"Umm…Annie? Is that you?"
"It's me, Britches. Sorry to wake you."
"Umm…that's okay." Still half asleep, Britches pushed back the covers. "What time is it?"
The door closed. "Early," Annie replied. "Go back to sleep."
"I was so tired last night I couldn't stay awake another minute." Britches pushed herself to a sitting position. "I was asleep before my head hit the…"
She paused, her mouth wide open.
"Good Morning," said Annie with a chuckle. "Something the matter?"
For a few seconds Britches was speechless. Annie was a mess: Her long dress was wet and covered with dirt, and one sleeve was ripped. Her hair, pulled back behind her head at dinner, was all tangled and hanging down in her face. Annie's shoes were caked with dried mud and her face had several large, dirty smudges. And fastened on the front of her dress was the nametag, glowing a bright red.
"What's the matter, Britches? Don't you like my new getup?"
"What happened? Where have you been?"
Annie picked up one of the straight-back chairs and brought it over to Britches' bed. "I had a little spot of bother, courtesy of Mr. Spade." She sat down wearily and proceeded to take off her shoes. Britches noticed that Annie's hands weren't much cleaner than the shoes.
"Spade?"
"I was walking down by the corral when I heard this voice behind me. Claimed I was a prisoner."
Britches' eyes widened. "At night?"
"At first I wouldn't go with him. When a man wants to drag me off into the woods, I get a little nervous."
"But you did?"
Annie nodded. "I hate to admit it, Britches, but he shamed me into it. Said if I didn't want to be a part of it I could pack my bags and be on the train this morning." She shrugged. "He had me there. And I guess I wanted to see what it was all about."
Britches pulled her knees up under her chin. "Gosh. What happened then?
"First thing I knew he had me locked in handcuffs. Then I was blindfolded and dragged quite a way into the woods. We came to this little cabin and once we were inside, he took off my blindfold. "
"You had no idea where you were?"
Annie shook her head. "None at all. He unlocked the one of the handcuffs and told me to lie down on the bed. And when I did, he fastened the other cuff to the bedframe."
"Were you scared? Didn't you wonder what he was gonna do?"
"Let's just say I was a little concerned."
"So what did he do."
"He walked out and left me."
The story was becoming more unbelievable by the minute. "Let me get this straight. He drags you to some cabin in the woods, chains you to the bed and then leaves?"
Annie smiled and brushed a strand of tangled auburn hair away from her face. "My hair's a mess. It'll take me hours to get it looking decent."
"C'mon, Annie. Don't tease me."
Annie chuckled. "Well, I must've been there for two hours, thinking about how I was going to kill the man if I ever saw him again. Spade must've left a couple of men on guard, cause I'd hear 'em talking every so often.
"Finally, I heard a horse outside. Then I heard Spade, asking 'em if they'd fed me since I'd been there. I didn't hear the reply, but then Spade yelled at 'em, telling 'em to do it right away. A few minutes later, a man came in with a plate of something or other, maybe stew. He set it down on the bed next to me." Annie smiled. "And when he turned I grabbed his gun."
Britches laughed. "Great! It'll bet he was surprised."
"He was. So I made him unlock me and I told him to lie on the bed."
"I'm liking this better by the minute. Then what?"
"I chained him to the bed, stole his nametag, and climbed out the window. But as soon as my feet hit the ground outside, he started yelling. I had just gotten to the woods when I heard somebody behind me. I hid behind a tree and when he got close enough I shot him."
"All right!"
"After that, all hell broke loose, so to speak. Spade must have had half of his men up there in the woods. Every time I'd shoot one of 'em, another seemed to take his place. Reminds me of some other places I've been."
"But didn't you run out of bullets? All you had was the one man's gun, right?"
Annie smiled. "True. But when I'd shoot a man, I take the bullets from his gun and put 'em in mine!"
"Wow! That was great thinking."
"Well, to make a long story short, they ran me around up there for hours. I don't know how many of 'em I shot. Must've been ten or twelve. Finally, I came to the edge of a little clearing. They'd apparently given up chasing me and it was starting to get light, so I figured it must be pretty late."
"But weren't you tired?"
"Not too bad. I…ah…do a lot of hiking at home. I was thinking about finding my way back to town when I heard a gunshot behind me. Then something hot in the middle of my back."
"Just like what happened to me."
Annie nodded. "That's right. So I turn around and there's Spade, twenty feet away."
"Oh, no!"
"He comes up to me, pulls the gun out of my hand and points down the hill to the left. Then he says, "Town's that way."
Britches broke out laughing, then tried to cover her mouth. "Sorry."
Annie scowled. "Then he turns on his heel and walks away. I was so mad I could spit."
"So what did you do?"
"I realized I had the guard's nametag in my pocket. So I threw it at Spade as hard as I could and yelled, 'You forgot something, you low-down, dirty backshooter!"
Britches gaped. "You did? You called him that?"
Annie looked embarrassed. "Well, I suppose I did get a slight bit carried away."
Britches tried hard not to laugh. "What did he do?"
"He picked up the nametag and said thanks. Then he left me standing there."
"Oh, Annie! What I night!"
For the first time, her roommate grinned. "It was great. I loved it. Spade must think I'm pretty daft. But I'll fix his wagon before I leave here."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"Do? First I'm going to take a bath. Then I'm going to bed." Annie got up and headed for the dresser.
"Oh. I was hopin', well, that we could go riding this morning."
Annie smiled tiredly as she pulled clean clothes from the dresser. "I'd love to, Britches, but not right now. Why don't you go ahead without me?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should wait 'till we can go together."
