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| Sky and the Starlets |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
| Chapter 10 |
|
| Sky and the Starlets |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
| Chapter 10 |
Though it was not the first time that Amy Cole had been bound, gagged and blindfolded, that fact did not make her present captivity any easier. The nude, helpless deputy lay on her right side on the bare mattress of the rough cabin bed. In addition to being trussed hand and foot and crotchroped, her knees were drawn up so that her thighs almost touched her breasts, and her bound ankles were pulled back under her by a rope connecting them to her tied hands behind her back. She heard and sensed Arlene lean over her and felt the woman's hand cup her left breast. With no way to resist, Amy groaned into her gag and shook her head weakly.
"Very lovely, Deputy," whispered Arlene, playing with Amy's nipple. "You're a very yummy little package all tied up like this. Jonesey really wants you, you know, and I can see why. You look just delicious, especially when you struggle."
She stopped caressing the nipple and pinched it firmly. Amy yelped into the gag and writhed uselessly. She mewed again when she felt the crotchropes rub against her. Arlene went back to stroking and gently kneading her breasts.
"Oh, yeah!" she breathed. "You have no idea how exciting that looks, Deputy. Jones doesn't know it, but I'd like to have you as much as he does. Maybe more." She sat on the bed and leaned her torso on Amy's side. She began brushing Amy's hair with her other hand. Even through Arlene's bra and blouse, Amy could feel the woman's hardened nipples.
"Your little friend is awfully cute, too, but I prefer brunettes. Maybe I'll let Jones play with her while I have some fun with you." She switched her right hand from Amy's hair to her breasts, and reached down with her free left hand to give the crotchrope a little tug. "I think you'd like that. Maybe not at first, but eventually."
Arlene's fingers traced the rope belt then down along the crotchrope. Amy froze. Even under the blindfold, she closed her eyes.
The scraping of the curtain over the doorway to the main room as it was drawn back came like a rip of thunder in a desert cloudburst.
"Baynes and Jones are ready to leave, Arlene," Gloria said.
Arlene ran her hand lovingly over Amy's derriere.
"That's too bad," she said musingly. "So much beauty, so little time."
She rose. Amy heard a few footfalls. Arlene must have joined Gloria in the doorway.
"How's Ryder's niece?" asked Arlene.
"She seems pretty uncomfortable. Why'd you have to tie them like this and so tight?"
"Because I don't want to go to jail. Besides, I don't like cops." There was a short pause before she added longingly: "Though I could make an exception for real cute ones like her."
Gloria paused. Even a few feet away, Amy could sense the nervousness in her voice.
"How's she doing?" Gloria asked.
"She just loves it," cooed Arlene. "She told me so."
Amy heard the front door of the cabin door swing open. Jones' voice came from the doorway.
"C'mon, Arlene. Let's get movin'." There was another pause. Somehow, Amy sensed that Jones was ogling her. "That's one mighty fine-lookin' deputy, yuh got there. You aren't gonna forget yer promise t' let me have a little fun, are yuh?"
"I'll consider it, Jonesey," said Arlene. "If you're a good boy and follow orders."
"You can count on me, Arlene. Until then, I think I'll take this as a souvenir."
Amy heard the whisk of some fabric being snatched up.
"Keep a good watch on our little friends," Arlene said, obviously to Gloria.
Amy heard feet moving toward the door. The door closed. The steps receded onto the porch and faded away.
* * * * *
Gloria stood at the door, biting her lip and twisting her hands nervously. She stepped over to one of the front windows and pulled back the curtain to look out. Seeing that the others were gone, she crossed to the center of the room and looked through the open bedroom doorways at the two bound women on the beds. Both of them were wiggling a little, probably trying to free their hands. Copper Ryder whimpered softly.
Gloria tiptoed closer for a look. The blond girl seemed to be breathing normally. She rolled her shoulders and bit and wriggled her bound hands for a few more seconds then groaned louder. Gloria guessed that the girl's outburst was frustration at her inability to free herself.
Still stepping very quietly, Gloria moved to the other doorway. Amy Cole was lying quietly on her mattress, but Gloria detected slight movements in her arms and shoulder that indicated that the deputy was working on freeing her wrists. She wondered if Amy had ever been bound before. Even if she had, Gloria doubted that it had been as securely as her current predicament.
