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The Silver Creek Posse: Deputised Damsels - Pt2

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The heat of the day was already rapidly draining into a cold clear night with a full moon, as Alice and her small posse neared the first fork in the trail that led away from Silver Creek. Although the girls could see the lights of houses twinkling in the distance when they were on higher ground, they had long since left anywhere that could be thought of as being part of their home town.
Alice was starting to wish that she had brought a shawl with her. It might not have looked as impressive as when she first rode out, wearing her father’s red shirt, suede waistcoat, and her own brown corduroy riding skirt, but at least she’d be warmer. She had packed a blanket into the saddle pack on her father’s horse, but she had only really intended it for sleeping under. She glanced over her shoulder at Maggie, and saw that she too was looking a little less enthusiastic about things now that the reality of a night on the trail was upon them.
“Maggie… I think you can untie Liliana now…” she called out softly. For some reason, she didn’t feel much like making a noise. The land around them seemed to be somehow less familiar and less friendly by night.
Maggie blinked, and then threw back her head, and let out a sudden braying laugh. She had almost completely forgotten that Liliana’s recent silence had not been of her own choosing.
“I’m so sorry, Lilly!” she exclaimed, as she untied the apron strings that kept the girl’s white apron neatly stuffed into her mouth. She then untied her wrists, not having made too thorough a job of it in the first place. Liliana rubbed her wrists for a moment, and then pulled the folded and bundled up apron out of her mouth. She turned her big dark eyes on Maggie and Alice with a solemn and reproachful look.
“I cannot believe that you have treated me this way! You must take me home! And you must go home too… Nothing good will come of this, I am sure!”

Alice peered into the dark a little more, and made out the silent and dark figure of the strange bounty hunting girl that they had taken on as a tracker. She was sitting on her horse, looking around constantly, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding landscape. Alice reined in her horse, and waited for the girl to catch up.
“Well, we know they rode out of town this way. No one from the town has ridden out this way since, I’m sure. Reckon you can pick up their trail?”
The redhead reined her own horse in, and slipped down from the saddle. She carefully approached the fork in the trail, and crouched low over the dry, dusty surface. The three local girls sat quietly, watching her at work with a mixture of curiosity and a small amount of awe.
After a few moments, the girl straightened up, and pointed.
“They went that way, to the south. They stuck to the trail, and I reckon they are headin’ for the hills.”
Her curiosity mounting, Alice slipped down from her own horse, and approached the fork herself.
“How can you tell? Can you show me?”
The girl pointed down at the trail, and Alice peered at where she was pointing.
“These hoofprints here. Lots of ‘em. There’s a breeze, but it hasn’t covered ‘em over yet. So they passed this way a short while back, like a few hours.”
“Why are they heading to the hills?” Maggie asked from her saddle.
The redhead gestured around her. “Easy… There’s nowhere else to go. They gotta have a camp or somesuch, and water too. The hills are leading up toward prairie country, where there’s trees, shelter, and probably water too. Out there…” she pointed down the path of the other trail on the fork, “there’s nothin’. Just shrubs, rocks and dust. They got a lot of horses that need food and water.” Leaving Alice still studying the hoofprints, she walked back to her horse, and mounted it again. “Come on. We want to be up in the hills for when we make camp. Time’s passin’…”

The girls rode on, all of them lapsing into silence once more. Even Liliana had gone quiet; although it was obvious from her heavy-lidded eyes and occasional nodding that she was getting sleepy.
They had brought their horses all abreast of each other now, riding side by side, with Maggie and Liliana in the middle. Somehow, it seemed safer that way.
Alice started as a sound came out of the silence. A long, mournful and drawn out yowling sound that seemed to give the moonlit and inhospitable landscape its own voice.
“W-what’s that?” asked Maggie, her eyes widening as she looked about. The red-haired girl gave her a curious look.
“That’s a coyote. Haven’t you never heard a coyote before?”
