Family Ties Part 15

[mystdogs]

Family Ties

Part 15:

With no pursuit from town, Ezra slowed his mount to search the ground for tracks from the other’s horses. He knew he wasn’t a tracker, but following six horses shouldn’t be too difficult. At least that was what he was hoping. Spying tracks heading in the direction he remembered the six men heading towards, he turned his mount onto their trail. Taking a last look behind him towards the town he had just left, he wondered if he would be welcomed back once Mr. Chris discovered his subterfuge.

It was over an hour later when Ezra began to doubt his tracking skills. The ground had turned rocky and spotting the previously easy to see tracks had become very difficult. Sighing to himself he pulled his horse to a stop. “Okay think Ezra. You took the stage from Ridge City to Four Corners not that long ago, something in this wilderness should look familiar.” However, as hard as he looked nothing seemed to reach out to his memory. Deciding that he had no choice to but to continue on, he hoped he was heading in the correct direction.

Ezra was definitely feeling uneasy. “Maybe I should have turned back, but mother deserves to be avenged.” The trail he was own seemed to be getting denser with forest and he just knew he had gone the wrong way. There was no way that a stage could travel through this pass. He debated with himself again about turning back, but in the end decided to go forward. He assumed this trail lead somewhere. Once he reached civilization again he could ascertain better directions to Ridge City and continue on with his plans of retribution.

It was nearly a half hour later that Ezra sighed with relief; he could hear the distinct sounds of horses in the distance. He hadn’t realized how frightened he had become since he had lost the tracks and continued on regardless. Even the fear of Mr. Chris’ anger was preferable to being lost out in the wilderness. Thank goodness no one had be present to see him in such an undignified state, his mother would have been aghast at his emotional upheaval. Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves some he encouraged his horse in the direction the sounds were coming from.

It was a mixture of relief and sorrow he felt when the horses he had narrowed in on were not those of the Four Corner’s peacekeepers. Instead he saw five men on horses headed in his direction. He flinched when he heard the distinctive sound of a gun cocking behind him. The rough voice behind him made his skin crawl.

“Hey boy whatcha doing out here alls alone?”

Deciding it was in his best interest to be nonchalant; after all it wouldn’t do to insult the curmudgeon holding a loaded and cocked gun towards him. “Good day sir, I am on my way to Ridge City. I do seem to have gotten turned around. Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?”

“Well hell boy you sure are lost. Ridge City ain’t this direction.”

Ezra tried not to cringe at the tobacco stained teeth grinning in his direction, but he felt relief when the gun was uncocked and reholstered.

“Hey boy’s this here boy is looking for Ridge City.”

“Red you sure find the strangest things on the trial. Whatcha plan on doing with him?”

Red sneered at the others as they cackled at him.

Ezra was feeling decidedly uneasy and slowly started backing his horse away from the strange group. He gathered his reins tighter and without a second thought turned his horse quickly around and gave a hard kick. He had a lot of faith in his horse’s running ability. He knew he was going to need every ounce of the animal’s speed to escape the gang’s clutches. He heard the pursuit behind him but didn’t dare look back. He heard the cursing and then the report of bullets. He barely felt the searing pain in his side, but didn’t lose his seat nor any speed. As his horse outran his pursuers he felt satisfaction when he heard the men shout that at least now he was heading in the right direction.

It wasn’t until much later that he slowed his horse down. The poor beast had stumbled and Ezra knew he was spent. Both of them were breathing hard from the long run and Ezra started looking for a safe place for the two of them to rest up before moving off again. He reached for the canteen but sighed in frustration when he felt it was empty, courtesy of a bullet hole. He was feeling decidedly parched and assumed his mount was feeling the same. His heart had finally stopped pounding and he realized just how tired he was. He knew finding water was now his first priority, than he could find a place for them to rest. He felt himself dozing off and on. When he heard water splashing, he smiled figuring the horse must have founds it’s way to the live giving liquid. Sliding off the horse’s back his legs felt like rubber. Even though he had been riding a lot lately his body was obviously not used to being in the saddle for so long. He joined the horse in drinking the cool refreshment before climbing back onto the beast. They headed off to find a nice shady place to rest for a few hours before they continued on their journey to Ridge City. He hoped the strange men were correct in that he was no heading towards Ridge City. Ezra felt himself dozing again, he tried to keep awake but he felt himself drifting off deeper.

He didn’t know how long he had rode when he gasped awake to the feel of being hoisted out of his saddle. He gasped in pain before blackness enveloped his vision. His last conscious thought was that the gang had caught up to him and Mr. Chris was going to be sorely disappointed in him.