She had to admit that the dark-haired deputy was quite beautiful. Gloria, who was quite curvaceous herself, had been envious of Amy's shapely legs, gracefully curved hips, tight behind, trim waist and firm, round breasts. Even with most of her face, especially the large, luminous blue eyes, covered by the thick white cloth blindfold and gag, it was evident that the girl was quite beautiful. Though Gloria did not share the same hunger as Arlene, she could well understand the demons of desire that drove Jones.
Gloria quit twisting her hands. She raised her right hand to her mouth and began biting her thumbnail. She did not know it, but she was looking at Amy as though the helpless deputy was a ticking time bomb. And, in truth, that was the way Gloria was beginning to think of her.
* * * * *
Julie Ryder lowered the binoculars.
"I can't believe that we've lost them, Sky. We turned back to check on Al and Ben and in those few minutes those two cars just disappeared. It doesn't make sense!"
Sky gestured to their left.
"They either turned west on one of the county roads and drove like madmen or they hid the cars and waited until we passed over them. If they got behind us, they could be headed in any direction now."
He turned to Julie and raised an eyebrow.
"What doesn't make sense to you?"
"I just can't see why those men would drive right up to a spot where there's nothing to steal and with the police in plain sight, stop their cars, shoot all the bullets from least two or three guns each without hitting anything and then drive off as though they couldn't get away fast enough."
Sky smiled grimly.
"I agree completely. The whole thing is beginning to smell like some sort of diversion." He reached for the radio handset. "Car Five, this is the Hummingbird. Do you read me, Harry? What's your position? Over."
Harry Tyler's voice was a moment in coming.
"We're at the intersection of the highway and County Road E. No sign of anyone coming. What do you want us to do? Over."
"Wait one, Harry. Car One, this is Hummingbird. Do you read us? Over."
"This is Winchell, Sky. Read you loud and clear. Over."
"Winch, I'm starting to smell a rat here. The way those shooters cleared out makes me think this was just something to get us to take our eyes off the ball. Over."
"Roger, Sky. You think they want us to forget the stage for a while? Over."
"Yep. Just long enough to hijack it. Do you have anyone looking for it? Over."
"I will in a couple minutes. We're putting spare tires on Al and Ben's car, but the outlaws are all on horses, so they can start right away. I'll have Hansen and Willard and the boys from town move north along the road. Over."
"Roger, Winch. Julie and I will search from the air. We'll keep in contact. Sky out."
* * * * *
Winchell hung up the handset.
"All right, men," he called to the riders and deputies. "I need all auxiliary deputies and some volunteers to backtrack along the Stage Road and find the coach."
Most of the men quickly and noisily volunteered. Winchell quieted them.
"The deputies'll follow in our cars, but they'll have to go slow on this road. I want only the best riders." He barked out names. "Ken! Rusty! Chuck Dobbs! Gil Peters! Jack Crawford! Gus Grimes! Cliff Patterson! Get ready, you men. And somebody'll have to loan me a horse."
"You figure on goin', Sheriff?" asked Al MacKeever. When Winchell nodded he called out: "I'll need a horse too."
"You figure you can make it, Al?" asked Winchell.
The veteran deputy rubbed his back.
"The war might've ended my fancy ridin' days, but I can sit a horse on a road, even if it's a rough one."
Winchell smiled.
"Good man." He turned to Deputy Harrison. "Bill, break out the extra ammunition and give these men some live rounds. We may need 'em."
The men crowded around to receive their ammunition.
* * * * *
With a groan, Joe Bailey raised himself on his elbows and looked around dazedly. There was no sign of either the man who had slugged him or the stagecoach. The lean old cowboy put his right hand to the back of his close-cropped gray hair. Finding no blood on his fingers, he tried again with the same result. Slowly and carefully he rose to his knees.
His hat lay a few feet away. He dropped one hand to the ground for support and reached for it with the other. He gingerly put the hat on his head and looked for the sun, trying to figure out how long he had been out. Again, he put out a hand for support and slowly pushed himself to his feet. After weaving slightly for a moment, he took a deep breath and started walking south toward Kermit.
* * * * *
The coach slowed and came to a stop. The four bound women inside were accustomed to seeing nothing but steep rock walls on the right side of the stage, but now there were similar walls on their left as well. Summer and Sue wiggled over to the windows and peered out. They exchanged a glance. Sue shrugged.