Maggie shook her head in response. Alice shrugged slightly.
“I have, but never that close. Are they dangerous?”
The girl shrugged. “Not normally when they’re on their own. But that one’s callin’ for friends. If they get into a pack they can be trouble.”
Maggie suddenly stuck out her arm and pointed, as up ahead, some way off, a lean dark form slunk across the trail, disappearing. “Look! Is that him?”
The bounty hunter nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing a little. “Yup… That’s him. They ain’t much to look at really. Just like a big dog, or very small wolf. And he’ll go a ways around us if he’s alone.”
They continued riding onward, accompanied occasionally by the sound of the coyote in the distance.
“He sounds a little sad.” Alice observed.
“He’s on his own. Coyotes like being with friends.” said the redhead.
“Ummm… if it’s no bother… what is your name?” asked Maggie. “Only if we’re all going out together like this, it doesn’t seem right us not knowing what to call you…”
The bounty hunter paused, as if the idea that these town girls might actually want to call her by a name hadn’t honestly occurred to her.
“Well… My name is Adriana. Adriana O’Connell.”
Liliana stirred for the first time in a while.
“That is a Mexican name… Adriana, I mean. You have a Mexican mother or father?”
Adriana nodded. “My mother was Mexican. My father was Irish. My mother got to choose my name, I guess.”
“My name is Liliana Quintero. And these two friends, who have so terribly kidnapped me…” said Liliana, looking meaningfully at Alice and Maggie, “are Maggie Wallis, and Alice Parr.”
Adriana nodded again. “And what’s the name of the other girl?” she asked.
Alice frowned, looking puzzled. “What other girl?”
“The one who I spotted following us on the trail a little ways back. The one who thinks she can’t be spotted on a full moon night, while wearin’ a white dress…”
Alice, Maggie and Liliana all peered back behind them, their eyes searching the trail for signs of their supposed follower.
“There’s no one who’s supposed to be coming with us. You’re sure she’s following us?” asked Alice, wishing that she had better night-eyes than she did.
Adriana nodded again, and pointed up ahead.
“Wait till we get in among those rocks over there. We’ll surprise her.”

The foothills to the south rose fairly steeply, and there were a lot of broken and weather worn rocks leading up to them. The trail meandered between the larger ones on its way up. Alice wasn’t sure how they would be able to ride up into the hills at first. But as they drew nearer, she could make out the path that wound its way up the steep incline.
As they passed a particularly large rock, Adriana motioned to the others, and left the trail, steering her horse around behind the rock. She dismounted, and wrapped her reins around the trunk of a small dead shrub. The other girls followed suit.
“What now?” whispered Maggie.
“We wait until she catches us up. She’ll hurry on a bit now she’s lost sight of us I reckon.”
Adriana drew her revolver from its holster, just in case, and ducked into the shadow of the rock, with Alice and Maggie close behind. Liliana stayed close by the horses, just in case.
“Do I need a gun?” asked Alice.
“Only if you want to shoot something.” came the hushed reply.
They remained crouched in complete silence, with only the sound of crickets for company. Even the coyote seemed to have fallen silent. And then, they heard the sound of hoofbeats, trotting toward the rock on the trail, softened by the dust on the path. Alice held her breath, which seemed to sound altogether too loudly. She even fancied that her heartbeat could be heard.
Suddenly, the horse appeared. And riding it, a girl in a white dress, a wide-brimmed ladies’ hat, and carrying a parasol. Almost immediately, Alice saw a look of recognition on Maggie’s face.
“Dorothea! What the heck are you doing out here?” Maggie suddenly demanded in a loud voice.
The girl on the horse jumped as if a gun had gone off beside her, and the horse shied to one side with a startled snort. She looked down at the three figures by the rock, and her eyes widened as she saw the revolver that the unkempt redhead was holding.
“Don’t do that!” she hissed angrily. “You scared the life out of me! And I might ask you the same question, Maggie Wallis! I’m sure that your father has no idea that you are out here!”
