Chapter 10

They decided to head for Las Cruces to collect their rewards, since that was the closest county seat. It took them 5 days to reach Las Cruces, and some of the nights were not very comfortable, so they were not in a very good mood when they arrived. They collected their rewards and picked up the posters. With the posters in hand, Hank and Rafe adjourned to a nearby saloon to see what was new.

The face on top was know to both. Rafe said, "Son of a bitch! We wasn't 10 feet from that galoot last night. He's the assistant bartender at that saloon we stayed in. Now we gots ta double back ifen we wants ta git 'im."

"Yeah, but $72.50, each, is worth a lot of doubling back, don't ya think?"

"Yep, it is, but it shore woulda been more convenient ifen we'd had the poster back then. Oh, well, no rest for the toilers in the fields of law enforcement!"

Hank couldn't resist laughing at that. "Jus' remember, ya can't ride with Ada ifen ya're gonna preach, Reverend."

"Yep, I'll keep that in mind. Let's git a place ta stay, soz we kin start out in the mornin'."

The next morning, they started out early enough to arrive in Harlyville before noon. They decided to eat dinner before going after the object of their search, just in case it took longer than expected. As they were leaving the restaurant, they met the marshal and told him what they had in mind.

The marshal started laughing so hard that they thought he was going to choke. "Sorry boys, Ya're the third bounty hunters this week ta make that mistake. I've known Charlie fer over 10 years, an' he ain't the one on that there poster. I don't know where that there picture come from, but I'm afeared that it will git Charlie kilt afore the mistake kin be fixed. Ifen ye're goin' back through Las Cruces, please stop off at the court house an' tell 'em 'bout the mistake."

Hank and Rafe were really disgusted and promised to tell them about the mistake when they got back to Las Cruces. Both men were supremely pissed over the screw up and had a very unhappy journey back to complain about the error.

On top of everything else, they suffered a broken wheel and had to stop to repair that before they got back to town. Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed! They finally got back to Las Cruces after most places were closed up, so they wound up sleeping in a hay stack near Ada's stall at a livery stable.

They were still out of sorts when they got up the next morning, but they were back to their usual pleasant mood by their third cup of coffee. They went by the court house and expressed their displeasure at the wanted poster screw up, but that was no help—they didn't even get an apology! Shit! The nerve of some people!

They went back to their usual routine of visiting saloons looking for business. It was their fifth day and Lord knows how many saloons before they hit pay dirt. It seems the stage line was having trouble with too much rustling of stock at their relay stations. They were offering a reward for the rustlers, but the bartender couldn't remember how much it was. They thanked him and went to the stage office for more information.

The manager of the stage line explained that he was offering $300 to anyone who could bring the rustling to a halt. Not only was it costing him money replacing the stolen animals, but his schedule was shot to hell because he couldn't keep enough mules at the relay stations.

The manager couldn't tell them much beyond the fact that he was losing stock from random relay points. He had 5 relay stations that were losing stock, but he couldn't see any order or routine as to when they were being hit. Hank asked for a list of the stations and when they had been hit. He was told that the clerk at the counter could dig up the list for him. They went out to the counter to get the list and left for a saloon to think over the problem over a beer.

They went through three beers each before Hank said, "I got it! If I'm right, this here (pointing to one of the stations on the list) station will be hit tomorrow. Let's take a chance an' see ifen I'm right." They had another beer to celebrate.

The next day, Hank saddled Ada, and they rode out to the relay station in question. They were inside, talking to the agent in charge of the station, when they heard a great ruckus out at the corral. There was a lot of yelling and shooting going on, and the three men ran out to see four men trying to drive the mules out of the corral by yelling and shooting their pistols in the air.

"RUSTLERS!" shouted the agent, and he started shooting at the men in the corral. Hank and Rafe ran to their mounts and grabbed their rifles. They began to shoot at the rustlers with more success than the agent with his pistol. One rustler was wounded, and this was enough to drive off the men. The rustlers rode out of the corral and across the hills as fast as their horses could carry them.

Rafe ran to his horse to give chase, but was stopped by Hank, who was calmly walking to Ada. "Ain't no need to be in no great hurry. That there wounded man ain't goin' far with that bullet in his shoulder. We kin foller 'em at a slow walk an' still cotch up ta 'em within an hour. That wounded man is hurtin' so much that he ain't goin' more than 2 miles afore he gives up. Ifen we capture him, we kin find out what we needs ta know ta git the rest."

Rafe shook his head and said, "Damned ifen ya ain't right, Hank. I have ta give ya one on that call."

They rode out at a comfortable lope to follow the wounded man. They really didn't care what the other 3 men did at this point. If they abandoned the wounded man, he would tell them how to find his former friends, and if they stayed with the wounded man, Hank and Rafe could capture them without having to chase all over this part of the county. Either way, there was no hurry.