The Following Storm

Chapter 3

Red looked back once and then spurred Apache into a gallop and headed to the Double H. Her heart was heavy with what had happened to Alfalfa and his sisters. She wished she could tell them, they could find joy in the Lord and that one day they could see their mom again. However, Red knew now was not the appropriate time.
Before Red had made the final decision to break up the gang, she had gone to talk to Alfalfa's mother and asked for advice. She had told her the full story, leaving nothing out. Alfalfa's mom had begun to cry. Red had asked her what was wrong and she had told Red that at a young age she too had been saved. However, there had been no one to teach her how to live correctly and she had eventually joined a gang and became an outlaw.
"Do you think Jesus would forgive me?" she had asked.
"Says so in His Word," Red had replied. They had both prayed.
Afterward, she had told Red of a group that would teach her how to use her talents for good. Then she had told Red that she supported her decision one hundred percent.
"If there is any shooting, stay out of it," Red had told her and then left.
When she told the gang that she was disbanding them, only one other had supported her decision. The others had protested. However, only Al and his three brothers drew their gyuns. Old man Smith, the one who supported her, also drew his gyun and gave her a chance to escape even though he lost his life in the process.
Red had always regretted that he had to die. She didn't know if he had been saved or not. She wished she could be certain.
Of course, God had forgiven her and she had finally forgiven herself. She had actually talked to a riding preacher she had met a while ago. She had told him this story as a hypothetical question. The preacher had shown her scripture and she had prayed about it and been forgiven by God.
The devil had reminded her of it whenever she had been feeling discouraged. God was faithful and patient in giving her peace every time she asked for forgiveness. Finally, God had shown her in his word in Proverbs 3:5, 6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

A week passed with Red helping out with the branding of cales at the Double H. They had started late in the year; but when asked, Fred told her they waited so she could be part of the branding. Casey turned out to be an excellent caler. He took to it like a leether to someone's neck.
The sheriff rode over to the branding pen Red was working in and simply said, "It's time." She nodded and watched the sheriff ride away. Those who overheard the sheriff were curious but didn't get a chance to ask what that meant. After finishing the branding, Red grabbed her stuff; mounted Apache and grabbed Casey; and left.

Back in George's office as promised, "You sure she'll remember all of us?" Mary asked nervously.
"I'm positive," Al replied.
"I don't know. The runner driver said that the killer looked like a guy. He also said that there looked to be more than one, but he wasn't sure," George said.
"Who else could have something against your partner?" Al asked.
"I don't know. Dave, what do you think?"
"She's the one who did it. Why do you want to wait? Kill her now before she kills anymore," Al yelled.
"Tomorrow I'm going to have a talk with the sheriff and his deputy, see if they've found anything new," Dave said.
"You want proof? Fine, I'll get you proof!" Al yelled as he stood up and stomped out, slamming the door behind him.
"Why is he so determined to get proof that Red killed Anthony and Drake?"
"Red killed two of his brothers," Zach said.
"She did? Well it's no wonder he wants her dead," Dave said.
Zach watched as Al walked away and thought, "I wonder if there's a different reason."
"Zach, do you know of any lawyers in the area?" Dave asked. Zach nodded and led the way to a building that was separated slightly from the town but still within walking distance.

The sign on the door read lawyer. Dave knocked.
"Can I help you?" called a voice from within.
"This is Dave. Are you Doug Harvey?"
"Who wants to know?" A human questioned, opening the door.
"I would like to put a young lady behind bars until my family and I can get an incident settled."
"Ah, you mean the murder of your partner and Al's brother. Let me see," Doug said as he turned to the papers on his desk. "What do you want me to charge her for?"
They heard the sound of rock pellets exploding and saw a flash of light; and Doug and Dave ran outside to see Red holding a gyun and a man lying across from her.
"Let's see if we can get her for murder."
"I think we could get her for that," Doug said smiling. "When do you want me to charge her with it?"
"Can you do it now?"
"Of course," Doug replied.