Adriana holstered her gun, now that there was no possible threat.
“Well, didn’t you get brave all of a sudden? Fainting in the afternoon, and ridin’ the trail alone by night!”
Dorothea pursed her lips, giving Adriana a disapproving look.
“I might have known that someone of your kind would be mixed up in this. You’ve only been in town for a day, and you’re already being a poor influence!”
Adriana narrowed her eyes a little, and nodded toward Dorothea.
“So, what do we do with her? You want to tie her to the saddle and send her back or somethin’?” she asked Alice, in a tone that made it impossible to tell if she were joking or not.
Alice sighed, and shook her head.
“No. We’d better take her along with us. If we send her back, she’ll just tell folks where we are.”
Dorothea bridled at that, her brow furrowing. “I’d like to see you just try and send me back! Anyway, what are you all doing out here? You’re not running away from home or something, are you?”
“Of course not!” replied Maggie. “We decided to go and find the Hollis Boys, and try to bring them in for shooting Alice’s father!” She grasped her waistcoat, and displayed the deputy badge that hung upon it.
“I see…” Dorothea sounded slightly amused by that idea. And privately, more than a little intrigued and excited. It sounded like a far more adventurous life than the one she’d been living lately.
“In that case, you’d better deputise me too. Or I may have to ride back to town and inform everyone, like a good citizen.”
“Deputies carry guns… not fancy umbrellas.” Adriana snorted at the idea.
“Oh really? So how many guns do you actually have with you?” Dorothea asked politely, but with more than a hint of sarcasm.
The three girls exchanged glances.
“I have one… Adriana has two…” mumbled Alice.
“I’m here as a deputy and a reporter…” added Maggie, looking a little uncertain of her own position.
“And Liliana?”
“No way she’s getting’ her hands on any sort of gun.” Adriana stated flatly. “She’d shoot herself in the drawers before she’d hit anything in front of her.”
“In that case, I’m more than qualified as a deputy!” Dorothea announced. She turned in her saddle, and patted the shotgun that was holstered on the right hand side of the horse.
“Have you ever fired that?” asked Alice, looking doubtful.
“Of course I have! Just because my father is rich, it doesn’t mean that I never learned how to shoot!”
Alice, Maggie, and Adriana looked at each other. Finally, Alice sighed.
“Well then. You’re coming with us. Let’s get Lilly and the horses and get moving…” she fixed Dorothea with her most serious look. “I’m the senior deputy here, so you do what I say. No messing around. This isn’t a Sunday ride for fun!”

The ride up the steep incline of the hills seemed to take forever, as the trail wound its way back and forth. It was too narrow for the five girls to do anything but ride in single file, and they had to take it slowly too. Liliana, who at seventeen years old was the youngest present, finally fell asleep in the saddle, and Maggie had to take extra care whilst riding not to let her slip and fall. In fact, the first glimmer of dawn was on the eastern horizon as they finally crested the top of the incline, and looked around.
“Sweet lord! It looks so different up here!” gasped Maggie.
As Adriana had said, they were riding into prairie country, and the first thing that they noticed was the grass, tall and yellowish from the summer heat, that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, dotted by clumps of trees and bushes. It was almost waist-high, and the trail seemed to cut a single swathe through it.
“Shall we stop here and camp?” asked Alice as she drew alongside Adriana’s horse once more. The bounty hunter shook her head quickly, and pointed into the near distance.
“We can go a little further while it’s still cool. The trees are thicker over there, and it’ll make better shade for a camp.”
“It’ll be good to get off these horses for a while!” muttered Maggie. “My rear feels like it’s been pounded like a month old steak!”
Alice giggled at that, whilst Dorothea raised an eyebrow. Adriana nodded slightly, and spurred her horse on in the direction that she had pointed. The others followed suit, and gradually the four horses all drew abreast of each other once more.
“You know… I’ve been thinking. And I believe I know where those Hollis Boys might be!” Maggie announced after a while.
