eventually lead us to the person, or persons, who ordered my familyâs abduction in the first place . . . and, whether he is still keeping them as prisoners, or has sent them on ahead to whoever is paying him.â
âThank you both for bringing me up to date,â said Kelly. âWeâve all been riding since before sunup, Charley. Donât you think itâs about time we stopped for something to eat?â
âNow, why didnât I think of that?â said Charley.
He turned in his saddle.
âRoscoe,â he called out, âhow about fixing us up a noon meal?â
âCan I build me a fire this time, C.A.?â
âI suppose so . . . it should be all right now.â
Fuerte nodded.
âThen Iâll start with the coffee,â said Roscoe. âHot . . . hot . . . coffee.â
âNot too hot for me,â said Fuerte, as he circled back, moving in beside Roscoe. âIf you take in a deeper breath than normal, youâll realize that today is going to be even warmer than yesterday.â
Holliday moved in beside Charley and the others. He carried his frockcoat folded neatly under his arm. Perspiration had already begun to stain portions of his frilly fronted dress shirt.
âHell,â he said, âitâs already hotterân a skillet full aâ fryinâ bacon.â
âNow ainât that funny,â said Roscoe. âThatâs exactly what I was about ta whip up for your noon meal, Holliday. Along with some of those tins of Mexican free-holies. â
Sergeant Stone and Pennell were already stretched out on their bedrolls. Rod and Kelly were doing the same a few feet away. The sergeantâs three toolboxes remained tied to the chuckwagon nearby.
âWhat do you have in those boxes of yours, Sergeant?â asked Rod. âLooks to me like a couple of those cases might contain M1895 Colt-Browning machine guns.â
The sergeant whipped around, ready to fight if need be.
âHave you been snooping around my boxes, Indian?â
âCalm down, Sergeant,â said Rod. âI saw a couple of those automatic Colts in action during the Cuban campaign. Thatâs all.â
âThen you must have been one of Rooseveltâs team.â
âThatâs right,â said Rod. âDuring the battle for San Juan Heights, I was one of the first to make it to the crest at Kettle Hill.â
âAnd he was one of the first to make it back down to the bottom of that hill, too,â said Kelly, cutting in. âHis boot heel was shot out from under him just as he reached the summit.â
âIt was definitely a rock-hard tumble . . . all the way down, I remember,â said Rod. âLead was flying in every direction, but not one bullet found a piece of me.â
âYouâre lucky,â said the sergeant.
âMore than that,â said Rod. âIâm blessed.â
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The puppy was playing in the dirtâits neck attached to Henry Ellisâs wrist by a long piece of rawhide.
âLookit them feet,â said Roscoe, who was putting away his supplies and tying several frying pans to one side of the chuckwagon. âHeâs gonna grow up ta be as big as Buster was.â
âBigger,â said Charley, who stood nearby. âI remember the old Buster at this oneâs age. He wasnât that big at all.â
âHow old do you think he is, Grampa?â asked Henry Ellis.
âNot more than three or four months, I reckon,â said Charley.
âWhat should I feed him?â the boy wanted to know.
âBuster ate table scraps and whatever he could find in the chicken yard,â said Roscoe.
âOh, no, no, no,â interrupted Kelly, who was near enough to have heard Roscoeâs remark. âYou canât feed a puppy table scraps. Itâs not good for them.â
âIâve been eating food that makes table scraps all my life,â said Charley, â. .
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes