the young female gunfighter and asked for Buck to keep it a secret. Buck had agreed, knowing that some of the other riders had big mouths and Ike would prefer that Callie stay as much in the dark about his feelings as possible until he told her himself. Ike was so shy, if he didn't hurry and say something then Callie would be gone and she would probably never know how he felt. "She'll probably never know anyway. She and Ike are probably dead." NO! He couldn't think like that. He had to think positive. "They're alive. Both of them are alive. They have to be alive. Please, please, please."
Ike stared at her. He shook his head and glared. (You can go for help. Just leave me here and head to Rock Creek. I'm sure you can find someone there to help.)
Callie frowned and shook her head. "No, Ike. I'm not going. Either we both go, or we both don't."
(Fine, then, we won't go. You are so stubborn!) Ike signed.
Callie grinned. "It's one of my better traits." She sat down on the ground. After a few moments, Ike joined her. Silence reigned as they waited for whatever was coming next.
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