The next morning, Gerald spent half an hour cranking his radio so that it would have a charge for the next day or two. After that, he met up with Dasher to grab some breakfast.
While they were eating, their radios sounded.
"Sheriff for the Marshals, this is the Sheriff Daniels for the Marshals."
"This is Marshal Acers." Gerald said while holding the talk button.
"If you boys are still short on cash, stop by my office, I might be able to give you a bit of help."
Gerald and Dasher finished their meal and rushed to the Sheriff's office. Daniels was waiting for them inside.
"It's good you are here." Daniels said. "I don't have a way for you to earn some cash, but this man may be able to help."
An older man in his fifties stepped out of the Sheriff's personal office. He was dressed in a crisp suit and his shoes were shined and free of dust.
"You two are the Marshals that just came into town?" The man asked.
"That's us."
"I am the manager of the bank across the street. One of my clients contacted me in code late last night. Mr. Hordan of Hordan ranch arranged a business deal last night. He sold off half of his cattle. The buyer was able to take much more than he anticipated. Mr. Hordan asked me to see if I could hire an escort for him. I came to the Sheriff's this morning to see if I could hire a few deputies and he suggested the two off you. The job doesn't pay much for putting your life on the line. Only twenty dollars each, but I talked to Mr. Hordan and he is willing to supply the both of you with horses for the duration of your stay in our town. What do you say?"
Gerald and Dasher looked to each other and then nodded. A horse with a saddle, reins, and saddle bags coast between one and two hundred, depending on the quality of the horse. Even if they didn't get any cash, this would still be a good deal.
"Great, I will inform Mr. Hordan. The codeword we prepared in advance is "Dew Beetle" We never know who is listening to the radio transmissions. Although this was all arranged in code and the codeword was arranged in person, please take the proper precautions. We prefer to assume that bandits and thieves have broken the code. So please stay safe. Mr. Hordan agrees that his and your lives are worth more than the money he has."
"You can head back to the bank. I will take it from here." Daniels said. When the bank manager left he turned to the Marshals. "That guy is a bit paranoid, but he is right. We can never be sure who is listening to the radio channels. You two can take a pair of horses out to the ranch, we will get them from Mr. Hordan later. Come to the map and I will show you where you are going."
After they borrowed two horses from the Sheriff, Gerald and Dasher went back to their rooms to grab their long guns.
Dasher had a double barrel shotgun and Gerald had a lever-action repeating riffle. They were both armed with two revolvers, but it didn't hurt to bring all their guns.
Three hours later, after they had ridden out of the town, they could see the ranch house in the distance, surrounded by several barns and a few bunk houses for the ranch hands. The buildings were enclosed by lush fields of green that were far from commonplace in this era of corrupted soil.
As they rode up the main path, they could see three men on horse back come riding towards them.
When the dusty men set their eyes on the Marshal badges, they waved the two ridders to follow them. After being led to the main house, the riders peeled off while a man walked down the steps of the house.
"Marshals? Come inside. I am Dale Hordan, we can talk details in my office."
They dismounted and followed the man inside. After they entered the office, the door closed.
*Click* *Click*
The distinct sound of two hammers being brought back was heard.
"Codeword?" Mr. Hordan asked.
"Dew Beetle."
Mr. Hordan nodded to the man behind the marshals. The man slowly lowered the two hammers on his revolvers and lowered his guns and then walked past Gerald and Dasher to stand behind Mr. Hordan.
"Sorry about that. I just can't be too careful. I have seen men gunned down in the street for five dollars and we are dealing with a lot more than that. This is my personal guard, Tommy." He said while signaling to the grizzled man with a scar across his cheek.
"Yes, we heard that you encountered an unexpected windfall last night."
"Indeed." Mr. Hordan said with a smile. "A man had arranged to buy ten cows from me, we had already arranged a price a week ago. But when he showed up, he was excited. Far too excited and wanted to buy five hundred heads instead of ten. At first, I didn't want to sell. A deal is a deal, we had already negotiated terms and I had plans for those other cows. But when he offered me five times market value, it was hard to refuse. It was even harder to refuse when he set the cash on my table. I agreed and he and his men took them that very night."