The sheriff and his deputy walked over to Red and started talking to her. Doug, Dave, and Zach walked over as well.
"Sheriff, I want you to put this lady under arrest," Doug demanded.
"Why?" the sheriff asked.
"For murdering that man," Dave interjected.
"Mister, this man jumped from behind that barrel with a rock-type gyun drawn. We both fired; but his shot missed, mine didn't." Red explained.
"That's right," Doctor Ray said, standing up from examining the body.
"Sheriff, how do we know she didn't plan all this."
"You don't," Red stated, and with that she turned and walked to the hotel. Doctor Ray followed her. The wound her gyun left was strange and he was curious about the type of gyun she used.
The rest watched them walk away. As they turned back to the body, one man caught a glimpse of someone disappearing in the alley.
When the man commented on it, "How do we know that's not one of the members from her old gang?" Dave asked sarcastically.
"We don't," Alfalfa answered watching the alley. He whispered something to the sheriff and then walked away.
"Doug, she knew your dad and his partner," Sheriff Butler said.
"That's impossible," Doug said. "My parents were heading to Mantees-ibin to start a church for the crystalers and their families. They never mentioned coming here in their letters. Also, they died on their way back from Mantees-ibin from a minca raid. The entire garrison was wiped out."
Sheriff Butler shrugged. "Ask Fred," he said and walked back to his office. Doug turned and ran to the holding.
"Where are you going?" Dave yelled after him.
"I want to find out if what he said is true."
"Wait a minute, I'm coming with you," George said. He went with Doug and they mounted their pincantos and rode to the Double H.

"Wait," Doctor Ray said. Red turned and looked back. "What kind of gyun do you use?" Red smiled and drew her gyun. She showed it to him and he gasped. "I've never seen this type before. What type does it use?"
"Lightning." He stared at her and she laughed. "It's true. My dad had it made especially for me."
"Why?" Doctor Ray questioned.
"Cause storms seem to follow me wherever I go. He wanted to make sure I had a weapon no one could win against." With that said, Red grabbed her gyun and entered the hotel. Doctor Ray left and Red caught a glimpse of George entering the holding.
Red watched them leave from the hotel entrance, curious about their destination. She left the hotel by its back entrance and swung aboard Apache, heading back to the old cabin in the canyon. There was a pincanto that she wanted to ride by the Double H to see Fred's reaction.

"Boss, there are two people riding from town really fast."
"Who are they?"
"It's Doug and George," Mark said surprised.
"What? Give me those binoculars," Fred said. Mark handed them over. "Why you're right, it is them."
"I wonder why they're here."
"I don't know, but I think we're about to find out."

"What do you know about Red Arrow?" Doug asked after he jumped off his pincanto and caught his breath.
"She helped me build this ranch from the ground up. She owned about two herds of pincantos, probably more by now. She has a scar on her right arm from one of those in her gang because she wouldn't go back."
"What do you know of my dad and his partner?" Doug asked.
"What's your full name?" Fred asked.
"Doug Harvey."

"Nice to see you again, Chief," Jason said stepping from around the corner of the cabin.
Red jumped from off Apache and started walking toward him. "Man, I haven't seen you since you left the tribe. By the way," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, "I don't think your dad likes me."
"Well, you are the one who helped me decide to travel around Karhawk." Red laughed, but then became serious.
"I need your help with something."
"What?" Jason asked, excitedly.
"I'm gonna ride the white pincanto with the black and white spikes by the Double H. Could you be there to see Fred's reaction?" Jason nodded. "Meet me back here. If I'm not back by midnight, go into the cabin. There will be a note with instructions to the next step."
She watched Jason ride away and waited ten more minutes before she caught and mounted the white.

Fred finished telling Doug about the death of his dad and his partner when Jason rode up on a very tired ogris. He jumped off its back before it had come to a complete stop. He had seen Red coming and wanted to time this just right.
"You won't believe what I just saw," he said, looking at Fred.
"What?" Fred asked.
"What in the world?" Mark exclaimed. Fred looked up and then in the direction Mark was looking.
"What?" Fred asked.
"Red is coming but she's riding a pincanto I've never seen before."
"Describe it to me," Fred said.
"It's white with black and white spikes," Matt answered. Fred's face went white.
"Fred?" Jason asked. Everyone looked at Fred.
"Do I need to go get the doctor?" George asked.
"No, she's done enough," Doug said angrily. "She even got my dad and his partner killed."
Jason turned to look at Red. He saw her wave and nodded. He backed away slowly and when he was sure no one was looking, he disappeared around the house.
He had a fresh ogris waiting for him. He headed back to the cabin.