"You go ahead." Annie pulled open the door. "Remember what you said yesterday? About havin' to face things?" She smiled. "Be back in a few minutes."
The door closed behind her and Britches swung her feet out of bed. Should she go by herself? She thought about it while she got dressed and brushed out her hair. She really had wanted to go this morning. For the first time in a long time, she'd actually found herself looking forward to riding.
She heard the door open behind her. Startled, she turned and saw Annie coming into the room, a towel wrapped around her wet hair.
"I've decided I'm gonna go."
"Great." Annie sat down at the dresser and began toweling her hair. "Have a good time."
Halfway to the door, it occurred to Britches to take her gun. After what happened last night it might not be a bad idea.
She crossed to the closet and opened the door, retrieving her gunbelt from the hook on the door.
"Britches?"
Britches turned and saw Annie looking at her in the mirror. "I forgot to tell you something I heard while they had me prisoner."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Spade was talking to his men. He told them you were next."
* * * * *
Sheriff Matt Branson had just left the hotel dining room when he heard someone coming down the stairs. It was the blonde gal, Little Britches. Branson chuckled. She was just as pretty as she could be. Brave, too, if what Spade had told him was true. Well, they'd see about that part of it soon enough.
"Morning, sheriff." Her whole face lit up when she smiled and Branson suddenly wished he were twenty years younger.
"Morning there, young lady. Havin' a good time in Silverado?"
"Very much." Her smile faded. "Except for gettin' shot on the train yesterday."
Branson chuckled. "Well, you'll just have to do better next time, right?"
She cocked her head. "Do you know something I don't, sheriff?"
Oops, thought Branson, quickly raising his hands in self-defense. "Who me? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, right. And I suppose you've got a bridge I can buy, too?"
"Say," he said, pointing to the gun on her right hip. "You're not planning on robbin' any banks, are you? I warned you about that."
"Gee, sheriff," she replied with an innocent smile. "I wouldn't think of robbin' the bank with a hard-nosed lawman like you around."
Branson stared at her, trying to read something in her expression.
"Actually," she continued. "I'm going for a ride this morning. Is there anything I should see?"
"One place a lot of folks go is The Bottoms. It's a ghost town."
Her eyes widened. "A ghost town?"
"There's an abandoned silver mine in the hills about four miles south. The Bottoms was a company town, built while the mine was operating. But when the mine played out, the town closed down. Been there ever since."
"That sounds interesting. How do I get there?"
"Easy. Just head south out of town. Road runs right to it. Good thing you've got that gun. They say the place is haunted. Almost everybody that goes down there comes back with their nametag glowin'."
"Haunted?"
Branson shrugged. "Could be. I've heard other folks say that's where the Spade gang hangs out."
He could see her thinking it over. "I'd be real careful 'fore yu go down there, Miss Britches. You could get killed again, yu know." At the word 'killed', some of the color seemed to drain from her face.
"If that sounds too risky, of course, I could recommend some other places to see."
She bristled, just as he expected. "I'm not scared of Mr. Spade," she declared forcefully.
He chuckled. "It's your funeral, Miss Britches. But I'd suggest you get breakfast first. It ain't much fun to die on an empty stomach."
* * * * *
A couple of minutes later, Branson walked into his office and stepped into the back room. Opening a cabinet, he picked up the telephone and punched three numbers.
"Morning, Dave. Spade there yet?" There was a pause before he heard Spade's voice.
"G'morning. How'd it go last night?" He listened for a moment. "She did? Fifteen?"
Branson listened for a moment longer, then laughed. "You did? I bet she was furious."
He listened some more, then nodded. "Okay, I'll keep an eye on her…What's that?…Oh, the reason I called is to tell you the blonde girl, Britches, is fixin' to go for a ride this morning.....Well, yeah, I know you were up all night, but she's headin' down to The Bottoms and I thought maybe a couple of the boys could find a way to keep her busy."
He had just hung up the phone when he heard someone come into his office.
* * * * *
Britches walked into the lobby of the hotel and glanced back into the dining room. She'd enjoyed her breakfast and was looking forward to her ride. And if Spade happened to show up, well, she'd pay him back for what he did to Annie.
Britches thought about her new friend. She'd never met anyone like Annie before. Was she really interested in staying friends after Silverado? It would be fun to get to know her.
Walking toward the livery stable, Britches grew excited. The paint horse, Brownie, was really pretty. It would be fun to…
"Stop right there, Little Britches," said a voice behind her. "You're under arrest." Startled, she turned, to see Earp and Hickcock walking toward her. Both were armed and Hickcock was carrying his big shotgun.
"What's the charge, gentlemen? I haven't done anything."
Wyatt grinned. "Well, now, ma'am. I don't think you're tellin' the truth. Seems there's a price on your head. Five hundred dollars, in fact, for rustlin'."
To her amazement he held up a wanted poster. Sure enough, it was her picture. So that's why they wanted her to send a picture with her registration. What a dirty trick!
"I'm sorry, Miss Britches," said Hickcock. "But we're gonna have to take you in."
"Yeah," grinned Wyatt. "I'll be a pleasure to see your cute little face behind bars."
Britches grew angry. "You're not takin' me anywhere, you big bag of hot air!"
"Now see here, Miss Britches," Hickcock began. "There's a warrant..."
Britches dropped into her fast-draw shooting stance, her right hand near the butt of her gun, the left hand right above it. "You just try it!"
The two men stopped abruptly, twenty feet away.
"C'mon, kid," taunted Wyatt. "Give it up. Don't make us kill yu!"
"Back off!" she yelled. "I'm warnin' you!"
Wyatt didn't say a word. He just grabbed for his gun.
Go to Chapter Six.