bedrolls. They knew they would be on the trail for two or three nights and could find enough game to last until they reached Springer.

They rode away from the yard and John turned into the house to check on Angie. As he walked to her bed, she blinked her eyes and seemed to come awake. He knelt beside her and as she looked at him he saw fear in her eyes.

"Are you one of those.....", she said with a stammer in a weak voice. She tried to raise her head and seemed to want to move away.

"Honey, it's John. You're okay now. The men have gone, and Lawrence and I are here."

"What about Daddy?" Angie seemed to be stronger than a few minutes ago. "I think they shotI also know there's a livery stable there so we can find you something to ride. Just keep walking till we get there and this'll be okay. We'll all ride out of there in style with a few dollars in our pocket. You like that?"

"Sounds good, boss, how much further you reckon it is?"

Caleb replied, "We got four hours left today. We make camp and rest tonight. We'll be there before noon tomorrow. What I'm thinking is, you three boys can go down to visit the livery stable, act like you're gonna buy three horses. Get them all saddled up and ready to go. Then, do what you have to do and set the place on fire. That'll create a diversion and me and Saul will go in