Hearing pincantos running, Red turned to see who it was. The sheriff, with a posse, came riding up to her.
"Hey, Red, nice pincanto," Sheriff Jim said. Red smiled.
"Stop being friendly, Sheriff. We all know she did it, so arrest her."
"What am I being blamed for this time, Sheriff?" Red asked, not interested.
"You know exactly what you did. You killed my wife and kids. They should have known better than to stand up for you." Red stared at him.
"Jogh, shut up! Red would never kill your wife, or kids, especially your little girl, no matter what," the sheriff said angrily.
"What makes you so sure?" Jogh asked.
Red didn't say anything; instead she turned her pincanto and spurred him toward Kore. The sheriff and his posse turned and followed.

The sheriff and posse arrived at the spot that Jogh's wife and children had been killed; however, Red was nowhere to be seen. They had lost her trail when she rode over a hill and forded the river that led into the trees.
"Whichever one of her pincantos that one was; it is fast," the sheriff commented. The rest of the group grumbled but they all agreed.
The sheriff had seen her and Alfalfa talking at the jailhouse minutes before Jogh had reported his wife and kids' death. While they were talking, the pincanto had walked up to Red, and she had laughed at Alfalfa's question. Then she mounted, shook his hand, and ridden off. After she left, Alfalfa had mounted his pincanto and ridden away.
Although everyone was willing to blame Red, Sheriff Butler wasn't too sure. From the stories Alfalfa had told him and his wife, Red was overly protective of children. Of course, the reason for that was because of an incident that had happened when she was a child. Alfalfa had never explained the full story. The only thing he had told them was that a friend of Red's had been killed right in front of her. Alfalfa wouldn't even tell him or his wife how old Red had been.
"Well, where is she?" one of the men in the posse grumbled.
"She's probably left town already," another man commented.

Red was in the woods looking for tracks. She found enough to discover that someone had stood there minutes before the supposed murder. She looked at the base of trees and discovered the being wore black and was riding a black pincanto. She looked around some more but found no signs he'd gone near the bodies. Either this being was smart or was innocent. A thought came to mind, but she was interrupted by the sound of pincantos approaching.
Red remounted Prince, a konderike with red mane and tail. She had swapped to Prince after losing the sheriff and posse, and took off. She had an idea of what was going on but she needed to check one more area for confirmation. As she got nearer the location, she decided she would wait for dark to enter and do her searching. She rode to the woods behind the house and set Prince free. She knew he would return to the herd that she had an old friend keeping an eye on. She had also tied a note to Prince's tail so her old friend wouldn't send out a search party for her. After making sure Prince made it safely away, she climbed a tree and settled down to wait.

Shawn found her snooping around in Al's cabin the next morning. He reached for his gyun; but, she stood up and escaped out the back door. He took off after her with his gyun charged and ready. However, when he arrived outside, she had disappeared. He lifted a fire type crystal out of his pocket and used it to find her tracks. They led into the woods, but soon after, they disappeared.
"Now I remember," he mumbled to himself and walked away. He mounted his konderike and headed to town. "Al will want to hear about this," he thought to himself as he rode away.
He dismounted at Al's office. Al was looking out the window, his back to the room. Shawn headed over and tapped his shoulder. Then he whispered what had happened at the cabin into his ear. Al listened, nodding his head every once in a while. When Shawn finished, Al smiled and nodded his head again.
"Everything's coming together," Al mumbled to himself, sneering. Shawn looked at Al, puzzled by his reaction.