Everyone except Liliana, who was fast asleep, turned an expectant gaze on her.
“Well… when I was younger, my father brought me out this way once, to see the old silver mines, and the camps that were around them. There’s water nearby… and the huts might still be useable, even if they must be really run down by now…”
“That makes a lot of sense. Readymade shelter, water, the mines to hide out in… It’d have everything they’d want, wouldn’t it?” Alice smiled a little. She was rather glad that she had persuaded Maggie to come along.
“Why did your father take you to see the mines?” asked Dorothea, who was unfurling her parasol in preparation for the morning sun.
“He told me that the mines were left before they’d all been worked out. So someday, he said, more people would come back to work the mines, and the town would get bigger and have more money again. I guess he thought it would be important for me to know when I got older.” The tall blonde girl shrugged, shading her eyes with one hand as she gazed off into the distance.
“There’s more money to be made from selling stuff to miners than in the mining itself, I reckon.” Adriana murmured, half to herself.

They reached the clump of trees that Adriana had pointed out to them after an hour or so, by which time the sun had crested the horizon, and was burning brightly, promising another hot and dry summer’s day, and the shade of the trees was more than welcome. There was a slight breeze which rustled the tall grass, and which made it much cooler in the shade, but even so, it was too warm for Alice to even think about sleeping under the blanket that she had packed. So she laid it out on the ground, with Maggie and Adriana following suit. They tethered the horses lightly, giving them enough room to graze on the grass, and Alice helped Maggie get a somewhat sleep-dazed Liliana out of the saddle. She stumbled onto one of the blankets, flopped down upon it, and almost immediately curled up and fell asleep once more. Dorothea, after smoothing out her dress, followed suit, propping her parasol up for added shade, and pulling her silk flower and ribbon decorated hat down over her eyes. The remaining girls removed the saddles from the horses, and set the packs that they had down by the tree.
Adriana sat herself down on her blanket, pulling her hat down slightly, and leaning against the trunk of a tree, proceeding to take out a knife and begin whittling at a piece of fallen wood. She nodded at Alice and Maggie.
“I’ll take a watch first. Get some sleep. I’ll wake one of you when it’s your turn.”
Alice nodded tiredly. Now that they were out of the saddle, she suddenly realised just how sleepy she actually was, and just how much she was aching. She had no idea how some people spent their whole lives in the saddle, so to speak. Maggie stretched herself out next to Liliana, her arms folded across herself, and closed her eyes. Alice was thinking about the mines, and had been meaning to ask Maggie more about them. But before she had even thought of the first question she had wanted to ask, her eyes had closed, and she was fast asleep.

Alice awoke to a hand shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes, and looked up, to see Adriana leaning in over her, her hat pulled down over her eyes, as sunlight slanted down in shafts through the rustling branches of the tree.
“Wake up. It’s your turn to watch.”
Alice slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes. “I’m awake. Anything happen while I was sleeping?” she asked softly.
Adriana shook her head. “Nope. Some folks rode through the other way a while back, but they didn’t even see us.”
Alice stretched, and propped herself up against the tree, reaching over to pick up her father’s shotgun, and leaning it against the tree next to her. Adriana, stifling a yawn, returned to her place in the shade, and lay down, pulling her hat down over her face.

Alice sat alone, listening to the sounds of the leaves rustling overhead, the tall grass wavering in the breeze, and the sounds of the other girls as they slept. She rubbed her eyes again, and fanned herself with her hand, trying to wake herself up a little more. For as far as she could see, there was nothing but tall grass, occasional clumps of trees, and a perfectly clear blue sky. She had to admit that it was a beautiful day, the sort of day that she would have spent riding with her father in times past. Instead, she was sitting under a tree, keeping watch over her own deputised posse of assorted teenage girls, on the hunt for a band of dangerous criminals. If she had been told the story by someone else, she wouldn’t have believed it for one second.