"All right, ladies," called a male voice from outside. The left side door was opened. Jackson, identifiable from his voice and height, despite the hood over his head, appeared in the doorway. "Time for a little rest stop. Everybody out."
He made no move to untie their hands from behind their backs. The four gagged women looked at one another. Summer nodded. One by one they struggled to their feet and allowed Jackson to help them out of the coach. Patricia strolled toward them.
"Let's have a nice line, ladies," she said brightly. She pointed. "Right here."
Summer, the first out, slowly walked to the indicated spot and waited. Sue was next. The two Kermit natives looked around in an attempt to determine where they were. All they could tell was that they were in a featureless little draw, perhaps a box canyon, somewhere along the road. Patricia interrupted Summer's examination by stepping in front of her, unpinning her hat and dropping it into a large bag. She moved over to Sue and untied the strings of her bonnet. When the two starlets joined the line, Jackson removed their hats.
"Nice to see you all again, ladies," said Patricia. "In fact we'd like to see a lot more of you, so here's what we're going to do: I'm going to untie you one at a time. Don't get too excited though. You're only being untied so you can undress yourselves. Anyone who tries anything funny will make things very hard on Miss O'Connor."
She gestured toward Joan at the end of the line. Jackson stepped behind her and slipped a rope around the blond beauty's neck. Joan gasped in surprise and alarm. He held Joan around the waist with his left arm while gripping the ends of the rope in his right hand. The other bound women looked on anxiously. Diana shook her head wildly. Sue started to take a step forward.
"Ah-ah-ah, Deputy!" warned Patricia.
Jarvis and the hulking Dugan stepped closer to Patricia. Both held pistols at the ready.
"I'm so glad that you all understand," Patricia said cloyingly. "Remember: you're to remove absolutely everything. We'll start with Mrs. Merrill, shall we?"
With her usual sinuous walk, she crossed behind Summer and untied her hands.
"Absolutely everything, Mrs. Merrill," she repeated.
Jackson chuckled audibly.
* * * * *
Copper Ryder drew in a deep breath through her nose and tried to relax. A few minutes before, the girl had experienced the beginnings of leg cramps and she had been greatly relieved, and somewhat surprised, when Gloria had responded to her gagged moans and pleas by loosening the ties that drew her legs toward her chest. In addition to lessening the stress on her leg muscles, Copper could breathe more easily. While she was still naked, bound and gagged and quite helpless, the girl was now more convinced that she and Amy were not to be casually killed.
"After all," she thought, "they went to all the trouble of having us blindfolded. And if we can't identify any of the gang, there's no reason to do away with us."
Still, at least one of the girl's fears persisted.
"We've got to get out of here before Jones comes back. All that talk about having fun with us means that he was only one who's going to have any fun."
She twisted her hands in the ropes behind her. It was hopeless.
"Sky'll help find us!" Copper thought desperately. "He's just got to!"
* * * * *
Amy stopped working on her wrist bonds and flexed her fingers. Though the ropes were not so tight as to stop the blood flow to her hands completely, reduced circulation made them slow, clumsy and harder to use. Amy tried to get more feeling in her fingers to work on the knots. Though she had little chance, there was no alternative but to keep trying.
A loud scrape of one of the wooden chairs being pushed back from the table came from the main room. Amy had heard soft footfalls and a softer scraping sound a few minutes before, and had assumed that Gloria had gone there to sit. Why was she getting up? Had the others returned so soon?
Amy heard the curtain being drawn back again and a couple more steps. She could sense Gloria bending over her, then felt tugging at the knot in the gag ties behind her head. The band between her jaws loosened and fell away. As Amy pushed with her tongue against the cloth wad, she was surprised to feel a hand reach up and help pull the sodden ball from her mouth. The hand was immediately clapped over her mouth.
"No screaming, Deputy," a female voice said softly. "Any loud noises and I'll put the gag right back in, and I won't be gentle. Understand?"
Amy nodded. The hand slowly drew away. Amy took a few deep breaths.
"What do you want?" she asked hoarsely.
"All right, Deputy, it's like this: you want to get yourself and your friend out of here before Jones comes back, and I want out of this. I'll help you if you help me."
"How can we help you like this?"
"I've got a plan. I'll untie you so you can get away. The only problem is that Jones took your uniform for a souvenir. Your friend's clothes are here, but you'll have to take mine."