After leaving Al's cabin, Red ran into the woods and then climbed one of the trees. She saw the man who had chased her use the crystal, so she scooted closer to the tree.
He looked up once and she had a chance to see his face. She caught her breath and felt fear begin to mount again. It was the same man who'd been staring at her in the holding.
"If he's involved then there's more to this than I thought." Silently she stayed in the tree and listened to his retreating footsteps. She dropped out of the tree and listened to him ride away.
She walked away, heading to the sheriff's house, which was the closest. She came to a sudden stop cause she remembered one of the things she'd found in Al's cabin. She had found a map that had everything on it but the mountain and valleys where the Incains and the hidden cabin were located. Al had been a member of the gang, so he would know where that cabin was.
Fred also knew about the cabin. He would also know of the importance of using an abandoned farm as a hideout. Originally, they had used abandoned farms as hideouts; but by the time Al and some of the others had joined, Mr. Fire had put a stop to it.

The next day, the sheriff brought Red in. She was riding Casey and Apache followed closely behind. Red dismounted in front of the sheriff's office; and when she was clear of her pincantos, she whistled softly. Casey and Apache began snapping at each other, as if they'd gone crazy. They backed up until they were in the middle of the street; then Casey and Apache took off.
The sheriff took Red to the jail and locked her up. She had learned that Fred and Jogh had known each other.
When the sheriff locked her up, she asked, "Where are the bodies?"
"Jogh buried them," Jim replied.
She nodded; then said, "Can I see Fred?" Jim nodded and left.
Red was dozing on the cot when Fred walked in. She stayed still and waited.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked.
"Have they found the killer yet?" she asked, opening her eyes.
"No," a voice from the shadows replied.
"Who's there?" Fred asked, showing concern. Red sat up and the being stepped out. It was George.
"What're you doing here?" Red asked. Fred turned to leave. "See you soon."
"I want to hear your story," George said, watching Fred who had stopped at Red's words.
"You were at the ranch," Red reminded him, ignoring Fred.
"He isn't asking about the story at the ranch," a young lady said, stepping out of the shadows. Fred regained his composure and once again began walking to the door.
"Who are you?" Red asked.
"I'm Mary," she answered. Fred glanced back and looked at them. Recognition was obvious for a second and then it disappeared.
"Wait a minute. George and Mary, that's two of the three names whose partner died," Red said looking from one to the other. Although Red had not been watching him, she knew that Fred had recognized them.
"Our partner had a name. It was Stephen," she said. "Do you recognize us?"
"Should I?" Red asked. Zach entered the jailhouse after Fred left. "Who are you?" Red asked.
"My name is Zzzach," he answered, twitching his fuzzy, round ears. She smiled and giggled.
"Ain't seen you since I broke up the gang; been staying' out of trouble?"
"I got a job working with them."
"Oh, so you haven't been staying out of trouble," she teased. Zach laughed.
"You recognize him but not us?" Mary asked.
"Why are you so mad that I don't recognize you?"
The sheriff walked in before Mary could say anything. "Fred left. Is it still on?"
"Yup," Red replied. "Alfalfa already got a head start on his part two." The sheriff nodded and walked out.
"What was that all about?" George asked. Red shrugged trying not to smile.
Doug walked in, and demanded, "How did you know my parents?"
"They're the reason I stopped being an outlaw," Red replied, lying back down.
"What do you mean by that?" Mary asked.
"My real parents died when I was three. Mr. Fire and his gang found me. They agreed to take me in. He died when I was twelve and made me leader. I was the leader for three years before I broke up the gang," Red answered.
"You still didn't answer my question," Doug said.
"Your dad and his partner were missionaries traveling to crystalers' camps. One night they happened to come to our camp. In order to keep from people getting suspicious, we would always allow people to come up to our fires no matter who they were. We invited them to dinner. They ate with us and then afterward began telling us about God's son. I was thirteen and excited to hear what they had to say. They told me how God loved humans and all aliens, no matter what planet they're from, even though we didn't deserve it. He sent his son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we could go to heaven. After everyone went to sleep, I stayed up pondering about what they'd said and felt a strong desire to learn more. The next morning, as they were getting ready to leave, I asked them how I could meet this Jesus. I got saved and then they handed me a Bible and told me to read it. I thanked them and then watched them leave. I put it in my bags and forgot all about it."
"Well you answered one of our questions," Mary said. Red closed her eyes and turned her back on them. The sheriff walked in and shooed them out.
"Let's all meet back at George's office," Dave said after Mary and George told him what they'd learned.
"How about you, Doug?" George asked.
"How about what?" Doug asked, walking up after staring at the jailhouse for a minute.
"We're all headed to my office to discuss what to do about Red," George replied. Doug nodded and followed them. They invited a few more people and arrived at George's office, with a lot of the town's leading business men.