Alice had no way of telling the time, but the sun was definitely much higher in the sky when she finally decided to wake someone else for their watch. She looked at Maggie, Liliana, and Dorothea, wondering which of them to wake. She decided not to wake Liliana, because she wasn’t sure how the girl would react if something actually happened. She reached out to shake Maggie’s shoulder, but her new friend seemed to be deeply asleep, after a night spent riding whilst trying to keep Liliana in the saddle. So Alice picked herself up, crossed over to Dorothea, and shook her gently.
Dorothea awoke slowly, blinking her eyes and yawning.
“What is it?” she asked sleepily.
Alice patted Dorothea’s pack, with the holstered shotgun. “It’s your turn to keep watch. Wake Maggie for her turn in a couple of hours.”
Dorothea, slowly picked herself up, and propped her back against the tree, brushing her dress. “Wake Maggie next… sure…”
Alice nodded, and slipped back to her own place to resume some much-needed sleep. She took off her waistcoat and bundled it up to make a pillow for herself, letting  some of it lay across her eyes for shade. She was starting to wish that she had borrowed one of her father’s hats, as she drifted back into sleep. If she’d remained awake a little longer though, she would have seen Dorothea’s head start to nod and droop, and her hands slipping down to her sides…

“Well lookee what we got here!”
Alice started awake at the loud, crowing voice, and looked up, realising that there was more shade over her than there had been when she last settled down. She could immediately see figures standing over her. Over them all. She started to sit up.
“Damn it, Dorothea… you were supposed to be on watch…”
There was a sudden and unpleasant metallic clicking, and Alice realised with a sickening feeling in her gut that the newcomers were all armed, and were keeping them well-covered.
There were four of them. Lean, dirty, unshaven, and smelling of gunsmoke, whisky, and oiled leather. Another two were nearby, gathering up the girls’ horses.
The man who had spoken, a youngish-looking fellow with stringy blonde hair, and a well-worn Union army kepi on his head, snickered breathily, and looked at his companions.
“Ain’t they jus’ the prettiest things? Looks like we got real lucky here, boys!”
Alice looked around. Her little group were all awake, and had all backed themselves up against the tree, sensing trouble. Alice realised that the guns that had been propped against the tree were all missing – apparently these men had been able to steal up on them in perfect silence, and the wake-up was simply a chance to show off.
“All right… you had your fun. You sneaked up on us, and made us look real silly. Now stop foolin’ around, and be on your way!” she snapped, hoping that her voice sounded more commanding to the men than it did to her.
Another of the men, an older fellow with a few days’ growth of beard, and a soiled red bandanna tied at his throat, leaned forward, and poked at the star on Maggie’s waistcoat.
“Say look, boys… this gal here is a deputy!”
“So’s this ‘un here!” replied another, pointing at Dorothea, who scowled back at him. As the man reached forward to grab at the star on her dress, she slapped irritably at his hand.
“Take your filthy hands somewhere else!”
This provoked a burst of wild, uncouth laughter from the group of strangers.
The older man scratched at his chin, and grinned down at the girls.
“So now…deputies. What might y’all be doin’ out this way? This ain’t a good place for a bunch o’ young gals on their own!”
Alice and the others exchanged looks. They had a feeling that admitting their real purpose out here might be a bad idea. All except Liliana, that is. The girl was far too honest for her own good at times.
“We are looking for the Hollis Boys. They are very bad men, and we are here to arrest them, and take them back to town to answer for their crimes!” she announced, finally getting into the spirit of the thing at the worst possible moment.
There was another outburst of hilarity at that, and Liliana flushed red with embarrassment.
“Lookin’ for the Hollis Boys, are ya? Well girls… you found us! Some of us, at any rate…”
Alice said nothing, and simply glared at the men. Maggie, closed her eyes and swallowed hard for a moment, heartily wishing that Liliana had stayed quiet. Adriana simply nodded slowly, as if to say ‘just my luck’, and Dorothea treated them men to a look of icy contempt.