"What happens to you?"
"I want you two to tie me up and gag me before you go. That way, if Arlene and Jones come back, I can tell them that you got loose somehow and overpowered me. They'll believe that because they don't think I'm very good at this criminal stuff. And they're right."
"But we can't just leave you here like that for them!"
"Look, they might get caught and never make it back here anyway. If that happens, you two will know where I am and you can come back for me. You can either let me go or turn me in and testify for me, I don't care. But I don't want to take the chance that Jones'll come back here and do God-knows-what to you."
"All right," said Amy. "It's a deal. The alternative certainly isn't very attractive."
Amy felt Gloria fumbling with the blindfold knots. When she whisked the banded cloth from Amy's eyes, the deputy saw a face that perfectly fit the voice: pretty but nervous, a look accentuated by the overly plucked and arched brows over the hunted brown eyes. Gloria reached for the knot for the loops holding Amy's knees close to her chest.
"Let's start with this," said Gloria.
* * * * *
"All right, baby," said Jackson to Joan. "Let 'em go and step out of 'em. Then I'll need your hands again."
Joan O'Connor released her panties and let them slide down her legs to the ground. She straightened up and stepped back, putting her hands palm-to-palm behind her as she did. Jackson
began looping her wrists with rope.
Joan looked at the other three women. Summer, Sue and Diana were all naked, hands bound behind their backs and arms tied and cinched securely to their bodies. Their wide, white cloth cleave gags holding wads of packing remained unchanged. Patricia motioned to Jarvis.
"I think it's time to start loading them," she said.
She took Summer by the arm and led her back to the coach door. Jarvis helped her climb into the coach and followed her inside. The other prisoners strained to see what was happening.
"This won't take but a minute or two, girls," said Patricia, as she sauntered back. "No need to crowd. There'll be room for everybody."
A minute later Jarvis stepped out of the coach and stood waiting at the door.
"Let's have the deputy next," he said.
"Of course, Mr. Jarvis," Patricia almost sang. "Anything you say."
She took Sue by the arm and led her toward Jarvis. He also helped her climb the step then followed her inside. After another minute, he reappeared. Patricia took Diana's arm.
"Your turn, dear."
As Jackson finished the tying off the seizes in the ropes holding her arms, Joan looked on in mounting horror as Patricia led Diana to the stagecoach. She wondered what was happening to the women inside the coach. Jackson leaned over her shoulder and put his mouth her ear.
"Curious, Blondie?" he breathed. "You'll find out what they're doin' real soon."
Patricia waved for Jackson to bring Joan. The little man prodded the blond starlet ahead of him. Patricia turned to them.
"You'll have to wait just a minute, Miss O'Connor. Mr. Jarvis hasn't quite finished with your friend. Be patient."
Joan looked inside. Diana was sitting in the middle of the coach floor between the two seats. Her knees were bound together and drawn up in front of her as Jarvis finished tying her ankles together. Her eyes were wide over the gag. She gave a slight motion of her head to either side. Joan moved her head to see what Diana was indicating. Summer Merrill lay hogtied on her side on the front seat facing to the rear, and Sue Kendall lay hogtied on the rear seat facing forward. After Jarvis finished binding Diana's ankles he pushed her knees right up against her chest and spun the girl around, turning her back to the open door. He then stepped to the door and jumped out. Jackson now climbed in the coach. Patricia handed Joan to Jarvis and he and Jackson helped Joan up to the coach floor and had her sit with her back to Diana. Jarvis bound Joan's knees and ankles as Jackson waited and Patricia watched.
"We want to be sure that you're just one big happy family when you get back to town," said Patricia. "And while they may have hushed things up before now, I doubt that there's any way they can keep everyone in town from seeing all this bound and bared beauty when they open the doors. Just try to keep in mind that any publicity is good publicity, girls, even if it's a little embarrassing at first."
Jarvis finished tying Joan's legs. He pushed her knees up and he and Jackson forced her back-to-back with Diana. Jackson took a long rope and started looping them together.
"Hey," Dugan called. "It's Baynes."
Jarvis and Dugan went to meet Baynes and huddled with him for a moment. Patricia continued to watch Jackson tie the two starlets back-to-back. Dugan trotted up to Patricia.
"Ahlene and the others caught two women watching the stagecoach road," he reported. "It was the cute little deputy and Ryder's niece. They left 'em tied up in some hunting cabin Jones found in the hills."