"I would like to open this meeting with a personal decision I have made," George said. They looked at him. "I've decided that I'm now on Red's side." Mary stared at her brother, but before she could say anything the door opened. George looked up and raised an eyebrow, Mary stared, and Zach glanced at the man. Al entered and plopped himself down in a vacant chair.
"I did a background check on her earlier today. I found out what she was wanted for. I've finally made my decision," Doug said. He looked up. "I've decided that I'm on her side as well."
"What?!" shouted Mary. "You find out what she's wanted for and all you say is that you're on her side."
"What is she wanted for?" George asked, ignoring Mary. Before anything could be said, the door slammed open and a man ran in.
"Red has escaped," he said, trying to catch his breath. They all rose to their feet, and then headed to the jail.
A crowd had gathered in front of the jailhouse. George and those that had been in his office pushed their way through.
"Sheriff, what happened?" Doug asked.
"A group of Incains came in. They paid her fine and she left with them," the sheriff replied.
"What?" the crowd asked surprised.
"Jason was there too," the sheriff continued.
"So was his dad," Alfalfa said, stepping out from the alley.

"Why do you choose to come with us, Jason?" Jason's dad asked.
"I want to make sure your motives are pure," Jason answered. He turned and looked back at Red. She was riding Buffalo, her ogris they'd brought along. Casey and Apache were gone. They'd disappeared after Red was arrested. So far, no trace of them had been found.
"What is your plan?" Jason's dad asked, after they arrived at the village. Red smiled.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be as much fun," she replied. She walked over to Jason. "Take Buffalo and follow the directions in the message stone. Be careful; no need to get shot."
"I will do what needs to be done," Jason replied as he took the stone she handed him. He swung aboard Buffalo and left. Red watched him leave, a little worried.

A week passed but no one came near the valley where the Incains lived. Red walked down to the cabin and checked to see what pincantos were still there. She found only two and nodded to herself. She had stuck a letter to Apache, telling her old friend to round up all but two pincantos. Casey was one of them.
When he saw her, he trotted over to her and nuzzled her hand. She laughed a little and walked into the cabin. She took a look around and began going through all the drawers in the office that had shown use when she'd first arrived. In one of them, she found what she was looking for. It was a tally book written by Al. It showed all the pincantos he had sold from this place. He had been doing well for many years; however, he hadn't expected this place to be reused so he'd no long-term plan.
She walked out of the cabin and mounted Casey, who seemed eager to be going. She had decided to go to the abandoned farm and find out once and for all who lived there.
"Besides," she told Casey, "he's been gone too long."

When she arrived at the abandoned farm, she noticed right away that something was wrong. She hid Casey behind a group of trees and sneaked up to the farmhouse. She peaked through one of the windows. The first thing she noticed was a hand lying still.
She snuck around to the front and pushed the door open, slowly. Then, with her gyun drawn and ready, she stepped in. The story of what happened was obvious. Jason had entered and they had shot it out. Everyone was dead.
"Everyone?" She questioned herself and took a look around the cabin. There were three dead bodies, not including Jason, but four beds. Each bed had been slept in.
She stepped outside and entered the holding. There were three creatures inside but showed signs there'd been a fourth. Another thought occurred to her, especially since this had happened yesterday, "Where was Buffalo?"
She released the three creatures and exited the barn, walking to the back. There she found Buffalo. He had been shot in the head by a rifle, but his body was untouched. This was strange because she had seen a wreek in the area and wreeks ate the carcass of the dead, especially ogris. Apparently this shot had warned those in the cabin, distracted Jason, and allowed the others time to draw their gyuns and fight it out with Jason.
She turned and walked back to Casey. She found the tracks of the rider and recognized them. They were the tracks belonging to the lone rider who had called the runner to a stop. "So then it was a group of four who'd distracted the two. But where is the fourth man?" Red thought to herself as she looked around. Soon she found a grave but there was no marker. She decided not to dig it up just to see who it was. She buried all the bodies next to the grave she'd found but Jason's. An Incain had followed her and took Jason's body to be buried back at the village.
The tracks were heading in the direction of the Double H and she began following them. Apparently, the fight had happened at night because this man wasn't covering his tracks.