Mr. Hordan then walked to the window and looked out and peered around.
"It was only in the morning did I realize how foolish I was. What if those same men are waiting for me while I take the money into the city. What if they told someone else? What if my ranch hands got tired of getting a weekly pay? I couldn't stop asking myself what if… I knew I was in a dangerous situation. Looking back, the whole thing seemed so odd. The man came to buy ten cows but had enough money to purchase two and half thousand. And he was even willing to pay five times market price."
Mr. Hordan then turned back to the two marshals. "I have the guns I trust staying here to protect my greatest treasure. My family. Tommy will be coming with us to help escort me into town. I just want to get this money to the bank, far away from me and my family, and put this all behind me."
"Understood, we can depart whenever you are ready."
Mr. Hordan nodded. "Tommy, take them to the stables and get them both set up with horses that they can use while they are in town. I will prepare and meet you out front in fifteen minutes." He said while then turning to the large safe in the corner of his office.
Tommy led the two to the stable.
He barked orders to the men that were lazing around. They jumped up and started to prepare the horse. It seemed that Tommy didn't plan on skimping either. He set them up with good horses. Fast and with better endurance. The saddle bags were deep, and the horses even had long gun sleeves attached so they could easily store and draw their long guns while on horseback.
The two horse they received were much more energetic than the ones they had taken from the Sheriff.
Tommy mounted his own horse and lead another by its reins as the exited the stable. Before the approached the house, Tommy stopped and turned around.
"Mr. Hordan is a good man. He has helped a lot of people pull themselves up, me included. If either of you are thinking about doing anything funny, you best make sure you put me down first, because if you don't, I won't stop until I find you."
"Understood." Gerald said casually, not minding the threat.
When they arrived back in front of the main house, Mr. Hordan, walked down the steps with several smaller bags in hand. He began to load them into the saddlebags on his horse. When those were full, he packed the rest into Tommy's saddle bags.
Mr. Hordan then mounted his horse. "Let's head out. The bank normally stays open till five. The manager will keep the staff at work until sunset for us, so we don't need to rush. But I would rather we get there as soon as possible."
Gerald nodded. "Tommy, you stay next to Mr. Hordan. Dasher will ride ahead, while I bring up the rear. Is this arrangement acceptable?"
Both Mr. Hordan and Tommy nodded. With that settled, they pushed the horses into a trot and began on their way, leaving the green ranch behind them as they started to set off through the dust filled landscape.
The foursome navigated the rocky hills as they headed towards town. After they had been riding for two hours, Dasher appeared before them. He was no longer riding ahead. Up ahead, there were two hills, one on either side of the pass. The valley between was a perfect ambush point. To detour around the large hills would turn their three-hour trip into a daylong affair.
"What's the problem?" Mr. Hordan asked.
Gerald noticed as soon as he rode up. The dusty ground was covered in multiple hoof prints. Gerald and Dasher were the only ones to visit the ranch this morning. Others shouldn't have taken this path, and they hadn't met anyone along the way either.
The fact that there was so much traffic in this area was a bad omen. Another point of worry was that the tracks were still visible. With the dusty environment and the whipping winds. If the prints were more than an hour old, they would have been blown away or covered already.
"Retreat for now. I will go forward and check it out. Wait for my call. We will use the second set of call signs to check in." Gerald said to Dasher.
"I can help you out." Dasher suggested.
Gerald shook his head. "Our mission this time isn't to take out bandits, it is to safely escort Mr. Hordan to the bank."
"Understood. Mr. Hordan, Tommy, I suggest we retreat for now and wait for the 'all clear'."
Mr. Hordan frowned. "Are you so sure that something will happen?"
Dasher shook his head. "It is not worth the risk. These prints show at least ten horses. Let's play it safe for now."
"Boss, let's just back up for now. Like they said, it's not worth the risk." Tommy said.