“What’re we gonna do with ‘em?” asked one of the men, apparently deferring to the older fellow with the red bandanna.
“We’ll take ‘em back to camp, see what Sam wants done with ‘em.” The man replied, shouldering the rifle he had been holding on the girls. “Get ‘em up, and let’s get movin’ boys. A real posse might be a-comin’ lookin’ for these gals any moment.”
Alice felt a twist of humiliation at being dismissed so lightly. They were a real posse, dammit! She thought to herself, as the young man with the kepi reached out a hand, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her to her feet.
Suddenly, there was a startled yell. One of the men had started to pull Dorothea up, and the girl had reacted with outrage. Before anyone could stop her, she had grabbed her parasol, let the arms fold back, and jabbed the point into the man’s face as hard as she could!
The man stumbled back, yelling that she had poked his eye out, and the distraction had set a train of events in motion. Maggie kicked the older man in the kneecap as hard as possible, while Adriana had suddenly drawn her knife, and swiped at another man, causing him to scuttle back in alarm. For her own part, Alice realised that the lout in the kepi wasn’t paying attention to her, and she stamped down on his foot good and hard, just like her father had taught her once. Their two companions were still holding the reins of the horses, and seemed at a loss of what to do.
The five girls broke past their would be captors, and started to run. There were angry shouts behind them. And then suddenly, a gunshot split the air. The older fellow, recovering rapidly from the kick he had received from Maggie, had fired a warning shot into the air. “That’s far enough! One more step, and one o’ you gals is getting’ shot!”
The loud and angry command was enough. The girls all stopped, realising that there was nowhere for them to run to for safety. They didn’t dare turn around as they listened to the sounds of the approaching men moving through the long grass.
Alice was grabbed from behind. A hand took hold of her long braided hair, and tugged viciously.
“Get down on the floor, missy!” hissed the voice of the kepi-wearing no-good.
One by one, the five girls were forced to lay face down on the ground, each one feeling the barrel of a pistol or long-arm pressed into their back.
“Bring those ropes over here!” snapped a voice. “You girls feel like playin’ up, do ya? We’ll teach ya how to play alright. But it’ll be our rules!”

Alice winced as she felt her hands pulled roughly behind her, and felt a rough hemp rope being wound tightly around her wrists. The rope was knotted, and then drawn around her waist twice. She felt it being tucked down between her bound wrists again, and then her legs were forced back, the rope being wound tightly around her ankles. There was a small amount of give on her legs, allowing her to bend and straighten them a little, but giving her no chance of walking.
And then, she was hoisted up off of the ground, and slung over the man’s shoulder, and from that vantage point, she could see that the rest of the girls had been meted out the same treatment. They had all been securely and thoroughly bound, hand and foot, and were all in the process of being picked up and carried by one of their captors.
The older man turned to the two men who had been left in charge of the horses.
“You two… gather up the rest of their things, and bring the horses along. We’ll meet y’all at camp. We’re takin’ these little fillies back to Sam, see what he wants done with ‘em!”
Their captors carried them to their own horses, and each girl was dumped across the saddle, then pulled upright after their abductor had mounted up. Alice found herself being held disagreeably close to the uncouth young man in the kepi, who leered at her.
“It ain’t a long ride… but I reckon we got time to be real good friends before we gets there…” He smirked. “Make good n’ sure to hold tight!”
With that, he spurred the horse with a wild yell, and took off, the rest of the crooks following suit with their unwilling and squirming charges.
Alice felt the rope rubbing painfully at her wrists as she was jolted around on the wild ride.
She reflected that by chance, they had at least tracked down the Hollis Boys.
The real trick now, would be escaping them in one piece…
The girls set out for their first night on the trail, and realise that hunting lawbreakers isn't quite as easy as it might look...
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Shadow-Spryte's avatar
I'll admit I am not one for western stories,  but I am intrigued. Very nice work. :)