I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord,
and by his fierce anger.
- Jeremiah 4:26
Terrain remained much the same as they neared the outskirts of Red Rock Gulch. Cole appraised the town as they rode closer. The buildings looked to be in better repair than what he had seen in Dusthaven, and the streets bustled with activity. They had not gotten far into town before Cole noticed a familiar face - the young prize fighter type who had tried to hijack him, Tawakoni, and Owley in the desert. The young man strutted through the streets of Red Rock Gulch as if he owned the place, and clearly had not noticed Cole or Owley. Tying their horses, they dismounted and followed him at a discreet distance.
The streets of Red Rock Gulch appeared to be peaceful, but lively. They didn’t see anyone who looked out of place, just the townsfolk going about their business on the bustling streets. The only thing of note were hitching posts and water troughs. The main street contained all the usual businesses - a bank, a hotel, town hall, an opera house.
The prize fighter entered into a nondescript building along the square; it bore no indication of its purpose but there was a scent like that after a lightning storm coming from inside, and some sort of clanging sound. A big, tough-looking hombre was sitting on a wooden chair outside the door, cradling a shotgun. He noticed them coming and readied his shotgun as they approached the building. Kane just tipped his hat and indicated he wanted to pass. His eyes followed them, but he didn't move from his post.
It did seem that they were not the only ones who had come to Red Rock Gulch from Dusthaven. The Reverend, Mr. Elias, was standing at the head of the street, a large iron-bound Bible in his hand. Even at this hour of the day he appeared quite soused. At the end of the street, a crowd seemed to be forming, and they decided to take the opportunity it offered to get out of sight of the bruiser and see what might be going on.
Elias opened his Bible and launched into a recitation. “As it is written in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah,
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void;
and the heavens, and they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
and all the hills moved lightly.
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord,
and by his fierce anger.”
Most of the crowd watched the Reverend in rapt attention. It was, at least, enough of a distraction that they were able to leave the giant thug and his shotgun behind them for the moment and take up observation between a couple of buildings on the other side of the street.
"Something is going on in that place," said Kane. "It smelled like something bad."
"Yes, “ said Owley, “But we’ll have to find a way past Paul Bunyan over there if we are going to find out what it is.”
"If any of these ruffians were at the canyon, they might recognize us", said Cole. "Then our chance at Hollister is blown."
"We need to find out what he is up to," said Kane. "I'm not sure what will draw Tall Paul off. The preacher doesn't seem to be doing it."
The rugged bruiser remained at his post, looking most displeased that he was forced to endure Elias’s sermon. Cole searched the street for anything that might be useful in distracting him, but nothing clever caught his attention. Only the townsfolk on their errands passed him by, and doing anything to them would only draw more attention.
The thug looked up, and caught sight of them watching across the street. Raising his massive ham fist, he gave a patterned knock on the door. It opened, although Cole could not see who was within. The thug pointed toward their hiding place. The young prize fighter came out with two other large and burly men, and headed directly for them.
They tried in vain to slink away before the desperadoes got there, but Cole’s lack of stealth gave them away. “Split up,” said Kane. “Get to your horses, and get out of town.” Each went a different way, forcing the ruffians to split their ranks as well. Although the men were armed, they seemed to show some restraint with their weapons on the street, for which Cole was grateful.
Cole didn't recognize the man who followed him, but he was able to feign indifference while casing Red Rock Gulch. This allowed other onlookers to think nothing of him watching as he hopped on Nevah and rode out of the city in a random direction. Fortunately, it seemed that the bruiser was not inclined to follow him. Unfortunately, that meant that he was now out in the badlands with no idea how to find his way back to the trail to Dusthaven.
The badlands didn’t hold anything threatening, but it was hot and dry while the only respite Cole knew held a high degree of danger. Bringing Nevah to a stop, he dismounted and looked through his saddlebags. It seemed that Kane must have purchased him some emergency supplies, but he had to be careful because he didn’t know how long it would take to find his way back to Dusthaven. He resigned himself to trying to find the trail through the sagebrush. The jackrabbits were no help at all.
“Come along, Cole. No need to panic,” he told himself. “You can do this.” He knew where the river was, and he thought he knew the direction of Dusthaven in relation to it, but he could see no landmarks that he recognized. He wondered if this was how Hollister’s victims had ended up in his clutches. The day was aging toward noon, and Cole didn’t want to be out in the badlands at night for sure.
After a couple of hours of searching unsuccessfully for the trail to Dusthaven, Cole was beginning to lose hope. A rustling sound alerted him to something large behind him, and he stopped Nevah. Tying her to some sagebrush, he settled in to see what came to investigate. He was overjoyed to see Kane ride up and stop near Nevah. Kane motioned to him to be quiet and come out.
“Have you seen what happened to Owley?” Kane asked.
Cole shrugged. “No clue. I’m lucky you found me because I have no idea where we are.”
“Hollister’s ruffians aren’t far away,” said Kane. “We need to get out of here before - “
A ragged scream ripped through the air from somewhere nearby, followed by other voices shouting. Kane sneaked through the sagebrush, with Cole close behind him, and they at last found the trail, and Owley. He was standing at gunpoint by two bruisers like the ones they had encountered in Red Rocks.