Mr. Hordan nodded and spurned his horse around. Tommy overtook him and led the way, while Dasher took up the rear.
Gerald waited for ten minutes, until the trio disappeared around a hill. He then took his horse far from the path and secured her to a boulder.
Taking his rifle from it's sleeve he then began to trek up the hill.
***
"How much longer do we have to keep waiting?"
"The boss said that our target will come through this path with the money sometime today. Just keep waiting and we will hit it big. Don't you know that the boss already has plans for this money. We can't afford to mess it up."
"Alright, alright, I was just asking."
*Click*
"Where are the others?" Spoke a voice behind the pair.
The barrel of a revolver was pressed against the head of the man who spoke a lot. When the other one heard the voice, he jumped and turned while trying to draw his gun.
*Slice*
A large buck knife stabbed straight through the man's chest and pierced his heart. All the while, the barrel of the gun never left the back of the second man's head.
"Where are the others? Don't make me ask a third time." Gerald said while pulling his knife from the dead man's chest.
"You won't shoot me if I tell you?"
"That's right." Gerald said.
"They… they are hiding on the other side of the pass. We are only here to make sure that rancher doesn't retreat. When our target entered the valley, we were instructed to wait until the others made a move. If the rancher was dealt with, we remain hidden. If he tries to flee, we take down his horse."
"Mmm, where are they hidden?"
"I don't know. We were sent up the hill before they got into position. I really don't know. I told you what you wanted. You will keep your word, right?"
"Of course, I won't shoot you."
*Click*
The bandit finally exhaled in relief when he heard the revolvers hammer being slowly lowered back down.
*Slash* *Gurgle*
Gerald's knife cut his throat and then he pushed the man aside.
"Why would I ever shoot you if I didn't have too. Isn't that the same as announcing my presence?"
Gerald knelt next to the two bodies and rooted through their pockets. He set aside their pair of rifles and the old worn-out guns they wore.
After taking everything they had, he peered out between the rocks on the top of the hill. He had a perfect sight line of the trail between the two hills. He scanned the distance but didn't see any sign of the others. He frowned. To search every possible spot would take him days.
***
Dasher sat with Tommy and Mr. Hordan in a shallow cave that Tommy pointed out. They were only twenty minutes from the pass between the two hills. They had yet to hear any sounds of gunfire, but they had been holed up for over three hours.
"You don't think something has happened to your partner, do you?" Mr. Holdan asked Dasher.
"Nah, he is fine. If there is one person you don't need to worry about, then it's him."
"Should you radio in and check on him?" Tommy asked.
Dasher shook his head. "He prefers to keep things quiet when possible. If he is sneaking up on someone, I don't want to ruin it by radioing him. Besides, he said he would contact us. So we wait.
"Pilgrim, calling pilgrim. This is raven. The wagon broke a wheel, and were separated from the others. The wagon can still roll. Suggest rushing towards the water hole, over."
Dasher and the others listened to the radio transmission.
"What does that mean?" Tommy asked after he recognized the sound of Gerald's voice.
"He called himself a raven. It is likely that he is up high, watching over the pass. The wagon should be the bandits. Since they 'lost a wheel' it means he dealt with some of them. It sounds like he dealt with a group that was separated from them. Since the wagon can still roll, I believe that the bandits are still able to act. He wants us to head towards town and fall into their trap."
"Boss, you can't. It's too dangerous."
"It's your call Mr. Holdan. Marshal Acers made the call because he didn't see another way. I suggest that we press through the pass."
"Boss, let's just go back to the ranch, we can wait it out."
Mr. Hordan looked towards Tommy and shook his head. "These bandits must know about the deal I made. If they can't catch us here, who is to say that they won't raid the ranch. I don't want to bring the trouble back to my family. Getting this money to the bank, as soon as possible, is our best chance to deter the bandits. If they want the money after that, it will have nothing to do with us. Marshal Dasher; make the call. We will ride through the pass."
Dasher nodded. "Raven, calling Raven. This is Pilgrim. We will rush towards the watering hole and set up camp before night fall. We will wait for your arrival."