They must have taken her with them. There is her trunk." He pointed to the luggage laying broken open and empty on the ground.

"A lady? Damn, it probably would have been better if they had killed her here. It don't get much worse than being held captive by Apaches. How'd you know she was on the stage?" he asked.

"Because I put her on it this morning. I met her last night at the station and in fact she was a girl from back home. You may have known her. Her name used to be Beth Johnson before she married."

"Beth Johnson! You have to be kidding. Of course I know her, know her family too. She married a Dutchy and it caused quite a stir at the time buthe was killed shortly after the marriage." Dalton must have realized what he said because he quickly added, "No offense intended on the Dutchy remark, Sam."

Sam barely heard, his mind had already started to work. The stage had left two, less than three hours before he and Johnny that morning and they had probably traveled at about the same pace. That meant the Indians were only two or three hours ahead of them. He saw that the tracks of the horses were headed in a southwesterly direction and they were easy to see. The Indians probably did not figure anyone would find the stage for a few days. His problem was daylight. He could not follow the Indians after dark so he needed to get going now.

"Johnny, it