"Where are Jones and the girls now?"
"That's the bad paht," said Dugan. "Ahlene sent Baynes ahead to report. She told him she was going to leave Gloria to guard the women and she and Jones would follow him, but he doesn't know where they are now."
"Could the Sheriff have caught 'em?" asked Jarvis.
"I doubt it," Patricia said thoughtfully. "But we'd better find them fast. Jarvis, you get that coach going. Dugan, you follow him with the Jeep. I'll take Jackson and Baynes with me."
"All done here," announced Jackson. He finished the knot he was tying and hopped down from the coach.
"Have a nice trip, ladies," said Patricia. "Sorry we can't watch the whole thing, but we have other work to do. Ta-ta."
She swung the door closed. Jarvis climbed into the driver's box while Dugan brought up a Jeep. Patricia and the other two men disappeared up one of the hill trails. Jarvis gave the reins a shake.
"Let's go team!" he called.
* * * * *
"I don't get it, Sheriff," said Ken Moore. "The coach had to have come this far by now, but there's no sign of it. And there's no way we could have ridden past it."
"I don't know about that, Ken," said Rusty. He pointed south. "There are a couple little canyons and ravines back there big enough to hide a coach and team if somebody knew about 'em."
Sheriff Winchell pushed his hat back and wiped his forehead.
"We need Sky to help with this," he said. "It should be a cinch to spot it from the air. But I can't reach him until one of the cars gets here with a radio."
Al MacKeever, who was looking to the north, raised himself in his stirrups and pointed.
"Hey, Sheriff! Look there!"
The men turned. A mile of so from where they stood, a solitary figure was walking toward them on the road.
"I think it's Joe Bailey!" said Cliff Patterson.
"Thank goodness for those young eyes," said Winchell with a grin. "Al, take a couple of the boys and go get him. He ought to be able to tell us what happened."
* * * * *
Copper Ryder pulled up her jeans, buttoned them and tucked her flannel shirt into the waistband in a few places where it had popped out. When she finished with the shirt, she began buckling her belt, looking over at Amy Cole's progress. Amy had put on her own underwear and shoes and Gloria's dark slacks. Gloria, wearing only bra and panties, stood next to her holding out her lightweight, long sleeved shirt for Amy. Amy took the shirt and slipped her hands into the armholes.
"It'll probably be a little long for you, Deputy," Gloria said apologetically. "Same as the pants were. I would have to be a couple inches taller than you are." She bit her lip as Amy dressed.
"It's no problem, Gloria," said Amy as she started on the buttons. "I'll just roll up the sleeves a bit like I did the pant legs. It's better than going out in the Arizona sun in my bra and panties."
"Exactly!" said Gloria. "Three girls and only two sets of clothes is the best reason for one of us to stay here. And if somebody has to stay, it had better be me."
"So, you and your friends were out here to ambush the stagecoach, weren't you?" asked Amy. "And that's where the rest of the gang is now?"
"Right. The plan was to put the driver off, take the coach to a hiding place, have the girls undress, tie them up then take the coach a couple miles from town and let the horses take it in on their own. When the people in town open the coach, they find all the women tied up, gagged and naked."
"I still don't get it," said Copper. "We thought that you've been trying to kidnap Diana and Joan, but now you're just embarrassing them. What's the point of it all?"
Gloria shrugged.
"I don't know why we're doing all this or who's behind it. Patricia is in charge and she had Dugan get the gang together, but I don't know who hired them."
Amy shook her head wonderingly.
"All this trouble for what?"
"Well, this is no time to try to figure it out," said Gloria. She slipped her arms out of her bra straps, pulled down the cups and rotated the garment. When the hooks were in front, she undid then and pulled it off. "You'd better tie me up and get out of here. There's always a chance they'll come back."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure you want us to leave you here all tied up?"
"Yes," Gloria said firmly. "And you'd better gag me and blindfold me, too. If I have to, I'll tell Arlene I dozed off and while I was asleep you" --- she pointed to Amy --- "got loose, untied Miss Ryder and jumped me. They'd expect you to do to me what we did to you."
Copper looked at Amy. The dark-haired deputy shrugged.
"Okay," she said. "You helped us so we'll do it your way."