She lost the tracks amongst the tracks of cales' and pulled up. Whoever this rider was, he knew a lot about the ranch because cales were only on this side of the Double H at night.
She decided the cabin was too dangerous because she rode over there often enough to leave a lot of tracks and she didn't want to be followed or ambushed. She headed over to her old friend's small ranch.

Cap, her friend, had been the one making sure she got the message stones. No one from the gang knew that Cap and she were friends. Cap had been a Hawk Ranger which was how they'd met. Even if Fred had kept the post office watched and monitored, Cap only went in to grab his mail. However, Red was certain Cap had been holding stones back from her. The proof she had of that was in the last stone she'd received that brought her here. It had suggested a trail mentioned in previous stone; but the stone before never mentioned a trail. The route she had taken was the one suggested by Cap.
On her way here, in the last town she'd stopped in before avoiding them, she had overheard two runner drivers bragging about their routes. A third driver had come over and told a friend of his who had trouble with mail being stolen. When asked if anyone was doing anything about it, the man told them that because the person only took mail addressed to someone with the initials RA that the Rangers said, '...there was no need to.' The men were surprised for a second and then began telling each other bizarre events that happened on their routes.
Red was no longer listening because she'd left and ridden away on Apache.
On her way over, a day before she'd arrived, Red had caught a ride with traveling tribals. They'd parted ways and Red had arrived a day earlier than expected.

When she rode up, Cap was sitting in his rocking chair reading a book. He looked up as she got closer and smiled when he recognized her.
She swung down and took Casey to the holding. Then she walked back to the house and dropped her stuff on the bed she'd be using while staying here.
Another week went by pretty uneventful. Red mainly stayed inside and helped with the chores. She also reviewed what she'd learned the entire time she'd been here.
Red had been pestering Cap all week to tell her where the stones he'd kept from her were hidden. She'd finally found them in a wooden box in the attic. She hid up there after she finished her chores and read them.
Cap was due to be back soon from doing the work outside when Red found the stone that mentioned the trail. She stuffed the stone in her pocket, closed the box, and put it back where it had been. She went back downstairs and made supper.
After washing the dishes, she went to bed and listened to the stone, covering the image with her sleeve so she wouldn't wake up Cap. The stone confused her and she lay awake comparing the two. The route suggested in the stone from Fred would've taken her right through town, along the runner route. She would've passed the spot where the murder happened a day before it did. However, the route Cap had suggested would've caused her to be a day late.
In the other letters Cap had kept from her, they were all about how suspicious the people in town were. If she'd listened to those stones before she'd met them she would've been even more wary of trusting any of them.
Red fell asleep with the thought, "Cap protected me in his own way like he used to."
She woke up, made breakfast, and ate with Cap, during which she kept thinking about Fred's messages. She'd relooked over the directions Fred had recorded before making breakfast and it was now bothering her even more. Fred's route had her avoiding all towns, so she'd actually made it two days before the killing. Cap's route had asked her to stop at every town but she hadn't. If she had, she would've arrived a day or two after the killing.
Another thought occurred to her as she washed the breakfast dishes. "Why kill them when they were coming back to town instead of when they were leaving? Especially since, Stephen and Rodro had been heading to hire Private Investigators." "Unless he didn't..." she said out loud.
"Unless he didn't, what?" Cap asked.
Something Alfalfa had told her before she was arrested came to mind. "One of Jogh's riskeers is missing," he'd said.
"Where would be a good place to hide a riskeer?" she asked Cap. He smiled.
"With or without a wife and kids?" he asked. She returned his smile. Cap had known her long enough to know she was hiding something but he didn't push her to tell him.
"With," she replied.
"Out of town," he answered. "With relatives." Red smiled and walked to her room to pack. Soon, Cap was gone. She left after eating lunch.