There was a shimmering in the distance. It almost made me think I was seeing an ocean, but I knew it was just heat rising so I kept following the dry river bed. I was getting mighty thirsty and I was also beginning to feel weak. A man can go a quite a while without food, but just a few days without water, a little less out there where we were. I wasn't sure how long Bones could make it.

My mind was wondering, so at first I thought I was imagining things, but my ears were picking up a slooshing sound. I suddenly realized I was hearing splashing, and looked down to see that Bones was walking in water. He abruptly stopped and took a good, long drink. The water from the flash flood had collected in a low spot. As Bones splash deeper into the water and continued to drink, I literally threw myself face first into this beautiful oasis of life. Then I happened to think that my matches were wet again, as well as my tobacco and paper.

I had almost died from the heat that day, but when the sun slid below the horizon it suddenly got very, very cold. Using something I'd learned in the Army, I scooped out a trench in the sand and covered myself with it. In the Army we called it “digging our grave”. It wasn't exactly toasty. To tell the truth, I froze until the warm sand dried my clothes. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it. This was one of those times. The main thing is, I survived.

The next morning was the opening of a day much like the one before. It was hard to leave the pool of water knowing the hot, dry landscape ahead of me. Moving forward in the growing oppressive heat was becoming quite a challenge. I had gone maybe ten miles or so when I came across one of the bags I had been using to carry oats. I began keeping a closer watch ahead and, sure enough, I started seeing boot prints and horse tracks as the ground grew softer. I wondered if I was following the trail of my old traveling companions who had taken my supplies and gold.

A bit further along the river bed I found where my old friends, or whoever had made the tracks I'd been following, had turned right over a small bluff. If I had found my old traveling buddies, I figured I should give them a chance to apologize for the inconvenience they had caused me. Considering Bones and I both could have died out there without food or water. As I climbed down the other side of the bluff, I noticed a change in the wind, if you could really call it wind. The air was moving slightly anyway. In it was the smell of burning mesquite. With just a quick glance around, the lack of any trees would tell anyone it wasn't a forest fire I was smelling. I wondered if it really could be my pals who'd left me to die. Maybe they were baking me a cake.

To the northeast, I could see a small stand of trees on the horizon, with a tail of smoke rising from it. I could tell there was no way I could get anywhere near there in daylight without being seen, so I guessedI had some time on my hands to enjoy the sunshine.

I figured if I left Bones by the water, with some food available, he'd stay there. It's funny how animals can be more trustworthy than some people. He certainly seemed happy enough to stay where he was anyway.

I was watching to the west as the sunset. It sat on the horizon for a moment, then suddenly disappeared like a candle going out, followed by a strange flash of green. I thought I'd never figure out why that sometimes happened.

After a while, I figured it was time to go visit old friends. I don't know why I was so convinced I'd find my erstwhile traveling companion up ahead. But I planned to be prepared either way. It was already getting cold so I wore the saddle blanket like a poncho. I had ten 12 gauge double-aught buck shot. I guess it doesn't sound scary but I've seen it tear a man's arm off. I didn't know if there was any water up ahead so I drank four cups from the pool I'd found and headed out walking.

No matter what something looks like it is, after you've walked a while you find out it's twice as far as you thought. When I finally got close, then yards from the camp, I could smell the rot gut whiskey. Sure enough, it was my old friends. Between the bragging and b.s., I doubt if they believed what each other was saying. I could see them plain as day, dancing like loons around the campfire.

I braced myself and yelled out, "Cherokee, I believe you have some of my property."

"Now who would that be, playing hide-n-seek out there in the dark? What you think Cherokee?" I heard Charlie say.

"It smells like a Yankee, one-legged war hero." Cherokee replied. "I bet there weren't two dollars worth of gold in your little bag Jess. That other junk you had weren't hardly worth stealin'. That mule of your'n ain't nothin' but bones. I s'pose you still got your little scatter gun we left ya, or you wouldn't be visiting."