“Where are your friends?” A woman’s voice asked. Cole’s jaw dropped in amazement as he saw a blonde woman in a knee length skirt, with frilly petticoats visible underneath and a frilly blouse, wearing a small and rakish cowboy hat. She had a smile like no other, but it didn't touch her eyes. “I won’t ask you again.” She punched Owley in the stomach, eliciting a heavy groan.
“Hopefully,” said Owley, “They’re getting away from you.”
“Stay put,” whispers Kane. “I want to see where they take him.”
“Aww, sugar, you don’t have to stay put on account of little old me,” the woman purred seductively. “Grab them!” she shouted to the bruisers, who took their attention off Owley to do what she commanded them. Cole, Kane, and Owley were off quickly, Cole and Kane putting enough distance between themselves and the stumbling ruffians that it seemed unlikely the big men would be able to catch up. Unfortunately, Owley ran the other way and Both of them lost track of him again.
They got back to their horses without the men discovering them again, and then began looking for Owley, their search leading them further into the badlands. It didn’t take them long to find Owley, next to a broken down old wagon that had been abandoned on the trail to Red Rock Gulch unknown years ago. And unfortunately, the bruisers and the blond had found him as well.
“You aren’t leaving me yet, are you sugar?” She smiled. Owley raised his hands.
Kane and Cole drew their guns, and rode toward the wagon with all haste. One of the bruisers heard them coming, turned, and fired at Kane, dropping him from his horse. The second one fired at Cole but missed, while the blond decided to try to shoot Owley. She didn’t seem very familiar with the gun, though, and missed him. Cole blasted the bruiser that had tried to shoot him in the chest and the man crumbled. Owley used the opportunity to draw his own gun, and took a shot at the other bruiser but missed him. It struck the long-destroyed cargo of the old wagon, issuing a musty odor.
Kane struggled to his feet, bleeding from a wound that had nicked his side. The remaining bruiser tried to shoot Kane again, but this time he missed completely, as Owley ducked behind the wagon while the pretty blond tried to shoot him again. Cole shot the second thug, and he to dropped, as Owley popped up over the wagon and shoved his gun in the blond’s face. “Drop it!” he commanded.
“That wasn’t a request.” Kane pointed his gun at her as well. She seemed to see the writing on the wall, and dropped the gun, raising her delicately-gloved hands.
“What’s your name, my soiled dove?” Owley snarled.
“Josie,” she said. Her tone clearly said other, less nice, things.
“You were going to turn us over to Hollister, weren’t you Josie?” Kane asked. Josie nodded miserably. Cole wasn’t sure whether she was really unhappy, or if this was an act for their benefit. Either way, he didn’t like the way Josie looked at him.
“You’d better let me go, if you know what’s good for you. I’m his wife.” Kane laughed uproariously at that.
“I think he could do better than a harlot, don’t you?”
“What do you know about it?” Kane ignored her.
“What’s Hollister doing in Red Rock Gulch? What’s in that building with the ozone smell?”
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you?” Josie reached for something on her belt, but Kane cocked his pistol.
“Nuh uh.” he said. “You give me that. Now.” Josie now really looked afraid, as she handed him a small brown bottle about the size of a sixgun round. Kane opened it, sniffed, and grimaced before closing it and putting it back in his own pocket.
“Please,” Josie begged. “I need that. It’s painkiller.”
“I don’t doubt that,” said Kane. “Smells like morphine. You aren’t getting it back.”
“Please,” she said. “It’ll get bad.” Kane didn’t seem swayed by her words, but Owley looked like he might be, a little.
“Josie,” said Kane. “I think it is in our best interest to keep an eye on you. You’re coming back to Dusthaven with us. Sheriff Hank has a very nice jail cell waiting for you.”
“Doesn’t look like I have much choice, does it sugar?” she asked Owley.
“Orin,” said Kane. “Tie her up.”
“Yes, Orin. Tie me up,” she agreed. “Make me beg.”
“Quiet, you, or all you’ll get is a bullet.” Kane didn’t seem inclined to negotiate. Owley put the girl in front of him in the saddle, and they set off once more toward Dusthaven. She seemed defiant at first, but as the afternoon wore on she began to become more jittery and sweated a lot more than even the badlands heat could account for.
“What’s the matter?” Owley asked her. He seemed genuinely concerned.
“I need my medicine. Please make him give it to me,” she nodded toward Kane.
“Not a chance,” said Kane. “You’re going to suffer, just like my Geneviève suffered.”
Owley started practically fawning over her as they neared Dusthaven. Even Cole noticed that he seemed smitten. “What are you doing,” he asked Owley. “She’s got nothing for you.”
“She reminds me of Geneviève,” said Owley. She sure didn’t remind Cole of her. She was way too slick, too artificial. With this woman, he had a feeling, everything was an illusion, or worse a transaction.
“Listen, Orin,” said Kane. “You better not mess this up. We might be able to use her to bring those hooligans to us. We need to get her into jail before the other outlaws realize that she’s gone.” He didn’t seem any more enchanted by Josie’s charms than Cole was.
Although the afternoon was beautiful, Josie was in obvious distress. Cole wondered, though, what would happen when Hollister realized this tart was missing. She was obviously someone to him - she had commanded the bruisers who almost got Owley. Would he abandon her to her fate, or would he try to rescue her? Cole was afraid the answer would be only too soon in coming.