Gloria led them into the room where Amy had been tied. The ropes lay on the mattress. Gloria tossed her bra to the floor, slipped down her panties and kicked them off next to the bra. She turned her back to them and placed her hands behind her.
"Go ahead. And make sure it's a good job."
Amy picked up a rope and looped it around Gloria's wrists. Copper searched for a long rope to use around Gloria's arms and upper body.
"I guess that everybody has a day as odd as this one now and then," Amy said musingly.
* * * * *
Deputy Lew Hansen hung the Jeep's radio handset on its hook and looked up at Fred Merrill on his horse.
"Okay, Fred," said Hansen. "The Sheriff wants us to head north on the road and search. They may be hiding the coach in a ravine or canyon somewhere between here and the old MacGregor place."
Merrill's face was grim and set.
"Any word on Summer and the other girls?" he asked.
Hansen shook his head. Merrill turned and waved to the posse re-enactors behind him.
"All right, boys. Let's go find the stage!"
Hansen grabbed the bridle of Fred's horse.
"I know it's Summer out there, Fred, but don't do anything risky."
Merrill smiled slightly and nodded.
"I know, Lew. And I know that Sue's out there, too. We'll bring them all back." He gestured toward the open-top Jeep. "Now get that bucket o' bolts going and try to keep up."
Merrill led the horsemen away. Deputy Tom Willard started the Jeep. As Hansen started to get in, Burt Metford trotted up.
"Mind if I come along, Deputy?" he asked.
"Looking for a scoop, Burt?" The young Deputy had smiled as he spoke, but stopped when he saw the serious look on the reporter's face. "Hop in, Mr. Metford. It never hurts to have the press along."
Hansen stepped back to let Metford use the door cutout, but the young reporter put one foot on the bumper, a hand on the side and, with unlikely athleticism, vaulted into the rear compartment. Hansen took his seat and the Jeep roared off after the posse."
* * * * *
Amy Cole finished folding a piece of cloth into a band and looked down at a kneeling Copper Ryder.
"How much longer, Copper?" asked Amy.
The blonde gave a finishing pull to the knot on Gloria's ankle ropes and leaned back.
"All done." She looked up at Gloria who was seated on the bed. "Did we do a thorough enough job to fool your friends?"
Gloria rolled her shoulders, twisted her hands behind her and wriggled her feet.
"Perfect!" she said. "You guys do really good work. I couldn't get out of this myself even if I really wanted to."
Amy and Copper exchanged a rueful glance.
"We've had experience," said Amy. "Is there anything else you want before we finish?"
Gloria shook her head.
"I'll be fine. After you gag and blindfold me, you'd better hogtie me, too."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"All right. But only because we're coming straight back here as soon as we find some help." She hesitated. "I still don't like leaving you like this with Jones on the loose."
"And that Arlene gives me the creeps, too," added Copper.
"I'll be fine. They may not even come back for me. I'm sure they'd be just as happy if the Sheriff's men caught me holding you two."
"You may be right," said Amy. "They didn't leave you a weapon of any kind."
"Go on," urged Gloria. "The sooner you leave and get help, the sooner we'll all be safe!"
Amy handed the cloth band she had been holding to Copper.
"You do the blindfold. I'll handle the gag."
As Amy wrapped a fresh wad of cloth in another band and squatted in front of Gloria, Copper wrapped the blindfold around Gloria's head, covering her eyes. Amy gently guided the gag wad into Gloria's mouth. After Copper knotted the blindfold, she tied the gag ends just below the blindfold at the back of Gloria's neck. The two women then lowered Gloria onto her side, folded her legs back and connected her ankle bonds to one of the arm-and-body loops in the middle of her back. Amy leaned over her.
"Are you okay, Gloria?" she asked.
Gloria hummed an affirmative into her gag and nodded.
"Let's get out of here!" urged Copper.
Amy gave Gloria a dubious look but responded: "Okay."
"I wonder where they put our horses," said Copper as they stepped onto the porch.
"I don't know," Amy replied. She pointed to the left. "But there's a trail over here that should lead us to the horses or to help. If they've ambushed the coach like Gloria said, the Sheriff would have search parties out pretty fast. We should ---"
She stopped walking and stared straight ahead. Copper turned to see what she was looking at. The little blonde froze too.
Arlene and Jones stood at the end of the porch. Both were pointing pistols at the two women.
"I told yuh we couldn't trust Gloria," said Jones.
To Be Continued