I called out, "Cherokee, Charlie, Banks, if you boys were half as smart as you think you are, with me somewhere in the dark and you standing around that fire, you could already be dead.

"I'll be your huckleberry".

As I talked, I kept moving so they couldn't home in on the sound of my voice, at the same time I was working my way toward the south end of their camp where they had their horses tied. I knew they had a Winchester and a Henry in saddle holsters, waiting for me there.

Just as I made it to the horses, I realized Banks must have had the same idea. He broke off from the other two and headed towards the horses, scanning the dark beyond the light from the campfire for my location. I watched him coming with my shotgun lying across a saddle. When he got within about twenty yards or so, I fired one barrel and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I grabbed the Winchester and faded back into the darkness.

I'd had my fill of death and killing during the war. I had hoped to get out of this without having to take another life, but it wasn't working out that way. At this point, it seemed the best I could hope for would be that the next one to die would not be me.

As I slipped into the shadows someone fired a round, apparently aiming for where my last shot had come from, and hit the horse I had been standing beside. It tried to bolt and I was able to use the Winchester to take out Cherokee in the confusion of the panicked horses. It had been a while since the war, and I used a musket back then, but I managed to sink a .44 into Cherokee where his nose kept his eyes from bumping into each other.

Charlie got cold feet once both his partners were down. He called out "Don't shoot!" as he threw his Navy Colt on the ground and reached for the sky. I yelled "Lose the gun belt and that knife I know you've got in your boot. And empty your pockets while you're at it. I don't want any surprises." I also wanted to see if there was anything familiar in them. Like my gold poke. A lone silver dollar fell to the ground. I told him to just keep it.

I got a rope from one of the saddles and tied Charlie to a handy tree so I could search for my missing things, my gold, my papa's old watch, and any of my other meager possessions they had stolen. After rounding up everything I could find, I made some coffee. I poured a cup for Charlie, tied his hands in front so he could drink it, and poured another into my old tin cup for me. I asked Charlie, "How'd you come to be mixed up with the likes of Banks and Cherokee You ain't like those two."

"I don't know Jess. I guess I was just a little lost and driftin' for a while. I think I needed someone to tell me what to do since I didn't seem to know anymore."

I shook my head, "Lost seems like a good place for you right now. You might want to start over with a new name and give some honest work a try. You just don't strike me as the same sort of low-life as the two you've been riding with. This situation might hold a silver lining in it for you. You ain't killed no one yet, so's you got a chance to turn things around."

"You ain't looking for a sidekick are ya?" he asked me.

"I think I've had all the company I want to last me a while. I believe I'll just stick to four-legged friends for a bit."

We sat there a few hours, 'til I could see the edge of the Sun coming up in the east. I untied Charlie and gave him the shotgun and the shells. I tied the hammers down in case I might have misjudged him, but I couldn't leave him out there unarmed. The horse that had been shot just had a flesh wound, so I told Charlie to get on it and make dust. He said, "Thanks, Jess. I'm right sorry for all the trouble we caused you, 'specially since you been so decent to me."

"Just get on that horse and get out. I don't ever want to run across you again, alright?"

“Sure thing, Jess. I sure 'preciate you being so decent after what we done.”

After he mounted up, I pointed the Winchester in the air and pulled the trigger. By the time the smoke cleared Charlie and the horse were almost lost in a cloud of dust.

I loaded up everything I'd found that appeared to be mine, I wasn't counting the horses and the firearms I'd acquired, I thought I'd won those by default, and headed back to the waterhole where I'd left Bones. Damned but when you run across some good luck, you always seem to end up paying for it. When I got back to where Bones should have been, I found a pack of wolves instead, having a meal. I shot a couple of them and the rest ran off. They stopped, not quite out of sight, and sat there waiting for me to leave so they could finish their dinner. Damn! At times I hated this cruel, nasty country. I sure hoped I'd make it back to Denver where things were civilized.