Heart of a Hero (H.O.C. #3)

Chapter 12

Dale groaned as he sat up inside the jail. So this was what it was like to actually be caught. He almost felt relief that the running was over. Almost. He looked around but didn’t see Cole. He wondered where they’d taken him. Dale remembered first meeting Cole and all the trouble they’d managed to create together, which caused an abrupt smile to form on his dry and cracked lips. Now he wondered just what Cole was telling the Cavalry Officers, or whomever they had sent to interrogate them. “The boy better not spill his guts, or else.” He said aloud before realizing they’d posted a guard at his cell door

“Say something?” One of the Buffalo Soldiers asked while glaring at him with an eyebrow lowered. Dale shook his head “no,” but only because the skilled marksman had a bayonetted rifle pointed at him. Having a gun pointed at him two days running was not his favorite pastime, Dale thought.

An unseen voice from outside hollered for the door to be opened and Cole was thrown in without any reserve whatsoever. Dale couldn’t tell in the low light, but it looked like they’d roughed him up and good.

“You alright, buddy?” Dale asked in a whispered tone.

“No! They were much less than cordial. Told me if I didn’t tell them what they needed to know, I’d be swinging at sundown. I don’t want that. It’s Gator’s problem, not mine. I didn’t kill nobody! The girls? That was Gator’s idea. He seen ‘em leaving and thought he could take the soldiers. Now who’s in trouble? Us!” Cole made sure the guards on the other side heard him.

“What’dja tell ‘em, Cole?” Dale whispered, still in fear of recrimination.

“I told ‘em the girls and the others were going to Victoria. That’s what I told ‘em. It’s at least a half hour ride, so maybe they’ll get away. I don’t want them ladies to get hurt, but I don’t want River and Monk to die, either.” Cole spat blood and saliva into the dirt in the corner of the cell.

“What about Gator?” Dale asked, gulping.

“Let ‘im swing!”

*****

David and Ryne met with the other men on the outskirts of town at dawn ready to discuss the plan. David, to Ryne and Austin, looked as haggard as they all felt. His eyes were sunken and dark underneath and his cheeks looked hollow, despite the fact that they had offered food several times since the whole affair began.

“You really need food, Harmon. I have orders to make sure you eat and drink. We can’t force you to do either, but I think your wife will be highly upset if you lack the momentum to rescue her when the opportunity is presented.” Austin looked at Ryne, who returned the glance with a twitch in his right cheek and a pat on the back.

“Alright, fine. But, we need to get this town searched before they move them again. The railroad is our biggest concern. It’s the fastest way into and out of this town, and it’s a depot for anyone going to both Denver and Topeka, depending on the time of day.” David said, as if he’d caught a second wind and was at full speed once again.

“Which means we have to act swiftly. We need some guards at the depot.” Austin confirmed David’s thoughts. The others nodded in agreement. A lone man came running up to them, looking for the entire world like a derelict. No one recognized him, but several readied their hands to their pistols.

“Don’t shoot!” The kerchief-faced man said loudly while putting his hands in the air. “I bring a message.”

“Where’s my wife?” David shouted.

“She’s safe, for now, but you have to follow the instructions to the letter from the note found at the fort yesterday. I won’t say anything about the other men if you promise to follow them explicitly.” The man knew how to hold his cards, so to speak. “He’s running out of patience. He wants the weapons or he will start…” the man audibly gulped before continuing his message, “compromising the women. And he means it in every way you can imagine.”