Chapter 16: Looking for Clues

As the others rushed around, looting the General Store for items they would need, I sat George Witbier in a quiet corner.

"George. Listen to me George." He seemed to come back to reality slightly. "We've got to find a hiding place. They're going to come looking for us George. George do you hear me?"

I got no where. He had surrendered to the despair. Looking around, I started to think about how to get the group back to the arroyo where we'd hidden the Time Machine. I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. The Indian, forgotten until just then, was standing behind me. Looking me in the eye, he offered to hide us in the canyons behind the town.

By late evening the small town was crawling with Sheriff's henchman. Houses were invaded and storage areas ransacked by groups of torch-bearing cowboys. I kept watch through the store's front windows. George sat with me, more so I could keep an eye on him. Their activity was very loud and public, but George Witbier remarked that John Foster, the Sheriff's chief deputy, was just trying to "look good for his bosses" in hopes of taking the Sheriff's place. Inside the store, everyone scurried around getting things together. We borrowed clothes from the Witbiers or Inez Plum.

Before we left, Sue wanted to explore the Sheriff's house. Around midnight, Sue, dressed in some of Maggie Witbier's old clothes, decided to burglarize the Sheriff's house. Taking the keys that I had found on the Sheriff's watch chain, she made her way behind buildings to a small frame house next to the town bank.

Using a knife, she pushed the latch open on a window and crawled into the house. She found herself in the Sheriff's bedroom. It had already been ransacked, clothes were strewn across the floor and the mattress had been slashed, its ticking spread on the floor. Stepping in to the adjoining room, she saw that his library had been given the same treatment.

The only item left untouched was the safe in the corner behind the desk. Still looking around, Sue saw pictures of the Sheriff and people she took to be business associates. Framed in a typical Victorian gilt frame, one picture was remarkable. It showed the Sheriff being presented with a large broadsword by a slim, mustachioed man. Hanging directly above it was a broadsword, complete with jeweled hilt and scabbard. Sue continued her search, but the files she found were routine, dealing only with local matters.

Finally, she sat behind the large wooden desk, untouched mainly due to its size, and inspected the drawers. As she expected, they had also been ransacked. Looking around she spied the desk blotter, tossed into the corner. Just as she had done in the past with people's computer passwords, she looked in the corners for the safe combination. Voila! It was right where she had expected it to be.

Using the combination she quickly opened the safe and checked its contents. Two books were inside: one a common ledger book, the other a small leather bound diary. Sitting behind the books was a jewelry case. The jewelry case contained an amulet and a signet ring.

The sound of a door slamming open interrupted her burglary. She scooped up the books and case into a small satchel and shut the safe door, dashing for the bedroom to make her escape. Before she could crawl back out the window, she heard someone coming toward the bedroom door. She froze, hiding in the armoire beside the window.